Faecursed

Condition afflicted upon those who harm the fae.

If you feel that you're being watched,
in that forest near your home,
drop your axe and leave the tree,
or faecursed you will be.

— Unattributed Zinato Poem

Becoming Cursed

Most fae do not go out with the intent to curse someone, only inflicting it upon someone who has done great evil against them. There are stories in most cultures about individuals who have recieved the bane of the fae, always they had done something to injure them or destroy their home. Such stories are especially common in settlements that were only recently built on wild lands.
The first group to record the infliction and effects of faecurses was the Wildslayers of Bral whose job it was to exterminate the fae of that region. Many of them were afflicted with the curse, it isn't always fatal, but they are never the same again.

Changed Forever

Upon receiving the greatest ire of the fae, a person begins to show visual signs of the condition. Each curse is unique so the signs are always different but they can very from grey skin or bleached feathers to hair that stands on end or eyes of a single color without whites, irises, or pupils.
Next, the afflicted begin to show behavioural symptoms which range from delusions to violent outbursts. Sometimes it is as if the fae sent them back to their communities to get vengeance on their behalf. Others only develop small habits that other may find disconcerting but are not dangerous to themselves or to those around them.
Finally, in some cases - not all progress to this stage - their bodies begin to twist and warp until they die or - even worse - become something else. Some legends say that the scariest looking trees in the woods were once lumberjacks who intruded on fae lands. Another claims that the first gort was actually a human who killed a fae to stay young but found themselves instead transformed into an ugly creature.

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The Cure

Some say the only cure is to right the wrong which one has performed against the fae. There are tales of people who have made up their misdeeds and returned to their normal selves. Stories are also told about those who realized their wrongs too late and were unable to make up before they were changed forever.
The Wildslayers have long combated the others and hoard the knowledge they have gained in doing so. If they have a way to prevent the curse - or to cure it - they have not shared that information.

The Artist's Eye

Some people who become afflicted find themselves seeing everything differently. The art created by such individuals has a wild, abstract, quality to it. One such artist painted a portrait of a family as they saw it and was kicked out when it did not even resemble people and yet continued to insist that it was exactly as they saw it.
While many do not appreciate the blotches of ink and irrecognizable sculptures of afflicted artists, some do and they will pay a premium for such works.

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