The Ebonblood Plague

Overview
The 'Ebonblood' plague, also known as 'Blackrot' is a disease of unknown origin that caused a great amount of war and strife in human lands prior to the Sundering. It appears to be waterborne in nature though could reasonably also spread through intimate contact with carriers of the disease. Its name is derived from the victim's blood turning black and sludge-like during the final stages of the infection, prior to death. After death victims of the disease lie dormant for a time, though the rot will begin to coagulate in their heart and cause it to "beat". Eventually this will spread and cause the victim to turn into an undead.

Symptoms
Blackening of nail-beds in fingers and toes

Blackening of veins in the eye

Coughing of small amounts of blackened blood

Blackened splotches spreading on the victim's skin, accompanied by loss of hair and nails

Complete blackening of victims skin and organs

Fatal organ shutdown

History
The currently only known breakout of Ebonblood occurred in The Northern Sanction, in parts of the countryside that was later lost to the sundering. The breakout itself happened several hundred prior to the sundering itself. During its outbreak people initially believed it to be a serious, but ultimately "simple" plague. This shifted drastically when it was discovered that victims would revive from their graves after a certain amount of time had passed. By that point the death-toll was already in the thousands. By the time a military response could be mounted vast strokes of land were already lost to the undead, and refugees from the areas had scattered to nearby cities.. carrying the disease with them.

When no cure to the disease was found the authorities of the time were forced to enact first a widespread quarantine and ultimately resort to widespread, ruthless purges of all potential infected as well as the undead. This naturally caused an uprising from the survivors trapped in the quarantined areas, all while the undead were still growing in numbers and ferocity. This eventually came to be known as the Ebonblood Wars. While scholars have long discussed the necessity of the purges, they were successful in containing and quelling the spread of the plague.

Few records of the time remain, as most scholars dealing with the plague by means other than hear-say were considered to be at risk of being infected, and subsequently burned along with their research.

Lore
An excerpt from one of the few journals remaining from the time of the Ebonblood plague.

(Previous parts of the script are faded beyond recognition)

"..but perhaps the most terrifying aspect of Blackrot, or 'Ebonblood' as scholars have begun to call it, is that to this day no origin or cure for the disease has been found. While it is true that a hardy individual may be able to resist it during its onset, once the infection takes hold nothing short of a divine miracle seems to be able to reverse or even stop its spread throughout the host's body.

''Moreover; the magical nature of this particular infection presents a conundrum of its own. Whilst logic might dictate that it implies an artificial origin, from what few samples remained not even the greatest minds of our time were able to find any signs of artifice or tampering. It appears to be entirely natural, thought its effects are anything but.''

''One such unnatural effect is particularly harrowing. At first during the outbreak it was discovered that some few appeared impervious to the effects of the diseases. These individuals came to be known as 'Palebloods'. They would fall sick and come within and an inch of death.. and then recover. A miracle we though... how wrong we were. As the years carried on these 'Palebloods' began to change. An aversion to sunlight was but the first sign, and soon a thirst set in.. one that could not be quenched but by blood. "Vampirism" we have dubbed this new cursed disease."''

(The journal abruptly ends here, its final pages sprinkled with blood)