The Contagion is a reality-warping plague that uniquely affects supernatural beings in the Chronicles of Darkness.
Overview[]
It is difficult to pin down what the Contagion is and is not, because strains appear wildly different from one another. Its symptoms may resemble a known disease, even ones that are not normally contagious, but at other times they appear to something completely different - a meme, a cult, or a message. Different kinds of supernatural beings may be affected differently from mortals, and from each other, except when the result is strangely similar (as with the Geryo strain affecting both werewolves and Beasts). The symptoms are often metaphysical as well as physicals, affecting supernatural powers in dangerous and unpredictable ways.[1] Objects and places can also be infected.[2]
The causes of Contagion are equally hard to pin down, though different factions have their own theories. The source, or at least the main vector of transmission, appears to be the God-Machine, with outbreaks of Contagion linked to malfunctioning or damaged Infrastructure. Beyond that, there are many theories as to the nature of Contagion, each with different predictions.[3]
The different factions of Sworn and False have developed in part out of different approaches to preventing, containing, or exploiting the outbreaks. The Sworn are generally united in trying to contain it, cure it, and understand it, thought each faction prioritizes these differently and may disagree about methods. Of the False, the Crucible Initiative believes in stamping out Contagion by any means necessary, no matter the cost; the other two False factions are more concerned with exploiting it for their own ends.[4]
Known Outbreaks[]
- San Lorenzo, 1150 BCE: a colossal stone head, largely similar to others found in the area, transmitted an undecipherable message that caused fatal obsession in everyone who heard it.
- Persia, 600 BCE: the mage Vishtapa documents oddities around the Achaemenid Empire, the first researcher to use the term "contagion."
- Carthage, 146 BCE: the wife of Hasdrubal the Boetharch sacrifices herself and her children to place a curse on the Roman invaders, which becomes Contagious.
- Constantinople, 600 CE: an outbreak of the Contagion co-occurred with an outbreak of the Black Death.
- China, 1850: an outbreak of Contagion during the Taiping Rebellion affects the local Temenos, creating the Zone of Contagious Dreams.
- Chernobyl, 1986: the explosion of Reactor 4 at Chernobyl's nuclear power plant causes a local outbreak of a rapidly mutagenic Contagion. [5]
References[]
- ↑ CofD: The Contagion Chronicle, p. 94-96
- ↑ CofD: The Contagion Chronicle, p. 86-87
- ↑ CofD: The Contagion Chronicle, p. 92
- ↑ CofD: The Contagion Chronicle, p. 96-100
- ↑ CofD: The Contagion Chronicle, p. 83-92