Dreamfever
For the past few centuries, this strange illness has afflicted the elves of Aerenal. It is exceedingly rare, usually only claiming two or three victims each decade, but for the Aerani the terror is not the disease's virulence, it is its pitiless, awful inevitability.
Those stricken first fall into a deep slumber. Elves famously have no need for sleep, so already the Aerani (who tend towards isolationism anyway) view the disease as something foreign and unnatural. Next, the victims begin thrashing and wailing, beset by terrible nightmares - another concept completely outside elven experience or understanding. The time that these dreams persist varies by individual, but they can continue for weeks, even months in some cases. Regardless, during this time the afflicted will slowly whither away as if they are being consumed from within by some parasite, growing steadily more and more frail and husk-like until they finally expire.
No mundane, magical, or divine healing has yet proven at all effective in treating the illness, although it can sometimes extend the life of the dreamer. Whether this is a positive effect considering the terror they appear to be suffering is the subject of some debate. Even worse (for the Aerani), the spirits of those who die from the ailment appear to be utterly destroyed. All attempts to raise or even communicate with the deceased fail. Members of the Deathless have even brought the greatest of magics to bear with no success, a fact that concerns the Undying Court enough that it tries to cover up new cases to avoid greater unrest among the citizenry.
No one knows how the disease is spread or contracted. The most common theory is that it is somehow genetic in nature, a theory that began when the Aerani discovered that their Valenar cousins were suffering from the same illness, and at a slightly higher rate. The two great elven nations share little beyond a mutual dislike and a common ancestry, so the conclusion makes some sense even if it creates more questions than it answers. To the Aerani, the uncertainty and awful finality of Dreamfever makes it something easier ignored than faced, and that also means that despite its over-sized shadow over the continent, relatively few resources have been dedicated to studying it.
Those stricken first fall into a deep slumber. Elves famously have no need for sleep, so already the Aerani (who tend towards isolationism anyway) view the disease as something foreign and unnatural. Next, the victims begin thrashing and wailing, beset by terrible nightmares - another concept completely outside elven experience or understanding. The time that these dreams persist varies by individual, but they can continue for weeks, even months in some cases. Regardless, during this time the afflicted will slowly whither away as if they are being consumed from within by some parasite, growing steadily more and more frail and husk-like until they finally expire.
No mundane, magical, or divine healing has yet proven at all effective in treating the illness, although it can sometimes extend the life of the dreamer. Whether this is a positive effect considering the terror they appear to be suffering is the subject of some debate. Even worse (for the Aerani), the spirits of those who die from the ailment appear to be utterly destroyed. All attempts to raise or even communicate with the deceased fail. Members of the Deathless have even brought the greatest of magics to bear with no success, a fact that concerns the Undying Court enough that it tries to cover up new cases to avoid greater unrest among the citizenry.
No one knows how the disease is spread or contracted. The most common theory is that it is somehow genetic in nature, a theory that began when the Aerani discovered that their Valenar cousins were suffering from the same illness, and at a slightly higher rate. The two great elven nations share little beyond a mutual dislike and a common ancestry, so the conclusion makes some sense even if it creates more questions than it answers. To the Aerani, the uncertainty and awful finality of Dreamfever makes it something easier ignored than faced, and that also means that despite its over-sized shadow over the continent, relatively few resources have been dedicated to studying it.
Type
Genetic
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