The Gray Curse

Plague / Epidemic

The Gray Curse was a devastating plague which spread throughout Tajj Neta just as its cities began to grow to unprecedented numbers. The curse gets its name from the dry, gray paleness which would overtake patients' skin just before their death.

The Gray Curse killed a significant percentage of urbanized Tajj Netans during the time it was active; scholars estimate as much as 45% of all Tajj Netans living in cities perished due to it, while up to 10% of those living in more remote areas were affected. The plague caused a severe and sudden decline in the population and the pace of technological advancement of the time, and its affects are still visible today in many cities whose population never fully recovered, their infrastructures being built for far more people than they currently house: the city of Monyas is one such example, a settlement which once housed 10,000 people but now houses approximately half that number. Many cities during the time of the Gray Curse also built high walls in attempts to quarantine the plague, which was mostly unsuccessful but has resulted in impressive architectural feats which stand to this day. The Gray Curse was also the source of some of the communities now living in the canopy of the great world-tree of Kastatsz Tuszimos, who ascended from the earth to live amongst the branches, in an effort to escape the disease, and have remained there for the generations since.