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The Channelers: Soul-Labor Class
The labor class that makes large-scale magic possible by absorbing extraction debt.
Systemic Cost
Channelers are the human buffer in node systems. They convert Field leakage into usable fuel while absorbing disproportionate cognitive and emotional damage.
Worker Classes
- Hired (paid, still harmful)
- Forced (carceral coercion)
- Enslaved (worst-case industrial cruelty)
Damage Progression
Long exposure typically progresses:
- Fatigue and sensory noise
- Personality flattening and memory blunting
- Functional collapse and husk state
Political Reality
Node empires are not powered by ore alone. They are powered by channelers treated as expendable infrastructure.
Any regime claiming "clean large-scale magic" without this cost is either lying or hiding a taboo source.