Lexicon/AllColorFever

All-Color Fever, The

As indited by Haruspex, the Immortal Archivist:

One of the most infamous and allegorical developments of the Oblation Period, the All-Color Fever would strike only poets and artisans in the season of Wood. Unless caught during the initial days of the infection, it was curable only by form-reshaping Charms and Sorceries, as the artisan's internal physiology was irrevocably changed into an Essence- and Glamour-driven system that would burn itself out in short order. Mentally, the sufferer felt a panic-driven, urgent draw to the Southeast, to the Resonance Stone at the heart of the Bitter Flower Empire; its urgency was such that sufferers would steal and murder if their expediency southeast would be thusly improved.

If their condition was not stabilized personally by one of the Dual Queens of the Empire within a few months of infection, the disease would reach its terminal stage rapidly. Once stabilized, the sense of panic would abate, replaced by an equally urgent creative drive. Sequestered in the capital palace, sufferers were used to create the tens-of-thousands of art pieces that would be sacrificed to the Unconquered Sun over Calibration in an attempt to win his favor in the coming year.

Sufferers of the All-Color Fever, even once stabilized, would appear distant in all capacities save the artistic, which might increase tenfold, allowing them to create works that could rival even those of young Exalted artisans. Sufferers dissected by Deliberative scientists contained no organs, but instead pigment of countless, beautiful hues (for which the malady was named), which, infused with Essence, served the same purpose as their organic systems, and allowed them to continue functioning for a time. The disease itself was the product of the Queens of the rebel Empire, the vain and beautiful Twilight Caste Seven Hymns Princess (one of the most infamous figures of Oblation Period and the senseless sacrifice that came with it) and her physical twin, the exotic but alluring Fae known as Sep.

Sufferers' artistic urges grew over time, allowing them to produce more and more beautiful works, until the point where no other need could take precedence. Upon their death, whether from starvation, exhaustion, or simple failure of their alien internal system, sufferers would have a short moment of clarity, often cursing their captors and damning the Celestines before dissolving into a mass of the pigment described above.

See Also:

• Bitter Flower Empire, The
• Oblation Period
• Other A Entries

~Jabberwocky

Comments

Hey Jabberwocky,
Is "Calenbration" a typo, or did you do it on purpose -- creating something new?
~ Shataina

Huh. I didn't have my books handy, and was relying on a third-party source for spelling. I hadn't really acknowledged that the spelling was the same as 'the act of calibrating' calibration, though I suspect I've got it now. Thanks for your... compulsive spelling-checking capabilities, I guess. _Jabberwocky

<blush> Sorry if I offended you.
I guess I am pretty compulsive.
~ Shataina

I wonder what, if any, strange results might be had from using the pigment these artists became in a work of art? -Okensha thinking idle thoughts as insomnia takes hold

I think it would be awesome if inhaling the vapours of those pigments spread the disease further ... wow, what an interesting question. It would make an excellent topic of exploration for another Lexicon entry ... <grinning sledgehammer hinting>
~ Shataina

Granted, given the turnover of artists showing up at the capitol and manufacturing work after work of art, maybe they just use the pigments in those. *shrug* Fear not, I am working my way through the Lexicon to see if I think I could contribute to it. (Although it's probably worth noting that the more I'm pushed to do soemthing, the less I want to do it. t's why I wait too long to see the doctor and such. Might want to hide that sledgehammer where I can't see it.) -Okensha, who's working on a Nexus entry at the moment

<shrug> well, if you take encouragement so badly, I'll be glad to put it away.
~ Shataina