Sphinx Pox (5e Disease)
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Sphinx Pox[edit]
Contracting Sphinx pox[edit]
Sphinxpox is usually contracted from those who already have it, but some enchanted springs can trigger this disease as well. No one knows where it came from originally, but some suspect that it was a curse upon humans who desecrated a shrine of the god of cats.
Effects[edit]
Stage 0: You begin to grow little red itchy spots all over your skin, similar to chicken pox. Any humanoid not immune that comes within 10 ft of you must roll a DC14 con save or contract Sphinxpox, witch starts at stage 0 1d4 days later. 1d4 x 3 days after activation, you progress to stage 1.
Stage 1: The itchy red spots fade away. You can no longer spread the disease. Over about 8 hours, you suffer a horrible pain in your fingers and toes, as your nails grow into retractable black claws. Your unarmed strike now has 1d4+str slashing instead of the usual damage. every time you use this claw attack, it counts as 20 minutes toward the next stage. Also, due to your claws, you have a climbing speed of 20ft. After 12 more hours, you progress to stage 2.
Stage 2 All of your hair falls out. Over the course of the next 12 hours you grow tawny fur coating your entire body, except for the palms of your hands and the soles of your feet. Your face begins to ache as your teeth sharpen a bit and your face bulges out into one like a cat's. Your ears tingle and then move up your head a bit and become slightly pointed (if they weren't already). 2 days later, you progress to stage 3.
Stage 3 Your pupils shape into up-and-down slits. You get a bit shorter and thinner. your weight and height are both now 0.95x. you gain +10 ft of darkvision and +1 str and dex. Your feet and hands tingle as your palms and soles toughen into pads. A stabbing pin then manifests in your tailbone. Over about an hour, your tailbone and surrounding flesh grow out into a 3 ft long cat's tail. Your digestive and reproductive systems reconfigure painfully. For all intents and purposes, you are now a Tabaxi. 5 days later, you progress to stage 4.
Stage 4 The muscles around your shoulders begin to strengthen much more, and your bones begin to strengthen and lighten. After about an hour of this, you increase in size greatly. Your weight is now 1.7x and your height is 1.5x. A stabbing pain then manifests in your tailbone. Now, your shoulder blades and surrounding flesh seem to ripple and start stretching away from your back, growing feathers as they do so. This does not hurt, but feels very odd and uncomfortable. It takes about 2 hours to complete. Once this process has finished, you have two large, feathery eagle wings extending from your shoulders. You gain a flying speed equal to you walking speed times 2/3. If you are male, the fur around your face grows a lot longer than the rest of your fur, giving you a mane not unlike a lion's. 1 week later, you progress to stage 5.
stage 5 Over the next hour, your tail grows a tuft at the end, and you grow tail feathers above your cat's tail. Then, your legs and arms begin to thicken, and your neck does too, but less. After about 2 hours, your legs and arms have roughly doubled in width and your neck has gotten about an inch wider. Now, your feet and toes begin to contract into paws. This takes about 30 minutes. When this painful process is over, your feet are 0.6x in length. Your arms and legs then shorten until they are about 1/2 of your torso long. Your spine shifts, forcing you to stand on all fours, with the accompaniment of some horrible popping and cracking sounds. Your wings and tail get even bigger and longer. All of your inner anatomy shifts painfully to match that of a Sphinx's. Roll a 17 DC Charisma saving throw, on a fail your memories of being anything other than a Sphinx are lost; on a success, you retain your mind. Either way, by all accounts, you are now treated as an Androsphinx if you were male, or Gynosphinx if you were female
Treatment[edit]
As it is of magical origin, Sphinx Pox is much more difficult to cure in its later stages. If successfully identified in its transmission stage, the disease can be cured with more ordinary medicines (work with your DM on this one), a simple cast of dispel magic, or healing magic of lesser restoration or greater.
Unfortunately, once the physical transformation has started, non-magical/spiritual means pretty much stop working. A cast of dispel magic temporarily halts the process for 12 hours, with an upcasted version of a 8th-level spell slot or higher completely halting the transformation. lesser restoration can reverse the process, causing the afflicted to regress until in stage 0, or alternatively by a Paladin expending 25 points of Lay on Hands.
Once past Stage 3, Dispel Magic no longer works at all, and Lesser Restoration now only halts the Sphinx Pox for a few short hours before it continues progressing. Greater Restoration is still very effective at this point, completely halting the transformation, leaving the affected to regress back to Stage 1.
If one reaches Stage 5, the transformation has run its course, and they're now a Sphinx. As Sphinx Pox is no longer considered a disease by this point, only the use of wish, true polymorph or Divine Intervention can return the creature to its original self and shape. However, if the afflicted has completely lost their mind, casting awaken at a spell slot of 7th level or higher can return some remnants of their mind; allowing them to remember bits and pieces of their past life, relationships and such.
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