The Red Death

"EVERYONE DED Yo"
-the eccentric historian, Kotohr
The Red Death was the name given to the plague that ravaged the Aradian population throughout 1075AE. Its effects caused an aggressively high fever that caused the body to "boil" itself to death.
The disease's effects receded by 1076AE and there were no known cases by early 1077AE. Pathologists remain baffled by the plague's origins and behaviour, and were unable to offer any kind of alleviation to the affliction, much less a cure. The root pathogen causing the illness mutated constantly in the face of any applied treatment. As a result, there was no consistent way to quarantine or contain the spread, resulting in it striking down members of every race and social class, spreading across the whole realm unchecked.
The final casualties in the aftermath of the plague were estimated in the millions, totalling an estimated one-third of the entire planet's population. This death toll was blamed in large part on the incompetency of the newly-crowned King Gordon I's monarchic government. The societal collapse that followed was a major contributing factor in the 1077 Revolution.
== Symptoms & Signs ==
The origin of the plague was unknown and the factors of transmission were unable to be determined. It was seemingly passed from target to target through physical proximity, leading to a widespread belief that it was somehow airborne. However, as far as doctors were able to determine, the pathogen would simply suddenly appear within a victim's system as if it had been there all along.
The Red Death manifested in its victims as a kind of influenza, or respiratory illness. it's onset was extremely, frighteningly rapid. Victims could be completely healthy when they woke up in the morning, then be dead by nightfall. It was possible for victims to manifest early stages of the plague and then simply recover hours later, as if the disease had consciously chosen to pass them over. Others would fluctuate between seeming better and then relapsing once again into sickness for days on end, jumping between various "stages." The savagery of the disease's effects made it particularly lethal when contracted by older or sickly people, and especially very young children.
Plague Doctors divided the illness' progression through the system in 4 distinct, separate phases.
Stage I, "Blush": A sudden influx of high internal temperature, and rush of blood to the head, causing faintness and a distinct blushing coloration to the cheeks; this reddening in human targets earned the plague its name, "Red Death." This was the only stage that one could display and still be capable of surviving the infection.
Stage ii, "Mania": The victim develops an extreme fever, their skin burning-hot to the touch, alarmingly red all over. They sweat alarmingly, profusely, and become extremely agitated, delirious & hallucinating & hyper-energetic, locked in a waking nightmare; the body burning through its resources to the point of exhaustion. 
Stage iii, "Delirium": This is the "comedown" that follows the extreme manic phase. They become extremely faint and weak, cripplingly dehydrated, but unable to retain any water put into their body as the fever immediately "boils" it out. Victims retain some measure of consciousness during this face, though their lucidity varies.
Stage IV, "Terminus": Their energy completely spent, the victim lapses into a state of comatose unconsciousness. There are usually visible blood-blisters on their skin, particularly about the lips and nose, as if they had suffered burns. This stage is always followed by death, within the hour; only then does the burning-hot body finally cool.
== History ==
The first recorded cases of the plague were detected in Bastion City's developing slum districts in 1075AE; two or three households fell ill with the mysterious disease in the days after the coronation of King Gordon I, and physicians were unable to help them--it was only later that these unnamed commoners were retroactively diagnosed as having been suffering from the plague. The illness spread with alarming speed through the city's lower-class districts; within a week of the first reported cases, by the end of the Lovers Moon of 1075AE, there were as many as a hundred reported deaths; a week after that, those numbers had tripled. Worse still, cases were being detected in other parts of the realm-as Bastion was the hub for all trade, it allowed for the pathogen to be distributed far and wide just as its goods were. The grisly symptoms of the illness caused the populace to nickname it as "the Red Death." Physicians advised the new king to declare a pandemic and Gordon elected to order the City quarantined, while he moved with his family and the royal court to his satellite palace at Otzengard in order to plan a response to the situation. 
However, parliament's response was halting at first, then completely absent. The noble landowners that comprised the governing body began to quickly turn against King Gordon, whose internal struggles had left him unable to socialize, lead charismatically or take criticism. Most of the Crown's strength had come from his sister Valoria, who had left the capital with other significant Blackthorne political allies such as Caradoc Rookwood & Jaster Monmoth. Absent also was the King's feared nephew the Dark Prince, whose black reputation had often been used as a cudgel to force political obedience. The King's only present heir was his daughter from his first marriage, Gwenavere, who was respected but viewed as young and inexperienced; and his Queen Anarietta's daughter, Astrid, who was only six years of age. The King had exiled his own son & eldest child Ethan under mysterious circumstances years ago, despite the fact that Ethan had been viewed as the favoured heir to the Crowd by noble & commoner alike. Left practically alone with a bitter, sullen and uncommunicative leader whose only ideas involved taking things away from them, the landowners swiftly turned mutinous and refused to co-operate with the Crown. The stalemate lasted for days turned to weeks, with the Red Death and spreading crop failures causing widespread infrastructural breakdowns. Finally, Gordon gave the fateful order; parliament was dismissed, and all the landowners were to return to their holds, where they would have no further say in the realm's governance at this time. Gordon was to handle it all himself.
