Sun hidden

I didn't choose to be born underground! Why have I to be punished because of that? I want to feel the warm of sunlight hit my body not feel pain...

— An afflicted

Sun hidden are called the people that cannot be under sunlight without consequences to their health. Most of them are born in families that have been living underground for generations and have the unfortunate luck of having their bodies suffer under sunlight, being unable to be under the sun without covering their skin or being hurt.

Cycle

Chronic, Congenital

Rarity

Extremely Rare

Affected species

Aquatilis, Dracolis, Terrelis

Man in black shirt standing during sunset by Nasim Dadfar

Causes

The cause of this condition is not fully understood. The affected seem to be chosen randomly, although it is more possible to be affected by the Sun hidden as more generations of your family have been living underground. This does not mean someone can have Sun hidden if they are the first of their family to be born underground.

Symptoms

There is not any mark that could let someone know that has Sun hidden until they are out in the sun. Only once they get under the sun for the first time, they realize how sensible is their body to the sunlight. Depending on their constitution, one might be able to stand under the sun more or less without hurting themselves badly. Their whole body reacts badly towards the sunlight:

• General skin - it gives a faint smell of burned meat although no signs of burning can be seen. It hurts, a constant pain that can only stop when covered from sunlight.
• Hair - the hair gets weaker and weaker as it spends time under the sunlight. If too much time is spent under the sun, the hair will start to fall; this happens everywhere on the body, with all kind of hair.
• Eyes - the sunlight is too much for them and the affected cannot see a thing when outside, going back underground makes them heal and go back to normal. If too much time is spent outside, they can risk becoming permently blind.

• Limbs - sunlight makes your body stress a lot, and your limbs let you know it. If too much time is spent outside, the limbs will stop working, entering a cataplexy state. They usually heal from this state when going back underground.
• Torso - worse body part to be let uncovered under the sunlight, specially the neck and the stomach areas. Both tend to bleed when under too much stress, causing the affected to spit (on lesser cases) or cough blood.

Most cases are not deadly. It can become deadly when leaving the torso uncovered, risking to bleed out or stress your heart and make it stop.

Prevention & Treatment

Covering skin works both as prevention and treatment. Going back underground or away the sunlight works as treatment as well, as the treatment needed is give your body time to rest from all the stress the sunlight gives it.

Giving the body time to heal (if already hurt) will, in most cases, heal back to normal unless too much stress has been given to the body. If there has been some permanent damage to the body, it cannot be reverse (such as being permently blind or losing hair).

Woman covering her face by Dmitry Ratushny

Epidemiology

While all species are suscetible of being born Sun hidden, some tend to have more affected than others. This happens cuz they tend to live underground more than other species and thus have higher probabilities. These species are: Elves (specifically the Kerpas ethnicity), Sirens, Kethar, and Wyrms.