Worldbuilding Wednesday: Illnesses
In a world full of species that evolved alongside magic, it is only natural that diseases would also find ways to adapt to and exploit it.
Obviously, not an update for the squeamish.
In the plot thus far, we've seen Kit's father, Renard Darling, stricken with a late-stage malignant Magi Teratoma, a form of cancer that develops when a teratoma forms a second magic-regulating gland that then goes out of control. The gland attempts to flood the bloodstream with a new magical signature that reacts badly with the original, causing the body's immune system to reject and attack itself. In extreme cases like Renard's, the tumor develops a protective pocket around itself that backlashes whenever disturbed, causing irreparable damage to surrounding tissue, which is especially dangerous if in a sensitive location, such as the spinal column.
In cases where full amputation of the afflicted tissue is impossible, there are very few effective treatments, and the death rate is 100% within 5 years of showing symptoms. The Darling family has resorted to using specialized life-support that links Renard and an opossum volunteer's circulatory systems through a device that dialyzes the magic from Renard's bloodstream, slowing the rate of his illness. Since this is only a temporary solution, Kit is currently researching a method to completely rewrite the tumor's disjointed magical signature in order to sync it up with the rest of the body and render it benign.
The rabies virus is mostly similar to our own, but its history took a much darker path. During the Bloodied War, the reptiles took advantage of their cold-blooded biology and the lower body temperatures of their opossum conscripts, and intentionally spread plagues of rabies throughout the neighboring mammalian nations.
It only took a handful of carriers released into a crowd to cause a major outbreak in populated cities, and a combination of denial among those infected and paranoia among those not, led to a complete inability to contain and control the outbreaks. If it wasn't for the development of a vaccine to the virus, then the Canine Empire would likely have been absorbed by the Reptiles instead of the other way around. Several centuries later, the relationship between reptiles and mammals remains heated despite cultural shifts.
A unique ailment in that it specifically affects magical signatures, Odeletta's Curse is a horrifying allergic reaction that develops almost exclusively within a 20 km radius of the fractured opossum Tree of Life. It takes its name from an opossum folk hero, as it was originally believed to be her dying curse toward any magical creature that approached the tree, although it long predated her birth and actually originates from powerful magical radiation given off by the tree's exposed inner tissue.
The symptoms of the disease are extreme and dramatic, lending to its mythical status, as the latent magical energy in the patient's bloodstream slowly begins to activate all at once, leading to powerful unease and an itchy feeling. As the condition worsens, they will feel an intense burning sensation and sparks of raw magical energy will burst from any orifices and open wounds, creating the appearance of a flaming aura around the patient. Eventually, the magical energy reaction becomes so violent that it melts the patient's tissues, quickly and painfully killing them and leaving a burnt husk behind. In cases involving especially powerful magic-users, the reaction can cause their heart to explode with a great deal of force.
While it should seem that this illness would make the heart of the Opossum homeland an ideal haven for them, the area has long since been bombed and salted out of spite, rendering it an inhospitable wasteland.
Next month's public Worldbuilding Wednesday update will be about Aeroplanes, but 5$ patrons can read it and all other WW updates early.
