Vampirism is a rarer condition that can be caused by overuse of
Thyic.
As a negative energy disease, vampirism is transmittable. This transmission occurs upon energy drainage, though is not always guaranteed to happen; there is about a 60% chance that a person whose energy has been drained by someone with vampirism will get the disease. This chance can increase to up to 85% depending on the amount of magic that the victim has already expended.
Vampirism is caused by overuse of Thyic, similar to conditions such as
Thyic collapse or
arcane deterioration. However, it is a bit more extreme than Thyic collapse, and much different from arcane deterioration. The puzzle that has stumped
arcanopathologists for decades is what causes one to develop Vampirism instead of the much more common Thyic collapse. Some believe that this has something to do with the presence of
Auras surrounding the affected, though no pattern to this has been found. Others insist that it is something within the biology of those contracted by the disease, though this has yet to be proven.
The primary symptom of vampirism is the sudden onset of a desire to drain the magical energy of others, and the need to do this in order to survive. Those affected by the disease will begin to rapidly thin, a process only reversed when they drain others' magic. If an affected person goes too long without doing so, their body will shrivel up and they will die.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for vampirism. Its effects can be somewhat slowed by placing a patient within a high-magic room, but ultimately the only known way to deal with the condition is to lock the patient alone in a room to prevent them from instinctually harming others as they lose their grip on reality and die. This is often an incredibly lonely death, and doctors will do their best to provide some company to the patient as they go, interacting with them through a sturdy glass wall and a speaker system and allowing their family to say their goodbyes.
Ohh, the treatment for it is so sad. :( But they do need to prevent others being harmed.
Whoops, it looks like I never responded to your comment! Yeah, vampirism is a pretty sad condition to have to deal with, on all sides.