Soulsickness

Cirillia stumbles, bracing herself against the wall. You see her eyes roll back in her head as she collapses. Her hands tense and untense rapidly.
Does anyone want to make a medicine check?

Soulsickness, also known as Adventurer's Bane or the Curse of Ages, is a collection of health effects caused by significant damage to the soul. Some acute symtoms can set in immediately, but some only begin to see the results of the damage after a handful of days. The shadows of those suffering appear hazy and weaker than they should.
Many believe soulsickness to be divine retribution for attempting to avoid your own death or messing with the dead. This is a common belief among traditionalist dwarves and elves. In the Castellan Kingdoms, where resurrection magic is seen as sacrilegious, many clerics and priests of the Twelve refuse to preform such rites.

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Cause

Soulsickness is associated with adventurers, who encounter dangers most others only hear about in myth, and are the most likely to have allies capable of resurrecting them to begin with. Adventurers will attest that Soulsickness is an infrequent result of a ressurection. It does appear to be more common when the soul has been seperated from the body for a while.
Some regions and locations also seem to be inately toxic to the soul, such as Old One ruins contaminated by ancient dark magic.

Symptoms

Soulsickness goes hand in hand with a weakness of mind and presence. Dissociation is a common symptom, varying from stunted emotions or occasionally zoning out to a detatchment from reality; feeling as if they or the world around them is unreal. Sufferers of soulsickness often struggle deeply with their own identity.
Many sufferers report feeling as if they no longer inhabit their body the way they used to. Some describe it as an out of body experience, watching themselves from the outside, others as if they are misplaced within their own body. On the less harmful side, many sufferers find themselves experiencing synethesia.
Acute symptoms include dizziness, headaches, and a decreased ability to heal from ones own wounds.
In severe cases seizures ravage the brain and body. These seizures can often result in additional trauma to the body due to convulsions or the person harming themselves without noticing.

Treatment

Treatment of soulsickness is more focused on alleviating the symptoms rather than curing it. The Hall of Refuge in Brightchapel reports to have seen much improvement among the afflicted by simply being there with them, and encouraging grounding techniques and light massages to help the individual feel connected to their own body. Many soulsick turn to religion, joining convents or praying for relief, with some retreating into convents and finding self through meditation and strict devotion.
Daily administration of anticonvulsive herbs or potions seems to be effective at preventing seizures, and other herbs can be used to boost one's natural restoration and allieviate dizziness and headaches. However, there is no known medicine that can outright cure soulsickness -- or if there is, the secret has not made it to the masses.
In terms of more alternative treatments, the gnomish druid Elleander professes to have developed a successful but highly experimental treatment for Soulsickness. It involves capturing and grafting spirits to the afflicted soul, and may have other unintended consequences. Although Elleander describes the process as delicately as possible, the inherently brutal nature of the treatment discourages all except the most desperate from undergoing his treatment.
Some fringe worshippers of the Twelve believe that soulsickness is a divine punishment for attempting to extend one's life beyond what is natural, and that you must repent by taking up a diet of raw, uncooked meat for an extended period of time, accompanied by prayer and worship. Others go further in their pursuit of repentance.

Important

Illness is a sensitive topic. It's very likely someone at your table has personal experience with some of the symptoms mentioned here, either having gone through it themselves or seen someone close to them suffer.
Before you add this condition to your setting, speak with your players one on one. Ask them how they feel about depicting serious illnesses, and dissociation and seizures in particular. If anyone at your table expresses discomfort, remove those symptoms from this condition before portraying it in your game.

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Mechanics

Identifying Soulsickness can be done with a DC 15 Medicine or Religion check.
A character who is resurrected or takes damage to the soul makes a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If the resurrection is within a minute of the death, this roll is made with advantage. On a failure, the character contracts Soulsickness.

You didn't come back quite right after a resurrection, or suffered some other form of damage to your soul. As a result, you suffer the following effects:

• You appear sickly and pale.
• Your shadow is hazy and transluscent.
• Any healing done by expending your own hit dice is halved.

If you do not seek treatment, the condition worsens in 1d4 days. The worsened condition also includes the following effects:

• You must make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw each long rest. On a failure, you gain one level of exhaustion. On a success, you recover from exhaustion as normal.
• If you roll a natural 1 on an ability check or attack, you make a DC 10 Constitution saving throw. If you fail, you suffer 1d4 psychic damage and make your next roll with disadvantage.

You can seek treatment at any time to allievate the worsened condition. This condition cannot be cured with lesser restoration.

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Type

Divine