Midas Paralysis

Midas Paralysis¹ is a debilitating disease that is believed to be caused by complications with various illnesses, such as Amber Pox. Due to the nature of this condition, it is difficult to determine the first reported case, or the intial origin.

Symptoms:

• Golden blotches
• Joint stiffness
• Muscle pain
• Joint pain
• Weakness
• Numbness
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• Locking of joints
• Metallic taste in mouth
• Golden blood
• Slowed movement
• Brain fog
• Shortness of breath
• Lowered heart rate
• Paralysis

Course:

The first symptom of Midas Paralysis appears within a couple months of recovery from Amber Pox. Golden blotches begin to appear upon the skin, usually around the joints. Shortly afterwards, joints with the golden blotches begin to become stiff², although not extremely so at this point. As time goes on, muscle and joint pain appears, followed by weakness and numbness. The blood begins changing color around this time.
Up until this point, the progression is very slow, but once the weakness and numbness appears, the disease speeds up. The infected will soon suffer a loss of appetite, which leads to weight loss. Eventually, joints begin to lock up on occasion, making moving them difficult, if not impossible. 
The afflicted will begin to have a metallic taste in their mouth, and their blood will have turned a golden color. This will lead to slow movement, brain fog, shortness of breath, and a lowered heart rate. Over time these symptoms will worsen until the infected is completely paralyzed. 

Prognosis:

Midas Paralysis is always fatal³, however, it takes many years to spread from the intial stages to even the joint locking stage. Some people may take as many as thirty or forty years to get to the final stages.

Cure/Treatment:

There is no cure for Midas Paralysis, but there are some treatments. The most effective is taking redstar berries that have been eaten, partially digested, and regurgitated by a flame raven⁴, boiling them, and mixing them with mashed blackroot. The resulting paste can be rubbed on the golden patches to slow the progression.⁵

1. Named for King Midas of myth, as he turned his daughter to a gold statue, and the disease turns the skin and blood of the afflicted person a gold color. -Scribe
2. This is the stage I am currently in, the mild joint stiffness. -Scribe
3. There is a possibility that we may be able to discover a treatment that will slow the progression of the disease enough that the affected person can outlive it. -Scribe
4. Yes, it's gross. Yes, it works. -Scribe
5. As this is a recent development, no one knows how much this treatment slows the progression.