Bileskin Sickness

Bileskin Sickness is a condition thought to result from eating ill-prepared or ill-preserved food such as 'Thick Milk.'   Characterised primarily by a yellowy hue of the skin (jaundice), Bileskin Sickness is an easily treatable condition that can even prove fatal if left untreated.  

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Symptoms

 

"A yellowing of the complexion and whites of the eyes is most typical in cases of Bileskin Sickness.   Though the afflicted may express other worrisome signs such as fever, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, and in more serious cases a blistering of the skin, the jitters and a shortness of breath, which can lead to certain death due to tardy treatment or if left to fester."

Jaska Ochrin, Low Town Physickar

 

Historical Context

  The first case of Bileskin Sickness was recorded in the Duchy of Tarryn1021 A.E. during the Age of Unbearable Sorrow. The famine caused by the Long Drought brought death to Revaelor on a scale not seen since the First Great Elvaran War.   The emergence of Bileskin Sickness' broadly reflected declining living standards during that time, and charitable poorhouses funded by local churches and temples began to pop up in the Southend.   Emergency rations such as dried Wyrmscale and watered down Narragula Syrup were given out from Leech-Houses, churches and temples to help ease the suffering of the starving masses.  

Treatment

  After the first several cases had emerged, an early theory developed claiming the sickness was caused an imbalance of yellow bile in the body. A mix of Leechcraft and Purging Tonic was recorded to have positive effects in the afflicted, but only when the treatment was given early enough.   It wasn't until news spread from the Leech-Houses to the circles of more qualified city Physickers, that it was noted that the condition seemed confined to the poorer districts of the city. Soon an important link was made between those with yellowing skin and consumers of emergency rations.  

"I have a firm and sinking suspicion that something contained within the basic rations distributed by houses of destitution in the Southend is toxic to the physical body... In which case, my professional recommendation would be to continue with leechcraft and purging as a form of temporary treatment. until such a time a more effective cure can be found"  

PhysickerJaska Ochrin in a letter to the Wallows Leech-House dated 30th day of Mara 1017 A.E.)

  Over the years, many herbariums, apothecaries and alchemists have claimed to have the cure for the sickness, earning decent coin for peddling misconceptions about the condition to the middle and upper classes.   Today, Bileskin Sickness is specifically associated with eating too much 'Thick Milk', and other such foodstuffs derived from driedWyrmscale—a much cheaper alternative to oats.   Bileskin Sickness is still primarily a poor man's condition, and sufferers are often looked down upon as the cause of their own misery.   As a consequence, no real effort has been made by qualified medical professionals to find a gentler cure than the original treatment.