Blood-Pox

The Blood-Pox was a terrible affliction that spread like wildfire across Ur'En. It killed untold numbers, leaving empty cities, towns and villages in its wake. The plague killed indiscriminately, felling young and old, rich and poor, sinful and pious alike. Even kings and emperors were not spared. The pox eventually burned itself out, but occasionally, rumors of its resurfacing are enough to make even the bravest cower in their beds.

The pox is also the origin of the Blood-Scarred;Those who were fortunate survived the disease but were stricken and transformed by it as well.

Transmission & Vectors

The disease had symptoms enough to make it a global threat but it was it's transmission that was truly insidious. Animated blood from the afflicted would seek out others, attempting to infect them through contact. These could be as small as a drop or as large as a puddle. They would seek to enter the bodies of fresh victims through any means, including wounding them as to create an opening to the bloodstream. Even death was no respite from transmission as the corpse would rise as malevolent undead, and seek to infect others to continue the cycle.

Causes

The cause of the disease is unknown. Given it's symptoms, some theorize it's origin to be powerful Blood-Magic. Others believe it was a curse from a vengeful deity for the sins of the wicked or an entirely otherworldly origin. In any case, no person or organization ever claimed responsibility for the malady.

Symptoms

The Blood-Pox starts as a feeling of nausea, dizziness and light-headedness. As these symptoms worsen, the victim begins to vomit blood, which is usually when the diagnosis is clear, and the patient's fate is sealed. What follows can only be described as a torturous death. The victim will, over the course of several weeks, begin to bleed from every orifice, their spilled blood animating to seek out new victims to infect. The patients will be prone to convulsive fits, blistering fevers and be unable to hold down food or drink. These symptoms are often so devastating that madness will take them before the pox does. When they do eventually die, their bodies will rise soon after as terrible undead. Many choose to end their own lives early rather than suffer through this slow, painful death.

A rare few will overcome the illness, in a sense. These survivors are called Blood-Scarred who are forever changed.

Treatment

The pox was resistant to most normal treatment of disease. Herbs and potions did little to stop its advancement. Magic was often similarly useless. Only the most powerful healers had any chance of treating the affliction.

History

Beginning in the year 257 A.E, merchant ships from Mina carried afflicted persons to ports across Ur'En, although it is unknown if the pox originated there. In any case, it quickly spread from several ports to every corner of the continent, killing untold numbers of people.

By 263 A.E, the plague had mostly burnt itself out, killing everyone potentially able to infect others. The strange and twisted Blood-Scarred survivors were either killed or banished to the Heartfire Isles which would serve as a colony for the afflicted, away from the rest of civilization. The Blood-Pox is still remembered as a world-shaking event that shaped every culture strong enough to have endured its ravages.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Extremely Rare