Vitus

Vitus is the name given to the magical essence inside of all beings and things. It is more prevalent in certain creatures or minerals, and it can be affected by languages (notably the Elder Tongue and Enaeohch), casting foci, or various materials (notably Brio Crystals and Khasmia and Abyssium).
A single being can only store so much Vitus internally, and over-casting or exerting their personal stores will cause them to slowly decay and rot from the inside out, as the very life essence gets sucked out of every cell in their body. It has been used as a particularly dark and painful form of execution or torture, as the process can be lengthened artificially, with skilled individuals choosing which organ or body part to rot and destroy.
The amount a person from a single species can hold within themselves is directly determined by their amount of cells, and the amount of Vitus doesn't vary much within each species. Training can only improve efficiency of use, not capacity, and even then only to a relatively small margin. All cells in the body will contain a tiny amount of this essence, and that is what allows it to be used as a torture method. There are also more specialised cells in certain creatures that are purposefully to store or hold more Vitus as an evolutionary advantage.
Control over Vitus is difficult, and certainly by no means widespread. It takes years of dedicated and gruelling training and studying to achieve even basic manipulation of internal energy. After that is achieved, a similar amount of training is needed to use a conduit, such as a sceptre or staff. Only once this level is achieved, can one be considered even adept. Doctors and healers require a very fine control of Vitus, and so are rare and valuable. Such is the case, some nations will even actively pay those they deem gifted enough to train and become a state or military medic.
It is partly for this reason, that the world of Eptan is highly urbanised, where the vast majority of population lives in cities. Larger populations centred together give a larger pool of Vitus to draw from, allowing technologies and other Vitus defences to be fuelled. These are used to protect the cities from the harsh weather and environment of the world. Those in villages or hamlets are exceedingly vulnerable to such conditions, and it is not uncommon for them to one day just disappear from existence.
In myth, it is said that when Vitus converges in a single place in a high enough quantity, it can become sentient or alive. This is why the Brio Crystals have their respective names; for mimicking hordes and swarms of insects. Some theorise a "Vitus Being" is possible somehow, without the confines or structure of a crystal, metal, or other conduit. Some folklores tell of such a being, who welded power unimaginable and laid waste entire cities in its fury.
Only one piece of evidence supports this (otherthan the seemingly intelligent movement within the Brio Crystals), which is the Vitus infused tree found underneath the Tacitus Facility, not far from the activated Leyweb Pillar. The tree could move, though primitively, and appeared to show a sense of awareness, at the very least for its immediate surroundings. This has caused the discussion about how the Fara came about to ignite once more among researchers.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane