[Irene]

A violet-haired witch in eccentric clothing and shadowed features - who has suspiciously kept her identity to herself whenever asked - has been seen making the rounds in Alstalsia on her own as the situation there worsens, meeting with victims suffering various stages of the disease now that their desperation is at a high. Her assumption from the rumors about the strange sickness turned out to be true, after various rituals to try and discern its nature; what's actually killing the Zerans from the inside out is a hex-created poison, one intentionally designed to make sure their demise is slow and drawn out. Though it's impossible to tell if the nightmares and murderous insanity near the very end of it are also the work of this dark magic or something else entirely, measures can at least start being made to save lives now that word is beginning to spread among the community.

Still, it's certainly no ordinary curse, and the sorceress was quick to warn of the possibility of whoever (or whatever) is responsible changing their methods. Though she left the spotlight as quickly as she arrived, leaving the actual recovery to others after delivering the news, she promised that she would be keeping a very close eye on things as they develop...




In the meantime, a person continues to play chess by themselves. . .

"Oh. . . you finally made a move. . . I guess you had to react, didn't you? It's just that you made a little bit of a bad move. . . faster than I expected."

Alstalsia calls for Mercalans. The only people who can effectively cure the disease are either two hexers or one faithful Mercalan for [i]each victim of the disease, but. . . it's unlikely that people will trust Hexers much.

That, and none of them can cure the latter, most brutal part of the disease; the insanity.
More Zerans continue to fall.[/i]