The Scourge

The Scourge is the Durranian term for a phenomenon that exists across the entire world; a series of stationary, seemingly random loci wherein magical energies flow in greater abundance and concentration than anywhere else across the world. Swirling with mystical properties of all sorts – though, from what little study has been able to be conducted and documented on instances of the Scourge, the energies typically bear the most similarities to those pracitced by Aetheromancers, Sanamancy and Carnomancy in particular – the instances were once thought to be living beings of a species among the Ur-Fey, though are now most often believed to be semi-living clonglomerations of creative energies rather than individual beings in their own right, as Scourge instances have not been known to exhibit either sentience nor physical presence by any of the limited research which has been conducted thus far.
Similarly, it is unknown whether individual instances of the scourge are 'linked' together in some way or if each is an entirely separate form. A controversial viewpoint from Kardan academia posits a "mushroom theory" wherein instances of the Scourge are only the visible portions of a more full-formed entity which grows throughout a purely mystical realm which we cannot tread or perceive in much the same way that entire forests of mushroom growths may sometimes be connected to the same plant, but the validity of such views is unknowable with modern technology and sorceries.

The Scourge's Effects on Life and the Environment

It is not known what, if anything, occurs within the centerpoint of a Scourge instance, for no sane scholar has ever been able to stand within. Mystic, creative forces of natural sorceries – the same sort believed to have spawned the modern species of Fey, and which are channeled by Aetheromancers healing or reshaping flesh – exude outwards from the locus of these Scourge instances, warping, shifting, and mutating all living matter around it. As the size of this influence varies with the size and concentration of the Scourge instance itself, there are no standard distances across instances at which one is safe from its warping influence, though most which still exist in the modern era have existed similarly for centuries upon centuries beforehand, and natural borders have developed in their wake.
For younger, less developed Scourge instances, the effects on the surrounding environment will be minimal in comparison to those more ancient bundles of swirling sorceries: plant and animal life alike are likely to flourish around these instances, but may mutate in more subtle fashions or simply, when taken as a whole, showcase a mix of flora and fauna which would otherwise be unlike to occur within a certain area of the world or to cohabitate under more natural circumstances — anything from saltwater fish in freshwater lakes to species of arctic birds found in the Nurian savannahs amongst a grove of evergreen pines. It is these younger instances which create the majority of "halfbreed" beastkin — those born with bodies overall recognizeable as belonging to their birth parents, but with smaller, 'neater' mutations such as cloven hooves, clawed fingers, or an animal's ears sprouting from their brow.
Though exposure to these younger Scourge sources is not immediately dangerous as is the case with more advanced forms, prolongued proximity is still likely to cause slight physical abnormalities (small boils or growths of thick skin, hair loss or gain, slight shifts in skin or eye color, minute deformations of extremities such as the ears, nose, or fingers, etc.) and the occasional unexplained, fleshy growth. If external evidence cannot be seen, the disease still may show tangible presence with internal bleeding, nausea or vomiting, sudden fevers, and other such signs more symptomatic here of internal mutations than other more mundane sicknesses.
The vast majority of known Scourge instances, however, sit at a sort of midpoint, neither new nor ancient. The areas around these instances are not entirely consistent, varying heavily between locations and the environment in which the Scourge instance spawned, though are most commonly surrounded by dense forestation which, though it grows thicker for a time on approach to the centerpoint, inevitably gives way to a landscape of flattened, brown grass and dead trees. Living matter is altered more quickly and dramatically around these instances, with even plant matter often sprouting fur or growing scales.
Lingering too long within the wider proximity of such an instance without magical protection is a dangerous prospect, as the constant exposure to untethered creative forces can lead to a process dubbed by some as "devolution" wherein the exposed being will slowly but constantly begin to experience more prominent mutations such as extreme bloating, larger boils and growths, and the shifting of basic bone and muscle structures accompanied by extreme pain as the body grows accustomed to its shifting form. The nearer to the center one approaches, the more dramatic and sudden the mutations will become; biological matter may begin to alter, shift, and swap seemingly at random, with some sprouting growths that expand and form into fully-fledged limbs belonging to natural beasts while others are simply beset with great lumps of malformed flesh. Within a close proximity to the center of the Scourge source, the mutations become truly alien: Arms might split down the middle and form a pincer, legs may become bloated and heavy, morphing into stumps, a jaw might carve itself in two and form a set of grotesque mandibles — the trees themselves may drip with blood and viscera, with uncovered muscle and tissue grasping mindlessly from their branches. Many of the unfortunate beings who have been exposed as such even possess multiple, lidless eyes wracking their bodies or useless appendages sprouting from their torsos and twitching vainly in the air.
From these and the most ancient Scourge instances were birthed the first members of many beastkin species, with some like the Minotaur and Centaur now known across the world.
Of the most ancient instances of the Scourge, there exist only four: the first in the central savannah of Nuria, the second at the lowest point of the Black Basin in Karda, the third in the Aaqwat Plains of Ivskia, and the fourth and largest in the center of the The Midland Plains between Eletheros, Khaddal, and Yojin. The pattern of lush greenery surrounding the average Scourge instance is still seen surrounding these, albeit on a much wider scale spanning near the width of entire continents, and in three of these four cases (excluding the eldest Kardan Scourgesource), the greenery eventually gives way to a sprawling expanse of hills and flatlands populated by sparse collections of trees at best.
Similar dead forests to those surrounding younger Scourge instances can also be found nearer in towards these elder Scourgesources, though the accelerated rate of mutation when lacking proper magical protection leads to a far more alien biological landscape; many living entities who tread too near become part of the landmass itself, their forms shifted so dramatically that they are reduced to barely sentient masses of biological matterial. Incoherent murmurs fall from trees of bone and sinew as mindless, haphazard amalgams of skin slither across a a floor of damp meat. This fleshy, biological sludge grows outwards at a slow but noticeable rate.
What creatures manage to stumble far enough from these forests to encounter others are often unrecognizeable as their original forms. What limited accounts of these terrains exist tell tales of ancient architectures and natural landscape alike overrun by fleshy growths, some beings transformed by the scourge wandering aimlessly across the claimed areas while others more fully altered lie half-absorbed against floors and walls.

