Swine Warts

Information sourced from 'Clavius Clegorane's Guide to the Known Territories', the 'Musings of Dougall Kuul', and 'Wrigley's Bestiary: Lycanthropes and Other Werebeasts'

Written by David_Ulph

Curiously, there are still thousands within the southern regions of the Holy See Territories who refuse to keep pigs or partake of their flesh. When I travelled in Moravia, I dared to ask a local one day why this superstition is still upheld to which I was responded in a torrent of curses in the native tongue in an attempt to ridicule me. I managed to bless myself with the spell 'Tongues' just in time to catch the latter end of the stream of words, which has stuck with me ever since;
"A hundred curses on the swine eaters, who know neither decency nor civility!"

— Clavius Clegorane's Guide to the Known Territories, v.3

Introduction

Swine Rash is an extremely deadly infection transmitted via the bite of a pig, a once thought to be evil beast in some cultures which the Trickster God Pashna made true as a result of magically influencing the blood of select pigs to carry this new infection. Few conventional methods can be done to treat the infection, which must be allowed to run its course with serious long-term consequences or the host will succumb to the symptoms and die.

History

Cat Cults & Swine Cults

Afore the Ruddles invaded our lands, they seemed to be a simple folk who survived by the skin of their teeth on an archipelago in the middle of the Silverlight Sea. Obviously, as the Fisher Kingdom, we had some contact with the Ruddles before their cults pushed them to slaughter our peoples. Though we recorded two distinct sects in the Ruddle culture during this time period, where only one culture appeared to exist at the time of the forced settling and expansion. These were, we named after the animals we believed they worshipped as holy, the Cat Cults and Swine Cults.
Some sacrificed bulls and cows alike and goats and sheep; pigs alone which they abominate, are neither sacrificed nor eaten. The others looked on swine without disgust, but as holy animals.

— Musings of Dougall Kuul, the recently coronated Fisher King of Moravia speaking of his personal hobby of expertise; the history of the Kingdom of Arannas

In ancient Ruddle, there were two different and opposing cultures who had developed in separate paths because of what they chose to do to stay alive, one of which regarded the pig with abhorrence while the other revered it. The Cat Cults were predominantly farmers of crop, coming from the select pieces of arable land on the Ruddle Isles, and believed cats to be divine protectors as they dealt with rats and other scavengers that would ruin a harvest, and depicted hogs as evil beings which should be avoided due to their religious belief that Humans were born from the blood of The Mother after she was cut open by a raging boar's tusk.

The Swine Cults, on the other hand, were predominantly fishermen and raiders, and believed the stubborn and rash nature of the hog to represent the Ruddle peoples and their way of life. Pigs were reared as holy animals fit for sacrifice to the elements and consumption, so that the hardiness of the animal would become one with the person and fate would protect them.

This all opposed the mainland belief, which across from the Ruddle Isles was the Fisher Kingdom of Arannas where pigs were both plentiful and respected. The boar was even the secondary symbol of Arannas after the Dire Moray Eel, and were reared for meat all across their vast land. Early Arannas cultures who did not reap their wealth from the Silverlight Sea's bounty had an industry of curing swine meat which was sold north to the Apollyonic Kingdom of Doldrey. In the rising Empire of Midland, Cured Arannas Pork was a famous and common snack imported from their southern neighbour.

Spread of Superstition & Hysteria

During the reign of Emperor Sarrus VI von Apollyon, a united effort of the humans from the Ruddle Isles and Triton worshippers of Aecor from below the Silverlight Sea raided the coastline of Arannas in holy revenge for their destructive culture of mass fishing against their newly shared deity. After a slow but steady invasion including the Midlandian Empire from the north, the Fisher Kingdom was dismantled and replaced by the Kingdom of Ruddlestone which lasted for a day before the Treaty of Arannas forced the new Kingdom to become subservient to the Empire.

By the point in time of the first human-triton raids, the Ruddle Isles appeared to be united in one culture with what was previously the Cat Cults being the one and only belief in this new Ruddlestone. With a foothold on the mainland of the Mortal Realm, as well as integration into the Midlandian Empire, select pieces of this culture began to spread. Superstitions arose surrounding pigs as far north as Southern Midland and even the town of Drackenberg just outside the Imperial Capital of Doldrey, as well as into the remaining pockets of Arannas culture known as the Moravian Marches on the eastern border of Ruddlestone. Even in his later years, Emperor Sarrus VI was noted to have an aversion to pork in general.

