The Shaking Plague was a disease that was known as one of the Three Plagues of Faerûn.[4][5] The disease was not well understood but was well known in southern and eastern lands,[3] however as of the mid-to-late 14th century DR, it was most famous for ravaging the city of Scardale Town in Scardale during the Year of the Tankard, 1370 DR.[6][2]
Shaking Plague was not the same thing as shaking fever.[4]
Acquisition[]
Although the definitive cause of the disease was unknown, and many had their suspicions,[6] and it was known to be both physical and magical in nature. In Scardale Town, it was possibly the work of mages bent on the city's destruction.[1]
The disease was spread though physical contact with the infected,[1] who most contagious during the first tenday after their symptoms appeared.[3] Those who survived the disease tended to be less susceptible to reinfection.[3] Lizardfolk were completely immune to the Shaking Plague.[1]
Effects[]
Victims of the plague exhibited tremors and convulsions, lowered body temperature, sweating, pale skin, pox, and lack of speech in fairly rapid succession. It was often deadly.[1][2][3][7]
The earliest observable symptom of the Shaking Plague was to cause the victim to go very pale and to sweat so profusely that they required a great deal of water. After about a day, the sweating subsided that after which the primary symptom was the one for which the plague was named: uncontrollable and constant shaking of the limbs.[2] These tremors impacted motor skills and balance, and made many tasks difficult or impossible, including writing, sewing, lock-picking, most craft-work, martial combat, and the casting of spells with a somatic component.[1][2][3] While the shaking affected balance, it did not always impede the afflicted's movement.[1][2]
Over the course of the first tenday, black, pus-filled boils would appear around the face, underarms, and groin. These would grow in size, turn yellow and eventually burst, releasing a golden discharge that was contagious to the touch. The pain was so intense that it could cause a near-constant whimpering in those afflicted.[1]
As the disease progressed, it led to painful twisting and writhing of the body, and these spasms could prove fatal if they became so violent that they caused victims to choke on their own bodily fluids, experience heart seizures, or stop their lungs from functioning.[2][3] When fatal, the disease usually killed in seven to ten days.[2] However, many sufferers of the Shaking Plague ultimately recovered from it, usually after two tendays followed by a sudden improvement. Even among these survivors, there was a tendency to occasionally go pale and experience painful shaking.[2] A full recovery often took months.[3] Very few victims of the plague in Scardale were able to recover on their own.[1]
Treatment[]
Immersing the body in water appeared to alleviate some of the pain of the symptoms.[1]
The most reliable known cure for the Shaking Plague was a particularly expensive combination of divine and arcane spells. The simultaneous casting of dispel magic and cure disease upon the victim would instantaneously purge any trace of the disease from their body. Due to the cost of these spells, many could only dream of being cured after infection.[1]
History[]
The disease had a reputation in southern and eastern lands as a fatal affliction that broke out only rarely.[3]
In the Year of Old Beginnings, −135 DR, an outbreak of the Shaking Plague in Calimshan killed nearly 1 in 5 people across the realm, striking Calimport, Memnon, and Teshburl. Calimport was hit especially hard, with 31% of the population succumbing to the sickness.[7]
The Shaking Plague reduced Scardale Town's population from over 10,000 in 1370 DR to only 4,440 just two years later.[6] This came to be known as the city's "doom", and was considered the first known outbreak of the disease in Faerûn proper.[3] The disease did not spread outside of the city, so local villages and towns nearby were largely unaffected. Disturbingly, lizardfolk immune to the disease forayed into the city to feast upon the infected deceased.[1]
Appendix[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Ed Greenwood (January 1996). Volo's Guide to the Dalelands. (TSR, Inc), p. 196. ISBN 0-7869-0406-2.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Ed Greenwood (October 2012). Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 41. ISBN 0786960345.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 150. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ed Greenwood, Eric L. Boyd (March 2006). Power of Faerûn. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 94. ISBN 0-7869-3910-9.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood (October 2012). Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster's Forgotten Realms. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 40. ISBN 0786960345.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Ed Greenwood, Sean K. Reynolds, Skip Williams, Rob Heinsoo (June 2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 136. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Steven E. Schend (October 1998). Calimport. (TSR, Inc), p. 19. ISBN 0-7869-1238-3.