Elemental Lesions

As time passed, the mortals multiplied. Since they were limited only by their age and health in their capacity to have children, they spread like wildfire. Left on their own, there was little rhyme or reason to them, and they bred together indiscriminately. This caused a strange illness among some of their children, who would manifest odd elemental lesions on their skin. Some of these afflicted children grew up and led relatively normal lives, but most of them became mad by the time they were adults. Many of them died during fits of rage where they attacked other people and had to be put down like a rabid animal. We tracked the problem to its roots and discovered that certain families had too much of one element in their lineage.

Transmission & Vectors

This illness is not at all contagious: it is congenital. There are no recorded instances of someone catching the disease later on in life.

Causes

When closely related mortals procreate, there's a high chance that the offspring will have Elemental Lesions. These Lesions generally represent the Element that is too strong in the person, and corresponds to the color of the Element (Air-White, Earth - Green, Fire - Red, Water - Blue.)

Symptoms

The first noticeable symptom is that the child will be born with Elemental Lesions on their arms, legs, and or back. Their veins often also take on a slight hint of the color of the lesions. As the child grows, it will manifest the ability to manipulate a single element. In most cases, their minds start to become unstable around puberty. Usually by the time they hit their twenties, they are completely insane and very volatile. So far no cure has been found; many of those that go insane have to be put down for the safety of others. The rare cases where one of the inflicted does not go insane, they become very powerful manipulators of their element.

Treatment

There is no cure. Usually those who are afflicted are either put down or locked up. Rarely they will be abandoned out in nature, far from civilization, to fend for themselves.

Prognosis

There are no known reports of someone dying directly from the disease. When someone with the disease dies, they're usually killed while attacking someone in a fit of insanity. In the rare cases that someone does not go insane, they usually don't live past the age of fifty years; the theory is that the use of the elemental magic shortens their lifespan.

Sequela

Most of the people who are born with this condition become quite mad by the time they are past puberty. They lose any apparent ability to reason, and become quite volatile.

Affected Groups

Only children born from closely related parents are affected.

Hosts & Carriers

It's not known if this can be passed down more than one generation: there aren't any recorded instances of someone having the disease creating offspring. Some people speculate that they are sterile.

Prevention

The only prevention seems to be for those who are closely related to not procreate with each other.

Epidemiology

Since it is congenital, the only thing that would increase the instances of this disease would be if families went against the taboo for sexual relations between family members.

History

Cases of Elemental Lesions have been reported since before the Sundering. People have been aware of this disease for a very long time. In fact, the Gods separated people so that they could track their familial lines better.

Cultural Reception

The parents of the afflicted are very much ostracized, and in some cultures they may be punished by law. The victims of the disease are pitied as children, and feared as they reach puberty, when the madness usually sets in. Those who go mad are destroyed or locked up. Those who manage to reach adulthood without going into madness are often mistrusted and feared.
It should be noted that having children of this condition became officially taboo by the Gods when the Godsflames were set out.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Congenital

Rarity

Rare