The further time went on, the more these superstitions would get out of hand. Pigs were burned at the stake over claims they were the physical manifestations of the Great Hag Throff or disguised Devils seeking to influence faithful mortals into corruption. Eating even the smallest morsel of pork was believed to indefinitely curse a mortal to an eternity of bad luck, which would lead to loneliness suffering and finally death. The bite of a pig, too, was said to cause leprosy in a person and therefore avoided as if they were a plague. In the end, a Pork Prohibition was made legal throughout the entire Empire, forced even on areas and cultures who did not subscribe to the superstitious beliefs and hysteria. The High Kingdom of Vallatorlan would end up being highly influential in the following illicit pork trade which occurred throughout the Empire.

Decline & Pashna's Influence

The Warlord Period between the fall of the Midlandian Empire and the rise of the Holy See caused a major decrease in the mass hysteria over pork consumption and pigs as ex-citizens of the Empire had more to worry about, though some devout worshippers of Miss Fortune blamed the "Swine Menace" as the cause of the societal chaos and warring.

As the Holy See rose in power and influence, missionaries were sent throughout the old imperial lands and those who passed into the now-independent Kingdom of Ruddlestone weakened the prohibition by explaining the truth of their superstitions, and that mere faith in the Holy See would protect all from illnesses real and fictional. According to legend, as the pork taboo began to be overturned, the God of Trickery Pashna descended upon the Mortal Realm, annoyed that the hysteria He had enjoyed so much to watch was coming to an end.

The tale goes that Pashna sat in the Ironwood and made horrible hog screeches which resonated throughout the very land. A vast amount of pigs escaped from their farmlands and herded themselves to where Pashna sat in a glade, where they rested in multiple circles surrounding the Trickster God filling the open space. This event, referred to as the Sounder Congregation, was where Pashna spoke with the swine for three hours until midnight and learned which ones held the strongest bloodlines so he could bless them. And so Pashna caused select pigs to develop a magical congenital infection they could carry and pass on to mortals via a bite, to keep some level of unease over the harmless pigs.

Symptoms & Prognosis

As part of Pashna's curse, the symptoms of this new Swine Wart infection resembles the leprosy mortals once believed pig bites would cause to a certain extent. After someone is bitten by a pig which carries the blood of one selected in the Sounder Congregation, the infection sits in the area of where the bite pierced the skin. As soon as there is three hours before midnight, the symptoms start to develop and show.

As soon as this occurs, the skin surrounding the area of the bite will start to dry up and turn smooth and reddish. As this spreads, lesions and warts start to break out on the skin as muscles grow weaker and the infected individual looses all sensation in their fingers and toes. If the infection spreads to the head, masses of dandruff and a runny nose will develop seemingly out of nowhere and some subjects are known to have seeing difficulties.

If the infection runs it's course until midnight and the infected individual is still alive, it will leave their body immediately and the subject can begin the slow and sometimes agonising healing process to recover from Swine Wart. However, often times the sensation is too much for a frail mortal body, thus leading to Swine Wart having a high fatality rate and cultural belief it is a death sentence.

Treatment

Swine Wart cannot be cured before the infection runs it's course, but it can be subdued during the three hours of activity before midnight via magical spells sure as 'Lesser Restoration'. Spells such as 'Lesser Restoration' will usually cure a mortal of a curse or magical illness inflicted upon them, but due to the fact this infection is from a directly divine source the spell will only prevent the symptoms from developing that day and the infection will not be able to leave the body until there is a day a spell such as 'Lesser Restoration' is cast on the infected individual.

Sequela

If someone survives the three hours before midnight, they will usually recover from the physical symptoms resembling leprosy over time, though will often experience unexplained weakness of their muscles on every anniversary of the bite. If the infection spread to the head early on in the three hours, there is also a high chance the individual will stay blind without any natural healing ever curing this. It is also true in some recorded cases that if a recovered individual smells the cooking of pork or bacon, they will devolve into a destructive rage much like a berserker.

Prompts Advent Calendar #20

WorldEmber Article #22

Alternative Names

Hog Warts, Swine Rash, Pork Skin, Pig Demon Bite Infestation (PDBI - Official designation in Iatreions)

Type

Magical

Origin

Divine

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

Any living, non-beast races part of the Grey

Child Disease

Daprothropy (Wereboarism)

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Daprothropy

In some rare circumstances, Swine Warts may also infect an individual with Daprothropy (Or as Dr Wrigley explains, the lycanthropy of Wereboars). Sometimes, instead of warts, the hardened skin and lesions across the body will grow tufts of bristly hair and the infected person's teeth will grow into tusks, and will forever be cursed just like a Werewolf.

This issue of wereboars appears most frequently in the Fisher Kingdom of Moravia, where the pork taboo still exists fervently and it is belief in the temples there that the Holy See still "forbid the consumption of the unclean animal under Canon Law due to its tendency to linger in the blood and body of mortals."