Parasites and pain: After some checking, it seems they do not feel pain.
Parasite reproduction: It seems they do not actually reproduce by biting but by something I can only explain as being similar to pre-gelding DF reproduction (i.e. can mate from anywhere in the same fort). I think they are almost like 'Nids, except they find sentients (and up) to be more appealing sources of biomass, but this does not really mesh well with the parasite part.
Number of parasites: I cannot reveal too much, but there are at least a few million, I think.
Plural of Bellator being Bellators: I tend to fall back on standard Latin plurals, so this sort of explicit correction is actually necessary for some of the more Latin-derived names. It is basically internal spellchecking so as not to propagate perceived typos.
Malakath, goddess of magic: In light of recent research, it is more likely to be analogous to the god of Vodka tinkering with Alcohol. However, these recent pieces have yet to be tested, testable though they may be.
Magic being made of mana: I thought it was just another character-held assumption the player might not see as fitting the evidence but which would be appropriate. This is related to why I do not just step in and solve all the mystery attacks for you (pl.). The investigations tend to be fairly interesting and often turn up some bonus intrigue, providing something of a picture of just how much happens in secret and out of sight.
Manufacturing gods: The Council combined can probably pull it off too, but I have doubts about my ability to partition knowledge properly for such GMPCs, so I recommend not doing this.
So as to avoid abuse with near-free actions (and the probable outrage when its innate (un)reliability comes up), I would like to make sure that everyone knows that magic is not a perfect substitute for Essence. At least a few among you are getting a bit closer to making attempts at getting overpowered discounts.
Also, the nuke cost way more than 0E.
TROLLADDIT: It cost at least a hundred times that.
ACTUALADDIT: Also, nearly all of your collective suffering and woes come from other players. Azem is right to think that the world would be sunshine-and-rainbows utopic with the complete removal of backstabbing. This is just a heads-up because of how much misery will likely appear over the next few ticks so that you know to start taking pre-emptive measures.