Clockwork Plague

The Clockwork Plague was responsible for beginning of the downfall of the Stormlands. It originated from inside the Sphere and was spread throughout the Stormlands and down through Paral by the large civilization with excellent transportation and the fleeing tribes of orcs.

The Clockwork plague is contracted when a piece of brass effected by the Sphere is inserted or implanted into a living being. Consumption of brass will only rarely cause progression of the plague. The brass will slowly convert select surrounding tissue into brass. First, nearby bone will be converted into brass rods. Second, brass plates will begin to form under the skin. Third, muscle and some other soft tissues will begin to form autonomous clockwork. Once a section has been fully converted, it will usually begin to shed organic matter. Death usually occurs as a result of the decay of digestive or cardiovascular systems, though medical care can keep the patient alive until the skull is converted and the brain starves. The speed of the process increases dramatically with proximity to a Linchpin and within the White City. Barring extreme progression of the disease, distancing oneself from the Linchpins by several miles can slow the disease to the point where death by natural causes is more likely than a disease-related death. Conversion of bone often goes unnoticed, and the afflicted are typically diagnosed by the formation of plates. Progression of the disease ceases when the afflicted dies.

The disease primarily spreads to those caring for or handling the shed tissues of the afflicted, as small slivers of brass are shed into the soft tissues during conversion, and may end up embedded in skin and left unnoticed.

Though knowledge of the plague has been lost, the only known treatments during the plague were to remove the afflicted from the vicinity of the Sphere or to remove the entirety of the converted area from the victim. (Usually requiring amputation of nearby tissue.) With appropriate modification, converted areas can be safely reattached and used without risk of reinfection. This is achieved by encasing the areas interfacing with organic matter in some other metal.

The Clockwork Plague is the Planar Beast of the white planes. It's true self is a particular arrangement of brass gears that may, in extreme cases, form in the skulls of the afflicted. Any living mechanical construct that contains this arrangement of gears is a part of the plague, controlled by the same mysterious being. Afflicted typically die before the arrangement can form, but exposure to healing magic may keep the afflicted alive until the arrangement forms and their body becomes part of the beast.

The beast is halfway between mortal and angel, applying actual thought into achieving order. It also may maintain some of the goals and personality traits of the creature in which the arrangement formed, provided these are not incompatible with the general goal of increasing order.