How can witches be prevented from cannibalizing each other to gain power?

[Erebus]

Mana is the life energy that courses through a metaphysical circulatory system in the human body that allows it to function and perform its daily tasks to keep an individual alive. At the center is the human heart, which pumps mana through all corners of the body in the same way that it pumps blood. The amount of mana content is determined at birth and is different for every individual. Those with a high enough content can access it in a way that allows them to have external effects on the mortal world in the form of spells. This is known as witchcraft, and students of this practice spend years honing their abilities to increase their effects and knowledge to shape the mortal world. These witches range in power, with some born stronger and more talented than others. However, their are ways for individuals to get around this internal handicap to rival others. By consuming the heart of another human, an witch can absorb the mana content lying within the organ. This is done through human sacrifice, in which a witch cuts out the heart of a living victim in an ancient ritual. This adds to their mana capacity and thus their abilities, making them more powerful. Certain witches, known to laypeople as "heartbreakers" take to preying on other humans, killing them and stealing their organs to absorb their mana. Over time, a heartbreakers power accumulates due to compound interest, magnifying their abilities to put them above other rivals.

Heartbreakers are by their very nature evil and sociopathic, and see themselves as superior to their competitors. Sacrificing hundreds of people for their own gain would be standard practice for them. However, the energy they gain from regular people is miniscule, as they possess low levels of mana, forcing them to spend years at playing the long game. It stands to reason that they would hunt other witches in their craft, as their mana content is far higher than that of a normal person. Eating their hearts would provide a significant boost to their own abilities, resulting in a faster accumulation of power with a far lower body count. This accomplishes the goal of increasing their strength much sooner with the added benefit of not drawing attention to themselves by killing hundreds of people. At the very least, they would stack up on consuming regular hearts in order to take on a main rival at some point.

With all the benefits in place, what would prevent evil witches from taking this route?

 

[ThinkerX]

A terminal disease, possibly of arcane origin, that their magic cannot cure. Or possibly insanity - becoming so mentally unstable they can no longer work magic. Plus, there are always witch hunters...

 

[Queshire]

So, you're saying that instead of using magic to prey on defenseless muggles I could get into a fight with a lady with enough magic to toss a fireball right back at me, knows all the same witch-y tricks that I do and would be inclined to eat -my- heart if I end up losing? And then I'd have to hope that said witch hadn't left a curse on her heart that would poison my mana as soon as I eat it or allow her spirit to try to posses my body? And then afterwards I'd have to deal with the fact that any witch I interact with after that is going to keep the witch equivalent of a loaded gun under the desk when talking with me because they can't trust that I won't do the same to them? All for a bit of quick power?

Sorry, I think I'll pass.

 

[Gerard]

It sounds to me like the biggest issue wouldn't be witches so much as other heartbreakers.

This initial equillibrium of multiple competing heartbreakers has an extreme tendency to collapse into a single winner and nobody else with noteworthy mana, a situation where one heartbreaker eats all the others and becomes insurmountably more powerful than any other living thing.

 

[Avery Moore]

Well, logically, most witches would have a massive problem with witches cannibalising each other (since they wouldn't want to be eaten), and there could be like a witches guild or government, kind of like "The Ministry of Magic" that have essentially made it illegal among witches for witches to kill each other for mana. If a witch breaks that rule, the guild comes after them and makes sure that they are executed for their crimes.

That said, there could still be some witches that take the risk of cannibalising other witches to grow their power. They just have to make sure they don't get caught.

 

[pmmg]

Same thing that gets rid of evil anywhere…a bunch of good ppl getting together and getting rid of the evil SOB.

 

[skip.knox]

>With all the benefits in place, what would prevent evil witches from taking this route?

Not a thing, unless it would be the person who designed the system in the first place built in a vulnerability.

 

[K.S. Crooks]

What if their body can only hold s certain level of mana. As the amount increases so does their body temperature. If the level become too high they can overheat/burn and die. This would be similar to over-charging a battery. If it happens all at once it would be like giving a light bulb too much energy and having it blow.

 

[SinghSong]

Mana is the life energy that courses through a metaphysical circulatory system in the human body that allows it to function and perform its daily tasks to keep an individual alive. At the center is the human heart, which pumps mana through all corners of the body in the same way that it pumps blood. The amount of mana content is determined at birth and is different for every individual. Those with a high enough content can access it in a way that allows them to have external effects on the mortal world in the form of spells. This is known as witchcraft, and students of this practice spend years honing their abilities to increase their effects and knowledge to shape the mortal world. These witches range in power, with some born stronger and more talented than others. However, their are ways for individuals to get around this internal handicap to rival others. By consuming the heart of another human, an witch can absorb the mana content lying within the organ. This is done through human sacrifice, in which a witch cuts out the heart of a living victim in an ancient ritual. This adds to their mana capacity and thus their abilities, making them more powerful. Certain witches, known to laypeople as "heartbreakers" take to preying on other humans, killing them and stealing their organs to absorb their mana. Over time, a heartbreakers power accumulates due to compound interest, magnifying their abilities to put them above other rivals.

