Vithriciulë

Death needn't be a tiring affair. Sometimes, it is a meandering, slow thing...

The definition of apocalypse does not wholly fit for the dawning terror that is vithriciulë. A planetary plague that has pursued the elves for as long as the starborn beings have existed, vithriciulë is an irreversible tragedy for any world. It is often referred to as the World-Lattice or Marvaeth's Pride by elves seeking to translate the name to Common, for no direct translation of vithriciulë itself exists.

Leafless by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Simply put, vithriciulë is the slow and complete vitrification of a world. All that lives and all that has died, all that exists on the planet's surface and beneath it, turns gradually to beautiful, eternal crystal, glittering under the distant suns for the frozen eyes of those enduring the remnants of life left to them.
The worlds emptied by this gorgeous death sing their dirge as their veins turn ever more to glasslike eternity, offering the faintest glimmer of hope to the living.
It is not a hope that they can remain. When the dirge is sung and vithriciulë is spotted, life can be spared by only one method: escape. Whether to another plane or across the emptiness of space to another planet, those that wish to survive vithriciulë must flee before it affects them.
Once it has begun, there is no hope of reversal. Even the gods struggle to combat vithriciulë, boundless as their powers are. No planet is known to have ever successfully been saved once the process has started.

Causes

The more advanced a civilisation is, the more eyes are on it - and not all of them are kind.

— planar scholar

Perhaps the most terrible thing of vithriciulë is the uncertainty of it. Despite its millennia-long pursuit of elvenkind, there is precious little known of what can cause it. There have been very few strong, consistent factors over the years. Chief among them is - worryingly to the elves - the presence of elvenkind. As far as is understood by mortals, no planet untouched by elves has ever succumbed to vithriciulë. The timer, if there is such a thing, seems to begin the moment elves set foot on the world, even for just a moment.

The other vital requirement for a world to be affected by vithriciulë is the existence of leylines - and thus the existence of magic. Dead worlds cannot be affected by vithriciulë, as proven when an elf suffering from partial vithriciulë succumbed to the condition on the surface of a dead planet, in a last-ditch attempt to escape their fate. Whilst it consumed the elf, the crystal did not spread beyond their body, unlike usual cases of vithriciulë.
Why it follows the elves is still unknown. Elvenkind were created by Seren, a deity of crystal herself; that their doom should come from crystal as well is a terrifying thought for devout elves, who hesitate to imagine that their deity would also provide their end. Seren, when She could still easily respond to prayer, denied that it was Hers - but in the way of gods, she could say no more.
Elven theological scholars believe that it is born from Seren's antithesis, the shadowed deity Marvaeth, instead. Marvaeth's power over crystal is equally strong, and his corruptive influence is well-known.

Crystalline Civilisation by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

The matter gets more theologically complex when one considers that Seren has imprisoned Marvaeth within Herself. The two are effectively one, with Seren acting as prison and warden, and Marvaeth sneaking every opportunity to attempt to corrupt Her followers. Where the spread of vithriciulë is concerned, this blurring of the lines is challenging.

Symptoms

Crystal begets crystal, and never do we see the worst creeping up on us...

— mournful elf

It always begins the same way, for every world has some form of crystalline structure. Water frozen into snow or ice, gemstones embedded within the earth, or simply chemicals undergoing crystallisation - there is always something.

Fractals by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

These crystals, embedded within the planet's depths or strewn across its surface, are where vithriciulë begins. Instead of the existing crystals remaining as they are, some strange trigger causes them to grow. It is a small growth at first, effectively unnoticeable.
The same growth triggers from a different crystal, then. Then again. Again. Different crystals, different areas of the world. They need not be the same type of crystal, even. It is when two crystals affected by vithriciulë touch that it can finally begin to be detected - as this is when it shall begin to spread. When the two types of crystal touch, they begin to spread in a slow but exponential fashion.
It can take years for the first metre to be covered by vithriciulë crystals, and once this first patch has begun to spread, the triggering of random growths ceases. Unfortunately, whilst the sight of spreading crystal is a dead giveaway to vithriciulë's presence, it can also be incredibly well hidden.

The lack of attempts to grow crystal often means there is no indication that vithriciulë is taking root. Mortals miss these early signs due to no fault of their own, and are thus surprised when waves of crystal emerge years later.
Once its spread is underway, there is no way to stop it. If a planet can warn its inhabitants, or if they find out soon enough, there may be a chance to evacuate to another world, should they have the ability to do so. Most do not.
Most die.

