"Animescence is a rare disease of the Elder Continent. A slow combustion of the soul, gradually baking the vital organs. Poets suffer worse than most; lovers worst of all."[1]
Animescence is a disease endemic to the Elder Continent that sets souls aflame. Even for people raised on the Continent, this is typically permanently fatal;[2] there is a hospital (or perhaps quarantine facility[3]) for its victims in Apis Meet.[4] Symptoms generally include a cripplingly high fever,[5] injury to vital organs, severely dry skin, and wayward passions,[6] culminating in spontaneous metaphysical combustion. The disease can be highly contagious if another person is caught in the explosion at a point when they are vulnerable; in fact, the Presbyterate has, on at least one occasion, used an ailing animescence patient as a biological weapon.[7]
Animescence itself can be highly dependent on one's emotional state; being emotionally vulnerable or overly optimistic can make one more susceptible to the disease.[8] Passion, in any form, can speed up the disease's progress, so patients often have to make an effort to remain as apathetic as possible.[9] Of course, for individuals such as poets and the lovestruck, being passionless is easier said than done.[10]
Treating animescence is a daunting task. Traditional medicines such as ointments, posturing, and poems only slow down the disease; they do not cure it.[2]Rosina of the Seven Against Nidah managed to sharpen her spleen in Anthe to repress her anger, but she is still vulnerable to other passions, and has been forced to lie still in an ice bath to prevent her own demise.[11]
Rather Foolhardy[]
"Rosina's Onlookers are everywhere in Anthe, sighing over poetry and languishing in feverish postures."[12]
For reasons poorly understood, a significant number of people have chosen to treat a typically fatal illness like an old-timey "pox party." Called Conflagranti[13] or Conflagrati,[14] they seem to see animescence as something of a fad, flocking to the side of a known victim (like Rosina) and trying as hard as they can to contract and spread it.[15]
There is supposedly a kingdom of the animescent in the Presbyterate, but this account was written by a notorious liar who had eyes for a Conflagranti queen.[14] The fact that this queen exists or existed is of interest, even if the kingdom is made-up. Regardless, there are some indications that the Conflagranti are more common and possibly more organized than we have seen of them thus far.[16]
↑ 2.02.1Meet Rosina, Sunless Sea"For a long time she looked for a cure to the disease. Tradition ascribes healing features to certain poems, ointments, and postures of the body. But these only delay the gradual combustion."
↑Speak to her about her history, Sunless Sea"Of course in that mood I was far too vulnerable not to take the disease, when an animescent beggar combusted in the street. The Nidaheen sent him to infect me."
↑Assist in the cloisters, Sunless Sea"You conduct interviews, record observations, track the simmering, inexorable advancement of a dozen cases of the disease. The more phlegmatic patients endure better than the melancholy and the sanguine. "
↑Meet Rosina, Sunless Sea"She must, therefore, lie very still in an ice bath and think of things that do not interest her."
↑Root out a reckless poet, Sunless Sea"The cellerar has discovered scraps of love-poetry on the pantry floor. The abbot wants the perpetrator found, before they dangerously inflame the inmates' passions."
↑Meet Rosina, Sunless Sea"Rosina is dying of animescence, the disease of the Elder Continent. Any passion speeds the disease. She must, therefore, lie very still in an ice bath and think of things that do not interest her. Going sharp in the spleen protects her against the passion of anger, but other passions are still a danger."
↑Anthe: Conflagranti, Sunless Sea"Conflagranti wander the chambers of Anthe, suffering from and trying to spread their animescence."
↑ 14.014.1Sift the waters of Adam's Way, Fallen London"There is a kingdom of the Animescent, who bathe daily in the waters. Their wounds are ignited, burn, and slough off, leaving the skin fresh, to burn anew. This account is written by a notorious liar, however, who faked his own death by animescence in order to wed a Conflagrati queen. She later drowned him for his troubles."
↑Clear out the Conflagranti, Sunless Sea"Rosina's Onlookers are everywhere in Anthe, sighing over poetry and languishing in feverish postures. The Antheans cannot endure them."
↑Consult the Presbyterate directly, Fallen London"There is, in fact, much harm. They send your letter back in a large vase, in ashes. An Animescent member of the Conflagrati is sent too, to ensure the letter continues to burn."
