Zarsies 5970 Popular Post Share Posted April 22, 2020 Pale Blood Magic “Your skin sallow, your eyes bloodshot, your soul craven and et. I rescind your birthright.” -Malghourn on the Night of Exsanguination Origin The greatest secrets hide not in shadow but antiquity where not just light but memory is deprived. The roots of blood magic are truly ancient and therein forgotten, lost to the annals of history. The earliest accounts of its use come from the old mage wars of Aegis where sorcerers hurled great elemental spells across scorched and devastated battlefields yet it reaches back still. Some greater minds theorize it is as natural and innate as blood, perhaps entwined with mortality itself, while others think it a curse laid by the Creator himself, a product of a long dead, unremembered feud’s damage, or even a just-as-forgotten union’s blessing. Interlinked with the runic script of old, the Material Alphabet is supposed to be of similar age and origin. Its name speckles history and appears in various languages as “hemomancy,” “blothr-bhakthal,” and “valmir’taliyna”. Ancient blood mages have permeated the ages, be they great kings, hidden and manipulative covens, or mere tools of devastation but their lineage persists today. Rather, until the Night of Exsanguination. Whilst the practice belongs to none and predates all, few forces have harnessed blood magic to the extreme that Malghourn has, an Anthosian drake mentally awakened by the wizardry of the late Setherien. This enlightened dragon dabbled first with Setherien and later with an ancient cabal and Descendent practitioners whose tutelage quickly advanced him and inspired great ambitions and even greater suspicions. Malghourn carefully eradicated blood magic outside his circle around the Descendents and taught his drake-breed of practice, dominating the scene with his meticulously curated iteration through his invention of bloodshards and the Red Nexus. Through them he had a stranglehold on blood magic and just as he granted insight into genus’ machinations and the complex philosophy behind it he could take it away. First Malghourn saw the blood mages as perfect pawns for his control, tools for requisition and conquest, and he showered them with many gifts and tasks. Met by disappointment after disappointment, the Stone Serpent began to lose hope in his plans. He had built an underground empire on the exploits of blood magic but in the hands of his pawns it was squandered, neglected, and bickered, sabotaged, and killed over. What was once a power to conjure screaming firestorms and raise climactic tsunamis became a power to tear gates for the otherworldly and rend meat became a power to induce nosebleeds and galvanize stomachs; misuse and reckless abandon accompanied every stage and Malghourn would not have it. This displeasure culminated in the Night of Exsanguination, a highly impressive feat of sorcery. The Stone Serpent first witnessed the innovation of universal rituals at the hand - if such a thing could be labeled - of Achan-Chatla, a devious and dangerously subtle Voidal horror often called the King in Yellow. Achan birthed other horrors through the whispering womb of Shub-Umbilius, a great invisible behemoth, whose many disappointments and unspoken threats led to his decision to eradicate the brood by conducting a ritual of unparalleled genius; the horrors were forcibly manifested into mortal bodies, mindplane and all, without any of their horror-innate abilities and without producing a soul to anchor them across the whole of the mortal realm, leaving only Achan at the time. By taking elements of such a feat - a global ritual - Malghourn harnessed the Red Nexus and its nine accompanying bloodshards to strip blood magic from the spread leftovers of his lineage. His pawns merely squabbled, hoarded, and languished in sloth and so he deemed them unworthy. In the event Malghourn seized the distributed bloodshards and honed in on every hand to have graced them and drained the magic from them, bleeding them dry like a stuck hog for harvest. Yet despite his grand wizardry the ritual was not absolute. He could steal their craft and study but he struggled to strip them bare as though blood magic and its machinations are linked with mortality too deeply. This purge left the vast majority of users powerless but within them dwelled vestiges, an inchoate knack for blood magic still. They were bled and left pale. Explanation True blood magic is now a coveted asset to few greater powers: the Stone Serpent and his rare and obscure peers. This neutered form is called pale blood magic on account of its lost vitality. The vast majority of in-hand abilities have been lost along with already limited control over rituals; pale blood magic is in many ways primitive wherein it lacks developed focus, strength, and control. However, in the same vein it is freed from the domination of Malghourn and therein can be taught freely without the influence of bloodshards. Users who participate in a successful ritual - a not too frequent occurrence - have their primal aptitude awakened and therein have ever so slightly increased power over the half-dead art, raising from lesser tier to greater tier. -To prevent an excessive explosion of applications, greater tier pale blood mages can only ‘teach’ 3 people a month (but awakening to greater tier is not restricted). The use of self-teaching tomes count towards this limit for their author. Pale blood magic still hinges on genus, the esoteric essense of rage, power, and life hidden in the blood of greater souls, the most common form of sentient life. Just as genus hides in blood it hides all of Creation within itself, a volatile and potent substance capable of great deeds when coupled with direction and intent. With blood as ink and runes as letters