The Taint

Transmission & Vectors

It can be transmitted through contact with darkspawn blood and fluids, or through objects imbued with the taint, such as eluvians. The contact does not automatically make one sick, but there is a great chance of it.
Taint also manifests as spidery tendrils of black rot, along with a dry shiny film covering underground passages used by darkspawn. As the corruption progresses, it gathers into black sacs the size of a man lining the floor or hanging from the ceiling.
The taint that emanates from the body of an Archdemon is specially strong compared with that of other darkspawn, and many would-be slayers have died on the spot simply attempting to penetrate the foul malaise that surround such creatures.

Causes

The taint is a corruption spread by the darkspawn that ultimately makes the victim hear the call of the Old Gods.

Symptoms

The taint spread by the darkspawn corrupts the living. Many who have contracted the Blight sickness die within hours. Others wither away slowly from a "wasting illness". In its more contagious form the disease is often referred to as "a plague". It is spread by Blight-touched rats far beyond the areas directly affected by the Blight and can be sporadically seen centuries after it. An entire species of animals can die out from the plague.
The infected are often segregated and/or locked up. In some areas doors of their homes are marked with a yellow circle. Many are killed as a precaution or an act of mercy, or abandoned to their fate.
The taint that emanates from the body of an Archdemon is specially strong compared with that of other darkspawn, and many would-be slayers have died on the spot simply attempting to penetrate the foul malaise that surround such creatures.

Treatment

Death

Prognosis

Death or becoming a darkspawn

Sequela

The taint is a corruption spread by the darkspawn that ultimately makes the victim hear the call of the Old Gods.

Affected Groups

All races and animals

Hosts & Carriers

rats

Epidemiology

Entire species can be killed

Type

Magical

Children

• The Call

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Common

Affected Species

• Archdemon