Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

First, let's cover Solunum, the main ingredient to creating the undead.

Solunum
Virus, the breeder of the undead

The Solunum virus is among the biggest mysteries of the world. Exactly where it came from and how it works is virtually unknown and will take over a thousand years to fully research. What is clear is how long the virus has been on Earth and how it can be contracted.

Solunum has been argued to have existed since mankind had evovled into neanderthals. There have been documentation on cave walls in the form of pictures in the rocky outcropings of Australia's outback. In a particular cave that lead underground were cave markings of a monster devouring a man. On the ground were crushed skulls. This could have been a warning to stay out of the cave, and risk being eaten by ghouls (or possibly vampires). The crushed skulls would verify this, as the only way to stop Solunum from spreading was to destroy the brain. The cave drawings date back to the early B.C.s, which have shown that either a natural source for Solunum existed or that vampires were also evolving along with the humans.

Solunum has quite a few ways of being contracted. Vampires and ghouls are natural carriers, thus being bitten by one would successfully contract the virus whether blood was consumed or not. The virus is fluid based, so drinking a vampire's blood or somehow injesting the blood or flesh of a ghoul also gives room for infection. Wounds from either could vary, but one should always assume they are infected upon harmful contact. Since no other animals or plants can carry or contract the virus, there has been no known natural source.

The symptoms of Solunum are noticed within the first five minutes of infection. However, symptoms differ when a victom becomes either a ghoul or a vampire. The symptoms for a rising ghoul are:

Five minutes: Profuse sweating, loss of vision, swelling of infection

Fifteen minutes: Labored breathing

One hour: Delirium, no control over arms and legs

Three hours: Bleeding of infected area, slow heart beat

Six hours: Seizures, uncontrollable coughing

Ten hours: Comatose

Fifteen hours: Death

Anytime after death, from five minutes to twenty four hours does the corpse rise as a ghoul. The symptoms for becoming a vampire are similar, but end within six hours and no death occurs.

How Solunum works is not completely varified. What is believed to be true is that the virus travels through the body directly to the brain where it nests and multiplies rapidly. As it grows, it kills brain cells and paralizes the body into submission. It continues its attacks until the brain has shut down either on its own or killed by the virus. It is believed that the virus uses itself as usable neurons to send signals into the dead brain and revive it as a flesh-eating ghoul. How Solunum turns the brain of a human into a vampire brain is completely unknown and under heavy research.

There is no cure of Solunum. Since it is a virus, it does not respond to anti-bacterials. Supposedly cutting off the infected limb or wound only has a ten percent chance for success. Suprisingly, fire seems to have an effect on a fresh wound, decreasing the chance of infection by thirty precent. This wil be further researched on.

Solunum was discovered by Dr. Charles Soluss in 1910. He discovered the virus in the morgue he worked in when one of his patience suddenly awoke on the autopsy table and attacked his assistant. According to legend, he was disecting the victom and had split open the chest to remove the lungs for study. When the ghoul rose, the lungs fell out of its chest, killing it before it could attack the doctor. Dr. Soluss took his assistant to the hospital, and was shocked to not only witness his assistant's death in less than twenty four hours, but witnessed its transformation into a ghoul and attack the other doctor's and nurses. Upon contacting the government, he was detained and supposedly executed in fear of spreading the virus. Governments all around the world began to conduct their own research.

No vampire has willingly offered to help in the research of the virus. Some vampiroligists believe it is because a scientific explanation might be a blemish on their reputation as "mysterious creatures of the night." It may most likely be in disgust as becoming lab rats or pawns into researching what makes a vampire a vampire. Solunum and its relations to the vampire have undergone research with unwilling test subjects in a facility in France for the last ten years. So far, there have been no solid conclusions.

Solunum continues to baffle and elude the brilliant minds of today. I can only end this report on the mysterious virus as best I can:

Further research needed.