Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis
Mundane Disease
DC: 10
Progression
Pestilence: 0
You avoid the worst, and fight off the disease before it becomes permanent.
Effect: You are cured.
Pestilence: 1 - 2 Contagious
The disease simmers quietly within you.
Effect: No Ill Effect
Contagious: Any creature that takes an extended rest while in a small (20ft) enclosed space with the infected is exposed (1 Pestilence, Exposure DC 5)
Pestilence: 3 - 4 Contagious
You have a mild cough
Effect: No Ill effect
Contagious: Any creature that takes an extended rest while in a small (20ft) enclosed space with the infected is exposed (1 Pestilence, Exposure DC 5)
Pestilence: 5 - 6 Contagious
You have a cough and are a bit feverish.
Effect: Sickened
Contagious: Any creature that takes an extended rest while in a small (20ft) enclosed space with the infected is exposed (1 Pestilence, Exposure DC 5)
Pestilence: 7+
Tuberculosis takes a firm hold of your body and refuses to let go.
Effect: You gain the Trait Consumption Bearer. This part of the disease has run its course and you are now immune to it.
Special: This disease represents an initial contraction of Tuberculosis, which is otherwise a slow and debilitating disease. Creatures with the Consumption Bearer Trait are immune to this aspect of the disease.
"A sigh in the night, a whisper in your ear, and you feel it deep in your chest - the Wasting Whisper. It coils around your lungs, and as you cough, you can feel your life slipping away. The elders say it's the spirit of the long-gone seeking warmth. But all it leaves is cold."
——Haldor, village storyteller

Description

Tuberculosis, also known as the "Wasting Whisper," is a lingering curse that is believed to steal the very breath of life from its victims. The afflicted cough incessantly, as if trying to expel some unseen specter from their chest. Over time, the cough turns bloody, and the victim's body becomes a mere shadow of its former self, gaunt and withered. Many say that those with the Wasting Whisper are slowly being consumed by a ghostly presence that feeds on their vigor and essence. The person’s skin turns pale, their eyes sink, and a constant fatigue makes them akin to the living dead.

Tuberculosis is a long term disease. This disease entry describes an initial exposure and the possibility for the immune system to fight off the disease. Failing to fight off this initial aspect of the disease earns a creature the Consumption Bearer Trait, which represents the long term aspects of the disease.

Typical Exposure

Tuberculosis is rumored to be passed through the very air by the restless spirits of the dead. The practical observation is that the ailment seems to spread when people live in close quarters, breathing the same stagnant air. Some believe that the ghostly presence, once having consumed one soul, seeks more within the same dwelling. Others claim it is the sharing of breath, as the afflicted’s violent coughs release the ghostly essence to be inhaled by others. In some villages, homes where the Wasting Whisper has taken hold are ritually purified or abandoned.