Demonic Taint

The demonic taint, also know as Abyssal taint, zutloupi vilki in Doujutar language and dewsefo ledj in nordic, is a form of Abyssal corruption leading to madness. Many who contracted it decided to commit suicide before losing self-control. A cure has been found recently after years of research.

Causes

Reiterated contact with Abyssal creatures and places can lead to many forms of soul corruption, of which demonic taint is arguably the most common. Adventurers, wizards and any inhabitant of the Dark Lands are more susceptible to this abnormal condition.
It seems that people who don't harness magical powers are virtually immune to this, as long as they live in a non-tainted region.
Tainted people have been proved to not be a risk for who take care of them in most situations: in particular, strict rules are imposed on the environment where the newly found treatment is performed.

Symptoms

Initially tainted people can feel strengthened, more vital and in general more capable of accomplishing goals. In this first stage, the taint empowers both body and mind with abyssal energy. If the condition is diagnosticated at this point, treatment is easy and safe.
If abyssal contacts perdure, the taint passes to its second phase. In this stage, the person becomes violent, wrathful and even more powerful than before. Sometimes the body can't sustain the stress and undergoes some minor mutation, like the colour of hair, eyes or skin. The person in some cases is still able to commit suicide and often did, when the treatment was unknown, to avoid becoming a danger to their beloved.
At this point, the condition is manifested and any contact with tainted objects should cease, as also any use of magic. If such behaviours continue, the taint will reach its final stage: it leads the person to madness, making it a dangerous, feral abyssal creature. The person is no more able to think coherently and loses all reason.

Treatment

In the year 2091, successful treatment has finally been found, after the study in the previous years on the exact working of the disease.
The condition affects the production of vital energy, making it more chaotic, similar to abyssal energy. This has been a reliable way of identifying it, especially in the early stages, for many decades. Now it is also the only authorized way of diagnosticating it. A breakthrough described how exactly the taint acts, corrupting the very way in which energy is produced in the magical core of the person: the taint dilutes itself in the core of the person and multiplies if not dispersed.
The treatment requires to put the afflicted person in a purified room and leave them there until cured. At least once a day, a priestess or authorized wizard has to disperse the tainted energy produced, so that the taint remaining in the core dilutes itself again until is overwhelmed by the structured, ordered energy the person normally produce. The role of the wizard is to keep the room purified so that the diluting of the taint is maximised.
In the first stage, the treatment almost always succeeds without problems or complications whatsoever. In the second phase, things become a little more complicated. If it is not much advanced, usually everything goes well, not counting that it can't revert any physical mutation. Otherwise, there is a chance the person will not survive the treatment: if the stage is advanced, the core could be no more able to autonomously produce energy without the help of the taint. In this case, a priestess (and nobody else) must reinforce the core with pure energy, usually collected from a healthy individual on the same day, to help sustaining the core.
In the third phase, the situation is dire. There is no data about the efficacy of the treatment at this point since securing a person this much tainted is risky. Most researchers agree on the fact that, even if the purification succeeded in dispersing the taint and the person could recover control and rational thinking, the core would never recover, thus requiring a constant supply of pure energy, which is an intrinsic unaffordable price. A minority thinks that in some cases, especially for trained people, like wizards, there could still be a chance of recovering.
With this new technique, mortality has been drastically decreased. There is still room for improvement, but the treatment is young.

Prevention

There is no way to prevent the condition, except for not having contacts with tainted creature or substances. Most people don't fight the abyssal forces and are therefore out of any risk, but adventurers often explore tainted ancient ruins or triumph over demons and for them there is no prevention possible.
Instead, it is highly recommended to look for a priestess or autorized wizard for an early diagnosis: if the taint is discovered during its first phase, it is easy to get rid of it safely through the newly found purification procedure.
This is valid for people in Doujate kingdom territory. In the Dark Lands the treatment is still impossible, since it requires a purified room, which is impossible to prepare in that tainted region.

Type

Magical

Origin

Divine

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon