the red plague
It has been several years since this unknown sickness started affecting cats around the region... what could be the cause of this mysterious and deadly illness?
in the beginning
Two years ago, a single cat from the Forest Colony fell ill.
At first, her symptoms had gone unnoticed. A headache, a newfound lack of appetite. A stomach bug, perhaps, or something slightly rotten she had eaten. But as the days went on, her symptoms worsened. She became irritable, refused to eat, vomiting bile, her headache so intense she cried out about desires to plunge her head beneath the seawater for any moment of relief. The symptoms came on so suddenly that no one had a chance to go find a Legendary green soul to help her--there wasn't time.
No one had a chance to do anything before she was already dead.
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She fell asleep on the third night, her physical state sending the colony into a widespread panic. Sometime in the night, though, she stopped tossing and turning, she stopped whimpering in pain. She was dead in the morning, her body cold and stiff.
Her family prepped her body for burial. They dug a grave, gathered her favorite prey and flowers. They felt guilt weigh in their chests like a dense fog.
What if we had acted sooner, they whispered sadly to each other. What if we had gotten her to Paradise Valley for healing? Would she still be alive?
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Another night passed, the burial scheduled for the next morning. But they woke up to the sound of a cat scratching at the base of the trees in their camp, methodically ripping and tearing at the bark with seemingly no rhyme or reason.
It was their dead friend, family member, lover. She was alive. But she was not the same.
Her eyes were completely red, as if painted with fresh blood. She mumbled incoherent words, unresponsive to any of the pleading from her colony mates. She would not eat, would not speak, would not blink. She wandered without purpose, indifferent to any dangers she encountered.
Her family took her to the Legendaries, where they tried their best to heal her, to bring her back, to do anything. She had been dead, her family pleaded. She was dead, but now she's not, but this is not better. The Legedaries tried, and tried, to do anything to bring her back...but nothing worked. She seemed to be stuck in this torpid and listless state of being. The Legendaries promised they would do what they could to cure her, and sent her home.
The Red Plague only grew after that first report. Cats from all over the areas surrounding Paradise Valley began to fall victim, whispers of this horrific sickness spreading panic throughout the cats there. The Legendaries did what they could to calm the chaos, to reassure everyone that they were working as hard as they could to find a cure. It worked, a bit. Whispers of the Red Plague--the Red Death, the Death Plague--spread, but in hushed tones and under dark skies. Cats in the area continued to fall ill, and each one progressed through the stages same as the first.
It has been two years since the first case...and it seems the Legendaries are just as lost as they ever were.
about the plague
name
The plague, the red plague, the death plague, the red death
symptoms
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Day 1: Headaches, fatigue, lack of appetite, bright lights in vision, could be passed off as a migraine
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Day 2: Continuing migraine, irritation/temper, whole body aching (“my bones ache”)
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Day 3: Vomiting, desire to be completely isolated, headache almost unbearable, whites of eyes turn completely red
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On the third night, the cat will fall asleep early, and be completely dead
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Day 4: Death
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Day 5: Awakening. Cat is ‘resurrected’, eyes are totally red (even iris and pupil). The cat will be completely unresponsive, might mutter to themselves, will show no signs of emotions or of remembering anything about themselves or anyone around them. Will not sleep or eat, but does not seem to be in any pain. Cat may stick around or wander off for long periods of time, or wander off and not be seen again. Not aggressive unless provoked--cat will ferociously fight back if attacked, though, against anyone, friend or foe (cats have tried killing loved ones to put them out of their misery). Blood has turned black.
treatments
No known treatment or prevention
causes
Cause mostly unknown... however, there have been reports of a “Plaguebringer”, a dark cat that will be seen nearby but not interact. Many believe it is a folktale, but cats almost always get the red plague after reporting seeing the Plaguebringer.