Hotei's Blight

Hotei's Blight was a lowland area bordering on the northwestern corner of Nazo Mori, filled with stagnant water, insects, and a perpetual dim fog. The locals believed that Hotei, Fortune of Contentment had cursed the region, because anyone who entered the swamp returned unnaturally happier. The victims had a pallor to their skin and a near-perpetual smile on their face, alienating those around them with their peculiar behavior and mannerisms until they eventually lose all human contacts and died alone. Their "swamp-dead" were found surrounded by a large number of small leech-like creatures of unknown origin.