The Ice Sickness
In 871, a disease called the Ice Wraith Fever spread from the north in Garthspire to the other two nations. It started with cold sweats and chills before moving into a deep cough that led to a "fog" slipping from the diseased's mouth. The magical virus was thought to have come from an unearthed tomb during one of the many expeditions there, and was brought back with the explorers and researchers. It had an incubation period of nearly a month, so figuring out who was a carrier for the disease and who was not, or tracing its source, was nearly impossible.
It had a mortality rate of 64% and wiped out about a third of the population on the continent.
The high mortality led to a wounded workforce, depleting the number of workers available in agriculture and other trades. All three nations faced a potential famine without people to work the fields and transport the food.
Luhren's workers' union, The Wrights, took advantage of this and pushed for more power for the working class. Workers of all skill levels and trades saw an increase in pay and other benefits, while those in the merchant class saw a decrease in power and wealth. Noctre eventually went back to the way it used to be, with workers only making a little more than they were before. In Garthspire, the workers actually lost ground initially, and it led to several riots, putting pressure on the king at the time to enact change in their favor or risk a rebellion.
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