Curse Rot

Mostly found from mummies, this curse rot is almost entirely uncurable, and a guaranteed death sentence for those who are consumed by it.

Transmission & Vectors

Transmission is gained through direct contact with a cursed individual, in most cases a mummy or their victims during their incubation period.

Causes

In almost every case, an individual is cursed with curse rot through direct means, by becoming a mummy or true carrier of the disease, or through direct contact. Some spells are known to infect an individual with the curse, as are some evil deities on good people.

Symptoms

Coughing, Dehydration, Food tasting of ash in the mouth, Lack of appetite, Insomnia, Permeating feelings of dread for those around them, Hair Loss, and death.

Treatment

Because the condition is considered a supernatural curse, in order to break the curse, the infected must be blessed with breaking the enchantment or curse upon them before healing attempts can be made, within the same day, or the curse gains its strength back.

Prognosis

Because of how severe this disease is, after the first signs of infection, the infected will usually last no longer than 5 days without a cure. However, a timeline of events within those five days has been impeccably documented from afar.

• Infection: Usually caused by an adventurerer returning from a tomb where they encountered a mummy, and did not know of the cursed plague it carries. The adventurer goes forth for an entire day, speaking with townsfolk, and touching people inadvertently. This is how the plague spreads.
• Day 1: The first signs of the plague show after a good nights sleep, allowing the curse to seep into the body of its occupant. They wake up with feelings of dread, and a terrible cough that they can't seem to get rid of. The air itself feels dry no matter how moist it is, or how deep into wet country they may be. This persists for the rest of the disease.
• Day 2: The more serious signs of the plague show, and the infected starts to taste ash whenever they eat or drink. Their body begins to decay from the inside, and they start coughing up dry blood. The coughing itself causes insomnia at night due to the innability to fall asleep. This is usually the point where they seek medical attention, and infect more along the way.
• Day 3: The ash tasting in the mouth causes a full lack of appetite, and the infected looks to be wasting away, his skin tightening and cracking, lips stretched and stained red from the dry blood, and cracks appear along the surface of his skin, tounge, and inside of his mouth. Teeth may start falling out at this point as well.
• Day 4: The final day of the infection, where the infected is completely bedridden, his hair falls out in large chunks, and his skin and tongue crack, and if not helped in time, may fall out and turn to dust. If the disease is not cured by nightfall on this 4th day, the infected simply dies, and turns into a pile of dust.

Sequela

If one were to survive the plague and have it cured, there may be more complications dependant on what stage they were cured at. If they were cured on day 2 of the disease, they may experience a coughing fit, and are prone to infections in the lungs. On day 3, in addition, their skin, tounge, and tooth sockets are also prone to infection as well. On day 4, they become permanently bald, and have a chance of being tongueless due to the disease.

Hosts & Carriers

Mummies: Not affected by the disease.

Prevention

Avoid an adventurer for a minimum of 5 days after they fight a mummy. Ensure a healthy diet and exercise routine to fight off the possibility of the condition infecting you. Other means of disease prevention such as frequent hand washing and bathing regularly is also reccomended, but most likely not effective in most cases.

Epidemiology

The disease starts through direct contact with an undead. In the most well known case, a mummy. Because the curse only has a full day incubation period, most tombs for them are built over a day away to ensure that the populace can see the infection before they are infected by it. However, in the case that fails, usually an adventurer returns to town and goes to merchants, infecting them by selling them goods they retrieved. Local churches through various followers or even the high priest himself, can be infected by religious followers. Finally, more often than not, the infection starts from the local tavern that adventurers choose to visit, starting with the bartender as the most vulnerable, followed by his patrons.

Cultural Reception

Those who are known to be carriers are completely ostracized from every society. Even touching one is an absolute death sentence, and people treat them as such.

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Extremely Rare