Needing assistance with a name...

[ChasingSuns]

Hey so in my current story there is an evil substance that is sweeping across part of the continent. Everything that it touches either dies or becomes a form of undead, depending on the organism. The substance itself is a necrotic ooze-like substance. It is later discovered to be a sentient being who's creation is a byproduct of all of the evil energy from necromantic magics being used in the region.

So the problem is the name. I don't want it to have an actual name. I want it to just be referred to as a disease or something by people since they don't know what it is. My mind keeps going to things like "the Blight", or "the Netherblight", but these have already been used in some form. Any ideas of where I could find some inspiration for something like this?

 

[johnsonjoshuak]

I dont think you're going to find something that hasn't been used in one way or another. Do things die instantly or slowly over time? Is this thing visible or invisible?

You could always go with "the plague" or "the sickness".

 

[ChasingSuns]

I dont think you're going to find something that hasn't been used in one way or another. Do things die instantly or slowly over time? Is this thing visible or invisible?

It depends on how far away the substance is. It emits a miasma that travels pretty far, and it takes a while to die/decay from that. But if the ooze itself touches you then it's pretty much instant.

 

[acapes]

You could try the word 'blight' in other languages then adapt the results? (blight in Italian is golpe I think, so I'd start twisting it, galope, goele, golepi etc ect)

Even do it several times - for instance, maybe different cultures in your world each have their own names for this evil force?

 

[K.S. Crooks]

The Devourer, The Heart of Death, Demon's Blood, Blood of Death, Necroplasma

You said its magic-based in origin, but it would help people to know the setting of your story.

 

[Hainted]

The first thing that popped into my head was The Stuff (Like a bad 80s horror movie I watched as a kid about sentient yogurt)

 

[X Equestris]

The Corruption, perhaps? Not necessarily original, but it gets the point across. You could also modify things you've already thought of. The Gray Blight or Green Death or something. Color or the way in which it kills might be a good place to stop.

 

[WooHooMan]

I had a disease in a story that lead to the infected coughing-up black bile. So the disease was dubbed "The Bitter Black". Simple and it worked.

It sounds to me like you (and some other people in this thread) are trying to come-up with a name that's dramatic, vague and ominous rather than one that fits the disease. Think about its history and characteristic and try to make a name out of that.

 

[Shreddies]

How about the Creep?

No, wait. I think that's from Starcraft.

 

[ChasingSuns]

Think about its history and characteristic and try to make a name out of that.

That's actually exactly what I want. I definitely want it to sound like a disease, since they don't really know the truth behind the ooze for quite some time. I will definitely take a look at this, thanks!

 

[WooHooMan]

"The Corpse Tide"
When you describes the ooze, I pictured it as some kind of flood. Hence "tide".
Maybe the "Derelict Drink" - a derelict being another name for a ghost ship, a metaphor for the victims of this disease.
I've been researching nautical lore so I got boats on my mind.

I'm also reminded of the Elixir of Life in alchemy but with that as a reference, I'm only coming-up with really crappy names like "the Potion of Death" or some uninspired variation of "the blank of blank". Maybe you can think of something better.

 

[Bruce McKnight]

I think you should have multiple names for it. Royalty and upper class could refer to it by one name (plague gel?), scholars and academic researchers by another (remnant of necomagi?), and pig farmers and other slack jawed peons could call it something completely different (bogey jelly? the derp?). You could take it even further, maybe sailors call it something else (blightwater?), especially if they are from another country (corpsenblagh?).

 

[stephenspower]

"they don't really know the truth behind the ooze"

So, call it, as you do, "the ooze."

 

[Redgrave]

I would look at some languages. Or i would name it something relating to its source

 

[Laurence]

Remember that the people who named this 'miasma' have most likely lost many loved ones and would hardly feel like creating a name that reminds them of that fact (like a name with corpse in it).

I imagine the people also wouldn't give it a particularly poetic name. The only reason they name the thing at all is so that they can help each other avoid, not so that they can write stories about it.