Flux
The Flux, also known as the Bloody or Violent Flux, is an infamous and widespread contagion that is common in both Wythe and Lagona. Its symptoms include fever, hemorrhaging, diarrhea, dehydration, and in severe cases, delirium. It has little treatment beyond prevention, and is one of the most lethal diseases in the known world.
Transmission & Vectors
Despite various folk superstitions regarding the contagion's origins, the consensus amongst the learned men of Wythe is that the Flux is brought about by poor sanitation, typically manifesting as the contamination of food and drinking water with feces. While the disease can be found throughout the continent, it is most prevalent in densely-populated cities and army encampments, where the throngs of unwashed masses provide kindling for the contagion's fire. In these cases, flare-ups of the Flux are often known to kill nine men in ten.
Symptoms
The Flux typically presents itself after 1-3 days, initially manifesting as mild pain of the gut and diarrhea. In the coming days, the infected develop a high fever and severe cramps, often accompanied by dehydration and in rare cases, delirium. By the first week after exposure, individuals will have experienced nausea, vomiting, rapid weight loss, and the most terrible of muscle aches. In the most severe cases, the bowels themselves will tear free from the abdominal wall, causing rapid hemorrhaging and certain death. Should the infected weather these ailments for 10 days, it is said they are on track to a full recovery. Unfortunately, it is a rare thing for all but the hardiest of men to bear the contagion for more than a handful of days before succumbing to its effects.
Curiously, while the Dragonborn of Teoti-Itza can carry the Flux and pass it to others, they are seemingly immune to its symptoms.
Treatment
Once an individual has come into contact with the Flux, there is little to be done besides attempts to ease their suffering. In many areas, it is common for those tainted by the Flux to be cast out from their communities for fear of the contagion spreading. In certain isolated cases, the disease has been cast out of the body via powerful arcane treatment. Most, however, are unable to acquire (or in most cases, afford) such miraculous treatment.
