The Dungeon Fever
Among the adventurers of Amberia, there is fame, fortune, and satisfaction to be won in the Dungeon. Of course, to earn all of these things, the bold Dungeon delver will have to survive many dangers as well. One such danger is the Dungeon fever. This sickness is contracted by many adventurers with varying degrees of severity and the deeper they travel, the more likely they are to contract it. The sickness is as it sounds, a fever, but a fever which often renders the adventurer useless for several days as they battle it. No one knows for sure, not even the Gods, why the sickness happens and what it actually does to those who have gone through it. Most cases, while painful, are not fatal, but several theories propose that the sickness does leave some type of permanent change in the recoveree.
Demi-humans were not created by the Gods like humans, elves, and dwarves were. They are a newer type of race that doesn't share any specific characteristics, and seem to only born to human adventurers who have contracted Dungeon Fever. Medicinal theorists suggest the fever is wrought on an adventurers body due to the high level of exposure to magical energies within the dungeon. This magical energy permeates the body, causing permanent changes to the effected person's soul, which, for humans, can manifest in their children. The majority of the population has grown accustomed to the presence of demi-humans, but there are others who are grossly afraid of contracting Dungeon Fever for fear of having mutated children.
Elves and Dwarves also can contract the fever, and they tend to have a harder time recovering from the ordeal, though fatalities are still rare. When they do recover though, they often find their abilities in the dungeon are stronger than if they use them on the surface. Again, the theory is permanent changes have taken place in their bodies due to the fever and those races are able to resonate better with magical energies in the Dungeon.
Overall, among adventurers, the Dungeon Fever is seen as an uncomfortable reality and price they must pay for their adventures. Some even hope to go through the ordeal in order to become stronger. Despite this, there are some citizens who are scared of the permanent changes which take place from the sickness, and many of these avoid trying to become adventurers due to this sole reason.
Type
Magical
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