Said to be caused by exposure to stardust cast down by ancient and malevolent beings among the stars, this particular brand of Melancholia is a brutal one, of the utmost torture for the afflicted. It begins with mere bad dreams of unpleasant situations, but this is followed shortly by true and horrific nightmares filled with visages of deeds and beings beyond adequate description by the afflicted once they wake.

Nightly they are visited by such sights, which become more and more oppressive with each passing slumber. Eventually, the afflicted begin to describe the horrors not as something from a dream, but something present with them, watching them through their very minds – this accompanied by other delusions. As the disease progresses, the visions do not stop with sleep, following the victim into their waking hours as well, where they will describe a perpetual paranoia of being watched from afar, and indeed from the very sky and stars above.

Eventually this mania consumes them and their 5 very will to live. The worst cases see the afflicted enter a permanent fugue state. It is never quite clear the vector of infection for this Melancholia is, nor exactly when the infected must be exposed for symptoms to manifest.

What is known is that symptoms begin to manifest among the population of certain, discrete locations at seemingly random times. These areas can be a single household or an entire town, and those within must succeed at a DC 15 Willpower save or soon begin experiencing symptoms. An infected humanoid or creature must make a DC 10 Willpower save every time they sleep or take a long rest, or else succumb to the nightmares.

If they succumb, they lose 1 Willpower which can only be recovered by ordinary means after the disease subsides, recovering 1 Willpower each day until the maximum is reached. These nightmares persist nightly for 1d6 weeks before suddenly stopping. This disease cannot be removed by ordinary means before the period has lapsed, though spells such as Lesser Restoration and Lay On Hands or other effects that cure diseases may suppress symptoms for a day whenever applied.