The Blooming Death
As the flowers grew from his body, Josiah could do nothing but wait for death to take him. Moving was painful now, and he had barely slept in the last week. His eyes were bloodshot, and the feeling of roots expanding within him was constant. Death was close, but still out of his reach. At least he would die beautifully.
Transmission & Vectors
The Blooming Death is transmitted via pollen in the air, making it impossible to detect before its too late. Once you have been infected (after about 3 days breathing in the pollen), the first symptoms will begin to appear.
Causes
The Blooming Death is caused by a rare species of flower, located only in the farthest reaches of Eldcolary. For a few months out of every year, the flower releases its pollen into the air, searching for victims to latch onto.
Symptoms
During the first week, people infected with The Blooming Death, will run a slight fever, accompanied by the feeling of something growing within their bones. By the start of week 2, flowers will begin to pop thru the skin of their legs, at which point the disease begins to speed up the process.
After the first flowers appear, the longest someone has survived is two weeks. Every day, the flowers will take over more and more of the infected's body, their roots deep within the bones of the person unlucky enough to suffer from this condition. Once the flowers reach the skull, they will wrap their roots around the brain, slowly crushing it, causing death after hours of excruiting pain.
The flowers then feed off the body's nutrients, reducing it to a skeleton, wreathed in flowers. It will then release its pollen, continuing the cycle of The Blooming Death.
Prognosis
Once a person has been infected with The Blooming Death, there is no chance of surviving it. The exact timeline it will take for the victim to succumb to the disease varies from person to person, but it always ends the same. Even with modern technology and medicine, no cure has been developed.
Hosts & Carriers
The Blooming Death is carried by a single type of flower, Os Flos, or the Bone Flower which is found in the northernmost forest of Eldcolary.
Prevention
The only way to prevent contracting The Blooming Death is to avoid breathing in the pollen of Ols Flos. This can be accomplished by wearing proper facial protection, or even better, staying far away from the northern forests of Eldcolary.
