Industrial Plague
Any industrial revolution has its share of diseases and dangers. Smoke stacks, grinding factories, long hours in a mine, or poor living conditions all lead to diseases. Nothing though has even compared to the Zema Industrial Plague. Chiefly because it effects not people, but the very land itself.
The heavy industrialisation of Zema led to the regular plethora of health problems, but it was the rekceeya programme that pushed it over the edge. Not only did the empire increase mining, refining, and production to unheard of levels, the magical effects of rekceeya remained in the waste products. Much like regular waste it was mostly unusable and harmful impurities during the refining process. These magical impurities spread through the ground, water, and air via smog and sludge.
Magical cast offs have strange properties when cast off en masse.
The land was the first thing to go, shrivelling up everything but the most hearty plants. Not that that was noticed, most of the areas affected were already concrete paradises. Then went the water, acidic rains and lakes of sulphur. The investigation started, but it was far too late. The air had become unbreathable.
The plagued regions weren't evacuated yet. Instead they served as the last hope for the bottom of the barrel. The poorest of the pour don gas masks and gloves to work in these areas. The factories and apartments are rigged with air exchange and filter systems. Anything to make these areas barely liveable.
Yet research on restoring these lands is one of the more poorly funded science sectors of the Empire. Keep the poor poor, eh?
