Riftgut Disease
Eating meat from foreign realms may leave you with more than an upset stomach.
With an influx of new (and mostly unwanted) wildlife thanks to rifts opening up all across Melior during The Rupture fifty years ago, hunters have joyfully picked up their bows, spears, and traps to take down riftbeings of all shapes and sizes.
Many folks hunt for bounties, other hunters do it for the strange pelts and trophies, but a lot of folks did it for the free game. However, it is now illegal to consume rift-meat in many regions of Melior as folks who have have become ridden with horrible afflictions and diseases that surpass any common stomach bug.
Riftgut was one of the first recognised foreign diseases to enter the world from another realm. It's a horrible condition that is caused by eating untreated riftmeat, and causes extreme illness, and to make matters worse, the only known cure for the illness that has been recently developed give a wasting side effect condition of Riftbane Rattles. Overall, it’s a horrible experience.
Symptoms
The effects of this condition can last anywhere between 5 days to 2 weeks until wearing off naturally.- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Blood in the vomit
- Dizziness
- Expulsion of mucus from the sinuses
- Diarrhea
- Bloating of the stomach
Long story short? If it isn’t native to Melior - DON’T EAT IT. Don’t trust any riftmeat butcher who tells you otherwise!
Type
Bacterial
Beware these FALSE CLAIMS - none are guaranteed as safe!
- Cooking the meat for over 12 hours
- Cooking the meat in alcohol
- Curing the meat in any method
- Washing the meat in alcohol or vinegar
- Casting purification spells on the meat
- Cooking over an arcane flame
- Just eating it raw
- Eating it with silver utensils only
So, seems very unpleasant, but not usually lethal. How much of a dose would it take to virtually guarantee death? Or is any sufficient dose deadly if uncured for long enough? So... Is there a guaranteed way to 'cure' rift meat before eating? Even if it's not commonly known or practical? I mean, marinating it in riftbane potion overnight might work, but you'd still probably get the rattles part, right? I only ask because if there's something out there that's even remotely edible, you can bet that there's some rich idiot who wants to figure out a way to taste it. Now I want an OC, perhaps 'the shuddering duke', who's constantly shaking and hallucinating because he just loves hit rift meat too much to give it up.
Riftgut disease doesn't cause death on its own, but the severity of the symptoms can cause further complications if mixed with existing poor health, and diarrhea can cause extreme dehydration that can lead to a horrible end. I love the idea of a Riftmeat Connoisseur! I'm sure many folks have been experimenting with ways of curing the meat for safe consumption - I'll add this to my to do list of articles to explore :D