the Requisition

You seem useful. Needful. You wear your wants and hide your dreams.
You will be part of our glorious achievements.

— whispers

The Requisition is a magical plague of bizarre origin most known for how it swept across Xin-Jiyu in the late 2300s, blitzing across the continent with supernatural ease (most likely because it was, indeed, supernatural). Unlike most plagues, which tend to inflict physical illness upon their victims, the Requisition focused on healing its victims of physical ailments, only for this healing to later backfire into a near-total loss of will as the victim's mind was - well - requisitioned.

Beginnings by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

This is the part where you're likely wondering what's doing the requisitioning. And perhaps what the hell 'requisitioning' means when applied to somebody's mind.
Those who fall victim to the Requisition are akin to those afflicted with powerful enchantment spells. Their consciousness is limited, wearing a warped view of reality that dances to the beat of the plague's invisible drum. They are driven into flurries of activity - spurred into creative endeavours such as painting or sewing, but occasionally spiralling into repetitive conversations with limited understanding of what is said back to them.
Yet what they produce is not what they would make were they to use their own mind. Their creations are basic, their flaws evident even to someone untrained. A machine will miss obvious cues to its function, a painting will miss limbs, and a garment will have sleeves where none should exist. They create, yes, but they do not understand their creations.

Worse: they do not know how to stop.
The Requisitioned are still present within their minds. They can be broken free of their Requisitioning, though the process is not without danger.
Once called, though, the call remains. Only the certainty of Death can free the Requisitioned - or so it is understood, for none have yet to report that empty gaze watching from behind Death's gates.

I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Could you try rephrasing your question?

— requisitioned human

Transmission & Vectors

Hello! I love your clothing. Would you like me to make you something else like it?

— requisitioned seamstress

To make contact with someone Requisitioned is enough for them to notice their new potential target, and to speak with them is to dance with danger. Requisitioning cannot spread unseen or unheard; it is a cognitive danger, not a physical one. Quarantines have always proven effective in preventing a Requisitioned person from spreading their condition: the problem has always been identifying it first.
The initial transmission of a Requisition outbreak, however, is nothing alike that which later spreads. There is no infected immortal who continually reinfects those who come near it, nor is it a curse passed down from hidden deities.

Exploration by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Instead, it is knowledge. Embedded into ancient sculptures or paintings, traces of long-past Requisitions linger with no sign of their potency ever fading. While modern researchers believe they have found means to cleanse this, those afflicted with the Requisition go undetected for so long that they leave behind an uncertain trail of potential future outbreaks.
This is, naturally, a headache to deal with.

Causes

How does one determine the cause of something that cannot be determined because of the very thing it causes?

— frustrated cleric

Despite now having many a way to discover and - to some extent - treat the Requisition, uncovering its root cause is rather challenging because of how the plague spreads. Getting close enough to an already-Requisitioned entity to be able to study it has an almost guaranteed chance to spread the condition to the researcher, at which point their discoveries cannot be trusted as their words begin to fall victim to the insidious condition.
It is thus presumed that the original cause of the Requisition is either an extraplanar outsider or something of their creation that possesses significant cognitohazardous properties.

Listen by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

The entity in question - or perhaps entities, if any are involved at all - has thus far evaded all attempts at interrogation, divination, or detection.
The most recent attempt, undertaken by a psychic mage who had recently arrived in Jaidhan from an unknown location in the Sunari Wilderness, resulted in six deaths as a small adventuring party of Requisitioned heroes arrived to halt the attempt (notably one of the rare occasions the Requisition defends itself).
It has also been suggested that this supposed original cause is the reason that attempts to fully extinguish the Requisitioning from potentially reappearing never succeed, despite excessive quarantine measures.
Why it tends to limit itself to Xin-Jiyu, nobody is fully certain: even contaminated items usually only activate the Requisition in those hailing from Xin Jiyu.

