The Unplague, also commonly referred to as the Beast-blood Plague or the Tovic Curse, is a disease of unknown origin that first appeared in the year 4,722 AB (6E 7). The plague is unique in that it is only symptomatic in Tovic (or beastfolk) races. For non-Tovics, the disease is still transmittable, but is wholly asymptomatic. Tovics who are infected with the Unplague undergo a rapid and agonizing mental deterioration, though the extent of the deterioration varies between individuals.
Symptoms and Signs
There are no initial symptoms associated with infection of the Unplague, regardless of species. This has fueled speculation and uncertainty surrounding the nature of the pathogen, as it is impossible to detect a potential carrier of the disease without arcane intervention. This fact is especially of concern for non-Tovic races, as the disease is entirely asymptomatic for the duration of the infection. Infections in non-Tovics tend to last for roughly one to two weeks, though some cases have reported infections (and therefore transmissibility) have lasted for upwards of three months.
For Tovic races, the situation is significantly more dire. Upon contracting the disease, an infected Tovic individual will have roughly one to seven days before symptoms start to appear. Physical symptoms are minor, with an infected individual usually only experiencing minor fatigue and increased hunger and/or thirst. Mental symptoms are significantly more severe, as depending on if or when treatment is administered, the Unplague can cause lasting cognitive degradation.
Initial cognitive symptoms are increased irritability and trouble with short-term memory, symptoms that are often mistaken for exhaustion when paired with the minor physical symptoms. By the time more serious symptoms emerge, however, treatment won't guarantee a full recovery. As the disease progresses, the initial symptoms are further exaggerated, with the irritability becoming a near-constant rage and the memory issues progressing to full memory loss. If no treatment is administered, the memory loss will further progress into a complete ego death, at which point the infected individual is cognitively indistinguishable from a feral animal.
Treatment
For non-Tovics, and for Tovics who are still in the asymptomatic stage of the disease, a basic regimen of disease potions or castings of Cure Disease is more than sufficient. Treatment during this stage is the best case scenario for Tovics infected by the Unplague, as treatment for later stages becomes increasingly complicated and carries reduced changes of success.
If treatment begins during the early symptomatic stages of the disease, treatment will include potions to fortify mental strength (to treat the memory issues) and calming potions (to treat the irritability). Treatment will also include weekly visits to a cleric or similar arcane practitioner, as weekly castings of Lesser Restoration are needed to ensure the disease is fully removed. If the treatment plan is followed as prescribed, infected individuals have a 98% chance to make a full recovery.
If infection isn't caught until the late symptomatic stages, or if treatment is delayed, all remaining options become significantly more invasive. By this stage, treatment requires any affected part of the brain to be surgically removed and regrown through the use of a Regenerate spell. Depending on the amount of brain matter that is infected by the time treatment begins, it may be easier to kill and revive the individual with a Resurrection spell, though such decisions should be made by the family of the infected individual.
The Unplague becomes untreatable at time of ego death. Even if treatments were performed, such as fully excising the brain and restoring it using Regenerate, the result would be no different than restoring a corpse via necromancy. The sole exceptions are via powerful arcane rituals, such as through a Wish spell, though these exceptions are unattainable for the average individual.
Reincarnation
It is worth noting that if, at any point prior to ego death, the infected individual is killed, casting Reincarnate has a unique effect on both the disease and the individual. If an infected individual is the target of a Reincarnate spell, regardless of whether or not they are of a Tovic race, the resulting reincarnation will always be Tovic. Curiously, upon reincarnation, previously infected individuals are cured of their infection and gain a full immunity to the Unplague. It's unclear exactly what causes the immunity to manifest, though as researching this phenomenon would require intentional infections and forced death/reincarnation, there are currently no approved efforts to identify the cause.
