- Joined
- Jun 29, 2012
- Messages
- 4,429
- Reaction score
- 34,414
- Points
- 663
- Age
- 33
In the spirit of the Crown Alliance between the Allar and the Ailor (as well as the Qadir and Varran), alchemists and scholars of most races involved had started a common scholarly initiative with an exchange of medical knowledge and a cooperation of development projects. One such curious project was the Allar project led by the great Alchemist Zzarlo Merlowatta. Zzarlo and his team of Qadir and Ailor alchemists and biologists had been working for several months on something peculiar, a potential cure for the Circci infertility. Circci were known to be infertile due to their race's physiology, a prospect that would have their race extinct in mere decades if it were permitted to persist. The rationale the Allar and Ailor had was that, if cured, the Circci might halt their aggression against the Allar in Hadar, and the Crown Alliance could use the cure as a bargaining chip to claim Circci support for the alliance.
Much to the great pride of the project leader Zzarlo, a breakthrough was made in the beginning of July 305 AC where a team of Allar discovered a means to encourage a pregnancy in a Circci with promising results. Previously, Circci had been unable to conceive at all, but Circci who were part of the control group suddenly experienced all the symptoms involving pregnancy, and before long, Celestial Mages verified that there was indeed life growing inside them. The success of the project was kept quiet from the public eye for a while to ensure no false hope was given, after all, the children still had to be born to truly call the cure a success.
What the scholars did not anticipate however, was that their intended cure was going to turn against them. The cure was partly produced with Allar body parts, which was a very frequent practice among the Allar Alchemists. One of the source groups was impure however, unbeknownst to the scholars, one of the Allar whose body parts was a carrier for a tropical illness. Using an alchemical compound that was later ingested by the Circci, Despite showing signs of pregnancy, before long, the Circci started to inhibit strange side-effects. Their skin started gradually losing color, their hair bleached and their sclera turned white while their hardened skin parts turned soft and smooth. These transitions weren't painful, but the Circci were under the impression they were becoming malformed. Worse yet, the Scholars who worked on the cure and who were all closely associated became sick one by one, at an exponential rate.
By the end of august, the entire Scholar's Court had become ill, and the disease quickly spread outwards as the Regalian Government was slow to respond, focusing intently on its military goals and objectives. Medical personnel that tried to assist with the symptoms soon also became sick, making it very clear to the Biology experts that they were dealing with a very aggressive disease that spread rapidly and showed no signs of stopping. Before long, the first symptoms of the disease started popping up elsewhere in the world, Ithania, Daendroque, even Farah'deen was hit. The disease showed no signs of being lethal yet, though the symptoms were inhibiting in the daily lives of those affected, while also causing minor hysteria in the urban centres of the Regalian Empire. The disease was eerily reminiscent of the Bubonic Plague that had hit Regalia merely 40 years prior, killing tens of thousands.
Allar, Ailor, Dwarves, Ch'ien-ji, Qadir and Songaskia all showed a similar set of symptoms that the Scholars later referred to as the Prime Condition. Those affected would have their skin become rough to the touch, filled with rashes with intense itching. More disturbing were the psychological effects, phantom pains or sensations of orifices or growths forming on the skin while nothing would appear. Those who became infected were either locked up in their rooms or in common auditoriums, but no means to try and stop the disease from spreading seemed to work.
All Nelfin races, Yanar, Slizzar, Wulong, Solang, Maiar, Rashaq, Lampar and the local wildlife all seemed to be immune to the disease, but Nelfin and Yanar nurses tending to patients and later causing further infections made it clear that they were carriers of the disease nonetheless.
Varran and Orc suffered another set of symptoms that the Scholars referred to as the Secondary Condition. They witnessed lucid hallucinations, bouts of paranoia and extreme claustrophobia. Orcs in particular were also affected by strong build up of mucus in their throats and frequent coughing fits. Varran were further also affected by extreme hair loss which resulted in completely bare patches of skin.
Circci were affected as well, though didn't physically show any debilitating issues besides their pigment loss in hair, eyes and skin. Curiously enough, all female Circci that were affected lost their infertility and were able to become pregnant. The changes to the Circci physiology continued as weeks went by, it becoming unclear if the disease showed any signs of stopping whatever it was doing to them. Their symptoms were referred to as the Zero Condition. Infection rate among the Circci was even more virulent than all other races. Circci being within several tens of meters of anyone infected quickly became infected themselves.
