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@naiya-dyani

Realized I glossed over your poison question and thought I might give it a brief whirl. Long-term effects depend on the nature of the poison. Neurotoxins (like say, the venom of many snakes and spiders) which attack the nervous system may lead to rheumatism, loss of sensation, weakness, and even permanent paralysis around the site of the original bite.

Some snake venoms are instead cytotoxins, attacking the victim’s cells instead of hijacking / paralyzing the nervous system. Of this group, some specifically attack the muscles of the heart, causing fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) or heart paralysis – and most likely a heart attack to one degree or another. Any heart attack whether caused by poison or your own poor life choices is going to leave lasting scars on the heart from dead muscles (which died due to lack of oxygenated blood because the heart stopped pumping). This could easily fill in for chronic heart pain like you described (also called angina) which would in fact flare up under strenuous activity (in which you stress the heart beyond its limited ability to keep up with your body’s demands, so it overexerts itself).

So, yeah! Maybe he was bitten by a black mamba and survived! Somehow! 😀