Shadow Plague

The **Shadow Plague** was a crisis that affected the Bronzeland continent for more than a century during the Magical Era of Earth. It appeared to the people as a plague because it behaved like a mortal infectious disease, although it was more than just that. The crisis was resolved when Ray Talen slew the Shadow Dragon Krad.

# Cause

The Shadow Plague was in reality the Shadow Dragon Krad using Shadow Infect, one of the advanced skills of the Shadow Ability, to possess all the lifeforms of the Bronzeland continent. The objective was the eradication of humanity, to avenge the extermination of the Dragons. The ultimate outcome if it succeeded would have led to the extermination of all the Humans and Magical Beasts, perhaps due the meddling of Immortui.

Gary Bluebird once declared that the Dragon "Hell" or "Shadow World" (that may or may not be Immortui's Red Plane) was the origin of the Shadow. Incidentally, the Shadow also showed a purple Aura, the same as his creations such as Vampires and Demons.

# Effects

## Effects on Humans

To the Humans, the Shadow Plague appeared like an infectious disease. The Shadow energy (that had a purple aura for the Dragon Eyes Ability) behaved like a parasite that corrupted the energies of the host (similarly to how pulling a Vampire's aura would turn a Human by attacking its Qi). It was however not an actual plague in a conventional sense and was not really contagious trough air or biological fluids.

Most people were infected trough their military service against the corrupted Magical Beasts. The hosts went mad, due to the constant influence of Krad's mind, and most died within the year.

If the host had a particularly strong body, there was a low chance the host could survive and become a puppet of Krad: a **True infected**, that could use Shadow abilities and made them almost unkillable (since the Shadow covering the body would absorb most attacks). Ray Talen was the first to kill a True infected (his own father Jack Talen) by destroying the heart on the real body, a feat deemed impossible for more than a century. True infected gave the impression of regrowing limbs, because the shadow that covered their body could be manifested again.

A **failed infected** looked like a chimera : it ate Magical Beasts and made them part of its body; it would rip off its own body parts and hurl it at enemies. It wouldn't have been a problem if the blood wasn't venomous. It was perhaps what a failed Beasting Process looked like.

The target of a possession by the Shadow Infect skill would be aware of what he would be doing but powerless to escape the control of the Shadow user.

Once an infected was killed, a smog of smoke would exit the corpse and return to Krad.

## Effects on Magical Beasts

Magical Beasts corrupted by the Shadow Infect skill were called **Shadow Beasts**. They not only became puppets of Krad, but also found themselves empowered one tier above the one they belonged to previously.

Some humanoid Shadow Beasts were Shadow Guards serving Krad.

Some of the Shadow Beasts became fossils and were excavated later of Earth during the Magicless Era, however the beasts revived from these fossils would produce Crazed Altered that would be nothing more than mindless killing machines.

## Effects on the landscape

The land taken by the Shadow Plague, the so-called "Shadow Continent", did not have green life. The ground turned black and the rivers and springs had lava instead of water. At its maximum extension, the "Shadow Continent" covered all the northern half of Bronzeland.

# Cures

Humans never found a cure for the Shadow Plague. It always meant the loss of the infected person. Only the goddess Bliss knew of a cure to remove the Shadow energy, but it demanded a sophisticated magic circle and most of all, Dragon blood, which was extremely hard to procure considering the species was extinct.

White Magic (Healing Magic) could suppress the Shadow but could not remove it. Using healing spells on an infected was agonizing for the patient.

# Drugs derived from the Shadow Infection

The Dark Guild developed two drugs

* A purple potion administered orally reproduced the Shadow Beasts' empowerment effect on Humans
* A purple serum administered trough injection that induced the Shadow Infect skill without causing death

It was possible to extract the serum with Water Magic from the infected bodies.

# References

1. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 137
2. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 482
3. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 46
4. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 46
5. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 256
6. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 215-216
7. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 507
8. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 521
9. ↑ My Werewolf System, ch. 317
10. ↑ My Dragon System, ch 242, 286
11. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 228
12. ↑ My Dragon System, ch. 94-95