Glass Fever

It hurt so badly to hear her scream.
"No, no, no!" Methilem shouted, backing away from them. A rock turned under her foot, and she stumbled; it jostled loose a droplet of blood from the corner of her mouth, which made its way down her chin. She was flushed and shining with fever. "Get away from me. It's wrong here, we can't be here."
"Lemma, please," Siohtu said in a low desperate voice, inching forward slowly. "You need to get back inside."
"I won't let you near me," Methilem said, "I won't. I won't. It's not right." Siohtu saw the shimmer in the air as Methilem again tried to use magic to defend herself against whatever monsters she'd seen, and Siohtu again heard the horrible yelp as the magic was cut off by the stabbing pains of Glass Fever.
"Siohtu, we need to get behind her before she falls off the cliff," Haem muttered, eyes sharp.
"Yeah, I'm sure that'll go over well," Siohtu said under her breath. "But it's either that goes over or she goes over. Get ready to dodge."


A chronic condition caused by obsidian poisoning. Common in craftspeople who make obsidian tools, and in fighters stabbed by obsidian weapons. Especially dangerous to witches.

Causes

Glass fever comes from repeated, long-term exposure to mountain glass -- the local name for obsidian -- which usually happens when a shard or shards of mountain glass work their way under the skin or into the blood, or when the dust from knapping obsidian knives gets into the lungs or food.

Symptoms

It starts with mild dizziness and disorientation, a raised temperature, a sense of dread or panic. Other symptoms -- from least to most severe -- are lack of coordination, fatigue, delirium, tingling or "static shock" feelings in the skin at random, numbness and weakness in some or all limbs, uncontrollable cramping and twitching in the muscles, a sense of "burning" in the lungs or blood, acute hallucinations, internal bleeding, loss of vision, and seizures. Those who have gotten it from breathing in obsidian dust will also experience restricted breathing, stiffness and pain in their lungs, and a persistent feeling of being out of breath. Those who have a shard of obsidian somewhere in their body will experience slicing, burning pain and internal bleeding where the shard is if they jostle the shard.
The more severe the condition is, the greater the disorientation and panic will be. One of the common warning signs that people keep an eye out for is someone who is usually calm crying or panicking unexpectedly. Those who've survived it say that it felt like everything about the world was somehow off, like everything was just slightly the wrong color or gravity was at the wrong angle, in a way that was deeply panic-inducing.
The other big warning sign is a sense of sharp, full-body pain in the nerves and joints when trying to do magic, which gets more severe with the condition.
Severity of the condition is related to how much obsidian has gotten into the body. Breathing in obsidian dust is usually less severe that having shards that work their way under the skin.

Treatment

The condition will subside when the obsidian is removed. Unfortunately, this can be difficult. If it's a single large piece of obsidian or several small shards, as long as you can find it, you can remove it. If it's dust you breathed in, getting away from obsidian dust will eventually cause the symptoms to fade. If you can't find or remove the obsidian pieces? Then this person is never getting better. Luckily, they generally won't get worse unless they somehow get more obsidian under their skin. However, depending on their severity, this means that they'll live out the rest of their lives in pain, confusion, disorientation, and persistent, ongoing panic. The only treatment for them is to make them as comfortable as possible.
Or a mercy kill. That's pretty popular, too.

Prognosis

If it's caused by breathing in dust, you'll eventually get better -- sort of -- as long as you don't keep breathing it in. If it's caused by shards under the skin, you'll get better once the shards are removed. If the shards can't be removed, you'll just continue to suffer, but it won't kill you unless it gets worse. If it's bad enough that you're experiencing internal bleeding, and the shards can't be removed quickly enough, you will die, usually from lack of oxygen, blood loss from internal bleeding, a fever that gets high enough to cook your brain, or a seizure severe enough that you break something vital or it causes cardiac arrest and brain death.

Sequela

If you got it from breathing in the dust, you're going to have difficulty breathing and a persistent cough for the rest of your life. If a shard sliced through a tendon, or you tore something during a seizure (and still managed to survive), or you hurt yourself in some way while panicking and hallucinating, then you'll also live with the physical consequences of that.

Affected Groups

Anyone can be affected by this, but witches are hit the hardest when they do catch it. Attempting to do magic usually aggravates the symptoms.

Prevention

Wearing a mask and gloves while making obsidian tools, carefully checking over stab wounds from obsidian knives to make sure that any shards are removed.

Cultural Reception

Since it's not actually contagious, people don't fear the afflicted. They're pitied; if you can't find a way to remove the obsidian from their bodies, or if removal is impossible, then the afflicted are doomed to a painful life, followed by a death that comes as a relief.

Type

Chemical Compound

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon