Post by Durriken Petulengro on Feb 15, 2013 20:10:39 GMT -5
Magical Disease: Deadly Crow
Origins
Deadly Crow was first diagnosed in the Year 384, Originally it was an illness that caused a large crow shape scar to appear on the backs of those infected. It was theorized that the cause of the illness was due to wizard's cursing people. It seemed to only infect people with little to no magical abilities. Fifteen people were recorded to have died of sudden heart failure sometime after the scar appeared, this is how the illness came to get it's name.
Before any study into it was made the illness stopped, no more cases of Deadly Crow were reported for several hundred years.
Resurfacing and the fall of Symphonia
July 7th, Year 777. This is the date that the illness is recorded to have been diagnosed again. After such a long time the effects of the disease was never able to be studied, however the infection this time was far more rapid and fatal than recorded back in the late 300's.
Within ten years the effects had completely devastated the nearby land of Symphonia, the entire nation had to be sealed off from the rest of the world to stop the illness from spreading, however it failed and the illness continued on, but in a much smaller capacity throughout the rest of the world. Due to the loss of an entire nation to the illness every researcher began to try to study it, however it had became a rapidly evolving and changing illness, the only thing that tied it together were two principals.
1) It leaves a mark of a crow on the body, the color and size of the mark can vary, leading many to call it "The mark of the infected guild." Since it seems to mimic how magic guilds distinguish their members.
2) The eventual fate of Deadly Crow to someone with little or no magic powers is death, however how long the effect takes is also random from days to years. Death from the illness is marked by a sudden heart failure.
Contracting of Deadly Crow
Due to the elusive nature of the malady every possible way to become infected has not been discovered. Fiore Institute of Disease Control warns people to be cautious, however to also not panic, and that if infected to get some type of treatment immediately.
Known ways to contract Deadly Crow
1) Being within a mile of the magic wall that seals Symphonia, or inside Symphonia, if you are allowed.
2) Being bitten or scratched by a creature that has Deadly Crow, doesn't apply to living humans. They are not known to be able to pass the illness.
3) There are rare instances of infected mages passing the illness through magic that effects others biology such as healing magic, take extreme caution. This is very rare and only two or three cases have ever been reported.
4) Birth, It is possible to have been born with the illness if your parent or parents were infected before having you, or if they were carriers of the illness. It is impossible to check for this condition.
5) Hot Spots, there are cases where small to large areas of the world have became infected itself, much like Symphonia, however unlike that land these hot spots don't grow and they seem to fade after a while. You can tell a spot is "infected" if the sun looks purple when standing in it. There have been reports of people getting the illness after being in a hot spot for only an hour, so be careful. This has not yet occurred in densely populated areas.
Symptoms of Deadly Crow
In humans with little to no magic the case has always been that they grow the mark, then die after a seemingly random amount of time.
In Mages the effects are however, wildly random. There have been reports of mage's magic completely changing, their elemental affinities shifting, even their bodies have been recorded as changing in weight and height, shape, color, and gender. (Revamping a character or gaining a magic type out of nowhere can be explained as contracting Deadly Crow).
However their have been many cases as well where a mage simply gets over the illness after a while, or is immune to it completely. What causes one mage to be immune and the other to have wild side effects is not yet known.
Non-humans that contract Deadly Crow have no side effects beyond the mark, they do however become carriers of the illness, and can infect humans. It is asked that all citizens of Fiore be extremely careful around animals that they don't know are healthy, and to bring any animal infected to be put down.
Treating Deadly Crow
If bitten or scratched by a infected animal, the best course of action would be cauterize the wound immediately, even a minute could mean the difference between infection and safety.
If you catch the illness, there are a few options that have worked on some paitents.
Burn- Burning the skin where the mark is located has been known to kill the virus, however the success rate of this treatment is 1 in 5.
Magic Isolation- Mages have been known to be able to get rid of their Deadly Crow by spending from a day to a month in a state of suspended sleep in a chamber where all magic is drained from the room.
Deadly Crow Mages
It has been discovered that it is possible for a mage to take control of the sickness and gain new abilities from it, however in doing so they seem to cause hot spots wherever they stay for long periods of time. These people have been labeled as "Deadly Crow Mages" and the government ask you to report anyone doing this as it is a health hazard to all of Fiore, however it is rumored that these mages can also cure people by "eating" their sickness at the cost of their own illness growing worse.
Deadly Crow Skills
Mages that become Deadly Crow Mages can obtain skills related to their illness.
Skills
Animal Infect- By placing a bit of your aura into an animal you can give it the illness, however it cost you by rendering you unable to use magic for a day for every animal you infect (thus you can only use it once per topic). 50 skill points to buy.
Animal Cure- By placing a bit of your aura into an animal you can cure it of the illness, however it cost you by rendering you unable to use magic for a day for every animal you cure (thus you can only use it once per topic). 50 skill points to buy.
Illness Inverse- Flips your magical affinities to the one below or above it in the list in the Roleplay Rules, last the entire topic used. 75 skill points to buy.
Crow Wing- It is said that those who embrace the illness can grow the black wings of a crow, allowing them to fly, it will remain for the rest of the topic. 100 skill points to buy.
Person Cure- By placing a bit of your aura into a person you can cure them of the illness, however you absorb their sickness and your ability to control your own illness, rendering you weakened and unable to use half your mana pool for the duration of the topic. If used twice in one topic you will die. 120 skill points to buy.
Mastery- If you own every other Deadly Crow skill then you gain a Mastery in the illness, allowing you take on a new magic type even if your magic types are used, it would be treated as a primary magic. However your illness has became so great that you cause hot spots where you stand and are no longer welcomed in normal society and the government would have you killed as a bio-hazard threat if they caught you.