Lunnas
It begins with a chill.
Not uncommon when reaching shelter from the cold outside, thus why the first signs often go unnoticed. But these chills cling even when faced with the heat of a hearthfire and crawl up from under the warmest of furs. And when even food and drink still hot to the touch fails to bring a stop to the chill and the shivers, one might finally recognize the disease they have caught as Lunnas.
People of the Nightlands blame it on the frost folk, primal spirits who dance in the northern winds and bite on instinct anything and anyone they come across, whereas beneath the sharp peaks of the World Mountains or World Spine the explanations vary much more.
Whatever the cause, the only ones known to be practically immune to Lunnas are the miznar of the Nightlands, whose knowledge and control over themselves and their environment alone is said to turn away the northern winds where the frost folk live.
Symptoms
Chills persist throughout the progression of Lunnas, though they continue to grow in strength until either cure or death. It is the most minor of symptoms, yet consistently persists until it is the last sensation left.
Small, red spots which normally disappear soon after seeking warmth and shelter, grow white and later black. Located mostly in areas exposed to the outside, they grow in size and change in shape as they slowly take over the surface of skin, eventually turning it to dead, black tissue.
Body temperature begins to drop once the illness gains an upper hand over any defenses the body might have. At first this may be but a minor inconvenience, akin to the chills which plague the one affected, but over time the cold becomes worse and worse until it eventually turns into numbness, and a burning pain where warmth was before. As such, it is not uncommon for the ill to seek a place away from any fire or sleep without furs or blankets, even as they know it will only make their condition worse.
Finally, nearing the last stage of Lunnas' cycle, the afflicted may become dizzy and disoriented. They may have difficulty with various tasks and even have difficulty keeping their balance. Their thoughts, such as they are at this point, wander a lot - a trait often accompanied by general forgetfulness.
During the last few days when their heart still beats, one sick with Lunnas will find themselves cold and tired, and mostly asleep. To those who cannot find a cure in time, this is usually how death finds them. Cold continues to spill into the air around the body for a long time before and after passing.
Treatment
What can cure a case of Lunnas is not a secret often known by even the wisemen and -women of Tenwän wilds, and even more rarely by other people in other places. While Lunnas mostly affects those born and living in the Nightlands, they are also the ones most often in the know for any treatment available.
Magic and alchemy both have been used throughout the ages to repel and treat Lunnas, but in all cases heat plays an important element when determening success.
While the sensation of warmth can become torture to one suffering from the illness, it is nonetheless the best, if not the only, way to be rid of the disease. Warm food and drink, huddling beneath furs beside a hot fire, all of the things the sufferer is least inclined to enjoy or endure, keep Lunnas from advancing, or at the very least slows it down considerably.
The further Lunnas has advanced, the least likely any normal treatment is to work. Magic may cure the gravest of ills but sometimes even it is not enough to make a difference, particularly in the last stages when dizziness and numbness has taken over. And nothing can help the permanent damage done to one's mind and body even should the afflicted be cured with success.
Pronunciation
/ˈlunːɑs/
Translation
frostbite, chillbite
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