Magsura's Decay
heresy made manifest
Also known as "Northerner's Curse", "Magsura's Curse", or simply "the decay", the disease leads to damage of the nerves, lungs, skin, and eyes and infects those tainted by the use of, or close associationto, magic. The nerve damage may result in a lack of ability to feel pain, which can lead to the loss of parts of a person's extremities from repeated injuries or severe infection through unnoticed wounds. An infected person may also experience muscle weakness and poor eyesight, and eventual death.
Causes
While not all magic use will result in the perpetrator developing Magsura's Decay, and while the majority of those with the disease protest their innocence, magical corruption of the body is clearly the obvious cause. Magic dulls the mind and taints the fulfilment of vi'tyaana, weakening the experience of life. The horrific effects of the Decay are a clear and perfect reflection of that internal corruption on the external body.
The evidence of the diseases cause is bolstered by it's early victims. The first cases of Magsura's Decay were documented in northern House Yeh traders who had recently spent extensive time with heretical members of House Joen'zi. Only weeks later, a group of House Kadhen diplomats who had been magically healed after an accident were similarly afflicted.
Historically, there were some brothers of the Zhoyaala of Vitality that posited that the Decay was not a curse, but instead a disease contracted from the environment similar to Ringeye or Hongpan's Evacuation. This was easily refuted however when whole families could share the same diet, water source, and live in the same house, but only one member would contract the Decay.
Symptoms
The first noticeable sign of Magsura's Decay is the development of pale or pink coloured patches of skin that may be insensitive to temperature or pain. Patches of discoloured skin are sometimes accompanied with strange sensations like numbness or tenderness in the hands or feet. While not every person with the curse experiences all the symptoms, they are many. The most common symptoms are: dry scalp; eye problems; skin lesions; muscle weakness; reddish skin; smooth, shiny facial and hand skin; loss of sensation in fingers and toes; a flat nose; changes in voice. In addition, atrophy of the testes and even impotence may occur.
Treatment
There is no known treatment for Magsura's Decay.
Prognosis
While contracting Magsura's Decay is typically deadly, the process takes many years and is extremely tortuous. The rotting of body parts, deformities, and loss of feeling leads to a horrific and monstrous life.
Cultural Reception
There is perhaps no greater condemnation of someone, than to have their heresy and betrayal of Giaan’lun made manifest in their very flesh.
While some minor houses have been known to execute those charged with Magsura's Decay (often out of mercy as much as punishment for their crimes), it is not commonly considered severe enough on it's own to warrant the death penalty. It is generally considered a far worse punishment to be forced to live with the affliction in one of the sequestered work camps set aside specifically for those living with the Decay.
Typically, family members are not considered guilty by association when someone is convicted of having Magsura's Decay unless there is secondary evidence. The convicted are almost always disowned by family however and considered yeojin sa.
In the very rare cases where children have been been afflicted with Magsura's Decay, the mother of the child at least, and perhaps even the father, are assumed guilty of heresy. Since only prolonged and close proximity to heretical, unnatural use of magic could cause the Decay, and a young child is incapable of being held responsible for their magic, even if they have recovered from their noeju ke'moajaa , the obvious source of their infection must be their parents.
Due to the extreme rarity, such cases are usually brought before a High House adjudicator and handled very carefully. In some instances both parents are branded and sent to a sequestered work camp with the afflicted child, in some cases the child is taken away and the parents not convicted at all, and in only a couple of rare documented cases, the child is put to death out of mercy.
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