Soul Birth Link Cure

Trigger Warning! Death during childbirth of mother and child and brain trauma.

by DMmyali via Canva

Soul Birth Link is a terrifying affliction that can happen to a mother and child if the child is conceived outside of the city of Coythessin on the island of Thessabiens. The name itself doesn't sound terrible but if not caught before child birth can result in death of the child and mother or permanent brain trauma of both mother and child. This link is one of feelings that is shared from mother to child and child to mother and can last up to five years.
There is nothing that shows on the outside that there is a link between the two (or more with multiple children), it is an invisible affliction. A few ways to know if someone has it is if they conceived a child on the island of Thessabiens outside of the city walls and if the mother feels a strong soul connection with their child(children).
There have been a few successful and healthy births when a magical shield is put in place between mother and child during childbirth, but there are not enough wizards or healers to be able to be attending every birth. The population of Coythessin has decreased considerably since the discovery of Soul Birth Link.

Research

Researchers, medics, and scientists have worked many years at the Laboratory of the Testing Grounds in the country of Thedoeden to find a cure to this affliction and to find the root cause. With the focus on knowing that a magical shield will prevent most of the pain to be shared the group started working from there to see if they can find a cure or at least reduce the symptoms. Numerous potions were tested with varying success but it was found that they were too expensive or the ingredients were rare/limited making the potions not sustainable.
The group dubbed the SB Link Cure developed a tiny virus that is injected into the bloodstream of humanoids that can reproduce offspring and is passed down generations after generations. The first few hundred test virus had some unintentional consequences, examples include rapid hair growth in offspring, blindness, telepathy, reversed aging, rapid aging, paused of aging, ability to use paralyzed parts of the body, and many other effects that were unable to be replicated.
Childbearing humanoids around Coythessin flocked to receive this tiny virus on the off-chance that they would develop the Soul Birth Link. Birth rates exploded in the year after the final virus was introduced and Coythessin started becoming a thriving city once more. Though there are rumors that there is a top secret connection regarding Soul Birth Link to something but nothing else seems to be known, but it is something Ethrosa-altering.

I thought it was going to be an easy birth. She was ready to come into the world and the mother was ready to welcome her. The mother felt a deep connection in her soul to her unborn child who she was to name Enid. I wish I knew then what that would mean. I was a new Birther from another land and was unaware of the affliction that could happen here. I know now and I wish there was more that I could have done.
The mother went into labor and everything was going as planned until the pain intensified and then things just went wrong. Right at the moment that the pain increased you could feel something change in the room. There was a chokingness to it. There was nothing to see. Then all of a sudden the mother screamed to a point of beyond physical pain. I didn't know what to do. I threw up a shield around the mother and mind screamed to my husband to fetch another birther or a healer or something. He knew something was on the verge of life and death as in moments our Matriarch Healer, Coralyn, appeared in the birthing room healing the baby as she was being born. Enid was a strong healthy baby who screamed and yelled until she was placed with her momma.
There was minimal damage to the mother and child, but enough emotional pain to last a lifetime for the mother. She did thank me for saving both her and Enid from a terrible terrible fate. I still wish I was able to have prevented anything from happening in the first place.

— Anju a Birther recounting her tale of the Soul Birth Link

Anju, a Birther

by DMmyali via Hero Forge