In the immediate vicinity of these elder Scourgespawn lies a desolate wasteland, the mutated and terraformed forests giving way to a landscape which has been subjected to the creative energies emanating from the Scourgesource for such long periods of time that the earth itself has become completely incapable of sustaining life. Exploration of these blasted heaths is nigh on impossible, as even the most proficient of sorcerers are scarcely capable of holding off such ancient magics for longer than a handful of minutes at a time.
There are certain areas of the world, such as the so-named "Ice Spire" peninsula found north of the Evergreen Ocean above Eletheros and Yojin, which aesthetically resemble the devestation caused by these ancient Scourge instances, but host no such swirling masses of energies. These landscapes have lead to hosts of theories involving a theoretical mortality or life cycle to the Scourge thought to exist on a time scale incomprehensible even to the Fey, and whether or not the life they twist and mutate may somehow sustain the Scourge rather than simply exist in its peripheries as a byproduct.

Scourge Sickness

While the physical changes brought upon by varying levels of exposure to the Scourge have been thoroughly studied and documented by academics throughout history, the mental alterations are far less well understood. Referred to as a whole by the term "Scourge Sickness," prolongued exposure to the Scourge seems to invite feelings of fascination, obsession, anxiety, and paranoia in varying degrees, with a latent and yet consistent urge to bring oneself physically closer to an instance of the Scourge described as the most common symptom by those afflicted.
Unlike the physical mutations, for which the only cures may be found with Carnomancy or more traditional physical surgery and amputations, these minor mental afflictions seem to wane in time if an individual simply avoids the Scourge's sphere of influence. As they grow in severity over time, however, there comes a point where a sentient creature is likely to lose a hold of its mental state more or less entirely and succumb to what initially registers as a state of rabidity and more primal instinct. Unlike the earlier, more subtle mental shifts, even prolongued periods of isolation far and away from exposure to the Scourge and under the close watch of trained sorcerers has little to no known ability to return the exposed individual to their former state of mind. The only relief to be found is in death.
The term "Scourgetouched" is used in reference to both the mental affliction and the being suffering under it.
While it was once assumed that the beheavior of the Scourgetouched could be explained by assuming the afflicted had simply given into the paranoia and aggression commonly associated with those suffering from the onset of the sickness, prolongued observation by Pratani officials and Makelian men-at-arms has noted distinct patterns to their behavior. In specific, the fascination and overt obsessive behavior with regard to the Scourge as a whole is likely to remain, with Scourgetouched individuals held in captivity in cities bordering the Midland Plains more likely to attempt escape towards and into the Plains themselves than anywhere else — and, though only theorized, some manner of voiceless communication between the afflicted, suggesting a level of intelligent thought despite the severe aggression. Far more disturbingly, there have been two recorded cases of survivors from armed Pratani excursions into the Plains beset upon by creatures warped by the Scourge's influence which, rather than massacreing the troupe as a whole, made specific efforts to target the clergymen and inquisitors keeping wards against the supernatural energies before attempting to drag the remainders off in the direction of the Scourgesource.
@prata

by HusoHuso

Origin

Magical