Perhaps the most destructively affected of all were the Dakkar. The first Dakkar fatalities showed up in a matter of days. Autopsies showed that Dakkar who were affected after the first symptoms (being rougher skin, brittleness of the mineral growths), had their internal organs crystallized with the same mineral formations that formed on their skin. The mortality rate of Dakkar was a complete 100%, which in itself resulted in a massive flight of Dakkar back to Ellador. No Dakkar was safe to infection, especially since practically every other race was a carrier, and the disease even spread to the most remote corners of the Regalian Sewers and the farthest outposts of the Empire. It was estimated that the Dakkar would have roughly 30 days to leave Regalia, as when that time was over, infection would be certain and death unavoidable. Dakkar would typically die within five days of being infected, after a set of symptoms which the Scholars referred to as the Fatal Condition.
The Dakkar that fled to Ellador found a safe haven. Ellador, as well as Jorrhildr and parts of northern Nordskag seemed to be completely unaffected by the disease's spread for reasons that the Scholars could not yet comprehend. When news of this spread back to Regalia, the Government ordered every Dakkar to leave the Regalian Empire for their own safety and return back to the Holds from which they came or re-settle in Regalian outposts in Ellador. Many Dakkar took up the opportunity to leave the Imperial Capital behind and flee north, though some stayed behind hoping to weather their hopeless situation.
No official other action was taken by the government to limit the spread of the disease, or to assist the sick. Nelfin and Yanar nurses and medical personnel came in high demand due to the disease affecting the Ailor medical staff of many clinics. One particular Ailor surgeon discovered that a mouth cap made of vinegar drenched leather and goggles worn over the eyes with air-tight rubber offered protection, though only 70% of the time. Scholars continued to battle the disease in an attempt to find a cure, but nothing seemed effective, and while besides the Dakkar dying there were no other cases of fatality, fear still gripped the people.
OOC Notes:
Much to the great pride of the project leader Zzarlo, a breakthrough was made in the beginning of July 305 AC where a team of Allar discovered a means to encourage a pregnancy in a Circci with promising results. Previously, Circci had been unable to conceive at all, but Circci who were part of the control group suddenly experienced all the symptoms involving pregnancy, and before long, Celestial Mages verified that there was indeed life growing inside them. The success of the project was kept quiet from the public eye for a while to ensure no false hope was given, after all, the children still had to be born to truly call the cure a success.
What the scholars did not anticipate however, was that their intended cure was going to turn against them. The cure was partly produced with Allar body parts, which was a very frequent practice among the Allar Alchemists. One of the source groups was impure however, unbeknownst to the scholars, one of the Allar whose body parts was a carrier for a tropical illness. Using an alchemical compound that was later ingested by the Circci, Despite showing signs of pregnancy, before long, the Circci started to inhibit strange side-effects. Their skin started gradually losing color, their hair bleached and their sclera turned white while their hardened skin parts turned soft and smooth. These transitions weren't painful, but the Circci were under the impression they were becoming malformed. Worse yet, the Scholars who worked on the cure and who were all closely associated became sick one by one, at an exponential rate.
By the end of august, the entire Scholar's Court had become ill, and the disease quickly spread outwards as the Regalian Government was slow to respond, focusing intently on its military goals and objectives. Medical personnel that tried to assist with the symptoms soon also became sick, making it very clear to the Biology experts that they were dealing with a very aggressive disease that spread rapidly and showed no signs of stopping. Before long, the first symptoms of the disease started popping up elsewhere in the world, Ithania, Daendroque, even Farah'deen was hit. The disease showed no signs of being lethal yet, though the symptoms were inhibiting in the daily lives of those affected, while also causing minor hysteria in the urban centres of the Regalian Empire. The disease was eerily reminiscent of the Bubonic Plague that had hit Regalia merely 40 years prior, killing tens of thousands.
Allar, Ailor, Dwarves, Ch'ien-ji, Qadir and Songaskia all showed a similar set of symptoms that the Scholars later referred to as the Prime Condition. Those affected would have their skin become rough to the touch, filled with rashes with intense itching. More disturbing were the psychological effects, phantom pains or sensations of orifices or growths forming on the skin while nothing would appear. Those who became infected were either locked up in their rooms or in common auditoriums, but no means to try and stop the disease from spreading seemed to work.
All Nelfin races, Yanar, Slizzar, Wulong, Solang, Maiar, Rashaq, Lampar and the local wildlife all seemed to be immune to the disease, but Nelfin and Yanar nurses tending to patients and later causing further infections made it clear that they were carriers of the disease nonetheless.
