The Blight

“Past the hills, the land withered rapidly. Within the span of a few miles, the trees turned to dead standing sticks, while the grass and brambles around them thinned to scabby patches like tufts of hair on a Blight-manged wolf. Sullen gray clouds closed overhead, dimming the purity of the sun. The only animals they encountered were a cluster of tumor-raddled deer, who looked up with bloody mouths from the corpse of a farmer they'd been devouring and hissed through hollow fangs at the passing Wardens"- Warden- Commander Blackwall

Causes

There is not a unified consensus about what the Blights really are or why they happen. The prevailing belief, that originated in The Chantry , is that Blights are the punishment of The Maker  upon those who do not worship him. Grey Wardens scholars believe that the Blight is a spiritual corruption that pervades all that it touch, and that all Archdemons must be destroyed in order to stop any future Blights. The Dwarves  don't care what a Blight is, or what causes it, as long as it can be stopped for good. The existence of sentient darkspawn, that was revealed shortly after the Second Blight, had further complicated this matter. However, few scholars point out that those questions are irrelevant when compared to the death and destruction that a Blight leaves in its wake

Symptoms

Victims not killed outright are dragged underground to be eaten or turned into darkspawn themselves. Darkspawn inflict disease upon people, animals and vegetation. Their tainted blood defiles the very soil and water, rendering entire regions infertile for many years.However, at this stage of a Blight, many people will still believe that is just a random darkspawn incursion. As time passes and the presence of the horde in the surface grows, the darkspawn war bands become whole armies that will travel in open roads across the countryside. Those armies will launch raids against larger and larger settlements, even important and well-defended cities in the central lands of a given kingdom or country. More powerful darkspawn can be seen within the armies, such as emissaries and ogres. Mutant creatures such as blight wolves will plague the wilderness. The skies become dark and ominous, although occasional rains can occur from time to time.
By the time the Archdemon has reached the surface to lead the seemingly unending horde, unnatural dark clouds shroud the sky, providing shelter for the sun-fearing darkspawn. They obscure the sun in the daytime and the moon and stars at night, and form a perpetual storm that can be seen from afar.

Prevention

Blights advance in a progression that the Grey Wardens understand relatively well. However, Warden scholars remain uncertain about the precise "rules" under which Blights operate. Does an Archdemon's presence cause and spread the Blight, or is it the hordes of darkspawn that invariably travel with them? Does it take all Archdemons a similar amount of time to reach the surface? What would happen if an Archdemon were left unchecked forever? Even for the gaps in their knowledge, the Grey Wardens use what they do know to carry out their vigilant work

History

A Blight refers to a period when Darkspawn  find and corrupt one of the Old Gods—ancient draconic creatures slumbering in the depths of the earth—, which is transformed into an Archdemon and leads the horde to attack the surface world

Type

Physiological