Sig'sith

Sig'sith is a group of conditions that are causing by overusing one's magical capabilities. These conditions have two stages, each one reached by breaking one's limits. Each Sig'sith is caused by the overuse of a specific school of magic and one can be affected by more than one Sig'sith.

Causes

Bodies have a limit of magic, both stored and used, and both can be broken with consequences. Sig'sith are the consequences of crossing the limit of the magic used.

Usually (with some exceptions), someone would not be able to cross the limit of their magic, but there are drinks, foods, objects, etc that give the caster a boost. Using these boosts on their own do not cause a Sig'sith, unless used when the caster is close to their limits (something casters learn to identify early on their lifes and trainings).

Another important detail is that a Sig'sith will only occur when the limit is crossed by overusing a special kind of magic, for example casting a strong conjuration spell when already at limit or trying to protect one's body when it is almost a lost cause. The kind of magic used is important to determinate the Sig'sith one will obtain, which is easily identified by the symptoms obtained by the Sig'sith.

Symptoms

Sig'sith are divided into two stages, each one with their symptoms (although some symptoms go to the next stage). Each stage is entered when crossing the limit, something usually described as feeling their heart explode and right afterwards a wave of raw mana crossing all of one's body (there are other symptoms, minors, but these vary depending on the magic used and the person).

Sig'sith is a Res'ink word. It is formed by the words touch (siguth) and magic (sith). It means both cursed and blessed by magic at the same times while also meaning that they are becoming a husk. The word is used for magical conditions that affect the caster after a prolongate use of certain magic or trying to pass their magical limits and are not mortal conditions, but rather leave the caster in a husk-like state.

Type

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon

Affected groups

Casters

Woman's face on black background by Christian Holzinger

• Shattered: It is the first stage of a Sig'sith. It has a great variety of symptoms from Sig'sith to another, but there are a few common ones: change of eyes' colour, and remarked veins on hands (or the body part that magic was most concentred at when crossing the limit. Because these symptoms are the same between Sig'sith, they can coincide and when that happens, the magic lastly used determines which Sig'sith would be shown. For example, if abjuration has been used more lately than the conjuration one, it will present yellow eyes, but if it has been conjuration magic rather than the other, it will present purple eyes. This stage also tends to give the afflicted a magical boost.
  
  
• Broken: It is the second and final stage of a Sig'sith. The afflicted's life force will slowly be changed by raw mana, and they will start to obsesse with an objective (whether it'll be depends on the person). They become mad, their emotions become explosive, and they become unpredictable. They are called husks and will never be able to go back to a normal live. Their magical potential increases a lot, they become really powerful, but at the cost of being able to control their bodies and minds.

Treatment & prevention

There is no treatment or going back in neither stage of a Sig'sith. The only thing one can do is prevent getting a Sig'sith, and if obtained, avoid at all cost reaching the second stage. This can be done by not using boosts when close to one's limit and learning how it feels to getting near one's limit.

Limits are a very important lesson when one's learning magic but a lot of people who learn magic on their own are never taught anything about limits and thus, these are the ones that more commonly end up with Sig'sith.

Opinions

Having a Sig'sith is not a common ocurrence, but at the same time, it is not too rare. Lot of people, including non-casters, are aware of this conditions and there is a big variety of opinions, but in general they are bad opinions towards it.

Being in the Shattered stage is badly seen, most people are forbidden to use magic again by their neighbours. It is not a real rule, but a moral one, people absolutely do not want to deal with a Broken one. There are some people who are Shattered but are not badly seen, heroes. When someone thought as a hero becomes Shattered, people are impressed that they would go to such ways for protecting people. Still, heroes are badly seen if they are seen using magic again, but while small spells, kid-like, will not cause a ruckus, if they are seen casting "normal" or powerful spells that someone without training would not be able to cast, people will call to the guards, fearing for them to become Broken.

Being in the Broken stage is a dead sentence. People will attack or hire people to kill them. In the past (and still nowadays, but they are extremely rare), the Broken have caused a lot of destruction and death, and people are scared of them. If someone who is Shattered presents even the slightliest indication of being turned to Broken, they will be killed.

Puppeter Sig'sith afflicted (Shattered stage) by Catoblepon with Heroforge (and Sai2)

Types of Sig'sith

Conjuration

(Needs editing)

Illusion

(To be written)

Abjuration

(To be written)

Control

(To be written)

Air

(To be written)

Raw mana

(To be written)

Fire

(To be written)

Water

(To be written)

Earth

(To be written)