Hagard Virus outbreak

The **Hagard Virus outbreak** is an ongoing disease pandemic in Bortland, Arkayn Dankordia and Ooga Kingdom that originated in Hagard Circle, the former capital of Bortland that had been destroyed in a nuclear strike by the DLF. The virus became widespread worldwide, becoming uncontrollable in places like DLF.

## Origin and spread

During the Bortland Conflict in 1982, the DLF launched a nuclear strike in the West Bortland area in a last-ditch attempt to prevent the imminent invasion of Bortland and the DLF by West Bortland forces. The range of the disaster destroyed half of Bortland, killing almost one million people. The blast destroyed, among many other major cities, Hagard Circle, which had only days before been named the new capital of Bortland following the fall of Capadapolis.

On June 7, Bortanius Dankul had been sworn in as the new General of Bortland, following General Borton's arrest and death. His first priority was to search the area of Hagard Circle in an attempt to re-establish civilisation there. Despite President Witnick's warnings, the scout party of five went ahead into Hagard Circle, with HotShot and newly sworn in Prime Minister Romanski.

Upon their return a few hours later, it was found that one member, Larry Bronskiwitz, had picked up some sort of infection, with a large, pulsating green bubo coming out of his abdomen. He was quickly rushed to Dankconia National Hospital where he was place under quarantine. Doctors and scientists attempted to remove the bubo, but the bubo had burst, killing Bronskiwitz. After a one day waiting period, it was found that both HotShot and Romanski had been infected, with Romanski dying shortly after the realization, along with Yamom I. S. Gaye, a former West Bortland refugee who had accompanied Bortanius on the scout mission. A few days later, Bortanius was cleared of any infection.

The infection had spread to few throughout Trobnadia and the surrounding townships, though was quickly contained. During the transport of the infected HotShot and Bronskiwitz to Arkayn, there were no infected reported. As of now, Bortland authorities estimate there are only one or two people that are infected that haven't been quarantined.

## Worldwide infection

### **DLF Empire**

#### **DLF**

The spread of the Hagard Virus in DLF didn't come until January 1986 following the global nuclear war which saw millions of people die. San Franshitsco was one of the worst hit areas, with over 3.2 million people dying from the immediate blast. It was found the nuclear weapons were laced with the Hagard Virus, among other global pandemics such as the 4D10 virus and the Capricorn virus.

It was found that at least two thousand people were infected in DLF by the Hagard Virus and were placed into quarantine. By June, that number had grown to almost one hundred thousand. On June 27, the infected broke out of Refugee Camp 87 in Los Assholes, causing citywide riots and a spike in infections. Contact was lost with Witnick, who was in the city at the time.

On August 14, 1986, Witnick had escaped from Los Assholes alive with two of his security guards after forty-eight days, though the security guards were found to be infected. Little Vulparia was named the temporary capital of the DLF until it was invaded by a group of Lanodolan infected who all died after infecting most of the people. This led to the Fall of the DLF.

Concurrently with this, Hurricane Dimitri's effects had been fully realized as millions of people along the flooded coast of eastern DLF, the infection spreading as far inland as Danken. On March 3, 1987, Witnick, while in a Prakendi prison, announced that the DLF would dissolve, and a mass exodus to Witickus Dextopia, which was named the head of the empire.

#### **Arkayn Dankordia**

During the transport of the infected HotShot and Bronskiwitz to Arkayn, there were no infected reported. Bronskiwitz died and HotShot was later cleared of all infected. In September 1986, Constantine, leader of New Byzantine, was found to be infected with Hagard C and brought to a quarantine room in Dankconia. Weeks later, he escaped, going to a local shop and inadvertantly infecting around thirty-four people, all of whom were quarantined.

In January 1987, after Hurricane Calzone made landfall carrying floodwaters infected with Hagard D, thousands of people were infected. The death toll reached roughly eight thousand before a cure was synthesised and released worldwide.

#### **Bortland**

Bortland has experienced only roughly eighty-four cases of the disease. Twelve have died, and four have been cleared, the others still in quarantine experiencing serious symptoms of the disease. A six-man team was sent into Hagard Circle on June 14, 1985, discovering large, blue mutated frogs known as Dargs. The six-man mission ended in a failure, with five of the six becoming infected and two dying days later.

On July 17, a statement from the Bortland government was released stating the virus had been fully contained in Bortland.

