The Burning Plague

Four months ago, the Town of Duvik's Pass was quietly infected with a disease that would become known as the Burning Plague. Six adventurers were drawn to the Pass because of the plague, either by their religious orders or by sheer curiosity. In less than a week, the six strangers returned to town with news that the plague had ended, along with the shocking discovery of its origin.

Transmission & Vectors

The Burning Plague seemed at first to be transmitted by touch, with the silver miners returning home complaining of unquenchable thirst and sores which had gone to blisters all over their bodies. However, shortly thereafter, the town's livestock and crops were almost completely decimated by an unknown cause. The town leaders, including the clergy from the temples of Pelor and Heironeous, determined that the town's well water had been contaminated by an unknown disease. Unfortunately, by that time, the Burning Plague was already beginning to claim the lives of the very young, the very old, and the infirm.

Indeed, the disease was spread by contact. But the Silver Claw river had somehow also been contaminated and the disease was being spread further by the rats and vermin from the wharf areas in Riverside, the eastern part of the town which sits outside the main gates. The townsfolk were quickly losing all hope of figuring out what was happening, as block by block, people were succumbing to the terrible malady.

Symptoms

Symptoms of the Burning Plague include fever, blistering sores, debilitating muscle pain, clenching of the throat and possible asphyxiation, severe fatigue, and potentially death.

Prognosis

The Plague seemed to have a generally short life span. It was later determined that an individual had to be continually exposed to it before the most severe symptoms became evident. Unfortunately, before the town elders could figure this out, the Plague was already raging from household to household, being spread by continuous drinking for the well water and contact with the contaminated vermin, and then finally, contact between the sick and those who were attempting to provide care for them.

History

Upon the return of the adventuring party which set out to the silver mine, it was discovered that the cause of this terrible disease was an orc shaman by the name of Jakk Tornclaw. He believed himself to be the last remaining member of the Tornclaw clan and was seeking vengeance on the humans who wiped his people out to a man ten years prior. He had been biding his time and communing with his god, Gruumsh One-Eye.

Type

Divine

Origin

Divine

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Unique