The Crimson Plague

```
Refer here for the dictionary.

```

## OFFICI**Λ**L DESCRIPTION

**The Crimson Plague** was an endemic plague that swept through the kingdom of Belvoire, killing many people. Its name comes from the signature symptom of the sclera of the eyes turning bright crimson red. People who are infected with the plague usually dies within days or weeks, and in rare cases, survive for a month or a few.

## SYMPTOMS

Like what its name implies, the scleras of the people infected by the Crimson Plague turn into crimson; the brighter and more prominent the color is, the more infected the person is by the plague. In later stages, the area surrounding the eyes also becomes a sickly red shade and bright red veins appear around the eyes, making it appear as if the eyes are crying blood. The shade of red and veins are more prominent in the face, shoulders, the fingertips, waist and thighs, knees, and tips of the toes. In Kellan Xalvador's flashback, his grandmother and Indirah Alnazar, who both had the plague at the time, have a nasty cough and they appear sweaty and gaunt.

According to Sapphire Chauvera, the Crimson Plague could also make the infected person lose their ability to breathe properly, making their hearts beat quicker than usual and their voice croaky and raspy. She also noticed that some people develop a mild flu, which explains why one of Indirah's symptoms were non-stop coughing. The body temperature also dangerously drops to at least 33.6°C as opposed to the normal 37°C, as if the person has hypothermia.

## **Story Origin**

The Crimson Plague is the result of the massive population outbreak of the **Fire Scarab**, which started the endemic in Belvoire. It's unknown who the first and actual carrier of the plague is, although for the case for both **The Fool** and **The Magician**'s story arcs, it was Indirah Alnazar- the first major character to have been infected. Because she was still Khaleesi Rosales' familiar at the time, Indirah accidentally infects Khaleesi and would later die after giving Indirah (as **Dia**) to his grandson. After getting cured, the plague in Indirah's body would halt its spread, and the death of millions of people led the end of the plague. In the aftermath, Indirah would begin wearing white colored sclera contact lenses to hide her plague eye, a sign she has gotten the plague and been cured by Khaleesi's magic.

It's also worth mentioning that all infected people are taken to the Lazarette where the plague doctors try to cure them, although the majority of the people still died and were left buried and cremated in the Lazarette.

## **Production Origin**

**Austin Dy** and **Amree Aguinaldo** turn to a lot of things for inspiration, mainly the current worldwide pandemic, Covid-19, the Ten Plagues of Egypt, the Black Death, and Amree's sore eyes (which she calls the "Red Plague" even if she knows sore eyes isn't a plague) in 2015. The Coronavirus is pretty telling since it's become a worldwide problem, and the Ten Plagues of Egypt and the Black Death lead to the idea that the Crimson Plague should be manifested in the form of deadly insects. Amree's sore eyes has been the inspiration for the Crimson Plague's horrifying symptoms.

## **Trivias**

* Indirah Alnazar is the only one in the main characters to have the Crimson Plague in its first outbreak, just like in real life how **Amree Aguinaldo** was the only one to have sore eyes. Despite her role as one of the mentors of Kellan Xalvador, Khaleesi Rosales is only a supporting character in the franchise and therefore isn't counted.
* In a coincidental fashion, the Crimson Plague is what ties all the main characters together- Kellan's grandmother Khaleesi gets infected after curing Indirah, the sister of Illias Alnazar. Diether Lozano is greatly affected when Kellan becomes infected by the second outbreak, and Sapphire Chauvera's father was the one who helped Khaleesi find the cure to the plague.
* Amree Aguinaldo actually went on-and-off with the idea of The Arcana having a plague because of her traumatic experience. **Austin Dy** protested and defended the idea, saying that it would have great impact on the story. It was only then that Amree agreed on the concept, although she admitted she's still wincing at the thought.
	+ Austin confessed on a Q&A online panel that he had recurring nightmares about being infected by the plague. He said that he's scared to look at a mirror to see his skin becoming pale and red veins appearing under his eyes with his sclera being deep crimson. This went on for about four days.
* Even though the story's genre is fantasy, the Crimson Plague is the only big current event that was applied in real life because of the Coronavirus.
* The **Fire Scarab** doesn't have its own article in the wiki because it's a sub-category of the page of the Crimson Plague. Also, it's pretty telling what the scarabs' roles were.
* Austin conducted a poll in the **Chrysalis** blog entitled, "Virus or Plague? Asking for a Friend", asking the fans if they'd rather get infected by COVID-19 or the Crimson Plague, and the Coronavirus was voted by 73.8% of the fans. This is because fans would rather die having no symptoms (at least physically) than to have horrifying signs they've been infected. The others who picked the plague's main reason was that they'd know who are infected and that it'd be easy to avoid them, unlike the virus.