Black bloat

The black bloat was a disease that ravaged Ondûn in the early Second Age. It was a wasting sickness, borne in stagnant water, that rapidly necrotized the interior organs. The name came from the way the victim's stomach would distend and then eventually rupture.

History

Night Wars

It was unknown whether the black bloat was manufactured by Thanatos as a biological weapon or whether it was a simple byproduct of stopping the flowing water. Whatever the origin, the black bloat was an epidemic among humans and orcs that dwelled in southern Auros, Sapphros and Obsidios. The first reported cases appeared in 1 2A at roughly the same time as the dead landed on those continents.

Second Age

Those few necrostates that persisted following the Night Wars each innovated their own way to combat the sickness. In Vhakizla, under the reign of both Caliphar II and Vhakizla the Valiant, necroglyphs were painted on the forehead of any living newcomer to the nation, to prevent them from catching the infection.

Campaigns

The Menagerie

• Vhakizla: Hired by the dracolich, the Menagerie were among the first foreigners afforded the necroglyph to protect them from the disease. It was Remorhaz who undertook the task of supervising the painting of each mark, to the troops stayed healthy.