Magicals and the Black Death
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Contents
Overview
Sweeping across Europe and Asia in the mid-1300s, the Black Death—also known as the Black Plague, Bubonic Plague, Great Mortality, and more—took the lives of millions. A third of Europe’s population perished as a result of this disease.
The Bubonic Plague spread to Europe when Kipchak Khan Janibeg catapulted plague-infected bodies into the town of Kaffa to kill his enemies. From there, Genoese ships left Kaffa and arrived in Mediterranean ports. Once there, the disease spread like wildfire to magicals and Unmagicals alike. When the Black Death appeared around the mid-1300s, it did not dwindle in its killing power, taking the lives of anyone it could.Eventually, Unmagicals discovered the cause of the disease. Fleas would pick up the bacterium Yersinia pestis (also known as Y. pestis) from infected rodents. Searching for another food source, the fleas would bite a human and pass along the bacterium, causing the disease to spread from person to person. With this knowledge, Unmagicals and magicals would begin to find a permanent cure for the deadly plague.
Treatments
In the 1300s, at the time of the Great Mortality, Unmagicals were much less knowledgeable than they are today regarding treatments for illness. Due to this, many of their remedies failed to save anyone. Most that were commonly deemed successful turned out to be sheer luck or coincidence. Only one method prolonged the victim’s survival, though it did not save anyone on its own.
One method magicals followed was using various local herbs to cover the infected individual’s body. With these leaves on, magic would be cast at the leaves to invoke a magical presence to try and lure the disease out. The specific magic that was cast is unknown, but many believe that it did not really matter.
Another frequently used method was a spin on the common Unmagical removal of blood. Some Unmagical methods, such as leeches, were used in this process. However, magicals would also store some of the infected blood in vials once it had been removed from the infected individual. With the vial of blood, magicals, most likely those of the household, would conduct processes with magic to purify the blood and remove any disease from it. The vial would rest near the infected individual to open a connection between the pure and impure blood. The hope was that the pure blood would stir the infected blood, drawing the illness into the vial and out of the victim. The spell casting would happen daily in order to re-cleanse the vial.
The commonly used method which was the most successful consisted of creating a potion. This potion was essentially a poison and was created using whatever was lying around. This brew would poison the victim and whatever rat DNA the brewer could access. After it was brewed, the victim would be made to drink the poison and let the potion take its course. Due to the magic, rat DNA, and nature of removing the illness through vomit or other methods, this was more effective than the other methods used. Despite this, it was not guaranteed, and it tended to only prolong the living span of the infected person.
Other Responses
In addition to attempting to treat the illness, magicals took a few other approaches when attempting to handle the Bubonic Plague.
Magicals who were in a better position in society started to flee when they could. Unfortunately, this was not always successful, as an infected individual could have travelled with them. Many magicals would Appareon elsewhere, travel by foot, fly, or take any method of travel they could to relocate.
Additionally, many places, including London, began enforcing laws against rats in 1348. While the magicals did not understand rats were the cause of the plague due to bacteria, they understood that those who were around rats more often seemed to be infected more frequently. While this most likely was not the case, it was enough to create a law. Until the early 1400s, it was against magical law in many places across Europe and Asia to be in possession of a rat. Any who were discovered breaking the law were found dead soon after.
Trivia
- You can attend a Medical Magic class hosted by the Academics team to learn about Magicals and the Black Death, as well as various other magical diseases and remedies.
