Incubation: as short as 24 hours

Early symptoms resemble Crystallization, making the infection hard to identify.

Symptoms

Fatigue, fever, dizziness

Blurry vision and drooling

Loss of appetite

Muscle and joint aches

Early crystal buds near horns, wounds, jawline

Hairline bone fractures, especially in limbs

Stage 1 lasts about one week and is the only stage with even a slim chance of recovery. Most cases progress.

( A visual example will be soon uploaded! )

Defined by full contamination of blood and marrow

Stage 1 symptoms worsen, accompanied by:

New Physical Changes

Rapid growth of crystal nodes

Bones beginning to crack internally

A thick black oily secretion oozing from crystal clusters

Cannot be cauterized

Causes necrosis on contact

Magic reserves drain sharply

Mental & Behavioral Changes

Early psychosis

Paranoia

Hallucinations

Fear of something “moving inside the bones”

Once secretion starts, there is no cure.

Stage 2 lasts around one week.

Half a month after infection

Stage 3 marks catastrophic mental and physical collapse.

Mental Signs

Delirium

Violent hallucinations

Fragmented speech

Loss of self-recognition

Increasing aggression

Physical Signs

Crystal growths enveloping upper torso, skull, spine

Body steadily coated in black ooze

Muscle and flesh sloughing away

Hollow skeletal movement despite missing connective tissue

Fast, jerky, predatory behavior

Extreme hunger, shifting from flesh to magic consumption

Most contagious and dangerous stage.

( A visual example will be soon uploaded! )

The final, most horrific stage

This is the true purpose of the plague.

Appearance

Host reduced to a skeletal frame held together by ooze

Crystal masses covering skull, ribs, spine, horn points

Crystals pulse faintly with internal movement

No recognizable voice—only panicked screeching

Behavior

Wandering and hunting regardless of injury

Driven by starvation

Drawn to magic users

Extremely aggressive despite brittle form

Most hosts eventually collapse from starvation…

but not all are allowed to die.

THE BREACH — The Final Horror

When the parasite deems a host “viable,” the crystals undergo a catastrophic transformation:

The Event

Crystal masses heat internally

Dark veins spread through the growths

Crystals vibrate, pulse, and expand

Then they burn open from the inside

The host stiffens and goes silent

The Hatch

From the ruptured crystal cavities emerge infant Chryths, grown inside the host like parasitic larvae.

The host’s body:

Fractures as ribs split

Horns crack open as hollow shells

Spine crystals rupture

Black fluid floods out, carrying larval Chryths

They resemble soft miniature Cors at first—smooth, uncanny, blank—

before shedding this shape and revealing their early insectoid forms.

Newborn Chryths

Disperse immediately

Hide among Cors

Carry the plague naturally

Mature with alarming speed

After the hatch, the host collapses into a pile of empty bones, crystallized fragments, and drying black residue.

This is considered the true death of the infected.