Cocus Infemus: The Great Plague
A disease that decimated Faterra
They're all dead. Everyone's gone. The plague came and killed everyone. Mary. Gerald. Even Lily. It hurts to write, to even breathe at this point. I have to write this down... I don't want my soul stuck down here by not confessing my mistakes... Lily, I should've listened to you. When Father Robyn died, you said we should leave. You thought he had the plague and it was going to spread... I thought you were just talking nonsense but you were right. And I lost you and our kids because of it... (Blood smears cover several sentences) Gods, I wish I could take everything back. If only... (ink is smeared across the rest of the note)
Transmission & Vectors
From stage one, the disease is infectious. Ingesting infected flesh or fluid was the first transmission type when it developed in the swamps and bogs. After making the leap to mosquitos, they transferred it to sapient species that weren't immune to the bacteria. The main vectors were humans and they brought Cocus Infemus to the rest of Oterra and soon, the rest of Faterra. For sapient species, it can be transferred through droplet transmission and contaminated food, objects, and liquids.
Causes
When a person gets infected by the disease, the bacteria, known as Cocus Infemus quickly spreads throughout their body, replicating at a rate that the immune system can barely keep up with. The immune system will immediately attack, triggering the defense mechanism for the bacteria. It fights back and usually devastates the body, unless the body is aided by supplement potions and magic. In humid weather, common in Western Oterra, the disease will be even stronger since that is it's breeding ground and where the stronger strains exist. At first, the disease couldn't survive in the north but after infecting species such as the Snow Devils, it grew resistant to the temperature and spread to the north as well.
Symptoms
Physical Symptoms
- Fever
- Vomitting
- Muscle Ache
- Coughing
- Sneezing
- Headache
- Chills
- Dehydration
- Rashes
- Dry throat
- Intense Pain
Mental Symptoms
- Confusion
- Hallucination
- Enhanced Aggression
Treatment
Healing magic is able to subdue the illness for sometime. However, continued exposure to healing magic may make the bacteria within the host resistant to it. If it happens, the only option is alchemy. Potions have been known to enhance the immune system enough so it may fight against the plague. For a strange reason, the bacteria is unable to become resistant to alchemy, making it the best option. In cities, it's easy to find an alchemist who can make enough potions and sell them at a reasonable rate. When there are towns nowhere near cities, they have to rely on shipments, resident alchemists who may not have the supplies or the knowledge to make the potions, or suffer.
Prognosis
The disease starts just like any other annoying sickness: dry throat, coughing, and sneezing. If there isn't any immediate treatment, it soon progresses to chills and muscle aches. Due to dehydration, it'll lead to confusion and even enhanced aggression due to the intense pain if it ever reaches that point.
The unlikely outcome is life. If the immune system is able to combat the plague and the victim doesn't relapse, the victim will make a full recovery. They may have scars from the rash or soreness from the mess their body was just in but they will live. They're lucky that it was only that.
The other and very common outcome for the plague is death. It's a slow, painful, burning way to die. The victim's fever will reach temperatures that make them feel like they are burning from the inside out and desperately seek hydration. It won't save them as their body becomes unable to digest anything. Organ failure isn't far behind and the victim, if they haven't blacked out from the pain, die wanting to scream but in so much pain that they can't.
Sequela
Because of the intense strain their body was under, the victim is left vulnerable to other illnesses for some time. If they get sick during the recuperation stage then it is very likely they'll die. It'll be a better way to die than how they could've with the plague but it is death nonetheless.
Affected Groups
- All Ages
- All body types
Prevention
The best way to prevent infection is to stay away from infected objects, people and animals. This usually includes staying away from large cities and swamps and not buying products that come from places where the plague is a large concern. If exposure has happened then the next best option is healing magic and potions to stop the bacteria as soon as possible.
Epidemiology
Like most infections, the plague clings to trade routes and strikes population centers. Merchants and Sailors are always the first to spread the infection since they are exposed to the creatures that spread it the most. When they reach cities, it'll spread to the people they have contact with and the disease will spread exponentially.
History
Even the High Dragons don't know the origin date for the plague. There has been speculation that it was the disease that gave Kadembre, and by extension Salamanders, their high resistance to disease. However, it never spread outside of the wetlands of Kadem and western Oterra until the Oterran Rebellion. In the summer of 1203, rebels hiding in the wetlands caught the disease. Through battle and death, the disease spread to the Loyalists faction and refugees who left the area. The infected went west, leaving a trail of death and disease until they reached a goldmine for the plague: Abavale.
When the crossroads of Faterra received the disease, thousands were infected and died to the plague. Since the city was a center of trade, it didn't take long for it to spread to the rest of the world. Small towns who depended on the larger cities were hit, lowering populations to village level or even emptying them completely. Ships on the seas were found with the entire crew dead and these dead ships even landed in ports, spreading the disease once again. At first, only the southern half of Faterra was hit with Askia being spared. However, the bacteria had the ability to adapt to climates by infecting specific species. Snow Devils and Minotaurs served as the catalysts for the north getting hit by the disease and spreading even more death.
Eventually, the sick were either dead or cured, burning the disease out of every area. By the end of the plague in 1205, millions were dead. Thanks to the plague, the Oterran Rebellion ended with a victory for the loyalists but that was the only positive. The population of Faterra dropped, 1/4 of it killed by the disease. Trade slowly returned but it would take years before reaching the level it did before the plague. Money was an easy thing to fix... but people are another matter entirely.
Cultural Reception
When it came, many saw the plague as punishment from the gods. Religious fervor increased as people prayed to their gods for salvation from this horrible fate. The Hissan, a major religion in Kadem, received of converts and new members as Kadembre were immune to the plague. The Dragon Pantheon didn't have that luxury as a large amount of members were species susceptible to the disease. Radical groups once thought to be heretical grew in power and attacked non-humans who they blamed for the disease. In response to the Pantheon weakening, a cult known as the Church of Leviathans arose as an underground religious power.
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