Crystal Sickness

While magical in nature, this condition is caused by the imbalance of the crystals in the body. Skewing the delicate balance in one direction or another can cause long term health problems that may never fully go away, even once they are rebalanced.

Transmission & Vectors

Crystal Sickness is primarily contracted by too much exposure to crystals that are imbalanced in some form. The speed of transmission is based on proximity. For example, touching an imbalanced crystal will instantly make a person sick. However, living near one will only make a person sick over time and can take a month or two.

Causes

All creatures have crystalline structures in their bodies, no matter how small. An imbalanced crystal can create a similar imbalance in any surrounding crystals, meaning that the delicate balance of magic in a living being can be upset by being near them.

Symptoms

In a creature as large as a Dragon, an imbalance in their crystal scales changes their magic until they can correct it, something that is often done by traveling off to a distant area and unleashing their magic until the effect is gone.

In Humans however, whose natural ability for magic is much lower, the symptoms can be severe and last a lifetime. Examples of symptoms include:

• Fire: Body temperature runs hotter than normal, this can range from a constant low grade fever to high temperatures that damage both body and mind.
• Water: Body temperature runs cold, this can range from poor circulation in extremities to constant hypothermia.
• Earth:
• Air:
• Light:
• Dark:

Prognosis

Those who have acquired this condition have a varying prognosis depending on age, normal magical use, and the amount of imbalance in the body.

Prevention

There is no real protection against this condition. The only known way of lowering the risk is to avoid overuse of magic and live in an area that is well balanced or slightly skewed to the opposite element of the magic the person typically casts. This works well, as often mages are needed in areas with elements opposite to their own. An example being that a water mage is frequently needed in a particularly hot and fire focused area to create lakes and ponds.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon