Hyperetheria

Hyperetheria is an acute magical condition, where the body is overloaded with mana. As this mana builds up, it attempts to escape through whatever means available, inflicting severe pain and causing ethereal damage and ethereal instability.

Transmission & Vectors

Hyperetheria is not a transmissible condition.

Causes

The most common causes of such buildup tend to be other stresses placed on the body or mind, which can prevent a magus from properly channeling their mana.
Other causes include but are not limited to:

• Overexposure to concentrated point sources of ether or mana;
• Mana agonist overdose.

Symptoms

Mild hyperetheria is best seen through bloodshot eyes, and a moderate throbbing headache, as the mana buildup first concentrates within a person's Third Eye. Complex workings and invocations may also fizzle or fail, owing to an over-concentration of working mana - most often, these failures vent the excess mana back into the ether, relieving the condition.
Moderate hyperetheria is where even repeated venting of mana through available workings is unable to reduce the strain on the body. Bloody sweat and tears begin to manifest, as does burning along the veins, where a person's mana channels often lay. Any attempted workings at this stage are guaranteed to fail, and fail catastrophically, and some are rendered unconscious by a severe headache as a result of the concentration of massive levels of mana in a person's Third Eye.
Severe hyperetheria manifests itself through profuse bleeding out of the orifices, and a spiking in body temperature. Those who are not unconscious from pain often scream, and survivors of severe hyperetheria describe the sensation as their nerves being set on fire. No workings are capable of being cast, owing to the pain disallowing any attempt at concentration. Others near the victim can feel the mana within them raging out, and they can cause hyperetheria in others' close to their proximity.

Treatment

Mild hyperetheria is a self-treating condition, with the excess mana being vented through an invocation or working. Treatment for mild hyperetheria is limited to analgesics for the headaches, and other treatment needed as a result of the failure of a parent working.
Moderate hyperetheria is not self-treating, requiring outside intervention. Often, the victim is positioned in an ethereal ward to prevent more ether from being converted into mana, and are physically hooked to mana grounding rods, channeling excess energy out of the body until it is brought back down to a level that the body is able to handle. Mana antagonists such as irophan may be administered in low doses, until the body is able to properly compensate or the causative factor has been diagnosed and resolved.
Severe hyperetheria is often treated as a terminal condition, though attempts to reverse the condition are still made. Mana antagonists are administered in high doses, and the body is warded to prevent mana overflow from affecting others, as well as to keep the ether out.

Prognosis

Mild and moderate hyperetheria hold a generally good prognosis, particularly when treated. Without complications in treatment, recovery is guaranteed.
Severe hyperetheria's prognosis depends on how rapidly the deterioration takes place, and if treatment is nearby. In cases of rapid deterioration or where help is not nearby, severe hyperetheria is roughly 80% fatal, with death being caused by ethereal burnout. In some cases, particularly where massive amounts of mana are involved, this burn out occurs explosively, showering the area with the victim's remnants.

Sequela

No sequelae have been documented for cases of minor or moderate hyperetheria.
Survivors of severe hyperetheria may experience significant handicaps in mana channeling, as well as a marked reduction in ethereal control and mana conversion. Persistent pain along the mana channels is a common long-term complication of severe hyperetheria.
Rarely, a person who survives severe hyperetheria is no longer able to channel any mana, their Third Eye having burned out due to overexposure. Said survivors become Grade I Etherless.

Prevention

Prevention of hyperetheria is based on controlling or eliminating factors that can result in the build-up of mana without adequate discharge.
As a healthy body and mind is critical to the safe conduction of ethereal expression, seasoned mages will take great lengths to ensure that they are in top condition, both physically and mentally. A magus attempting a high-level invocation may ground themselves to the world utilizing specialized roped prongs, providing a safe ethereal conduit to prevent personal mana overfilling.
Conclaves working with volatile workings will utilize extensive means of protection to safeguard against hyperetheria, including mana sinks, wards, mana charms that can absorb the excess, and mana vents to expel ethereal buildups before they can reach a dangerous level.
Etherless are wholly immune to the effects of hyperetheria, possessing no means of utilizing the ether or personal mana. Grade III Etherless are capable of outright suppressing the ether and mana within their presence, preventing hyperetheria entirely, but at the risk of inflicting hypoetheria to those that are too close.

Epidemiology

Hyperetheria is often seen in younger mages, especially those beginning their steps into utilizing their Third Eyes and the Ether. Scores of hyperetheria are often seen in the middle of an academic year, particularly as budding mages are finally taken from outside the classroom and into their first practical assessments.
Hyperetheria outside of academia can also be observed as a sign of other environmental stressors within a sapient population, or may be confluent with other circulating diseases or outbreaks. Sudden outbreaks of hyperetheria without known cause are often signs of concern, as there is a concentration of mana in a given area, which lends itself to malfunctioning workings or malignant operations.

Cultural Reception

Hyperetheria is often seen as a growing pain, particularly when younger mages and practitioners are afflicted. It is oft said that one is not yet a true magus until having undergone a bout of hyperetheria, and in some combat-oriented conclaves, regular bouts of hyperetheria is viewed as a boon, as it means that one's mana conversion ability is unparalleled.
Those who are suffering from severe hyperetheria are rightfully feared, as they have been likened to ethereal bombs, inflicting the same fate to those unfortunate enough to be nearby.

Type

Magical

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Common