Ophidian Shock

"The bite of the ophidian is fascinating. Not quite magical, not quite a disease, not quite a venom, but all of these and none. There is a cure, there MUST be a cure, as the Yuan-Ti will sometimes offer it to a stricken victim as blackmail, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what it is." ~Grandmaster Jeren, of the Golden Tower

Transmission & Vectors

The condition enters the blood with the toxic bite of an Ophidian on a weakened victim. If the invaded body does not fight off the poison and belongs to the curse's potential victim species, they are infected with the curse. When a victim below 1/2 of their max HP fails a Constitution save against an ophidian's venomous bite attack (DC 12), they begin transforming.

Symptoms

The first symptom of the disease is usually chills. As the victim's body becomes more cold-blooded, they require more external heat. This sets in within the hour of infection. Over the first three weeks, the victim's hair falls out. They become entirely devoid of all hair by the end of the third week. The next three weeks, their limbs shrivel as if they are starving, while their bodies swell. Their skin turns a pale white, and the follicles that once sprouted hair now sprout fingernail-like scales in the color of the ophidian that bit them. Over the course of week six, their teeth fall out, replaced by hinged, hollow bone projections connected to their jaw. Most people lose the ability to speak anything but Draconic at this point. They also sprout a tail as thick as their swollen body. Last to transform is the face. In the night of week seven, their skull painfully and suddenly begins to warp, stretching forward. By dawn on that day, they are now an ophidian. In addition to the physical transformations, every week the victim's Charisma drops by two. If at any point during the transformation the victim's Charisma reaches zero, they fall into a coma until they are either cured or the transformation is complete.

Treatment

The Yuan-Ti have an antidote, which they will never give up for free. Often, they extract a mystical promise in the form of a geas in exchange. No-one outside of the correct corners of Scalykind society know the ingredients or method for creating the antivenom. The antivenom not only halts the transformation, but painfully and hideously reverses it. Depending how far along in the transformation a victim was, their bones will rearrange, their teeth will regrow (displacing the hinged fangs), their scales will tear free, their skull will painfully warp back to its normal shape, their tail will fall off, etc. Assorted alchemists have discovered various ways to halt the transformation, but this method requires regular treatments which can become quite expensive. A temporary treatment can be prepared at the cost of 150 GP per dose. Each dose will prevent the transformation (and Charisma loss) for one week. If being made with the proper materials, preparing a dose requires an Alchemy check of 16, and takes around a day to brew.

Prognosis

Without the cure, the victim will become an ophidian. With the cure, the victim will always recover. Once the transformation is complete, a Wish spell is required to reverse it, though slaying the ophidian that they have become and casting True Resurrection will create a new body unaffected by the transformaiton.

Prevention

While normal methods of curing poison are ineffective, a potion of poison resistance can prevent the infection from setting in.

History

When the Saurians created the ophidians, they did so with an alchemical battlefield toxin. From all evidence, that toxin is precisely the same as created in the ophidian venom glands.