### **Ooga Kingdom**

On July 11, during a visit to the Ooga Kingdom, it was revealed that the king, Ooga Booga Mumbo Jumbo, was in fact a mutated frog from the pond in Hagard Circle and, as a result, was carrying the disease. Both Witnick and D34DM3M3 were reported infected from the disease, as well as over six thousand others.

On July 13, it was discovered that Witnick and D34D, as well as most of the human Ooga population, were clean, except roughly five hundred. The Ooga population, however, are carriers of the disease, and thus the disease cannot be removed from them. There are almost a million Oogas, all originating from Hagard Circle, that populate the Ooga Kingdom.

### **New Byzantine Empire**

On July 14, in response to New Byzantine threatening to nuke the Ooga Kingdom to stop the spread of the virus, the Kingdom dropped around ten silos of hazardous nuclear waste containing the virus onto Neo Constantinople. Seven people were infected, one died before a treatment was available while the other six were treated and survived.

Since the original attack, in (PLACEHOLDER), a passenger airplane arrived in the New Byzantine Empire and was found to have over a hundred people infected with Hagard C. Eight escaped quarantine and infected about a hundred people, who were put in a prison due to the mind-controlling properties of Hagard C. 48 died - 26 of the disease and 22 by execution during a failed escape. The fate of the other 52 is unknown.

### **Other areas**

Infection is widespread worldwide, with areas such as Kalos, Wom, Myr, Tigerland and other countries in that area. Lanodola has also been hard hit by the disease, with over 2 million locally infected. In late 1986, the Lanodolan government built the town of Holiar City to house the infected ahead of the soccer games to be played in Lanodola.

## Strains

### **Hagard A**

Hagard A or 'Standard Hagard Virus' (SHV) was the most prominent strain during the initial outbreak. A major symptom of SHV is a large, green bubo growing in the abdominal area, later popping, killing the victim. Other victims include extreme fatigue as well as grey, saggy skin. The virus generally kills within one to two weeks.

### **Hagard B**

Hagard B is a currently widespread strain of the Hagard Virus, despite a cure being made and deployed on July 3, 1986 by Lanodolan scientists. The symptoms for Hagard B are more or less the same as Hagard A, only much more aggressive and can kill within 48 hours.

### **Hagard C**

Described by Bortland scientists as "the most deadly strain", Hagard C was discovered in early July 1986 in Bortland when a group of infected attacked Lanodolan soldiers, spreading the infection. Hagard C infects the psyche, forcing the host to do anything in their power to keep the virus alive and thriving, as well as to increase the rate of infection. The virus also has a kill switch that can be set off randomly, killing the victim.

Hagard C is not the same as the other strains; it is a tiny parasitic worm. There is a cure for Hagard C, but it is not very effective and takes a long time to administer, making its use only possible on a few people.

Despite the fact that parasites are unlikely to mutate, Hagard C still mutated further.

### **Hagard D**

Hagard D is nearly identical to Hagard C, however the virus appears to be released from the lungs continuously. The virus remains dormant until the host is infected with a particular parasitic worm, after which Hagard D manifests.

Infected parasitic worms' DNA is altered such that they produce chlorophyll, allowing them to reproduce very quickly in fresh water. This makes Hagard D very difficult to control.

Infected appear to release the parasitic worms, but it is not known how they do so.

Hagard D is much less lethal compared to C, but much more infectious. The hurricanes that hit various countries in 1987 further spread the parasitic worms by water.

## Cure

### **Hagard A and B**

Hagard A and B were cured in 1986 using antibodies extracted from Dargs which had gained immunity to the two strains. Hagard A was cured a few months earlier by collaborative efforts as more effort was put into curing the more widespread strain.

### **Hagard C**

Two cures were synthesised for Hagard C; one involving a similar procedure as with Hagard A and B (infecting a Darg and extracting antibodies later) and one involving gene therapy of macrophages. Both are moderately effective and have been used on small populations of infected when individual capture and curing was possible.

### **Hagard D**

Colína developed a cure for Hagard D in late February 1987, but it was not until March 1987 that the cure was made into an aerosolised form which allowed it to be sprayed on large populations at a time. Its use is still ongoing due to incredible number of infected.

## Aftermath

Following the outbreak in the Ooga Kingdom, Emperor Constantine of the New Byzantine Empire suggested nuking the Kingdom, though once the jets were launched with the nuclear weapons, HotShot talked him out of it, and the missiles were diverted. Because of this, Mumbo Jumbo considered Constantine a threat to the Kingdom, and dropped silos of infected waste in Neo-Constantinople, infecting seven and injuring a few more, beginning the Great Ooga War.