Zarsies 6077 Share Posted June 27, 2020 Pale Blood Magic Lore Piece Summary Through a climactic ritual the progenitor of Descendant blood magic, Malghourn the Stone Serpent, eradicated his lineage of blood mages. In doing so he stripped the vast majority of users of their powers yet some remained with kernels as though the connection between mortality and genus were too deep to unconditionally erase. Pale blood magic, the feeble vestige of blood magic, is a feat consisting of 3 types of rituals (elemental, summoning, creation) and a weak in-hand healing/cleaning cantrip. Physical Changes Akin to previous iterations of blood magic, its physical effects are limited in scope and do not impact physical health such as strength or martial ability. The list below is not a complete, absolute list as users have creative freedom to have more manifestations of their use. Players are encouraged to roleplay these effects in a way that would enhance their character’s story or develop that of another such as seeking out medical, alchemical, or magical treatment if their symptoms are particularly severe or glaring. Only greater tier users are affected by these changes. The physical changes include but are not limited to: -Paler skin -Lighter, dryer, and/or more brittle hair -Slightly milky or paler eyes -Bags under the eyes -Easier bruising -Occasional nosebleeds -Visual symptoms of anemia -Faster or slower heartbeat (inconsequential) This is a good example of a moderately affected blood mage; the skin is paled, the hair is whitened, the eyes are lighter, and the eye bags are apparent. Mental Changes Pale blood mages are afflicted with mental disorders milder than their previous counterparts although the older the blood mage the more severe their condition can grow. The most common mental traits include but are not limited to irrational thoughts, paranoia, insomnia, and addiction. Similar to the physical changes, the player has creative freedom over the severity of these changes and are encouraged to pick and develop the traits they’d like. That said, this list is majorly optional and a pale blood mage should have at least one mental effect from their usage but it’s up to the player to have more. It is best to research your character’s mental afflictions as to not roleplay an offensive or distasteful stereotype. Only greater tier users are affected by these changes. 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 -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 pale blood mages become more secretive, distrusting, and anxious because of paranoia. 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 themself. 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 mental effect, addiction takes countless forms and can get quite weird quite quickly, so have fun coming up with one if you want your character to be afflicted. Pale 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 (it is an absolute necessity to be mature about this) -Spending or collecting minas / wealth -Entertainment (anything that amuses) -Tattooing and piercing -Hoarding -Binge eating or food addiction (“I cannot eat anything but sweetrolls and pumpkin pie”) -Risky behavior or thrill seeking Abilities General: It is easiest if you contact ST beforehand when planning a ritual so that they come prepared and are at least familiar with the lore (ST advice is written below under each ritual type) and so there is less waiting for everyone involved. 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. Rituals are measured in tiers of living sacrifices; genus rapidly deteriorates in the blood of the dead so keeping them alive at least for the ritual itself is often necessary and, for the sake of roleplay quality and the furthering of story, it’s encouraged for pale blood mages to not outright kill all if any of their sacrifices. Such tiers are described as: -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. Rituals work by contacting an ST member who will /roll 20 in private away from the ritual participants to determine the result of the ritual. The ST member will then return and proceed with the event. Outcomes can range between catastrophic failure (except for elemental rituals), failure with complications, failure without complications, success with complications, or success without complications. These results scale in danger and volatility and correspond with the ritual’s intended effect; an elemental ritual will tend to have complications relating to the element in question whereas a summoning ritual’s complications tend to relate to accidental summoning of unwanted entities. Elemental Ritual: Spoiler Elemental objects do not have runes on them, they are not specially durable or strong unless stated otherwise, and in general are objects with simple cantrip-like properties. An object can only be imbued with one element. The pale blood mages involved need to draw their circle in fresh blood, including the relevant elemental rune and a rune of mortality. 