Curse of the Hyaenii

I watched as they forced his mouth open and shoved strips of flesh into the baker's mouth. They were discoloured, sickly orange instead of grisly red, and they seemed to burn his skin, leaving oily black welts where they brushed his cheek or dripped. They caged him with his family, and over the next hour, they tried to comfort him as he wept, clutching his stomach and writhing in pain. He started to change. His hair thickened, his face distorted, his legs, arms and joints twisted and lengthened even as his fingers shrivelled into long black claws. By the time the monster that had been Bern got to its feet, his wife and little boy were screaming in the corner of their little cage. Those screams have haunted me ever since, even against the slaughter and mad laughter that followed, those screams of loss and hopelessness are ones I hope to never hear again.

~~ Talerian the Brandbreaker, Paladin of Bellicorus

Transmission & Vectors

Rituals known only to the Malari are performed on human flesh, which are force-fed to selected victims.

Symptoms

Once ingested, the body begins to break down the alchemical and magical agents contained in the tainted flesh, which then force their way into the body, imprinting the new form onto the brain and catalysing the change. The flesh-warping magics take hold and complete their work in roughly one hour based on the size of the victim.

Treatment

Removing the flesh from the stomach completely and immediately is vital to the prevention of the hyaenii transformation. The fastest way to do this is to cut open the stomach and remove the flesh. If the transformation has already begun, a spell to remove disease may remove the last of the reagent, and a spell of greater restoration may be enough to reverse any morphic alterations already begun.

Prognosis

In all cases to date, the controlled nature of the application of the disease has resulted in a 100% infection rate. All such transformations are considered lethal.

Sequela

At the successful completion of the disease, the victim is consumed by the Curse of the Hyaenii, and is transformed into a member of that Malabrandi slave race.

Type

Magical

Origin

Engineered

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Rare