Aurumfication

Inner Gold

An enigmatic condition that puzzled people even then. Aurumfication details a unique condition, that more and more has been found to be nigh-on universal phenomena observed in all kinds of peoples, regardless of their distinctive apperances and physiologies. Aurumfication is a chronic, perpetual state where the skeletal structure of the person has found small patches of gold which runs along the different kinds of bones, although these patches are usually quite small.
Doctors and scholars have carefully observed various states of Aurumfication, through numerous excavations of old tombs (Done with the consent of the remaining family, for the most part), where they took a careful look at the metal inhabiting the surface of the bones. The Gold found on these old bones, were placed on various parts of the body, in various amounts and some in quite concentrated and spiky ways. Some Doctors and Scholars even performed autopsies of stillborn children (a grissly affair), and found small patches of gold, which confirmed to the scientific community that Autumfication is something that everyone has from birth.
Using these excavated old bones (and tests conducted on dead newborns), doctors and scholar have managed to set up what's accepted as the conditions Pathogenesis:
The Gold seemingly becomes created in the womb (supposedly, no one is willing to dissect a fetus), where it attaches itself to the growing skeletal body of the newborn. Then as a kid, it seems to spread itself out, particularly around the torso, neck and cranial region. From this point, the gold becomes fixed, and starts to slowly expand across the entire breadth of the skeleton as the individual goes through life, until it seems to stagnate as they get much older. Should be noted that Inner gold has not yet been noted to cause death of any kind, but in it's worst cases it did create discomfort and mutilation (I will get into those later).
Another thing to note regarding the gold, is the condition which they are found in. The gold found in younger creatures had a smooth surface and glittery texture to it, while the gold found on the older bones seemed almost corroded. This is odd because gold found in non-bodily settings are not corrosive, but it did indicate that the gold sort of symbolizes the state of the individual in some way, as some bones dated to belong to quite old people maintained that glittery smooth surface, similarly to the children and in stark contrast to their peers.
Others were found with some disturbing alterations to the gold. Some skeletons where found with erratic growth, rather than smoothly covering the surface, it had "clumped together", forming and overlapping and growing outwards like a tumor, even growing spikes, which provide irritation and discomfort, until it pierces the skin and the tension is released. People in this state become mutilated as the spikes slowly protrude out of their skin.
At this part, the physical treatment usually sees a Doctor chiselling the spikes off (in case of egrecious growth), then smooth out the skin with a rock blancket. This does not stop the spikes from growing however, and they will have to undergoe the process again in a few months time. Alchemists have also succesfully managed to create a concoction which slows down the growth of the gold.
This state of Aurumfication has seen some unfortunate effects on the population. Many cultures made the Aurumfied pariahs, as they believed the gold to be a result of a bad omen which would bring about disaster, some went as far as even discriminating against them for this reason (which coincidently, worsened it). Other people, also resorted to grave robbing and harvesting the gold for currency, but the gold proved to corrode extensively when outside the body and was rarely ever usable in anyway. Alchemists also saw them as peculiar objects of study, as their entire end-goal is the attempt to turn lead into gold.
But there also been one area where Aurumfication has been put under Radar, Psycho-Materialist scholars.

Manifested mind

A prevailing theory regarding the origin of Aurumfication, is one that connects Psycho-Materialism to The Inner world. Scholars make the argument that the gold on people's bones is actually a psyco-materialistic manfestation of the Inner world. They argue that since the lower half ("the shadow") wants a reunification with the upper half, the gold is an unconchious manifestation expressing this inner desire for wholeness, and therefore also takes up a role as an indicator of this process.
The completely smooth gold found in children, represents freshness of spirit and body. A child is new to the world, unspoiled (hopefully) and filled with a curiosity to experience it. However, as they get older and more experienced, the gold becomes more rough on it's surface and corroded. Psycho-materialists and Psychologists argue that this process of oxidation is meant to represent the person becoming jaded with life, some existentialists even argue that it also represents loss of self as the individual becomes more of a cog in a machine than an individual.
The tumor like growth is also rationalised in this perspective, as being the body (and by extension, the mind) screaming out to the world that it is in need of help. They argue that the spikes are trauma or internally induced by a repressed shadow, which is an argument corrobated even further since many people who fought in wars came back with excessive aurum growth protruding through their skin. Many such cases were observed were PTSD ridden soldiers were hospitalized, and subsequently recieved treatmeant to make them heal mentally. The observing doctors noted that the growth slowed down, halted and in some occassions even receded back to it's original form of a smooth surface.

The "cure"

Psycho-materialist proposes a cure which follows the same guidelines as the ones provided to mediate The Inner world 
The first revolves around the individual pulling themselves away from society, it can be into their own home, or into the wild where they will find solace in no real expectations or social demands. It is in this solitude where the individual can then ruminate on the contents of their character, which subsequently allows them to mediate the extent of the aurum in their body. The second, which can usually help with the first one, is the act of going on an adventure. The adventurer will go on an invigorating journey where they meet people and experience things that subsequently caused their character to be reborn and altered, which can aid greatly in mediating the aurum.
It is therorized that upon achieving "wholeness of self", the aurum will cover the entire body rather than small parts of it, and gain a glittery smooth surface that represents the achievement of the whole self, to correspond with the golden light now glowing in their mind.
There has even been collaborative efforts between Psycho-materialists and Alchemists, who have attempted to unify methodology from both fields to come up with a framework for achieving the wholeness of the self, through an alchemical process. As far as i'm aware, this unification, while succesfully theorized on paper through a succesful fusion of the 4 stages and the quest for wholeness. No one achieved a succesful appliance.

Type

Supernatural

Parent

The Inner world

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Common