#feather rot

You may have wondered to yourself what these three sicknesses actually do to afflicted villagers! How does a Hyena get ‘feather rot’? How does a cow get ‘gill rot’?? An allergy to rocks??? It’s a bit gross, so if you’re sensitive you may not want to read this. Consider this your warning!

The feather rot of the Furvilla world is much like the feather rot of our world. It’s caused by parasitic mites that infest a host and chow down on its feathers. The difference between the two illnesses is that the mites in the Furvilla world feast on all keratin. Keratin is the stuff your hair and fingernails are made of, but did you know that it’s also the material used in feathers, scales, and animal horns? The worst cases of ‘feather rot’ actually tend to affect the reptilian villagers, as the mites can eat away at scales until they start to peel and bleed, though moth and other insect villagers are actually in the most danger of a severe infestation, as the parasites can eat a hole right through their exoskeletons. Urban legend in Quetzal Palace tells of an antelope who was chewed bald and was stripped of his horns after falling asleep on a cloud! While it’s possible for horns to be chewed off a villager if the infestation got too severe, this wouldn’t happen overnight so rest easy!

So why is it called “feather rot”, then? Mostly because most of the population of Quetzal Palace is either a feathered villager, or owns a feathered pet. Through numbers alone it’s more likely to affect feathers. On top of it, it very often affects wild birds because their nests are perfect breeding grounds for mite swarms.

Someone who knows insects may be quick to point out that insect exoskeletons are not made of keratin, but a similar material called chitin. Chitin and keratin are different in some ways but similar in others, and the mites have developed ways to digest both.

Just like feather rot, gill rot has an Earth counterpart. It is caused by a fungal infection. However, not all villagers have gills, so how do they get gill rot?

There is an object you may have seen if you’ve explored Oceandome, called ‘magical gills’. These can actually be held in the side of the mouth, and they filter oxygen directly out of the water. I may make a post on magical gills later, but for now that’s all you need to know. These gills are flawed, however, as if they’re not properly cleaned they can grow the fungus. This fungus then takes root in a villager’s mouth and lips, like a horrible canker sore mixed with a gum infection. Gill lotion is most often sold as a lotion, as gill rot most often affects gilled minipets and shark villagers, but it can also be purchased or made as a toothpaste or oral medicine. Standard procedure for local village doctors is to make a non-toxic lotion that can be applied topically, or held in the mouth and then spit out, so it can be taken in a variety of ways.

This disease cannot affect a villager using diver gear, but many divers have to resort to using a backup pair of magical gills if they run out of oxygen, or in emergencies like if their tank gets damaged. From that point they’re often more likely to catch gill rot, since divers often forget to keep their magic gills clean.

Have you ever wondered why there’s stone slabs on the back of a flying serpent? How are your villagers collecting rock, while walking on a living being? It’s because the marble slabs aren’t stone. It’s chunks of the Serpent’s mighty scales, the pink color drained from them after being chipped off and drying out. So what does this mean for marble allergy? Villagers are not actually allergic to stone- they’re having reactions to the Serpent’s dandruff. Like pollen, when the serpent has a bad shed, or even just has a dry spot, the air is filled with ‘marble’ dust and it irritates the villager’s skin and eyes. It causes sneezing and rashes, and many villagers go to enormous lengths to keep their homes as free from marble dust as possible.