Well now, quite the ruckus. I suppose I'll give the world my two cents. Better late than never, right?

To Asmodron and Nezaya,
This petty arguing is pointless, and quite frankly disgusting. We want the same things. We discussed it, and we agreed. We agreed, and yet you took what we provided and sequestered your knowledge, instead providing half-truths I wasted time on. Surely you, of all people, understand the value placed upon time.

Annase and have I slogged through years scrutinizing this disease in the time we're not seeing to our primary responsibilities. When we met with Nezaya, it was under the pretense of mutual aid. I assumed she was well-versed in the history of this disease, considering her claims to have been researching it. It's somewhat difficult to parse for two people with significant constraints on resources and time. Therefore, I found it astounding that a Regent of Hashan couldn't stick to honest facts- or at least tell us what your statements were theories or assumptions!

Yes, I slapped a prostitute in Hashan some odd years ago. I'm not proud of it, but you can draw the conclusions you'd like to about me. I do, however, ponder the relevance. I ponder its relevance just as I ponder the relevance of personal relationships to this. To imply Annase nor I are so weak as to allow emotions to bias this work unreasonably, yet take OUR information and spit it back out... Well, I find that speaks for itself.

Despite the headache, I do sincerely hope you have some luck in this. Annase and I simply do not have the resources you do. It seems we just have higher standards for information.



To the rest of you lovely Achaeans,

While Annase knows most about burdock's history, I know most about the people and the disease. This Xorani disease and its peculiarities lie in its HISTORY. Since so much of the history here has been displayed in a disjointed manner, I'll summarize, in order.

A BRIEF RECITATION OF XORANI ORIGINS

- A few thousand years ago, Elara (one of the Offspring) began experimenting with methods of reaching across space- portalling. As she opened one, a scaled hand reached out and grabbed her. She disappeared for years, until her journal was found. The first entry is dated the 14th of Scarlatan, year 314 of the Calliston calendar. The last? Roughly twenty-one months later.

- This journal was the only thing she kept during her years of brutal captivity under the Ormyrr. No clothes. No food, for the first long while. No light. No water. No writing utensils. She clawed sores across herself and wrote in her own blood.

- Eventually, the Ormyrr sought 'use' of Elara. She fell pregnant. Noticing this, they gave her sparse meals of raw meat. She would carry her young to term, despite her condition. Six of them; small, scaled, and blind. She had planned to kill them. She did not. She grew to love them, in the 12 months they had by her side.

- The Ormyrr take Sinlana, Ashti, Ledon, Crensa, Onolor, and Gema from Elara, beating her to unconsciousness in the process. They stopped bringing her food and water. Later, she would cough blood. It was down to dehydration and her internal injuries. She was dying, and she knew it. She hadn't the strength even to take her own life. She died slowly, painfully. She died alone.

The full details are much grislier. Consider before reading the original.

END ORIGINS
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A NOTE TO THE NEWLY-INFORMED
For those of you who find yourselves learning this for the first time, please take a moment to read the original article. SEARCHNEWS EVENTS XORAN should show you the most important bits. Article 386, Origin of the Xoran, covers the above, and some more.

For my fellow Xorani especially, if you have yet to learn your history, you will find
both pain and comfort in Elara's final entries. At the very least, should you seek
inspiration, you will find it.

Be proud of your heritage. She was strong. So are you.
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So, why do I bring Elara up? Well, you'll see a few similarities between Elara's imprisonment and the Itch, as I like to call it. So, let's go to the most reliable instances of the Itch: Those in her journal.

Some broken Achaean from a Xoran Brood relays captivity under the Ormyrr, an untrustworthy 'dusk God', and genocide of half the Xorani at the hands of both. Not enough? Well, have a plague;

"No appetite do I have. Ash is my food and my battlesmell is broken.
I am sick. Scales of mine fall off and I am tired so much. Many others died have. Elara save this Broodself and Broodfellows."
- Broodwarrior An'irith, 3704 AD

THE ORACLE AND THE DISEASE
Referenced EVENTS NEWS 383, DEATH AND DEMISE.

- Screaming and crying, she clawed her arms and throat bloody. She was having a vision, sharing in the horrid experiences of scaled kin elsewhere in the world. Urandesea, the Oracle's Guardian soothed her enough for speech- the words "Death, and demise" followed clues as to the whereabouts of the suffering: The Vents of Hthrak

- Urandesea then brought the Oracle to mainland Sapience, where they would meet Sheetaa and Solfege Ashaela, jesters with CIJ. These two guided the party of Xorani to Cyrene, where Sir Verrucht Dawn, its then-Imperiate, guided them to (and through) Hthrak.

- In Hthrak, the newly swollen party of 13 would find the corpses of several Xorani. As Annase stated; male, female, elders, and youth. Covered in wounds- before or after Death's claim, who knows. One notably exhibited frostbite despite the sweltering heat of Hthrak. All of them wore collars of purplish metal unlike anything seen before. Three were retrieved before the bodies were cremated.

- Those who had come in contact with the corpses in Hthrak now carried the disease. Dannyl contracted the disease in Cyrene, carrying it with him to Shallam; from there, raiding Ashtani spread it to Ashtan. Twil and Katia saw its presence to Hashan and Mhaldor.

- In direct quotation; "Many harbour the illness, experiencing no symptoms, but several xoran have already reported deadened senses and itching upon their skin." As a collar arrived in Prin, so too did the disease.
END SUMMARY

Stay curious, stay informed, and most of all, stay determined!

~ Farstrider Treischt

Penned by my hand on the 25th of Aeguary, in the year 937 AF.