The Black Plague, also known as the Black Death, was a large plague that spread across Europe from 1346 to 1354, killing 75,000,000-200,000,000 people across the world. Originating when merchants from Genoa and Venice left the port city of Kaffa in Crimea during a Mongol Empire siege with rats aboard their ships (the rats encountered plague from dead animals thrown by the Mongols into the city), the disease was the deadliest outbreak of an illness to ever hit the Earth.
History[]
A plague of unfathomable proportions made its way westward from the Far East, where it was said to have already ended an untold number of lives. The victims found their skin covered in dark blotches, as they entered a terrible fever and sickness which ultimately led to a painful and miserable death. While scholars, theologians, and physicians could not agree on the exact cause of the deadly plague, the threat it posed men of all faiths was plain to see.
The Great Mortality (1348)[]
The dire plague that scholars then dubbed "the Great Mortality" continued its destructive trail towards the West. People questioned if the Almighty considered them too wretched to live.
The Great Mortality Spreads (1350)[]
Life in the civilized world became more morbid and bleak than in known history. Every man, woman, and child was accustomed to the sight of their people in piles before being burned... in the vain hope that the fires might have cleansed the foul doom to the land. Although not everyone fell victim to its deadly embrace, the plague still decimated the population everywhere it traveled.
The Great Mortality Continues (1352)[]
While the lands that were first stricken by the Great Mortality began to see a new life beyond the plague, many places that were spared this doom were now feeling its full effect. Though talk of this truly being the end was becoming less likely with more survivors to prove the point, the creeping doom was still the most feared thing to stalk the lands of Europe for the bravest of men, being dubbed "The Black Death" those days.
The Black Death Passes (1354)[]
It appeared that the Black Death worked most of its deadly misery upon the world, and that men of all faiths had a reason to make a prayer of faiths - they were delivered. Aside from some unfortunate destinations at the end of major trade routes where the plague was a more recent tyrant, the risk of contacting the Black Death now appeared to be negligible. Now, those who ruled the survivors could struggle over what remains of civilization.