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. Fire: because fire-imbued objects are so brittle they rarely survive two fights before breaking and becoming inert and therefore require repair by a blacksmith after every use. The enchantment is triggered by wetting the object (weapon, e.g. sword) in the blood of the wielder and striking a rough/hard surface wherein the coated area will catch fire for 4 emotes mildly more intense than burning oil; the blood inevitably dries and then the enchantment ends until wet and struck again. Fire-imbued armor becomes heat resistant and protects the weater from scorching weather / environments as well as brief contact with flame but cannot ward off the heat of sustained fire and because of its fragile nature will chip and flake whenever struck; a piece of armor will break after 3 average-man-with-a-sword-strength hits or 2 from an orc (and up). Water: these objects float and must be weighed down to fight this effect akin to wood but can support the weight of their wielder or wearer. If worn the object keeps the wearer dry and negates underwater cold. When wet with the wielder’s blood the object briefly transmutes into water for 2 emotes before reforming into an object of a similar size determined when the object is made: a sword to umbrella or cane, a helmet to hat, a scroll to spyglass, a ring to dice, etc. If you’re unsure about your conversion refer to a knowledgeable ST. Earth: the object is noticeably heavier wherein armor becomes uncomfortably burdensome which slows the wearer and they become unable to utilize immediate reaction time. As well, weapons become more difficult to swing and wear down endurance because of their exaggerated weight but have proportionally increased force. These objects have increased durability and have protection to withstand physical stress; wood acts as ferrum, ferrum and similar metals act as carbarum. Lastly, because these objects are nearly incapable of vibrating they tend to cause very little noise and are noticeably odd since what is striking them is the only thing producing sound. Air: air-imbued objects exert the most of the force they would normally but move with more ease and feel lighter so a sword would feel like a dagger in its wielder’s hands but would strike and hit akin to a rapier. Metal armor feels akin to leather and leather armor feels like clothing, however it becomes half as resilient and easily dents or tears and can quickly break akin to fire imbued objects. Because of their unnaturally lightness and grace those untrained will find weapons imbalance and risk losing their grip and having the magical grace betray them, a consequence that should be intentionally capitalized on in roleplay when a character first learns how the enchantment works. Dark: these objects look noticeably strange in that they always appear underwater or shaded, they do not have a shiny reflection if they would normally, and their edges instead ‘glow’ with a subtle darkness. Shadows tug towards these objects as if reaching to caress them and if wet with fresh blood the object becomes completely and utterly jet black until the blood loses potency (3 OOC hours or 1 narrative day) or is otherwise removed e.g. cleaned or burned away. Light: these objects have no shadow and faintly intensifies light sources nearby (within 3 blocks or so). When the blood of the wielder is shed upon them they take on a constant slow ranging in strength from soft moonlight to a torch for up to 30 OOC minutes or 2 narrative hours. The color of the glow is determined 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. If the blood is cleaned or burned away in the same way as the dark imbuement then the effect ends prematurely. Metal: objects imbued with metal give off an unnatural sheen that catches light, making it look shiny. These objects also attract lighting, conduct energy well (to no explicit mechanical advantage), and have a magnetic property towards objects made from the same material although the strength of the magnetism is weak enough for an average adult to be able to pry them apart. This magnetism should be intentionally roleplayed to have accidents where a character inadvertently has to pause to pry the object off of something such as having their cloak stubbornly cling to someone after a hug or armor getting stuck to a gate. Lightning: objects imbued with lightning give off a static shock when touched and emit sharp, shrill pops and crackles when drug against metal or metal-imbued objects. When lightning-imbued weapons are wet with the blood of their wielder they give a skin-numbing zap (tingling / loss of tactile sensation, not paralysis and it doesn’t prevent someone from still acting/moving) which lingers for 2 emotes. This effect remains active so long as the weapon is bloodied. ST Guide: The elemental ritual is intended to be more casual and the least dangerous of all the blood rituals so there is no catastrophic failure level which usually implies an increased risk of lethality. Because of that, complications in the event should be appropriately adjusted to be dangerous but not overly bad. (1-4) Failure with complications means the ritual object is destroyed and the area is damaged. This could involve the accidental summoning of minor element-relevant horrors like celestials - fishlike and particularly eldritch for a water elemental ritual - or a violent explosion of the relevant element (if applicable), the object exploding into shrapnel, a spray of random (or relevant) evocations, a sudden vacuum and loss of air lasting about 10 seconds, or some other unfortunate accident or mix of them. This level is intended to waste the materials of the ritual and threaten the safety of the participants but shouldn’t be outright lethal unless a character is being dumb or is obviously vulnerable. (5-7) Failure without complications entails the loss of the circle’s potency, wasting it and the time of its participants and otherwise nothing happens. (8-14) Success with complications is the same as failure with complications but the object is successfully enchanted. (15-20) Success without complications entails the object being successfully enchanted and nothing goes awry. Summoning Ritual: Spoiler Summoning rituals either conjure a generic, non-specific creature or opens a rift to another plane. Runes are used as descriptors to try to fine-tune the intended target but oftentimes yields unexpected and/or unwanted results. As well, creatures cannot be befriended or tamed and even a successful ritual can be inherently dangerous. Note that summoning a creature requires ST member approval (and if the creature intended to be summoned requires it, ST manager approval) and rifts require ST manager approval. These circles require pale blood mages to use as many runes as possible to help narrow down a sort of ‘description’ of what they’re trying to do. 