Greenvein

Transmission & Vectors

Transmitted most commonly via the inhalation of pollen from magical or awakened plants, ingestion of their unadulterated/brewed leaves, or from their thorns/spines coming into direct contact with the bloodstream - particularly those growing within the Feywild or around an active portal to that plane. The spores from select fungi native to the Elemental Plane of Earth can also carry the disease, but this is much rarer to contract, and the fungi strain becomes less virulent over a short timespan if the affected creature leaves that elemental plane.
Either way, the advanced stages of the disease are relatively rare in healthy adult humanoids as their constitution is normally hardy enough to combat the infection before it becomes lethal, and the early stages of Greenvein does not dull the wits or cause infirmity in a way which would make it hard to seek treatment. Once contracted in an individual, it does not spread between humanoids themselves.

Symptoms

• STAGE 1: As the toxin works its way through the bloodstream, the individual's veins turn green and raise under the skin (hence the name) which becomes papery and noticably more pallid.
• STAGE 2: The initial 24-48 hours are the make or break point for the early stages of the disease as the infected person experiences a severe fever. In almost half of cases by the time this fever is over, the affected person's immune system will have effectively halted the progress of the disease and have begun to flush it out. In these cases, the person makes a full recovery with no further issues.
• STAGE 3: Individuals who come out of the fever with a persistent case of the infection develop painless raised brown bumps on the skin in rings outward from the infection site, alongside the green veins. They may also exhibit a hardier constitution, and an increase in dexterity and vigour, but this can be accompanied by headaches and dulled cognitive function. Lasts for 2-4 weeks.
• STAGE 4: The skin becomes whiter with a green tinge, and the individual begins to exhibit further 'benefits' such as the ability to speak to plants, spontaneously being able to grow or manipulate plants (see the Druidcraft cantrip), and eventually the raised brown bumps can release prehensile vines (as with the Grasping Vine spell). Lasts from another 2-6 weeks, depending on the vitality of the individual.
• STAGE 5: At around the 10-12 week mark, the headaches and dullness of mind resurge and the odds of a positive outcome sharply decline unless strong magical healing is sought out immediately. Fatigue and memory loss are common, with pain reported in the limbs and chest in the last stages. Once the brown bumps have spread across the body the fatigue becomes consuming to the point of unconsciousness. At this point the infected person has at best 8 hours before a simultaneous eruption of vines occurs, they die, and the infected person's form becomes that of a young tree native to the region of the person's birth. A rough outline of their original body remains visible in the trunk.

Note: In the event of a resurrection spell being cast upon the resulting sapling, the tree will usually appear to 'spit out' the body before it returns to life.

Treatment

• Magical healing - spells (Greater Restoration) or potions ('Superior' quality and above).
• Select anti-toxins (First 24-48hrs only).
• Exposing the infection site to (or dousing the body in) the environmental background energy of the Elemental Plane of Fire.
• Putting the infected person in magical stasis will contain the advancement of the disease for as long as the stasis persists.

Affected Groups

The most commonly affected individuals are those who belong to professions or otherwise have lifestyles which involve having to handle the infectious plants on a regular basis, as it greatly increases their exposure risk. Druids, alchemists, woodland hunters, frontiersmen, professional adventurers and those who frequently travel across the various Planes are most often the ones who fall victim to it.
Regrettably there is also some historical precedent for deliberately infecting a population with Greenvein as a form of biological warfare.

Cultural Reception

The early phases of the disease (i.e. the exhibition of powers similar to those of Druids and the temporarily improved vitality) are generally recieved positively, and for people who do not know the ultimate outcome or do not recognise what they are infected with, it can even be seen as a boon. Knowledge of it is common for anyone who has had formal medical training, and it becomes a fairly high priority to treat when healers encounter it due to its lethality, however. Those eventually lost to it are usually relocated to a graveyard or similarly remembered according to the customs of their place of residence. In some corners of the world, those who strongly believe in connecting with or 'giving something back' to nature will voluntarily infect themselves with it and wait for the disease to run its course, building out entire groves of ancestral trees instead of graveyards.

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon