Motewelts

Motes are fairly commonplace across Odellia, though most of the denizens of the plane have little to no use for them. Glowing orbs of concentrated magic that drift through the air like pollen, motes occur when excessive amounts of magic has been cast in a small enough region, whether a side effect of magical warfare or the result of a mystic leyline off-gassing surplus magic.
To a trained enchanter, master alchemist, or accomplished mage, a mote can have its root magic type identified, which allows it to be consumed to either create a magical effect or enhance an existing one. Some mages keep bottled motes on their person for emergency use, to amplify an especially potent spell in combat. Some scholars have speculated that persons and creatures who have latent magic abilities may in fact create motes biologically, which their body consumes to create the magics in question.
When asked to explain that theory, the scholars almost universally point to motewelts.
Motewelts are a condition that affects elderly practitioners of magic and persons who have been exposed to high levels of magic for long periods of time. Varying in severity, motewelts are recognized by their characteristic appearance; a roundish mass that protrudes out from the skin, glowing softly in one of a variety of colors.

Transmission & Vectors

Motewelts are not contagious, not infectious, and cannot be transmitted from one individual to another.

Causes

Much like how leylines off-gas excess magic to create motes, motewelts represent the body of a creature attempting to shunt a build up of magic outside of itself, resulting in the creation of a sort of glowing tumor.

Symptoms

The primary symptom of motewelts is the condition itself; glowing masses ranging from the size of a grape to the size of a grapefruit begin to form and grow on the patient's body.

Treatment

Alchemists, healers, shamans, and surgeons across the plane have developed a variety of methods to remove motewelts from a patient. These treatments are often extremely risky, and range from having the motewelts physically removed, to tapping the welts in order to siphon the magic out of the patient, to working with the patient to channel the excess magic into harmless spellcraft in order to 'drain' the motes. At present, no one treatment is recognized as more effective than any other.

Prognosis

Motewelts must be treated in a timely manner, as the presence of a mote trapped beneath the skin of a person invariably causes more motewelts to form. Left untreated, motewelts can cause unpredictable surges of magic, or cause instantaneous magic effects; sometimes it is effects as benign as an illusion being conjured around the patient, or as catastrophic as a massively amplified fireball erupting from the patient. Severe cases often result in death,

Sequela

Once a person has developed a motewelt, they are susceptible to generating more at a higher rate than someone who has not.

Affected Groups

Motewelts are capable of affecting all persons, races, and species.

Hosts & Carriers

Any fauna or flora that spends a prolonged amount of time near magic has the potential to develop motewelts. The longer the patient is exposed, the more likely it becomes.

Prevention

Avoiding excessive use of magic, excessive consumption of magic potions, and unnecessary use of magic items is the only known preventative for motewelts.

Epidemiology

Shifting leyline have been known to cause motewelt outbreaks, in instances where the naturally roaming channels of primal magic in the heart of Odellia relocate themselves beneath a populated area.

Cultural Reception

Persons with motewelts are feared, as there is an assumption that the person who develops one must be a powerful mage and is therefore dangerous.

Type

Magical

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Uncommon