The Red Rage, and the Fury that Follows

Young Thomas Addlewood awoke one morning to discover red spots covering on his face. No, not red spots, but red rings, the color of scars with an unaffected portion of skin at its center. He was rushed to the city doctor, who reached into a glass jar and pulled out several slimy, sickening leeches that were then attached to the center of every ring on his face. After painfully extracting Thomas's head from the creatures, he was poked and prodded and forced to give samples of spit, blood, and urine. Being known as a soft spoken well mannered boy, it was surprising when he flew into a rage, throwing everything within reach against the walls and floor, screaming curses at the doctor until he was dragged away by the city guards.



Thomas Addlewood was the first contractor of the deadly disease known as the Demon's Bullseye, or the Red Rage. Symptoms of this disease are red ringed spots on the skin, bloody noses, and feelings of dehydration and irritability, leading to feelings of intense anger. It was noted that the more intense the outbursts of anger, the more quickly the victim succumbed to the disease. Some theorize that keeping one's cool will slow the final outcome, while others claim that the more intense outbursts are just signs of a worse case of Red Rage. Although, to this day, it is unknown how the disease started, it is passed on through physical contact and close proximity to sick individuals.



The holy men and women of the city announced that these ailments were the cause of possession of evil spirits, and made it their mission to exorcise the spirits through many different and sometimes inhumane practices. When the disease was passed on to the holy men and women, they quickly recanted their previous statement, stating that it was simply a disease and no more exorcisms were necessary.



The cure was eventually found to be the consumption of the moonlight lily, a flower found in Wisp Wood Forest, a territory belonging to the elves. Extracting these lilies (an almost sacred plant of the elves used in many ceremonies) from the forest caused much conflict between the two races and war broke out until a frail treaty was signed on both sides. The disease is more or less under control, but to this day you can hear children running about and chanting a rather morbid ditty

Count the red rings on your face, throw a tantrum and then race,

To the forest- dodge the elf, find the lily for yourself,

Eat the lily and then pray, you'll live to see another day

Your mother will cry when you're dead, because you ate a weed instead!