If mana recovered slowly enough, and mages could pass it on freely between them, the ephemeral force would become a valuable trading commodity on its own.
“ Thunder and lightning is the sign of their shamans hunting and killing demons. Children's souls must be protected for their souls are not firmly in place yet and are easy for demons to take hold of. The shamans must hunt and destroy them and each break of thunder is another death of a demon hunting for souls.”
“ The villages around the capital have a strange new disease cropping up. Spread by a fungus (much like ergot poisoning), it causes its victims to be very sensitive to sunlight. Hundreds of peasants are hiding from the sun, only coming out in the darkness to labor in the fields. Unfortunately, rumor makes their behavior sound more sinister and secretive than it really is.”