pale blood mages can inscribe ritual circles as though sentences to evoke meaning and effect. Genus is fleeting and is only retained in fresh blood, however there is also a subtle link between the living and their blood wherein upon death not only does blood begin its clock on potency but there is an immediate loss of quality; a ritual is better fueled by the blood of those still living, even if only for the time being. Said runes exist in an extensive library of blood-based symbols each of a particular meaning and various applications within rituals, although only a fraction are known and used. The known runes are as follows: Spoiler Elemental Runes “The firstborn in this dismal plane and the elements the Maker shaped my father and his ilk, the Brothers and their children, and the world itself, the primeval express what is more pure and raw. Each is of their own order and chaos, good and evil, peace and fury.” Rune of Fire Fire is hot and furious. It is father to steam and humidity when bound to water(1), cinder and ash when bound to earth(2) and smoke and miasma when bound to air(3). It suggests fury, anger, pain, unruly strength, raw chaos. Rune of Water Water is fleeting and calm. It is mother to steam and humidity when bound to fire(1), fog and mist when bound to air(4) and filth and mud when bound to earth(5). It suggests fluidity of emotions, brief order, agility and uncertainty either altogether or individually. Rune of Earth Earth is wise, obedient, malleable and stalwart. It is father to cinder and ash when bound to fire(2), dust and sand when bound to air(6) and filth and mud when bound to water(5). It suggests sturdiness, patience, steadiness, long-lived order and knowledge either altogether or individually. Rune of Air Air is sporadic and swift. It is mother to smoke and miasma when bound to fire(3), dust and sand when bound to earth(6) and fog and mist when bound to water(4). It suggests lighter chaos, speed and quick-willed emotion either altogether or individually. Rune of Dark Darkness is abyssal and eternal. It is shadow and shade; suffocation and cold, but also spaciousness and warmth, endlessness and the end itself. It bears no father nor no son, for all other elements may only produce the perception of darkness -- they may generate it’s visage, but not take its raw form. Rune of Light Light is clarity and constant. It is understanding and true perception; warmth and the foreseeable, but also desolation and a blank canvas. It bears no mother nor daughter, for all others elements may only produce the perception of light -- they may generate it’s visage, but not take its raw form. Rune of Metal Metal is firm and orderly. It is certainty and stubbornness; it can be melded to fit another shape, and melted to mimic rivers, but in the end it shapes into that of unbreakable iron. It is said to be the product of fire, water and earth, and retains faint semblances of each of these elements with it’s creation. Lightning is attracted to the element of metal. Rune of Lightning Lightning is both orderly and chaotic; unexpected and warned of. It is swift and strong, and dissipates with the whip of wind. It brings justice in the form of ash and fire where it touches, and is attracted to metal; the only element that may give the impression that lightning may be bent to one's will, but only for a brief moment. Existence Runes “Of flesh, of flora, of ethereal; entities come in few forms and among them are three, a triad of raw forms always obeyed lest they be something other, something godly and divine. A mortal, a plant, a spirit, or a combination, they are all of baseline existence except for what the invisible minds above create and hide in their realms.” Rune of Flesh Flesh is fueled by the essence of blood and bound only to those who bear true minds; it is expression of mortality to those who live despite immortals misusing the visage of flesh to suit the needs of relation. Runes of Flesh are used to create beings of flesh, or to summon entities of flesh from other realms. Rune of Flora Flora is the life which makes up our world; it is what binds the earth of most mortal realms to the natural cycle of things and to assure all is not desolate, bleak and mountainous. Flora comes in many forms but retains similar structure despite what realm it belongs to, and hosts peculiar natures that range from simplistic and mindless to wise and divine, much like the Elder Trees of the Aspects. Runes of Flora are used to create beings of flora, or to summon entities of flora from other realms. Rune of the Ethereal Those of ethereal nature are otherworldly creatures that are not known to belong to mortal planes in native form. They are either a hazardous invasion or an unnatural dawn of life, and bear nary blood or flesh or the stem of flora; taking vague forms that range from ghosts of long-lost life to wretched wraiths. Runes of the Ethereal are used to create ethereal beings, or to summon ethereal entities from other realms. Rune of Divinity Divine beings are cryptic and mysterious, and their nature are not set by one single law; they bear all the knowledge one may hold often without the insanity it brings, and it is said they are the prime product of the Maker, whom are intended to vanguard the realms of creation so the Void does not swallow them whole. This rune is an enigma and operates in theory; for it is unknown whether or not it may truly bring about the presence of greater beings such as Aenguls, Daemons, Spirits, or antediluvian forces far too magnificent to be beheld by mortal perception. Totality Runes “This world is not alone. We are one of many -- perhaps prime, perhaps not -- but our loneliness is unfounded for what lies beyond, be if akin to the mortal planes, transcendental ones, or of the divines, they roam