Animescence
"Animescence is a rare disease of the Elder Continent. A slow combustion of the soul, gradually baking the vital organs. Poets suffer worse than most; lovers worst of all. The blistered monks who run the hospital will accept any assistance."[1]
Animescence is a disease endemic to the Elder Continent that sets souls aflame. Even for people raised on the Continent, this can be permanently fatal. Symptoms generally include a cripplingly high fever,[2] injury to vital organs, severely dry skin, and wayward passions,[1] culminating in spontaneous metaphysical combustion. The disease can be highly contagious if another person is caught in the explosion; in fact, the Presbyterate occasionally uses ailing animescence patients as bioweapons during times of warfare.[3]
Animescence itself can be highly dependent on one's emotional state; being emotionally vulnerable or overly optimistic can make one more susceptible to the disease.[4] Passion, in any form, can speed up the disease's progress, so patients often have to make an effort to remain as apathetic as possible.[5] Of course, for individuals such as poets and the lovestruck, being passionless is easier said than done.[6]
Treating animescence is a daunting task. Traditional medicines such as ointments, posturing, and poems only slow down the disease; they do not cure it. Rosina of the Seven Against Nidah managed to sharpen her spleen in Anthe to repress her anger, but she is still vulnerable to other passions and was once forced to immobilize herself in an ice bath to prevent her own demise.[5]