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. Because of the vagueness a rune description gives - and because the exact powers of old blood magic are lost - even a success could yield an unintended result which is usually when the ST deem the intended target to be inappropriate, not viable, or just want to throw a curveball. Case in point, the runes water, flesh, mortality, and power could summon a hydra, leviathan, shark, emperor tortoise, or any other such water-related creature. In the same vein the runes dark, divinity, sacrosanctum, power, and draining could open a portal to Ebrietaes, Moz Strimoza, Pax, a lost plane of one of the Old Ones, etc. Regarding rifts, make note that entering one includes accepting a PK clause because there’s no guarantee a character will have a way back let alone survive whatever is on the other side e.g. Moz Strimoza. Rifts only remain open for 30 OOC minutes or 2 narrative hours. ST Guide: Summoning rituals are a gamble. They may conjure the wrong creature (or something worse), there’s no way to handle or tame them, and only some may be on an intelligence warranting conversation. Because of this beastial summons tend to go on a rampage and either attack those present or are repelled off into a given direction where it leads a warpath or becomes an inhabitant of the region and can be used in later events. Note however that some summons such as horror-type Voidal horrors are of an intelligence that may make them hesitate to understand what has happened before acting; these rituals aren’t meant to summon allies but a horror could potentially be spoken with (in moonspeak, not common). Complications vary quite drastically but regardless be sure you understand the lore of whatever creature you plan on playing; if you plan on playing an inferis make sure you understand how malflame works and if you plan on playing a horror make sure you understand their types and how they act and any magics they might use, etc. (1-6) Catastrophic failure entails highly dangerous repercussions for the summoning. This could include 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. (7-10) Failure with complications entails the loss of the ritual circle and damage to the area through the accidental summoning of a hostile celestial (likely 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. (11-13) Failure without complications entails the loss of the circle’s potency, wasting it and the time of its participants. (14-17) Success with complications is the same as failure with complications but the creature or rift is successfully summoned. It could summon the intended target alongside others which could lead to a multifaceted fight or a rift that leads to a location from which a creature enters. (18-20) 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. Creation Ritual: Spoiler Creation rituals are a freeform method of making MArts which can be objects or creatures out of runes and optionally the inclusion of a magic. Similarly to summoning this requires the pale blood mages to use as many relevant runes as they can to try to describe what they want and including a magic or blending multiple can help yield more specific results. The key to this is that a starting object or creature is used as the subject of the ritual which will then, ideally, change and not for the worse. Examples of this may 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. Just like with summoning, creatures cannot be controlled or subdued unless it is reasoned to be appropriate and it is most helpful for when players coordinate with ST to make their MArt submission reasonable but its acceptance is left up to the reviewal process. If a MArt is accepted then the ritual must be attempted until it eventually succeeds wherein the object/creature is presented. 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. ST Guide: Because the creation ritual is so freeform its consequences can be similar to elemental or summoning rituals but can also have unique effects on the subject. The catastrophic failure of a ritual trying to turn a sheep into a flaming minotaur may cause the earth to break apart and burn and for the sheep to violently transform into the new vessel of a terror-type horror spewing fumes and goop. Similarly an item may become a center of a relevant elemental conflux. Remember that creatures made this way may not be inherently hostile but they aren’t intended to be pets or allies unless reasoned (and therefore approved by the ST) to be. (1-7) Catastrophic failure entails highly dangerous repercussions. These could be 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. (8-11) 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. (12-13) Failure without complications is just