Devil Pox

"You see before you a warlock, gentlemen! He hath lain with devils, sucked magical power from their very breasts! Now look at him, pathetic mewling creature. His skin hath rotted from his flesh! He screams unending! Burning him at the stake will protect you, will satisfy justice for his crimes, yes! But it will also grant him serenity from his torment! We are justice! We are mercy! We are the torch!"
~Witchfinder General Kill-Sin of the College of Questions

Causes

Close contact with devils spreads the disease, as does overexposure to infernal energies.
When first exposed to the disease, a character must make a DC 14 Constitution Save. On a success, they are immune to that source of the disease for one day.

Symptoms

The first hint of Devil Pox is the pox itself. Tiny sores begin opening upon the skin of the victim, only a few at first and easily mistaken for freckles. Eventually, these will cover roughly 50% of the skin, and then begin swelling into thick pus filled lumps. These lumps will dry out and burst, and the resultant sores will widen until the whole flesh is one big oozing sore. The process is extremely agonizing, and if not treated results in death.
The only relief from the pain is in evil acts. Performing an act of evil or selfishness delays the advancement of the disease by eight hours.
While the pox is visible, the sufferer feels a creeping sense of selfishness and spite growing inside of them. They become tempted to perform selfish and domineering acts.
Some victims that die rise again as lemures.

If the save has failed, the character acquires the Diseased condition. While Diseased, they have advantage to their Charisma skill checks and disadvantage on their Charisma saves, and they gain the Flaw "I enjoy dominating others and causing pain". After 2d4 days, the disease becomes visible as freckle-sized pox sores. After 2d4 more days, the freckles cover more than half the body and begin swelling up into lumps. The character at this point must make a Charisma save DC 12 to perform any selfless act. After 1d4 days, the lumps burst into oozing sores and the character's HP drops to 0 until the disease is cured. While Diseased, the character cannot lose consciousness, and slowly dies of exhaustion in agony.
If the character's alignment is Lawful Evil at the time of their death, they immediately rise again as a lemure, bursting from the body like a moth from a cocoon. They cannot be resurrected until this lemure is killed. Being incinerated prevents the transformation, as does dying from Radiant damage.

Treatment

Devil Pox can be eliminated with a simple Remove Disease spell cast on consecrated ground, or total immersion in holy water. Once the disease has been eliminated, recovery can begin as normal.

Prognosis

Without treatment, Devil Pox is always lethal. With treatment before a certain point, recovery is certain.

Sequela

Even when cured, the altered personality traits may remain.
A Remove Curse spell is necessary to remove the Flaw gained from this disease.

Hosts & Carriers

Brachina in particular carry this disease, but all devils can potentially transmit it.

Prevention

Proper magical or supernatural protections observed before coming into contact with a devil can prevent the disease.
Protection from Evil, Magic Circle, and the Bless spell can prevent transmission of the disease.

Epidemiology

An outbreak of devil pox often remains hidden in a population for years. The sort of person that has close contact with a devil tends to perform selfish actions daily and thus the disease advances only slowly. During this time, intimate contact with the diseased has a small chance of spreading it. Lemures created from this disease can transmit the disease with their unarmed attacks.

Cultural Reception

Being discovered to have the pox is all the evidence many need to prove that the sufferer is trafficking with dark powers. Witchfinders rarely need more evidence to burn a victim at the stake. Credible rumors of devil pox will almost always bring witchfinders.

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Extremely Rare