Feeblepox

A house in Aspreza with the door marked with six red ribbons, indicating Feeblepox within.

The Feeblepox, or simply, pox, is a contagion which spread across the Antaran Empire shortly before Betrayal in Antara.

Origin

The disease was first released when miners at the Aliero Mine discovered a sealed chamber filled with ancient Vell artifacts. They reported that the air smelled strange, as though it hadn't been breathed for thousands of years. Scholars from the Pernath Academy at Burlen arrived in Aliero to investigate the discovery, and sent a message back enthusing about the significance of the find. The courier stopped for the night at a barn in Friole, but woke the next morning raving with fever; four days later he was dead, his message abandoned in the barn. The as-yet-unnamed plague swept through Friole, killing most of the inhabitants, and spread from there. Meanwhile, every miner who had worked in the Vell chamber or touched a Vell artifact also succumbed to the plague, which swept through Aliero as well.

Symptoms

Victims of the Feeblepox first notice hot and cold flashes. The acute stage of the disease comes on rapidly, characterized by a burning fever and a body covered in painful red blisters. If not treated quickly, death follows within a few days.

Survivors are often left with deep pockmarks in their skin, and a "shadow" of the pox inside them which can still be detected during unrelated healing sessions with a Sister of Senaedrin.

Spread and Containment

From its origin points in Friole and Aliero, along with the routes taken by messengers and scholars from Aliero to Burlen, the pox spread throughout the Antaran Empire. Houses struck by the Pox were marked with six red ribbons on their doors, and travelers were warned away lest they catch and spread the contagion. Sister Liselle mentions an outbreak in Phorlia, a Chailan city, last season, believing it to have been caused by blockade-runners or smugglers; a robust border watch has mostly kept the plague contained otherwise. Strangely, there were no reports of pox west of the Glassrock Mountains. The Sisters feared the Mehrat would bring it when they crossed the Ridge to fight, but saw no sign of it there.

The Sisters worked hard to find a cure, even as many of them perished alongside those they cared for. Houses in which people had died of the pox were routinely scoured or burnt to the ground in order to prevent the spread of the disease. Aspreza was especially hard-hit, with most of its inhabitants struck by the Pox. However, by the time the plague reached Aspreza, the Sisters had learned to treat the illness successfully. In Chapter 1, if the party provides 24 Rations to Sister Liselle and her fellow healers on the road between Ligano and Imazi, the Sisters can reach Aspreza in time to save the lives of most of the residents.

Due to the silence of Pernath Academy, the Sisters of Senaedrin are unaware of the plague's true source.

Victims and Survivors

• As discovered by Sister Liselle, William Escobar was healed from the early stages of the Feeblepox by the Sisters of Senaedrin, who nursed him back to health. William's oldest brother was not as lucky.
• In Aspreza: if the Sisters arrive in time, only an elderly woman dies of the Pox. She is survived by her husband, and two Asprezan families and the local tinker are also cured. However, if the Sisters do not arrive in time, most of the Asprezan residents die.
• In Sortiga: Healer Korellyn tells the party how her entire family was killed by the Pox and her home and belongings burnt by the Sisters to prevent the spread of the plague, leaving her homeless and poverty-stricken.
• In Aliero: All the miners who worked in the Vell chamber or touched Vell artifacts died of the pox, which also killed many others in the small mining town. An old miner at the Inn sorrowfully recounts how he lost both his sons to the plague. A house scoured of every human-made item stands as a testament to the Sisters' thoroughness.
• In Isten: the Sisters at the Temple of Senaedrin struggled to heal pox victims even as many of them died of the disease, including a young orphan in the Temple's care.
• In Elona: a resident mentions that the Feeblepox hit the town earlier.
• In Everton: Natalie, an expectant mother, has the pox and the town's residents refuse to go near the house or speak to her husband or sister, who were also exposed. If the party notifies Sister Senena in Isten, she sends healers to cure the Pox, resulting in the family's survival and the birth of a healthy child.
• In Eastbank: a woman claims that the blind Prophet of Camille was able to cure a boy of Pox when the Sisters had failed.
• In Friole: a pox survivor recounts how a messenger from Aliero brought the pox to town, dying in his barn and infecting the population before anyone knew what the disease was. The survivor lost his wife and both his sons to the plague, along with the majority of the town's inhabitants. When the party visits Friole, the town is just beginning to rebuild.

Trivia

• In Ligano, a group of Bandits inside a locked house claim to have the pox in order to deter investigation. The party notes that there is no ribbon on the door and there doesn't seem to be pox anywhere else in Ligano, causing them to doubt the story.