The Black Death; also known as God’s Punishment to the Europeans. The rest of us living in Paris have also been infected by the mysterious “Black Boils” on our skin. Traders from Genoese appeared in the Sicilian port of Messina on 12 ships with only a few surviving crew members. They hastily reported that most of their crew was dead because of a mysterious epidemic. Dock owners reported that the remaining crew members had “Black Boils” on their faces and it appeared to be involve with traveling through the Black sea. After months of the crew’s return, death notices became more frequent and the infected ratio became more severe. Soon, multiple cities were infected by the “boils” and other symptoms began evolving on the human hosts. Black/purple spots began to appear on the infected and swellings were noticeable on both the Male/Female “genitals” . The swellings were considered abnormal by the doctors and they tried using herbs and flowers to try and reduce it. Unfortunately, the various medical methods all failed in attempts and the cities were littered with rotting corpses of children, adults, and young infants. When the government found out about this, they immediately told the Genoese traders to leave their docks and never come back. However, it was already too late, because the disease transferred into rats and fleas which increased the chance of getting infected with the mysterious disease. Civilians in multiple communities then decided to abandon their homes and left the infected citizens to die. They believed that if the healthy non-infected people separate from the infected disease ridden citizens, then they have a lower chance of getting plagued. But, this attempt did not work because someone in that group got sick and it spread like (wildfire). Morals on humankind began to loosen and soon, people began to drown their sorrows with alcohol and disgusting immoral acts. Churches began to lose their followers in the path of “God” and were replaced by Extremists. These Extremists lashed out against innocent civilians as an excuse for “purging” their community from the 7 Deadly Sins that most people were expressing; Lust, Greed, Envy, Pride, Sloth, Wrath, and Gluttony. The lashings were violent and the torturers would not stop until the community begged them to stop and for forgiveness. The origin of this disease could be related to from the epidemic in Asia which also killed over millions of people before. Cities are now just storage for dead bodies and disease-ridden corpses while the rest of remaining Europe is being littered. Doctors have tried to perform blood transfusion and tried to remove the infected body parts to try to slow down the infection process, but it only resulted into having more people get infected because of the poor sanitation. It’s still an undecided fate if mankind shall survive this apocalypse or be all burned down to ashes.
First-hand experience with the Plague -Chris Fletcher
Translation provided by Dennis Tong -This journal entry was recovered in the remains of Rome detailing the victim’s experience with the Black Death
Entry: September 5th, 1349 One year has passed since the beginning of this mysterious plague has started. The symptoms of it are still unknown because the doctors haven’t taken the time to examine their patients carefully. The only symptom that’s noticeable is the mysterious black boils and exaggerating coughs that end up with blood dripping from their mouth. I remain in Italy, hoping to escape the titanium grip of this disease that grasps upon the fallen of mankind. My family also fled with me to try and prevent receiving the beginning symptoms of this Cursed plague. Crop supplies have been declining rapidly due to the fact that this plague can transmit to rats and animal livestock. The portions of food served in this city have been diminishing thanks to the wealthy families bribing farmers to give them the best portions of the remaining meals.
Entry: October 17th, 1349 More people began dying because of the hygiene problems in Italy. The wells have been littered with rotting corpses due to discrimination between the infected and healthy. Remaining food rations were taken away by our hands from the Royal Protectors of Britain and France. They threatened to burn down our city with fire in order to sterilize the remains of Europe. Most of the citizens were forced to sacrifice their necessities in order to stay alive. Jewelries, Gold currency, forged weapons, and books were stripped clean from the cities to help benefit the Wealthy. Taxes were cast-aside and morals were lost in the remaining cities of Europe. The Churches began to close its doors due to the rapid increase of chaos occurring through the citizens. Houses were burned down to ashes with rotting corpses inside of them, so that people could try to reduce the pile of corpses. The morgues were all occupied with the bodies of deceased rich family members and cemeteries couldn’t keep up with the increasing amount of dead people. Soon, Europe became a huge graveyard stacked with piling bodies everywhere.
Entry: July 5th, 1349 My family is no longer with me on this post-apocalypse world. They had all caught the contagious disease from their neighbors and friends. I witnessed their suffering unfold in every single passing minute. The coughing soon became blood piles and their complaints of nausea along with aching bodies became more severe as I witnessed the outcome of these events. Soon, my parents fell into a deep sleep and wouldn’t wake up for several days until they began to shake violently in their sleep. This strange symptom kept occurring until 2 months later when I found out that they were “Deceased”. My Uncle was taken by the Extremists of the Churches, and my younger siblings were brutally murdered by the Royal Family Protectors of Great Britain. They were asking for food and money from the queens and princes because we ran out of food to survive any longer in the city. When the royal family discarded them as “Worthless beings”, my younger siblings begged for mercy on their knees. The Protectors then grabbed them by the collar of their shirts and drove a knife into their necks in cold-blood. I only found out about this information recently when I was shopping for extra clothes to change into.
The remaining pages were ripped out of the notebook and possibly thrown into a fire pit to prevent the reader from knowing more about the Author’s experience with the Black Plague. It is still undecided if the author died of old age or from the disease.
Alchemy; a science or destructive art? by Chris Fletcher
This interview has been transcribed multiple times to ensure the correct translation for the Modern Time(English Speakers). The Alchemist here has been very kind to accept the wandering traveler’s request for an interview. Translated by: Dennis Tong Original Translator: Unknown Interviewer: - Replaced by Dennis Tong since the name of the interviewer was burnt off from the original transcript Pen-name for Alchemist: Alchemy Zero
Dennis Tong: Your name, please? Is that acceptable in your terms?
