Reaving Thirst

Toxonatraemic Psychosis

Warning! This article contains imagery of death, poisons, and degradation due to illness both physical and mental.

Her nails prick at my throat, catching my flesh in their dagger-sharp grasp with each staggering breath. And yet I crave more.
I crave her.

The Reaving Thirst, also known as toxonatraemic psychosis, is a horrific condition stemming from, of all things, salt. It has ravaged countless small communities in Valathe's east, with particularly strong effects shown on the Arriusi and other waterfaring folk, and continues to spread unabated. Though relatively unknown at present, those who have seen its draining grasp fear for what shall happen when the Reaving Thirst reaches the open seas. On land, at least, one can flee.

Not just Salt by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

In its simplest form, the Reaving Thirst begins as a thirst that cannot be quenched, and lips that can never hold water. It drives its afflicted to consume great quantities of salt and water, killing many through water intoxication, drowning, or salt poisoning before the worse effects can kick in.
As the illness progresses, these cravings grow worse, triggering violent outbursts and blood-soaked screaming through throats that can barely handle the air.
The worst of the horrors lie in those who suffered its effects most deeply. Known as saltreavers, these dessicated, skeletal souls roam the land as shadows of their former selves, twisted by undeath to remain ever as they were when the Thirst claimed their last drops of life.
A saltreaver's presence nearby can taint water and salt supplies within days if not dealt with, though it is not yet known how.

Causes

O love, your call is one of pain! O love, must I go?

— addled sufferer

There are three known ways the Reaving Thirst may be inflicted: through a saltreaver's corruption, through tainted water, and through tainted salt. Whilst saltreavers do generally try to kill their prey to drain them dry of any moisture they can find, those that survive the attack have nonetheless been exposed to the thick haze of corruption that shrouds each saltreaver.

Unless treatment is sought with haste, the individual will likely begin presenting with advanced symptoms of the Reaving Thirst within 24 hours.
Tainted salt or water supplies, however, are easier to avoid. Whilst there is a great amount of uncertainty around the original cause of the Reaving Thirst, with some suspecting an enraged river-spirit and others believing in an engineered poison, what is certain is that the safety of both vital items is easy enough to determine. There's always some flaw in the tainted stuff.
Those living in areas at risk of the Reaving Thirst have grown accustomed to the battalion of tests they must run before consuming even the smallest amount of food or drink, but most will agree that the delay in mealtime is worth the potential saving of their lives.
Those who don't agree don't often receive treatment fast enough to regret their failings.

Tainted Water by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Intriguingly, despite the method of affliction being united, outsiders seem to be highly resistant to the Thirst, and both dwarves and oreads have proven completely immune. There are some few theories on why.
Most commonly, it is assumed that as dwarves and oreads are beings crafted from rock, they are immune to the negative effects of another rock. This is an amateurish theory, but due to the incredibly limited knowledge of this disease, it remains the sole pervading theory in commonfolk lore. Similarly, commoners spread the word that outsiders are so resistant as a blessing from the gods, despite this theory remaining entirely untested: prayer has not yet proven able to dispel the Reaving Thirst.

Symptoms

Early Stages

Damn that waitress! Cutting me off from the ale so fast? I'm dyin' for another mug!

— someone who didn't mean it literally

In the earliest stages of a Reaving Thirst infection, there are very few signs in the afflicted - making it all the more vital to be paranoid. Thirst that cannot be quenched and a haze not unlike that caused by hayfever are the two first signs to appear, and though these are common to many illnesses, the Reaving Thirst's arrival has caused great alarm when they appear together shortly after a meal or drink.
If caught at this point, treatment is still be possible. Too often, though, the condition progresses. The unfortunate individual begins to cough, their words begin to wheeze, and they sway with an odd dizziness as their limbs begin to weaken. Those coherent enough to speak moan about a strange seasickness as their legs stumble beneath them, nausea oft overtaking them in the process; survivors speak of the feeling being akin to standing on a boat in the centre of a storm.
When the confusion sets in, only magic can save the afflicted.

