Shivers
The Shivers is a disease which has plagued Westeros on several occasions. The most recently known occurrance of the disease was during the terrible winter of 59 AC to 60 AC.[1]
Contents
Characteristics
The Shivers progresses quickly. First the afflicted will get a chill, then shivering that gets progressively worse, until it is so bad that the teeth chatter and the arms and legs convulse uncontrollably. When the end is near, the lips turn blue and the victim begins to cough up blood.[1]
The course of the Shivers is remarkably swift: death can come within a day of the onset of the first chill. Old and young are most vulnerable, though even men in the prime of life can wake up healthy one morning and be struck dead by the next. In the winter of 59 and 60 AC, no more than one in five of those who caught the Shivers ever recovered.[1]
During the reign of Jaehaerys I Targaryen, many suspected that the plague was spread by rats, the small brown kind that sneak aboard sailing ships. It was clear that the disease was not native to Westeros, but spread from some foreign land, as it started in the ports of Westeros. The maesters of the Citadel never conclusively determined if the rats were the cause of the spread of the disease, but cats became very popular and expensive during the epidemic.[1]
History
The Shivers struck Westeros in 59 AC, during the first year of an especially cruel winter plagued by widespread famine. The first cases of the Shivers started in the eastern parts of the Seven Kingdoms, moving across the Blackwater Bay and up the Blackwater Rush, hitting the islands off the crownlands, including Dragonstone and Driftmark. From there, the disease spread across the lands. Oldtown lost a quarter of its population, and King's Landing was hit hardest of all. Half of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen's small council died, along with many of the lords of the Great Houses, a third of the maesters of the Citadel, and the High Septon. King Jaehaerys's own six-year old daughter, Princess Daenerys, fell ill as well, and died a day and a half after first complaining of being cold in 60 AC.[1]
Qarl Corbray, the Lord Commander of the City Watch of King's Landing, and many of his men died, resulting in chaos in the city. Lord Rego Draz, the master of coin, was murdered when he happened upon a hungry and partially drunk crowd that blamed him for the high cost of food and all foreigners for the plague.[1]
Known victims
Deceased
Crownlands:[1]
- Lord Edwell Celtigar, the first lord to die.
- His son and heir, who died three days after his father
- Lord Staunton, his wife, and their children.
- Septa Edyth, on Dragonstone.
- Lord Daemon Velaryon's second son and three of his daughters.
- Lord Bar Emmon
- Lord Rosby
- Lady Jirelle of Maidenpool
- Ser Samgood of Sour Hill of the Kingsguard
- Ser Victor the Valiant of the Kingsguard
- Albin Massey
- Qarl Corbray
- Grand Maester Benifer
- Princess Daenerys Targaryen.
Riverlands:[1]
- Lord Prentys Tully
- His wife, Lady Lucinda Broome
Westerlands:[1]
- Lord Lyman Lannister
- Lord Marbrand
- Lord Tarbeck
- Lord Westerling
The Reach:[1]
- A quarter of Oldtown's population
- The wife and children of Eustace Hightower
- Lord Donnel Hightower
- The High Septon
- Twoscore of the Most Devout
- A third of the archmaesters, maesters, acolytes and novices at the Citadel
The stormlands:[1]
- Ser Ronnal Baratheon
- Ronnal's wife and sons
- The wife of Ser Garon Baratheon
Sickened but recovered
- Lord Daemon Velaryon, on Driftmark[1]
- Lord Bertrand Tyrell[1]
- Boremund Baratheon[1]
- Jocelyn Baratheon[1]
Behind the Scenes
The disease may be inspired by pneumonic plague, and the epidemic occurred during the reign of Jaehaerys I Targaryen may be a reference to the Plague of Justinian.