Mana Deficiency
Magic is dying, and its taking us with it.Common in all the races, Mana Deficiency is one of the main causes of the Starfall's destruction. While most point at the hordes of monsters as the main source of chaos, the true source was far more insidious.
With the fall, came a drop all over the continent in ambient magic. Only the Wastelands had true ambient magic, and even then, in poisonous levels.
This left the continent defenseless, magic-less, in the face of endless hoards of monsters.
Causes
Mana Deficiency is caused by lack of magic in a person's body. The exact limits of what counts as dangerous change for each race, but the result is the same.
Symptoms
Do you have Mana Deficiency? Check these in three easy steps:The beginnings of Mana Deficiency are innocuous. The afflicted are always tired from their body trying to refill mana from food stores that can't keep up. People were meant to live in areas with a certain level of ambient magic, food refilling mana stores was more of a biological backup plan, than a realistic task. The aches and pains have unknown cause, but researcher believe its from mana channels straining under the lack.If the answer is yes to any of these, then you should get magic supplements immediately before its too late!
- Are you always tired?
- Do you feel any aches and pains you can't place?
- Have you casted your standardized light spell recently? Was the light off color or flickering? Did casting take longer than it should have?
The last early symptom manifests itself in casting magic. With not enough magic to go around, the magic is unstable at best. A spell that uses the bare minimum of mana was crafted in 189 AD to test for these instabilities.
Treatment
The best, and only, solution is get some sort of magic in the afflicted party. Not too much, or the sudden rush of magic will crash the person's system, but a small cup of tea infused with magic is the traditional treatment. The rarity of magic infused food is generally rarer in southern coasts and more common in the north. Either way, the cost is rising as the years drag on. Yiselxà Academia is trying to engineer a cheaper remedy at mixed success.
Prognosis
If caught early and the patient's mana brought up to normal levels, things will normalize. However, if things progress, the situation worsens quickly. The body begins to cannibalize itself to produce more mana, but after about a week of this, the body runs out of resources that can be used for mana production. Soon after, they go catatonic with no hope of waking up ever again. While how long they survive at that point can vary, generally they die soon after.
Definitions
- Mana: Magic processed by the body for use. Outside magic can technically be used by a caster as well, but the art was lost.
- Ambient Magic: Magic floating freely in the world. People absorb some of this naturally to refill stores, as do many plants and animals.
Huh, cool, I like the tie-in with ambient magic and mana as something more than just a stat. How does the disease spread?
Its a condition more than a disease. Its like having low iron or some other nutrient, if a bit more dangerous. Generally, you get it from not taking care of yourself, using too much magic, or as a side effect from other diseases.
Ah, that makes sense! Thanks for the quick reply