Old Ironbark's Curse

The Wild Elves of the Great Forest believe that the trees have memories longer than any sentience could imagine. Due to this belief, they are extremely careful as to what they do to the vast, ancient trunks of the millions of trees they live amongst. Not every Elf proves to be careful enough, however, causing accidental or even purposeful damage and leading to a serious illness that is most often fatal to the victim. This illness, named "Old Ironbark's Curse", takes around a month to fully envelop the victim's body to finally terminate their life. But before this painful death, the bearer becomes a bastion of fungal defence as bark-like mushrooms begin to cover their flesh, hardening into an impenetrable armour that cannot be removed by any means.
The name of the curse comes from an age-old story told by the many Wild Elf clans, of a treant that believed itself greater than the forest it defended, that acted not as shepherd but as king over its domain. The Spirits of the Great Forest did not take kindly to this grave offence, having grown all treants to be staunch defenders and protectors of the wilderness. And so, whilst Old Ironbark took his nightly rest under the shade of one of the vast tree's canopy, the Wild Spirits coaxed the mushrooms growing in the dirt below him to spread onto his legs and work their way across his body. When he awoke, he was in immense pain, but nothing could remove the newly birthed fungus. After many sleepless moons, he finally understood his curse and accepted his fate, settling into his true role as a defender.
Any Elf that contracts Old Ironbark's Curse is shunned by their clan, though not cast out. They are regarded as having angered the Spirits of the Great Forest and are no longer treated as another person but as a plant. The clan will prevent the victim from dying, using tinctures and solutions to stop the fungus from reaching the heart, but will leave the victim out as a guard and no longer interact with them. Over time, the victim will lose all sense of personality and fit into this new guard role, though many ultimately end up perishing as the infection becomes too much to slow or prevent.

Causes

It is believed that disrespecting the Great Forest or the Spirits of the Wild leads to a victim contracting Old Ironbark's Curse. It is not known if there is any other way to catch this disease

Symptoms

Symptoms are very clearly visible and simple. A victim will rapidly grow armour-like fungus across their body, this fungus growing into them until it finally reaches their heart and they perish.

Type

Fungal