Scorched Plague

"We are One!"

- Scorched chatter

The Scorched were a group of diseased, ghoul-like humans and other creatures that roam the wastes of Appalachia in Fallout 76.

Background
The origins of the Scorched are tied directly to scorchbeasts created by the Enclave's biochemical experiments around 2083. The vicious mutation that turned the bats into ferocious, gigantic predators has also resulted in them secreting a virulent plague that turns other living creatures into their thralls. Those that come into contact with a scorchbeast may begin to mutate if the plague takes hold. First, the victim's skin turns dark, almost black, with the smell of ash. The process culminates in lesions that burn with intense heat begin to form on the victim's body. The affected creature appears to be covered in smoldering embers. In the case of humans, higher mental function eventually disappears, replaced by extreme, almost animalistic aggression.

Needless to say, whenever humans are afflicted, the process is both horrifying and heartbreaking. The Responders attempted to create a vaccine against the plague at the Morgantown Airport, under the lead of Dr Claire Hudson. Using the AVR Medical Center equipment, the Responders attempted to counter this terrible disease and even reverse it. There is no alternative: The Scorched are lethal. They are nothing less than an existential threat and the Responders fully expected that if they cannot find a way to defeat them, or at the very least contain them, they would spread far and wide, transforming or destroying everything in their path.

Worse, individual Scorched humans are savage and deadly. While their ability to speak is limited, they're not mindless. They retain enough intelligence and memory to use guns (but not heavy weapons ex.minigun) and other weapons, and they're hostile to just about everything they perceive as a potential threat.

Biology
A scorched is created when a human, or other creature, comes in contact with a scorchbeast, as the mutated fungal plague called the Scorched Plague that it carries mutates those infected. The skin goes through a rapid change from a charred black to blood red lesions as if they have been flayed alive. Complete loss of hair and cataracts of the eyes also occurs and green Ultracite crystals begin to protrude randomly from the skin. As well as affecting the appearance, those infected also succumb to complete degeneration of mental faculties. The infection of the scorched plague essentially creates a hive mind that connects all scorched to the Scorchbeast queen. The Queen can then command these scorched at will through thought.

The only instincts left for those infected are violent aggression towards everything but other scorched. However, when not acting violently or being directly controlled, a scorched will wander until it sticks in place. The scorched will stay in any position they are stuck in until they petrify from the inside out leaving only a radioactive, petrified corpse. This means that all scorched have a set lifespan until they inevitably succumb to their disease. The petrification process can take longer depending on the activity around any given area, as any disruption to a scorched while going through petrification will awaken them back to their wandering state. Even in death though, a scorched's petrified corpse is a strong source of radiation to any unwise enough to disturb it.

Technology
The Scorched have no real technology, using whatever they had access to at the moment of their transformation. This means the Scorched may bear any weapon or armor and represent a variety of threat levels, ranging from minor in case of civilians armed with tools to lethal, whenever former Brotherhood or Enclave troops are encountered. 

Outside relations
Due to the plague, the Scorched are hostile to everything they come across that isn't a scorchbeast or one of them. As such, they will attack any survivor or creature they happen to come across.

Appearances
The Scorched appear in Fallout 76.