Foam Throat

"The Moluda has suffered an outbreak of foam throat. The soldiers have lost control of the towns people and some are beginning to break ranks to join them. I am taking action to stop it from spreading. Do not land until quarantine has passed. Sink any vessel sailing from Moluda. For the Sand King."
-Final Message and Warning of General Jibril

Transmission & Vectors

The spores can lay dormant in stagnant pools of water for years, however its man form of transmission is through air. The coughing of the infected jettisons hundreds of tiny wet fungal pods which cling to almost anything. Within minutes of expulsion from the victim, these pods burst open searching for more hosts. These insanely tiny pods become dormant if submerged in liquid but burst when they come into contact with the warm interior of a potential host.

Symptoms

Itchy throat followed by the warming of the throat and chest which proceeds more and more violent coughing. Coughing is followed by hacking up blood and flesh.

Treatment

Keeping the body warm and drinking lots of hot liquids can kill the infection in its early stages. It will exacerbate the pain but if caught early enough it kill the growing fungus. If it is in the later stages it is still possible to treat someone however if the warmth causes them to go into unceasing coughing fits then it is most likely to late for them. If they can not keep the liquids down the infection will continue to eat away at their respiratory system until they can no longer breathe.
Magic is ineffective against this infection as the body itself only has ways of slowing down and not defeating it. Healing magics will only help the body slow its progression. But that in itself is helpful given the speed and necessity of dealing with it in the early stages is.

Prognosis

Foam throat is a fairly terrifying infection. It starts with a faint itchiness in the throat which prompts you to drink. With or hot water causing the irritation to intensify. As days pass, your throat and chest begin to feel warmer and warmer and it becomes harder to speak. After 4-6 days you begin to cough insistently until you begin to hack up blood and globs of flesh. From then the coughing gets worse until you pass out from the pain, blood loss, or inability to breathe anymore. Death follows quickly upon loss of consciousness, if haven't already died.

Hosts & Carriers

The fungus responsible for this infection is known as Fizzing Puffs. They are water growing fungus which look dark blue vases with closed tops. They sit almost completely submerged in dark stagnate pools of water with only the very top breaking the surface. When the water around them is disturbed they release a puff of airborne fungal spores which attach themselves to the walls of the throat and lungs of any who breath it in. If they die quickly if they fail to find a host or a cool source of water to hibernate in.
If a host is found the fungus will grow and feed of the flesh inside the host until enough irritation is caused to inflict coughing spasms. The coughing flings many small fertile pods which will grow into a Fizzle Puff if it finds a cool, dark, and stagnate pool of water. However in case it doesn't find a home, it spews its own smaller amount of spores into the air to infect anyone else nearby.

Epidemiology

Since the chance of it actually making it to a new place to grow is so rare for the fizzing puffs they try and spread themselves as far s they can. With that nature in mind, if this infection hits a town and cities populous it becomes disastrous. The coughing of the victims spreads the spores en mass, allowing them to ride the are for a long time before finally die from exposure. The more dangerous factor would be if they managed to make it into liquids. Its airborne nature is fairly well known but if people begin passing cups, buckets, and barrels with it inside, many people can become infected without even realizing it.

History

The mushrooms where first discovered under the town of Highlowa. Some people began to explore the newly discovered cave systems after recent rainstorm caused a mudslide. The explorers brought the infection back with them and decimated the town. The Garudian village of Starpoint also lost half of its numbers because of a local druids studying of the dangerous fungus. However the most disastrous event island of Moluda, a Kelsh military fortress city in the Forsaken Sea. It was several days before anyone realized they had been infected and it torn through the island. The army could not keep order and eventually turned on itself in panic. People began trying to escape to the mainland before they got sick. However General Jibril, the woman in charge of the island, took control of several small squads of loyal and trustworthy soldiers and led them to burn down the islands entire ship complement. Keeping the infection from spreading back to home. The General set a message to the Kelsh Empire via magical sending warning them to not approach until the fungus had run its course. 2 months later an expedition force went to investigate the island and found no one alive. The General and several identifiable soldiers had been impaled by poles and left on display in the middle of town. With signs around them labeling them murders and traitors for their destruction of the ships. To this day no one knows how the infection started.

Cultural Reception

Since it lives deep in under Stelair's cave systems its exposure to the surface has been limited. However the few times it has reached the surface has been disastrous. Because of this spelunking is seen as an extremely dangerous thing to do. Not only are their dangerous creatures down their but you risk bringing death with if if you return. This has caused many cities to put a quarantine on those who have recently traveled deep underground and harsh punishments imposed on those who lie about it.

Type

Fungal

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare