I can't quite seem to remember, but would it follow that Drabs would be sick more often and live a shorter lives than a normal person?
Also, I was wondering if Breath might actually be a spark of divinity given to humans when the entered this world...a source of warmth for the time they were away from God in the next. In physics, we talk about different types of energy. Kinetic, potential, etc. Are breaths perhaps used as a source of potential energy? A miracle waiting to happen? In this way, the soul of the human could be separate from Breaths, the Breath of Austere, a piece of Him, given to each individual in life when they left His side and entered this world for a time. In this way, they would not feel completely separated from him while they were away. Also, his angels, the Returned, could be his emissaries on Earth. Outpocketings from His reality for a given purpose. Perhaps acting as His hands where He has none.
Also, I am wondering about the nature of Vivenna's hair, and how that plays in. It seems that if, which he has breaths, can continue to turn her hair to a given color, she could have additional power. Since Awakening requires color for breaths to work, can she just hold her hair, awaken something, then grow more with the color? Or can she add color to hair already drained of color? (Physiologically, the second scenario would be significantly more difficult.) Also, what makes the royal line so special? Is her original Breath, the one she was born with, different from what most people have? If this were true, anyone who gained her current stash of breaths would be able to do the hair thing.