Vol's Visions

Visions That Lead to Death

I swear I heard something last night that wasn’t actually there. My time has come, hasn’t it? Such signs will only get worse with time, so what else is there to do than to enjoy life to the fullest while I still can.

— Victim of Vol's Visions

Vol’s Visions is an incurable neurodegenerative disorder that affects almost all of the alcheni, causing them to suffer from visual and auditory hallucinations, which worsen as the victim ages. Other signs of the condition include involuntary movements, emotional disturbances, and memory loss, although such symptoms are far less common that the voices and visions. The prevalence of this disorder among the alcheni is the primary cause why most of them perish between the ages of 60 and 80, despite their natural lifespan being around 115 - 140 years.

Symptoms

I saw... humans, I think? It was all hazy and weird to describe. There were banners as well. Lots of colourful banners. Some in red and white, others in blue. I heard voices as well. Lots of voices in strange tongues that didn't sound like any I've ever heard before.

— Victim of Vol's Visions

The earliest signs of Vol’s Visions can be easy to leave unnoticed as they present themselves as subtle quiet creaks or the sound of faint voices. Unless the person experiencing such signs is completely alone in quiet, chances are that those signs will simply blend into the ambiance, dismissed as the chattering and noisiness of the victim’s neighbours. Such subtle signs commonly present themselves when the victim is in their mid-teens or early adulthood.

Middle Stages

When an affected individual has reached their late twenties or early thirties, their symptoms will begin to worsen. As they age, their hallucinations will begin to worsen and become more obvious.
At around this stage, the first signs of the other symptoms, such as the involuntary movements, emotional disturbances, and memory loss, might also present themselves in around a quarter of those with the disorder.

Late Stages

By the time an afflicted alch’s hair has gone grey, they will likely start suffering from the late stages of Vol’s Visions. Merely living will be difficult as reality will blend with the visions and voices in their head.
Many of those suffering from the later stages of Vol’s Visions report hearing a constant screech in their ears, like metal grinding upon metal. Fatal accidents and suicide increase immeasurably around the ages of 60 and 80.

Type

Divine

Origin

Divine

Rarity

Common

Affected Species

• Alchen

Connection to Vol

People have noticed that when an afflicted is outdoors and Vol is visible, the symptoms will worsen rapidly. After the connection was uncovered, many of those with Vol's Visions began to seclude themselves underground, as far away from the moon as they could get.
Both the moon and the neurodegenerative disorder are tied to Olícheril, a god with power over time and aging in the Pantheon of the Dawn. No one knows why the condition fell upon the alcheni, but Olícheril is believed to be the one protecting certain people from it while bestowing it on others.

Lost Knowledge

The moon that the people of Lethea call Vol is in reality a spherical space station that had carried humanity from Earth to Riel a long time ago. Some parts of the station are still operational and the alcheni are the only ones who are able to detect its signals.
The messages they recieve have corrupted and deteriorated over time, becoming impossible to understand and messing with the minds of those recieving them.