User:IceFireWarden/The Blood Fury

The Blood Fury

by Percivian Montclair, Imperial Theurgeon and Direnni Retainer

A warning pamphlet that discusses a dangerous, drug-borne disease that originates from the East

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The Blood Fury (mortus iratus) is a terrifying ailment that originated in the island nations collectively referred to as Yneslea, which were held under the authority of the Great Tamrielic Empire for a time. Scholars and alchemists generally diagnose it as a parasitic/fungal disease that alleviates one's emotional state rapidly to levels no mere mortal should be able to reach, while also causing irreparable damage to the brain and heart. It is akin to a more dangerous version to the rabies (hircinous plagueis) disease normally found in wild animals, and most that find themselves afflicted with it die outside of extraordinary healing magic or literal divine intervention. It is unique amongst magicka-aligned diseases due to originating from Mundus-derived vegetation and being capable of minor mutation induced by exterior forces.

Mortus Iratus was originally discovered by the Bat Elves in the 1613th Year of the First Era going by the Tamrielic linear-reckoning, in a long-since abandoned Noraken-Dwemer ruin called Thzdarmk after explorers decided to harvest and ingest a bizarre species of plant none had ever encountered before. While the plant itself would eventually be named scartear, it was strange due to outwardly appearing to be a bright red flower constantly dripping crimson sap that in actuality had more in common with vegetation like mushrooms and moss; some believe that it might have been another of the Noraken's odd creations which may have been infected by nether-energies from Har-Guan, due to Thzdarmk's close proximity to the mythic location of Portentous Whelm.

Whatever the case may be, Scartear proved to be extremely poisonous to the Echmer and the Echmer only, leading to death from even the smallest doses in around six to eight hours. But during the first third of those hours, the consumer experienced a rapid change in intellect in those hours. In around five minutes after consumption, they would gradually become more and more depressed. In ten more minutes that depression would escalate from quiet dejection to manic, extroverted cries and pleas for help while bright red rashes and bumps began to become noticeable on the skin. And then finally, in another five minutes, the consumer's eyes would become blotted by their own blood (and even cry crimson tears!) as their depression gave away to mindless, adrenaline-boosted rage unlike any seen before (hence the name "blood fury").

Once in that state of mind, those that were inflicted by mortus iratus became close to impossible to control. Depending on the health and physique of the specimen, as early researchers noted, the diseased became uninhibited to the body's natural need to preserve itself for around thirty minutes to an hour and a half while also gaining unnatural boosts to their strength, speed, endurance, and perception that no regular flight or fight response would permit. Shortly after this time frame concludes―due to a combination of acquired but ignored injuries and scartear's natural detrimental effects on the body―the specimen's skin and organs will start to undergo acute failure that results in a slow, agonizing death from necrosis and internal bleeding.

Rightly, the Echmeri Gerentate (and its governmental successor, the Yneslean Directorate) implemented several laws outlawing scartear and making its distribution a punishable offense under law; but unfortunately, several organizations and individuals would still manage to get their hands on the plant and grow it in private for profit. It became a major "narcotic" for suicidal bat elven troops and sentries during wars, as a last-ditch effort to cause terror and mayhem on the battlefield (even Uriel Septim V, during the years he attempted to conquer Yneslea in the infamous Yuarial Crusades, admitted to finding the Blood Fury a highly disturbing tactic that he wished to never encounter ever again).

Unfortunately, however, it was after Yneslea's annexation into the Third Empire of Men that the Blood Fury became nonexclusive to the Echmeri populace. A rogue alchemist and infamous drug smuggler by the name of Phantom Gjord found a way to make a hybrid of scartear and nirnroot that he came to call nirnscar, using forbidden and dark magics. This new plant carried an even more aggressive variant of the mortus iratus contagion, and one that any race could be infected by upon consumption to boot. The only (somewhat) positive caveats to making drugs, potions, or drinks out of nirnscar was that it had a higher survivability rate in comparison to similar substances made from scartear, and that it wasn't as deadly to the Bat Elves as its progenitor was, which caused it to become a quick new favorite in the underground crime rings hidden out in the Padomaic Ocean.

While Phantom Gjord was eventually detained and executed in 3E 430 (six years after he created the nirnscar plant), his negative contribution to civilized society continues to wreak havoc. The Blood Fury is not something to take lightly or to meddle with, as it is a disease and state of being that seems to return the self to a state of raw, primordial anger and derangement before ending your life in the cruelest way possible. If you ever find yourself encountering someone inflicted with mortus iratus, a nirnscar-derived drug, or the plant itself, please report it to your local guard garrison immediately.