Mad Heb is extremely rare, believed to have been one of the first diseases Asthéneia brought to the continent. Its name is said to come from a common way children would play with the word The Hebdomad, taking its end and beginning and mixing them about when referring to the seven Demon Lords. Mad Heb is not quite as horrific in its appearance altering presence the way Mop is, but is much more deadly.
Symptoms
Mad Heb though rare is quite easy to catch early thanks to its connection with a more common phenomenon: Katara. Any appearance of a Katara like mutation after one’s birth is an immediate and irrevocable sign that they have Mad Heb. Katara as far as history is concerned are immune entirely. This means that when a creeping blue shade begins to mark the white flesh of a Zoherian, or strange bumps arise on the head of a Biaban that there is almost no other explanation to be found.
If someone afflicted with Mad Heb experiences the continued progression of the symptoms and does not die early on as do most, then the latest stages of the illness sees their body turn a charcoal black and horns grow from every available piece of flesh even the most unsavory. It is the horns that usually kill the individual eventually they make life excruciating and often grow inside of the mouth eventually puncturing the eyes and brain if the afflicted person does not bleed out first.
Spread
No one knows where it starts or how it is transmitted. It is not contagious the way other illnesses are, proximity and cleanliness seem to have no bearing. In a population of 1000 a single person might be afflicted every 10 years, and on the year it does happen no increase in the odds is seen.
Treatment
One of the few known ways to treat Mad Heb is to request healing from The Head Priest, ruler of Zoher and the figurative and literal head of the Church of Hormus. The Inspired Working required to banish the illness from the body is known only to Head Priests and has never been recorded. Some historical accounts see the most exceptional with The Apothecary’s Gift capable of producing a remedy, but to find such a person is no easy task.