Bubble Flu

The Bubble Flu is a magical illness that affects people that are not infused with pink mist energies. Victims of this disease will produce voluntarily or involuntarily magical bubbles that spread the disease and are strong enough to trap people inside them.

Transmission & Vectors

The magical bubbles that infected ones produce spread the magical disease on contact. It does not matter how long you touch one or in which way, if being trapped inside or just placing your hands on one. Neither does the size of the bubble affects the chance of spreading, as even the smallest bubbles can spread the magical infection easily. The only way to not get it is either by being of a species that can generally not be infected by such diseases like Balloon Foxes or by having a low Soul energy level.

Causes

The magical illness in only a disease by name. In reality, it is a long-forgotten spell, cast by a long-forgotten mistress of magic. The disease spreads simply by contact with the bubbles, as these are the carriers of the spell. The spell is created for victims with low mana, or in modern terms, that are not affected much by the chaotic Pink Mist energies. The lower your own infusion with pink mist is and the stronger the soul energy in you is, the likelier you are infected. The bubbles also seem to be pulled towards such people, which makes it even harder to avoid. As soon as your soul energy is drained, the effect of the spell ends, and with it the effects of the disease.

Symptoms

There are two main symptoms of the disease. The first one is a mental one and lets the infected one become bubblier and way more playful than before. Even the most grumpiest or boring person becomes a giggling mess that behaves very childishly. It is not the same as Bimboficated people, as the victims of the bubble flu won't feel aroused nor have any sexual desires. They become mentally more childish and just want to play around the whole day. While these mental effects build up over days and can easily be missed by yourself or by others, the physical effect is way more direct. The victim will begin blowing magical bubbles that resemble soap bubbles. These bubbles are not controlled by the victim and seem to have their own simple will.
It is not uncommon to find a victim of the bubble flu trapped inside the bubbles they had produced themselves. These bubbles are unpoppable by most common ways like sharp objects or strong forces. Only extreme heat or coldness can weaken the bubbles enough for them to pop under force. While the surface of the bubbles is incredibly soft and comfortable to touch, the smoothness is rather low for bubbles. They are easy to grab and hold but are also quite easy to climb onto. It is unknown which factors exactly let a victim sink inside the bubble or how the bubbles select their prey. Some experts assume that it depends on the amount of Soul Energy the person has to offer.
Infected ones often produce these bubbles involuntarily at the beginning. Hiccuping these bubbles is the most common way, but there exists also data on blurring them out or even producing them by farting. Interestingly, they do not smell or have any scent themselves, no matter the way they are created. Victims can also create them voluntarily in any way they can imagine, may it be by simply blowing them up like gum bubbles or using one of the formerly mentioned ways. Normally, the first bubbles are created three days after the first mental effects affected the infected one.

Treatment

The bubble flu is not dangerous and is often seen as an exciting little happening. In many cultures, especially in the Queendoms of Bardor, the bubble flu is seen as a blessing and not a disease. That lowers the will to find treatments and most victims won't search for a way to treat their infection at all. As the spell that caused the disease is lost in time, there is no direct counter spell known.
There are however two ways to end the disease. One is to pump enough Pink Mist energies into the infected one. The chaotic energies of the pink mist are like poison for the spell and will weaken it till it is dispelled completely. The dangerous nature of pink mist and the unpredictable effects that injecting these energies into someone make this method rather uncommon. The other way is to simply steal the disease the nutrition by draining the Soul energy of the infected one near fully. As many people with magical powers use their own soul energy as fuel for their powers, such people can easily heal themselves. An extended stay in a place like the Balloon Void also drains enough energy to end the infection.

Prognosis

Days before the first bubbles, which spread the infection, are created, the first mental effects take effect. Even the most grumpiest person will slowly melt their icy nature and become bubbly and playful, some even become utterly childish. While on some this is already very hard to miss, on others it is near impossible to say if they just have some good days or are infected by the bubble flu.  There are no other known prognoses.

Sequela

The bubble flu and all its effects and symptoms end with the depletion of your soul energy. The bubbles you had produced are still active and will continue to trap people till they spread the infection or had to hold someone for several hours or days. Even after your infection has ended, you may still continue to be trapped in a bubble you had produced yourself.  As Soul energy depletion let you feel sluggish and lethargic, you may need some days before you are fully regenerated. Powers that are fueled by your soul energy may not be useable for a while. There are no known after effects and nothing permanent on this infection.  Reinfection is possible as soon as your soul energy has regenerated enough for the disease to see you as good prey.

