What deficiency would make my raiders the most desperate?
Out in the desert wastes of my planet, there are living multiple tribes of psychotic raiders who have acquired a number of harmful mutations due to naturally high radiation in the areas that they live. Years of exposure and inbreeding in each individual tribe have made these mutations much more severe, and as a result the raiders have short life spans, weak immune systems, and often times diminished intelligence. The only positive part is that they are usually very large and physically powerful, partially due to genetics and partially due to their rough lifestyle. This combination of nature and nurture also ensures they are as violent as possible. They raid constantly, not only out of violence, but also out of desperation as they have a mutation that keeps them from making a certain chemical in the body. The lack of this chemical is agonizing to them, but a certain, simple food gives them the chemical they lack, and only civilized city centers are capable of producing it.
So here's what I need to know: What type of mineral or chemical deficiency would be agonizing to live with, but not fatal? Preferably something that causes mental issues like hallucinations or extreme aggression. Also, what type of food could possibly give a person the chemical or mineral they are lacking?
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1 answer
Let me add two more options:
Option 1: Progeria, or the "good" farnesol deficiency
Real-world Progeria is a disease causing accelerated aging. Affected individuals typically live to their teens, perhaps early twenties. In the real world, known causes of the disease are genetic mutations causing a chemical group, called farnesyl, not correctly detaching from a protein, called progerin. The issue therefore being in the protein rather than in the farnesyl group.
In the fictional world, we can think of a similar mechanism. The protein will be alright, instead another genetic mutation causes normal "good" farnesyl to be slowly turned into "bad" or "sticky" farnesyl. Over time, the unstuck "sticky" farnesyl is degraded and eliminated. The body of the raiders has no way to fix the "bad" farnesyl on its own, hence they have to find external sources for "good" farnesyl.
Farnesol, which we will consider a precursor to farnesyl, is present in essential oils, and might even be addictive. The raiders need thus to search across a desert for fresh lemon-grass, boil it, extract the aromatic oils, cut them properly with other oils and reagents, and drink/inject/spread-on-bread on a very regular basis. All this not to whither like a mummy and live past their twenties. And the stuff is also addictive.
It seems quite a desperate life-style to me.
Option 2: garlic/onions/spices to cover their very pleasant body smell
There are some very unpleasant sand-flies that spread a disease called Leshmaniasis. Simply put, a genetic mutation causes the raiders to produce a (very pleasantly scented) pheromone in their sweat that attracts the mites. In order to cover it, they ingest garlic, onions, and spices. Regularly and in large quantities. I know this is not exactly a deficiency per se as asked by the OP, but it is still a mutation induced condition leading to a desperate life-style. The choice is between stinking or being covered in blood-curling ulcers.
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