Taint immunity WTF?

[Lehcar]

Why does no one in your party have a problem with the taint? Darkspawn blood is supposed to be extremely poisonous, and any contact with it or the darkspawn's taint sickens and kills virtually all living things very quickly. You and Alistair are Grey Wardens, and Dog can't be re-poisoned because of that special medicine from the Wilds (that is assuming you aren't a human noble and thus didn't already have him), but that still leaves everyone else. Wth? How the heck are all of your party members still alive and perfectly healthy by the end of story, with all the gallons of darkspawn blood they've had splashed on them?

[SpellAndShield]

Why does no one in your party have a problem with the taint? Darkspawn blood is supposed to be extremely poisonous, and any contact with it or the darkspawn's taint sickens and kills virtually all living things very quickly. You and Alistair are Grey Wardens, and Dog can't be re-poisoned because of that special medicine from the Wilds (that is assuming you aren't a human noble and thus didn't already have him), but that still leaves everyone else. Wth? How the heck are all of your party members still alive and perfectly healthy by the end of story, with all the gallons of darkspawn blood they've had splashed on them?

 

Ever kiss Morrigan or Leliana drenched in dark spawn blood in the deep roads...you should try it some time. :tongue:

[RustyBlade]

How the heck are all of your party members still alive and perfectly healthy by the end of story, with all the gallons of darkspawn blood they've had splashed on them?

 

Getting it on themselves would not really affect them much as it can be washed off; it's the fluid transfer issue, getting it in the mouth, nose, eyes, open wounds, etc, that would cause them to be tainted. (Sounds suspiciously like the transmission of STD's) Full face headgear would probably mitigate 98% of the issue but that 2% would still be a concern.

 

I have to agree though, how the rest of the party makes it to the end without being tainted along the way is beyond me. Odds of them not getting it would have to be in the winning Powerball numbers category.

[DarkeWolf]

These are indeed very good points.

I would like to point out that the poisoning isn't always instant, or noticable.

King Cailen's mother died of taint poisoning. It took several years for it to show up, as she contracted it prior to his birth. Actually, right about the time of his conception. And he was a young boy when she died. But then took another year or so to actually kill her.

 

In this aspect, it is similar to a cancer, as it can sit and fester until it overcomes the body, and then causes the body to waste away until it fails.

[OldBook3]

I agree that it looks like Taint posioning can take time. Members of the Legion of the Dead seem to last for a few years, and Branka was still alive (if insane) after years of fighting Darkspawn and eating deepstalkers. We're told by the Ash Warrior leader that if a hound survives the first time it tastes Darkspawn blood, it becomes immune, even if the Grey Wardens say that it will still go insane in a few years. Loghain and Maric both survived apparently untainted, though Maric had his sword which may have been keeping him healthy.

 

I'd guess that your companions are going to have a rough time of it in the long term unless they take the joining. Morrigan knows rituals that manipulate the Taint and can probably deal with it on her own; Zev, Sten, Lel & Og will have to become Wardens or risk a slow death if they've been exposed; Shale will be fine, and Wynne is already on borrowed time. Dog is probably effectively a Warden himself thanks to the blood + herb, and the Noble's dog got lucky and will have a few years.

[DarkeWolf]

I agree that it looks like Taint posioning can take time. Members of the Legion of the Dead seem to last for a few years, and Branka was still alive (if insane) after years of fighting Darkspawn and eating deepstalkers. We're told by the Ash Warrior leader that if a hound survives the first time it tastes Darkspawn blood, it becomes immune, even if the Grey Wardens say that it will still go insane in a few years. Loghain and Maric both survived apparently untainted, though Maric had his sword which may have been keeping him healthy.

 

I'd guess that your companions are going to have a rough time of it in the long term unless they take the joining. Morrigan knows rituals that manipulate the Taint and can probably deal with it on her own; Zev, Sten, Lel & Og will have to become Wardens or risk a slow death if they've been exposed; Shale will be fine, and Wynne is already on borrowed time. Dog is probably effectively a Warden himself thanks to the blood + herb, and the Noble's dog got lucky and will have a few years.

 

Oggy-

he actually does undergo, and survives the Joining, in DA: Awakening.

 

Loghain-

A good note, but a Bad example. he obviously is immune to the taint, as he can survive the joining if the player chooses to spare him and replace Alistair with him.

:wink:

 

Very good points there tho about the other companions. :thumbsup:

[brokenergy]

In this aspect, it is similar to a cancer, as it can sit and fester until it overcomes the body, and then causes the body to waste away until it fails.

 

It should be more compared to HIV/AIDS as it is blood born virus rather than a mutated cell which can't stop growing(cancer). Eating the flesh or drinking the blood is the most common way to obtain it, the same way that contact with certain objects cause HIV/AIDS. Rowan didn't die from the taint but rather some other poison as there is no record of her dying the taint, in the book or the game (prove me wrong). The most logical scenario is that the wipe the blood splatter and cover the wounds really tight to avoid infection.

[DarkeWolf]

In this aspect, it is similar to a cancer, as it can sit and fester until it overcomes the body, and then causes the body to waste away until it fails.

 

It should be more compared to HIV/AIDS as it is blood born virus rather than a mutated cell which can't stop growing(cancer). Eating the flesh or drinking the blood is the most common way to obtain it, the same way that contact with certain objects cause HIV/AIDS. Rowan didn't die from the taint but rather some other poison as there is no record of her dying the taint, in the book or the game (prove me wrong). The most logical scenario is that the wipe the blood splatter and cover the wounds really tight to avoid infection.

 

Aye, we are agreed that the taint itself is more akin to a disease. I was talking tho, about the wasting death that it can cause, rather than the fast, acting madness, derangement death that is so well known.

Give me some time... thats a lot of pages to scan over. :wink:

[roninsoul7]

To add in a little on the discussion, I have in the past had to get blood off of my quickly for fear of passing along a blood disease. Step 1 make sure none of it entered in through an open orifice (if that fails, then start praying), step 2 is wash the blood off away from said orifices, step 3 wash the rest off, step 4 is to use something with a high PH like alcohol to sterilize the skin and area affected. All of these can be accomplished as soon as a civilization is capable of making themselves drunk, so it could just be a given that the mentioned characters were doing that "offscreen" since once you hit camp, no one is covered in blood anymore, no matter how much of it they had on them beforehand. It is akin to star trek, rpgs, and other things, where your character never has to go to the washroom, it would be rather dull to watch the process, so it is assumed to happen when no one is looking.