Devouring

The Devouring is a condition where a person's mana overflows within them.

Unlike nobles, who are raised wearing magic tools that drain the excess mana they are born with, or priests who offer their excess mana to fill divine instruments, a commoner has no way of managing the excessive amounts of mana. As the person grows, the mana continues growing alongside them. Commoners have no channel to release the mana, resulting in the excess mana bringing harm to the body. The "fever" (mana) continually grows until finally overwhelming and consuming the victim from the inside, which is why this condition is referred to as the "Devouring". Because of that, commoners suffering from the Devouring normally die before their baptism.

Symptoms of the Devouring are:
 * Stunted growth
 * High fevers that appear and disappear according to the person's emotional state
 * Sensitivity to changes in temperature
 * Poor stamina

The Devouring can only be stopped if the victim regularly releases the excess mana. This is normally done by channeling the mana into magic tools. Magical tools are expensive, so only those with money and connections with nobles have the means to live, either by contract or buying broken magical tools. Myne discovered that releasing mana into a taue fruit converting it to a trombe seed, also can be used to release mana. She speculates that this could be used to handle the Devouring, but keeps it a secret due to the potential societal upheaval this could lead to. One can also slow the speed of the Devouring by keeping their emotions in check, striving towards their goal and not letting despair take root.

Nobles look at commoners born with mana with distaste, making no distinction between them and other commoners, so devouring victims who made a contract with nobles to survive are often (but not always) mistreated. It's also extremely difficult for them to get a contract with nobles without money and connections.

This changed when a mana shortage became a problem due to the purge. Now, devouring-afflicted commoners are seen as a new source of mana but are still treated as commoners in most cases. Some nobles have taken to gather up devouring men, give them some cheap magic tools and use them as expandable foot-soldiers. Depending on their training and the exact quality of their rings these Devouring Soldiers' strength can vary from those that are roughly equal to a trained regular soldier to some that can hold their own against members of the Knight's Order, even if just for a short time.

With some very few exceptions mana capacity is passed down from the parents to the children, which is the reason why only a very small number of commoners ever get born with a noticable mana capacity. And since those tend to die young, only few people know of the existence of the Devouring. But even those commoners who know of the "sickness" barely ever know it is in any way connected with mana. Any form of knowledge surrounding mana and magic is closely guarded by the nobility, so only a rich merchants with connections to nobles have even the chance to learn the truth and potentially take countermeasures.


 * Myne
 * Freida
 * Dirk
 * Liz