Prophetic Fever

Prophetic fever is a rare condition usually found among the more psychically active races of the Runelands. It usually ends in the death of the sufferer, either directly by their own words or indirectly, by those who wish to silence them.

The main symptom of prophetic fever is the tendency of the spoken statements of sufferers to prove true. The languages of the Runelands are full of predictions, from the most mundane to the most dire; even the most idle musing on the tongue of the afflicted can engender a life-changing event, even despite the preferences of the speaker. The fever is known to afflict the pessimistic far more often than those with a brighter outlook.

There are a few other symptoms attributed to prophetic fever. Sufferers tend to see their hair turn white, often strand by strand. Some have their eyes change to red. Crows and ravens often follow the afflicted. Any patient of this illness with a writing instrument and a distraction tends to auto-write. It's rare for dice or cards to fall randomly around the sufferers as the disease progresses. It can even be dangerous for those whose intestines have something to say about the future to come near the invalid -- and no way to tell who that might be until their guts start beginning to spill.

The transmission of prophetic fever remains largely shrouded in mystery. Current scholars believe it to be communicated through dreams, though the exact mechanics of this infection are unknown. Certainly it has been observed that those who keep to themselves and pay attention to their dreams are somewhat more susceptible. (What remains unknown to all who would study prophetic fever is the travel of the ghosts of unfulfilled prophecies through dreams. Even the sick rarely recognize the exact source of their infirmity from their dreamscapes -- and indeed, due to the mutability of dreams, it rarely wears the same form twice.)

Prophetic fever is technically curable, though the method by which it is cured varies as much as the source. The cures most commonly rumored to work are successfully thwarting prophecy a thaumically significant number of cases, and -- for those unable to thwart prophecy despite all their efforts -- employing contradictory omens and signifiers can give body and mind a time to recover and throw off the syndrome. Still, the instances of any cure at all are quite rare.

Rarer still than the cured sufferer of prophetic fever is the person who learns to live with the disease. Though the illness affects pessimists more than optimists, it is the latter that tend to survive. Those who contract the infirmity young, before their verbal habits are set, are much likelier to persevere than older sufferers. The introverted and quiet tend to live longer than the garrulous.

Prophetic fever is a grim prognosis for any who contract the disease. It is hoped that continued study will provide more help for the afflicted.