Wilting Patient

Be grateful for your healthy body, and may you be safe from disease.
If you happen to encounter someone burdened with branch-like protrusions, do not approach rashly.
The strange disease known as the Withering Curse is rampant in the city of Raelvis.
Some say the afflicted have received enlightenment from Cerces,
whilehile [sic] others claim it as a miracle of Thanatos.
Yet, the sufferers neither speak the truth nor show signs of life ebbing away.
They merely gravitate towards each other, like withered trees seeking to form a forest.
No one can understand the whispers of the patients, just as no one can comprehend the murmurs of the forest breeze.
You may wonder what meaning remains in an already-withered life.
But upon reflection, isn't your life and mine withering all the same?