Ronone

"The Damnation" in Taurish. The ronone is the disease the gives the Plagued Islands their name, known as the Black Creep to most sailors. One contracts the ronone by staying too long in the Islands- as little as two weeks. The first symptoms begin to appear after about a week without shaden- the nether-filled snails so particular to the Islands- or treatment with the ether. Two weeks without and the ronone is fatal. The first signs of the ronone are dark specks suspended in the gut, visible to a nether- or ethermancer's sight. They can't be affected at all by the nether. As the week progresses, red streaks begin to appear on the body, eventually darkening to a black remarkably similar to netherburn. The streaks are accompanied by the smell of burned cinnamon and a gradually increasing dull pain, exhaustion, and physical weakness. In the last few days, there's a sleep that can't be broken with a few last minutes of clarity upon waking before the black streaks expand and claim your life. Even with shaden or ethereal treatment, the ronone leaves a lingering weariness that is nearly unnoticeable, particularly if it's something you've grown up with. Its absence is immediately apparent when the ronone is lifted. This can only be accomplished by the fruit of the Star Tree, knowledge which was nearly entirely lost in the Islands until the events of The Red Sea.