Vita-Touched
A somewhat contrary name considering all living beings produce Vita, Vita-Touched are sapient beings capable of affecting Vita in their environment. By taking this energy and shaping it, controlling it via their own Vita core, Vita-Touched can use it to perform incredible feats that are best described as magic.
Transmission & Vectors
The exact roots of the Vita-Touched are unclear, and will likely remain as such. There is definitely a genetic element to it, with Vita-Touched parents giving birth to Vita-Touched children, but non-Vita-Touched parents may also have Vita-Touched children. Attempts at eradicating the ability by killing off as many Vita-Touched as possible seemed to result in a greater amount of Vita-Touched children being born in the next generation, as if to make up for those that had been lost.
Symptoms
Vita-Touched are best characterized by their ability to manipulate Vita, which is also the only 'symptom' of their condition they share. Beyond this, there is no shared characteristic, no usual physical or mental traits which connect them. Some Vita-Touched are empaths, capable of feeling other people's emotions. Some can see Vita, or other forms of energy which course through the galaxy. The possibilities are nigh countless, but not shared, beyond their ability to touch Vita.
Treatment
There is no way to stop someone from being Vita-Touched. Completely draining the galaxy of all free-floating Vita, like the Progenitors did during the First Age stops them from making use of their abilities, but they still have them, and can pass them on to future generations. Select materials, and thus items made out of those materials, may hamper, limit, or completely block the ability to manipulate Vita, but it doesn't stop Vita-Touched from being Vita-Touched. Theoretically, damage to the Vita Core may stop a Vita-Touched from manipulating Vita, as they can no longer control it, but this, too, wouldn't stop them from being Vita-Touched, just from displaying their signature abilities. Additionally, all living beings have a Vita Core, and damaging it would likely result in their death.
It may be possible to stop someone from being Vita-Touched via Forbidden Magic, forcibly changing their Vita Core and their physical body to permanently remove the ability and any related genetics, but this would be incredibly dangerous and pose high risk to both the user and the target. On top of this, it is also completely outlawed during all Ages and by almost all cultures, as Forbidden Magic is forbidden for a reason.
Prognosis
Though the condition is chronic, it doesn't pose significant issues to health. Vita-Touched are typically trained, though the method depends highly on culture and era. Their abilities are honed to ensure the Vita-Touched do not pose a danger to themselves or to others, as they have a high risk of accidentally using their powers in moments of strong emotions.
Affected Groups
For now, it appears that only living beings at a certain level of intelligence can be Vita-Touched. It is not limited to certain lineages, not limited to just humanoids or even Terran-descended life. People from all branches of life have displayed the ability, but only ever people. Never animals, never plants. But, perhaps, this is only because they do not have the control to manipulate Vita, and not lack of the ability.
Epidemiology
Originating as a combination between a genetic and a magical condition, Vita-Touched pass their condition on to any children they have, but it may also appear in parents who lack the ability. Throughout the ages, the amount of Vita-Touched in the galaxy slowly increased, with more of them being born after great amounts of deaths. In those generations, unusual amounts of non-Touched would find themselves with Vita-Touched children. Likewise, in times when Vita-Touched were plentiful and having large amounts of children themselves, non-Touched would have very few Vita-Touched children.
History
The origin of this condition is rather unclear. During the First Age, there were no Vita-Touched, but there was no Vita for them to use, either. It was not until the Second Age, as the amount of available Vita in the galaxy slowly increased, that Vita-Touched began showing up. At first, they were rare, but as time went on, they became increasingly common. This number never truly went down, more of them born after large amounts of death, but are difficult to track as Vita-Touched went into hiding during the Third Age, and many never stopped hiding.
Cultural Reception
People's view of Vita-Touched has changed greatly over time. During the First Age, they were non-existent. During the Second Age, they were rare, and viewed mostly favorably. They were seen as something incredible, as special, raised above their peers and placed in positions of powers they didn't always deserve--and thus, regularly reviled for this.
During the Third Age, they were hunted down, with the greater public seeing them as devious beings or even monsters. The Vita-Touched were forced into hiding, at risk of capture or even execution if they were ever revealed as Vita-Touched. But, slowly, little by little, they changed the public's mind again, more and more people seeing the human side of the Vita-Touched.
And then, when the Fourth Age came, they were seen once again in a good light, but no longer raised on a pedestal. Now, the Vita-Touched were people, first and foremost. They may have abilities others do not have, but this is not all that unusual; not everyone can do the same things, after all.
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