Ashiel

The curse of sight

His family tried to hide him from the world, summoned all the greatest doctors and mages to their home, praying for a cure. But still the boy would stare past them, waving at and talking to spirits that no-one else could see. He could not concentrate, could not communicate, simply raved and screamed. All the neighbours knew he was there.
His family hired a mage to shut him up. And shut him up she did. So well they had to stuff him in a box and bury him.

Ashiel is a condition which forces the afflicted to see past the mortal realm, primarily manifesting as the ability to see the spirits of the dead. All 'Ashieli', as the afflicted are known, go crazy and are considered dangerous, as they have little grasp on reality and consequence.

Causes

The causes of ashiel are not entirely known, due to the rarity of the disease. It seems to occur most often in mage families, though this may be due to selection bias, as many mage families have the money and influence to attempt to seek treatment. It is possible that many non-magical families have children born with this affliction who are never reported as such.

What is known is that ashiel is almost always a condition one is born with, rather than one which is acquired. It can be acquired however, as a result of necromantic curses on infants, or on individuals with low levels of magical aptitude. In these latter cases, this is a result of them being unable to cause the curse to 'wear off' like a more powerful individual might. Acquired ashiel is very rare.

Symptoms

Symptoms include an inability to focus on what people are saying, a tendency to say things unrelated to a topic at hand, and attempts to interact with things which are not physically present. Ashieli also experience phantom sensations and related compulsions, such as furious scratching on arms, consistent swatting of the air around them, and react physically to being touched by ghosts. It's unclear if they actually feel anything, or are merely reacting to the visual stimulus.

Treatment

Congenital ashiel is believed impossible to cure, though many have tried, spending thousands to do so. Many support the use of iron restraints on ashieli in order to try and sever any magical link to spirits, though this does not work. Prayer is extremely common, especially to the gods of Knowledge and Change, in the hopes that they may produce a cure or cure the afflicted themself, respectively.
Acquired ashiel, on the other hand, is technically possible to cure. Not in all cases, especially those involving children, but acquired ashiel in adults can be potentially rectified through the hiring of a necromancer. Due to their illegality through Abravost, this is not a practical solution. In cases where a necromancer is hired, it is a simple case of identifying which curse has been cast and removing it, which is believed to be quite easy for experienced necromancers.

Prognosis

While ashiel is not fatal on its own, its most likely outcome is a premature death of the sufferer. There are two main causes here - self, and outside. Many ashieli can injure themselves if left unattended, and it is not unheard of for one to drown themself to avoid phantom fires. On the other hand, many families may crack under the physical, mental, or financial stress of looking after an ashieli, and 'mercy-kill' the afflicted themselves. It is highly rare, if not impossible, for an ashieli to survive into their twenties without being severely injured in some way.

Prevention

Due to the rarity of the disease and the small amount of research into it, it is not known if there is any way to prevent it. 'Household' preventatives abound, such as having pregnant parents wear iron jewellery for the entire pregnancy, burning common herbs near the baby's cot for their first week of life, and taking infants to visit a shrine to the god of Mercy in the hopes that they take pity and save the child.

History

The first reported cases of ashiel occurred after The Collision, likely as a direct result of the realm-altering effects of the event. At the time, it was simply considered as lunacy caused by magical stress.
Ashiel became its own distinct condition after a number of elf academics in Waal Paisheim discovered necromancy, and were for the first time able to verify the 'hallucinations' of a sufferer as genuine visions of spirits. This discovery was one of the last made during the time of legal necromancy, and its subsequent outlawing across Abravost prevented much further research into the condition.
The Separation caused an uptick in reported cases, before the numbers settled down into their current, rare numbers.

Cultural Reception

In early days, their ability to see spirits was manipulated as a loophole around the illegality of necromancy, with some deadly results.
Nowdays, ashiel sufferers are merely treated extremely poorly by many, due to their tendency to hurt those around them during 'delusions'. They are often kept locked away in their own homes to prevent them for hurting others or bringing embarrassment to the family, and are regularly treated as burdens.
In cases where an ashieli is on their own, they are often subject to verbal and physical abuse by bystanders, or widely avoided. Many will cross the street to avoid someone they think is ashieli.

Type

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Extremely Rare

Affected Species

• Elf
• Human

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