In the days of the Long Parliament which had advanced to the ends of the Soldier's Moon, the plague had spiralled out of control and the realm was in a state of collapse. The dead mounted up so quickly in Bastion that grave burial was abandoned and undertakers began to dig great corpse-pits outside the city for mass burnings. The police, civil militia known as the Blackjackets, were rapidly losing control and riots were breaking out constantly, leaving once-peaceful streets in ruins, and this was echoed in many cities and towns across the realm--the urbanization that had followed the Old Queen's industrial revolution had turned these population centers into death-traps. Groups of Drow missionaries led by Divankul Dul-Sansiska attempted to intervene at this time, attracting admiration from some of the populace, but they were unable to stop the plague & many of the elves died from the plague just as their patients did. Worse still, the cloistered aristocracy of the isles also began to become infected with the plague, unable to protect themselves from it. In order to maintain control of the chaos, the King ordered the creation of a specialized taskforce known as the Royal Pathologic Society--what would come to be known as the Plague Doctors.
Into the Society, the King emptied the Crown's remaining coffers, and hired a veritable army of bodies from a variety of disciplines; healers, alchemists, doctors, scholars, soldiers and mercenaries--for the purposes of combating the Red Death, each of them would be called a physician. He gave these "Doctors" supreme acting authority to combat the spread of the plague and retain order in any way possible. Many of the Society's street forces were veterans of the Brecilidian Rebellion, hardened psychopaths & future Clockwork Priests. Their methods of handling the spread soon turned brutal. Packs of them roamed the streets in their distinctive crowlike masks, which were designed to protect them from infection, but were equally meant to terrify the populace with their resemblance to the Dark Prince, suggesting a terrible retribution from the feared figure for straying out of line. The Plague Doctors did attempt to study the infected in order to determine a cure, but they were as unsuccessful as the Drow missionaries had been, and most of their work came down to collecting bodies for the pits and "quarantining" those who posed a threat--be it from sickness or mere disobedience. 
Gordon did not attempt to intervene in the Plague Doctor's behaviours though writings from the time suggest he was certainly aware of it. By late 1075AE, his whole family had displayed symptoms of the plague save the King himself. All recovered except for his first wife, Victoria; though they'd divorced, she was still kept within his household as a companion to their daughter Princess Gwenavere. Victoria hung on for a long time, sliding between phases for days and weeks, before finally succumbing to her death in the winter of 1075AE. The household went into mourning, with both Princess Gwenavere and the King himself badly shaken by the loss of Victoria. 
The Plague Doctors were eventually disbanded in 1076AE as the Plague's effects began to gradually dissipate, with a begrudging order having been maintained. In late 1076AE, the Dark Prince went on a expedition overseas and never returned. Without fear of the brutal warlord's retaliation, the nobles and commoners alike who Gordon had made enemies of during the Red Death began to conspire against the Blackthorne Monarchy, laying the groundwork for the 1077 Revolution.
Millions died during the Red Death. One of the only places spared from infection was Couer, the headquarters of the League of Bastards. The plague also notably did not strike the Eyrie Peak, where Princess Valoria resided with her son the Dark Prince.
== Known Victims ==
==== Accord & Umbridge Lands ====
* Iolrath Kenris dies to the Red Death, age 38. (4th of Soldier’s Moon)
* Ygraine Holdenhome dies to the Red Death, age 50. (17th of Lady’s Moon)
* Amara Piers dies to the Red Death, age 45. (18th of Lady’s Moon)
* Gareth Lennon dies to the Red Death, age 89. (20th of Lady’s Moon)
* Talia (nee Falmar) Holdenhome dies to the Red Death, age 35. (22nd of Lady’s Moon)
* Edith Holdenhome dies to the Red Death, age 17. (26th of Lady’s Moon)
* Talisa Webb dies to the Red Death, age 19, as she gives birth to Talith. (28th of Lady’s Moon)
==== In the Capital, In the West, & in the Eastern Reach ====
* Victoria Knox
* Eustace Blackthorne
* Aislinn Worcester
* Willem Worcester
* Llewys Monmoth
* Penelope Blackthorne
* Morgwyna Monmoth
* "Little" Talia Falmar
* Valar Rookwood
* Eilonwy Rookwood
* Roger Thormund
* Cecily Cogworth
* Bedivere Blackthorne
* Briona Manford
* The family of future Prime Minister, Fabian Halfmoon
* Harry, oldest child of Bill and Nora Potts
Category:Event
Category:Disease