Description[]
Illustration of an infected.
Entity 67, designated as "Sanguine Festivus", is a viral pathogen with highly unstable and volatile effects. Commonly abbreviated as "SFV", individuals who have contracted this disease are commonly referred to as "Fest-heads", "Jovials", and "Partygoers" by wanderers. It has spread across numerous levels of the Backrooms, causing widespread chaos and devastation within affected communities, and has infected a significant number of individuals, potentially reaching a scale of tens or even hundreds of thousands.
Behaviors[]
Due to the disease's manipulation of hormone production, individuals who have progressed beyond the point of medical aid often exhibit symptoms of maddening glee and ecstasy. This stage of infection renders them particularly dangerous, as they are known to experience a constant, blissful high, being motivated to infect as many others as possible. While some infected may simply approach the unaffected with pestering requests to contract it, the majority are driven by the constant surge of adrenaline in their system to utilize more forceful means of spreading the disease, up to and including violence.
In most cases, one can recognize the nearby presence of infected victims prior to a direct encounter, the most obvious warning signs being crude, frenzied laughter and the rotten scent of decaying matter. In certain levels, the pathogen has become so prevalent and widespread that the sound of maniacal laughter can be heard for miles in all directions. Despite their delusional and frenzied behavior, those who are infected are thought to remain human in some capacity, as they still retain rational thought, employing any means necessary to lure individuals who come into their proximity.
Biology[]
Victim before and after infection (right eye is fake)
Sanguine Festivus is spread via the bodily fluids of an infected entering one’s bloodstream, most often via inflicted wounds or digestion of contaminated food. As soon as transmission occurs, the individual who contracts it will start showing symptoms within roughly 8–12 hours. These symptoms first come in the form of muscle cramps, light-headedness, cold flashes, and jolts of pain throughout the body.
Approximately 24 hours after the first signs of symptoms, the disease makes its way to the afflicted’s liver and starts to heavily dilute the body’s blood and manipulate the flow of proteins throughout their anatomy. Here, the afflicted in question will experience regular aching and stiffness, discoloration of the skin and veins, gnawing pain in the forearms and jaw, and bleeding from the palms caused by the abnormal growth of bone matter protruding from within the hands. At this point, the disease can still be purged from the body and the afflicted saved, with many antibiotics and even bloodletting shown to be effective means of treatment.
After 2-3 days have passed since initial contamination, with no treatment administered, the disease will have taken over the afflicted’s heart and completely diluted the blood, rendering the infected beyond help. A telltale sign of this is heavy discoloration of the skin in the chest area, turning a dark and sickly grey-red especially above the heart. Within hours of reaching this stage, the disease will find its way to the brain and begin tampering with the pituitary gland, releasing overwhelming amounts of hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, and adrenaline throughout the body to sedate the infected. This will result in them becoming ecstatic and aggressive, and they will begin to encourage behaviors of seeking out others and acting erratically towards them, often grabbing hold of or even outright attacking others. Given the abnormal bone-like protrusions in the palms of their hands, this can often result in others being injured, intentionally or not -- and further contamination occurring.
From here, the infected person’s condition will only continue to deteriorate. The liver will stop filtering blood, and jaundice will develop, turning the affected person's skin a dull yellow and darkening surface veins as diseased blood reaches every part of the body. More abnormal bone growths will start to appear around the eyes and mouth, growing increasingly irritating to the infected and driving them to itch and tear at their face, very often resulting in a pattern of wounds resemblant of a gory, exaggerated permanent smile and slit-like patches of torn skin and flesh both above and below the eye sockets. Several months into infection, these growths will only cause more damage, with those along the mouth and jaw growing to resemble a second row of teeth, jagged and misshapen in such a way that they force the mouth constantly agape and protrude from the eye sockets to eventually pierce the eyeball, causing extreme vision damage and blindness.
Once jaundice has set in and the infected’s behavior has become too chaotic to control, their expected lifespan can't be properly guaranteed. While some documented infected have gone on to survive several decades with the disease in their system, others succumb to the adverse effects of the virus within just a couple years. The rough average for those afflicted balances out to approximately 20 years. The only exception to this seems to be one individual known as the "Party Host" by most wanderers: an infected man by the name of Caius Taggert who has survived over 250 years with the virus in his system.
Discovery[]
While the origins of Sanguine Festivus are nigh-unknown to us, it was first documented as far back as the mid-1700s. Concerningly, the rate of infection and the amount of infected has only increased over time.
Do's And Don'ts[]
Do:[]
- Seek out the nearest Party Crasher outpost if you come into contact with someone or something infected with SFV.
- Treat infection as soon as possible, to prevent the virus from taking root.
- Otherwise, termination of the infected is the most humane option.
Don't[]
- Attempt to engage without overwhelming means of eradication.
- Approach any infected corpses, as they can still be a vector for contamination and are considered a bio-hazard.