From the Shadows

By Dr. Vuos Niil

The first known case of Shadow Typhus, at least by my knowledge, was a middle aged human man. A sewer worker I believe he was. He came to my clinic a little after sunset on the 15th of Myrican, 434 7E. It was a strange first encounter, the man had come to me for help, but would refuse to come inside lest I dim the lights. His explanation was that any sort of bright light would cause extreme pain and discomfort.
At first I had suspected the man had contracted some form of Vampirism due to the aversion to light. However further examination (mostly) ruled that out. He showed no signs of distress to silver, nor was his skin any paler than normal for a human born in the region. I believe it is also worth noting that he did not require an invitation inside the clinic. There were no visible bite marks on any part of his body either.
When asked when he had first begun experiencing symptoms, he had said the morning of this day. He was awoken by intense pain as the sun began to shine through the windows of his home. Considering the aversion to bright light, I can assume the disease may have begun sometime in the night, but had gone unnoticed until daybreak. I told the man to come back tomorrow, as I required time to think and prescribe some kind of medication.
My first thought was perhaps a concoction of glimmershade, garlic scape, and silverleaf could lessen some of the effects. Or perhaps at the very best cure them. The glimmershade would potentially help with the light aversion, and the garlic scape and silverleaf would account for any kind of vampiric or perhaps even lycanthropic properties of the disease, if there were any.
As I thought, the man did not return until sundown. However he began to appear physically different now. He was not pale, but instead looked as if he was inside a veil of shadow. Or rather, he was the shadow. It was a difficult sight to describe perfectly. My assistant also pointed out to me that his shadow was a much darker shade than anyone else. While not completely certain it could be related, I believe it’s worth noting. Upon drinking the potion, there were no visible effects aside from the usual that come from consuming glimmershade. Even after an hour the man was still terrified of the light. If only I had access to magic, as I’m sure any sort of lesser restoration or disease curing spell could end this instantly.
On the third night, the man returned once again. His form was visibly changing, and he was beginning to become slightly aggressive. I had a suspicion that this unknown disease may worsen, and out of self preservation I posted for help from the Bronzegarde earlier in the day, and two young dwarves had responded. I had them help hold the man down and tie him down to the table. Though it was difficult to find areas of his body that still had physical form. As a last resort I took one of the sun stones and attached it to the ceiling. The man thrashed and screamed. It took nearly an hour, however all throughout the man visibly began returning to normal. When it was finished he passed out from the intense, pain filled procedure he had just endured.
Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of what was to come.

Type

Journal, Medical