Headburn
Útelic: Zæhys /zaiːhɪːs/ , yþrúhys /ɪːθruhɪːs/ (archaic)
Headburn is the common name for an infectious disease that affects Útels and Ameders, characterized by nausea and a constant heating sensation in one's head, ranging from uncomfortably hot to feeling as if its on fire, which usually lasts for six days or so. While uncommon these days, early Útels were ravaged by this disease nearly 7000 years ago, to the point that the ancient city of Nanaþ'alinei, once the center of Útel culture, was abandoned, along with other settlements in what is now northwestern Jarrak Forest.
The plague struck the southwestern Ela'k Forest the hardest, and even now that area remains less densely populated than the rest of the region.
Many Útels became convinced that headburn was caused by angry nature spirits, which combined with members of the shamans' caste (yþrú-naa) failing to placate them, marked the beginning of that caste's decline in prestige and subsequent prevalence of ancestor worship in Útel society, before which both the veneration of ancestors and spirits had been of equal importance.
This shift even affected the name for the disease, from being called yþrúhys or 'spirit-burn' to the now common zæhys as its severity and ties to spirit worship weakened over the millennia.
While Útel healers are skilled at treating various illnesses, the cause and spread of diseases is poorly understood by them and usually attributed to curses or punishments from ancestral- and nature spirits for breaking taboos. As a result, the patient is often assumed to have in some way brought the headburn on themselves.
Headburn is the common name for an infectious disease that affects Útels and Ameders, characterized by nausea and a constant heating sensation in one's head, ranging from uncomfortably hot to feeling as if its on fire, which usually lasts for six days or so. While uncommon these days, early Útels were ravaged by this disease nearly 7000 years ago, to the point that the ancient city of Nanaþ'alinei, once the center of Útel culture, was abandoned, along with other settlements in what is now northwestern Jarrak Forest.
The plague struck the southwestern Ela'k Forest the hardest, and even now that area remains less densely populated than the rest of the region.
History
Headburn originated in the region around Nanaþ'alinei, whence it spread primarily to western and central Ela'k Forest and to lesser extent south to the subterranean Jaarel city-states, though the latter proved more resistant to it and only experience it as slight nausea over a few days.Many Útels became convinced that headburn was caused by angry nature spirits, which combined with members of the shamans' caste (yþrú-naa) failing to placate them, marked the beginning of that caste's decline in prestige and subsequent prevalence of ancestor worship in Útel society, before which both the veneration of ancestors and spirits had been of equal importance.
This shift even affected the name for the disease, from being called yþrúhys or 'spirit-burn' to the now common zæhys as its severity and ties to spirit worship weakened over the millennia.
Treatment
Common treatments include certain medicines to ease the nausea, and for the head pain a mixture of poultices, washing it with cold water or immersing the patient in water depending on how serious it is, along with reciting certain chants and offering libations to the ancestors.While Útel healers are skilled at treating various illnesses, the cause and spread of diseases is poorly understood by them and usually attributed to curses or punishments from ancestral- and nature spirits for breaking taboos. As a result, the patient is often assumed to have in some way brought the headburn on themselves.
Type
Bacterial
Origin
Natural
Cycle
Short-term
Rarity
Uncommon
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