Embrace

“A dark behemoth has landed on Jidshi, opening its wide arms to gather us all in an inescapable embrace.” –anonymous Jidera shaman

The "Embrace” was the name given to a plague that killed nearly a fourth of the Jidera living on Jidshi.

History
The Embrace appeared suddenly after Jidera society had become well established and developed on Jidshi. Jidera began falling extremely ill in large numbers, and it was soon observed that once contracted, this illness would lead to death. Jidera shamans began referring to the plague as the “Embrace,” and began appealing to Indijesmi for guidance and deliverance from suffering. Many Jidera built sailing vessels and fled Jidshi for other islands in the Shimmering Seas in order to escape the Embrace.

The Embrace in total killed roughly one fourth of the Jidera population on Jidshi, and resulted in many villages being abandoned after most of their populations had fallen victim.

After some time, the Embrace eventually passed, and enough Jidera remained alive on Jidshi to begin rebuilding society. Most of the Jidera who fled Jidshi to escape the Embrace never returned.

Symptoms
As the Embrace struck the Jidera before they had the proper means to analyze it, little was known about it beyond observations of symptoms.

Once a Jidera had contracted the Embrace, a long-lasting nausea would settle in, resulting in long repeating periods of vomiting. The joints of a Jidera’s limbs would become weak, and Jidera in later stages of the Embrace would be unable to lift themselves off the ground, usually resorting to crawling. It was considered a sign of a Jidera’s eventual doom when one was seen walking and suddenly collapsing on the ground unable to rise.

Causes
It was unknown whether Jidera in particular were vulnerable to the pathogen or if it could kill members of any sentient Biosynth species. The Embrace however was believed to be similar to other diseases Biosynth species were vulnerable to, in that the Embrace pathogen was capable of bypassing the defenses of Jidera Cascatine implants.

Legacy
The Embrace had a profound effect on Jidera culture and society. It fragmented any consensus on the deity Indijesmi that might have been reached by Jidera shamans, who were all perplexed at why Indijesmi would allow such suffering upon Jidera. The Embrace had also killed enough Jidera that several villages across Jidshi were abandoned, becoming ghost towns.

Surviving Jidera who strove to rebuild Jidera society often romanticized the Embrace as the greatest challenge the Jidera people had ever encountered. It was seen by many as a triumph that the Jidera could withstand so terrible a plague, and it strengthened faith in Jidera culture and in some cases the faltering religions centered on Indijesmi.