Red Plague
This is the term given to the plots by the Circle of Purging Flame with the assistance (behind the curtain) of the Holy Hands to terrorize the major cities of the Federated Nations with the Red Death fungus in late summer/early autumn of 253 AC.
It took the form of a binary plague--spores of the Red Death were spread in the capital cities via aerosol emitters and via mixture with stored grains (and thus infecting the flour produced from them as well as animals fed the grain). These dormant spores were then activated by aetheric emitters built into street lamps and similar devices, spread throughout the FNC by suborned/duped elements of the various merchant houses, especially those of Rauviz. The intent was to kill as many people in the major cities as possible, but more importantly to spark panic and internal unrest and suspicion. A secondary intent was to disrupt the harvest, leading to mass starvation during the winter. They intentionally avoided the cities "under the protection" of major high-powered adventurers (especially Kel'al'ar and the capital of Auringon) to minimize the chances of anyone catching on and being able to stop them in time.
This plot was uncovered by the Ruin Raiders at mid-summer, which allowed some of the better-coordinated cities to avoid most of the problem. Specifically, Lyodnoir and Crisial City were almost entirely unaffected because they were able to remove the emitters and deploy aetheric countermeasures. Byss managed to escape by not having street lights--the Circle had other plans for them, but that also got disrupted by the Ruin Raiders (again, almost accidentally). Fort Hope was a special case--there, the plague was intended to hit the Palace of Nations specifically, designed to kill people sheltering there from the more direct attack planned. This was disrupted...again by the Ruin Raiders. Which makes that group the enemy #1 of the Circle and the Holy Hands combined.
Effects
The consequences of this plague are still ongoing, so this is a partial list of short-run effects.
Cities Affected
| City | Population | Death Toll | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asai'ka | 25k | 7-8k | Total collapse of functioning society. Gangs of starving folks starting to spread into countryside. |
| Byss | 18k | ~0 | Almost entirely unaffected. Very small pockets, hitting mostly non-Byssian merchant groups. |
| Crisial City | 22k | ~200 | Mostly untouched. Small pockets in the worst of the slums, hitting the criminal groups especially. |
| Fuar Uulan | 20k (including surface villages) | 2k | Almost entirely confined to the area outside the gates. Main gates shut, not accepting outsiders in at this time. |
| Fort Hope | 13k | 2k* | Unaffected by the plague itself, but was seriously attacked and about 50% burnt down. 2k dead there, 2k returned to tribes, leaving ~9k inhabitants to flee to Crisial City. Fort Hope abandoned 7 Autumn Dawning 253 AC. |
| Godsfall | 12k | 3k | Brightwater hit extremely hard. City more or less cut off from the outside world. Starvation is a significant threat. |
| Kel'al'ar | 25k | ~0 | Only confirmed case had an active case coming from Asai'ka. |
| Lyodnoir | 19k | ~50 | Almost entirely unaffected, due to countermeasures. |
| Rauviz City | 35k | 10k | Near total collapse. Rioting continues as of 10 Autumn Dawning. Starvation a serious threat, as is swarms of starving refugees. |
| Sha'slar | 9k | ~0 | Everyone forgets about Sha'slar. Even the Purging Flame. The city and zone will suffer due to the loss of trade to both north and south, however. |
| Shinevog | 10k | ~500 | Dwarves are naturally resilient and the activators didn't get much traction. They have become more isolated, however. |
| Zhapai Karmap | 9k | ~50 | Only incidental deaths. Countermeasures were deployed rapidly and circle agents had very little foothold here. |
Trade
One of the larger results of the machinations involved in the Plague was the breakdown of the Windwalker Confederacy, with the isolationist tribes gaining complete ascendancy in that region. As a result, all trade routes across the goblin territories has halted. This, combined with the collapse of the Adventurer’s Guild and the (hopefully temporary?) closing of the Portal Network, resulted in fractures in the trade network. Effectively, there are four "zones", each isolated from each other without stable/safe routes.
- The Jungle of Fangs is the most cut-off--the only real access to the rest of the FNC zone is via portal, as the Blood route from Asai'ka to Fort Hope is unusable and the northern Mountain Route is cut off by the xenophobic refusal of the Holy Kaelthian Republic to allow trade across its borders. No sea route exists around the Blood-thirst Wildlands to Byssia, although active efforts are ongoing in that regard.
- The western nations of Auringon, Byssia, and Wyrmhold are still well-integrated with each other, but their link to the east relies on a long (especially for Byssian goods), fairly dangerous (now) single route up through central Safehold and down the Dragon Road to Crisial City. Some trade can go down the river and across Lake Coy'in, but generally this has more than doubled the time and tripled the cost of shipping goods, especially bulky ones.
- The central nations of Crisial Kingdom and the Duarchy are still able to trade with the west to some degree. Godsfall (and Kotimaa in general) has essentially abandoned contact with the outside, leaving the Duarchy really just the "Kingdom of Dreamshore"...which is not very stable. And both are dealing with active infiltration from the HKR and the ongoing refugee crises.
- The Mountain nations (Uulan Confederacy, Shinevog, Zhapai Karmap, as well as the Abandoned Clans and the Tuura Adam) are almost entirely cut off. The only reliable route is via Honedaxe across the Sea of Dreams to Zhapai Karmap and then back down the mountains...and that route sucks. New routes are being planned/created across the Sea of Grass to avoid the HKR, but they're not fully developed yet.
The Federated Nations Council and the Adventurer's Guild
With the loss of Fort Hope and the death of Kalesin as well as all the ambassadors to the FNC and most of the mid-ranking and senior members of the AG's training cadre, the FNC and the AG have ceased to exist as independent, functioning organizations. The remaining Catalysts (especially Safrir Tree-friend and Vassarian Kabir) have retired into deep seclusion, and the various national hosts of the Portal Network nodes have retaken full operational control of those nodes. For the most part, those portal nodes remain fully disabled except with national-leader-level authorization due to the now-apparent risk of hostile actions using them. Crisial, Wyrmhold, Byssia, the Serpent Dominion, and the council of Dreamshore have expressed their desire to continue with the treaty relationship, but are having to re-think the organizational relationship. Godsfall has withdrawn, Asai'ka is in chaos (and Ar Salem Dolem is isolated), and Sha'slar....well...everyone forgets about them. The dwarves haven't responded as of this writing and the consensus opinion is that they will remain officially friendly, but not part of a treaty relationship anymore. On the other hand, the Crystal Spire Protocols are completely offline, and each of the signatories is franticly trying to arm, train, and organize independent military forces "for anti-bandit/anti-infiltrator purposes only, of course."
