Befuddled

This is considered one of the most debilitating Conditions someone can suffer if allowed to become permanent. Someone with this condition has extreme difficulty making themselves understood and understanding other people, in addition to many struggles caring for themselves.

Transmission & Vectors

This Condition is imposed by powerful spells and certain, very dangerous, monsters. The usual forms of defence against Debuffs also serve to protect against this Condition, although that does require the target to know ahead of time to take appropriate precautions.

Symptoms

Befuddlement is identified primarily by its distinctive altered speech pattern. Sufferers speak as though their sentences were chopped up, even mid-word, and re-arranged. Often this makes their meaning difficult to discern. Those who have recovered describe the same problem afflicting their hearing; to the sufferer they are the one speaking normally and everyone else is speaking unintelligibly.
Frequently, this same disordering is be found in their thought processes and actions. Performing a set of simple actions in the correct sequence becomes a great challenge. Those with this variant on the Condition struggle to take care of their own needs and frequently require care.

Treatment

As a standard Condition, befuddled can be cured by a healixir, if drunk in time. If left untreated for long enough, it becomes permanent.

Affected Groups

Humanoids

History

Skyhammer is currently the only place in the world with a dedicated home for those affected by the permanent version of Befuddled. Strategies have been developed to give those with the Condition considerable independence within the hospice. As well as providing appropriate care, it is also a centre of research to develop a spell that can reverse the Condition. It is hoped that, if such a spell is created, that it will be the first of many spells that can reverse permanent Conditions. So far, the research has not borne fruit.

Cultural Reception

Sufferers are, unfortunately, often ostracised by former friends and companions. The disjointed speech and actions can be very unsettling, particularly if the sufferer becomes frustrated with their difficulties. In the Coastal and Archipelagic Safe Zones, there is a tradition of abandoning sufferers in the wilderness to suffer what fate they may. Fortunately, more compassionate responses are gaining the upper hand.

Type

Mental

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Rare