The Legacy of Monarch - Corpus Codex

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Disease is a specific abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of a living body and is not caused by immediate external injury. Diseases are commonly recognized as medical conditions associated with particular signs and symptoms. A disease may result from external factors such as pathogens or from internal dysfunctions. For example, abnormalities within the immune system can lead to many different illnesses, including forms of immunodeficiency, hypersensitivity, allergies, and autoimmune disorders.

Among all species, the term disease is often used more broadly to describe any condition that causes pain, dysfunction, suffering, social complications, or death to the affected individual, as well as related hardship for those around them. In this wider sense, it may include injuries, disabilities, disorders, syndromes, infections, isolated symptoms, abnormal behaviors, and atypical structural or functional variations, though in other contexts these may be classified separately. Diseases may affect individuals not only physically but also mentally, as living with illness can profoundly alter one’s perception of life and the world around them.

Death caused by disease is referred to as death by natural causes. There are four major categories of disease: infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, genetic diseases (including both hereditary and non-hereditary conditions), and physiological diseases. Diseases may also be classified in other ways, such as communicable and non-communicable illnesses. In more developed societies, the illnesses responsible for the greatest burden are often neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety.

The study of disease is known as pathology, including the investigation of causes and origins, referred to as etiology.

Despite their immense resilience and elemental power, dragons, like all other species, are not immune to disease. Any living creature can fall ill. Many plants, animals, toxins, and natural organisms pose dangers that even healing magic and Red Crystals cannot cure.

Curable

These are documented diseases that are generally considered common and well-studied. Some are relatively mild and frequently encountered, while others may be far more severe. However, all of them are treatable under proper conditions, though this does not mean fatalities cannot still occur.

Common Cold

The common cold is an infectious disease caused by viruses that affect the upper respiratory tract (nose and throat). Several hundred different viruses can cause the common cold. The most common symptoms include nasal congestion or a runny nose, sneezing, itchiness, and a sore throat.

The early signs of a cold are usually very noticeable: a blocked or runny nose, frequent sneezing, throat irritation, and mild soreness. Most of these symptoms are easy to recognize as soon as they appear. According to statistics from the Imperial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an average adult individual may catch a cold around two to three times per year, though some individuals may not catch a cold even once throughout an entire year.

This is generally not considered a dangerous illness and is very common in everyday life. Causes may come from ordinary situations such as getting caught in the rain or sudden exposure to unfavorable weather conditions. Treating mild cases is relatively simple: adequate rest, proper nutrition, drinking warm liquids, and avoiding iced drinks or excessively cold environments (depending on species and elemental) are usually enough. Individuals with strong immune systems may recover naturally within a few days without medication, while more severe cases often require medicine to speed up recovery.

For species capable of wielding Elements, sneezing during a cold may release small bursts or clouds of elemental energy. In some cases, their element may flicker or become unstable.

Incurable

These are diseases with no known cure. Research on treatments, medicines, and vaccines is still ongoing, but some illnesses remain impossible to cure regardless of medicine or magic.

Elemental blockage

This is a dangerous disease related to elemental deficiency. It appears suddenly and is still under ongoing research, meaning information about it remains extremely limited.

The disease most commonly appears in young individuals, though adults may also be affected. Once a person has awakened their Element, they are considered at risk of developing the illness. Unlike Aberrant or Elementless, this disease only occurs in individuals who have successfully awakened their Element completely. Rather than causing unstable power fluctuations like Aberrant, this illness prevents the victim from using their Element through their own body entirely.

Patients often describe the sensation as feeling like a fish bone is lodged in their throat. They become unable to “breathe” their Element through their nose or mouth, as if the entire elemental pathway has been completely blocked. Although they can still manipulate Elements through the surrounding environment, they can no longer use their own natural elemental breath regardless of their Mastery level.

So far, Calorath is the only Element confirmed to be affected by this disease, and it also has the highest recorded infection rate. The illness is extremely sensitive to temperature, causing the patient’s body temperature to become permanently unstable. Staying in excessively hot environments for too long may lead to overheating and death, while prolonged exposure to cold can freeze the body to death. Because of this, maintaining a stable body temperature becomes one of the greatest struggles for those affected.

Most patients constantly experience chills and require continuous warmth, often relying on hot drinks such as warm tea, heated water, or ginger honey mixtures to stabilize their condition. Cold foods and drinks such as ice water or ice cream are strictly forbidden, as they may trigger severe thermal shock.

The most common symptoms are breathing difficulties, persistent coughing, and frequent smoke choking. Smoke may uncontrollably escape from both the mouth and nose. Patients are highly vulnerable to excessive stress, while stress itself worsens the coughing fits and smoke choking. Trembling and bodily instability are also common symptoms.

Patients are advised to rest on soft, warm bedding to support digestion and maintain body temperature. Most sufferers develop severe appetite loss and become extremely selective with food due to the discomfort caused by breathing difficulties and smoke inhalation. Drinking large amounts of water may help ease some symptoms. Keeping the patient emotionally calm and comfortable can also slow the progression of the disease.

Although the illness severely weakens the body, it does not affect the immune system itself. Outside of the elemental symptoms, patients can still function almost normally. Magic and Chi are also unaffected, allowing patients to continue using them without direct interference. However, sudden smoke choking and breathing failure make combat or participation in dangerous activities extremely risky. After each episode, patients often tremble violently, lose strength, and become unable to stand steadily regardless of how physically strong they may normally be.

The disease progresses slowly but carries an extremely high mortality rate. It begins with ordinary mild coughing, followed by unstable body temperature, breathing difficulties, and the gradual weakening of the Wäi-tālity in both heat and strength. As the condition worsens, smoke begins escaping from the nose and mouth, eventually leading to severe coughing fits of smoke accompanied by suffocation.

Currently, the disease can only be suspected once a patient’s Wäi-tālity has weakened to less than half of its original strength, though even this remains uncertain. Official confirmation only occurs once the patient’s Wäi-tālity has completely extinguished, though by that point the patient is already dead.

Because recorded cases are extremely rare, research and clinical experimentation remain heavily limited. Every known patient has died within a few years after symptoms first appeared, most commonly due to overheating, smoke suffocation, physical exhaustion, prolonged stress, or poor living conditions. As a result, this disease is classified as one of the most dangerous and completely incurable illnesses known.

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