in the eternities beyond waiting to be abused and summoned from. Alternatively, and most delectably, they may be targeted or bound there.” Rune of Mortality The Rune of Mortality is reserved for summoning beings of any known physical form from planes that host them in the time of their summoning. Aos and Eos, the sides of the coin show to boast their own native life that bear their own origin of creation. However, despite all mortal realms being similar merely based on hosting a land of flesh and flora and often natural life, no two realms are exactly similar, and to believe such would be foolhardy and unsuspecting of what threats may await on the other side. Rune of Transcendence A true mystery is not only the nature of other worlds, but what shape they may take beyond the makeup of mortal planes. These places are ever rarely witnessed by one’s true perception -- and only the most famed wizards and portal-delvers of ages’ past have beheld the distortion of transcendental realms. There are countless transcendental realms yet unnamed -- claimed to be the failure of naive divines, simply the foreign perception of another plane or even mortal planes that have met a fate so destructive that the very earth that made it up had fallen into a chaotic nexus, and the elements that kept order betrayed their natural laws and sought their own machinations in the form of unrelenting chaos. No true life may support itself in these wretched places, so thus, it is only natural that supernatural beings, often spectral entities, roam these planes and survive by their own unknown means. Some theories even suggest that the Void itself is a realm of transcendence, and if such is to be true, to open a rift and allow another being to slip through into our world and from the Void would likely mean to devastate the land and to endanger all life and lands beyond. Rune of Sacrosanctum Divine, sacrosanct realms are the foreign pages of a book written by greater beings -- prime examples being Val’garis, Bastille, the Nebula, the Seven Skies, and the Spiritual Planes and what subjects are hosted within them. It is referenced in common mortal knowledge that divine beings such as Aenguls and Daemons individually hold reign over their own special realms. Thus, it may be imagined that divine realms are more related to mortal realms in terms of order and what defines them, which almost often concerns the alignment and affinity of the divines that control them. Entities, whether bound by flesh or ethereal form, may be summoned from other sacrosanct realms if they are hosted within them, but to summon the divines themselves is a theoretic, forbidden process in which success in doing so would likely tear the mortal plane the ritual is hosted in asunder whether in defiance of the natural laws between divine presence in other realms or simply on behalf of the raw power said divines expel. Force Runes “True power embodied through blood is found here, including power itself. These are the most coveted runes for their knowledge is volatile and a thing of great potential -- be it great creation or great destruction -- and a thing to be deeply wary of.” Rune of Power Power is raw force and strength; it is one’s bloodbound muscles, a king’s lordly reign, the fury of flame, the grip of Gods and the will of man. Power is a broad concept and comes in many forms, so thus this rune may be used to empower many things in many rituals. It is the fuel necessary to carrying out the more volatile rituals. Rune of Draining Force may take form in greater power, but it also takes form in one's ability to claim; to take from others what one desires for oneself. It is primal action to take away from others -- to take the life from one's prey, to steal their blood and their essence for yourself. To drain is merely another aspect of claim. To claim is another aspect of power. It is to take. Rune of Binding The shackles of slavery bear their own history that stretches across these past dismal ages, but they were all forged of iron -- able to be shattered and broken after rust made them brittle. The essence of genus, however, bears no such brittleness; there is no rust to be had, no weakness dawned by the passing of eras. Genus is a catalyst; and its power is ever-flowing through one's mortal veins. Shackles ever-empowered, and never broken; only unlocked by the master of those who are runed. So too can shackles be worn with no master but the world and life itself. Rune of Silence The antithesis of power and infinite potential, silence is nothing, the black crevasse and the bottomless abyss. It voids energy and sound, leaving nothing behind but absolute stillness and eternal calm. It is pure order, pure nothingness. Silence embodies a muted scream and a muffled death rattle, a tangible force itself which roams as quelling entropy. Rune of Life Among the most enigmatic and potent runes, life is sentience, animation, and more than mere existence but consciousness and spirit. It is a physical and ethereal heartbeat and a tool to be used most carefully; life both marks and denotes the living as well as gives life. It is what genus aspires to uphold and a force fueling its own cognition. To inscribe life is to signify sentience, a frightful thing for not all things ought to have lives of their own. Pale blood magic is a dark art feat that can be taught by a greater tier user or self-taught by reading a book detailing all of the runes and how to apply them (which can be written by a greater tier user); said greater tier user has to vouch for the authenticity of the book on the self-taught app. Genus is held in the blood of greater soul having creatures, meaning sentient life (most of which are able to learn or cast magic but not necessarily) and not animals. Fresh blood is defined as blood