The Shadowed Death

In the year 1118 of the Age of Arcana, a strange plague swept through the Hollow Mountains. The healers of the House of Tranquility attempted to cure people with their traditional methods only for their patients to die weeks later despite having no remaining symptoms. It took nearly a year of joint research between the House of Tranquility and the The Halls of Vashana  to learn why. Syrfein Mlezzir, who was part of the research team, was the first person to realize that the disease was a curse while attempting to save his dying son.
Though any humanoid can be affected by the disease, the shadow elves were particularly susceptible and it negatively impacted their fertility even after recovery. It is nearly impossible for two shadow elf survivors of Shadowed Death to conceive a child together. As a result, very few full blood shadow elves have been born in Taureluum  since the plague and not a single shadow elf child has been born to the noble families in the last 45 years.

Symptoms

The observable symptoms of Shadowed Death include fever, confusion, weakness, and exhaustion. Over the course of the disease, the confusion grows stronger and stronger until the victim can't remember who they are anymore. The most dangerous symptom, however, can't be observed. A person's being is made up of their body, their spirit, and the binding force that holds the two together. The disease destroys the binding between the body and spirit. When the binding is destroyed, the soul is untethered from the body and is lost to the ethereal plane. The body is left as an empty husk, until it eventually withers away from lack of sustenance.

Treatment

Two stages of treatment are necessary to cure the Shadowed Death. The victim must be cleansed of the curse by a trained cleric or mage to halt the decay of the binding between the soul and body. Physical symptoms can be cured through magical means or a concoction of herbs and elixirs that treat the individual physical symptoms. It is impossible to resurrect a person who has been killed by the Shadowed Death. The soul can be drawn back temporarily, but it cannot bind to the body and drifts back into the ethereal plane.

Sequela

Even after treatment, the binding of the soul can never be repaired. This makes it very dangerous to contract the disease a second time, as it could be too late to cure by the time symptoms manifest.
Some victims with particularly severe cases may become permanently weakened and prone to other illnesses.
The Shadowed Death has a negative impact on the fertility of shadow elves, particularly with each other. Researchers are unsure why it affects the shadow elves in this way but not other races.

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Extremely Rare