The March Virus

Demographic: Demons – Applies to demons, half-demons, partial demons, turned or born, or those benefiting from or cursed by demons.
Early Symptoms: Sore throat, coughing, and mild headaches. Light sensitivity and sun burns when out for more than two hours under the sun.

Demographic: 25-40 year old men – Chronological, not physical. Refers to people born as male, can shapeshift into male forms, or those that fully transitioned.
Early Symptoms: Sore throat, coughing, and mild headaches. Loss of hair.

Demographic: Immortals – People that can live for a long time. Refers to age, not invulnerability. If they’re invulnerable but can still age, they’re not included.
Early Symptoms: Sore throat, coughing, and mild headaches. Ridiculous amount of energy, but low attention span.

Demographic: People under 5’5”ft – People naturally under the height of 5’5”ft, including children and sentient animals/humanoids.
Early Symptoms: Sore throat, coughing, and mild headaches. Stomach aches.

Demographic: Regeneration/Healing Abilities – People that have any sort of healing abilities, to themselves or other people. May also refer to people that respawn when they die.
Early Symptoms: Coughing and mild headaches. Realization that this isn’t something their powers can fix, though it can give relief from hours at a time.

Demographic: People with Constant Illness – People that experience debilitating mental or physical illness, magic or natural. It has to be constant.
Early Symptoms: Temporary relief from their illness for hours at a time.

Demographic: People above 6’2”ft – People naturally above the height of 6’2”ft, including giants, dragons, and monsters.
Early Symptoms: Sore throat, coughing, and mild headaches. Lots of energy.

Demographic: 15-25 year old girls - Chronological, not physical. Refers to people born as female, can shapeshift into female forms, or those that fully transitioned.
Early Symptoms: Sore throat, coughing, and mild headaches. Development of acne and oily skin that’s impossible to cleanse.

Demographic: Elemental Powers – People that can manipulate the elements to some extent, like fire, water, wind, and earth. May extend to other things, like shadows, darkness, light, luck, etc. as long as some manipulation of a natural force is involved there.
Early Symptoms: Sore throat, coughing, and mild headaches. Powers malfunctioning for brief moments through the day.

Demographic: Shapeshifters – People that can fully or partially shapeshift, either as a power or an alternate form (e.g. a dragon with a human form). Does not apply to magical items.
Early Symptoms: Sore throat, coughing, and mild headaches. Patches of skin changing texture. For example, if alternate form is of a reptile, patches of skin start turning scaly. If there’s no definitive alternate form, texture could vary.


IN CASES OF CHARACTERS FALLING INTO MORE THAN ONE DEMOGRAPHIC, players can choose one or mix and match combinations that work best for them.

NATURAL IMMUNITY: For some inexplicable reason, a part of the population doesn’t seem to be affected by the virus at all! Maybe it’s their immune system, maybe it’s their powers. Either way, there’s no pattern to this phenomenon, simply that they have a natural immunity to it.


(This is an option to opt out for people that do not want to participate in the event. We want to preserve the sandbox setting, so if this event isn’t your cup of tea, you can go ahead and ignore it even happening. You may also choose to keep your character healthy so they can have opportunities to help with the later plots.)

By default, characters with no powers at all are also naturally immune to the disease.

School and work places are encouraging people to wear gloves, breathing masks, and to sanitize every time they touch something. Given that the current symptoms are mild, there are no canceled classes or work days.

As usual, it's up to the player how mild or how severe the symptoms are. If you guys have any questions about The March Virus, please contact @Poppy or a nearby mod to send the message along.

There is now a plotting thread for The March Virus here!

The March Virus, initially mild, mutated into something worse! The news has announced the following:

• School has been suspended indefinitely! Teachers are sending out reading lists online, with some requiring students to take quizzes online weekly or write reports about the lessons provided. Weekend classes and night classes are still available for everyone that want to catch up.
• Businesses are being handled on a case by case basis, though food inspectors are going through restaurants right now to check for contamination and violations. Any restaurants that are caught with sick employees will be temporarily shut down.
• An online chat forum, StarlightChat, is available for citizens to check on updates and communicate with others in a safe, virus free space. (ICC event starts on Sunday!)
• Very sick persons are to be Quarantined in the hospital in the Woods. (ICC event starts on Friday and event thread to be followed!)
• Caduceus Pharmaceuticals and other such companies is making strides in discovering the nature of the disease.
• Their rival company, Blue Cross Apothecary, has claimed they've found the answer to the the disease. Their lead scientist, Dr. Holmes, has developed a magical antiviral that can get rid of the symptoms. With continued usage, he believes it can cure it entirely. The medicine is very limited and expensive, to be taken every day until further notice, and cost $200 a pill. This can be purchased in the Blue Cross Pharmacy.
  • The antiviral should be effective, dampening symptoms until removing the illness entirely by the seventh day.

Next Stage: Chills and headaches. Skin starts turning pinkish, stinging when making skin contact with people. May be relieved through moisturizer.

Next Stage: Itchy rashes all over skin, as well as little slits appearing around those rashes. Slits seem to just be odd bumps on the skin, though they are puffy.


Next Stage: 3 or 5 inches shaved off their height. Hands shrink half of the size they were originally. Eyes seem bigger. Hair grows longer. Gaps in memory.

Next Stage: Grow 1-2 inches in height every day. Nauseous and fatigued. Depressive mood swings, little events throwing their mood off.

Next Stage: Itchy all over. Fatigue. Attempting to fix itchy spots results in rashes.

Next Stage: Regular illness feels like it’s gone. They feel like healthy people.