spilled within one narrative day or 3 OOC hours. Blood cannot be stored in order to remain fresh. Runes do not have powers on their own, they are merely shapes that evoke meaning for combination in rituals; writing a fire rune on a tree won’t ignite it. Pale blood magic also comes with the same mental and physical effects which are as follows: Spoiler The tangible effects of blood magic include but are not limited to causing one’s skin to pale, hair to lighten or become brittle and dry, eyes to become milky and bags to form beneath them, easy bruising, occasional nosebleeds, appear anemic, or racing or slowed heartbeat. These effects are rarely dangerous medical conditions however they are telltale signs of blood magic use; the player may opt to increase the severity of these features and the character might seek out medical or alchemical remedies to their symptoms. The intangible effects of blood magic include extensive mental disorders; the more affluent the blood mage the more severe their condition and the most common mental traits include but are not limited to irrational thought, paranoia, insomnia, and addiction. It is best to research your character’s mental afflictions as to not roleplay an offensive or distasteful stereotype. Also called cognitive distortions in modern medicine but related to logical fallacies, irrational thoughts include a heaping list of irrational thinking patterns below for simple examples. -Always being right -Disqualifying positive things -Blaming and holding others accountable -Emotional reasoning (“I feel stupid, therefore I am”) -Filtering (“>ignoring positives and focusing on negatives”) -Jumping to conclusions: making a conclusion with little to no evidence >Mind reading and thinking you know what other people know (usually negative) >Fortune-telling and predicting outcomes (usually negative) -Labeling or simplify people down to names (bad first impression means a person is a “jerk”) -Mislabeling or misreading situations with labeling (kid playing is a “street urchin”) -Magnifying things and making much larger deals of them than they realistically are -Minimizing things and making much smaller deals of them than they realistically are -Overgeneralizing and making hasty generalizations to write things off (“all elves are snobs”) -Personalization, self-blaming (“I’m a bad mother because my son is a blood mage”) -Splitting or black-and-white thinking, all or nothing, yes or no Paranoia can be interpreted very broadly as with addiction but the general thought is that blood mages become more secretive, distrusting, and anxious because of paranoia crawling around in their thoughts. At its greatest extent blood mages may even turn upon their friends in episodes of paranoid delusions. Get creative with how you interpret this paranoia because it’s very broad in the sense that it could be distrust for others, the world, or even yourself. Insomnia’s effects are both mental and physical but they can include changes in mood, lack of motivation and energy, irritability, and more. Being drowsy makes one feel preoccupied and tense. The most free range madness, addiction takes countless forms and can get quite weird quite quickly, so have fun coming up with this one. Blood mages can be addicted to anything, from the feeling of an emotion, a person, an object, a substance, a song, and so on, but the most common addictions include: -Drugs and alcohol (cactus green, rubium, sugar, etc) -Gambling and chance taking -Sexual interaction (if in doubt, just FTB) -Spending money -Entertainment (anything that amuses) -Tattooing and piercing -Binge eating or food addiction (“I cannot eat anything but sweetrolls and pumpkin pie”) -Risky behavior or thrill seeking Lastly, while much of the potency of blood magic has been stripped from it, its core fury and raging power remains and can be applied to augment other magics in their own manner (necessitating a magic piece to be written on its own e.g. Thulean Druidism). Abilities All rituals require a small cabal to participate in order to stir the magical potential within the bloody inscriptions, necessitating that some of those present must also be already awakened: greater tier pale blood mages. They are fragile things and interference like combat or destruction of the written runes is enough to disrupt them. As well, rituals require that the sacrifices used to write them must remain living during the duration of the ritual lest the runes lose their potency; sacrifices are best as willing participants or protected prisoners. The use of blood for this feat’s purposes is measured in “living sacrifices” of the following levels: -Meek: individuals who have lost at least 10% (about 0.5 liters / 1 pint) of their blood and are experiencing no symptoms of blood loss. Pale blood mages generally use themselves as meek living sacrifices as it is little more serious than slicing their own hand. -Moderate: individuals who have lost at least 20% (about 1 liter / 2 pints) of their blood and are experiencing mild symptoms of blood loss. -Major: individuals who have lost at least 30% (about 1.5 liters / 3 pints) of their blood and are experiencing moderate symptoms of blood loss which worsen and can lead to hemorrhagic shock. A whole dead person’s worth of blood (about 5 liters / 10 pints) is equivalent to a moderate living sacrifice. The living sacrifice values are cumulative meaning 3 meek living sacrifices can replace 1 major and so on. For example, the elemental ritual requires 1 major and 1 moderate living sacrifice which could be substituted as 2 moderate and 1 meek or 5 meek. After a ritual circle has been made and its cost in blood fulfilled - used or merely prepared - it can be activated again at any point in the future with a refreshing inscription of 1 major living sacrifice (commonly 3 minor via the blood mages themselves). Circles cannot be reused if at any point their runes are disrupted, including if cleaned away and replaced to edit the properties of a ritual, wherein a new circle would have to be made at full cost. Elemental Ritual - Non-combative Objects may be imbued with a primeval element through an elemental ritual, however they are not without their relevant risks. Spoiler Mechanics: Elemental rituals are conducted upon objects and items where they are granted additional properties embodying the element used. Elemental rituals require only the elemental rune they are being inscribed with and a rune of mortality, binding their planar property to the object in a ritual; the object itself bears no runes and the enchantment is permanent unless the object is broken or destroyed. In conducting the ritual a larger rune of mortality is to be drawn and the relevant elemental rune within the crescent at the corner. The ritual is initiated by the greater tier user coating their hand in their own blood and planting it at the base of the ritual circle and all other participants doing the same spread out around the circle. The individual leading the ritual then contacts a Story team member (actor/writer) who rolls out of 20 secretly on behalf of the players to determine the outcome of the ritual. They are as follows: 1-4 Failure with complications 5-7 Failure without complications 8-14 Success with complications 15-20 Success without complications Failure with complications entails the loss of the ritual object and damage to the area through the accidental summoning of a hostile celestial (perhaps more than one), a mildly violent explosion likely of the relevant element (if applicable) or of the object in question with painful shrapnel, a spray of random evocations, a sudden and not-quite-lingering vacuum of air, or some other unfortunate accident or a mix of them. The intent is to not just waste the materials of the ritual but threaten the safety of the participants and shouldn’t be outright lethal. Failure without complications is just that and entails the loss of the circle’s potency, wasting it and the time of its participants. Success with complications is the same as failure with complications but the object is successfully enchanted. Success without complications entails the object being successfully enchanted and nothing goes awry. Elemental rituals performed on objects may produce enchantments of the following variety: Fire: the item becomes terribly brittle, flaking and chipping away with use. Weapons may last a single battle and will surely need tending to by the hand of a blacksmith afterwards. These items, when drawn quickly along rough surfaces after having the fresh blood of the wielder deposited upon them, will burst into flames and burn ferociously until the blood runs dry (four emotes) after which it must be wet with blood again. Armor becomes resistant to heat, protecting the wearer within from scorching weather and brief flame contact but cannot resist prolonged flame nor does it hold up well against physical attacks, flaking and chipping with every hit. Water: when dropped into water the item will invariably float to the surface and rest atop the waves no matter their ferocity, wielder or wearer included. The wearer will always remain dry and free from the creeping chill of water. When the blood of the wielder is shed upon the item it will become as malleable as liquid for a short period of time and will shift into a new form (two emotes) of a similar size that was determined at the time of the item's making. An example would be a sword that can transform into an umbrella and vice versa. Earth: the item becomes noticeably heavier; armor may be uncomfortable to wear and slow the wearer, negating much of their reaction time, and weapons more difficult to swing but come with added heft which will quickly exhaust an untrained person. These items have greater protection from physical stress and their general durability is also considerably enhanced; vibration is also near completely nullified. These items have no activated ability. Air: the item becomes lighter and far more easy to handle. Objects exert most of their original force but with greater ease than before. Weapons may be swung like light branches and metal armor may feel like leather and leather like clothing. However, the untrained find the change in weight in weapons imbalancing and risk having the object fly from their grip amid use as the gracefulness of the wind betrays them. As well, armor becomes half as resilient and easily dents or tears. Dark: the item becomes visibly shaded as though they were always underwater and instead of reflecting light on its edges they ‘glow’ with shadow and carry darker patches. Shadows tug towards these objects as if reaching out to caress them. If doused in fresh blood these items become completely and utterly jet black. Light: the item has no shadow and if near a lightsource intensifies it just faintly, kindling a torch or aggravating a lantern. When blood of the wielder is shed upon the item it takes on an ambient glow ranging from the intensity of moonlight to a torch (two narrative hours or 30 OOC minutes) with a color denoted by another rune when made; fire gives red, orange, or yellow, water gives green, purple, or blue, earth gives green, grey, or brown, air gives faint translucency, dark gives an odd, muddled grey like warped glass, metal gives a sharp and fragmented grey, and lightning gives vibrant yellow, white, or blue. Metal: the item gains an odd sheen which light catches and it attracts lightning and conducts such energy well. These objects possess a magnetic property towards other objects of their same material albeit the strength of such magnetism is weak enough