that and entails the loss of the circle’s potency, wasting it and the time of its participants. (14-18) Success with complications is the same as failure with complications but the creation is successfully made. (19-20) 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. Weak Scabbing: Spoiler Scabbing is the cantrip leftover of bloodbending only accessible to greater tier pale blood mages. It can only be used on small cuts and surface level wounds no longer than 4 inches and no wider than half an inch to scab over the wound or on surfaces to erase spilled blood. The act produces thin, misty red vapor where scabs only mend the surface damage and blood and bloodstains evaporate and leave no trace. Scabbing does not heal wounds, only cover them, and therefore doesn’t replenish blood, prevent or negate pain, or mend anything more than skin. Scabbing requires 2 emotes, one to touch the wound or blood and one maintaining contact as the wound is sealed or blood is erased. Emote examples would like: Heindin grits his teeth, shrieks, and recoils as the housecat claws his outstretched hand. He clasps his other hand onto the cut and strays backwards, howling back, “Damned rat!” Heindin grimaces as a delicate crimson haze drifts up from his hands and dissipates. He bares his palm to see four fine lines of gnarled scabs and he lets out a gruff, grating laugh. “It’s a good thing Margerenne likes you, rat.” Or Heindin rushes to the cellar floor as he hears the many footsteps above. He frantically mutters to himself as he lays his hands onto the dusty stone, fingers splayed over the intricate runes drawn in a suspicious russet brown. Heindin’s fingers part with flickering red vapors as the circle of many symbols disappear with his very touch, the floor clean and spotless bar grime and soot after a few swipes. He dusts off his hands with a few claps and forces out a panicked, shaky breath. Progression Pale blood magic’s progression system is unique because of its low to the ground powers. Users begin at the lesser tier where all they know is information and there’s no actual magic involved, including the knowledge of runes and their meanings, the laws of blood such as freshness and how to keep potency, and how to arrange ritual circles. Lesser tier users can create ritual circles and participate in them but they cannot lead them; one hundred lesser tier users are useless without at least one greater tier user to lead their rituals. Greater tier users who have exercised their knowledge of the craft may record their study in a tome which can in turn be read and studied to become a lesser tier user. Such books must be referenced and validated by the maker in a new user’s feat app if they aren’t directly taught about pale blood magic by a greater tier user. Writing a tome to do this requires the player to not copy/paste the lore piece, rather they need to use an in-character interpretation of their understanding where the book is written in their own words and, again, not copied. Pale blood mages go from lesser to greater tier when they participate in a ritual and it succeeds (8-20 for elemental, 14-20 for summoning, 14-20 for creation); they must have an ST comment on their feat app that they are then greater tier and they can lead rituals and use weak scabbing. Users should keep screenshot proof to validate this change for the ST involved. Greater tier users act as the catalyst for pale blood magic and its rituals; there are no TAs. They are required to lead rituals and by conducting successful rituals they awaken the spark of genus manipulation within their peers who may in turn awaken others. Red Lines -All runes have no effect on their own, they are merely symbols that evoke meaning. They must be used within a ritual circle led by a greater tier user to have any real impact. -Blood used in rituals is only good for one narrative day or 3 OOC hours. If a living blood sacrifice dies their blood immediately drops in potency and may interrupt or prevent a ritual until remedied. -Greater tier pale blood mages must abide by the physical and mental changes caused by their awakening. ST Guide First, pale blood magic is an open feat but only in that there are ways of learning it (lesser tier; effectively only being information and there is no magic) besides a greater tier user ‘teaching’; it can be learned from a book written by a greater tier user detailing the knowledge and practices necessary to use the feat. If an app claims to use one the ST need to verify the book is authentic and written by a greater tier user in their own words rather than copied form the lore and that the book is in the person’s possession rather than just something they read in passing; they need to be able to study it at length. Should their book be valid or by instruction of a greater tier user a pale blood magic feat should be accepted. Note that the ST should be suspicious of greater tier users being used to spam apps because the feat demands that a character actually learn the information to use it and not hear of it in passing or are only given one ‘lesson’ which is insufficient teaching and therefore magic rule breaking. ST who lead ritual events that succeed should make note of who participates in the circle to confirm to the ST whose apps should be updated to go from lesser to greater tier. When doing so an ST should post on the app: Quote “This character is now a greater tier pale blood mage.” 16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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