Aratacian Ear-Blight

***C. Aresenicus***, more commonly known as **Aratacian Ear-Blight**, is a fungal parasite that primarily infects the ears of *S. Kusyaricus* (Aratacian Rye), *T. Aestivum* (common wheat), and other related species of cereals. It is identifiable by the unseemly, mildew-covered growths of black mycelium which grow alongside or in replacement of part or all of the normal ear. These emerge upon a successful infestation: the spores of *C. Aresenicus* infiltrate the stigma of the plant and connect themselves to the vascular system of the stem, parasitising the plant's nutrients to develop the growth. This growth in turn oozes mildew saturated with *Aresenicus* spores with the intent that pollenating insects and birds will pick up and spread the spore-infested dew to other suitable hosts.

Contact with Ear-Blight or its mildew is extremely dangerous. Consumption of food tainted by Ear-Blight, or extended exposure to *C. Aresenicus* spores via airborne dew particles may result in acute alkaloid poisoning, symptoms of which include a reduced sensitivity to pain, hallucinations, brain damage, and erratic behavior.

Moreover, *C. Aresenicus* is capable of parasitising animal hosts through the aforementioned vectors, which forms a large part of its pseudopollination strategy by infesting insect and avian carriers. Infestation of these hosts by *C. Aresenicus* typically takes the form of oral or nasal ingestion of *Aresenicus* spores or mycelium, at which point fungal colonies grow within the sinuses and mouth, through the digestive system, and eventually into the bloodstream via the lining of the small intestine using exceptionally hardy microscopic spores. The final target of *Aresenicus* is the nervous system, causing permanent neurological and brain damage to its hosts on top of alkaloid poisoning. By attacking the brain and nervous system, the fungus attempts to redirect as much as possible its host's behaviours toward the further spread of *Aresenicus* via pollinating behaviours.

Notably, *C. Aresenicus* is not restricted to insects for its animal hosts, and can use Drodo or other humanoids. The resulting fungal infection is variably referred to as **Ear-Blight Syndrome**, **Ear-Blight Madness**, and **St. Aresen's Rage**. Sufferers of this affliction are conspicuous due to the unique symptoms: presence of discolouration or black growths on the gums, tongue, and in the nostrils of the sufferer; reduced cognitive and motor ability consistent with symptoms of dementia; minimal or no verbal communication skills; irritability and (sometimes extreme) aggression; a lack of sensitivity to pain; and, in some cases, a compunction to spread *Aresenicus* through biting, the poisoning of food or drinks with their own fungal infection, or attempts at pollination of suitable plant hosts.

Ear-Blight Syndrome may be treated through an aggressive program of antifungal medication. However, the impairment of cognitive and motor abilities will remain owing to the advanced brain damage caused by the illness. Without treatment, EBS sufferers often die of starvation, dehydration, accident, or exposure with three days to a week after infection owing to an inability to care for themselves. This means that, of the outbreaks recorded in Aratacian history, almost all "burned out" within the span of a single month even in scenarios where the majority of a locality were afflicted by a tainted food source. In other cases, individual sufferers were successfully subdued and treated. On exceptional occasions, large masses of agitated sufferers were fought off by the unafflicted, usually by the use of fire, loud noises, small arms, and improvised or edged weapons.

In the modern day, *C. Aresenicus* has largely been eradicated through the careful use of anti-fungal pesticides and genetically-engineered cereal strains resistant to infestation. There have been, however, several disturbing close calls in recent decades of grain shipments from marginal border-worlds being inspected, only for the presence of *Aresenicus* to be found and necessitating the destruction of the shipment.