Cascade Illness

Cascade Illness, vernacularly known as "shattering", is a supernatural medical condition in which a spirit entity is gradually divided into semi-dependent, dysfunctional fragments over the course of a few decades. Although only common among elderly spirits (>10,000 years old), disruptions on the astral plane could significantly increase the frequency of the illness. Most famously, at the Siege of Cornaperal, the weaponry used is believed to have induced the illness in thousands.

Symptoms

The illness begins with the spirit's aura pulsing at a steadily increasing rate and magnitude. The alignment and integrity of the spirit becomes unstable, until the spirit splits at the peak of one of the pulses. The process then repeats for the new entities, creating a "cascade" of disorderly dividing.

Each split divides the spirit's mental and magical components into separate fragments in a seemingly random manner. For example, a fragment may retain an ability to decipher written language, while the other fragments struggle to understand basic grammar. Memories and magical abilities are often split in a similar fashion.

Initially, the fragments are able to communicate via a shared stream of consciousness, but as the number of fragments grows, the increased complexity of coordination critically degrades the spirit's flow of thought. Eventually, the mind is dissolved into noise, and the aura is dissipated into the astral plane.

Causes

Studies conducted across ancient communities found a correlation between Cascade Illness and exposure to "background noise" on the astral plane - hence, older spirits are affected the most. In particular, the studies suggest that the illness is caused by interference from specific astral frequencies, amplified by mystic crises such as the Great Rupture and Gallowtide events.

Treatments

Attempts to prevent, mitigate, or cure the illness have been unsuccessful. The long-standing effects of the Great Rupture are practically unavoidable, and any magical countermeasure usually worsens the illness with its own astral frequencies.

However, there have been three recently recorded cases where the illness stopped without external influence. The partial cascading leaves the spirits in a confused limbo between stability and insanity. Recent efforts to find treatments have focused on reproducing these cases.

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Tam Everal (edited by Ansoni)