Fungal Wastes

The Fungal Wastes are a large region in the southern lands of Silithus. The name was given to the land due to the fact that it was completely covered in a strange fungus. Silithids existed in the region, but many were incredibly hostile, lashing out at anything almost mindlessly and without thought or teamwork, uncharacteristic for the insect behaviors of the Silithids.

The Wastes were discovered first by Plaguebringer Rulkoff, the Scourge scientist and chemist hoping to observe areas beyond the Plaguelands or Northrend to find new and more deadly devices to wield against the world. While frequently assisting the Knights of Galathramas in gathering materials for their upcoming war effort, Rulkoff had eventually discovered the fungal region of what he named the Fungal Wastes and began analysis. He had his assistants carefully extract samples of the fungus from the Wastes, and had them brought to the Plaguehold for experimentation and further analysis.

However, in the Wastes, Rulkoff noticed the incredibly hostile Silithids inhabiting the region. Many were behaving in ways that didn't make sense for their species, and, more disturbingly, were covered in the growing fungus. Rulkoff hypothesized that this was a unique species of Silithid that had evolved to live in the terrain, an encounter with a particularly vicious and feral Silithid revealed that the creature itself was already dead, though the fungus had controlled it by growing on the brain. The fungus, like any other decomposer, was feeding on the corpse, but the husk of the Silithid held integrity for a long amount of time even after infection.

After the discovery of the Wastes, Rulkoff had multiple science labs set up in relatively safe areas for research. One was overrun by mindless Silithids, but the others were reinforced by Death Knights.