The Harvest Plagues

The Harvest Plagues were a series of resurgent fungal plagues that struck Kupena in unusually warm years from [year - year].

Symptoms

Physical Symptoms

The physical symptoms of Harvest Plague are similar to other severe fungal infections: crusted and oozing sores, cysts and masses, which can eventually prove deadly if they grow in major organs. In extreme cases, it additionally causes necrotizing fasciitis which can also lead to death.

Susceptibility to Charm

While the physical symptoms of the fungus are severe, they are also relatively slow acting. While sores can appear within days of exposure, by this point the first and arguably most insidious effects have already taken root in the patient's brain, manipulating it to be more susceptible to any form of persuasion, and especially Charm magic of the kind used by spell-singers or Razan magicians.

Transmission

The Harvest Fungus's spore takes the form of a gold-sheened particle which might be mistaken for plant pollen. Inhaling the spore, consuming a polluted food or drink, or having it come into contact with an open wound can all lead to infection. Because of their susceptibility to forceful command and charm, infected individuals have historically been used by unscrupulous armed forces/magicians as soldiers, spreading the plague and thus growing the army as they fought.

History

Emergence in Kupena

The contemporary theory for how the Harvest Fungus was brought to Kupena is, like so many things, by dragons, in the case of the fungus, in about [year]. Unlike most born-humanoid diseases, to which dragons are nearly entirely immune, it is possible for dragons to be, at the very least, carriers of the fungus, and potentially die from it, though few such deaths are recorded.

Association with Raza

Type

Fungal