for any adult to be able to pry them apart with effort. These items have no activated ability. Lightning: the item gives off a static shock at a touch, and emits a sharp and shrill pop and crackle when drug against metal or metal-runed objects and if doused in blood gives a skin-numbing zap (tingling for 3 emotes) which remains active so long as the object is bloodied. Red lines: -Requires 3 pale blood mages, 1 of which must be of greater tier. -Requires 1 major and 1 moderate living sacrifices. -Must be written upon a flat, swept surface. -Because of how the ritual magically exhausts participants, those who participate in or lead an elemental ritual cannot participate in or lead another ritual for 1 IRL day. -Fire weapons must be wet by their wielder’s blood (not their enemy) and require at least 1 emote of being extinguished between being on fire for 4 emotes. -Water objects must be screened by a Story writer to affirm the two states of the object are roughly equivalent e.g. a sheet of paper cannot become a tower shield. -Earth armor causes the wearer to be nearly incapable of dodging and slows their movements but hardens the armor beyond ferrum (note: armor still has gaps). Earth weapons are heavier and slower to swing but come with a harder hit due to the added weight. Use of earth objects strain and tire the wearer, no one susceptible to exhaustion able to go beyond 15 emotes of use. -Air weapons, when used, require the wielder to /roll 20. On an 8 or lower the weapon flies out of the wielder’s grasp and might whip about harmlessly for a moment like paper. -Light items cannot produce light brighter than a normal torch. -Lightning items cannot stun/paralyze/electrocute, merely apply a sharp zap and leave skin numb and tingling for 3 emotes. Summoning Ritual - Non-combative Pale blood mages may attempt to conjure an entity or open a rift to another plane but not without many risks. Spoiler Mechanics: Summoning rituals attempt to conjure generic, nonspecific creatures (“troll”, “scaddernack”, “wyrm”, etc) or open rifts to other planes. This requires the circle to be inscribed with as many relevant runes as possible to help narrow down the entity such as metal, divinity, sacrosanctum, power, and life to summon a reever of Garumdir or water, flesh, mortality, and power to summon a hydra but the result is never guaranteed. Pale blood mages must be careful for they now lack the tools to subdue or bind such a creature and have no means to control it other than pushing it a certain direction. Rifts require similar runic descriptions such as water, earth, flora, divinity, sacrosanctum, power, and life to target the Eternal Forest but are equally uncertain results. Such rifts are just as dangerous and unpredictable since something can cross in or out of them and they are not permanent portals. The ritual is initiated by the greater tier user coating their hand in their own blood and planting it at the base of the ritual circle and all other participants doing the same spread out around the circle. The individual leading the ritual then contacts a Story team member (actor/writer) who rolls out of 20 secretly on behalf of the players to determine the outcome of the ritual. They are as follows: 1-6 Catastrophic failure 7-10 Failure with complications 11-13 Failure without complications 14-17 Success with complications 18-20 Success without complications Catastrophic failure entails a highly dangerous repercussion such as the accidental summoning of a hostile terror-type or horror-type (magic-using) Voidal horror, a violent elemental explosion, a gush of random evocations, the accidental summoning of hostile, highly dangerous inferis (no greater than zar’ei, possibly multiple) or some other terrible monster(s), the opening of a reality-warping rift into empty space which voraciously sucks in air, the summoning of a part of another world such as a section of bog with poisonous miasma or volcanic rock and magma, or some other terrible accident or a mix of them. The intent is to wreak havoc and destruction and threaten the lives of the ritualists. Failure with complications entails the loss of the ritual circle and damage to the area through the accidental summoning of a hostile celestial (perhaps more than one), a less violent elemental explosion, a spray of random evocations, a sudden and not-quite-lingering vacuum of air, the summoning of an otherworldly disease or similar intangible threat, or some other unfortunate accident or a mix of them. The intent is to not just waste the materials of the ritual but threaten the safety of the participants and is less lethal than the above. Failure without complications is just that and entails the loss of the circle’s potency, wasting it and the time of its participants. Success with complications is the same as failure with complications but the creature or rift is successfully summoned. Success without complications entails the creature or rift being properly summoned and nothing goes awry from the ritual itself; the creature or rift-destination may be incredibly dangerous. Red lines: -Creatures require Story team member (actor/writer who therein play) approval and rifts require Story team manager approval (for proper coordination and preparation). -Requires 4 pale blood mages, 1 of which must be of greater tier. -Requires 2 major and 1 moderate living sacrifices. -Must be written upon a flat, swept surface. -Because of how the ritual magically exhausts participants, those who participate in or lead a summoning ritual cannot participate in or lead another ritual for 2 IRL days. -Summoned creatures are never docile/friendly, being neutral at best, and oftentimes are hostile and dangerous things which cannot be tamed or (usually) reasoned with. The summoning ritual is not intended to give