Bone Thorn

One of the many sinister disease created by Perclepsia, this terrible disease is contracted from someone who is infected, or from the bite of a rat that has been the target of a spell of the same name from an evil cleric.  It incubates for two weeks before it expresses itself.  
It starts innocuously with a low-grade fever and joint pain, which lasts for about a week; after this time, the victim will start to experience further pain in their extremities and the fever starts to escalate.  This is the time when a victim will start to realize they have something more serious than a simple sickness, as the pain starts to work its way into their bones. Victims describe a feeling of pain that goes deep into their bones and an itch they simply cannot scratch under their skin.
After three more days of this, the pain will become a burning sensation under their skin, as their bones start to slowly sprout thorny like protrusions; the skin will seem raised in places, as though something beneath is trying to push its way out. The next day, some of these thorns will push their way through the skin, causing bleeding and more pain.  It is at this point that bone thorn becomes contagious; the thorns are about 1 to 2 inches in length and quite sharp, so brushing up against someone else will scratch or puncture skin, even through clothing.  This scratch is the vector that spreads the disease, and even a dead victim can pass off the disease if someone pricks himself on one of the thorns.
After three more days, the thorns have made their way through the skin, the thorns will start growing inward, and eventually pierce vital organs, killing the victim.

Transmission & Vectors

Contagious by being pricked by a thorn on a victim or through the bite of a rat targeted by the spell Bone Thorn.

Causes

Divine magic, created by Perclepsia.

Symptoms

Fever, body aches, joint pain that progresses to raised skin, then thorns ripping through the skin

Treatment

Cure Disease or any other spell that cures disease will stop the progression, but the thorns must be dealt with either through magic or manual removal.

Prognosis

Bone Thorn is fatal most of the time, due to the blood loss and eventually the thorns will grow through a vital organ, typically the heart or lungs.

Prevention

Any protection from magical diseases prevents contraction of Bone Thorn.

Epidemiology

Starts with patient zero, who is bitten by a rat that has been targeted by a Bone Thorn spell; once patient zero progresses far enough along, he will inevitably scratch people as he goes about his daily life.  Most Perclepsian priests will attempt to pass the disease into highly populated areas where it is crowded, and the outbreak can quickly get out of control.

Type

Divine

Origin

Divine

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare