Time Blight

All Tonallitecameh, with the first to be infected being the Hym, Shifters, and Beast Heart to arrive on Xern when first breaching The Mooring.

The Origin of the Blight is debated among the Sentient Races, but it was originally created by Ahuitecpa as a way to distract the Pianimeh and allow him to find a way to break free from his restraints. The Blight was later bolstered by Clotho deAmaia's research, under the guide of Ahuitecpa who convinced him it would be a way to forge the next step of evolution for the Hym

The Blight is incredibly rare, disappearing from the historical record after the first wave of it, only appearing loosely mentioned on the Hymic Origin Stones. However, it re-surged in 6025 Post Bleeding with the increased rate of arrivals to Westport and the Xernian Islands Colony.

Starting off when coming into contact with infected beings, the Blight attaches itself to the soul and rapidly works to de-tangle it. Within 24 hours, the infected enter stage two of the ailment where they start loosing physical sensations and begin to stop feeling pain. This progresses until it reaches complete loss, which is when the body becomes weakened to other physical ailments and diseases. As those start to ravage the body, the Blight Enters stage three and completely shuts down the body's energy production process and self defense mechanisms, causing the body to begin to break down due to the onslaught of other ailments. This stage is also marked by increasing loss of sanity in the infected. At stage four, the body stops breaking down and decaying and has become fully de-tangled from the effects of time upon it. Infected at this stage begin to experience increased aggression toward others, likely as a method to spread the Blight, but still retain portions of their individuality and sense of self.

The only way the Time Blight transfers from one to another is through direct contact, which allows the Souls of individuals to briefly contact. There is also a theory that souls trapped within relics can also become infected, but how that would impact them is unknown.

Time Blight is a parasite that attaches to the soul, where it feeds off the energy it produces and de-tangles it from the flow of time.

The most prominent symptom is the body ceasing to require energy and ceasing self maintenance tasks. This allows other illnesses to take root, and eventually the body begins to decay while still "living", creating a pseudo-undead being. The Soul detaches itself from the flow of time that holds the body within reality, occasionally dragging the body with it. Unexpectedly, the body is able to move more effectively in this state, likely due to it moving in and out of the flow of time and it being less burdened when detached in this way.
Other symptoms involve increased aggression, emotional instability, hearing voices, hallucinations, and generalized insanity. Additionally, those infected stop feeling pain and other physical sensations, leading to a constant feeling of falling and unawareness of their own body state as they slip deeper into the Blight.

Any treatment of Time Blight is mostly centered around ensuring the infected remain comfortable as they slip deeper into it. Protecting them from other illnesses also is a commonly taken step, which helps slow the development of the condition.

Time Blight, overall, nearly always will end in the death of the infected. Their body being decayed to such a state often leads to death in the case of their soul being restored, and their body recovering is impossible while the Blight attacks and infects the soul. Without the intervention of a being with the strength of a Minor God, the best that can be done at stage three of four is nothing. If you can catch the ailment and identify it before it progresses to stage three, you can often counter it with constant healing, but that often leads to the infected conducting an Acquired Resistance to Magical Restoration as well, making potential intervention dangerous.

Records of those who manage to make full recoveries due to luck and divine intervention often report lingering loss of the sense of touch and the feeling of pain. Some were left with voices and hallucinations, and others kept the emotional instability that came along with the condition. Once infected, some part of it's effect on the body will linger forever regardless of if one is able to recover.

The easiest and only way to prevent catching the disease is to avoid coming in contact with the infected.

Most of the history surrounding the Time Blight is unknown to the people of The Mooring, however it was created by Ahuitecpa during the height of the Primil Dominance of Creation's Rest. His goal was to infect them using the Noctal Gateways that were set up across the realm by Noctix Primil by influencing a few individuals to construct modified Noctal Gateways—the Rings of Ahuitecpa—that would link to his location within the Shroud of Containment. While several of these modified gateways were constructed, none we used to transport any Primil with the Blight due to their retreat into the Elemental Halos. The first infected were the Hym after they arrived on Xern. Here, Ahuitecpa was able to infect explorers who had stumbled into the recently abandoned facilities. Here the Blight spread quickly, culminating in the Hymic Incursion to Ignaldi through Esteron.

Future colonization attempts of Xern lead the few individuals to arrive on the islands to become infected quickly, as they often settled on top of the old ruins established by the Hym, hoping to reuse the infrastructure. This allowed the Blight to quickly resurge and kill off colonies in quick succession. The few pcolony attempts that did not settle upon the old ruins were able to hold out longer, but often were abandoned due to the Blight appearing, which many viewed as a sign from the gods that the island should be left alone.

Rulers have worked over the years to heavily redact and restrict the little information known about the Blight to great success, keeping knowledge of it only accessible to a few high ranking nobles within United Esteron and the Illistrian Empire, several long lived individuals who have pieced the information together over centuries of research, and well respected Scholars and Chroniclers. Some generalized mentions of "A Blight Upon the People" remain littered upon the Origin Stones that dot the Melonic Coast, but this is usually thought to be a crop failure or monster incursion by common-folk.

The general reception among those aware of the Time Blight is one of a Divine Warning: "avoid this place at all costs lest you become a visage of your former self". While several have wanted to look into the ailment's origins, its confinement to Xern and the historical restrictions that have been placed on traveling to the island due to the Blight have prevented most people from looking into it. Beyond that, the nature of knowledge surrounding its existence being unknown or heavily restricted.