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Stormhold District Quarantined after "Redscale" Outbreak Wreaks Havoc
SHARN -- On Wir, the City Watch closed off access to the Stormhold District to keep the mysterious plague known as redscale from spreading to the rest of the city. Watch officers said they didn't know when they'd reopen the district, but that paladins and special agents with magical immunity to the disease were conducting limited surveys of the situation in Stormhold.
More than a thousand Stormhold residents are now confined behind the barriers that the City Watch has erected at all known access points to the district. Magical observation of Stormhold this morning revealed mostly deserted streets and evidence of sporadic looting.
The redscale plague causes victims to develop scaly growths on their faces and hands, and to engage in violent, unpredictable behavior. Before the closure, the City Watch attributed seventeen homicides and more than a hundred arrests to the disease.
Sages of House Jorasco are studying redscale victims in an effort to explain the virulence of the plague. "In the last two weeks, we've made some progress. Traditional anti-disease magic is effective at least some of the time, and we're researching some specific spells that should be completely effective," said Kustobel d'Jorasco. "But since we aren't yet sure how the plague is spread, we have to be very careful when studying the victims."
D'Jorasco further stated that the plague is definitely magical in origin, and that it resists common healing spells. Furthermore, she indicated that the sages had found some evidence that the disease places a magical compulsion on its victims. "One of the most puzzling aspects of redscale is how the victims behave," she said. "They seem to experience a lot of violent urges that cause them to attack others -- even their friends and families. Curiously, however, redscale victims never attack each other -- the victims of their violent acts are always uninfected people. Thus, if you're infected but haven't developed the scales yet, the other plague victims won't attack you."
About the Author
David Noonan is a designer/developer for Wizards of the Coast. Before coming to Wizards, he was a daily newspaper reporter in Washington state. Apparently the city hall beat is good practice for an Eberron campaign.
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