Petrification Disease
The Petrification Disease is an illness that plagues the city of Krat.
Overview
The Petrification Disease, also called the Stone Disease, is caused by overexposure to Ergo particles. The name comes from the the hard stone-like scales and crystals that form on the body of its victims, hindering their movement. Those afflicted also start to lose their eyesight and their blood starts to turn blue. Victims eventually undergo organ failure and die as a result.
Treatment
Gold Coin Fruit is the only known way to treat the disease. Small amounts of the fruit can cure symptoms if it is caught early but a will only delay the effects on more advanced cases. The Alchemists claimed to have developed a cure, but this was actually a front for experiments conducted by the Alchemists in their search to ascend humanity into godhood. Most people subject to these experiments instead turned into Carcasses. Giangio, a former Alchemist, would be the first to develop an actual cure using Gold Coin Fruit. Curing the Petrification Disease removes the symptoms such as the scales but will not undo any of the physical damage the disease has already inflicted.