The Webbing

Pups and snow, pups and snow, the Black Riser is what you need to know, from eyes and mouth to ears and all, if you do not drink, fertile ground you'll become

— The Black Riser, Nayan Nursery Rhyme

The Webbing also known as the "Black Riser", "Dusk Lilly" and "Prince's Curse" is a spore mutated fungus found all across the duskbelt and most commonly in The Frozen Gate region.
Nayan sailors and hunters can contract it and it takes up to 5 months for it to flower with little to no evidence its growing inside someone's body. When it flowers, the Webbing blooms overnight and kills the host spreading its spores in a cloud of fine light grey dust that can be very quickly moved with the with or just a breeze.

Transmission & Vectors

The Webbing fungus as most plants of its type is transmitted when its spores come in contact with a surface that provides enough moisture, heat and nutrients.

In most cases, in the harsh environment of the The Frozen Gate this would be open wounds, the air or digestive track of a creature.

Its spores are quite resilient and studies on the Nayan academy have shown that they can remain active for years after they are spread by their parent fungus

Symptoms

The Webbing is largely unsymptomatic, a fact which makes it extremely dangerous since it allows it to enter the population and absolutely decimate a large area around it once it blooms overnight. The fungus can take up to 5 months from the original contact to grow and bloom overnight

In the cases that a Webbing infested person found their way in a city of a village the infected were counted in the hundreds or thousands.

Treatment

The only known treatment for the Webbing is the consumption of alchohol which drives the fungus to move outside the body of the host in any way it can, in many cases killing the host in the process. The most effective treatment is by using the Vile Vala Brew, an extremely potent alchoholic beverage infused with the Vala flower.

Prognosis

If left untreated the nfection is deadly. There is a 1 in 5 chances that the subject will survive if treated with large amounts of an alcoholic beverage like the Vile Vala brew. The hard and towering Hunters and Sailors of Naya have better chances due to their physique but anyone with not so strong consitution is almost certainly dead on contact.

Prevention

Sailors and Hunters tend to make sure that they are using cotton and jean masks to cover their mouths and gogles to cover their eyes that they regularly exchange and keep dry. This is the only known preventative measure know.

History

The first known Webbing even happened after the Seeding at the year 50 IA. Since then the events progressively become more often and they are only curbed by following the safety rules and due to the ceremonies of the Nayan adventurers before entering civilized settlements.

Type

Fungal

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• Vulpe
• Triton
• Anthros
• Deamkin
• White Worg
• Eledhrim