In the cruel, post-apocalyptic world of Neo Scavenger food can be really scarce but the opportunities to fight are plentiful. Because of that, it comes as no surprise that some of the characters are willing to eat anything, including the corpses of fallen opponents. Some will do it willingly, while others might find themselves in a situation dire enough to leave them no other choice but to either eat the man-flesh or die of starvation.
Whatever the reasons, obtaining and preparing of human meat is, mechanically, no different than those of other animals and creatures. All the character needs to do is to carve up the humanoid corpse with something sharp (via crafting menu) and cook the resulting meat chunks over the fire. Meat obtained from humanoid corpses will be, however, marked by a "(human)" discriminant at the end of the item's name.
Examples of humanoid corpses are Looters, Bandits, Raiders, and Melonheads.
Dangers of Cannibalism[]
While a large and easy to obtain (especially for combat-oriented characters) source of sustenance might be very tempting, there are certain dangers coming from dealing with human flesh.
Public hatred[]
A player trying to sell even the smallest piece of human meat at the Junk Market might end up in big trouble.
During the first try, the local butcher will quickly recognize macabre origins of the meat being sold and will react very badly, warning the character that he will not tolerate this in his shop. The character will lie that he did not know where the meat came from and after taking away the meat (by buying it back from the market) he is allowed to leave.
A second attempt to sell human flesh on the market will make all the nearby bystanders so angry that they will immediately lynch the character to death.
Mental effect[]
From the first bite the character will start to feel the subtle difference between human meat and any other food. Whatever he thinks of it, following that road might have a lasting, degrading effect on his psyche.
After his first cannibalistic meal the character will discover that the meat tastes subtly different and that he likes what he can feel but also suspect that most people would not be able to see the nuance of that. After some time has passed, upon continued consumption the character will discover that he developed a real taste for this particular kind of meat and it is only kind of food to satisfy his hunger. He will feel better than those who do not understand his passion. That is the last call for those who would prefer to return to normality.
If the player continues to eat human meat, after few days, upon another meal the character will discover that he can only be satisfied by that kind of food and become obsessively afraid that it will somehow run out, and there will not be enough for him.
From that moment on, the player's character will become incredibly gluttonous. His hunger will grow drastically - his nourishment bar dropping much faster than before, faster than hydration bar usually does, going from full to starvation in two days. This change is most likely caused by some sort of arcane or mystical source as it can occur even when the player character does not know the origins of the meat.
It is worth mentioning, that regardless of his claims that the character in this state can only be nourished by human meat, he can eat all kind of foods just fine.
Treatment[]
It is possible to get rid of your ravenous hunger by talking to an ATN warrior when you are in the last stage: You will be given the choice to go to the ATN enclave and be cured, or eat the guy. The 'disease' trait is presumably called 'Wendigo'. (Clarification needed)
The wendigo mention is in reference to the medical term "Wendigo Psychosis". Wendigos themselves are "ghouls/demons" that embody the idea of gluttony/greed for human flesh.
Wendigos are said to be so ravenous for flesh that some have eaten their own lips in the lust for flesh. It is also said that humans that partake in human consumption are at a greater risk to be possessed by a Wendigo.