The Crimson Plague

A terrible sickness that stalks the lands of Alodia.

While relatively uncommon, The Crimson Plague's swift onset and debilitating effects make it one of the most feared diseases in the area.
Victims break out in boils and lesions, and soon fall into a fever. For most, death follows shortly.

Making it more fearful, there is no known cure, and no known protection. It strikes as it pleases, and once an area has The Crimson Plague, no quarantine, no chirgury, no tincture or tonic can stop it. It takes rich and poor alike, and even takes livestock. Some say that it gets into the grain, and the water.

Whole towns, even cities have been laid waste by The Crimson Plague (including Samsalar, former home of the Red Lotus Temple), while others suffer it for weeks or months, but lose no more than a third of their people and livestock.

There are those that say The Crimson Plague is born by a vengeful Spirit, wreaking his revenge on Alodia for some long-forgotten slight. But there are those who will blame any ills on "the spirits", and no scholar or priest has ever shown this to be true.