Alex Lynn and the Investigation into Yellow Field

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I have managed to set up a blog for Alex. He can communicate with us through there for now.

He is very sensitive about certain aspects of his investigation. He may become technical in describing certain things that do not need a technical explanation. This is psychological and an attempt to distance himself emotionally. Do not bother him about it.

alexfromyellowfield.blogspot.com/

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Lynn has started writing about the landmarks in his hometown.

My belief is that one of them is where the Sickness is kept. Initially designed to be a cross between a warrior for Maraino and an Observer-like figure, Maraino became consumed with creating the perfect illness.

An undetectable disease that preys primarily on the young, the Sickness ravages humans both physically and mentally. It greatly weakens the body, induces an extraordinarily-high fever, causes severe aches and pains, and puts the victim into a delusional state. In this state, they can see the the visual aspect of the Sickness. It is supposedly one of the most repulsive, haunting things one could ever see in their lives. The victim goes into a catatonic state once they see the Sickness. While in this state, boils and various other aesthetically-unpleasant symptoms spread over their bodies. Before they regurgitate a bit of their insides, their orifices begin to bleed profusely. Usually, the stigmata awakens the victim from their coma.

The disease works very gradually. You can have it for years before any of the major side-effects kick in. Of course, this is all hypothetical. When Maraino was finished with the Sickness, he realized that, even as a Dark Muse, he could never release something horrid on the very people who give his existence meaning. He locked it away to keep as sort of a reminder of the power he wields. Only he can free it, so it's safe to say it's not a big deal as of now.

Still, it's placement near Yellow Field is puzzling. It could explain the mild affliction people there seem to be suffering from, but why place things like that? His realm is large enough that he could easily place the doorwar somewhere where no one except himself would ever have the opportunity to see it.

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Alex has made another update, for those of you relying on me for news of updates.

[palidor42]

Is it a coincidence that the symptoms of the Sickness closely match those of the Ebola virus?

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Ebola is the exact type of disease Maraino is most proud of. It is highly contagious with an often horrific ending for the sufferer. If my history regarding the Dark Muses is correct, Maraino helped to create what would eventually become Ebola sometime after finishing the Sickness. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a watered-down version of the apex of his work.

Know that, as far as illnesses go, Maraino does not work alone. There is a whole union of Gods and beings who dictate the diseases that afflict life in this area of existence. As far as working with that group goes, Maraino generally helps in the development of diseases sure to turn into a chaotic epidemic, though I don't think it's uncommon for him to work on a few relatively independent projects every now and then. Maraino also has a hand in a few other things not related to illness (inspiring a fear of aging, for one), but I don't really know enough to go into the specifics of that.

He collaborates with Aediastikos a lot. Aediastikos is very good for deformity-related disorders/illnesses and is about as neutral as the Muses get. He collaborates with a lot of his brothers and seems to believe that, no matter which path is taken, humans will remain shallow.

Maraino's work with Calliope is very different from his normal "occupation". I would not be surprised if he's stepped on the toes of a few of his colleagues in preparing for the War and the choosing of paths.

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This isn't much of an update, but Lynn will probably have killed the second PEP by tomorrow morning.