Heartbreakers are by their very nature evil and sociopathic, and see themselves as superior to their competitors. Sacrificing hundreds of people for their own gain would be standard practice for them. However, the energy they gain from regular people is miniscule, as they possess low levels of mana, forcing them to spend years at playing the long game. It stands to reason that they would hunt other witches in their craft, as their mana content is far higher than that of a normal person. Eating their hearts would provide a significant boost to their own abilities, resulting in a faster accumulation of power with a far lower body count. This accomplishes the goal of increasing their strength much sooner with the added benefit of not drawing attention to themselves by killing hundreds of people. At the very least, they would stack up on consuming regular hearts in order to take on a main rival at some point.

With all the benefits in place, what would prevent evil witches from taking this route?

How about other more convenient, sustainable and reliable methods of absorbing mana from other people in this manner? If mana's present in this metaphysical circulatory system in the human body, with the human heart pumping mana through all corners of the body in the same way it pumps blood (with the implication that it's present in the blood, and that the magical system in this world boils down to 'blood magic') then boosting one's mana through the consumption of other peoples' mana reserves, via the process of cutting out and consuming other people's hearts, strikes one as a thoroughly unsustainable and inefficient method, even with magical ancient rituals making this possible via human sacrifice.

You say that your world features witches, as opposed to wizards? And that "the amount of mana content is determined at birth and is different for every individual"? By that do you actually mean 'birth', as in the moment they're ejected from their mother's womb, or that their umbilical cord's cut? Or conception? Because if it's the latter, with their mana content determined at conception (or, going by the timeline of fetal cardiogenesis, roughly 3 weeks after conception), then a far easier, simpler, less risky and hazardous method for 'heartbreakers' than the practice of preying on other humans, killing them and stealing their organs to absorb their mana, would be to simply terminate fetuses, consuming them and absorbing their mana content.

(Section of comment has been deleted for introducing political topics on this site. --Ankari, Moderator team). then they'd be set, able of stacking up on consuming regular peoples' hearts at a rate which no other evil witches would be able to hope to match. And if a 'heartbreaker' was truly evil, sociopathic, machievellian, power-hungry and utterly devoid of empathy, enough for them to deem it palatable to hunt other witches and cannibalize them for their far higher innate mana content, then- provided that the amount of mana content is 'determined at birth' via a mechanic akin to heredity- another even more easy, simple, risk-free, and importantly, secretive option becomes possible. Namely, deliberately getting themselves pregnant, then terminating and consuming their own fetuses, every 3 months or so.

And if your society features slavery, with the most powerful evil witches ruling over your dystopian society, then you could easily envision them keeping relatively weaker witches (and male 'studs') as human cattle, to be bred in secret complexes akin to industrial farms, and conceive fetuses (or give birth to infants or children, for that matter) for the express purpose of being terminated (or slaughtered, in rituals akin to Halal butchery), so their mana-rich hearts can be consumed by them alone. Like you said, "Heartbreakers are by their very nature evil and sociopathic, and see themselves as superior to their competitors. Sacrificing hundreds of people for their own gain would be standard practice for them."

What would prevent evil witches from taking this route? Nothing, if they're desperate and deranged enough. But there are other routes which would deliver far greater yields and better benefits- especially when those greater yields make you increasingly all-powerful and immune from persecution, via the power of 'might makes right'. Who succeeded in killing more people IRL? Predatory serial killers like Pedro Lopez, Luis Garavito and Javed Iqbal killed hundreds, but still only managed tolls lesser than, or at most on a par with, medical professionals like David Moor, Dr Harold Shipman, Niels Högel and Charles Cullen, all of whom were able to kill openly and in plain sight due to their professions. And all their death tallies combined are left trailing in the dust compared to those of figures like Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot.

What you're describing's the classic predatory serial killer MO. But no predatory serial killer, who has to invest all of that effort into going out hunting for potential victims, and preying upon random strangers, is ever going to have a realistic prospect of being the world's most prolific killer. Those who take advantage of an established apparatus behind them, or create one of their own, granting them a steady (or ever-increasing) supply of victims to kill- those will always be the most prolific. And thus, in this sort of world you're described, the world of the 'heartbreakers', these would always become the most powerful in this sort of world- with even the most successful of the predatory serial killer heartbreakers, of the sort you've described, only good enough to make the second-from-the-top tier at most in the power rankings, third-from the-top tier more likely.

 

[pmmg]

Perhaps, like everything else Eaten, the energy only lasts for so long and then returns to its natural state. In the same way sugar causes an insulin spike, eating a witch causes a mana spike, but in time it just dies back down...unless one keeps feasting.