Resisting the Thirst by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Middle Stages

The middle stage of the Reaving Thirst is also its end for most, either by the illness's progression killing them through its sheer brutality, or by a merciful blade slipped across their throat. Nausea and thirst grow worse as the individual begins to lose control of their limbs, succumbing to intense brain fog and confusion as their muscles spasm wildly.

Giving In by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Brief study indicates that this is likely caused through a combination of some latent magic present in the infection's corruption and through the swelling of the brain, something common to even mundane salt poisoning.
Were the confusion simply mundane, the deaths would be easy to accept, Instead, however, all suffering from the Reaving Thirst seem to hear the same call. A woman's voice, they say; the same woman who is tormenting them, taking them apart piece-by-piece to join her. As the infection progresses, their confusion turns to blind loyalty and rage, and they strike violently towards any keeping them from sources of brine. Restraints are recommended at this stage if euthanasia is not an option.
Unrestrained individuals at this stage are at the highest chance of killing themselves accidentally via overconsumption of water or salt. The combination of high salinity in their blood and great amounts of freshwater causes cerebral edema, seizures, brain damage, or death; this is a known consequence of hypernatraemia itself.

They may also simply drown themselves without intent, or otherwise poison themselves with too much water or unclean sources of it.

End Stage

Would you throw yourself at him if he'd been made into a Gods-damned vampire?! No? Then run!

— justifiably panicking individual

The survivors do not remain survivors for long. Making it through the middle stage of the Reaving Thirst is to invariably have one's will break. They give in to animalistic urges with abandon, ceasing to recognise most they once knew; indeed, even people begin to be seen as sources of their lifegiving elixir and most beloved food.
They remain weak and easy to defeat whilst their life remains, but if killed in these final throes, the condition's last sting kicks in: whilst they die, they do not die forever. They rise in an unholy rattle of skin and bones, transformed into an undead saltreaver.
Saltreavers are possessed of far greater strength than their mortal counterparts, and have none of the reason. They listen to none save the voice in their head driving them on. Though most are unable to form coherent words around the sputtering mixture of brine and blood choked into their shredded throats, reading their thoughts suggests a low level of intelligence that is nonetheless fanatical in following the urge to corrupt and consume all they can.

Saltreaver by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

the Thirst Cries by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Alternate Name

Toxonatraemic psychosis

Type

Unknown

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• Halfling
• Human
• Half-orc
• Elf
• Half-elf

Etymology

The name of the Reaving Thirst stems from the behaviour of those suffering particularly advanced forms of the infection. Their violent, erratic behaviour puts folk in the mind of bandits and monsters, particularly as the saltreavers are known moreso than the infection itself, giving rise to the first word.
'Thirst' is somewhat obvious; it stems from the horrific thirst sufferers endure.
The scientific name, toxonatraemic psychosis, is more telling of the condition's behaviour. It is comprised of three terms: 'toxo-', indicating that it is caused by a poison, 'natraemic' from 'natraemia', meaning 'presence of sodium in the blood', and 'psychosis', which indicates that the condition is a severe mental disorder.
In broader view, the common name warns of the obvious symptoms and dangers whilst the scientific term informs of the condition's causes.

I watch my mother writhe on the floor, struggling against the rope I fought so hard to get around her. There is a cleric nearby, I know. This hell will be over soon.
I stretch, wringing my wrists with a wince; when did they become quite so painful? And then, with dawning horror, I realise:
I'm thirsty. I'm so thirsty.

— survivor's account

After Effects

Those affected once by the Reaving Thirst and cured must be far more careful than most others around them. They are more susceptible to the call.
Subsequent conditions progress far faster than the norm, with one record case of five cured infections jumping straight from infection to final stage upon his sixth and final infection.
They do, however, reap some small benefit from their ideal. Survivors find themselves able to hold their breath far longer in the water, and find themselves able to swim as if born to the water.
Those cured late into their infection also develop an innate sense for tainted brine, though it manifests as a longing rather than something easily used. Whilst they can help others avoid their fate, it will always come at the cost of temptation.

