Olfen Plague

Transmission & Vectors

Primarily spread through the deposit of an infected carcass into a well or other key water source the Olfen Plague can then easily spread rapidly through any infected creatures meat being eaten. Infected rivers that contaminate the wildlife that a village lives off will quickly cause rampant infection as other wildlife and mer consume the flesh and take the disease onto themselves.
The degree to which the disease is infectious within the meat largely depends on the quantity of infected material consumed by the creature before its death and those who only consume a small amount of infected meat can survive unscathed. This is particularly true in those who have previously been infected by the disease and survived it without magical cures.
Pure-blooded elves have a natural resistance to the disease and those of partially elven blood possess a gradually diminishing resistance to the disease.

Causes

The Olfen Plague was created through Viromancy by altering the already existent Sewer Plague with additional dangerous and infectious elements. It was spread by Ash Elven emissaries through the water supplies of several nearby states after which it naturally and rapidly spread for four years across the land causing widespread death and havoc.

Symptoms

The Olfen Plague develops through several stages:
Stage I: Early infection can be identified by a dryness of the mouth encouraging the infected to consume more water which is the primary infection vector. The first stage lasts around five days before it evolves into the stage II fever.
Stage II: As the disease matures infected begin to enter a fever with a significantly increased drying of the mouth. As the fever intensifies the infected begin to experience nausea, sweating and fatigue leaving the victim often unable to leave their bed. The dry mouth often causes further consumption of infected fluids which can cause the infection to progress quicker and more severely. The second stage lasts about another five days before escalating to the next stage with the appearance of boils.
Stage III: In the third stage the disease begins to develop into its more distinctive features with boils emerging across the body of the infected, particularly around the throat area. Where they attempt to move sores quickly develop and continued consumption of infected fluid begins to cause a build up of fluids which then cause inflammation within the infected's lungs. Fluid from any popped boils or drained lungs are as infectious as water sources. This stage develops over the course of around a week during which the disease can be cured with effective treatment, rest and good relative health. If recovery does not take place the disease enters its forth stage which is almost always fatal but from which recovery can occur in rare and highly supported cases.
Stage IV: In the fourth stage tissue infected and marked with sores, boils, or pulmonary edema begins to experience necrosis. Other tissue can begin to experience necrosis if exposed to infected water at this point though as necrosis tends to occur around the respiratory system it is uncommon for the infected to survive long once necrosis begins.

Treatment

The Olfen Plague has two main cures: Magical and Non-Magical.
Magical
The magical nature of the Olfen Plague grants it some resistance against restoration magic that attempts to cure diseases. While detecting the infection in water is not difficult cleansing water or meat infected by the disease requires a more advanced aptitude in magic (2nd Level). Similarly once infected only the first stage can be cured by magical means though this grants no natural resistance against infection by the disease in the future as the disease progresses the skill and power of the restoration spell to cure it needs to increase with each stage eventually requiring an exceptionally powerful spellcaster to cure the final necrosis stage of the plague.
Non-Magical
The non-magical cure for the Olfen Plague is far less effective and requires the infected to rest and drink purified uninfected water and meat during their recovery. Once developed the disease will always escalate at least to stage III of the disease though if treated well this stage can begin to be cured. Draining of infected fluid in the lungs can provide additional protection against Stage IV of the disease and help assist recovery if infected fluid is consumed during the diseased stage. 
A poultice created by Saddam Lind towards the end of the pandemic proved highly effective at mitigating the more severe conditions of the infection and was able to significantly enhance chances of survival for those who were able to consume it repeatedly over the course of the second and third stages of infection.

Prognosis

The Olfen Plague is considered extremely dangerous and highly infectious with all those infected reaching at least stage III and the majority of the infected perishing during Stage III or during the onset of Stage IV. Only after the development of the Lind formula or through magical intervention are cases of survival considered likely and even then it is possible that the infected will still suffer. 
Those who have survived the means through non-magical treatment are much less likely to catch it a second time and considered significantly more likely to survive if they do though scarred tissue across their body is a common trait. Those who survived due to magical treatment have no special resistance and have the same risks from reinfection as they did for their first disease.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Extremely Rare