Sandpaper-Flu

The Sandpaper-Flu, better known as Sandpaper, is a sickening contagion from the deserts of Yip. Worse than cholera, smallpox, typhus and yellow-fever.

Transmission & Vectors

The sickness can be passed through water, food and contact. But its most common methods of spreading are thorough Sandies and through Critters, arthropods similar to pill-bugs with bright red patterns on their dorsal carapace. These insects enter through the mouth, eyes, ears or armpits to infect their hosts.

Symptoms

There are two results from being infected by Sandpaper; either you will die within 1-3 days, or you will become a Sandy (an individual infected with Sandpaper).
Sandies mutate over time in seven stages:
Stage-One: aside from a deathly pallor, diseased-looking eyes and any wounds they might have sustained, many of the Sandies can almost be mistaken for living people.
Stage-Two: you start to notice a bit more deterioration by Stage-Two. Eyes are bloodier and more yellow, while flesh is looser and more visibly coming away from their bodies. They are sentient, possessing slight cognition and memories of their former lives. They have a self-preservation and survival-instinct, demonstrating a group demeanor towards finding food and water.
Stage-Three: skin is distinctly greyer and eye-sockets and cheeks are more hollow. They also stop bleeding by this point.
Stage-Four: there’s plenty of flesh hanging off, and clothing is visibly more shabby. Hair has thinned substantially while teeth have rotted away more. Any skin exposed to sunlight is affected badly; exposed skin is burnt black but the underside of the skin that’s not exposed is pink. Surprisingly, Sandies feel no pain at all.
Stage-Five: what flesh is there is often a mushy or dried-out grey-brown hue. Sandies are far less intact too; noses are more frequently missing and jaws are hanging off.
Stage-Six: skin is frequently sloughing off now. They’re more skeletal, with more bones visible. They also possess a horrible stench like sewer-water. Their flesh is covered with burns and stretch-scars, and what little hair they have is scraggly and tinged green.
Stage-Seven: sagging of flesh and muscles. Sandies have been infected long enough by this point to have attracted mold-colonies. Ratty, matted destroyed hair and skeletal faces. Hollow eye sockets are visible, along with gaping mouth cavities. They look more dried out than ever. They have also merged with their surroundings and are covered in moss and other vegetation. They frequently vomit a thick green sludge from their mouths, a form of acid created from their decomposing bodies. At this point, they go through no more stages and instead must live out the rest of their mortal lives in pain and misery. It has been observed that Sandies at Stage-Seven do not require solid food, instead relying on sunlight and water like plants. They have been found digging massive holes in the hot sand in search of water, hence the nickname "Sandies". They are surprisingly resilient and very hard to kill despite their decaying state. Destroying their brain is commonly the only way to stop an individual Sandie. Sandies, despite being docile, will attack if provoked. A living being that is exposed to their fluids by means of a bite, scratch or a simple cough will eventually turn into a Sandie itself sooner or later.

Treatment

There is no treatment.

Prognosis

The ultimate result of the sickness is either death or becoming a Sandy. There is a 2/3 chance of death, and a 1/3 chance of infection.

Hosts & Carriers

For unknown reasons, Satanimals, Beasts and Undead are unaffected by Sandpaper, and can live with the virus in their bloodstreams without suffering repercussions. Hence, they have a good chance of spreading the sickness to unaffected areas.

Prevention

To prevent infection, one must not eat or drink infected food and must not touch or stand next to Sandies for too long. They must also not come in contact with Critters.

Epidemiology

The sickness spreads quicker in the hot-seasons, when the Critters leave the sands in search of cooler areas. Thus, most people of Ka'a' are given a warning during the hot-seasons.

History

It is said that the Sandpaper flue came from the Overlords experimenting on the one-fertile lands of Yip and turning it into a wasteland.

Cultural Reception

Despite their condition, Sandies maintain their sanity and humane emotions. They can still think logically, and communities of Sandies have been found in the deserts of Yip. Still this does not prevent Sandies from being treated worse than lepers and outcasts. Most Sandies are killed on sight, with their corpses being burnt and scattered across the sands.

Type

Bacterial

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired & Congenital

Rarity

Unique