Scarecrow Blight

## Description:

Scarecrow Blight, also known as Scarecrow's Rot or Yeastblight Fungus, is a type of fungal infection which affects grains like wheat, barley, corn, etc. that was artificially created by the Kodian Empire during the War of Vile Men for use as a bioweapon against Truseauch and Birmish forces. The fungus got its name for the repulsive effect it had on local wildlife, a fact which was used to determine if a crop was infected with the Blight; if the animals ate the crops, humans could, too.

The fungus was designed to infect foodstuffs and fields of crops before being consumed by unsuspecting enemy soldiers and killing them; the Kodian Empire planned on unleashing the infection over rural farm fields and agricultural communities throughout Truseau in order to starve their enemies to death and limit resistance. Despite the Kodians' best efforts, the fungus was only ever applied twice over the course of the War; the fungus was deemed too effective, and caused significant and lasting health problems in communities along the Kodian-Truseau border. As the Kodian army progressed farther into Truseau, and as he Kodian supply lines grew longer with their advance, the reliance on scavenged and stolen Truseauch food became such that use of the Scarecrow Blight was outlawed by the Empire's military command; however, trenches, facilities, and secret installations previously dedicated to housing the Blight or further development of the fungus remain abandoned across Truseau, The Sicherlands, and the Kodian State, waiting for someone to discover and unleash them.

### Structure:

Like other blights, and like Yeast Flu which the fungus is derived from, Scarecrow Blight functions by infecting and feeding off of a particular type of plant, in this case grains. The fungus is artificially enhanced, however, to be very fast-acting and considerably more lethal; someone who eats a stalk of raw infected wheat or a cob of uncooked infected corn will die in less than a minute. Infection occurs at the point of contact with an infected piece of grain; skin contact with uncooked infected produce is enough to infect a human or animal, hence the fungus's repelling influence on fauna. Cooked produce infested with the Blight are not lethal to the touch, but will still kill a human if consumed. In contrast to what one may expect of a Blight, Scarecrow Blight is very slow to damage the plants it infests, and is even slower to show signs of infection; this was accomplished via careful selective breeding, and was designed to help conceal a crop's infestation until it was already too late. However, if an infected crop is left alone for over a week, the crop will simply rot and die; the dead plants remain infectious, however, and must be burned in order to be cleansed fully.

#### Signs & Symptoms:

Scarecrow Blight's main medium of infection is through human contact/consumption with/of infested grain produce. Infected individuals can also spread the fungus via contact with saliva or vomited stomach acids. Infection duration depends heavily on the mode through which a victim was infected; victims who consume any infested produce will die in less than a minute; victims who consume cooked Blighted produce will die in a couple of hours; victims who touch an infected live plant will contract the illness and die within 3 days; and victims who come into contact with the saliva or stomach bile of another victim will die in 1 to 2 days.

Depending on the mode of infection, victims may exhibit slightly different physical symptoms over a varying amount of time. Those victims who ate raw infected produce will exhibit a hardening and blackening of the tongue, mouth, jaw, and veins on the head and neck, before suffering a seizure or brain aneurism and dying soon thereafter; victims who contract the Blight in less lethal manners will exhibit a similar blackening and paralysis of the jaw and veins on the head/neck before experiencing nausea, high fever, headaches which worsen into migraines, a blackening of the eyes and loss of vision before the expulsion of black blood from the eyes, seizures, unconsciousness/coma, and finally a build-up of pressure in the veins which causes them to explode with black blood, a final symptom which also causes intense and rapid heart attacks and brain aneurisms that kill the victim. Longer-term patients who receive only partial doses may also suffer a necrosis of the jaw/throat, internal bleeding, and blackening of the blood and hardening of the veins, loss of circulation to the limbs, acid reflux, and eventually the complete erosion of their stomach, which leads to the melting of the victim from the inside out.

Scarecrow Blight has limited psychological symptoms associated with it, although some groups claim it can induce powerful visions, hallucinations, and potentially even "divine wisdom." Similarly, infected individuals may experience hallucinations, fever dreams, intense nightmares, paranoia, emotional instability, and increased irritability along with delusions and the development of strange compulsions centered around the excessive consumption of infected materials.

