Genusian worms

The scourge of Qautriplo and Demarton he was called. Adonan of Thenai, a renowned Stellian general who pushed back the empire when it tried to invade Stellios. He brought down the superior imperial army with tactics and deceit at the battle of Demarton. He was also a renowned admiral, crushing the imperial navy just north of Semar Harbour. But his campaigns did bring him more down south. South where sometimes, monsters and food shortages can be the least of your army's problems. Bugs, parasites, and horrible diseases are not unheard of in some parts of the south. Especially in Genusia.

Genusia

Genusia is full of horrible things, but one of the things that really fucked over the army of Adonan, were the Genusian worms. Parasitic worms that lived in an isolated pool, deep down in a cave. How they survived in a closed ecosystem like that is still a mystery though. A few of his men drank the water there, and within a day the symptoms started. The shat everywhere and keep puking. They could hold no food or water until they shriveled up and died. It only took a few weeks for them to die completely. But after some time, more kept getting infected. A malen friend of Adonan saw what was going on and warned him to quarantine the sick. The water they had been drinking was infected with eggs, that grew to immense sizes within a few days and laid a ton of eggs in the stomach content and bowels of the host. Eggs that would spread when they puked or took a shit. An autopsy on the dead soldiers confirmed this, most of them having a whirlpool of horrible-looking parasites in their stomach and intestines. But it was already too late, it had spread by hiding in deserters who wanted to get away from the worms as fast as possible, not knowing they had been infected too. The parasites spread all over Mithra. Most of the northern parts where safe, since the parasites couldn't handle cold temperatures.

Cure

But it was only a few decades until the first cure had been found. Besides, Wood-Malen, for whom a parasite like this only required rest and enough water, and other malen races who have a somewhat better immune system, the worms had been a scourge on whoever caught them. But the first cure that was developed was a rather weird one. An unknown scientist from Lakaath bred parasitic worms specially designed to kill Genusian worms. These worms would be ingested after which they would kill the Genusian worms. The problem was that you now had these worms in your intestines. They weren't harmful but would eat from your food and sometimes caused stomach cramps. The second cure was found a few millennia later. A potion that would simply get rid of the worms for you. These days the worms are almost extinct, which is a good thing since they're quite nasty.

Type

Parasitic

Origin

Natural

Rarity

Uncommon

Transmission: Water