Blood Fever is a fatal disease affecting those of elven heritage which has become widely known in the Third Age. Pureblood elves often perish in a matter of days after infection, with half-elves and those with minor amounts of elven blood lasting longer. The disease has not been witnessed in humans or dwarves, though there are written reports of humans being infected. It is unknown exactly when or where the Blood Fever originated, though there are records of it occurring hundreds of years ago, and it appears to be arcane in origin. The method of transmission is currently unknown.
After the Third Battle of Remonton, the Plague of Undeath, a new, deadlier variant of the Blood Fever, has surfaced in Remon. This variant not only infects all races but also raises the dead as undead and is spreading rapidly through Remon although none of the undead have crossed the Remonian border to the other kingdoms yet.
Signs and Symptoms
The incubation period is anywhere from one day to two weeks. Signs begin with a simple fever and chills, and progress until the body's tissues literally liquify and bleed from every orifice. In those of lesser elven blood, pale skin, fatigue and a gaunt appearance are common; some of these victims have been known to live for years with the disease.
There have also been reports of symptomless, infectious carriers of the disease, though none could be identified until 1017 AE when Dieter von Waldheim informed Rhylian Loras that she was in fact one of these symptomless carriers after he had compared Rhylian's blood with the blood samples of several infected people.
Mentions of Blood Fever
"An air of silence and sickness hung over the elven city of Sanae, reducing the once majestic capital to a veritable ghost town. The plague, known by many as the Blood Fever, had struck swiftly and surely, and nearly half the city's population had been killed or crippled in the years following the Great War. Those that remained lived in fear and uncertainty, as the disease never seemed to disappear completely; it would lie dormant for a year, or perhaps two if they were lucky, only to strike again with unforgiving vengeance. The sickness wasn't fully understood, nor was the method of transmission; all they knew were the symptoms. It began with a simple fever and chills, and progressed until the body's tissues literally liquified and bled from every orifice. It was a gruesome and excruciating way to die, to say the least."
―Recent observation of Sanae, prior to Rhylian Loras's introduction
"After the emergence of Blood Fever, the Elves of Folsworth had become divided. The aristocracy avoided most others out of fear. The commoners stayed inside, and many quit their jobs for fear that a new outbreak would occur. It had destroyed so many lives and, so many tried to invest in cures. Manipulative, self-seeking elves attempted to sell miracle cures, often making the prices for their "cures" exhuberant, and some elves lost their homes, and later their lives to Blood Fever. Those persons who survived encounters and extorted people of money grew in fortunes; others, lucky enough not to get Blood Fever, had often quit jobs, or had no jobs left to go to. Folsworth was in a state of disarray. Nymgrock knew that having money, especially in excess, was a necessity in these times when prices were rising so some individuals could make at least some income."
―Recent observation of Folsworth Woods, prior to Nymgrock Sigiln's introduction
"Two more elves died of Blood Fever today. I fear for its return to the Folsworth Woods. Thylys Kingdom is in grave peril if a cure is not found soon. I've yet to find anything on the Blood Fever, no occurrence of it anywhere through history. I fear for elves. The idea that this disease could escape our forest and over-run the elves of Tel'Elee would mean a near to total extinction for us."
―From the notes of Nymgrock Sigiln
"The Blood Fever is one of the reasons why I was in Folsworth Woods when we met. The disease took my elven wife from me, and her dying wish was that I'd take care of our daughter and then go to Etruria and try to do what I could to ease her family's pains. I couldn't do anything to help my wife's relatives, though, and they died as easily as an autumn leaf falls off a tree," Waldheim said, finishing his meal. "My daughter, after struggling for nearly twenty years, finally died in her bed. I assume the Blood Fever didn't affect her immediately because she was only a half-elf, and apparently the human part kept her alive until the Blood Fever finally claimed her."
―Dieter von Waldheim about his family
"It comes up from their froth-corrupted lungs, and the bloody-bile spills out from their stomachs, and the diseases oozes from the ears, the nose, and the eyes, and all the openings of their poor bodies. It kills in days and no elf is safe. The blood spills forth onto the ground, and the critters of the forest are spreading it unwillingly. The deer who step in it, track it from Etruria to Sanae and what do they know as they impede upon the progress of Elves!"
―From the notes of Surralis Caprico
"The Disease has slowly dissipated. We have learned how to deal with the disease whenever if pops up in local villages. We burn the entire area. There are no quarantined individuals, nor are there innocents. We have since destroyed three entire villages, and guard patrols now travel with a mage in order to burn alive anyone in the forest that might be suffering from it. We will not allow the rise of blood fever again."
―From the notes of Falzwin Caprico
"The man's condition is now exactly that of the plague and we have taken extra precautions. We are not sure if this is an isolated human version of the plague, or if it has the ability to infect both races. We healers who have been working with him have sealed ourselves in rooms together, with messengers coming by to speak to us through walls. We are scared, but we are not insane. We know the threat our presence now poses to the elves. However, we have received terrible news. The village in question houses both humans and elves. The live peacefully together, and even hold half-eves, but the entire village the man was from was sick, and half of them had already died. It seemed the human version of the disease killed much slower, possibly because of human anatomy. We learned that a dark unknown mage had visited days before the first incident. He visited a woman, near the end of her pregnancy with a half-elf, and when the mage left, she was the first to become sick. The half-elf child was saved, but it was shortly after that a human developed the illness. I cannot say this to my peers, but I believe this might be the same mage who led the humans in battle against us. If this is so, I truly believe he might be the cause of this illness, and that his intentions are to spread it across the globe. I feel that something occurred in the womb of that woman to transition the disease from elves to humans. "
―From the notes of Falzwin Caprico
"If the elves fall, the rest of Remon will not be far behind," Rhylian said sternly. "Also, the texts we've discovered suggest that the disease isn't limited to elves!" She held up a thick, yellowed notebook. "Countless half-elves have been infected. There are reports--very few, but reliable reports--of humans being infected! We cannot continue to sit idly while this disease consumes us from within! There may be hope, however. There are several notes about laboratories and skilled mages in Libaterra...Alent, to be exact. If anyone knows of a cure, it would be them."
―Rhylian Loras speaking to the people of Remonton
Known Victims
Alive
Deceased
- Falzwin Caprico
- Hylia Neowyn
- Killian Greenbough
- Korellon Korath
- Mira Loras
- Nalaen Silverpond
- Surralis Caprico