Next Stage: Turns 1-2 inches shorter every day. Hyperactive. Manic mood swings, excitable, talk fast. Migraines.

Next Stage: Itchy rashes all over the skin. Aching body, joint pain. Sometimes impossible to get up due to pain.

Next Stage: Continuation of flu symptoms, plus chills. Spacey. Powers dampened to a ridiculous degree.

Next Stage: Small, innocuous partial transformations. Think: People with regular animal features. May grow tails, sharp teeth, scales, fur, ears, noses, etc. and not be able to turn them back. Common cold symptoms, but not as severe.

We noticed some people coming in are pretty confused about the event going on, so this is a timeline for all the mini-events related to The March Virus to get people up to speed.

The March Virus

• Week 1
  • City Hall Party (ICC) - Beginning
  • First The March Virus post
• Week 2
  • Second The March Virus post
  • StarlightChat
  • Quarantine

• Everyone that took Blue Cross's cure are now urged to go into Quarantine immediately. The virus, destroyed by the antiviral at first, has built extreme resistance against it. It's mutating faster than ever before. Those infected have had their symptoms worsened. Most are bedridden with a dangerous fever.
• Blue Cross has been sued by the families of everyone that took their prototype cure. There will be a court case next weekend. Economists say this blow is impossible to recover from.
• Dr. Holmes, the lead scientist responsible for the "cure", is nowhere to be found.
• Caduceus Pharmaceuticals is now moving its people into Quarantine, hoping that their people would be able to help government officials inside. They are also donating furniture due to the recent rampages left behind by irate patients.
• An official government statement says anyone rampaging through the streets due to the virus will be captured and locked in Quarantine. They will be given power-negating bracelets and sedated if needed.

Next Stage: Awful fever. Skin turns fully red. If no demonic features before, there are now. Coughing and sneezing are severe and result in fire breathing.

Next Stage: Migraines that last for hours. Rashes are gone, but the slits have turned into little eyeballs all over their skin.


Next Stage: Prior symptoms fade, but they experience rapid de-aging. Every day they wake up they’re 3-5 years younger their physical age, or 10, depending on how old their physical body is. By the end of the week, they should ideally be children.

Next Stage: Stretched to a ridiculous height, around seven or eight feet. Look more like a stretched piece of clay than a normal person of that height. Trouble staying upright.

Next Stage: The rashes turn into open sores, boils, and cuts. They can heal these, but they reappear fast with no relief. If losing a limb, limb will only partially regenerate.

Next Stage: They will be happier, have more energy, and be more productive.

Next Stage: Squished into a smaller package, around three or four feet. Voice sounds like they breathed in a lot of helium. Hyperactive, low attention span, excitable, talk fast. Act like they’re in a sugar rush. Short, irregular sleep schedule.

Next Stage: Migraines that go on for hours. Development of a new limb or two that seems to have a mind of its own.

Next Stage: Nausea and depression. Powers turn different or the opposite of what they were e.g. hydrokinetics turning into pyrokinetics, shadow manipulators being able to manipulate light.

Next Stage: Large, debilitating partial transformations. For example, one leg turns into a dog leg, impairing ability to walk on two legs, half of face may turn into an animal, mouth threatening to breathe fire all the time, etc.

Although the quarantine in place for the virus ended violently last week, the disease has continued its course for its many sufferers. City government officials are discussing the possibility of renewing the quarantine with greatly enhanced security measures, As the majority of the terrorists responsible for the attack on quarantine have not been caught, several officials have raised safety concerns as an argument against trying again.

Doctors warn that the virus is spread through fluids, such as those sprayed by an infected person's coughing or sneezing. Sick individuals are advised to cover their mouths when coughing, and not to cover their mouths with their hands when they do so. A local internet celebrity has made a video comparing proper mouth covering technique to a dance move called the 'dab;' while many viewers have called it "cringy" it is certainly memorable and has, perhaps, gotten the message across. Everyone is also encouraged to wash their hands thoroughly and regularly, whether or not they are sick. Face masks have become popular among the uninfected, to prevent breathing in aerosol particles from the coughing infected.

Having caught on to the pattern of weekly mutation, doctors have been watching closely for any new developments in their patients. They are preparing for the worst. The Manta Carlos government has set aside millions of dollars from its emergency fund for magical treatments to stabilize the infected in a worst-case scenario. No new symptoms have been reported thus far.

If you or someone you love is sick and their symptoms change, do not hesitate to call [a phone number is provided for an office which is part of the Manta Carlos Healthcare System].

Caduceus Pharmaceuticals announced this morning that a cure has been found! The cure is now being distributed for free at all Manta Carlos hospitals and clinics, and several stations have been set up throughout the island. The cure itself is fact acting, with all traces of the virus being resolved within 24 hours. Citizens are eager to return to daily life, and Starlight Academy is expected to reopen this coming Tuesday.

Caduceus Pharmaceuticals credits the disease's lack of mutation for the cure, indicating that previously the rapidly mutating virus was impossible to pin down. In the last week, the virus has stabilized greatly, allowing for the cure to be properly developed. All citizens are strongly encouraged to take the cure as soon as possible, as the potential for further mutations would render the cure ineffective. The Manta Carlos government is in talks to make the cure mandatory, although those benefiting from the Riddle Effect have protested the decision.

The lawsuit against Blue Cross Apothecary has proven successful, with the business temporarily closed for reordering. Doctor Holmes, the man behind the false cure earlier this month is wanted as a person of interest in the case, but his whereabouts remain unclear.