The Line of Decay and The Decay
No one wants to remember the day that Havenwood was eliminated off the map in a matter of minutes.
But the Havinites do, and it scares them. They don't trust technology anymore. They don't trust anything new or different now.
Can you blame them?
The one time someone walked into their town, promising somethign grand, it ended in a borderline genocide.
And now we watch The Line of Decay, wondering how long it'll be before the whole world is consumed.
Transmission & Vectors
There is a border of life and death known as the Line of Decay. Crossing this line will immediatly cause the effects of the Decay to consume the person. It is instantanious and incurable.
A single finger across the line can infuse the person with the diease of Decay. It takes about three weeks to take a life if they're outside the radius. Inside, it takes a matter of a few minutes.
Causes
The Havinites say that its the Well of Youth in the center of Old Havenwood that's causing the line of decay. But after two centuries past, the rest of The Ander Vale isn't quite ready to believe a legend unless they see it.
Symptoms
It starts with the mind, and travels to the body. The first sign of decay is the unwillingless to care for the self, and then others around them. Their intelligence and mind become senile. They themselves become beacons of mental decay. The Mental Decay can last from 1 minute to up to three weeks depending if they're in the radius or not.
Then, following that, the body begins to rot and turn to ash. This process happens in a matter of 1 minute.
The rotting is an acceleration of age, from youth to old. Thus, these people technically die of old age, however it is painful and quick.
Treatment
There is no seen treatment.
Affected Groups
Anything living is affected.
G Babes, suprisingly, are immune to this effect because their bodies are in an age stasis. They cannot grow, and therefore cannot accelerate in age and die. Thus, they are the perfect army to combat the Line of Decay if it ever became a problem.
Hosts & Carriers
The Well of Youth and other water systems (potentially)
Prevention
Staying away from the Line of Decay.
Epidemiology
This condition cannot be spread like a normal disease. If someone is afflicted by it and is outside the Line of Decay, only they will be affected.
However, a single drop of water from the well can effect other water systems (not including the water that is evaporated in the water cycle) . A drop o this in a lake would infect the entire like with it's youthful qualities, and start another radius and Line of Decay. (The Sorcerer explained this to the original towns people)
History
The Line of Decay and The Decay was first seen at the Well of Youth in Old Havenwood. Townspeople drank from the well, and the Line of Decay spread out quickly from the well, consuming those who were closest first (several elderly that had become young again.) When large entities, such as people or trees, are consumed, the line signifigantly slows down as that's a lot of energy to consume. But there was such as mass of people that originally drank, that the entire town of Havenwood was consumed in a matter of two days.
Cultural Reception
Those who die of The Decay are regarded as fools for trying to cross beyond the Line of Decay.
They see the Line of Decay as their greatest folly. While some hope that prayer and redemption will cure the Line of Decay, others are putting their faith in the scientists to figure out how the magic works, and how to stop it.
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