The Plague of Dragons, also known as the Dragons' Plague, was a disease that struck Calimshan in the 9th century DR and the lands around the Inner Sea in the early 14th century DR.[1][2][3]
Symptoms[]
It caused the infected individuals' skin to scale and flake painfully, their hair to fall out, and their minds to plunge into madness.[1][2][3]
History[]
In the Year of the Sure Quarrel, 1019 DR, the disease struck Calimshan in what came to be known as the Dragons' Plague. It was centered in Calimport and Keltar, and led to the deaths about 1 in 20 people across Calimshan. It hit Calimport especially hard, where the disease's ruinous effect on folks' appearances caused them to lose social standing, thus putting them at greater risk: as much as 16% of the city died during the outbreak.[2]
In the Year of the Wandering Wyrm, 1317 DR, the disease was part of the Great Plague of the Inner Sea. It ravaged the population of the Vilhon Reach,[1][3] starting with the city of Alaghôn in Turmish.[1][4][3] The affliction was named the Plague of Dragons in the Reach for the scale-like skin and madness it caused.[1][3] Some speculated that the disease may have been caused by a surviving sample of the plagues unleased during the Rotting War[5] while others at the time accused a dragon known as the Wandering Wyrm that spread diseases as it journeyed around the Inner Sea, with the disease striking the northern coast of Chessenta, a different disease appearing in Aglarond, and a third in Impiltur, where knights sent to battle the wyrm returning as maggot-infested undead. Some attributed this to the machinations of the Red Wizards, others to the work of Talona, Mother of All Plagues.[3]
However, rather than reacting with fear and shunning, authorities and priests in the Vilhon Reach responded with calm and rational research. Clerics of different faiths all banded together to cure the disease and stop its spread, with relatively few deaths. By 1323 DR, the Plague of Dragons was virtually eradicated from Vilhon.[1][4]
Overall, the plague took the lives of many of the inhabitants of Chessenta and Unther, where it raged for one more year, until 1324 DR. The lands of Mulhorand remained mostly unaffected by the plague and Thay avoided being infected by leaving the Wizards' Reach.[3]
Appendix[]
Appearances[]
Novels & Short Stories
The Jewel of Turmish
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Jim Butler (1996). The Vilhon Reach (Dungeon Master's Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 13. ISBN 0-7869-0400-3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Steven E. Schend (October 1998). Calimport. (TSR, Inc), p. 23. ISBN 0-7869-1238-3.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 134–135. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Jim Butler (1996). The Vilhon Reach (Player's Guide). (TSR, Inc), p. 12. ISBN 0-7869-0400-3.
- ↑ Ed Greenwood, Julia Martin, Jeff Grubb (1993). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition (revised), A Grand Tour of the Realms. (TSR, Inc), p. 122. ISBN 1-5607-6617-4.