It's funny that you should mention that.
YGWV, but in my explorations of the Eastern Glorantha, the Gang of Four in addition to being horrible monsters from Kralorelan godtime, were, in some sense, "malign essences" that could effect one's Chi. In effective, sorcerous disease essences, sort of paralleling how in most of Glorantha, diseases are mostly from the Spirit World.
Shadow Cancer was rather self explanatory. Secret Waters manifested as sickly bloating. Earth Eater attacked the bones and the flesh, somewhat similar to the "flesh eating" bacteria of the modern world. And Star Permutator first manifested as an blurring of vision, but quickly progressed to a maddening form of encephalitis.
However deadly these maladies all, the Order of Thalurzni, the Alchemist Emperor, had devised regimens of treatments against all of them, so the PC's were able to find cures for those afflicted.
-S. Santo Sengupta
"Aum Shanti Shanti Shantih."
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