Blood Magic

The Origins

Blood Magic was introduced, unsurprisingly, by Xarakses rather long ago and as a method of subversion. It was his belief that through Blood Magic, he could acquire eyes into Ransera's society, as well as providing himself opportunities to meddle with and undermine it. Though any such great ambitions failed to materialize, it is true that Blood Mages have subverted and wrought fear throughout Ranseran society throughout the magic's inception.

For as long as the magic has existed it has been outlawed across the world, with countless orders forming throughout history to abolish it. At one point in time during the Third Age it was believed that Blood Magic was finally rooted out and made extinct, though the human insurgents of Silor began to spread it en masse as a method of combating their avaricious Lords.

Since then, it is known that Blood Magic is always present somewhere, in every society. Suspiciously gruesome murders are seen as a sign of its presence in a city or town. Due to the isolate nature of most of Ransera's agricultural communities, Blood Mages supposedly most often begin their practice there, preying on unprotected farmers. This has led many communities across the world to be aggressively suspicious of outsiders, though most find that when confronted with an actual Blood Mage, their prayers and pitchforks do little to defend their home.

The Loss

Unlike other Lost Magics, Blood Magic is not 'Lost' in that it was once introduced and then lost to the world. Rather, Blood Magic has been present on Ransera for a long time, and is still present, but always in secrecy. It exists all over the world, but is confined to undersocieties, shadowy plots, covens of anarchist magi and belligerent lone wolves eager to expand their power by any means. Blood Magic is highly illegal in all nations and areas in the world. Even in Daravin, the knowledge that someone is a Blood Mage regardless of their class is something certain to lead to their hunting and execution. The Gelerian Imperium sends out mage-hunters across the world to root out Blood Magic wherever it is, as they view its practitioners as a threat to stability on the continent.

And, this is true. Blood Magic has never been widely accepted in any society for its ability to invite chaos and perpetuate violence. It is a magic that systematically cannot function without sacrifice and pain, death to others and hubris afflicting the mage. Blood Magic tends to have a vile effect on the mind, one that leads the mage to view most others as nothing but expendable tools, a source of disposable energies for a fascination with power that cannot be satisfied.

Concepts

Leeching: Leeching is the conversion of blood into energy. It converts the raw, natural energy of what is called "living blood" into the invisible vapor known as "blight". Blight is the liquid, identical to standard blood in appearance, texture and scent, that is utilized to perform most blood magic abilities. While blight effectively is blood by all intents and purposes (though with no nutritive properties), it is not natural to the living world, and is constructed unnaturally with aether and Xarakses' imprint on the magic itself. It should be noted that blood magic still requires aether regardless of Leeching, though Leeching does appear to make blood magic - overall - less draining than others. However, in order to use any blood magic, the Blood Mage must be drawing from at least a small source of blood. The less living blood available to Leech, the more they draw their abilities from their own aether pool.

As blight appears to look just like blood, and quickly begins to form from actual blood or wounds, many people mistakenly believe that Blood Mages possess infinite blood, and that their magic is all utilized solely with their own blood. Instead, more accurately, the creation of blight is seamless enough to project this image.

Sacrifice: Sacrifice is often considered to be a more direct and powerful form of Leeching. Rather than converting any blood into energy and constructing blight with it, Sacrifice requires a direct ritual sacrifice of blood through mutilation, pain, and even homicide. Most value on a purely exchangeable basis is the blood of the mage, particularly when it is freshly drawn. If it is leeched at this point it allows for the utilization of enhanced blood magic, or the usage of more advanced abilities with less ichor to power them. Sacrifice can also be used in a state of overstepping to nearly or completely reduce aether costs, sacrificing one's physical health in exchange for the continued use of magic beyond one's limits. It is Sacrifice that often gives mages an edge.

