Black Plague

The Black Plague (Skanoric: Digerdöden, Huszaric: Fekete Pestis, Govoric: ), also known as the Grey Death or Skanoric Pox and more recently as the Neuenic Blight, Blood Pox or Black Soot, is a virulent type of plague that has swept across the continent of Vildskanor on numerous occasions, almost always killing large percentages of the population.

In more recent years the Black Plague has been combined with strains of the Forsaken Blight and Plague of Undeath by Neuenic Apothecaries, in an attempt to create a powerful chemical weapon.

Etymology
The Black Plague is so named for its most obvious symptom, which takes the form of large, black tumours or buboes, which appear on areas of skin and other organs that have been afflicted by the plague. The term Black Plague is also used in the Huszaric and Govoric languages, although in Skanoric the plague is known as the Digerdöden or Disease of Death.

The various other Common names for the Black Plague include the Grey Death, which refers to the colouration of a victim's skin and the Black Soot, referring to the weaponised form of the plague.

The Early Plague
The Black Plague was first identified as such during minor outbreaks during the late 3rd Century K.C, although it is believed to have existed for a far longer time. Although no fully effective treatment was devised at the time, these early outbreaks were relatively small and thus easy to contain via quarantine, as they were limited to areas of a few minor villages and a small town at the largest.

The first major outbreak of the disease took place in the 5th Century K.C, during the First Northern War. Like many plagues, the outbreak took place in military camps and areas destroyed by the conflict, with the large movements of troops and supplies carrying the plague around most of northern Vildskanor. At this time various treatments were devised, although most required magical healing. These limited forms of treatment contributed to the plague's mortality rate.

The Black Plague continued to have outbreaks during each of the Northern Wars, appearing in areas already damaged by conflict. The last of these major outbreaks occurred during the Fifth Northern War, where breakthroughs by the Varlandic clergy finally devised an effective treatment for the disease.

Since then, outbreaks of the plague once again grew smaller, until finally ceasing in the years before the Third War.

The Neuenic Blight
Following the Scourge Invasion of Vildskanor, samples of the plague were taken by both Necromancers serving the Lich King and Apothecaries of the newly formed United Democratic People's Councils of Skanor. Both these groups sort to combine the Plague of Undeath with the Black Plague and, following their collection of Scourge research following the fall of the Lich King, the Neuenic apothecaries were successful. Additionally, the Black Plague was able to infect large numbers of flora already afflicted with the undead plague, resulting in heavy damage to the local ecosystem.

This new research resulted in the creation of a number of new strains of the Black Plague, importantly including a new blood-born strain and what is now known as the Black Soot. These strains were tested during the Seventh Northern War and, once deemed usable, placed into full production.

Symptoms
As suggested by its name, the most common symptom of the Black Plague is the appearance of black plague tumours on areas of the skin that have been infected with the plague. These tumours are filled with a mixture of rotting pus and flesh and will also appear inside the body once the plague has reached a victim's organs. The plague tumours eventually end up consuming the resources required by their host organs, when combined with the response from the body's immune system this quickly leads to organ failure and death.

The other primary symptom of the Black Plague is the one that gives it the name Grey Death. The skin and flesh around a victim's plague tumours will soon become cracked and mottled grey, as the blood and oxygen are consumed by the tumours themselves. The skin is effectively at this point mummified, although it will sometimes leak blood and pus through the cracks.

In some cases the plague has also caused death by starvation, as once the stomach is infected a victim will no longer be able to eat as any food consumed quickly rots and feeds the plague instead.

Transmission
Although its exact origins are unknown, the modern Black Plague is spread by rat fleas, which themselves are able to carry the plague unaffected and will migrate to nearby humans when an infected rat dies. The plague then enters the skin through the flea bites, forming tumours around the areas that have been bitten. Eventually the plague will the spread into the blood stream, beginning the infection of organs.

Although the basic form of the Black Plague is only transmitted by flea or other insect bites, the strains created by the Neuenic apothecaries have other forms of transmission. For example, the Blood Pox strain is able to be transmitted via infected fluids, which allows blades and other weaponry to be coated with the plague, which spreads to a victim's blood stream via wounds. This strain also does not cause tumours on the skin, although the grey, cracked effect will still appear and internal organs can manifest tumours.

Meanwhile, the Black Soot strain is spread via a smoke like chemical gas, which collects on the ground as soot, hence its name. This form of the plague is partially fungal in nature, with the "soot" in actuality being fungal spores. When the soot comes in contact with living material it begins to form tumours in the same way as the flea bites, although this is limited to the skin or lungs, where the spores can make contact with the body. The Black Soot is also known to infect flora and waterways, quickly covering trees with plague tumours and choking rivers. Finally, the fluid and rotting skin located in Black Soot tumours is also infectious, making treatment somewhat harder.

As they are combined with the Plague of Undeath, all Neuenic strains have been found to make slain victims easier to raise into undeath, although they will not self revive like those killed by the Plague of Undeath or some strains of the Forsaken Blight.

Mortality Rate
In early outbreaks, the Black Plague had a mortality rate of over 75%, due to the limited forms of treatment available. As medical knowledge of the disease progressed, this rate quickly dropped and modern victims will typically survive if intensive treatment is given.

Treatment
Following the Fifth Northern War, the clergy of the Kingdom of Varland developed the current form of treatment, which is the most effective. This treatment involves the removal of plague tumours via either application of the Holy Light, which causes them to wither and dissolve or through the more mundane method of cutting them open and removing the contents. Meanwhile, any skin affected by the plague is flayed off, while a mix of holy magic and various potions are used to fully cleanse the plague from the body.

If the plague has spread to internal organs and/or the blood stream, the treatment required is far more intensive. This treatment involves filtering the victim's blood of the disease and injecting healing and cleansing potions. Once the blood is cleansed, any damaged but still living organs will recover.

The modern day chance of survival for the Black Plague mean that the weaponised forms created by the Neuenic apothecaries are less for killing enemies and more for tying up enemy resources, as heavily injured soldiers will require intensive care to survive.

Notable Victims

 * King Karolus XI of Varland - Afflicted with the disease near the end of his reign via poisoning. As the disease was transmitted directly to his stomach, it went untreated and was not discovered until an autopsy following his death, which found his entire abdominal cavity filled with plague tumours, while his stomach and intestines had rotted away.
 * Siegfried Rothenstein - Afflicted during the Scourge Invasion of Vildskanor. Cured himself by replacing the majority of his body with mechanical parts.
 * Vannesyra Smith - Afflicted by the Blood Pox after being wounded with poised grapeshot. Initially the infection was undiscovered as an experimental treatment of her injured arm masked the presence of the disease and kept it from causing damage. Following the removal of such treatment during an investigation for Blood Magic use during the Iron War, the plague quickly resurfaced and required her return to Rostkamm for treatment and eventual removal of the plague.