Varrex's Legacy

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Varrex's Legacy serves as yet another reminder of the Empire's complete disdain for our people. That they would hate so deeply and so completely to keep anyone else from having access to the beautiful and amazing knowledge of the arcane is just one example of why the Great War was such a necessity.

— A Shar’elum Mage

Overview

Arcane sickness is the commonly known name for the bio-mystical condition known as Varrex's Legacy, sometimes referred to as Varrex's Vengeance. It results when wizards channel of rivers of magical energy that have been poisoned. While not fatal, Varrex Legacy is extremely painful for its victim.

Progression

Stage 1: Neurological Feedback

Within the first few minutes of channeling poisoned arcane energy through their body, the patient will begin to experience extreme headaches and nosebleeds. If enough poison is channeled through the caster's body (which can build up over time), the disease will progress to its second stage.

Stage 2: Physical Manifestation

In its second stage, typically within a few hours of the initial onset, painful blister-like lesions will begin to press through the wizard's skin. The lesions fill with a glowing blue pus - the physical manifestation of the mystical energy - as it binds to their person. The pus has been determined to be highly contagious, passing from one Kynekin victim to the next by physical contact. When these blisters rupture, they release additional poisoned energy back into the world, thus ensuring and amplifying its ongoing impact.

Stage 3: Bio-mystical Feedback

Should the mage endeavor to cast additional spells, the blisters react violently, creating a direct link between the target of a spell and the caster. The result is, in addition to the already excruciating pain caused by the lesions, the caster feels an any and all negative impact of the spell. That is, the disease reflects their own spell back upon them.

Treatment & Prevention

There is no known treatment for Varrex's Legacy. Over time, the concentration of mystical poison in ones body will drain, and the caster will fully recover. The best way to prevent the disease is also the best way to recover: avoid channeling arcane energy.

Type

Magical

Origin

Engineered

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon

At great personal cost, I hired a group of reclaimators to locate and recover the Opmal Varrex, or Notes of Varrex. Now, deep in my personal Weymont library can be found one of the only known copies to survive the Great War. You are welcome. Of recent, members of House Vogrem have shown a particular interest in the work. I cannot help but wonder what they are planning.

— Randall of House Weymont, Dwarven Historian

History

Varrex Dahl was an Elven mage of the Order of Satrekke, born in 782 1A. When the Kynekin peoples who had unified under Amari Wa'la rebelled against the Elven Empire in 832 1A, Varrex's parents were among those to fall at Stoverj. In response, he made it his mission in life to leave a legacy that would exact vengeance upon them for generations to come.
As you are likely aware, the Empire controlled access to the arcane arts with an iron fist. When it became clear the Kynekin were bent on obtaining those secrets to leverage against their former masters, Varrex turned to the work the Satrekke mages had conducted over 700 years prior. His research began with the eradication of the magic-feeding species known as the mahktala fly. In that work, conducted in 124 1A, the Order had devised a way to poison the rivers of magic flowing through the world such that when the mage flies fed, they would ingest the poisoned magic and die.

The Opmal Varrex by dream by WOMBO

The spiteful Elf adapted the ritual with several key enhancements, which he documented in the body of research known as The Opalum Varrex. First, he improved the potency of the poison, increasing it such that with much smaller doses it would have greater impact against much larger creatures. Second, he increased the half-life of the spell, that its duration, once triggered, would plague the victim significantly longer. Finally, he somehow discovered a way to manipulate it to only work against Kynekin, thus rendering Humans, Dwarves, and Elves immune.

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In response to Cato's
Mixing Symptoms Challenge (Group 1)

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