Prognosis

It is not the planet alone that suffers, but we with it...

— tormented elf

The prognosis of vithriciulë has already been well-explained for the planets it claims. Death will come for the planet in time, and it shall be left a crystalline grave. It is important to note that the world's inhabitants and belongings are not immediately condemned the moment vithriciulë begins. They may hold onto hope, so long as their civilisation or magic is advanced enough to allow escape from the world.

The point of no return for any individual, especially a sapient individual, is when crystal has begun to change them. Unlike the subtlety of degradation in the planet, vithriciulë is extremely apparent in sapient beings. The affected area - usually fingertips or toenails at the beginning - develop a tingling numbness not dissimilar to the effects of frostbite.
Clumsiness sets in with a feeling of dizziness mere paces behind; by the time the first dizzy spell has passed, the individual in question will note that the affected area has begun to harden.
As the crystal transitions through the body, it brings a sluggishness to the body's systems. Heartbeats slow, brain fog impedes function, and the sufferer's movements grow heavy as they steadily come to a stop.
Due to the mental impact, it is challenging for someone suffering vithriciulë to understand that vithriciulë is what they are succumbing to.

Beginning of the End by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

It is not vithriciulë that kills mortals, not directly. By the time vithriciulë crystals reach the heart and brain, the mortal has already died. The impact of its grasp slows down a mortal body too greatly for the mortal to function, and though vithriciulë can sometimes sustain a creature through the odd magic that powers it, there are fundamental limits to this sustenance.
If the mortal cannot sustain themselves - cannot eat, cannot breathe - then they die, then and there. The shock of the crystalline grasp can also be too much for weaker bodies, triggering cardiac events that end a life quite early into vithriciulë.

Succumbing by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

The dead become crystal exactly where they ended. In the worst-hit areas of planets claimed by the crystal plague, the streets are decorated with statues of those that succumbed.
Should an individual flee the planet whilst undergoing vithriciulë, they run the risk of taking the infection with them to another world. Those in civilisations preparing for this escape often have protocols for suspected sufferers, and may grant them the mercy of a swift end to spare both their suffering and the safety of the next world.

It isn't just an end for elves. All life will perish. So - why, then, do we leave the rest behind..?

— confused elf

Is it selfish of us - as a species - to continue on, with this in our footsteps? Is our existence right..?

— concerned elf

Beautiful Death by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Type

Magical

Origin

Alien

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Extremely Rare

Emptiness by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Elven Beginnings

When the elves were first created by Seren, it was on a world crafted to be their dearest home. This world was the planet of Aetharis, and it was to be their paradise. The crystalline trees there gleamed with divinity's light caught in their prisms, and real grass swayed in the gentle winds.
Aetharis was the first world the elves left behind in their haste to explore the universe's vast reach.
It is not known whether those ancient elves fled their home due to vithriciulë, or whether it was to the stillness of Marvaeth's Pride they one day returned.
What is certainly known is that the elven homeworld has long succumbed to either vithriciulë or something close enough to it. It is crystalline in entirety, these days.
Yet it is not crystalline in the manner of worlds taken by vithriciulë. It still possesses magic, and life that enters it does not seem to become tainted. Why this one world is different, only Seren may know.

It haunts our every home.
Never can we fully settle, for we know that one day, vithriciulë will come for us.
We cannot know how many centuries or millennia we shall be allowed; all we can know is that one day, our kin will again need to flee.

— elven elder

Cultural Reception

The existence of vithriciulë stains the nightmares of every elf who is lucky enough to be granted education on the tragic matter.
It shapes elven culture in a fundamental manner, for they must always rush to craft Elf-Gates on each world they settle on in case they must flee, and must remain in touch with the natural world to catch early signs of their world's destruction.
Whilst crystals are a key part of elven theology and culture due to the crystal-deity Seren that created them, they are nonetheless also a reminder of the fate they must ever evade.
News of the crystal plague rarely spreads outside of elven circles on each world. Istralar is somewhat an anomaly in many ways; researchers have long known of the existence of a crystal menace in the universe, though vithriciulë itself is largely still a secret.
One of the few breaches of this secrecy is said to be a key reason for the racial tensions between the dwarves, who are crystalline beings themselves at their core, and the elves, who may well have condemned the world the dwarves consider their birthright by their very presence.

Forgotten Footsteps by Hanhula (via Midjourney)