Acquisition:
A soul may be 'muted' through a curse or magical condition such as extreme mana exhaustion. This happens when a wizard continually expends every bit of magic they have over a short time period. A normal person may also have the mana forcibly drained from their body repeatedly by magical means or through the actions of a creature like a succubus. Curses or magical parasites may also cause this condition though it may also be a fluke of birth. Regardless of circumstance, in the end, the individual has gained a permanently smaller soul, and unlike most creatures, does not radiate a small mana field around themselves. This also has the slight side effect of most spells considering the afflicted to not be a living creature and either failing or resulting in a strange miscast.
Symptoms and effects:
Type One:
The most common form of a mute soul is a type one, and they display dampened emotions, as well as a complete inability to cast magic though this usually doesn't interfere in the usage of magical artifacts or enchanted items. They may tire more easily, and their skin, hair, eyes, etc are more likely to be a more muted color. Finally, they also don't live quite as long as their peers, though this difference is usually not exceptionally pronounced. For example, a human with a mute soul may only live to eighty compared to the maximum of usually a hundred.
Type Two:
The rarer version of this affliction is called a type two mute soul, and it may be acquired into adulthood but it is most common in people who are naturally born with a smaller-than-average soul. These individuals can not only not cast magic but they also have a magical immunity to some degree. This may be small but can go all the way up to a complete immunity to magic and magical effects in general. In some, their mere touch shatters illusions, dispels enchantments, and physically harms magical creatures. These individuals tend to live longer than the average for their species, with some type two mute souls living double or even triple their normal life span. Regardless of how long they may live, these types twos are generally unpleasant to be around, with close companions reporting a cloying apathy or lethargy when remaining close to them for extended periods. The color seems to drain out of the world when they come near, and some have even gone so far as to say that extended exposure may mute the soul of those they are close to.
Both type one and type two cannot pass their condition on to their offspring, and in general, they tend to birth exceptionally magically gifted individuals though this is not a rule. There is also no cure for this condition, though that has not stopped people from attempting all manner of mundane or magical remedies to fix this issue.
Type Three Mute Soul:
The rarest of the three, these types are rumored to exist but these rumors have not been substantiated. More legend than anything, supposedly these individuals possess an extremely small soul, so small in fact that it seems to drag magic toward it like a great and terrible absence in reality. These creatures are rarely fully sapient and supposedly act more like animals than living, thinking things. Able to devour souls, consume spells, and eat magical artifacts, they are the boogeymen of many a young wizard.
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