Gray Fever

Gray Fever is the name of a disease contracted through the saliva of a ghoul, usually as the result of a ghoul bite. If left untreated, the disease will most likely result in the death of the afflicted subject within a matter of days, after which there is a chance that the body of the deceased will rise as a ghoul as well.
The disease is named for one of its symptoms, in which the afflicted subject's flesh begins to turn a pale gray color, spreading outward from the site of the initial wound which caused the infection.

Description

Gray Fever is initially contracted when a humanoid creature is subjected to a bite from a ghoul. After the initial infection, the disease begins to gestate within the subject; it is during this time that symptoms will begin to emerge.
The site of the initial bite wound typically takes on a putrefied appearance, with blood vessels near the site of the wound taking on a sickly black color and becoming varicose.
Once infected, an untreated patient continues to exhibit increasingly pronounced symptoms until their time of death, usually occurring within ten days of the initial infection, though actual times may very depending on the physical health and constitution of the subject.

Symptoms

Symptoms of Gray Fever most commonly include the following:

• Graudual loss of color in the subject's flesh, spreading outward from the initial bite wound
• Black, varicose veins surrounding the site of the bite wound
• A high fever, usually accompanied by excessive sweating
• Increasing feelings of weakness or fatigue
• Audio-visual hallucinations; difficulty processing audio or visual information

After approximately ten days of increasingly worsening symptoms, the afflicted subject dies. When this occurs, there is a chance that the body of the subject may spontaneously reanimate as a ghoul; the likelihood of this occurring is presently unknown and is seemingly random, its chances varying on a person-to-person basis. Due to the threat of the newly-undead subject causing further infection to others, it is strongly suggested that the deceased body of a creature afflicted with Gray Fever be destroyed via cremation as soon as possible.

Treatment

If left untreated, there is a chance that a subject with adequate physical constitution may be able to stave off the effects of the disease naturally; however, the likelihood of this occurring is slim, and thus treatment is highly recommended regardless of the afflicted subject's physical condition.
As a magical illness, Gray Fever is beyond the scope of medical science and is treatable only by magic; while a greater restoration or equivalent spell is required to cure the disease entirely, a lesser restoration spell may be able to delay the effects of the disease and its symptoms, giving the subject more time and slightly increased odds of fighting off the effects of the illness on their own. While useful in a pinch, it is recommended that this temporary measure only be used to extend the window of time for a subject to find a spellcaster capable of performing a greater restoration to remove the disease entirely.

Type

Supernatural