Stoneplague

The Stoneplague was a disease that began afflicting dwarves in the East Rift region of Faerun in 1480 DR.

History
At first, it was feared the disease was spread person-to-person. However, the plague was actually spread by handling cursed gold. The Duergar of Drik Hargunen used powerful earth magic to inscribe a rune inside a giant geode near their city. The rune was connected to Moradin’s River of Gold, his tangible link to Toril. The intent was to poison Moradin himself and cause the death of the god.

Several unscrupulous dwarves stole a powerful rune from Drik Hargunen that would teleport the user to the River of Gold and mined cursed gold from the river. The tainted gold found its way into the economy of the East Rift region and soon many dwarves were infected. Dwarven clerics were powerless to stop the spread of the plague and the clerics of the Temple of the Lady of Mercy in Hammergate may have even spread the plague further through their practice of accepting offerings of gold in their ritual cleansing pool.

The plague was ended when the dwarven ally Torrin Ironstar used a Duergar rune to teleport to Drik Hargunen. With the help of a small group of elite Dwarven troops, Torrin was able to destroy the rune magic.

Symptoms
Dwarves infected by the Stoneplague developed hard, crusty skin that resembled dried mud or clay and the victim’s eyes often calcified causing blindness. Victims often had the smell of wet clay about them. The disease had a 100% mortality rate.