Sacrifice can also be used on the unwilling, or allies, though their blood and damage is less valuable than that of the Blood Mage performing harm. It is not uncommon for a Blood Mage to capture and ritually execute a foe or civilian in the middle of a battle in order to continue to use their heinous abilities. There are a few requirements for Sacrifice to be totally effective:

To begin with, Sacrifice - if performed on another person - must be done to someone who is restrained. This can be through fear, exhaustion or physical restraints. They must also be awake and conscious of what is happening to them. Sacrifice then requires the agonizingly slow laceration of their throat, and afterwards the blood that spews from their body may be leeched in order to create additional blight.

Infusion: Blood magic allows the mage to imbue specific traits or properties into blood they construct. This acts as the core of much of the magic, allowing for their abilities to take on multiple different characteristics that allow for a larger array of abilities. For example, they may imbue acidity into their blood, may manipulate its solidity, may transition it between the three states of matter and may even imbue it with chemical properties that allow the manipulation of one's mind and body. 'Blood' for a Blood Mage is not merely a sustaining ichor, but a malleable tool for their uses.

Initiation

A Blood Mage is initiated by drawing and activating the Rune upon them, which appears like a crescent shape with bladed shapes penetrating the curved length, while also forming across from it in order to construct a near-circle. The symbol seems to have some sort of disturbing effect when visible to others, at least when a mage has already been initiated; it leaves them with a disconcerting worry, as if they are vulnerable, endangered. Of course, many of them are very right.

Once the Rune itself is placed, the Blood Mage is forced to fare with an internal war. They will find their blood vessels begin to swell and even burst, and their voracious aether will form cuts across their skin as if to find openings from which to drink. Worst of all is that the initiate is meant to do nothing; resisting the pain and the wounds is likely to lead them further along the path to death, but many can't help but resist the initiation's arbitrary nature. In truth, whether a Blood Mage survives has nothing to do with skill or even fortitude or endurance. It's almost entirely arbitrary; if a deep gash forms across your throat or damage is inflicted to your brain, you're likely to die. Blood Mages hope that the storm of pain they face will be non-lethal, but for most it is.

Dranoch experience a different initiation to Blood Magic, one where they are forced to consume another of their kind who is also enduring the initiation. For this reason, they are always initiated in pairs.

Threshold Sickness

The drawbacks listed below do not always come in pairs, and certainly not simultaneously. Some may come and others may not.

Lesser: Nausea, fatigue, headaches, muscle spasms, dehydration

Moderate: Bleeding through the nose, eyes and ears, intense cramps, seizure-like shocks and spasms, internal bleeding, vomiting and weakness

Severe

It is both difficult and easy to severely overstep with Blood Magic. While Blood Magic can be made to be rather inexpensive in terms of aether, it is often used when a mage is extremely desperate and is already either on the cusp of or is actively overstepping. Unfortunately, of all magics, the severe threshold sickness of Blood Magic is perhaps the most lethal and extreme.

Abomination: Blood Magic's most common severe penalty is "Abomination", sometimes also called "Malefic Reconstruction" by arcane scholars. Abomination is, of course, the layman's word for it. A Blood Mage who far exceeds their boundaries will begin to find themselves grotesquely shifting into a vile and mangled hybrid of a mortal mage, and a creature from Xarakses' Shrouded Realm. They will become a voracious monster who has lost their intelligent awareness, driven by primitive desires to wholly consume. These Abominations are incredibly dangerous, and the more powerful a blood mage, the more powerful the Abomination. A Pureblood - or an Ascendant Blood Mage - who becomes an Abomination is a creature of historical terror and might, capable of cleaving through small armies with ease. When these creatures are discovered in the world, nations scramble to hunt them and ensure they are slain.

Pyemia: A severely overstepping Blood Mage may experience a vulnerability in their blood, the grazing of their soul weakening their body to maladies and infections of their blood stream. This is often called Pyemia, and the result tends to be the formation of clots, abscesses and bulbs of pus forming inside of the mage's bloodstream, throughout the internal structure and around key points across their body, such as their eyes, nostrils, lips and ears. Pyemia almost always results in death, due to the formation of infections throughout the interior of the mage's body. It typically becomes lethal once abscesses form in the throat, preventing the mage from breathing.

