Waire Plague

A legendary disease, considered one of the most potent magical creations in all of history, the Waire Plague is a lost spell that created a fatal, unstoppable illness in all who were exposed to it. Used to kill Kilprax Ildial, the most powerful wizard in history, and end the Draco-Elvish War, little remnant of it remains save for the records beneath the village of Waire, and the account of its sole witness and survivor.  

History's Deadliest Disease

Unlike other diseases, where some managed to overcome its symptoms and survive, the Waire Plague killed everyone who ever came in contact with it. The town of Walmil, in the Elven Forest, where it was tested was first to learn this.   Under orders from the Elven King Arazion Nerifir, the mage Elnahil Shirno ran tests in a tunnel system the Elves had carved under Walmil. These tests were various ways they hypothesized they could kill Kilprax Ildial and end the war the two species were embroiled in. Shirno was particularly driven to do this, as he had been denied entry to Kilprax's Magic College of Zephys on accounts of him being an Elf and the school being solely for aiding the study of Draconians. Desperate to prove himself, Shirno worked tirelessly for a way to surpass and kill Ildial.   Alongside his team of mages, which included the Draconian traitor Tobor Tuldad, Shirno worked to develop something that would end Ildial for good. Tuldad's records of this time are some of the only historical proof we have of what kind of tests were run, as he fled when he saw Shirno was close to a breakthrough, staying at a distance to observe but not contract what was coming.   The rest of the mages were not as lucky. Shirno created the disease in the tunnels, and while he had ways to delay its effects for himself, the others died almost instantly upon exposure. Soon, it spread to the rest of Walmil, killing the entire population of the town in an act that, according to Wood Elven mages that scouted the area afterwards, cursed the land for all future generations. Anyone who settled in Walmil would feel the weight of Elnahil Shirno's sin, bearing his curse and suffering as he made its people suffer.   Tobor Tuldad had barely escaped, managing to hide out in the Draconian Village of Evity. Unluckily for him, that was Shirno's next target. He found Tuldad, using him as a way to draw out Ildial for a challenge. While Evity was evacuated, Shirno waited for Kilprax Ildial, ready to slay the Dragon of Zephys once and for all with what little time he had left.  

To Die

The term "Waire", which is used for this disease that was otherwise called the Plague of Elnahil, and was later used as the name of Walmil when it was resettled by Draconians under Yernok Caerxan, has two meanings, each related but tied together through a misunderstanding of a quote by Kilprax Ildial.   Ildial was heard saying once, long before the plague:

"I would be curious as to where my death will be manufactured. For I know many wheres. Somewhere, anywhere, and most well-known to me is nowhere. But the place I'm killed... that will be the where to end all wheres. That is Where."

— Kilprax Ildial

This was misheard as him saying the Draconic word "Waire" which means "to die". Thus, the disease as well as the town of Walmil were given that name, Waire, as they were the location and cause of his demise.   Kilprax found Shirno alone in Evity, as the village had been evacuated and Tobor Tuldad hid away, out of range of Shirno's disease. Kilprax was overheard saying:

"I know everything there is to know about everything. I have studied for thousands of years to unlock the secrets of life, magic, and the universe itself. Gods tremble before me, the great Dragon Lords bow to my will... and yet you have been a thorn in my side. A pathetic Elf with no power but persistence. There is nothing you can do against my might. Still, you challenge me?"

— Kilprax Ildial

  Elnahil Shirno responded with only one word:

"Aye."

— Elnahil Shirno

  The two mages are said to have battled at the level one can expect for the two originators of high-level magic study in Central Elone. Kilprax Ildial's 1000 years of training under Kath the Eternal outmatched Shirno, though his spiteful climb to the top in order to oppose Ildial was nothing to scoff at. Still, Ildial had no desire to honor Shirno's effort, and so he did not use a single spell. He figured the Elf wanted to die by magic from the greatest mage in history, so he only fought by countering Shirno's magic, prolonging the fight much longer than necessary.   This was his downfall, according to the eyewitness report of Tobor Tuldad. The longer he fought, the more time the disease had to spread. Whether Shirno spread it via the infection that had already begun in his own body, or if he uttered the words for the spell, we do not know. What we do know is that it targeted Kilprax's brain, where magic originated. It targeted the source of Kilprax's immense power, something he could not protect, and shut it down first. Kilprax could still use magic, but he felt it dwindling as his life force did simultaneously. With his unlimited knowledge, Kilprax Ildial knew it was the end.   As did Elnahil Shirno, who took the time to set on a bench beside Lashmur Lake on the edge of Evity and watch the sun set. He motioned for Ildial to join him, hoping to go out together in a moment of mutual understanding. Instead, Kilprax pushed Shirno to the ground and beat him to death with his bare hands.   Following this, Ildial spent an hour investigating his own brain before concluding that there was truly no way to survive the plague. He sat down looking across Lashmur Lake, where the village of Ealla sprawled. It was housing the refugees who'd fled Evity, and there he saw the future of the Draconian people. The Grand Wizard, who had notably been bigoted against the Elven people (an attitude that had started the Draco-Elvish War that he was fighting in), is quoted by Tuldad as saying before he died:

"A spell even I don't know? Maybe you Elves... and other races are mages after all. To make an incurable disease? I wish I had 1000 more years left, to study all this. Magic... really is incredible!"

— Kilprax Ildial

 

The Disease

The Waire Plague is an illness of the mind, which targets the portal at the heart of all brains. This portal is the origin point of magic, tied with the life force of all creatures as well as their ability to create spells and all other forms of magic.   From there, the body itself begins to shut down. Little by little, the body's functions slow before coming to a complete halt. This is, at first, nearly undetectable (though Kilprax Ildial felt it happening, but that is because of his otherworldly senses and abilities). For those with little magic, this can end their lives quickly, which is why the famously weak Tobor Tuldad fled so quickly from Shirno. For those like Elnahil Shirno and Kilprax Ildial, it could take hours to spread and shut down all of their magical functions, as their mana is boundless.   Still, no cure has been discovered, though the Waire Plague likely never appeared again. Though some mysterious deaths in the region throughout history have been claimed as "victims of the Waire Plague", no official resurgence has been noted since Ildial's death, as no one but Shirno and perhaps Tobor Tuldad and King Arazion Nerifir knew how to produce the spell.   Some have attempted to replicate it. Qelbor Vammush created a spell called "Plague" in the early scramble of the Grand Wizard Struggle, using it as a way to quickly gain power. His descendant, Viaxis Vammush, tried replicating both in a spell called Magna Pestis, which created Dragon's Doom.   Both spells targeted the mana centers in the brain, as the Waire Plague did, but could not replicate the true power that Shirno tapped into. While Viaxis Vammush started the Age of Plague with his Dragon's Doom, that was because it left its victims ailing for a long time and allowed for the possibility of survival and cure (which eventually it was). If the Waire Plague had spread around the world as Dragon's Doom did, there likely would've been no survivors. How exactly Elnahil Shirno managed to create it is still unknown to this day, leaving him in consideration as one of the greatest magical minds in history, surpassed only by monumental figures like Kilprax Ildial himself, and the Waire Plague is still pondered by mages and feared by all people around the world.   If it could kill Kilprax Ildial, then no one is safe.