The Darkwood Plague

The Darkwood Plague was a highly infectious respiratory disease that became a global pandemic in the 2841st year of the Second Age. Originally confined to small rabbits, the plague was transmitted to human settlors in the Jarldoms of Karelen, specifically starting in the Jarldom of Darkwood. The Darkwood Plague would quickly spread across East Parthus and eventually into the outside world. Millions of humans would be infected and countless lives lost. 

The Darkwood Plague can be traced back to the establishment of farms throughout the nascent Jarldoms of Karelen. It led to an explosion in the population of the Parthus Hare, a medium-sized lagomorph indigenous to the Bay of Knives. Initially just a pest, the Parthus Hare was quickly domesticated, becoming a staple part of many rural Karelenian diets. An upper respiratory infection afflicting these domestic Parthus Hares eventually made the jump to mankind, becoming the Darkwood Plague.

The disease tore its way through much of the human population of East Parthus and eventually spread to Ciradon, though the plague did not seem to affect other races. For nearly two years the Darkwood Plague would rage before a cure was developed. A Wadelfan doctor named Camus Bydron and his team of human researchers are credited with isolating the cause of the pandemic and developing a vaccine after a year of research.