Shimmer Skin

”The old woman was beautiful in a way she never was in her youth. Her very skin seemed to shimmer in the sunset, the angles of her face sharp and pulled taunt. If Teth didn’t know better, she would describe the woman as thirty and blessed by the gods. Instead, she looked in sadness upon the beauty in front of her. Within the next few hours, the old woman’s brain would crystallize, killing her instantly, just as the tiny crystals had beneath her skin.”
Account of Teth the Traveler

Transmission & Vectors

Shimmer Skin is passed primarily through a failure to properly insulate and protect oneself in the use of blood magic. When channeling large amounts of Micir sorcery through the blood without a buffer of external life sources, tiny amounts of Micir can slip through the arteries and into the tissue. If not ritually cleansed, the Micir begins to crystallize surrounding tissue through the blood. Contact with infected blood may also spread the disease.

Causes

Using blood magic to engage large amounts of Micir (Stone) magic without the proper ritual protections or relying only upon the caster’s intrinsic life source. Small amounts of Micir are deposited into the tissues, and if allowed to remain can begin the crystallization process. With the use of external focusing devices like wands and staves, the incidence of Shimmer Skin has fallen dramatically.

Symptoms

Shimmer Skin is a member of the Beauty Disease family, whose symptoms make the patient more physically attractive before ultimately resulting in their death. In this case, skin and bone is slowly transformed into crystal, giving an alluring shimmer and glow of health. The patient suffers no pain from this transformation, and in fact the Micir sorcery usually reverses and overcomes other afflictions the patient has. Mortality is usually caused by the crystallization of the brain stem or significant portions of the heart.

Treatment

Traditional Ilo and Excil healing Facets are often enough to heal the disease if caught early on. However, if significant crystallization has occurred, more drastic treatment is necessitated. Intensive treatment at the hands of priests and divine intervention is most commonly called upon, with mixed success.

Prognosis

If caught early, when only skin crystallization has occurred, survival is likely. However, when significant muscles have crystallized, resulting in increased strength and endurance, the chance of survival drops dramatically.

Prevention

Since the binding of the Inner Circles and the advent of common magic and external focusing devices, the incidence of Shimmer Skin has been virtually null. In addition, the practice of blood magic with the protection of a divine agent, such as the White Veil, grants immunity to the disease.

Epidemiology

Outbreaks, although very rare, are nearly always caused by the amateur use of blood magic outside of religious affiliations. This is especially dangerous because the afflicted rarely realize they have the condition. Upon their unexpected death, the corpse violently erupts in crystalline shards as the Micir consumes the remnant vitality unprotected by the dead mage. These bloody shards infect others, spreading the disease.

History

Shimmer Skin was most common in the Age of Light and millennia preceding the Binding, as blood magic was the only method of casting spells. Since the Binding, the disease has become incredibly rare, with only three notable outbreaks occurring since the Second Fall of Darkness.

Cultural Reception

While cultural knowledge of the disease has largely faded from the public mind, classically educated healers and blood mages retain keen awareness of its dangers. The afflicted are often unaware of their condition, which makes identifying and containing the disease especially difficult.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare