The Plague (Empath stories)

The Plague is a time period in the Smurf Village that lasted for a few years, from 46 to around 50 years after Empath Smurf was taken to Psychelia in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf story series. It began with the death of Painter, Poet, and Sculptor's father Picasso Smurf and eventually spread to all the adult Smurfs except for Papa Smurf, who along with all the young Smurflings was immune to the mysterious disease. Over the course of that period, with fewer adult Smurfs remaining alive to handle important village duties and to take care of the children, Papa Smurf eventually adopted all 98 of the Smurflings and was given authority to be the village leader. The children would spend the next 20 years of their lives getting used to having to run things with only Papa Smurf as their sole guardian and instructor.