[Elescia -Lascaluna-] Aros Contamination

[elescia]

Last update: 2015-04-20

Overview

Also known as aros corruption or Guardians' curse, this term refers to a phenomenon where the flow of aros within certain area is heavily distorted to the point it becomes harmful to anyone and anything within the area. First sighted during the fall of Ancient Inserian civilization, occurrences of the corruption has become more frequent since, with the corruption at Lascaluna being the most notorious case to date due to the extensive damage it has caused. One thing for certain, however, is that the records of history have shown that all occurrences of aros corruption were tied with humanity one way or another, hence why the phenomenon is sometimes considered as a punishment from the Guardians by the more religious inhabitants of the planet.

History

The earliest case of aros corruption can be traced back to the final years of of Ancient Inserian era near the end of the first millenium of Stellaria Calendar, where the heat of Final War of Tastiela resulted in the deployment of mass-destruction artifacts by the warring sides to gain control over the battles. Due to the way the artifacts worked, however, the aros flow in the land of Tastiela gradually became distorted as the war dragged on, ultimately killing the majority of the land's inhabitants when an artifact called Stairway of Light went out of control and causing massive aros distortion. With the land no longer habitable, the remaining few of Inserian people were scattered across the continent of Aldasia as they tried to evacuate themselves, while the land of Tastiela was deserted for the next 290 years before the corruption finally cleared itself.

The signs of corruption appeared once again centuries after the demise of Ancient Inseria, where people started to look into magecrafts as potential tool for their advancement in many fields - battles included. With the early magecrafts based themselves on the very same artifacts those resulted in the ancient people's demise, the outcome was about as well as everyone had predicted, ranging from the desertion of Arza-Feures Federation's southeastern islands to the destruction of many villages in Kingdom of Magdella. Most notorious case to this day, however, is the corruption surrounding the region of Lascaluna following Lascaluna Disaster incident, said to be even worse than the tragedy that wiped out the ancient land not far-off in the distant past...

Effects

In normal situation, any living being in Elescia recovers their sola reserve by naturally absorbing aros from their surroundings; however, this is not the case when they come into contact with the distortion, in which the sheer irregularity of the aros flow makes it difficult for their body to adapt and absorb the aros. At best, the distortion merely prevents natural sola regeneration; however, in many cases the irregularity ends up draining a living being's sola more than it should have been, as well as causing physical ailments. It's also very likely for death to occur in corrupted areas, as shown in the aftermath of Lascaluna Disaster.

During the early stage of the affliction, an affected individual will start out feeling nauseous, as well as being unable to concentrate upon trying to use magic. As the symptoms worsen, the individual will gradually lose their senses before they finally become so ill until any attempt to purify the corruption within them becomes no longer effective. When the corruption finally hits its worst, any attempt to use magic will instantly kill the afflicted individual due to how unstable the sola flow within their body has become.

An aros corruption doesn't only affect living beings, but also magecrafts and aros-storing materials. When the power unit of a magecraft is affected by the distortion, the magecraft may end up drawing improper amount of energy than it should, thus potentially damaging the magecraft. Condensed aros crystals containing magic are generally more resistant to the corruption, but since their energy may deplete over time due to the distortion, the condensed crystals should be used as soon as possible.

Duration

When an area is affected by aros corruption, the time required for the contamination to dissipate itself depends on the area and density of said corruption. In general, it takes 5-6 years for a town affected by medium-density corruption to be habitable once again, although usage of neutralizer magecraft may help to speed up the process. Large-scale corruption, however, may take at least one century to dissipate itself even with the help of neutralizers, practically sentencing the area to its demise.

Treatment and Neutralization

To neutralize the corruption within an afflicted subject, the individual must first be carried into safety. Small-scale aros corruption will disappear on its own as the individual's body absorbs normal aros to wash away the distortion; however, in more terminal cases a large amount of condensed aros is generally required to speed up the recovery. Depending on their condition, medical treatment may also be required to heal the affected subject.

Usage of neutralizer magecraft may help to dissipate or slow down the corruption; however, depending on the density of the distortion, one must always have plenty of condensed aros reserve in hand due to how fast the pure aros will deplete itself within the distortion. In addition, neutralizer magecrafts must be replaced on regular basis due to how the distortion gradually affects the magecrafts beyond their power system.