Vitae

"For how long have you been without vitae, Lord of Denial?"

- Narthu The Overseer

Vitae is a mystical substance that is found in nearly every living Regiversian creature. It is one of the Five Sources, which are vital to sustain and to render the creation of life complete. The purpose of this particular life source is to impart an individual with Providum, as well as to sustain it in xir body throughout xir's life. It is easier to obtain than the other Sources as it is found naturally in earth objects such as rocks, soil and dirt, natural clay, naturally-occurring minerals, and of course, living beings, though not all of them.

Information
Vitae is one of the Five Sources, of which vitae bestows one being with Providum, an inborn energy. Vitae is a vital, magical component in locomotion, If energy is responsible for movement and enables locomotion, vitae, since it gives Providum, allows the body to function even if it is completely bare of any energy. The Providum given will allow the body to move, but limited to merely blinking, breathing, beating of the heart, and other involuntary occurrences, since the Providum is only in small amounts.

Albeit its role may seem extremely minor, vitae is actually an extremely important factor in the survival of the body. The vitae is ultimately responsible for the ongoing involuntary, bodily processes, which otherwise are important as their reason for being automatic. For Regiversians, the heart, the mind, and other spontaneous organs can be considered authentically involuntary and functional for as long as vitae is present in the living being. Lacking the vitae is a grave problem, as once the vitae lacks, all involuntary activity within the body will halt, which will ultimately lead to the death of the individual if not immediately given the required vitae to run the processes.

Dead Mouth once referred to such a case as "bodily blackout", mostly for joking purposes.

Appearance
Vitae, when inside a body, resembles a blood cell which is cadmium yellow in color. It is the smallest of the cells, even appearing miniscule compared to the microscopic red blood and white blood cells. It also glows, just like the rest of the Five Sources in their cell forms.

In its raw state, vitae loses its cell appearance, yellow color and size, instead appearing as a mystical, intangible blue orb. It has the size of a tiny fairy and also radiates light. It is absorbable if one approaches it with the intention of accumulating it.

Corrupted vitae takes on the presence of a darker appearance, being black-red gradient in color and having the possibility to spark a flame.

Liquid Vitae
Throughout history, there has been some efforts in liquefying vitae. The most notable effort was by Erovanian alchemist and astrologer Willfred Vanstrogen. This was done out of the notion that vitae could be easier to obtain when in liquid form. However, the hardships Willfred faced, inadequate finances, numerous criticisms and discouragements from skeptics, the lack of an oterrepor, Willfred having contracted a disease after his return from Asatasza, and the fact that the effort unintentionally timed with the Iron Wars that had begun to ravage parts of the inland Fantasian countries, eventually caused Willfred to quit the idea.

Unexpectedly, in Pest of Nightmare, when Dark Blade breaks into Annabelle The Bewitching's cabin with the intention to interrogate her, what seems to be liquid mixed with blue, purple and a slight trace of yellow appears inside several potion bottles on top of the hearth of the chimney, which strongly give the impression or reminder of vitae. Dark Blade is astonished at the sight of this, while Annabelle pompously plays and shows the bottles off. Several of her remarks hint at the liquids being actually vitae, like "Ah yes, the whole world used to ponder over the ludicrous difficulty of making these des bouteilles de vin."

A dumbfounded Dark Blade questions about the liquid, confused whether it was radion or less likely, vitae, to which Annabelle replies slyly, "Wait. Which one? The third or the first? Hm, hm. You'd been familiar with it." Dark Blade afterwards shows an even more bemused face, soon replaced by a face of suspicion as Dark Blade begins to "assume the worse", before he realizes he is wasting time and proceeds to battle the witch.

What happened to the liquids afterwards are unknown. Presumably, the liquid with the same color pattern being used by Salvatron's MegaCore 5000 and Swift Six Accurbelum could be stolen(or more likely, borrowed) from Annabelle, but it remains uncertain whether the liquid was truly vitae or merely a different kind of radion, and if it was truly vitae in its liquid form, it is a black mystery how Annabelle managed to liquefy it.

Diseases
Veternusiticus: The most common of the 2 diseases. Veternusiticus occurs when the body has deficient vitae. The initial symptoms include runny nose, dizziness, slight headache and moderate pain in the stomach area. After three days, the person will notice a drastic fall in activity as he/she feels more and more lethargic and the symptoms worsen. If the disease isn't treated for the next three days, the person will slowly feel pain in the areas where involuntary organs are usually located, as well as intense coughing. If not treated again for a day, eyebugs form around the eyes of the person, and the inside pain becomes more unbearable, along with a lighter, sickly complexion. After two more days of suffering, the person eventually dies. In short, a person usually dies 12 days after contracting the disease.

The cause of veternusiticus originates from A. Danecolethum, a pathogenic bacteria with whom one of its magical properties allows it to consume the Providum present in the body, along with the Providum's carrier, vitae.

Veternusiticus is derived from the Latin word veternus, meaning lethargic or drowsy.

Hublieracktofor: This is the result of the vitae being corrupted by a supernatural force. Vitae, once impure, is immediately robbed of its value as a life source, thus making it useless. The corrupted vitae eventually reaches the bloodstream and corrupts the other vitae, and the corruption spreads throughout the body until eventually the vitae of the person is impure. Death is imminent, unless the person is treated during the spread of the corruption, either by eliminating the corrupted vitae or cleansing some of it, and he/she is donated pure vitae by a donor.

Disorders
Mortuisunto: This disorder occurs when the body has little vitae, but however, unlike veternusiticus, the person feels normal until he/she discerns the slowing down of the processes in his/her body, simply by checking the pulse of the heart. The person, despite not having enough vitae, still functions normally because of the energy in his/her body. However, the dangerous part is, once the person is exhausted, he/she has a lower chance of being able to move, even if the energy is regained. This is because of the fact that vitae is not directly energy which allows locomotion, but rather serves as a backup in case the body is exhausted. However, if the energy regained isn't enough to allow the normal functionality, hence the exhausted body will resemble a comatose one, until he/she has enough energy to continue. One with this disorder must avoid vigorous activities such as exercising, running, etc, but not all the time. Those affected with mortuisunto may appear both haggard and obese, due to lack of physical activity.

The name of the disorder comes from the first two words of the Latin saying mortui sunt, which is part of "Mortui sunt, sed ambulas," which translates as "dead but walking", due to the haggard appearance of one who has this disorder.