Miscellany: The Blanket Plague
Joey and I were chatting about the Blanket Plague, since that plot idea has finally come into play with some new characters. We know the cause, but your characters don't (and we kind of want to surprise you).

I just want to clarify a few things.

The blanket plague does not kill people. It only affects magic. In some people it only affects one particular ability, or more, in others it affects all of their abilities. Those that die usually commit suicide (mostly after losing hope about the loss of their magic abilities), some die because they were using their magic to continually heal a disease and without that magic the disease overtakes them. Though the original definition included a slow decline this is only in certain cases. In some other cases only one ability is lost and there is no more decline. This is due to the nature of the plague, it's also why the plague is so confusing; there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason to how it strikes.

There is a particularly part of the population affected by the plague: criminals. Basically there is a higher incidence of the plague among criminals; no one can point to the exact cause of this, though there are no complaints about it either. The criminals affected committed a crime before the blanket plague took affect; this may be a clue. They are not the only mages affected, but they seem to be affected more.

There has not been a single case among faeries, which points to the fact that they may not be affected to it, or maybe essentially immune to it. This may be true for other non-mage races as well, but there are no definitive studies or numbers to go by.

There may be a cure that is entirely unknown, however it will only work if some magic abilities remain in the victim. This will probably be explained when more is revealed.

The Blanket Plague has only been around for the last 12 years. Before that no one had it as it did not exist.

The plague may pass from one generation to the next, though no one who has been affected by it has yet had a child. It might have something to do with how magical abilities are inherited and passed down the generations.


The original definition from the mod journal (and this mostly still holds true):
The Blanket Plague
A strange illness that has spread with alarming frequency. It masks ones abilities and slowly eats away at magic casting skills. The Fixities were under investigation for suspicion that they may have been causing it. Nothing was proven and they have since been apologized to profusely. As yet there is no cure, but the Scholars and Inventors are working at it furiously. The plague attacks in pockets (several people from the same area). Faeries are immune to its affects (and partial faeries may be as well); it is unknown why, and whether or not they may be a secret to a cure or a preventative measure.

Joey's character Elliot Waldemar was the cause of the Blanket Plague, a fixity scion. When his anti-magic was cast it would begin to slowly eat away at a mage's magic. It affected other groups of magical beings differently. Since Elliot's disappearance after the botched kidnapping of Enki Chance the incidence of new B.P. cases has stopped. No one but Elliot and possibly his sister actually know/knew he was the cause of it.

This plot has mostly played out, though it's still possible to have a character who suffers from some effects of the B.P. (if they caught it before Elliot disappeared).