The Blood Curse

"It is our sin manifest. The sinful have committed atrocities so great that God found not just them guilty enough to suffer, but for man to be tested. Be good, be true, and the curse won't find you. --Allfather Warren Kemp, on the curse.

Fire does not murder our children. Fire does not rape our people or twist their minds. Fire is mercy from what they can become. To be ash, is to be cured. There is no alternative...I will burn down this whole city if it means protecting my people!" -- Lachtna Scolaighe, during the Purging of Asenboll.[

Th'scariest bout the bloody curse is the damned fellas'll look just like your mum. Your father. Your darlin' baby girl. It doesn' matter! If they're infected, they want to kill you. Fortunately, the feelin's mutual. -- Garant the Gorecrest, on the curse.

A true Hunter must stand in the shoes of their prey before reaching their quarry. If drinking the blood means ten beasts are dead at that Good Hunter's hands, then so be it. Their bodies will outnumber ours. Hunt well. --Garland Rye, Grandmaster of the Hunters Guild.

The Beast Curse, Wendigo Sickness, the Blood Curse. Many names go to the horrible disease that has long afflicted all races throughout the world of Veska. This strange disease manifests itself through blood, and is incredibly contagious. One mere drop of the stuff is enough to afflict a man for life. The disease is relatively recent; only forty years ago did it begin to show its ugly face.
The curse causes victims to undergo a drastic change of behavior. It drives them to become killing machines, and should they indulge in these sadistic urges, then their mind will slowly regress as the curse continues to accelerate. These people mutate as the curse progresses. The more they kill and harm, the more they transform, until they're nothing more than unrecognizable, vile beasts.

Transmission & Vectors

Blood only, be it ingested or mixed in with an open wound. It becomes infectious at all stages.
Hunters are known to pacify this through sheer will and determination; and to take out their urges upon other beasts. For whatever reason, slaughtering other beasts seems to have minimal effect on progressing the curse.

Causes

Those afflicted by the curse will invariably become filled with a lust for blood. They'll be stricken with an urge to kill anyone and anything they happen to be near.

Symptoms

Early signs are somewhat difficult to catch. Insomnia is generally the first symptom, as the afflicted are too hounded by their sadistic urges to really properly catch decent sleep.
The first symptom is simple. The veins blacken with their blood, which has a volatile, almost boiling trait. Beast blood is notably hot to the touch, and a burning sensation is often felt through the body. The farther the advancement in the curse, the more dangerous this is -- until the blood may outright burn those that touch it.
Limbs will then grow disproportionate, body parts will grow strangely. As the afflicted kill and indulge in their urges, they'll eventually transform over time. Depending on how much they take in these violent tendencies, they'll mutate faster.
Mutations develop with kills; and are typically associated with the victim's killing method, but not always.

Treatment

There is no cure to those afflicted by the curse.

Prognosis

The disease is not fatal, which is actually what makes it even more dangerous. The longer a beast lives, the more powerful they get. The longer they live, the more they slaughter and kill.

Sequela

Horrible mutations and transformations, until the afflicted is outright unrecognizable from before.

Affected Groups

Typically violent people, though the curse can afflict just about anyone unfortunate enough to make contact.

Hosts & Carriers

Anyone and anything.

Prevention

Avoid contact with the blood of other infected. If infected, avoid killing or letting sadistic urges take over.

Epidemiology

Quite simply, one beast can cause an epidemic in and on itself.

History

Xanthos was the first documented island to have a contracted case of the curse. Shortly thereafter however, the disease spread through ships that sailed off to Tregaron. Unfortunately, by the time the disease was already beginning to grow rampant, it was already nearly world wide. Where and how the curse first began still remains somewhat unknown, as the Elafi and Elves have long spoke of 'Wendigo Sickness' for centuries before the curse had truly become so prominent.
The disease has caused many horrible tragedies throughout the world and is responsible for outright political reformations. One such thing was the Mordencrast conspiracy; when the vampiric nobles of Mordencrast were unable to ingest blood without suffering the ill effects of the cursed locals, they were eventually ousted for what they were, leading to control of the nation being loaned to the Hunters guild instead.
Nearly half the Dwarven city of Aragzar was demolished thanks to the curse. King Yargral was said to have steadily suffered from the disease for years before it became apparent enough; leading to a change in the Dwarven king shortly thereafter.
The disease is technically the lead up to the Scarlet Circle, a band of druids dedicated to its eradication. The Scarlet Circle is a fanatical organization devoted to the complete destruction of anyone and anything that may have a trace amount of the curse. The Purging of Asenboll -- one of the largest-scale genocides committed in Elafi history, is one of the prime examples of what can happen thanks to the curse.

Cultural Reception

Victims are feared and ostracized mostly in part to them potentially becoming feral enough to attack just about anything crossing their path. The Hunters accept the disease to help bolster their fighting prowess, but even then, do so in secret to keep the public from panicking.
All in all, the mere mention of it is enough to bring the mood down. Most prefer not to talk about it due to the horrific stories behind it.

Type

Supernatural

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Unique