Diving Sickness

Diving sickness is a sometimes fatal disease that effects divers, primarily as a result of deep dives using a diving bell. Divers using water breathing magic have generally not been reported to have suffered the effects of this disease, though those who can access such advanced magic may well simply be magically curing the disease before serious symptoms develop, as such curative magics are much more readily available.  

Symptoms

Symptoms vary wildly, but hallmark signs are joint pain and stiffness that worsen over time to siezed joints, followed by paralysis and, in some cases, eventual death. Many victims also become disoriented and incoherent in step with the progress of the disease. Curiously, their babble sounds like it should be an unknown language, such as consistent vocabulary between victims and rhythmic intonation that mirrors ordinary speech. However, everyone who has attempted to magically translate this speech has been met with failure.  

Prognosis

Without magical intervention, most who suffer from diving sickness survive, but never fully recover. Those who only experience joint pain will find that it lessens, but never fully goes away, while those who progress to paralysis do recover some mobility, but will suffer fairly intense joint pain, stiff joints, and reduced endurance.   Conversely, magical healing can easily relieve all symptoms if caught early enough. If symptoms progress to paralysis, or if healing is delayed until the body begins to naturally recover, full restoration becomes much more difficult and expensive. As such, divers suffering the illness are generally encouraged to seek magical healing at the nearest opportunity.  

Secrets

While it has not yet been discovered, diving sickness is a combination of two illnesses. The physical symptoms are primarily the result of decompression sickness, and divers using water breathing magic would not suffer from it, due to how the magic effects the body. The disorientation and incoherent speech, however, are the result of exposure to a toxin released by a handful of sea monsters that are generally avoided - most notably the immense kraken. This toxin persists in the water for some time, allowing it to spread far enough from the monster's lair that a diver will likely not notice its presence.