Stillewiege

Curse of the Silence of the Cradle

How a race so proficient in technology that the people of the Mortal Lands still marvel at its prowess died in the course of a generation has been a mystery for centuries. With such marvels as the Mechanical  and the The Forest of Metal , surely a simple disease would be child's play for them to defeat?
But any master of medicine will tell you that the critical juncture at which a disease can be successfully stopped is determined by how early the disease is caught. And what took down the Memoria was no mere cold. It was a curse, one that struck the very core of the Memoria and brought them low. One that lay silent, just like its symptoms for years until, one by one, the women of the Memoria began to wonder why they were no longer bearing children.

Transmission & Vectors

Stillewiege was transmitted through sexual relations. While the disease itself struck the very genetic structure of the being, it was transmitted through the sharing of certain fluids between persons.
Even after the disease was discovered and preventative measures were taken, Stillewiege seemed to ek its way through every defense. Soon, almost every Member of the Memoria had been infected, and those who hadn't were not populous enough to be able to continue the line in a safe fashion.

Causes

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How could we have not seen it?
The Monster warned us that we had meddled in workings beyond our understanding. That we had 'delved too deep'. We laughed him off. He'd been bound by our magic, after all. Even when he said it wasn't 'our' magic, but stolen and twisted into a mockery of itself.
We should have listened.
The Infernal Realms, as the monster called it, are supposed to be beyond the reach of any mortal. Its denziens uncontrolled by those who walk the Mortal Lands, I assume they mean this plane. Our people would pay a heavy price for meddling in-and nearly destroying-the inner workings of a freshly-made world.
And what a heavy price it is. It was years before we caught on that the 'price' wasn't anything material. No fire from the sky, no earth yawning open to swallow us whole. Only silent cribs and sobbing mothers that will never be.

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Unique

Affected Species

• Memoria

Symptoms

Stillewiege does not manifest with traditional symptoms like most illnesses that plague the body. Its main symptom is a silent one; infertility. It is a symptom that affects the body at the very base level, preventing any sort of reproduction. Even embryos grown in a lab do not make it to term. The body becomes a genetic 'dead end' and is unable to pass on viable genes to any progeny.

Treatment

There was no treatment for Stillewiege. At least, no treatment that the people of the Memoria discovered before their race died off. While the disease itself did not inhibit everyday life, its ability to shut down the body's need to reproduce was disconcerting nonetheless.

Affected Population

The Memoria, ancient masters of Technology and science, were devastated by this plague. Thankfully, either due to the 'cursed' nature of the condition or because the Memoria saw any life native to the Mortal Lands as 'beneath' them, it remained with the Memoria. The condition vanished as quickly as it had appeared, dying with the ancient race. This being said, the condition is liable to return should someone open the wrong gate to the Infernal Realms...