Redstone Blight

Redstone Blight, Redstone Plaque, or simply just The Blight, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to extraordinarily high amounts of Redstone within the span of one's lifetime. The blight is often found in long-time Redstone workers or people who uses Redstone for cosmetics. The blight mainly attacks the brain, while not showing any symptoms, it can be detected easily with modern medicine and those with the blights die about 10 years faster than those without.

History

Colorized photograph of Thuna “Sǎtþāh” Cynthia Octasoia in 1857, 2 years before her resignation. Notice her glowing veins and clothes decorated with Redstone.

Redstone Blight was hypothesized to have existed for a long time, but the first mention of the blight was from the first President of the Republic of Khalasinia Thuna “Sǎtþāh” Cynthia Octasoia's resignation speech.

"I've had the opportunity to lead this great couŋtry for 33 years, but now is the time for me to step down. Our great doctors has found blights in my skull and it might infects my brain and impact my decision-making capabilities. Thus, I will be stepping down from presidency, for I am no longer the best option for someone to lead this great couŋtry. Thank you."

Early Khalasinian society relies heavily on Redstone. They used them as their power source and as a fashion accessories due to it's unique glowing effects. People put on Redstone paste on their teeth, wore Redstone contact lens, wear Redstone necklaces and put Redstone buttons on their clothes. According to her autopsy, the diagnosis at the time shows that her skull was visibly glowing a slight red tint due to the blight. A piece of anecdote commonly told about Redstone Blight goes as follow:

“One day, Madam Thuna walked through the streets and got many compliments. A girl ran up to ask her ‘How can I make your entire body glow red like yours?’, to which she told her to just choose your outfit considering how its glows would look together. When she arrived at her room, she realized that on that day, she did not wear any redstone accessories or use any redstone products.”

The story’s legitimacy cannot be confirmed. But it tells the tale of how she might’ve discovered she had Redstone Blight, and the effect Redstone Blight could have on a human body.

Effects

Redstone blights are not observed to have negative effects during the patient's lifetime. The patient lives a normal and uninterrupted life until their death at about 10 years under the life expectancy. The cause of this early deaths is still unknown.

Cure

There is currently no cure to the Redstone Blight. Patients are recommended to try to avoid Redstone, though that is often very difficult due to the Redstonized infastructure of the Modern era. Patients are often redirected to see a therapist instead of a physician in order for them to not be cured but to learn to cope with the fact that their lifespan would most likely be shorter than an average person.