The Speaking Sickness

Transmission & Vectors

Speaking Sickness was considered to be an airborne disease, though of a limited range. In the middle years of the epidemic, passing groups used alternate forms of distance-communication in order to ascertain whether or not the other party was infected, and to exchange supplies as needed.
It is possible that Speaking Sickness could be transmitted by touch or fluid; in many cases, items left for other groups were observed but untouched until such time as sun or heat would hopefully have destroyed any germs.

Affected Groups

Among Anman

Though roughly 5% of Walkingfolk could catch the disease, they are much less likely to die from the disease, and have much higher resistance to aphasia. They are more likely to exhibit symptoms of apraxia and Dysphagia.

Among Birdfolk

Ni'kashiga are particularly susceptible to the disease, with a 99% infection rate. The disease kills approximately 30% of the infected; 68% recover with after-effects, but are immune to reinfection and do not transmit the disease once it is suppressed by their immune system; 2% recover but remain infectious, often suffering from additional bouts.
The most sinister element of The Speaking Sickness is not its fatality rate or its transmission rate, however, but is in the mental after-effects of the disease on the brain. 99% of Ni'kashiga cases suffer from transcortical sensory aphasia: they are able to verbalize fluently, but unable to comprehend when spoken to. Roughly 18% of cases also suffer from dysphagia, and 11% from apraxia. Additionally, damage in the brain can cause damage in neuronal communication, leading to comorbidity of mental illnesses, creating changes in behavior, body control, mood, and memory.
Documented work done by Corvus Kkaxe shows that the mental effects can be mitigated or repaired with work. The development of High Tongue as a concise, effective language helped to circumvent the mental challenges and reunite the Nation. As the language centers were engaged in the active work of retraining, the brain circumvented or repaired damaged pathways.
Hatched eggs from parents who had The Speaking Sickness seem to perhaps carry the challenges of the disease but without the life-threatening effects. 98% of the population born after Ka'leke have been shown to be largely unable to understand fauna birds, and over the years, the dangers of dysphagia in early childhood have all but disappeared. As of -115 zk, Speaking Sickness is considered to have disappeared.

Among Other Races

Because the Foxen did not arrive until -111 zk, it is unknown whether or not they would be affected, and in what ways.
It is also unclear whether or not Elkfolk are affected by the disease.
With the Speaking Sickness gone, we hope to never find out.

History

Though documented history is shaky, it appears that the first estimated cases of Speaking Sickness among the Ni'kashiga are caught sometime around -408 zk. The first known cases are from what has become known as "The Dawn Caravel," an unfamiliar ship from the eastern ocean found adrift. When boarded, the Birdfolk crew of the scouting ship Htohuska found it filled with a dead and dying crew. Though they were recognized as some variant of Walkingfolk, it was obvious they were from a previously unknown port of origin; the logs were undecipherable glyfs, and the ships design was not of any known construction. The ship's origin and its crew were never identified or claimed, and the logs of the Htohuska indicate that the remaining members of the Dawn Caravel's crew died soon after without being able to be understood.
Shortly after, when the Htohuska had missed their rendezvous with the main Caraval, search ships were sent. These came across the Htohuska, stagnant on the water; soon, they noticed the bright glints of hand mirrors seeking for help. Boarding parties found the crew delirious and incomprehensible but alive, and they towed the Caraval back to the Fleet, on its way towards the Trade Grounds of the Floating City of Cexe.
By -406 zk, early documentation suggests that the sickness had made landfall on the continent, and -399 zk, documentation clearly shows that The Speaking Sickness had been spread throughout the Nation, leaving no corner of the Ni'kashiga population untouched or unaffected.
The effect is disastrous on the Nation, sending even previously peaceful Flocks into conflict. With the Speaking Sickness firmly rooted throughout the Greater Inbound Lands, the Birdfolk declare themselves to have fully entered Ka'leke / Waka'leke (translated loosely as "The Shattered [Age], literally "It breaks (as an eggshell)"), a dark age of confusion and struggle.

Cultural Reception

Though a devastating time in the history of the people - rendered unable to communicate through a shared verbal language - the Birdfolk see this time through the lens of their hatching: a time of great and painful change, but also of great growth and new becoming into light.
It is because of Ka'leke that the visual language of Ha'a - of color, pattern, and cloth - is developed, as an early method of communicating occupation, intent, alliances, and status. Musical instruments such as bells and drums become prevalent in this time period, helping to transmit position and message through percussive beat for both Caravan and Caravel in transit. And, this time of need gives rise to the figure of Kkaxe, the blackfeather Corvus, a Formwalker who helps to unify the new language of the people. In these shared messages are grown the early alliances that become the later pinions of the new Nation.

Influence and reference for this article includes:

• Acquired Neurological Disorders, from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania
• National Aphasia Association
• The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• "Transcortical Sensory Aphasia: Revistied and Revised", Department of Neurology, Otolaryngology, Biostatistics, and Neurosurgery, and The Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Johns Hopkins Medical