The Season of Rot was a ceremony performed by priests of Hood in Unta during a pestilence. It culminated with the Thirsting Hour, in which the priests and acolytes of Hood stripped naked and covered their bodies with the blood of executed murderers. Thus attired, they roamed the streets in procession to attract Hood's sprites (or flies), which swarmed their bodies. Residents who were able sealed themselves within their homes, their windows shuttered and covered in cloth. Braziers were lit to burn istaarl leaves causing a billowing acrid smoke.