Affected Groups

Nearly all species can be affected, as long as they are at least partly biological in nature and not of the origin of Pink Mist like Caudian or otherworldly like the Balloon Foxes. The higher the pink mist infusion in a person is, the lower the effects and the likelihood of an infection. Pink mist-infused species and people can spread the infection and work as carriers sometimes, even when they themselves are not showing any symptoms.

Hosts & Carriers

Many bubble-related plans, fungi, and even some animals in wet areas, like swamps, in the Queendoms of Bardor carry the magical bubble flu. They use it either as a form of defense or as a way to hunt for food themselves. Many of them are not affected by the bubble flu or the soul-draining effect but only act as carriers and hosts for the infection. Many are able to blow the typical magical bubbles of the spell thought.

Prevention

Your immune system has no effect on a magical disease like the bubble flu. The only known protection against an infection is by having a high Pink Mist Infusion. It is not recommended to gain one just to prevent such an infection thought, as such an infusion is by far more dangerous than any bubble flu epidemic around you.

Epidemiology

The magical bubbles, that are produced by infected ones of the bubble flu, easily can travel great distances through the air before they chose a prey to infect. Simple contact with the bubble's surface is enough to spread the disease, which makes it near impossible to quarantine the infection. The durability and longevity of the bubbles make it hard to choose a time when to lift lockdowns, as another wave can easily be caused by a bubble that was hidden in a locked room or similar areas without contact with potential prey. Once a local population was once infected, it is very likely that another bubble flu wave will appear sooner or later. The more infections there are, the more bubbles are produced. This fact alone let a small infection wave spread from a local area to a nationwide area in mere hours or days. Additionally, the high incubation time of around one or two weeks, lets infected ones easily travel over to other nations or even other continents before they began showing symptoms of their infection. The short duration of the disease itself let waves be quick. Often, a whole town is infected in mere days and after only some weeks, all the soul energy of the population was harvested and the wave ends locally.

History

A long, long time ago, in the Age of Goddess on Bardor, a mistress of magic from the Sylvan Elves wanted to teach their student a lesson for always being grumpy and not enjoying the simple spells like creating spheres to carry stuff. The elf was a well-known and quite skilled spell creator. She used this knowledge to create a spell just for fun and to teach her student a little lesson.
The spell, later known as the cause of the bubble flu, should cause her student to hiccup bubbles for some days. In her playful mood, the mistress of magic made the spell too strong and too uncontrollable. It took not much time before the whole town was infected and merchants carried the disease through the lands.
Over the centuries, the spell disease even became part of the flora and fauna and there exist several species today that use the spell for their own benefit. Plants that live off soul energy and use the bubbles of the spell to catch their prey, or animals that use it as a way to defend themselves from predators. The spell itself was long forgotten, the same as the origin of the disease. For most inhabitants of the Queendoms of Bardor, the bubble flu is just as normal as winter or that water flows downwards. Only very rare history scrolls carry the information and there exist some old local legends about the lazy students and the first time that the bubble flu appeared. In many of these legends, it was not the mistress of magic who created the spell, but the goddess Sylvia who released her gift to the population. Many smaller villages know the bubble flu as Sylvia's Fever as well.
Today, local outbreaks are rather common in the queendom. Especially the flora and fauna in wet areas, like swamps, use the magical disease and keeps it alive and prepared for future outbreaks. Even areas outside of the queendoms were affected, yet the center is still the queendoms.

Cultural Reception

In most areas of the queendoms, the bubble flu is known either as Sylvia's Fever or Sylvia's Blessing, as the magical bubbles that victims of the flu create are in the domain of the goddess Sylvia. In most of these areas, the flu is not seen as a disease or anything bad at all, but as a little playful prank of the most important goddess of the Queendoms of Bardor. The generally high level of pink mist infusion on Bardor's population makes the bubble flu very short-lived and not as epidemic as on Earth.
The population on Earth however, is not affected by the Pink Mist like the population on Bardor. The generally very low to near non-existent pink mist infusion of the general population allows the bubble flu to spread very rapidly. Some nations try to contain local outbreaks but are rarely really successful with it. While not common, the Bubble Flu can cause panic in populations that have not much experience with magic.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Common