pets or allies and at best could be used to, for example, summon a horror-type Voidal horror to speak with. -Rifts are one-way portals into another world (of which the Story team involved dictate) that appear no larger than 2x4. All players entering a rift must agree to a PK clause wherein they have no guarantee of getting their characters back from the other world, let alone live there, and could easily be lost in said other world forever. Additionally, even if a rift is made successfully without complications (such as rolling a 20) the rift is not guaranteed to be the intended destination but rather something close so long as it fits the ‘description’ made by the runes involved. Rifts remain open for two narrative hours or 30 OOC minutes. Creation Ritual - Non-combative Through combining the meaning of runes and other magics, pale blood mages can briefly glimpse the old powers of raw invention. Spoiler Mechanics: Creation rituals attempt to cobble together the meaning of runes and other magics as ingredients to create an object or entity. This requires the circle to be inscribed with as many relevant runes as possible as well as the involvement (and casting) of other magics to blend into the intended creation. The key is the starting object or creature used, kept at the center of the ritual circle which acts as the base of the intended creation. Examples include: -Metal, light, divinity, sacrosanctum, and power with an accompanying paladin used on a hammer may create a great, gleaming war-gavel worthy of Xan’s judgement. -Earth, light, transcendence, power, and binding with an accompanying illusionist used on an amulet may create a beautiful gem-studded necklace with an odd hypnotic enchantment. -Fire, dark, flesh, mortality, power, and life with an accompanying fire evocationist used on a bull may create a flame-wreathed, murderous minotaur. As with summoning rituals, pale blood mages must be careful because they lack the tools to subdue or bind such a creature and have no means to control it other than pushing it a certain direction. As well, just like summoning rituals, creation rituals are volatile and unpredictable and given their increased potential they are even more so dangerous events. The ritual is initiated by the greater tier users coating their hands in their own blood and planting them side by side at the base of the ritual circle and all other participants doing the same spread out around the circle. The individual leading the ritual then contacts a Story team member (actor/writer) who rolls out of 20 secretly on behalf of the players to determine the outcome of the ritual. They are as follows: 1-7 Catastrophic failure 8-11 Failure with complications 12-13 Failure without complications 14-18 Success with complications 19-20 Success without complications Catastrophic failure entails a highly dangerous repercussion such as the accidental summoning of a hostile terror-type or horror-type (magic-using) Voidal horror, a series of violent elemental explosion, an overwhelming gush of random evocations, the accidental summoning of a hostile, highly dangerous inferis (no greater than zar’ei) horde or some other terrible monster(s), the opening of a reality-warping rift into empty space which voraciously sucks in air, the violent mutation of the ritual subject creature into a writhing eldritch monstrosity, or some other terrible accident or a mix of them. The intent is to wreak havoc and destruction and threaten the lives of the ritualists. Failure with complications entails the loss of the ritual circle and damage to the area through the accidental summoning of a hostile celestials or inferis imps, a less violent elemental explosion, a spray of random evocations, a sudden and not-quite-lingering vacuum of air, the summoning of an otherworldly disease or similar intangible threat, or some other unfortunate accident or a mix of them. The intent is to not just waste the materials of the ritual but threaten the safety of the participants and is less lethal than the above. Failure without complications is just that and entails the loss of the circle’s potency, wasting it and the time of its participants. Success with complications is the same as failure with complications but the creation is successfully made. Success without complications entails the creation being successfully made and nothing goes awry from the ritual itself; the creature or MArt item may be incredibly dangerous. Red lines: -Creatures require Story team member (actor/writer who therein play) and Story team manager approval and item creations necessitate the creation of a MArt. -Requires 4 pale blood mages, 2 of which must be of greater tier. -Requires 3 major living sacrifices. -Must be written upon a flat, swept surface. -Because of how the ritual magically exhausts participants, those who participate in or lead a creation ritual cannot participate in or lead another ritual for 3 IRL days.