It's almost worse when it's gone. When you're in its throes, you stop caring after some point. Everything's too loud, too contradictory. You just... stop caring, let it take you where it will. Like bein' adrift in the river with no branch to catch yourself on.
When they save you, you have to deal with the consequences. Your flesh doesn't heal so easily, so your poor flayed throat stays painful for months. The scars you've carved stay as badges of warning.
The damage you wrought on others weights heavy, a stone on your back that you'll never lose.
It's so much effort to speak up when you feel the pull again, when the waves crash around your feet. But I do, every time. I've got three children; can't let the river take them all, now, can I?
But the Thirst -- it taught me that I could. And now we all know it. If I go under again, it won't be me that comes back up.
I don't want to die.

— former sufferer

Reaver's Haven by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Treatment

No prayer, nothing of the arcane. The divine mages don't come out here. It's on us an' what our hands can get.

— determined herbalist

Initial stages of the Reaving Thirst can be treated much like cases of salt poisoning: slow, steady treatment via purified water whilst the patient is isolated and bound. Experiments have shown that this treatment works best whilst well away from the corrupted sources, and whilst the patient is being forced to listen to something else, like a bard's song. As these experiments are very new, they cannot be considered perfect, but initial prospects show improved results.
If the infection is more severe, other medication may be needed to counter the effects more than simple salt poisoning treatments. A potion brewed from drigaimoss and iscuredhu has been the best advance thus far in terms of neutralising the physical effects of the Thirst, whilst the mental effects are better countered via sleeping agents like henbane or mandrake. The mental effects seem to decrease when the patient is unconscious, granting precious time to treat the rest of the condition.
Advanced divine magic is capable of completely neutralising even the middle-to-late stages of the Reaving Thirst, though this should only be practiced by experienced divine mages. Lesser healing spells seem to hasten the mental impact of the condition, leading to faster deterioration; if attempting lesser spells on a patient, they should be rendered unconscious first at minimum.
No treatment is possible for those who have utterly succumbed to the condition's final stages. Even whilst living, divine magic seems to do nothing - and once death has taken them, it shall only grant them a final end.

History & Cultural Impact

Ah, if this were an old fear, we would have far more ways to fight it...

— elder

The Reaving Thirst is said to have first manifested in the Vostene settlement of Póltinou during a controversial wedding celebration. Common myth speaks of the way a terrible storm swelled overhead, crashing down on terrified guests - and the way many gave into their thirst shortly after, first ravenously drinking all the wine in the building before turning on one another. It is also said to have first been seen on Arriusi ships pulling into towns crewed by none but the dead, or ghost ships with nobody at all to pilot them drifting ashore.
Whilst there are likely only some few grains of truth to these traditional myths, it is nonetheless true that the Reaving Thirst has spread throughout eastern Valathe like wildfire. Once-fine water sources turn tainted overnight with no sign of a passing saltreaver, and trusted salt sellers find themselves facing wicked ire as their goods are twisted before their very eyes.
Few in eastern Valathe share meals without extensive paranoia these days; over the past few months of the Thirst's spread, many have developed habits of eating in turns so that any signs of the Thirst can be stamped out immediately. This habit has even begun spreading to the upper classes after a surprise infection in Niniéra saw a noble banquet ruined; only the actions of servants familiar with the condition saw the aristocrats saved. The condition spreads ever further, too; though the likes of Medimia and Aletheia are too busy with their war to focus their attention on a plague, it threatens to rapidly demand their attention.
As this mania spreads, the Thirst at its feet, so too do researchers begin to seek solutions to the suffering. The most notable name involved with these research efforts is none other than the infamous Dr. Cielwood, whose efforts in curing Daemon's Grasp remain at the forefront of commonfolk's minds despite his controversial acts in the years since. Cielwood's forces have set up a small research laboratory near Póltinou and have spread an appeal for any afflicted to be brought to them with haste, if at all possible, and have dispensed vials of sleeping potions to heavily-impacted nearby settlements to assist in this process.

Abandoned Tables by Hanhula (via Midjourney)