The Black Rapture

The plague that ravaged the human populations of Alwaus in the latter years of The Inheritance War was given the name "The Black Rapture" by Kaldari poets and bards in the years following the end of the war. Known only as "the northern sickness" in the early years of it's spread, the Kaldari and Cascadian kingdoms both showed some concern over the strange new sickness that was being reported in the northern villages and cities in their kingdoms. Whatever concerns the two nations had with the disease were never addressed, as shortly afterwards The Traitor King, Marcius Lesnar broke his pact with the Alvain and set The Inheritance War into motion. 
When the plague at long last sunk it's teeth into the central populations of the eastern kingdoms it was far too late, and The Black Rapture was soon found everywhere from Greater and Lessor Janissary to The Stormbreaks. The Rapture, combined with the horrific loss of human life in The Inheritance War decimated the human population of Alwaus and set nations cultural and technological advancement back centuries.

Transmission & Vectors

Airborne transmission is the most common way for the virus to spread, however it's believed to have been able to linger on surfaces for hours, if not days in some instances before infecting whomever touches the surface next. Attempts to control the transmission of the plague once the method of transmission was discovered by join Kaldari and Cascadian research, however by then the plague had been spread halfway across the continent by the The Inheritance War and attempts to restrict its spread were in vain.

Symptoms

Beginning with a sharp tickle in the throat, the tickle advances to a slight cough within a few hours, and into a hacking and dry cough within a day or so of that. This is the stage where transmission is at it's highest chance, as the bearer still feels well enough to conduct their normal duties but spreads the plague with each cough they make. Within a few days of that, the cough soon turns into shortness of breath before fatigue, muscle weakness, confusion, and pneumonia before the patient eventually drowns in their own blood and lung fluids. Few survive longer than two weeks, but those that are strong enough to pull through the first two weeks tend to have a significantly higher survival rate.

Treatment

A vaccine for the plague was created by Stolzetürm in the final years of The Inheritance War, and innoculation of the loyalist armies serving with the Alvain began almost immediately. A large contributor to the victory against The Traitor King, Marcius Lesnar, the vaccine was administered to the remaining human population after the armistice was signed.

Prognosis

While records of human fatalities were not as well kept as a scholar would hope (especially in Kaldaria) conservative estimates suggest ten million humans died from the plague in less than ten years - only serving to add yet more trauma to the otherwise decimated human population in Alwaus.

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Common

Affected Species

• Human