Barley blight
Fields of gold turned to rot, spotted black like a leopard's coat. That blight spread quicker than anything I'd ever seen before.A mere generation ago the barley blight took its hold in the domesticated varieties of the corn and swept its way across the fields. This especially affected the western side of Dlynaeth and some of the south. The blight is a fungal disease that first shows up as black spots on the ears of the grain which then quickly spread and cause the whole plant to become spoiled. As it produces many spores, the blight is easily spread by the wind and can quickly infect an entire field. To make matters worse, western Dlynaeth had been experiencing heavy winds and constant showers of rain that year which undoubtedly contributed to the rapid spread of the disease. It threatened to cause mass starvation amongst the Taesaf and several other folks and although that didn't quite come to pass, there are still a lot of people who experienced malnutrition stunted growth as children and are now smaller than they might have been. A significant portion of people didn't exactly starve but succumbed to illnesses they might otherwise have survived, adding even more to the noticeable drop in population. Their livestock suffered too and became prohibitively expensive as people struggled to keep their animals alive. In some cases, despite all they could do, the efforts of decades of careful breeding and beloved companions were lost. The memory of it still hangs over people and it was yet another spur to steer research into magical and technological developments into directions that would provide increased algricultural produce as western Dlynaeth scrambled to find other food sources to fill the gap.
Soren's current research, performed at the IMP's "Branch" facility in Chaem, is aimed at developing magical defences for the barley whilst Falyn's is aimed at breeding a resistant but still nutritious variety to aid in the hope that they will once again be able to rely on this crop in the future.
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