Cinderskin

When the first people contracted this disease, they did not die swiftly. Inside out, their bodies burned, the end result being open wounds of scorched flesh. The disease brought many names with it. Two prominent names are Sight Fire and Idren's Revenge. Most, know of it as Cinderskin.

Transmission & Vectors

Most healers would say that when Idren's Forge aligns with Old Idris, no one should look to the sky. The heat produced from the two suns on that day is so intense that it causes the sickness. It first affects the sight of the victim. The afflicted are blinded and stepping into the sunlight causes their eyes great pain.

Symptoms

The fever begins as a discomfort. It presents in the abdomen, the eyes, or the extremities. In the rarest of circumstances it may present in all of these areas at the same time. A burning sensation, described as being similar to holding one's hands above an open flame, can be felt upon contraction of the illness. After a time this sensation becomes unbearable until one day the feeling subsides and numbness remains.

Prognosis

Stage One: Victims are driven to madness. They shut themselves into the darkest places they can find as any beam of sunlight continues to cause debilitation. Then the symptoms subside. They regain their eyesight and colors are more vivid.
Stage Two: After a time, madness fades too. They attempt to rejoin those that walk in the sun but the afflicted are disfigured from their ordeal. Painless sores begin to appear all over their body and the smell of burning flesh is never far from them. Most buy perfumes and silks to disguise their slowly decaying bodies. Some religions have the diseased put their affliction on display. This stage can last an individual's entire life.
Stage Three: The vivid colors they experience become brighter. When the afflicted sees light, it seems to move of its own volition. Hallucinations continue to become more and more grand.
Stage Four: The loss of sight, extremity, or organ. In dire cases, multiple losses. There is no physical pain experienced but the emotional toll can be heavy.
Stage Five: Most do not arrive at stage five. For those that do, the last stage is brutal. The numbness from pain subsides as their bodies attempt to fight back. As long as they did not lose their eyes during stage four, they regain their sight but the colors that were once vivid have dulled to tones of grey. The afflicted remain in pain for the rest of their lives, lucky to have them, but with a constant reminder of their ordeal.

Sequela

Signs and symptoms of the disease include: Open sores that appear as burn wounds upon the body, a smell of creosote or the smell of a doused campfire exuding from the afflicted, blackened tears.
Complications for the disease: When the afflicted turn to the shadows to help mitigate the pain of their condition, they unknowingly have sealed the fate of their eyesight. For some of the infected, this initial coping strategy increases their lifespan while they have the disease. The span of time that stage two lasts can cover the entire lifespan of an individual in this way.

Prevention

The stars are monitored throughout the world's bastions of civilization. Those that continue to walk in the sunlight during the first stage of the disease retain their vision later in life and their eyes are not affected during stage four.

Cultural Reception

Knowledge of the disease is far and wide and often the smell of someone afflicted with the disease is enough to make a diagnosis.

Type

Supernatural