Shifter Rot

A rare magical disease that drives its victims mad before transforming them into feral, unpredictable creatures called The Oleyo.

Transmission & Vectors

All traceable cases point to injuries sustained directly from encounters with Shifter Worms, though not every injury seems to guarantee infection.
The infected do not appear able to transmit the disease to others, nor have any reports of infection arising 'naturally' been verifiable.

Symptoms

Affected individuals begin to demonstrate several symptoms which, if unchecked, will progress through 3 stages:
Stage 1:

• Strange dreams, often violent or traumatic

• Itching behind the eyes

• Fatigue from loss of sleep

Stage 2:

• Dreams begin to invade the individual's waking hours, becoming convincing hallucinations

• Sudden violent outbursts (usually due to a hallucination)

• Tearing and scratching at the eyes

• Enhanced vision, including into the ethereal plane, for short periods

• Confusion

• Sleeplessness and extreme fatigue

Stage 3:
Symptoms vary based on individual willpower, stamina, and sheer endurance, but can include:

• Feral/savage behaviour, even towards former friends/family

• Blindness (most victims gouge out their own eyes by this point)

• Truesight (among the rare victims whose eyes are still intact)

• Long periods of insanity, followed by periods of emotionless, cold reason (bearing very little resemblance to the victim's previous personality)

• Physical changes, ranging from the development of horns, claws, and fangs to entire muscoskeletal rearrangements (deformed limbs, exagerated proportions, etc)

By this stage most victims have either been killed or driven out of their communities as a threat to society. Those who survived the sleep deprivation, hallucinations, and self-injury of the second stage of the disease are often unusually strong individuals.

Treatment

If caught early enough, victims can suppress the symptoms and progression of the disease by wearing specific runes carved into stone or wood. As long as an individual is wearing the runes, they are able to sleep, think clearly, and avoid the hallucinations and violent oubursts of stages 1 and 2. By the time a victim is nearing the end of stage 2, however, such runes are rarely effective for long. However, they may help the wearer to survive to stage 3 and become an Oleyo.
A reliable cure is not known, though in stages 1 and 2 there have been reports of divine interventions, orchestrated by very experienced clerics, that have permanently eradicated the disease. The earlier such interventions occur, the greater the chance of success.

Prognosis

The most likely end result of this disease is death in stage 2 or early stage 3. Whether from the disease itself, self injury, or by the hands of others, most victims of this rare condition do not survive long enough to become an Oleyo.
For those especially resilient, strongwilled, or powerful individuals who do survive, life becomes an endless cycle between insane, violent ferocity and cold, darkly rational clarity. Rather than being destroyed, these victims become something else, a new kind of creature with little to nothing of the original person intact. The physical changes make them more beastlike, and any original personality traits vanish beneath the feral turbulence.
Interestingly, these new creatures, the Oleyos, are recognized as having their own unique role in the continued shaping of Relinqua, despite being fearsome symbols of unpredictability, violence, and insanity.

A Waking Nightmare

The rarity of this disease and its mysterious origin lends it a folk-tale quality, a story used to warn adventurers of the dangers in traversing the unknown. But its horrible realness is unforgettable to those who have encountered one of its victims...

Type

Magical

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• Humanoid Species of Relinqua