Resting Death

The resting death is a virus which affects many living in southeastern Natua, from the Southern Horn up to southern Tajj Neta, and it is slowly spreading across the continent. It is a respiratory infection that is highly infectious when active, but can remain dormant within its host for a very long time. In some cities, such as Tentened or Kutas, the Resting Death sits dormant in practically every citizen, awaiting a chance to activate and take over. Once the virus activates, it is nearly always a death sentence. Furthermore, if someone with the virus resting within them gives birth, there is a high chance that the child will have the virus as well. Most places that have been heavily affected by the resting death have taken measures to attempt to lower the rate at which it activates, to prevent large, concurrent outbreaks.

Transmission & Vectors

There are two ways that one can acquire the resting death: being born from a woman with the virus, or being in close contact with someone with an active infection. Most infections are from birth. If caught as an active infection, the most common way is airborne transmission caused by coughing.

Causes

Nobody is certain what causes the resting death; some say it is divine revenge, others say it is an ancestral curse from those who inhabited the lands in the before times. Some say it is caused by intense heat, and still others say that it is transmitted by nocturnal animals. The resting death does seem to be more common in areas that are very hot or humid, and transmission is easier in this sort of climate as well.
The activation of the virus is most often caused by intense physical or mental strain on a person with a latent infection. Viral activation can be caused by stress, anxiety, traumatic experiences, grievous wounds, or even other mild infections which may weaken the immune system. Because activating the virus can be so dangerous, most who know that they have a dormant infection try to minimize the likelihood of activation by living slow, peaceful lives, and practicing trades which are not so hard on one's body as to weaken it.
Most who live in a high-risk area are assumed to have the dormant form of the resting death from birth. The only way that one can know for sure that they do not have the resting death is if their mother had the virus and and was able to overcome it, either by naturally surviving it or by magically treating it.

Symptoms

Major symptoms of an active infection include coughing, fever, muscle aches, hysteria, seizures, vomiting, and insomnia, and the virus often leads to death. Symptoms of a latent infection are very difficult to identify, and most who live in high-transmission areas are simply assumed to have it, unless they were born of someone who they know for a fact was not infected.

Treatment

There is no consistently effective treatment for the resting death, although some have had success treating it with clerical magic in a holy place. Many who can afford to do so make the pilgrimage to Dzedz Kanat to seek treatment from the divines. Otherwise, most treatment involves having the patient rest as much as possible in bed, in a low-temperature area.

Type

Viral

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Common