A plague that broke out very recently, shortly before the campaign begins, and that has now reached Wriem; Mikhail Asimi says the party seem to be immune to it, and has sent them to Holst to find a cure (e04 01:13, e04 01:19).
Details
The Hollowing Plague spares neither god, mortal, nor metamortal, rendering the heroes of the Enclave useless against it; millions have fallen (e00 00:25). Since the outbreak, the God-Queen has gone silent; the reason isn’t stated (e00 00:25). The plague broke out in Holst (e00 00:25).
Fear of the plague, at the scale of the whole of Edyrea, was powerful enough to spawn an avatar of its own: the Hollow King (e00 00:26). This is possible because everyone on Ereboros shares a latent psionic connection, such that things believed by enough people tend to become true (e00 00:26).
The GM’s e01 recap describes the plague as tearing across the realms, with rumors from travelers and traders that millions may have fallen, rotted from the inside out (e01 00:03, e01 00:04).
People say the plague is born from fear, and that the worst thing you can do is be afraid of it (e03 01:18, e03 01:18). In Wriem, where it is something that should not be, very far from where it has been, Orrin recognizes it in a boy of about six: bags under his eyes, graying skin, unresponsive, not fully in control of himself, no longer afraid, and biting those near him (e03 01:09, e03 01:09, e03 01:18, e03 01:18, e03 01:18). As Orrin acknowledges what it is, the boy’s eyes light up and he grows more animated (e03 01:19, e03 01:19). Those around him try not to think or speak of it: a priest won’t say its name — “if I say it, it will be more real” — and calls on the party to put the child and his bitten mother down (e03 01:10, e03 01:11, e03 01:13). See e03 – Kaiju City Battle: First Responders.
As Matilda tells it
Matilda calls it a fear plague, and says the Hollow King was born from it; if word spread that it was in Wriem, it would grow powerful very fast (e04 00:14, e04 00:14, e04 00:14). No one knows how to cure it (e04 00:13). Over time the infected lose their senses and start biting and hurting people — “it’s a zombie situation” (e04 00:15, e04 00:15) — and the more stories people tell about them, the more true they become: stronger, faster, turned quicker, with more abilities and more ways to infect people (e04 00:18, e04 00:18, e04 00:18). Rumor has it that it started in Holst, a small town on the southern coast (e04 00:18, e04 00:18). The Queen’s Guard would put the infected down immediately, and probably kill everyone who knew, so that no one talks about it (e04 00:15, e04 00:15). The plague is a big problem, she says, because Edyrea doesn’t often have problems the metas can’t solve (e04 00:19). She keeps the bitten boy and his mother asleep inside bell plants at Willy’s Wards (e04 00:12, e04 00:17).
Willy says there’s no cure: the best bet is fending the infected off with distance, and even the metas, even the gods themselves, turn if they’re bitten (e04 00:34, e04 00:34). Mikhail Asimi says a zombified version of himself would be pretty bad (e04 01:14). He says the plague doesn’t seem to affect the party, who are anti-essence, and is curious why they keep their mental faculties and don’t attack every living thing near them (e04 01:14, e04 01:14, e04 01:14). Wisp, bitten in e03 – Kaiju City Battle: First Responders, showed no sign of it the next morning (e04 01:11, e04 01:12).
A doomsayer in Wriem preached that the Hollowing is “the grand correction”: the balance of Edyrea has tilted because of Gabriel Landaluce, a metamortal too strong for the world, and the deep must be filled with something heavy enough to answer for him; Gabriel is the disease, the Hollow King the fever, and more will rise until the balance is restored (e05 00:49, e05 00:49, e05 00:49, e05 00:49, e05 00:50). The Queen’s Guard dragged him away (e05 00:51).
Relationships
- The Hollow King — the avatar spawned from collective fear of the plague.
- Landaluce — has gone silent since the outbreak.
- Holst — where the plague broke out; the party is headed there (e04 01:19).
- Matilda — keeps two of its victims asleep (e04 00:12).
- Mikhail Asimi — sent the party to find a cure (e04 01:13).
- Wriem — a child with the plague appears there in e03 – Kaiju City Battle: First Responders.
Episode history
- e00 (00:25) — introduced as a very recent development, just before the campaign’s start.
- e01 (00:03) — recapped as spreading across the realms, with rumors of millions fallen.
- e03 (01:18) — a child with the plague in Wriem; said to be born from fear.
- e04 (00:14) — Matilda’s account; its victims hidden at Willy’s Wards; the party said to be immune, and sent to Holst.
- e05 (00:49) — a doomsayer calls it the grand correction for Gabriel Landaluce.