Consequences

Blood Magic has additional consequences that will be present throughout the RP. Virtually no PCs or NPCs should ever be permissible of a Blood Mage - they are universally hated and reviled by all cultures, and so these impacts should always apply.

1. Blood Magic is illegal, and if one is revealed to be a Blood Mage or is caught using it, their punishment will be execution. Blood Mages are often burned alive. Additionally, most nations have small, elite orders of mercenaries and hunters that are trained to cull Blood Mages where they are found.
2. Blood Magic's damage to its caster, allies or foes for the purpose of Sacrifice cannot easily be healed or undone. It appears as if the vitality leaves that area for some time, requiring several days to recover. If a Blood Mage slices open their palm, they will find their hand weak and somewhat immobile for at least a few days afterwards.
3. Most Dragon Gods find Blood Magic repulsive. They are much less likely to ever take interest in a Blood Mage. Particularly, Raella despises the Rune, and often the religious orders built to root it out from society do so under her name.

Abilities

Ability 1:

Sway: Acquired at Apprentice. Sway allows the Blood Mage to remotely manipulate blood for very minimal aether, allowing them to convert it into blight through Leeching. This blight can then also be remotely manipulated, with the range at which it can be finely controlled depending on the mage's mastery. Sway also allows the mage to manipulate the physical properties of the blood; they can increase its density or lighten it, increasing its speed, and they can shift it between the three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas. The blood manipulated by Sway can also be enhanced by Suffuse, allowing for the mage to diversely influence the battlefield.

Suffuse: Acquired at Apprentice. Suffuse allows the Blood Mage to, for a small amount of additional aether, infuse any of their abilities with a property unique to blight. The possible options are: highly acidic blood, sharp blood, combustible blood, unstable blood (extremely slippery) and diseased blood (which will likely cause rapid illness and infection). The mage will need to individually learn how to suffuse each property into blight, typically requiring experimentation and understanding of the property in question. Suffuse can only instill one property at a time to each ability.

Hemorrhage: Acquired at Journeyman. Hemorrhage is a vibrant, semi-coagulated orb of blood that will appear near a source of blood, such as a corpse. Immediately it will begin to draw blood from all open wounds around it, as aethereal veins reminiscent of electric sparks will begin to form around its edges, giving rise to the blood and forcing it into the center of the orb. What happens afterward is largely variable on the amount of blood consumed, dependent upon nearby wounded or dead individuals. If Hemorrhage manages to consume a great deal of blood, the orb will grow very large and will be able to release a massive torrent, blast, burst or shower of blood in the direction specified by the mage, with the strength and size of the resulting attacks increasing with mastery. Hemorrhage is highly energy effective and provides the mage a reliable method of Leeching bodies remotely, making it a Blood Mage's most effective tool in a battlefield, though not necessarily a duel.

Aether Leech: Acquired at Journeyman. WIP; instills thin layer of aether over individual(s), siphoning all external blood leakage.

Razor: Acquired at Journeyman. Razor is an indispensable tool for a Blood Mage willing to fight at close range. It allows for the Blood Mage, if they have freshly cut a target and drawn blood, to immediately transmute aether to the tip of their weapon that will Leech the surrounding blood and create an instantaneous cleave of blight that will rend through the body of their foe. A laceration can quickly be followed by this lethal move, blood forming at the open wound and inverting, ripping through an enemy's body with high pressure.

Living Bomb: Acquired at Expert. Living Bomb can be utilized in three different ways. The first way is commonly performed through Necromancy, Summoning or Artifice, anything that allows the Blood Mage to infuse a controllable target with the volatile sac of coagulated blood created by this spell. It will generally either be internally implanted, entering their body in a liquid state before reforming inside of them, or it will be left on the exterior of their body as a visible bulb. The second way Living Bomb can be utilized is on an unknowing target, again streaming blood into their body internally before forming it inside of them. And the third, through Aether Leech; if enough blood is sapped from a target through time, the Blood Mage can Leech some of the blood in their body and use it to build and create the bomb inside of them.

