Mana

Mana is an edible form of arcana (magical energy), either infused into sugar-like crystals or added to food or drink as one might enchant an object. Mana tea and mana wine are some of the most common ways to consume mana, though mana salt (for food) is far from rare. Mana can have varying levels of purity and potency, but there are no ill effects from consuming lower-quality mana, other than needing a higher volume of it to sate oneself.

Manabound

Because magic is such a staple of many life forms on Ysireth, many intelligent races are “manabound,” relying on a regular (usually daily) intake of edible magical energy in order to thrive, much as all creatures need food, water, and air. The more manabound a race is, the more innately magical they are, the more magical power they can command by default, the longer-lived they are, the more magic-enhanced their physicality is (especially regarding healing, a lack of age-related side effects, and resistance to illness)--and the more frequently they need higher amounts of mana to stay alive.

Mana Starvation

Much like with food or water, a manabound person can go without mana for a short period of time without dying. Brief mana starvation can result in physical, mental, and arcane damage to a person’s body and mind, much like severe malnutrition can have lasting effects even if death is avoided. However, being mana-starved for too long can result in a unique kind of madness that destroys the conscious mind and leaves the body alive as a hungry, feral animal that will seek out and eat (or try to eat) any living things that possess mana in their bodies--this includes both manabound people and magical creatures.
If a mindless body can find enough mana to consume, as well as the necessary food and water, it can live almost indefinitely. But since the hunger for mana frequently eclipses the need for food and water, these ruined creatures will often slowly, eventually starve from malnutrition instead of lack of mana.
The fate of mana starvation, and the monsters that result from it, are called different things by different races. Most common terms include: Hollowing (the process) and the Hollow or the Hollowed (mindless bodies Fading and the Faded; and Withering or Waning and the Wastrels.

Type

Metaphysical, Arcane