(Removed discussion of political topic --Ankari) The concept of eating infant hearts at satanic rituals has been a popular belief for devil worship long before current political factions ever formed, and the idea of eating hearts to gain some type of power transference will go on long after all of todays battles are gone. Its enough that the eating of infant hearts to gain some type of mystical benefit has already existed to make it something that it wont take much suspension of disbelief to believe, no need to add some special group as particularly hyperbolic on this. I would assume anyone would be against killing anyone else just to eat their heart. That seems solidly on the 'we can all agree on that' set of values.

 

[SinghSong]

Sorry, but what? (removed by Ankari)

(Removed discussion of political topics --Ankari) but yeah, I agree that the concept of eating infant hearts at satanic rituals is ancient enough and a popular enough belief not to require too much suspension of disbelief- that's a near-identical mechanic to how magical empowerment/reproduction works for Hags in the D&D mythos, after all. And pretty much anyone would be against killing anyone else just to eat their heart. But when it comes to fetuses, the lines could become very arbitrary very quickly, with the practice being less taboo, or at the very least able to be kept private far more easily. Especially if no-one else is involved.

For my part, I've got a vaguely similar world, in a book featuring succubuses/incubuses, where they're basically just a far more self-sufficient, less morally irredemable sub-class of vampires, with their increased life-force empowered by cannibalistic necrophagia upon people's bodily fluids via exactly the same mechanic- but of course, the general public are typically far happier, readier and far more willing to donate a steady or ever-increasing supply of semen and/or saliva than they are to donate a steady or ever-increasing supply of blood, so succubi are far more openly tolerated in this society than vampires are (especially since most succubi/incubi tend to ask first, whereas vampires are traditionally more likely to simply demand and take it- though you do get far more rapey, morally irredeemable succubi/incubi, as well as vampires who care a lot more about consent, since racial stereotypes are still racial stereotypes).

And the fetus option could be an analogous 'Heartbreaker-lite' option, more openly tolerated on account of fetuses not having any rights or protections in society, and argued to be merely an extension of the mother's body- which, if the 'Heartbreaker' in question WERE the mother, could thus conceivably make their consumption socially acceptable, though likely to be still condemned as immoral and evil by some members of their society no matter what. And even if it wasn't deemed socially acceptable, it'd still be far easier to ensure that no-one else ever knew what they'd done, in the same manner that most self-induced illegal abortions (an estimated 22M per year in our world, c.1 for every 6 births) and infanticides are carried out in secret.

 

[Righmath]

Maybe deformities? I have a character which is somewhat an omniscient being, however he's portrayed as a monster due to mishaps. He didn't consume others for power, however he dabbled in unknown magic to try and bring his daughter back from the dead. This lead to him being severely deformed and now referred to as a 'the creature' and usually without a gender. Just 'it'.

Maybe witches which have done this before, who succumbed to high intensity of Mana too fast become cursed and deformed and gives their bodies some unnatural side effects, like hunched back, blindness, or just vacant eyes, joints crippled. Etc.

 

[Ankari]

Hello folks. Sorry for the heavy-handed moderation. I'm sure no one intended to insult or incite anyone for their political views. Please refrain from discussing real-life politics on this site. Sometimes it's hard. I know politics are found in many fantasy books. But modern political topics, especially if handled indelicately, can incite other members. This is a forum dedicated to writing fantasy. There are other forums better qualified to handle modern political discourse.

I will monitor this thread for any reoccurrences. If you have any questions, you can always reach out.

 

[Queshire]

I'd advise against mutations personally. If they’re after power anyways they might not care. Plus, I don't know about you but I would love a tentacle or two to help out with carrying groceries.

 

[pmmg]

Hello folks. Sorry for the heavy-handed moderation

Seems wise. Thanks for watching out for us.

 

[TheKillerBs]

I'd advise against mutations personally. If they’re after power anyways they might not care. Plus, I don't know about you but I would love a tentacle or two to help out with carrying groceries.

It's kind of a red flag for others that these are people to be eliminated at all costs. Sure they might be stronger than others, but can they protect themselves if a band of 10 comes at them? 50? 100?

 

[Queshire]

*cough* No, no it really is not.

 

[TheKillerBs]

Care to elaborate?

 

[Righmath]

I'd advise against mutations personally. If they’re after power anyways they might not care. Plus, I don't know about you but I would love a tentacle or two to help out with carrying groceries.

I'm not sure if you were coming off the back of my point, but deformities usually hinder you. I wasn't necessarily talking about tentacles, but general human deformities, decrepit limbs etc. But anyway, a tentacle still probably isn't much use if you're on land trying to do normal human things

And coming off TheKillerBs's point, it really separates you from the crowd, makes you a pariah, an easy target if you will.

 

[Queshire]

Honestly I fear that if I elaborate it'd be written off out of hand as just PC bullshit and since the thread got whacked for politics once already that seems like a conversation best to avoid.

In short, for someone with a disability it can be a bit tiring to have disability primarily connected to EVIL heart heating witches of EVILNESS. Furthermore enough alternatives have been presented that it's not really required, and since prose is a written medium instead of a visual medium it doesn't present as much of a benefit as it might in, say, a movie or comic.