The Sombering

Transmission & Vectors

Spread by air and bodily fluids this disease wreaked havoc on the communities it infected. It is at its most infectious before it begins to display symptoms. If anything, it makes the victim seem more lively at first, compelling them to go out and socialize and be close to other potential victims. As it progresses, the victim becomes withdrawn and hostile, often resulting in a complete flip of the victim's personality. For a time, this prevented healers and academics from understanding it as the antisocial symptoms seemed counterintuitive to the disease's rapid spread. The infectiousness of the disease declines with the late stages, though this in part due to the isolation it compels in its victims.

Causes

The initial incident has been traced back to when the unfortunate first victim invited a humanoid into their home for dinner on a cold and wet afternoon. The pair shared their sorrows and while the victim shared pleasantries too, the visitor had none to share. It would later come to be known as a drattenae, a creature that feeds on sorrow and suffering. While it goes against most people's beliefs, the only protection is to avoid sharing a meal with a potential drattenae, and if they are insistent offer a tale of sorrow to turn them away but do not listen to their tale.

Symptoms

Early Stage

The afflicted become increasingly social, impulsive, affectionate, and reckless. This can also be characterized as episodes of mania and hypersexuality. The disease compels its host to be in close contact with as many people as possible. In social circles where people already have some of these traits, this can make early detection and treatment very difficult.

Mid Stage

This is when the eponymous symptoms begin to show. After close contact with many people, the afflicted will suddenly become quiet and withdrawn. Their overall mood will be lower and they will struggle to recall positive memories. They still participate in society but in a more reserved manner that rejects joy and life.

Late Stage

As the disease progresses, they become increasingly irritable, hostile, and begin actively isolating themselves from the community. The sorrow grows stronger and leaves them immobile more often than not. At this stage, it seems to signal the drattenae. Although drattenae can feed on the stories and memories of pain, research suggests that those in the late stages of the Sombering are preferred. At this point the afflicted will be taken, and never seen again as they become a victim of the drattenae's hunger.

Treatment

In the early stages of the Sombering when the victim is still manic and reckless, treatment becomes containment and ensuring safe choices. This is a challenging one as the longer an infected victim is left to run amok the worse the epidemic will get, but telling the sick apart from revelers is nigh impossible and can lead to false holds. If someone is correctly identified, failure to infect other victims will speed the disease into its next and much more treatable stage. As such most treatment happens in later stages.

Once the afflicted has become withdrawn and self isolating, treatment flips. Encouraging the patient to have social contact and engage in the community is critical. The goal here is to have the sick choose on their own to go out and socialize. Early on this is often more forced and can involve regular visits in and out of the home to prevent isolation. New hobbies, letter writing, and talking things through have also shown to be effective.

Despite efforts towards treating the symptoms, true healing alas can only come from within. There is no spell, no herb, nor trick to helping someone be rid of the Sombering. While company and prevention of isolation is important, only the afflicted can ultimately heal themselves. Though the slaying of the drattenae that caused the sickness often decreases the risk of death.

Prognosis

The sooner the Sombering is noticed the better. Left unnoticed and untreated it is often fatal. The infecting drattenae will devour the victim, or if the drattenae is absent or slain, the victim may take their own life in their sorrows seeing no way out. If caught early, the afflicted may make a full recovery with little to no lasting effects. Though if caught too late and survived, their long term quality of life and expectancy may degrade.

Sequela

The toll that the Sombering inflicts on those suffering in its clutches often leaves them with chronic exhaustion. They have less energy for their day-to-day lives. While they may still enjoy things as they did before, they tire quicker and may not have the same zeal. Those who have survived the Sombering report that things they previously found easy have become seemingly insurmountable and getting back to something akin to normal requires great support. Even in the best case scenario for anyone who ends up with long term effects from the Sombering finds that they tire quicker and will have more days that require quiet and rest compared to before.

Furthermore, those who received treatment in the late stages of the Sombering often end up with a weakened constitution becoming sick more easily for quite some time thereafter. The good news is that unlike the chronic exhaustion, the weakened constitution seems more temporary. With rest, good food, and good company, the majority of people regain the prior constitution. The only exception is the particularly elderly who may struggle to recover from other diseases.

Affected Groups

Gnomish towns—along with some beastfolk towns—are most susceptible to the Sombering. Their culture of feasting and revelry is rivaled only by the dwarves and their hospitality is rivaled only by the elves. This combines to make them particularly susceptible to being preyed upon by the drattenae. Furthermore, those with a weak constitution, who are elderly, or have suffered great trauma are more likely to be targeted by drattenae for their pain and susceptibility. Dwarves initial hostility and caution around strangers makes it hard for drattenae to infect them without spending time working their way into a dwarf's social circle during which time they may go hungry. Elves are quite welcoming hosts comparatively, but are more reserved in their mannerisms making infection by shared pain or drink more difficult without once again spending time working their way into someone's social circle. Among the elves the moon elves are least susceptible as they are like dwarves in their caution around outsiders, and eventide elves are the most susceptible as they have more revelry compared to the sun and moon elves.

In the modern day, humans are also considered to be very susceptible to the Sombering for similar reasons to gnomes and beastfolk. Of course, species are not monoliths and any individual member may be more or less susceptible depending on various factors.

Hosts & Carriers

The Sombering is spread by sharing sorrows or drinks with humanoid monsters called the drattenae. They are tall shadowy figures in possession of minor illusion spells that obscure their appearance and lull victims into a false sense of security. If any of a drattena's fluids make their way into one's body you will become infected. Furthermore, listening to a drattena's tales of sorrow infects the listener as well.

Prevention

The most effective method of protection from the Sombering is ironically what makes it worse. Avoiding people and being withdrawn ensures you may not share sorrows or drink with a drattena, but it leads to a worse quality of life and may endanger those who do become infected. Charms to detect or dispel minor illusions may help with catching drattenae before they can infect you but this is not considered to be a surefire method. Given the lack of ideal options, the chosen method is typically to be more intentional with connections and reaching out to people in the community to ensure that no one is left to suffer alone. Communities with strong ties are less susceptible to the Sombering.

History

The Sombering was first documented about a decade into the Undoing. It's believed that the growing trauma and suffering is what created or attracted the drattenae in the first place. The gnomes were some of the last to still try and hold feasts and celebrate the smallest things amidst the destruction. Intended to hold on to hope and keep people resilient, it also provided an in for the drattenae. The gnomes' population was decimated by this sickness and struggles to recover to its pre-Undoing levels. Miraculously though, this suffering has not dimmed the gnomes zeal for life and instead led to closer bonds in their communities as they survived and rebuilt.

Cultural Reception

The Sombering is a greatly feared disease. While it may be treatable, the way that it saps away the people you know and love is terrifying. It's also a pitied disease as the ones who suffer the greatest are often the ones who suffer alone, and you often don't realize until it's too late. The drattenae who spread the disease are reviled and feared by most, and while pity for them may exist too, it's not enough to prevent them from being turned away. Although treatment and prevention have improved over the years, those with long memories and stories passed down are often more wary around strangers still.

Type

Neurological

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Short-term