I’m assuming that one way an adult or elder beast could fall would be someone/something tried to straight up steal/eat the magic inside them. Would a fallen beast try to devour the magic of another beast. On a related note is magical energy called aether, mana or something else entirely in WotMEQ.
Heads up: This post contains themes of death and the undead.
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First, to make it clear: Any Beast* can Fall at any age for one reason only; Insufficient Magic in their system.
While this is typically caused by lack of proper consumption, there is one known cause of syphoning, and that is pregnancy; Pregnant Beasts need to keep on top of their Magic consumption more than usual, as the developing baby needs its own supply. It's a small amount, but does steadily increase, and if the mother isn't careful, the drain could sneak up on her...
Generally, Beasts born outside of civilization (if the mother survives such a birth) will naturally consume small amounts of Magic in their regular diets, and for a while that's enough to keep them going. But eventually it isn't enough, and they Fall to the Hunger. If a Beast is born to a parent/s with no knowledge of the Hunger or how to prevent it, therefore it never gets a surplus of Magic growing up, it is almost certainly going to Fall within the first 10-15 years of life.
*Wolf and Winks are, thus far, the only presumed examples of this not being the case.
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Second: Magic is the only thing the Fallen are trying to consume--They have fallen into crisis mode, leading them to seek the one thing they know they need. They lose all sense of their other needs, meaning they don't eat, drink, or sleep, and even if they do consume Magic (usually by eating another Beast, if they can accomplish that much), it does nothing to quell the Hunger.
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Third: I just call the magic in this world Magic. I try to capitalize the M, since it's an important element of the world, but sometimes I forget or don't quite know if it qualifies, lol
