Krosta Ó Desatá

## What It Was:

Krosta Ó Desatá (crow-S-ta O dis-ta) or in New Tongue, "Crusted Death", was the byproduct of the War of The Three and ultimately the reason why The Three fled from Oválll. The Crusted Death was a magical affliction that was accidentally created by the Únoff and carried by Flóff winds. Ever since the first battle fought between the Flóff and the Únoff a constant struggle to combat the other's tools of war have raged on. To simplify it pitting the Flóffs' control over the weather against the Únoffs' natural abilities with magic led to both bloody and prolonged conflicts. While the Únoff could not directly assault the Flóff capital in the sky; the Flóff could not sustain any full siege of a well populated Únoff hold. On the battlefield, the Flóff warriors proved too much for the light-armored and typically less trained Únoff soldiers, reinforced with magically resistant armor by the second war, the Flóff proved to be far superior in terms of combat. Yet, thanks teleportation, long range spells, and various items of power the Únoff inevitably won more battles in the long run. However, at any defeat, the Flóff simply turned the weather against the Únoff, forcing a retreat. powerful spells involving the Célntals proved to be the only way around such defenses, yet such magic left the battlefields horribly altered. Thus, the Únoff sought out different tools of war, ranging from magically constructed fighters known as Gr’óll, to various new and dangerous forms of magic known as Nekřo Márjx (control over the body, mind, and even death). These new tools leveled the battlefields, though certain creations such as The Gértdestá (Clamor) and the Krosta Ó Desatá, but only the latter of these two directly influenced the fall of Oválll.

Created as a way to control weather patterns as the Flóff did, the Krosta spell was intended to harden the naturally occurring water molecules within the air, effectively making it harder to manipulate the weather for the Flóff, as the Flóff powers over the weather depend on the current state of the environment around them. Snow and hail as well as high winds have always been the hardest to control; in practice the Krosta spell worked, though not as intended. when the spell was used the sky above the battlefield would become wild, spontaneous and often violent precipitation would erupt or the skies themselves would twist and horrible tornadoes would ravage the area. Yet what made the spell so effective was its activation, while set by an Únoff it took the Flóff's unique manipulation of the world to activate, causing countless deaths and the destruction of Flóff fighting units within moments. While the afflicted areas did not travel, the unnatural weather patterns did not easily dissipate, sometimes taking months or years to finally end. Though what made the land of Oválll so diseased was side effects of this magic, Únoff spells were never meant to control what the Flóff had dominion over, the build up of residential magic turned the ground to poison, while superficially Oválll is still mostly green and lush, the areas affected by the Krosta spell were contaminated, a simple gust of wind is all it takes to kick up the topsoil, even the smallest particles of dust can bring about death when inhaled.

The New Tongue wording of "Crusted Death" comes from how the poison takes effect. Days after being poisoned the individual will begin to lose their hair, followed by the skin of their head, hands, lips, and other soft flesh areas to becoming blotchy. A week later the skin will peel and continue to peel until the outer layers of the skin have completely shed, the skin while peeling will also carry the same poison, infecting those around them. Eventually, either through the pain or the loss of blood, the infected individual dies. Most who fought within areas of the Krosta spell became infected, carrying it with them and spreading the sickness. It was only during the last few months of The Third war that individual began connecting the disease with its cause (the spell) and how it was spreading. No cure was ever officially found, though varying reports of individuals retreating to caves and surviving without their skin have come up, though none of these reports have been vindicated. Some studies were conducted though even within a control environment those infected still died when exposed to either the light of the sun or moon. Though extensions of life past one month had been documented in these cases.

## Current Status:

While reports of the disease have died down since the mass exodus from the Oválll, most of the old land is still off limits to those who wish to venture its length in search of fortune or relics. Frequent reports of animal deaths just outside of the city Passvórtall have come, and within book two it is evident that the land just beyond the mountains has remained diseased. From what is stated in the book, the outer edges of the Oválll are relatively safe, providing those who travel it do not eat or drink anything of the land. Though, within book two the characters including Nyota seem surprised at the suddenness of the animal's death, prompting Nyota to administer a test at camp to ensure none have been infected. Later in the series the area beyond Passvórtall seems to have been cleansed in some way, as expeditions into the old land are still allowed, though more regulations and producers under the Únoff crown seem to be imposed for those seeking the passage through the mountain. Ultimately, no cure has been created though thanks to the great exodus the disease seems not to have followed The Three into Artésque. Nowhere in the series is the disease depicted, and as far as it is shown within the book it seems confined to the Oválll.