Attempts to connect this original source to the Unbroken March have proven fruitless, which seems to confirm that the Shard was not involved as the connections would otherwise become clear.

Symptoms

I think I'd like to draw today. I've been in a creative mood lately!

— unknowing infected

The early stages of Requisitioning manifest nigh invisibly, especially in those with existing creative tendencies. Slowly - on a scale of weeks to months, and rarely even years - the infected individual begins to exhibit a much stronger passion for creativity.
This does not necessarily mean they'll immediately be good at what they do, nor does it mean they'll pick up anything particularly out of character. A blacksmith might take more time with engravings and jewelcraft, while a hunter might pick up wood whittling for the pauses in their day.
Only when their symptoms intensify to far more noticeable levels does this increase in creativity become apparent for what it really is.

Typically, this is when their creativity becomes obsessive in nature. They begin working through the night and ignoring both social and biological obligations, focusing entirely on their work.
While this could have a few causes, this shift is also the breakout point for the condition's other classic symptoms to appear. Their tone begins to shift in affect, becoming flatter and slower. Their accent fades, becoming something clear and neutral, their vowel tones crisp and distinct. They pay less attention to their surrounds, sharply increasing the amount of accidents they get into by dangerous amounts.
So long as they survive, between the accidents and the ignoring of their own needs, then it shall only go downhill from here. Steadily, their vocabulary and emotional range shrink, and they no longer recognise those they previously would. Internally, this is where their mind is being disconnected from its "controls", allowing something else to take over. Something to which they listen without hesitation, that commands them to create.

Devoted by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

They are left shells of themselves. No longer fully thinking and with their ideas only coming from vague impressions stolen from other minds and passed through this connection, their hands craft imitations of what their mind once was able to paint. They wander wherever they are commanded to, and should they be left unattended for too long, may simply go missing - collected by mages also Requisitioned, and teleported to parts unknown.

Treatment

You can't free them from the tether, not even if you mindwipe them. But what you can do is wake them back up, and lock that thing away to where they never have to listen to it again.

— healer

Fortunately, it's possible to break the Requisition at any point of a given Requisitioning with the exact sort of magic that is usually presumed to be its cause in the first place: enchantment. A powerful mage - divine mages being preferred, though as psychic magic gains a foothold, it is presumed to be superior - must enter the mind of the affected individual.

Mind's Chains by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

The exact manner in which the healer in question is able to remedy the Requisitioning is always left vague, for it apparently changes for each person. Roughly, though, they must disconnect the strands of Requisitioning from the affected individual's mind, prevent the Requisition from calling back out to the mind, and - most importantly, or the individual will be left mindless - reconnect the mind with its body.
As this is a quite complicated task for any one individual to perform, a ritual has been developed to allow one primary caster - the healer - to bring along assistants. These are frequently either other mages with helpful abilities, protectors who can defend the healer against any dangers that might exist in an individual's mind, or those who are intimately familiar with the affected (such as friends or family).
Sometimes, it's easiest just to send in an entire adventuring party (with expert supervision). When sufficiently motivated, they're very good at fixing problems like the Requisition.

This doesn't remove the Requisition from the individual. No way to do this has yet worked: attempts have only proven harmful. However, so long as the victim is able to maintain basic mental fortitude and nothing interferes with the locks upon the Requisition's call, there's not really much chance of it re-affecting them. And if it does, well, the same security measures will work again if done anew - the details might just change a touch.

Prevention

Well, for one, don't go poking around weird sites without any security. Especially don't just start poking things. And if someone you know is acting bizarrely, don't just listen to everything they say!

— exasperated archaeological site lead

Preventing the Requisition comes down to effective safety measures and check-ins with others. While avoiding the initial infection can be challenging if one is required to interact with strange areas or unknown magics, those who aren't working in these fields should try to avoid dabbling with unfamiliar artefacts until they have been verified as safe.

