Purple Blood Plague

For the consequences of this event see A waning Titan

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Excerpt from Noble Demise by Bareon Amadis

In all my years as a scientist studying the myriad afflictions that torment humanity, I can say with utmost certainty that this is one of, if not the strangest case I ever had the dubious honour of witnessing. The affliction seems to go against anything we have believed to know about diseases. Like all of its kind, the plague follows a basic structure, multiple phases of symptoms following each other. The severity of the symptoms is similar in all noted cases and does not differ in severity between young and old.
What makes this case so different is the fact that it only and I repeat with utmost seriousness and honesty, only affects members of the high nobility. Every single case noted, is a member of one of the twenty families known to be part of Vardanian high nobility. Emphasis on Vardanian. Ferans seem unfazed and we have zero reports of the affliction from any of the colonies.
This makes no sense. It is generally accepted that the upper classes have a higher resistance against plagues due to better hygiene, diet etc. A disease capable of affecting and killing most of the nobility would usually wipe out large swaths of the lower classes as well. Yet, even extensive research has not managed to document even a single case.

You cannot do it! I have worked on this study for over a decade.
And the community appreciates both your work and dedication. Nevertheless, on orders of the council, I will confiscate all your material relating to the affliction. Should you attempt and spread anything, not on the council approved list there will be...consequences.

— Confiscation of Amadis' materials

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Purple Blood Plague

21st of Apris 2179 DA

In all honesty, I envy those that have no true idea of what the Plague is truly like. They know the nobles to be sick. They know of the deaths. How every patient dies two weeks after showing the first symptom. But its what they don't know. How could they? The soldiers burn the bodies as soon as they lay still. Oh, how I wish I could be as ignorant as them.
When I first arrived in those luxurious homes, all I found where corpses. Pale but not as you'd imagine. They seemed almost grey, their bodies frail and thin. I feared they would turn to dust every time I so much as touched them. When I cut them open, I was greeted by a disgusting stench. Worse than any decaying corpse. Even those that died a mere hour before I arrived, contained such a breath-stealing stench. And their blood. Oh, gods their blood. The common people call it Purple Blood Plague due to it affecting only the highest of classes. But it is true. Their blood, it is purple. Gods, such an eye-burning shade. Such an unnatural shade.
the next few lines are unreadable
Worst of all, the final case I was called to. The emperor himself. One of the last victims alive. I think, only a handful of nobles were still clinging to their last breath. The emperor was no different. He barely clung to life. A frail, almost grey figure. He talked. Whispers, horse and...I cannot describe them. His voice sounded dry. Like sun cooked papyrus crushed by one's hand.
I don't think he recognized me. He talked rapidly. Switching between frantic apologies to already dead people and prayers to...any god he could think of. I accompanied him for his last few hours. Sat by his side, unable to do anything more than observe and note down how the plague entered its final stage. I saw whatever remained of his health fade. How his skin grew paler and greyer with each passing hour.
Unreadable lines
I don't know why I stopped observing and started to listen to his words. Maybe I just wanted to give this poor man some dignity in his final moments. Have his final words not disappear into the air. Truly, I wish I hadn't. Even now, I can feel myself shiver and overcome by grand hopelessness. Because I know what happened. Know the full truth about these abominable events.
It had happened during the emperor's grand birthday celebration. Far out in the northern forests of Vardania, all those of name and fame had gathered, to feast and hunt. unreadable text. Something had crashed into the earth, a good way from the palace.
unreadable sentences For reasons unknown, his words echoed in my mind for days after. That rock. That infernal rock. It did this!, he would repeat over and over. Maybe it was his eyes. Those dry, brittle eyes. unreadable text. I visited that place in northern Vardania. It is dead. The few servants taking care of it during royal absence...they too are nothing but grey, brittle corpses. unreadable text I was unable to spend even an hour longer there. Fleeing down the road like a man possessed.
I checked the lists. All those affected by the "plague" and all those having visited the feast. They are identical. I have no doubt anymore. This dreadful thought that has been gnawing at my soul for the past few days. This is no plague. No illness. No affliction. Something did this to them. Came down with that stone and dripped into the palaces water system. It possessed them. Came over them like a beast. Drained their life and left nothing but frail, brittle and grey corpses, oozing with stinking purple liquid.
unreadable text
I asked my friend, General Gerion to destroy all roads toward that place. It is a remote place. No one would ever come close unless actively seeking it. And I hope no one ever does again. unreadable text It is a thought that hasn't let me sleep. It is still there. Still in the earth and water under that cursed palace. Lurking and waiting. Perhaps it is feeding on nearby wildlife. I could not help but feel...watched while there. As if something was stalking mem ready to strike. It still there. It is still there. Oh merciful gods, this menace from the stars still lives on this earth.

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Type

Report, Scientific

Authoring Date

2179 DA

Location

Vardania - The Northern Daughter

Authors

• Bareon Amadis

Signatories (Organizations)

• Archive of Tarquinnia

Noble Demise by Bareon Amadis
Despite the severity and abnormality of the events of the year 2179 DA, the plague known as Purple Blood is rarely discussed in academia. The most comprehensive and frankly only work concerning the topic was written by Medicar Bareon Amadis.
His book on the disease, is a combination of his personal reports, eyewitness accounts as well as his own musings. While it is available to anyone, the book seems to be missing a chapter. This has been explained as the result of a fire that claimed Amadis' home in late 2185 DA.

by Francis Goeltner