##### Illness Progression:

1. Initial Infection: As soon as infected material touches a target, either the target's lips, tongue, skin, etc.; this initial contact can be enough to kill an unsuspecting victim. In this stage, targets that consume infected produce will experience immediate symptoms.
2. Early Infection: As soon as the infected material reaches the target's stomach, the second stage of the illness begins. At this point, the infected produce is broken down by stomach acids, but the artificially strengthened fungus particles remain behind and infest the target's stomach, eating away at it as well as the target's throat. Some spores are leaked into the victim's intestines.
3. Mid-Infection: Up to 12 hours after initial infection (assuming the mode of infection was not immediately lethal), the Blight has entered the target's bloodstream via their intestines, stomach lining, or mouth/throat, which induces the blackening of the veins and thickening of the victim's blood as the fungus reproduces rapidly.
4. Late Infection: This stage occurs once the fungus has spread throughout the victim's circulatory system and into their brain, a process which can take anywhere from 30 seconds to several days, depending on the mode of infection and administered treatment; at this point, the victim is incurable and the infection terminal. The fungus will harden the victim's veins until they erupt, or harden the victim's blood in their brain until the victim dies from the internal pressure or an aneurism.

Scarecrow Blight was designed in a laboratory for use as a weapon; as such, it is not designed for environmental adaptability or survivability outside of a host. The Blight cannot survive for more than 1 hour outside of a host, but will survive in any environment as long as it has a plant or animal to live inside of. Scarecrow Blight is found almost exclusively in Breit, although outbreaks have occurred in Ostia as a result of bioweapon attacks.

As discussed, the Blight's lethality derives from its coagulating effect on human blood, its constriction and deoxygenation of the circulatory system, and the drastic increase in blood pressure that it causes; as a result, the Blight kills by inducing heart attacks, aneurisms, suffocation, etc. If left untreated, the Blight has a 100% mortality rate.

#### Diagnosis & Treatment:

Diagnosing Scarecrow Blight is very easy as a result of the physical symptoms displayed by victims. Visual examination is enough to diagnose a patient; however, the infection may not manifest right away, and because of its delayed effect on infected plant life the Blight may not appear in humans until entire regions of farmland are infected.

Scarecrow Blight has very few known cures; the symptoms can be treated individually, although the cocktail of drugs required to fend off death kill the victim shortly after the Blight would have. Once the Blight progresses into the middle stages it becomes incurable, assuming a victim lives long enough to reach that point; people who consume raw infected produce cannot be saved. Those infected through less lethal means can be treated with strong antibiotics, stomach pumps, and the application of extensive blood-letting and blood transfusions. If the steps are not taken correctly, however, the person's death with only hasten further.

#### Prevention & Epidemiology:

Little can be done to directly prevent an outbreak of Scarecrow Blight. Because the fungus is not naturally occurring, and only used as a bioweapon, the best way to prevent its spread is to prevent samples from falling into the wrong hands, and dedicating police resources to preventing the use of stolen samples.

In the case that authorities are unable to prevent the release of the Blight, the only way to prevent the spread is to immediately cordon off the area of initial infection and burn all grain-based plants in the quarantine zone; no one should be allowed to touch the infected plants, and no one should breathe in or touch the smoke or remains of the plants once they've been burned for at least 24 hours. After the 24 hours, standard cleanup procedures should be taken to dispose of the potentially contaminated ash and charred produce. If the Blight spreads to humans before it is identified, authorities should enact an immediate quarantine and search every farm in the area and every delivery of foodstuffs for signs of the Blight in order to determine the source and intercept additional infected shipments; infected individuals should be placed under constant quarantine and constant watch, treated if they remain treatable, and prayed for in their dying hours.

### Cultural & Religious Impact:

Scarecrow Blight had a profound impact on the people of The Sicherlands during the War of Vile Men, when the weaponized fungus was first deployed by the Kodian Empire. The damage it caused created famines in the region throughout the war, devastated local populations more than the War itself did, and ruined food production in the region for over a decade after the War's start. Few families in The Sicherlands avoided feeling the Blight's presence, and the Blight remains a potent reminder of their position in the world; The Sicherlands must continue to prevent war or risk facing another outbreak of Blight, as if another war is not terrifying by itself.

Similarly, The Great Potato Blight in Dubring reduced the island's population by so much that it is not estimated to fully recover for over a hundred years. That event remains a glaring sign of Birmish oppression, and continues to serve as a war cry for the Dubrish that continue to fight for independence.

While the Blight had little impact on the religions of the world, it did spawn several movements around itself which some consider to be religious in nature. Most prominently, a Truseau-centered cult known as the Field of Crows worships a god that they believe helped inspire the creation of the Blight as a way to cull the world's population in preparation for the coming of their twisted pestilence-making deity. The cult worships disease, and remains a persistent annoyance to Truseau's rural population with their repeated murders, raids, robberies, and attempts at spreading illness in major cities.