Alchemy Zero: My name. Now that’s a question that I haven’t heard in ages. My name is Jan Baptista Van Helmont, an Alchemist and Chemist.
Dennis Tong: Would you kindly please tell me what this compiled list of ingredients are? Water, Ammonia, Salt, Saltpeter, Phosphorus, Iron, Lime, Hydrogen, Sulfur, Chlorine, Zinc, Nitrogen, Calcium, Sodium, Magnesium, Fluorine, and 15 other elements in small quantities.
Alchemy Zero: I believe that’s the chemical makeup of the average adult human body. But how did you managed to remember all of these specific ingredients when you have no background knowledge of chemistry? No ordinary travel knows this much about Human anatomy.
Dennis Tong: I think I remember reading a chemistry textbook from a small inn. I paid about 3 copper coins to relieve myself of boredom.
Dennis Tong: How would you define your Alchemic research?
Alchemy Zero: I guess you could say that I hated the wealthy men. Despite my marriage with a woman that bounded me into a rich family, I felt that my research should be available to the public. It should not be only disclosed to the wealthy class.
Dennis Tong: The Greek-Philosopher; Aristotle, you used some of his philosophical work to the help define some of your Alchemy. The 4 elements that exist in this world: Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Why exactly?
Alchemy Zero: To ask of a man about his opinions along with trying to comprehend it is more difficult than Alchemy itself. Mankind often wants to believe into something that’s real, rather than follow a thread full of lies and rumors.
Dennis Tong: But it also says that you discarded “Earth” and “Fire” as elements, because you found out how they’re made with your experiments. Is that true?
Alchemy Zero: Yes
Dennis Tong: This question has been bothering me for a long time, but, why do you Alchemists seek the “Philosopher Stone” so desperately?
Alchemy Zero: The Philosopher stone. Now that’s an interesting topic to discuss with guests. Let me try to explain in the simplest terms. This “Philosopher Stone” is actually a powerful alchemic tool that’s so powerful that you can bypass any other rules applied to Alchemy. It can turn a single tree into thousands of books or even Gold itself. All alchemists strive to become the best in order to seek the “Truth” of this world, and so will I. Until that day when I finally have the stone within my grasp, I will not stop doing my alchemic research.
Dennis Tong: I know I already asked of you about your Alchemic Research, but what’s your definition of Alchemy? Is it a science, magic, or a gift from the gods?
Alchemy Zero: Alchemists usually reject the term “God”. We’re non-religious and that’s most followers of the Churches think that I’m “Satan himself”. Our transmutation are to believe as a sign of communicating with the devil. Alchemy is a science; not magic. You need to understand the basic elements of the Earth first before even making one basic transmutation. Dennis Tong: One last question before I leave. Is Alchemy very difficult to learn?
Alchemy Zero: No. It’s fairly simple if you understand the principles science itself.
Aethulu Godwin Fletcher Death note -Chris Fletcher
Translated copy of Obituary. Date: 5/12/1349
Name: Aethulu Godwin Fletcher Age: 21 Height: 5,8” Language/Race: French Religion: Roman Catholic Occupation: Fletcher Birth-date: 1328/25/2(European system of days) Summary: Aethulu Godwin Fletcher was born in Carcassonne as a son of a blacksmith. His mother left them when Aethulu was only 5 years old. Aethulu was personally trained by his father to be able to learn how to forge his own weapons and haggle with customers. Then, on his 18th birthday, Aethulu Fletcher departed from Carcassonne in pursuit of his studies of medicine to be able to become a physician. However, he then decided to give up on his dreams after being rejected by numerous medical colleges because of his origins. As a last attempt to support himself, Aethulu decided to be a “Fletcher”(A maker of arrows). He opened up his own shop in England in 1347 and named his shop “Truth of Fletchers”. But, on May 12th, 1349, he caught the Black Plague and died 2 hours later after his infection.
(This small picture shows of a unique Armor design forged by Aeschylus. Most of the parts are made out of fabric to create more flexibility for the user.) Available for only 3 gold and 12 silver.
Weekly Business -Chris Fletcher
Business Informer:
Date: 3/14/1348
Issue #101
Herbs and Medicine: -Herbs from the east are available at local marketplaces for only 2 silver coins only -Physician John Ardene’s book “The Art of Medicine” is now available for 10 copper for the basic copy and 3 gold for the advance copy. -Rosemary prices have now peaked to the price of 50 gold per bunch
Cloth: -Satin is now only available to the wealthy aristocrats and royal family members of England, Scotland, and Europe. -Cotton prices have lowered to a minimal amount of 1 silver and 12 copper coins -Sheeps are now being farm exclusively in Italy for their trade of wool
Minerals/Materials -Supplies of Iron are raised low due to the multiple findings all around Europe -Gold is now unavailable because the wealthy invested all of their money into the trades of Gold -Jade has been rumored to be sold in the black markets from the Eastern traders -The Royal armies have demanded an increasing supply of iron, leather, and wood to resupply for their weapons and armor
Armor/Weapons -Full set of Gold armor(Chest-Plate, helm, leggings, and boots) is now on sale at 450 gold, 27 silver, and 2 copper -Chain-mail is now being traded only to the Army as a protective covering for the Knights and Paladins -Heavy Infantry Iron Armor is now worth more than light-weighted Iron Armor -Greatswords are now only given exclusively to heavy-infantry soldiers