The Situation
A currently unknown ailment has been reported in the Valley. Characters who come in contact with afflicted individuals may become infected themselves.

How it Works
I will be monitoring threads with infected individuals, and any characters they interact with have the potential of becoming infected (whether or not they are infected, and to what degree, will be decided upon using a number randomizer). If your character becomes infected, I will let you know with a response to your current thread. With the exception of a few species, all characters will have the potential of becoming infected, depending on who they interact with, and where they go.
If you do NOT want your character involved in this event, please let me know on the updates board.

What to Expect
The infection will take time to progress with your character after they have been infected. Every two weeks, I'll provide an update on this page to let everyone know how their symptoms are progressing with affected characters. (You can play out the time line at your own pace however - just note that for every week or two in-game time that your character goes through, their symptoms will get worse).
Once your character has been infected, they will remain infected until they are cured. The only way to be cured is for humans to figure out what the sickness is and how to treat it, or for the animals to come across a potential, natural cure somewhere in the Valley. I will be monitoring the threads and will let characters know if they have stumbled across the cure or not.... so happy hunting, and do some exploring ;)
In the event that your characters, particularly the wild ones, remain sick as winter sets in, they will face greater hardships than if they were healthy. For severely infected characters, survival will be a major challenge if this occurs. I'm not going to force anyone's character to die as a result of course, but please be aware that there will be serious consequences for sick characters.

The Symptoms & Severity
If your character has been infected, you can use this list to determine how their symptoms progress. Each 'week' applies to game time, not real time, so you can progress each character's symptoms at your own pace.

Week One

  • High Immunity - You will start to notice some itching at random places across your body... the itch isn't terribly bad though, and you don't notice any rash or other symptoms. Just a bit of itching.
  • Fairly Good Immunity - You will start to notice some itching at random places across your body, and it may be hard to satiate the itch at times. You don't notice any other symptoms though, aside from some redness of the skin if you scratch it excessively.
  • Average Immunity - You will start to notice itching at random places across your body that is not easily relieved by scratching at it. The intensity of the itching sensation can led to skin infections from excessive scratching. Aside from this, you may notice some flaky skin and rashes developing.
  • Less-than-Average Immunity - You will start to notice itching at random places across your body that is not easily relieved by scratching at it. The intensity of the itching sensation can led to skin infections from excessive scratching. Aside from this, you may notice some flaky skin and rashes developing.
  • Poor Immunity - You will start to notice itching at random places across your body that is not easily relieved by scratching at it. The intensity of the itching sensation can led to skin infections from excessive scratching. Aside from this, you may notice some flaky skin and rashes developing.
  • Very Weak Immunity - You will start to notice itching at random places across your body that is not easily relieved by scratching at it. The intensity of the itching sensation can led to skin infections from excessive scratching. Aside from this, you may notice some flaky skin and rashes developing.
  • Little to No Immunity - You will start to notice itching at random places across your body that is not easily relieved by scratching at it. The intensity of the itching sensation can led to skin infections from excessive scratching. Aside from this, you may notice some flaky skin and rashes developing.

    Week Two

  • High Immunity - Unknown.
  • Fairly Good Immunity - Unknown.
  • Average Immunity - Unknown.
  • Less-than-Average Immunity - Unknown.
  • Poor Immunity - Unknown.
  • Very Weak Immunity - Unknown.
  • Little to No Immunity - Unknown.