Aetherblight

"Aether is sourced from the Heart of order itself. This is the reason it is so easy to work with, yet it is also the reason why sorcerers must be so very careful in their research. Aether blight must be avoided at all cost."

— Rayan DuMonde, Teacher at the Gallican Royal mage's College

Aetherblight, also called 'Order-blight' is the bane of sorcerers throughout the realms, a fate most dire for those that handle aether without the respect it deserves.

Description

Aetherblight is a disease that fundamentally stems from arcane magic. Channeling aether, the energy source of arcane magic unfiltered through a living being's body invariably causes and progresses aetherblight.
The second method of contracting and progressing the disease is by breathing in Riftstone dust. This most commonly happens to the miners that extract the crystals. Riftstone is not very reactive but it stays in the lungs forever and eventually the body starts absorbing it, causing aetherblight.

Aetherblight is most easily identifies by a graying/bluing of the skin of those afflicted by it. It is non-contagious to those that come into contact with an afflicted.
As the sickness progresses, the skin and muscles of the patient harden and discolor, becoming ever more stiff and non-pliable. This comes alongside a deadening of sensation. The muscles begin ever more to resemble rock rather than flesh and sinew. The afflicted can end up nearly entirely petrified, but they never fully lose their mobility.

The patient's mind also becomes afflicted. Their creativity becomes stifled, they become single minded, dedicated to their current project and apathetic to all else.

In the furthest stages, Riftstone crystals grow from the afflicted in small, impure clusters. The afflicted becomes completely mindless and lose their free will. They will cease moving or reacting to the outside world in any way outside of performing their last assigned task until completion, then remaining inert until disturbed.
Notably, aetherblight extends the lifespan of the afflicted in accordance with the disease's progression.

Treatment

There is no widely available cure for Aetherblight.
Aetherblight originates from the aspect of order being imposed on the mortal body, something that is foreign to it. Removing such is impossible without destroying the body. It is possible to remove afflicted areas and regrow them by means of healing magic, pure of the illness.
However the disease grows across the body, even if it may be more pronounced in some areas. As such aetherblight will inevitably accumulate in irreplaceable areas, such as the heart or brain.

Aetherblight can be kept at bay by proper spell formulation, and does not advance at all if an afflicted person avoids usage of arcane magic.
It is the sign of any aged arcane magic user to have accumulated at least some graying of the skin, and a sign failure to catch the disease in youth.