Flaying Sickness

Flaying Sickness is a horrible, magically created disease that deteriorates the skin, leading to a long, painful death after infection. It does not affect Demons, Icyene, Mahjarrat, or Fairies, or their descendents to 1/8 of their DNA. The reason why is unknown to the public, but it is truthfully because the disease is magic based, and those creatures are too magically empowered to be affected by it.

Symptoms
Symptoms of Flaying Sickness do not show until approximately ten days after infection. Due to early symptoms being mistreated as a result of commonality, stage two symptoms are more commonly where the Disease is spotted.

Early Symptoms
These symptoms are noticeable after one or two days.
 * Slight intolerance to temperature.  Afflicted will feel a slight chill, and have a slight fever to counteract this, depending on where the infection started.
 * Sleep begins to become a harder task to accomplish, with the afflicted worrying over trivial thoughts.

First Stage
Breakdown of living skin tissue occurs. Skin will grow thinner, but not yet noticeable as it sheds dead cells as usual. The body has not yet responded.

Symptoms appear in approximately five to ten days.
 * Afflicted will feel somewhat cold, often blaming the room for having a draft.  Around hot objects, the afflicted will often check him or herself for burns, unsure of whether or not the skin is alright.
 * Small cuts will bleed longer, and take more time to heal.
 * The Afflicted will have trouble sleeping at night, earning maybe a few hours with other healthy habits.

Second Stage
To counter the breakdown of the skin, the body causes the mitosis process in living skin cells to move at a much faster rate, leading to small tumours growing at the infection site and spreading over the skin. Skin will appear slightly more red, as skin covering blood moving throughout the body slowly sheds. The afflicted themselves, unable to sleep properly, begin feeling mild paranoia.

Stage Two Symptoms appear in nine to fifteen days.
 * Minor skin irritations, such as rashes, itches, and bug bites will cause distress.
 * The afflicted will feel cold almost constantly, unless exposed to too much heat.
 * Tumours appear over the body, growing across the skin.
 * The afflicted will be unable to sleep, due to these irritations.  Moodyness and paranoia ensue from slight insanity caused as a result.

Third Stage
With the body and mind breaking, it is not uncommon for the afflicted to begin talking to themselves. A full case of Hemophilia will emerge, with the skin unable to repair itself quickly. Blood becomes a source of infection.

Stage Three symtpoms appear in twenty to twenty five days.
 * Minor cuts may prove fatal as blood continues to come out of the veins.  Infection of other diseases and bacteria may occur as a direct result of open wounds.
 * Standard paranoia emerges, with the patient not seeking treatment from others, potentially refusing food and drink they did not gather themselves.  Death by hunger and dehydration may also occur at this stage.
 * The afflicted will begin to talk to themselves, often revealing deep inner thoughts and secrets unintentionally.
 * Skin discomfort reaches a maximum, with larger flakes coming off the body.
 * Afflicted may begin to show Bi-Polar tendencies due to perceived lack of homeostasis shifting wildly.

Fourth Stage
Full breakdown of the skin occurs, leading to a painful and agonising feeling beyond belief. In their pained mindset, the afflicted will enter a suicidal state to end the pain, branching from the source of infection.

Stage Four Symptoms occur twenty-three to twenty-eight days after infection. Stage four leads to Post-Mortem state, usually within two to seven days.
 * If kept from comitting suicide, the victim will become entirely duranged, trying to break free of their binds.  Without a cure, they will be a threat to society if let free.
 * Extreme pain will cause screaming fits, potentially leading to throat tissue ripping due to weakness of the skin inside the body.  It is possible for the afflicted to drown in their own blood.
 * Dysentry may begin to occur as the stomach lining breaks down, acid potentially enterring vital areas of the body.
 * Afflicted grow violent.  Those not bound in place will begin causing chaos and discord in their areas, likely receiving retaliation from local guards.
 * If death does not result from other symptoms, the skin will be breeched entirely by the disease, with no skin cells regrowing.  Afflicted will bleed until their blood is entirely drained.

Post-Mortem
After death, the disease continues to make the body decay. Skin of the deceased will continue to decompose until muscle and body fluid are exposed, typically before proper funerals can be conducted. The entirety of the deceased's body is infectious, with fumes stemming off the body that can be inhaled to further spread infection. Cockroaches do not seem to be affected, and will eat away at the flesh as another form of infection.
 * Body remains without skin, leading to faster decomposition of corpses.
 * Infectivity in areas of death will be increased by 50% of those walking through it infected.
 * Roach populations will increase exponentially with a higher body count, especially in places where bodies were not disposed of.