Tetanus
Common Disease
Lethality: Low
Transmissibility: Low
Since the dawn of civilization, people have recognized the link between wounds and illness, and while there have not always been names for these diseases, it is considered common knowledge to try and keep wounds as clean as possible. It was not until about a century ago that a specific set of symptoms was studied and was given the name Tetanus, nicknamed Lockjaw because of the way one’s jaw spasms and locks when they contract this disease.
Ever since, many claims have been made about how to best prevent and treat it, ranging from drinking only fruit juice for a week straight to eating the heart of a suffocated rat. Regardless of what remedy might be true, Lockjaw is deeply unpleasant to contend with, and it has caused some people to be extremely cautious when they get wounded.
Infection: A creature might get infected if an open wound is not cleaned properly or comes into contact with metallic equipment exposed to rust or offal matter.
Contagion: Tetanus is typically not contagious, though if a creature’s open wounds were to come into contact with the saliva or blood of someone with Tetanus, they make an attack. +6 against FORT. On a hit, the creature contracts Tetanus.
Symptoms: A creature exposed to Tetanus becomes symptomatic 1d8+2 days after contracting the sickness. Once incubated, they experience muscle spasms that influence their ability to function, giving them the following symptoms at the start of each day. Note that these symptoms are not cumulative.
- Day 1: Shaken
- Day 2: Gain Fatigue and Shaken
- Day 3: Gain Fatigue and Staggered
- Day 4: Gain Fatigue and Slowed
- Day 5: Slowed and Sickened
- Day 6: Gain Fatigue and Slowed
- Day 7: Gain Fatigue and Staggered
- Day 8: Gain Fatigue and Shaken
- Day 9: Shaken
- Day 10: Creature fully recovers
Treatment: Tetanus is a bacteria that causes a thin layer of rust to settle onto the nerves and bones, making it harder to move and to function in general. This can be treated with special applications of medicinal herbs and primal magic. A creature capable of casting the Nature’s Remedies spell may cast it to draw the rust out of a creature’s body. This causes the creature to take damage equal to the amount of HP they would otherwise regain. For each time the spell was upcharged, the creature’s symptoms advance +1 day.