The lands of Fallenstar are home to some of the nastiest bugs and diseases in all of Dwenty. It’s savage nature and near nonexistent sources for healing magic have given rise these powerful forces of nature. It has been noted that the natives of the region are better equipped to handle these bugs, but foreigners are often times highly susceptible to the ravages of disease.

The diseases are listed in the table below from most common to rarest.

1.Each time the victim takes 2 or more damage from the disease; he must make another Fortitude Save or be permanently blinded.

2.When damaged, character must succeed on another saving throw or 1 point of damage is permanent drain instead.

3.Specific to Fallenstar; any none native catching this disease suffers a -2 penalty to all fortitude save to resist its effects.

Typical diseases include the following:

Boring Beetle Larvae: The extremely beautiful Boring Beetle native to Fallenstar is at once one of the most beautiful and deadly creatures you can find in the region. This iridescent green and purple insect lays its eggs in raw meat where it it is usually eaten by one of a myriad of hungry beasts. Most beasts are immune to the effects of the eggs. Others are not quite so fortunate, in particular are the humans, demihumans, and humanoids who do not cook the meat thoroughly. What happens is the eggs hatch, releasing astron paralytic poison and the larval form of the beetle, which then makes its way to the brain of the victim where it begins to feed. Victims eventually grow less intelligent and oft times violently aggressive, eventually collapsing as their eaten brains shut down, leaving them drooling and brain dead. Several hours after they go brain dead, they die and a fully formed adult Boring Beetle forces itself out of the back of the skull to dry its wings and begin the cycle again.

Blinding Sickness: Spread in tainted water found in the swamps and more recently in the stagnant pools around the colonies. This disease can spread quickly when communal water sources become tainted. The natives of the region claim that the original source of the disease was The Taker, who while traveling the lands stopped at a small community where the people were obsessed with beauty. They ridiculed him for his appearance and because of that The Taker spit into the town well before moving on. After he left the people of the town began succumbing to the effects of this highly contagious disease, losing the ability to see any beauty at all as punishment for their obsession.

More recently, scholars from the great cities in the Far East were able to trace the source to the great swamps on the north east island. Many researchers died in the attempt to track this plague to its source in the hopes of eradicating it. Symptoms include severe migraines, bleeding from the corners of the eyes and loss of taste in mouth.

Filth Fever: Regular and dire rats spread this disease around colonial settlements, particularly around the town dumps. Those injured while in filthy surroundings might also catch it. Symptoms include dangerously high fever, stomach cramps and uncontrollable vomiting. A few tribes of the Dragon Welkin have been known to use spiked pit traps as latrines in the hopes of spreading this disease.

Red Ache: Symptoms of this infectious disease are very obvious. The skin turns a bright shade of red, becomes swollen, bloated and warm to the touch, and every orifice of an infected individuals body begins to seep watery blood. The primary culprit in its spread is unclean weapons and conditions. As with Filth Fever, evil Welkin tribes often use spiked pit traps as latrines in order to spread the infection.

 Red Ache: Symptoms of this infectious disease are very obvious. The skin turns a bright shade of red then becomes swollen, bloated and warm to the touch, and every orifice of an infected individual’s body begins to seep watery blood. The primary culprit in its spread is unclean weapons and conditions. As with Filth Fever, evil Welkin tribes often use spiked pit traps as latrines in order to spread the infection.

 Demon Fever: This severe infection is caused by dirty wounds. The Theronian Tribe has a saying: "Keep your dagger clean". The most common cause of this particularly nasty bug is just that, a nick on the finger from a dirty dagger. Other means of getting this infection are from wounds received from dirty weapons or claws. The only sure way to avoid this disease it to clean any wound immediately with alcohol, which kills all the bacteria. This is extremely painful in larger wounds though.

Cackle Fever: This nefarious disease is also known as “The Shrieks”. Symptoms include high fever, disorientation, and frequent bouts of hideous laughter and shrieking. It is spread person to person by simply being the same room. Early colonists described infected patients as behaving erratically and were initially though to be mad. Prior to the good tribes stepping in to assist, patients were often huddled together in small rooms, for fear of the madness spreading. This lead to more severe outbreaks after physicians who went into the rooms came out and went home to their families.

Slimy Doom: Perhaps the most terrifying disease ever encountered in Fallenstar, Slimy Doom is a twisted virus that turns its victims into an infectious goo from the inside out. Several villages have been lost to this disease, as it is spread simply by touching an infected victim. In the most extreme epidemic conditions entire families have been locked in buildings and then put to the torch, killing infected and uninfected alike. Those few who survive this disease lose much of the vigor they had prior to infection.

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Healing a Disease

Use of the Heal skill can help a diseased character. Every time a diseased character makes a saving throw against disease effects, the healer makes a check. The diseased character can use the healer’s result in place of his saving throw if the Heal check result is higher. The diseased character must be in the healer’s care and must have spent the previous 8 hours resting.

Characters recover points lost to ability score damage at a rate of 1 per day per ability damaged, and this rule applies even while a disease is in progress. That means that a character with a minor disease might be able to withstand it without accumulating any damage.

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