A Plague in the Isles
Date: 720-721 GY
Location: Arahi and Kuaqili islands in Ishui
Outcome: Containment of the ecological problem facing Ishui, Patients inflicted are cured.
In 721, Ishui faced a problem that challenged their ecosystem. The first traces of it occurred on Hana’shima island in the Arahi archipelago. A woman named Shaomai Mizuhana had suddenly taken ill. Her family contacted Kanuwodi after Shao had failed to improve after a few days. Kanuwodi started with a routine examination. Shao claimed that since she fell ill, she had trouble breathing. Kanuwodi found a small patch of discolored skin around her neck, which was almost shimmering blue in color. Based on its location and since discoloration is a common symptom for people whose humors are out of balance, it was implicated as the cause of the Loss of Breath. However, it wasn’t a very bright color, so the physicker wasn’t entirely convinced. They decided to prescribe a small dose of a common remedy. Monitoring Shaomai’s condition over the next couple of days, she showed no improvement from the medicine, in fact, it steadily got worse. Kanuwodi suggested Shaomai be relocated to the Heartsgrove research facility on Keo’ha island, for further observation.
The second instance of Shimmer disease occurred in the nearby islands. Surrounding the Kuaqili archipelago of Ishui is a vast Coral Reef. [Fisher 1, must have Water Breathing] was casually fishing in a particularly deep portion of the reef. They snagged a West Kaiyo Angelfish. After they reeled it in, though, they noticed odd blue markings on its side. The next fish also had similar blue markings. Diving down to take a closer look, they found that large portions of the reef were covered in this unnatural sheer blue color. Small creatures were scattered, lifeless, around the reef, all with the same color. Donning gloves, the person collected some samples of the wildlife. Fearing the potential impact it could have on the ecosystem, they delivered their findings to the Heartsgrove facility as well.
The person in charge of this facility at the time was a man named Kamatari. Kamatari immediately assembled a team of experts to look into the matter. Kanuwodi, who was still monitoring their patient, led the team looking after Shaomai. [Physickers 2-4] joined them for the assessment, while [Scholars 1-5] began the research surrounding the Coral Reef.
Kanuwodi explained their original diagnosis and why they believed it to be a humoral imbalance. However, due to the lack of reaction to the medicine, combined with the fact that wildlife had similar symptoms, they conjectured the cause was something external. [Physicker 2], fearing it was contagious, examined Shao’s family members who had been in recent contact with her. Thankfully, none of them appeared infected.
[Physicker 3] questioned Shaomai’s family, trying to determine if she had been anywhere near the Reef in the last few weeks, or if her diet included seafood from that near the reef. While that wasn’t the case, they did learn Shaomai was a Jewelry maker, and often received materials from the region. [Physicker 3] went with Shao’s family back to her home, seeing if they could find any information. What they found was a collection of Red Coral all with the same blue color.
In the meantime, scholars, including Tusinami, Kuru Umi Zhīshì, Pearl, Rayyan, and [Scholar 4], began their investigation of the Coral Reef. For any who needed it, Rebreathers were provided. They had a few small specimens gathered by [Fisher 1]. They also had the shells recovered from Shao’s home. Tusinami tested the food that had been partially digested by some of the larger fish specimens, and it did appear to be infected. [Fisher 1] showed the scholars the exact location of the reef where they had been fishing. Kuru Umi Zhīshì decided to investigate the area of the Coral Reef. Animals littered the area with that same sheer blue glow, luckily the plants seemed to be unaffected.
Pearl wanted to check a larger perimeter. Swimming out into the deep, they dove down to see if the wildlife on the bottom of the sea was infected. Passing by several schools of Luminous Perch and Sun Rays, they did not see any affected wildlife. Before returning to report, a large Crimson Whale passed overhead, with streaks of sheer blue streaks along its belly.
Swimming to face the magnificent creature, Pearl tried to make reassuring sounds to calm it. They couldn’t return with it, but neither could they let it go. For nearly half an hour, they did their best to console the creature, until eventually Kuru Umi Zhīshì came looking for their teammate. Underwater, they were not able to verbally communicate, but managed to use Hand Speak to discuss the problem. Pearl wouldn’t leave the whale. They kept it isolated, dedicated to caring for it until an answer could be found.
Kuru Umi Zhīshì, fearing the worst, reported back and said they had to take drastic actions to prevent a widespread disaster. The disease had to be contained. [Fisher 1] led a team to set up a series of nets extending far past the reefs. Along the nets, Kuru Umi Zhīshì began activating Barrier glyphs that Kamatari had supplied, preventing animals from passing through, effectively quarantining them. [Any number of people] volunteered to begin a systematic search of the quarantine zone. Spreading out, they created swim lanes, going back and forth, again and again, searching for anything that didn’t fit.
