Hunter's Paralysis

Hunter's Paralysis is the common name for a singularly unfortunate illness in which the victim transmutates into a bronze statue, from the inside out.

Transmission & Vectors

The initial infection vector has not been conclusively determined (see Causes). However, what is known is that once the infection has taken root in a victim it can be spread by touching any part of the afflicted's bare skin.

Causes

Initial Victims The cause of Hunter's Paralysis is hotly debated by scholars, doctors, temperance campaigners, and the liquor industry.
The first three categories in the above list agree that the illness is caused by repeated and excesive exposure to demonic souls of the Mammonite order. All known initial victims of Hunter's Paralysis had a long history of imbibing the demon drink in order to enhance their ability to find gems and other precious resources in the Vaults and had recently become possessed before succumbing.
Representatives of the liquor industry argue that all known initial victims were also Vault Hunters (ergo the name) with extensive exposure to that other dimension, which is already known to cause other biological and spiritual changes. Their case is bolstered somewhat by the fact that many people appear to undergo Mammonite possession every day without ill effect, aside from the attendant hangover.
Collateral Victims What even temperance campaigners and liquore industry representatives can agree on, however, is that once someone has succumbed to Hunter's Paralysis they are highly infectious. As family, friends, and colleagues of sufferers discovered to their sorrow, touching the bare (former) skin or bodily (former) fluid of a victim will spread the condition rapidly. These collateral victims fall to bronzification within hours. This presumably accounts for the ghastly incidents in the villages of Tolucaque and Kirkhampton.

Symptoms

The only definitive symptom of Hunter's Paralysis is bronzification. Victims' bodies begin to harden and transmutate into bronze, beginning with kidney stones, moving on to the kidneys themselves, then to the other internal organs, and finally--rapidly--to the afflicted's skin, spittle, and even clothing.
An intriguing commonality between victims, however, is the co-occurence of unusual cravings for metals paired with what appear to be accurate premonitions of the future in the weeks before bronzification.

"In my interviews with patients' friends and family, many recalled the patient suffering what were thought to be nightmares or delusions of a dark garden filled with golden figures, in which they stood frozen. As several of the patients were also noted to have suddenly developed preternaturally good luck with cards and an apparent 'second sight' for danger in the Vaults, these 'delusions' raise alarming questions about the possibility that Hunters Paralysis patients retain some form of consciousness post-bronzification.
I recommend that patient statues, which are currently quarantined in His Majesty's lily gardens, be in future moved to a different location so we may observe if future patients' delusions change and thereby improve our understanding of this insidious disease."

-from "On Hunter's Paralysis and Consciousness After Death," by Scholar Midas of Old York. Stamped "Rejected."

Again, of course, it behooves us to be cautious. Representatives of the liquor industry point, and again quite correctly, to victims' shared profession of Vault Hunting, which requires a certain degree of obsession with locating precious metals. Hunters are also known to be heavy gamblers, and those close to them may remember their last days (and the luck experienced therein) with unwarranted fondness.

Treatment

As the Temperance movement regularly reminds the public, there are no known treatments for Hunter's Paralysis once bronzification has begun.

Prognosis

Fatal, notwithstanding existential speculation on the nature of consciousness after "death"

Prevention

The only guaranteed method to avoid Hunter's Paralysis is to avoid both entering the vault dimension and consuming Mammonite-tinged demon drink. For those reluctant to live with these strictures, it becomes a question of individual tolerance for risk, as initial victims have varied fairly widely in their exposure to the two aforementioned risk factors.
It's probably fine to do either thing. Once. Probably.

Cultural Reception

Hunter's Paralysis is a subject of macabre fascination for the public. It has been the subject of several (implausible) illusion plays and radio drama, some more lurid than others. Particularly notable is The Death of a Sculptor, which inspired multiple public lecture campaigns by doctors and scholars urging the public not to touch--much less conduct sexual relations with--anyone undergoing bronzification.

by But No Cigar

The Temperance movement has seized upon Hunter's Paralysis as fuel for their campaign again the demon drink. They are supported by the scholarly and scientific consensus that it is more likely that contact with Mammonite demons specifically, rather than the Vault dimension generally, causes the condition as no hunter without an alcoholic history has contracted the disease. The recent uptake of Mammonite possession as an aid to business negotiations provides a possible future test case, as someone who has never entered a vault contracting the disease would rather put the liquor industry's increasingly feeble protestations to bed.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Rare