Cause
Ingredients
The primary ingredients that Martell used most recently were Tazieu river eel scales, ground Segobrian olive pits, dried mugwort leaves, and resin of the myrrh shrub. Some of these ingredients are also common in religious rituals intended to soothe or heal, but such preparations work far better when the ingredients are from nearby rather than far away.
Process
Martell ground some ingredients together, distilled the resulting powder, mixed the distillate with the remaining ingredients, and spread it upon a copper dish over smoldering coals of rum-soaked alder twigs to dry.
Timing (NPC)
Hailie Sarkis leaned on one of Celidonio Martell's workbenches while they were discussing some of the more obscure theories of their professions. The conversation paused for an uncomfortable moment as Sarkis experienced a terribly violent and prolonged sneezing fit, powerful enough to jolt the workbenches and rattle a few bottles and jars. Some of the preparation Martell was working on jostled about and spilled. He was able to salvage most of it.
Catalyst
Horse merulius is a fey-touched fungus known for its particularly volatile and mostly harmless spores, but extreme unpredictability in the presence of heat. The thermal conditions at the time of the accident explain why it’s neither brilliant summer blue nor winter crimson. Martell’s inappropriate placement of a critical substance was an accident waiting to happen, and happen it did. Martell takes little solace in the fact that this would make a great academic treatise, if only he could recreate the precise conditions!
Latching onto the Weave
Whoever crafted the infectious agent took a series of concrete and logical steps in a precise order, much like a ritual, to form the connection between the infectious agent and the Weave. The Weave is such that ritual-like behaviors can affect it, even without knowledge or intent. This also suggests that those who perform magical rituals can play a significant part in treating the disease.
Spreading along the Weave
On one of Sarkis’ workbenches there is an open wooden box containing several glass bottles, containing powders of various grinds, liquids of varying viscosity, and even multi-colored smoke. All of the bottles’ stoppers are resting on the workbench next to the box, and one of the bottles containing lavender-colored smoke seems to be losing its contents steadily.
These substances are used for crafting magical dusts, powders, and other such substances that spread easily through the air.
Jumping off the Weave
The agent must have some sort of magical sympathy with the people it infects. With just enough similarity – perhaps animal-to- animal is similar enough – the agent can be drawn off of the Weave and into a living body.
Curing
Healing Intent
Writing a prayer is a classic and effective way to bind healing energies into material form for later release.
The Mindful Scribe
The person who writes the prayer does not need to be particularly devout or observant, and they do not need to follow any particular deity. They must be sincere in their intent, and they must not rush the work. They must be fully present and fully focused on the task at hand, and they must believe that the words they are committing to paper will bring about the healing they wish to see in the world. The person who reads the prayer as part of the healing ritual must bring a similar state of mind to the prayer’s scribe, and they must speak or sing the prayer aloud so that others may clearly hear it.
Appropriate Liturgy
The Keepers of the Hearth recommend a particular prayer inspired by the text of the parable A Child Without Shame, found in the twentieth chapter of The Testament of Innocence, the second book in Qhetia's foundational scripture The Harmony Codex.
Crafting
An ink made of some of the same reagents as Martell’s original preparation would produce the greatest mystical resonance with the disease. In addition to a traditional base for blue ink, the crafter should incorporate Tazieu river eel bile, ground Segobrian peach stones, fresh mugwort leaves, alder sap, and the downiest bits of a goose feather. All of these ingredients can be found within or near the village.
Delivery
Freshly-created ashes from a ritual burning would be a convenient method for ensuring that the Weave draws the contagion off of a person. The ashes would be most effective if they fall upon the belly of the afflicted.