The narrator using "fearful, devastating scourge" had a tendency to paint his condition in a more acceptable than it was. To embellish simply refers to making some more attractive or acceptable than it is in reality.
We find this in "Three Men In A Boat". "Three Men In A Boat" was published in 1889. It was written by Jerome K. Jerome, an English writer. He gives a humorous account of a two-week boating trip with his friends, George and William Samuel Harris upon Thames River.