Varran and Orc suffered another set of symptoms that the Scholars referred to as the Secondary Condition. They witnessed lucid hallucinations, bouts of paranoia and extreme claustrophobia. Orcs in particular were also affected by strong build up of mucus in their throats and frequent coughing fits. Varran were further also affected by extreme hair loss which resulted in completely bare patches of skin.
Circci were affected as well, though didn't physically show any debilitating issues besides their pigment loss in hair, eyes and skin. Curiously enough, all female Circci that were affected lost their infertility and were able to become pregnant. The changes to the Circci physiology continued as weeks went by, it becoming unclear if the disease showed any signs of stopping whatever it was doing to them. Their symptoms were referred to as the Zero Condition. Infection rate among the Circci was even more virulent than all other races. Circci being within several tens of meters of anyone infected quickly became infected themselves.
Perhaps the most destructively affected of all were the Dakkar. The first Dakkar fatalities showed up in a matter of days. Autopsies showed that Dakkar who were affected after the first symptoms (being rougher skin, brittleness of the mineral growths), had their internal organs crystallized with the same mineral formations that formed on their skin. The mortality rate of Dakkar was a complete 100%, which in itself resulted in a massive flight of Dakkar back to Ellador. No Dakkar was safe to infection, especially since practically every other race was a carrier, and the disease even spread to the most remote corners of the Regalian Sewers and the farthest outposts of the Empire. It was estimated that the Dakkar would have roughly 30 days to leave Regalia, as when that time was over, infection would be certain and death unavoidable. Dakkar would typically die within five days of being infected, after a set of symptoms which the Scholars referred to as the Fatal Condition.
The Dakkar that fled to Ellador found a safe haven. Ellador, as well as Jorrhildr and parts of northern Nordskag seemed to be completely unaffected by the disease's spread for reasons that the Scholars could not yet comprehend. When news of this spread back to Regalia, the Government ordered every Dakkar to leave the Regalian Empire for their own safety and return back to the Holds from which they came or re-settle in Regalian outposts in Ellador. Many Dakkar took up the opportunity to leave the Imperial Capital behind and flee north, though some stayed behind hoping to weather their hopeless situation.
No official other action was taken by the government to limit the spread of the disease, or to assist the sick. Nelfin and Yanar nurses and medical personnel came in high demand due to the disease affecting the Ailor medical staff of many clinics. One particular Ailor surgeon discovered that a mouth cap made of vinegar drenched leather and goggles worn over the eyes with air-tight rubber offered protection, though only 70% of the time. Scholars continued to battle the disease in an attempt to find a cure, but nothing seemed effective, and while besides the Dakkar dying there were no other cases of fatality, fear still gripped the people.
OOC Notes:
- This disease is IC called "Zerlo's Illness".
- This is MassiveCraft's first big IC epidemic. Participating in this story arch is not mandatory, though highly recommended for the build of fear. Are you infected? Is your family infected? How will you deal with the infected yourself?
- As perhaps evident from the post above, we are retiring the Dakkar race from playability. As opposed to simply wiping them from lore, we've opted to eliminate the race from scope playability with a disease. Dakkar players have the choice to either kill off their character at the hands of the disease soon, wait out the 30 days period and then kill them, or send them off to safety and essentially "drop" the character where they can survive on in memory while living in Ellador for the remainder of their lives. Regardless of the option that is taken, in 30 days and some, Dakkar will cease to be a playable race and any Dakkar that still roams in the city is forcibly killed by the disease at that stage. In about 15 days, the Dakkar Race page will be removed from the Wiki to facilitate the fact that they should no longer be played.
- We are similarly also physically changing the Circci race away from their old bug-like appearance. This is the main aim of this disease, but the exact physical changes aren't quite determined yet. These will come in subsequent progressions, and will be enforced on all Circci. This is purely because the race is facing a rewrite, but the rewrite will be done entirely IC to avoid scrubbing characters from existence, and allowing existing characters to transition to the "new Circci" through the disease.
- The disease is currently in its first stage. It is not lethal or leaving any permanent marks on those infected, but future progressions may reveal more information to that effect. Maims and killings (with the exception of Dakkar) are not enforced or mandatory in any way. Permanent effects that will be released later may be optionally chosen by the players, but nothing will be forced.
- Remember that this is a progression post and not an OOC announcement. All replies to this thread should be IC and compliant with the section rules.