If uncertain about a particular statue, painting, or other item, seeking assistance with verification from experts is going to be a far faster process than risking yet another Requisitioning epidemic, even with the diplomacy involved.
If noticing that something is off with a peer, then raising that to a local medic is a good idea. Checking for the Requisition is an easy process, one made more simple by a series of diagnostic spells developed in Galasthin after a previous epidemic.
Should there be no mages nearby, quarantining those that may have the Requisition and observing their behaviour can reveal the condition and buy time for help to be sought from larger civilisations. Keeping an eye on one another and not blindly trusting that one's friends are alright will both improve everyone's mental health and hopefully prevent the Requisition from sneaking in unseen.
There's no guarantee, but being careful helps.

Quarantine by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Where an outbreak is suspected, though, the first step that must be taken should be an immediate notification to any surrounding settlements. Letting others know of the breach allows them to shore up any defensive measures they have, and allows aid to arrive far more swiftly. Attempting to hide symptoms of the Requisition may result in a far worse outbreak!

Requisitioned by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Extremely Rare

Affected Species

• Humanoid

Previous Outbreaks

Given its insidious nature, it should come as no surprise that most outbreaks of the Requisition are far larger than anyone would like.
The most significant of these was the epidemic in the mid-2300s, when Meihua dominated much of Xin-Jiyu.
It is said to have begun upon the Tulaant Steppe and rapidly spilled across the continent, capturing the minds of thousands in quick succession.
The leadership of Meihua was in much disarray at this time, and the Requisition was extremely poorly known as this was its first widespread outbreak.
Their reaction was slow: while their mages were fortunately able to stop it from reaching the ruling classes upon Kaihua, the frenzy of creativity spread rapidly throughout the empire.
Bizarrely, it even contributed to a number of border skirmishes falling into odd stalemates (and eventual wins for the Empire as their reinforcements arrived).
The epidemic crashed against the northern reaches of the continent like a tsunami, catching Galasthin, the area that would become Soniuch Zan, and their surrounds by surprise. While they were quickly able to recognise what had happened, reacting was more challenging when one could not easily tell who was infected.
By the time allies from across the Talmian Range were able to assist in quarantining and healing those affected and the epidemic was finally halted, well over a decade after it began, it is estimated that well over four million individuals disappeared to the Requisition.
Their bodies have never been found. None are entirely sure what happened to those that disappeared.
This epidemic significantly contributed to the artistic legacy of Xin-Jiyu, however. Countless buildings, statues, paintings, and other treasures owe their provenance to individuals affected by or mentored by the Requisition, either currently or previously.
It spurred on a creative renaissance across the lands, steadily influencing cultures upon other continents and beginning a global time of grand creation.
When the influence of the Requisition was eventually found within many of these creations, it both proved the hypothesis of where the condition came from and simultaneously raised the risk level of virtually every Xin-Jiyan archaeological site - a risk still apparent to this day!

Performance by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Will you help me test my new spells? They will help you.
I promise.

— Requisitioned victim

Dangers

While it may seem on the surface that being Requisitioned is relatively harmless, this would only be the case if we did not know there is far more to it than what we currently understand.
Those who are Requisitioned can die of simple lack of ability to care for themselves, yes, but they can also vanish. Death tolls for epidemics are not measured in deaths alone, but also by the number of people who disappear with no trace.
Magic does not operate without trace. Conjuration, the usual school of teleportation, can explicitly be detected and pursued.
Whatever power is granted to those who take their fellow Requisitioned, it does not allow detection. Their teleportation is not teleportation; it follows a set of rules that is utterly opaque to the rest of Istralar.
The real danger of Requisitioning is the uncertainty it leaves in its wake. Are you being creative, or has something far greater than you sought to claim your mind? Is this a simple painting, or does it hold an unknown risk?
What has happened to those who leave? How many are still alive?
Where do they go?

Protection by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

I've started calling them "bots". They act like Vexua's creepy androids when they're freaking out, except we're pretty sure Vexua ain't behind this because even they asked for help when it hit them.

— scholar