-Created creatures are never docile/friendly, being neutral at best, and oftentimes are hostile and dangerous things which cannot be tamed or (usually) reasoned with. The creation ritual is not intended to give pets or allies. -Created items require a MArt to be made covering the magics and runes used for the object to have its properties. It is up to the discretion of the Story team to judge MArts; to help them (and yourself), keep balance in mind and perhaps include negative traits with the object. Weak Scabbing - Combative Greater tier pale blood mages can emulate a fraction of the lost sorcery and convert blood into minor scabs to suture close small cuts or erase bloodstains or runes. Spoiler Mechanics: Once a pale blood mage participates in a successful ritual they go from lesser to greater tier and unlock weak scabbing. This ability allows said blood mages to manipulate very small amounts of blood in order to convert it into scabs and temporarily seal cuts or rend it into a fine mist to disappear, useful in erasing runes or cleaning blood stains. Scabbing, while not healing or a method to mend violent wounds, can prevent blood loss and help pale blood mages tend to themselves or clean surfaces of ritual circles or erase stains. Red lines: -Scabbing requires 2 emotes, one to touch the tiny wound or surface and one maintaining contact while the scratch scabs over or the surface is cleaned of blood. -Scabbing can only be used on skin wounds smaller than 4 inches long and half an inch wide; it can seal small scratches or light cuts and nothing more. -Scabbing cannot outright heal wounds, only cover the surface level damage and prevent more blood loss. Scabbing doesn’t replenish blood, negate pain, or mend anything more than skin. Red Lines -Pale blood mages must roleplay the physical and mental effects of the magic. -All previous powers of blood magic not explicitly detailed here are lost and only accessible to greater entities for event use. Tier Progression -Lesser: upon learning pale blood magic the user is able to create ritual circles and participate in them but cannot lead them, therein requiring a greater tier user. -Greater: by participating in a successful ritual led by a greater tier user the lesser tier users also become greater and are then able to lead their own rituals and cast weak scabbing. Greater tier users are also able to write 1 book detailing all of the runes and spells from which others can read to self-teach pale blood magic. Purpose I’m home and bored out of my skull so I thought I’d busy myself for a couple days and spit this out. My intent is to bring back blood magic as a far more available, neutered magic simplified down into its integral parts while retaining its worldbuilding aspects and emphasizing event interaction. One among many problems addressed in this is that sacrifices are encouraged to be kept alive whereas in years past blood mages would find a few poor souls and eviscerate them for an even more destructive, linear event of calling down a tornado or something. This offers a heap of variety and uncertainty to blood magic which I feel is very much so needed while generally promoting roleplay. Lastly I wanted to make sure there was still room for marriage pieces like Thulean druidism and other such concepts because I find them very cool and a healthy alternative to “dark ____” magics. On a final note, another thread will be made down the line detailing blood magic’s use for event purposes where it is still usable by greater entities (and what those entities might be and what they might be able to do). As well I’ll be posting a full piece on Malghourn sometime in the near future. Guide Citations (Old) Blood MagicMaterial Alphabet(New) MalghournVoidal Horror TypesVoidal Horrors Credits Zarsies (Author) Mordu (Consultation) Aelesh (Previous lore) Raptor (Previous lore) Swgrclan (Previous lore) Tsuyose (Previous lore) Mephistophelian (Previous lore) 37 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callistus 963 Share Posted April 22, 2020 look what the plague dragged in. 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zarsies 5970 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 1 minute ago, Callistus said: look what the plague dragged in. you really got me there Q _ Q 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sorcerio 4588 Share Posted April 22, 2020 This is genuinely fantastic! I’m glad the really good parts were kept. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jentos 6677 Share Posted April 22, 2020 holy ******* ****. considering i was a practitioner of awakened blood and found it somewhat lacking – this is a simplified and yet superior version. Spells are now restricted to be used outside of combat, and the option of failing a ritual is – c-co-COOM WORTHY. I feel like all other magic lores should take example of this piece and how it suggests and relies on rituals and actually seem to add depth and mystery to the somewhat trashy lore this server has suffered over the years. Truly, it makes magic, magic. 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gustando 1436 Share Posted April 22, 2020 No stupid, OP and in my personal opinion useless 1 shot spells?! This is, as monsieur Jentos said- coomworthy. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archipelego 2092 Share Posted April 22, 2020 kind of based Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yaldabaoth 743 Share Posted April 22, 2020 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnBaed 8685 Share Posted April 22, 2020 i’ll die for zarsies KEEP THIS IN MIND 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The King Of The Moon 4958 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Ok boomer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MunaZaldrizoti 5623 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Rejoice, for he has risen! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitto 2307 Share Posted April 22, 2020 he can't keep getting away with it! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Child Neglecter 2104 Share Posted April 22, 2020 genuinely great 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmericanSimp 510 Share Posted April 23, 2020 Was always intrigued by blood magic, and this seems like a way to bring in a lot of cool rp rather than combat magic. The fact sacrifices must be alive is even better because it means the player gets to witness something truly amazing. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anatoliy 19 Share Posted April 23, 2020 This...Is...Hot.. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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