Withering Blight

The History

When Fezzeret fell, the Chaos Beast crashed into the ground and his bones sank deep into the earth. Terras and her Earth Touched worked together to move the very terrain and landscape to properly bury him and keep the bones incased deep below the surface for good. As the body of the beast decayed, pure chaotic magic that made of the Beast's very being was absorbed by the land. It created a type of magic for the people to tap into and access should they take the time to learn, hear, and master it. It is said that those with the talent to do so have the ability to hear the magic's heartbeat. A reminder that while Fezzeret may be gone, that which made him whole, and the very embodiment of chaos, will survive eternally.  
However, these magics are not without their consequences. While only a few individuals have the gift to hear the heartbeat of the land it is important to note that tapping into the magic of the land always has its dangers. Chaos is unpredictable, and, for those who went too far and tapped too much before understanding the power at their fingertips, Whithering Blight is an all too familiar side effect.
When the magics are called upon, a sacrifice of some sort is always required to maintain the delicate balance to keep them in control. It is important for a practitioner of the earthen magics to start small and build up in power as they learn what is necessary to keep that magic under control. Those that take on too much before they are ready often cause a waterfall effect on anyone and anything in the surrounding area as the magic consumes everything and anything hungrily- turning matter from order into chaos itself. Living things, both plants and animals, will slowly but surely over time dissolve into chaos as well. 
This effect is remnant of the ways the ancient fiends, Fezzeret's children, consumed living things when the roamed and ruled the land, seas, and skies. Rather than simply eating, they undo their food- using the essence of life itself as sustenance. Whithering Blight has become more and more prevalent in recent days due to Narne's use of dark chaos magics and her summoning of the spirits of those ancient fiends. Even a dead fiend craves the essence and souls of the living. Any fiend must feed. 
Those fighting her forces on the front lines or have been forced from their homes by a fiend spirit have recounted that people stricken who narrowly escape the fiendish attacks with injuries caused by them will slowly but progressively die as the magic energy itself continues to feed and dissolve its host. Over the last decade, there was little to be done for the stricken of the condition beyond a quicker and more merciful death. 
However, recently, with rumors of the faith returning to the Old Gods, a possible cure for this condition has come around.

A New Cure from Lost Magics

Ignea, the First God, the One Who Listened, the Lady of Destruction and Rebirth, was not only a god that was championed as a fierce and powerful warrior but also a healer. She saw the horrors and the undoing that the Chaos fiends had caused on these people and summoned her magics and energies to combat them. One must also create if one is to destroy. It is her philosophy of the circle of destruction and recreation that she takes most of her power. Those who were well versed in her healing magics knew that if something was coming undone, then righting the track and pushing the sufferer back into the circle would stop the cycle of undoing. 
While this may seem confusing to a number of contemporaries who have lost the knowledge of many of the teachings of Ignea, those who are now fighting to restore her power have found collections of her stories and teachings in order to grasp a greater understanding of what once was. Her magics are the only kind that has been known to be effective in stopping Whithering Blight's consumption. However, so few know of or practice her healing magics that finding one that does know them is incredibly rare. But, as word of its effectiveness spreads across the warfront in the Eastern Corner, so has the desire to restore her religion and become faithful to her once again.
The only known cure depends on the growth and knowledge of divine magics. It is a hope, however, with the assistance of the Northern Corner coming to the aid of the Eastern one that a definitive cure can be found by combining Ignea's magic with the professional pursuits and studies of alchemy- creating a miracle in a bottle for those who suffer the undoing first hand.

Type

Magical