[Swimmer 1] was the first to notice something off. As a Blacktip Shark quickly darted by, they noticed a blue cloud in the water around the fish, before it dispersed. They swam after the shark, but must have scared it. It sunk its teeth into [Swimmer 1]'s arm. The shark immediately released them, and swam away. The wound wasn’t serious, but being underwater wasn’t helping the situation. They had their arm bandaged, while relaying the information about the shark. Kamatari had [Swimmer 1] return to the research facility for an examination. [Physicker 4] immediately noticed the symptoms. They said [Swimmer 1] would have to remain at the facility for the time being, but getting them healthy would be their first and only mission.
[Swimmer 2] continued the search for the problem. Initially they looked for the shark that attacked their colleague, but after several hours they came up empty. Instead, they turned their attention to the clue [Swimmer 1] had given them: the blue cloud in the water. [Swimmer 2] began to look for other larger fish, seeing if there would be a similar occurrence. Observing a dolphin playing in the area, they began to follow it. At first nothing occurred, but eventually the dolphin passed through a narrow passage in the coral, and there was a small burst of blue from something in the reef. Approaching the reef slowly, there was all manner of flora and fauna. However they took their time and waited, remaining completely motionless. Fish passed by, still nothing. Then when a Lantern fish passed near the reef, an Angelfish began to swim directly at it. As the Lantern fish dashed away, a small flower sent out a small cloudburst of spores.
Taking all necessary precautions, [Swimmer 2] picked the flower from the reef, and returned it to the rest of the team. Rayyan was an expert on the plant life around the isles. They claimed that this flower wasn’t native to Ishui, and must be some invasive species. After observing the flowers for some time, Rayyan understood what was occurring. Whenever the flowers detected a quick motion from a fish or other creature, they released a burst of spores, which would be spread throughout the reef. However understanding what was occurring, and finding a solution to it, were two different things.
Everyone reconvened back at the Heartsgrove facility. Kamatari laid out the two things that had to be accomplished. First, was to prevent the spread of the flowers throughout the seas. Second, was to find a remedy for the infected people and wildlife. The Physickers took samples of the flower back to the laboratory. In order the cure the people, they believed they first had to destroy the spores infecting them. Rather than balancing the humors, they planned to use the humors to burn out the spores. This would be a risk to the the patient. By giving them large doses of medicine meant to increase the Fire humors, they would raise the patient’s temperature. If they could keep a high enough temperature for a long enough period of time, they believed they could kill the spores. [Physickers 2&3] began testing the theory by inducing high amounts of heat on the flowers, and monitoring their reaction.
Over the next few days, they continued testing, but Shaomai’s condition worsened, and they could no longer wait. Kanuwodi led the procedure with [Physicker 2&3] assisting. After giving Shaomai a strong sleeping potion, Kanuwodi gave her the medicine to raise her Fire humors. She developed a high fever, and began sweating immensely. As her body worsened, so did the spores inside her. Thanks to the testing, they knew the approximate length of time it would take. Eventually, they gave her additional medicine to rebalance the humors, cooling her body to help break the fever they induced. Shaomai remained unconscious through the next day, her family beside her. Slowly her body recovered. She regained consciousness and the sheer blue color faded from her body. After the success of the procedure, [Physicker 4] led the procedure to heal [Swimmer 1], making good on their promise to see [Swimmer 1] back to full health.
During all this time, Pearl never stopped caring for the Crimson Whale. Kamatari himself developed a method to alter the procedure so that it could destroy the spores in certain wildlife. The one stipulation was that the creature had to have a strong enough immune system to survive the procedure. Thanks to the dedication of Pearl, they were able to successfully nurse the whale back to full health.
Meanwhile, the problem with the spread of the flowers still remained. The Ishui would not use any kind of herbicide in their seas. Instead they took anyone who would volunteer, including [Any number of people], to manually remove the flowers from the reef. For months, people patrolled the quarantined area, searching for any signs of the flowers and destroying them.
However, not all of the wildlife was so lucky. Hundreds of fish, and significant portions of the polyps of the Coral Reef could not be saved. Since this time, Kamatari led the research team including all the Scholars and Physickers mentioned in this account, to try to further improve the procedure. Their hope, in the future, creatures of all shapes and sizes could survive such a thing in the future.
PC Roles
Kuru Umi Zhīshì: Mike A.
Rayyan: Destrey L.
Tusinami: Laura M.
Kanuwodi: Sean S.
Pearl: Shadow W.