Seliah sickness

One of many inciting incidents.

Written by Acturus Albani

Seliah sickness, also called priest's ploy, was the name for an illness localized in the village of Seliah, located in the heartland of the Duchy of Odykos, in the western reaches of the Kingdom of Crendameth. It was primarily caused by the consumption of the town's water, which had been tampered with by a false priest called Nezin Calar in order to gain a profit by selling the sickness' cure to the afflicted villagers.

Due to the investigations done by Illya Galanodel, Blaine Shadz, Zox the Red, Sammy and SMASH, the ploy was discovered and before he could escape, they disposed of Calar, freely distributing the cure for the townsfolk.

Transmission & Vectors

Seliah sickness was a waterborne disease. Because of Nezin Calar's tampering with the town's main water supply, almost all of the town's residents fell ill after drinking it or using it to cook.

Causes

Priest's ploy was primarily caused by a toxin that can be obtained through the careless mixing of several unprocessed plants and their ingredients. Nezin Calar's notes barely describe how the disease was discovered, alluding to some sort of patron that allowed him to stumble upon it to make a profit by selling its cure.

Symptoms

Most of the townspeople of Seliah displayed the same symptoms, albeit with varying degrees of severity. Generally, patients would first complain of a constant lack of strength and energy, quickly becoming bedridden and developing high fevers, leading to many hallucinations and delusions while in this state. The final stage of this condition's cycle included a progressive loss of one's eyesight and a generalized organ failure.

Treatment

Much like the illness' origin, the exact remedy of Seliah sickness is unknown, as Nezin Calar left little documents regarding the inner workings of his laboratory or his concoctions. However, while the specific components and ingredients were unknown, it is known that this cure needed to be distilled from what appeared to be the substance that poisoned the town's water supply to begin with. This cure had an unfailing success rate, if being somewhat slow to show results.

Prognosis

Priest's ploy had three distinct stages, the first one manifesting itself as a general lack of energy and strength by an individual, slowly making them bedridden and hindering basic bodily functions like breathing. Not long after this came the fever, the next stage in the illness' course through a patient's body, usually accompanied by visual hallucinations and strange dreams. Most patients arrived at this stage before being cured by the adventurers passing by. The final stage, the onset of blindness and the organ failure, appeared inconsistently, seemingly depending on the afflicted's constitution. There were few cases that reached the latter, and all of them resulted in the patient's death.

Affected Groups

The villagers from the town of Seliah exclusively.

Prevention

There was no realistic way to prevent avoid contracting this illness, unless a villager from Seliah decided to stop drinking from the water supply entirely, walking for miles to reach the river Melior and quench their thirst there. 

However, there were some townsfolk that were inherently immune to the disease, drinking from the water and being minimally affected.

Epidemiology

There was no evidence that indicated this disease was anything but waterborne. As such, it is unknown if the infections were solely to blame on the blighted water supply.

History

The first case of Seliah sickness was reported on the 23rd of Cropreap, 26 AE, following a seemingly widespread wave of lethargy that permeated the town. After Gader Tresdel, the person who reported to the village elder about a possible spreading illness, became bedridden, many and more people realized that they were, in fact, sick. The number of patients grew steadily, to the point where they had to be separated from the rest of the town, placed in the town hall's floor with a crude pillow under their heads.

Not one week later, a supposed priest was passing by the village. He heard the town's pleas and set to work on concocting a cure. Once it was proven to be successful, he began charging the townspeople for access to this potent remedy. Because they had no other option, they complied. For the next two and a half weeks, Nezin Calar's pockets would only grow heavier with coin while allegedly working day and night for more vials of the cure, while secretly biding his time to maximize his profits. Seven patients died because there was not enough coin in the entire village to afford the medicine once a relative reached the sickness' final stages.

As fate would have it, a band of adventurers was passing by the village when they heard of the people's plight, deciding to do what they could in order to alleviate the situation before moving on. Through investigation, however, they realized that the priest's arrival was far too convenient to be a simple coincidence, finding that he was, in fact, trying to make as much gold in Seliah before moving on to the next town. After he was disposed of, two members of this group, Blaine Shadz and Zox the Red, were the ones to figure out how to produce more vials of the cure, although not understanding its workings properly. Soon after, they were able to teach these findings to the rest of the town while also handing them some vials. In gratitud, the town rewarded them with a boon of their choosing.

After these adventurers left, the villagers would only improve in health, fully recovering and finally being able to live out their days as they did before the entire incident started.

Cultural Reception

Seliah sickness has made travelers avoid the town entirely, fearing the stories that have been spreading about a fatal plague that leaves you with enough strength to move your eyelids and little else. Although these claims are greatly exaggerated, during the sickness' initial outbreak, those that were infected would be removed from their homes fearing the infection of the rest of its inhabitants. Eventually, avoiding contact with those suspected to be ill became the norm.

Type

Chemical Compound

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Unique