Demonic Radiation
We zoom into the streets of Cormyr, where pamphlets and today's issue of "The White Horse Courior" newspaper are being passed to passerbys on the streets outside of government buildings and medical centers to anyone willing to take them. Aside the distributers are cries from citizens, trying to shut down the distribution of these pamphlets as a scam or government conspiracy. Cries of demonic posession and the need for holy cleansing shout over the panicking masses.
Many are worshippers from the church of Pelor.
Other citizens are defending the distributors, some of whom are those showing signs of demonic shifts from the chaos bubble, others are former captives of the Pelor "healing" camp, or are just straight up tieflings. The distributors consist of new congregants of Ilmater, in addition to normal distributors of the White Horse Courior. We zoom in on the contents of one of the pamplets:
"This is a joint public service announcement from the Cormyr Board of Health and Safety, the Church of Ilmater, and the Exploratory Medical Foundation of Faerun regarding ongoing study into the demonic mutations experienced by the citizenry during the chaos bubble event. It is in everyone's best interests that the rumors and misinformation be dispelled as quickly as possible in order bring peace and order to the unrest brought about by this unexpected condition.
What is demonic radiation? Studies have shown that the ambient energy of chaotic magic exuded by demons tends to have an extended shelf life compared to other forms of magic. This chaos magic sticks to other living organisms, such as plant life, local fauna, and yes, sentient creatures, and makes attempts to alter the physical being of those it attachs to. This is believed to be a function of the Abyss, where demonic chaos magic saturates the plane, causing mutations to generate at an accelerated rate in the population of its seemingly infinite layers.
As most people know, exposure for long periods to demons and their kind often leads to subtle mutations beginning to manifest within affected individuals. This often takes the form of skin discoloration, the growth of bone tumors resembeling horns, elongation of the spine into a tail, and so forth. However the most pronounced and common change is often related to fertility, as individuals exposed gain an increased chance to give birth to a tiefling instead of a normal member of their species.
However, it is deeply important to note that long running studies initiated by the Exploratory Medical Foundation have found that chaos magic from demons does not affect the mind in the same way it interacts with the body. While certainly a fell form of magic, demonic magic is also deeply linked to the concept of chaos, which is adjacent to free will. Demonic magics only seem to begin to affect the brain once exposed in a tremendous quantity which is only possible from a concentrated effort of several powerful demons on a single individual, a concentrated effort of a demon lord on the material plane on a single individual, or from longtime exposure to direct energies from the Abyss while a demon lord is present to direct those changes. In all cases it requires a demon to directly concentrate their efforts into imposing their will on another living being in order to make changes, and it is well outside of the purview of many demons to even begin to amass the force of will and magic neccissary to make those edits to the mind. This is why most demons will often result to other methods of conversion or persuasion in order to "recruit" mortals to their various causes, such as standard temptations or long term torture. Because chaos is linked to free will, that will needs to either be freely convinced or forcefully subsummed in the will of another before demonic magic can make permanent changes to the mind.
Which brings us to the events of the chaos bubble. While there was a demonic incursion of fell energy applied to the region of Cormyr, there was no demon lord present to make grand changes to the mental states of the population, nor were there a gaggle of powerful demons likely to come together just to corrupt singular average individuals. The likelihood of an individual being truly corrupted to the soul by the events of the chaos is exceedingly low, with only about two cases being confirmed in the region. Both of these individuals were also not average citizens, with one being a crime kingpin who, accounts of his staff concur, willingly took on such changes for additional power, and the other being a highranking member of the church of Pelor, who has since been disavowed and turned over to internal exorcists in order to try to purify his soul. in about 99.99% of other cases experienced by other Cormyr citizens, no changes in mental behavior have been observed outside of what can be reasonably expected from the surge of stigma and persecution that has begun to grip the nation in moral panic.
It is important for the people of cormyr that they understand that in most cases demonic shifts are in fact, in the vast majority of cases, purely cosmetic. Healing techniques are still being researched in order to alleviate such conditions, but ultimatly your neighbor is still your neighbor, even if they just grew a pair of horns. the most dangerous thing about this event is not an evil plot, but panic and fear. So please remember to reach out not with a fist, but an open, helping hand."
-Article written by Dr. Asklepios of the Exploratory Medical Foundation of Faerun.