Whatever the case, Living Bomb can be detonated at any time by the Blood Mage, over a period of three days at Expert and five at Master. It is difficult to remove even through Negation, as it is deeply laid into the body's interior and will generally require surgically opening the individual in order to dispel it. When the Blood Mage decides to detonate the Living Bomb, it will immediately erupt with sharp, high-pressure blood that will rend the target apart from within, annihilating them in a spray of blood that will burst out in all directions. The subsequent explosion will then cover a radius of around fifty feet, likely killing most exposed individuals within the area, or at least grievously wounding them.

Bile Construct: Acquired at Expert. WIP; advanced constructs of blood.

Blood Torrent: Acquired at Expert. WIP; high velocity spray of blood, degenerative powers.

Bloodfury: Acquired at Expert. Bloodfury is among the most powerful abilities of Blood Magic, though one that relies almost solely on the principle of Sacrifice in order to power it. It is an ability that can only be performed two or three times at best in a significant period of time, days or even weeks, or else it ensures the death of the mage performing it. Bloodfury begins with the mage's veins becoming more prominent across their body, before their skin will start to welt and tear around the length of much of these veins. The veins themselves will then partially rupture and will begin to bleed out across their skin, and the mage will generally rescind their arms and legs tightly into their form before suddenly extending their limbs outward, releasing a destructive wave of lethal blood in all directions, covering a radius of around one hundred feet in a spray of blood that will likely kill all undefended individuals within. The outward burst is so rapid and lethal that it is known to puncture the most dense of materials, ripping even through fortified walls. As Bloodfury is almost a sole product of Sacrifice, it expends very little aether despite its destructive power, and as a result many powerful Blood Mages use it as a last resort.

Exchange: Acquired at Master. WIP; allows Sacrifice to be used for the ability of another magic.

Puppeteer: Acquired at Master. WIP; allows control of internal blood through ritual, turning someone into a perfect thrall.

Master

The Pureblood

The Pureblood is the Ascended form of the Blood Mage, and its appearance draws from its name. While the Pureblood may wear a mortal disguise, their true form is what one will find unveiled if they sufficiently damage their external layer, destroying their skin and the muscles underneath. The Pureblood looks to be a creature entirely constructed of blood, a humanoid shape dripping with red ichor, every muscle outlined by the gooey crimson layer. Their shape can vary somewhat as a result of being formed by this malleable liquid, though they keep their general constraints of size, instead appearing to be able to freely decorate and ornament themselves with their formless bile. Purebloods tend to levitate, able to manipulate and suspend their own form.

There is only one significant benefit of Ascending to that of a Pureblood: a Pureblood possesses an endless supply of blood, and their endurance and ability to withstand the drawbacks of Sacrifice are dramatically enhanced, far beyond the pale of what even a master Blood Mage can endure. As the direct result of this, a Pureblood can perform Blood Magic with extreme regularity, as if it were a biological function inherent to their being. Unfortunately, this is not so with Exchange, which - while still somewhat less harmful than regularly - still seems to exhaust their physical form, weakening them far more significantly than other forms of Sacrifice.

Acquisition

1. In order to acquire Blood Magic, one must request it in the Support Forum and the request needs to be approved by a Moderator. The Moderator will then give the PC a plot prompt to acquire the magic, one that should be completed across several threads. Contrarily, a PC can achieve it through a moderated thread, but in order to not stretch resources it is preferable that it is acquired in solos or collabs through oversight. Once acquired in-thread, the PC should post again to their ticket (or open a new one, referencing the previous one) linking to the thread series in question. After a final go-ahead and once the thread is reviewed, the PC can now utilize Blood Magic.

2. Obviously, PCs can also initiate each other into Blood Magic.

3. Individuals may be offered Blood Magic by the Court of Dusk, in Sil-Elaine. If you are a PC serving their interests and are interested in Blood Magic, please ask one of the city moderators about this. Sil-Elaine is the only nation in the world where Blood Magic is legal, in territories not run by the revolutionaries.