Post by Elf King Fyrn on Jul 5, 2013 1:30:22 GMT
The Great Pandemic
On The Realms of Ectoria, we present one side matter unique to our server: the Great Pandemic, commonly known as the Affliction.
Historical Records
The Affliction
The Affliction began in spring of 1952, near the end of the Second Age, when several flea-ridden rats began following the ships that served as home from Kierne’s port town of Marivel to Kenton on the continent of Virund. The rodents found their way into several homes close to the pier, and with them the fleas. The insects bred quickly, being springtime, and they found new hosts to feed on—the bodies of Kenton residents. Within three weeks the whole of Portside Kenton became infected with a mysterious illness. It knew not race or gender, class or stature. The pandemic spread rapidly throughout the city, and Kenton’s best clerics and apothecaries had no idea how to deal with it. The infected first came down with a fever, and they went in and out of consciousness for a short time. Within 12 hours, bulbous sores appeared on the victim’s body and their skin turned cold and gray. Finally, the contagion reached their heart and the sickly organ began withering slowly until the infected individual died. Family members of the ill frequented the apothecaries of Kenton for many weeks, but to no avail. It seemed to target the young and the weak, and while hospitals were opened in an attempt to heal the infected, no solution could be found. The contagion caused great pain and suffering to those contaminated with it, and so it was colloquially named the Affliction; contagious individuals were called the Afflicted.
In autumn of 1952 the Lord of Kenton made official his declaration of quarantine, to keep the Affliction from spreading to Kierne, Zekvad, Viothr, and Phaien. The pier was shut down, and the gates of the city were closed. No ships were allowed to dock save those returning from sea, and none could gain entry to or leave from the manned gates that guarded the Affliction from the rest of the known world. Unfortunately the contagion did make its way outside of Kenton, as a month prior to the quarantine some trade ships carrying the virus docked at several ports across the sea. The Affliction branched out in a deadly spiral from Kenton to other cities throughout the world, starting first at the portside and weaving its way through scattered hamlets and villages, eventually reaching even the nobility. By summer of 1954 the Affliction had killed 43% of Ectoria’s total population, and leaving 27% homeless or orphaned. Those cities that were sheltered from the contagion sent their armies out to burn and destroy nearby villages whose overall population was diagnosed with the Affliction. Towns that had once been on good terms turned on each other in the blink of an eye if any Afflicted individuals were found within their walls. Those who survived the Affliction were considered outcasts, shunned from society and forced to live off the streets. But in winter of 1956, after four years of suffering and night on 1 billion deaths, one Ardanach scholar and alchemist found a cure for the Affliction. A survivor of the contagion, Vindar the Elderly worked constantly on a concoction to eradicate the Affliction from the bodies of his fellow countrymen. His alchemy led to the discovery of a mysterious reddish plant that he named the nether wart, as it appeared to come from Hell itself. The plant was an ingredient used in an awkward potion that, when consumed, healed the festering sores of the Afflicted and cooled their fever so that they were well again. Ecstatic, Vindar gave his recipe for the cure to apothecaries near and far in hopes that the Affliction would be banished from Ectoria, never to return again. Eventually dying of old age, Vindar never got to see the final result of his cure—but those who used it did. As word spread of this miracle brew, Afflicted individuals everywhere flocked to their local apothecaries to place orders. Within six months, all of Kierne and parts of Virund had eradicated the Affliction from its soil. By spring of 1958, the five Realms of Ectoria were declared free of the contagion. But with civil order all out of place and the world economies in a wreck, the world had much to rebuild in the wake of the Affliction. Throughout the rest of the Second Age and the beginning of the Third Age, natural order was slowly reestablished and economies boomed. However, in 2084 the progression of the healing world halted. News reached concerned ears that the seeds of the Affliction had been sown in villages on every continent. The state of Ectoria dissolved into near-anarchy as memories of the Great Pandemic little more than a century earlier flooded through the troubled minds of people everywhere. The apothecaries knew the cure to the Affliction, but when they gave their patients the awkward potions, the tonic failed, its potency lost across the years. No one had discovered a second cure for the illness, and so the Afflicted were once again left to endure their pain and suffering until the gods bore the good away to rest with them in their heavenly realm and forever damned the wicked to the torment of Death.
We are now in the year 2086, and the Affliction has run rampant throughout all the known world. Not everyone is infected, though. Those who live in the great walled capitals of the five races have been safe for two years now. Those who live in the dying port towns are at greater risk. You may be able to save yourself from the ailments that this horrid contagion brings, but if you become Afflicted… may the gods have mercy on your soul.
Contracting the Affliction
Many small villages scattered throughout the world have been determined officially Afflicted. If you pass through these villages on your travels, you will be at great risk of contracting the Affliction. Not all homes and buildings in these villages will have the virus contained within, but only in the great cities of Ectoria will you find markings on buildings to differentiate between those Afflicted and those sheltered from it. The only piece of advice to give is to steer clear of these infected hamlets, for you may find yourself in their situation before long.
Many small villages scattered throughout the world have been determined officially Afflicted. If you pass through these villages on your travels, you will be at great risk of contracting the Affliction. Not all homes and buildings in these villages will have the virus contained within, but only in the great cities of Ectoria will you find markings on buildings to differentiate between those Afflicted and those sheltered from it. The only piece of advice to give is to steer clear of these infected hamlets, for you may find yourself in their situation before long.
Curing the Affliction
For those who are so unfortunate to have contracted the Affliction, you have one hope and one hope only if you wish to secure your survival. Some villages and lone huts have doctors in them who are so skilled in the art of healing that they can cure the deadly illness. However, these medical professionals will not give their secrets out to the world. Therefore, it is up to you to find their dwelling places and cure yourself from the death that lies within your heart lest Death take your soul before your time...
For those who are so unfortunate to have contracted the Affliction, you have one hope and one hope only if you wish to secure your survival. Some villages and lone huts have doctors in them who are so skilled in the art of healing that they can cure the deadly illness. However, these medical professionals will not give their secrets out to the world. Therefore, it is up to you to find their dwelling places and cure yourself from the death that lies within your heart lest Death take your soul before your time...