[✓] [Magic Lore] Blood Magic

[Pallodium 3775]

Spoiler

 

[ B ʟ ᴏ ᴏ ᴅ   M ᴀ ɢ ɪ ᴄ ] Pᴏᴛᴇɴᴛɪᴀ ᴘᴇʀ Sᴀɴɢᴜɪɴᴇᴍ

 

 

❉ Bʟᴏᴏᴅ Mᴀɢɪᴄ is a [1] slot Dark Magic, progenitive of the exsanguinated scraps of knowledge and prowess left over from the old arts of truer, untampered Blood Magic, diminished down to bare motes of what once was. ❉ Bʟᴏᴏᴅ Mᴀɢɪᴄ is compatible with all beings who bear both Genus and a Soul; it is a craft of the mortal and immortal alike, distinguishing not whom wields the prowess of blood-carved runes. All spells and rituals must be learned at the listed pace; spells may not be learned “ahead of time”.  ❉ Bʟᴏᴏᴅ Mᴀɢɪᴄ is a magic that does not bear the traditional tier system, rather bearing [2] rungs of progression- Lesser and Greater. One ascends from Lesser to Greater via Evoking Enlightenment- a ritual led by a Greater Blood Mage and assisted by another Blood Mage of either tier. ❖ Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ-tiered Blood Mages are new inducts to the foul craft- capable of simpler and minute acts of Bloodbending, whilst learning and leading in introductory Pallid Rites; they may assist in the more advanced rites yet cannot learn them. ❖ Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ-tiered Blood Mages are capable of more high-finesse acts of Bloodbending, but also may learn and lead more volatile and unique Pallid Rites, yet gain the bane of Imbrued Sorcery and retain other banes even after disconnection. ❉ Bʟᴏᴏᴅ Mᴀɢɪᴄ, albeit only having [2] tiers, cannot have all its abilities be taught all at once- one may only learn a new Bloodbending Ability or a Pallid Rite [1] time per OOC week from a [TA]-bearing individual; this only applies to abilities on this piece, and not marriage lorepieces. Learning abilities from marriage pieces requires one to be a Greater Blood Mage, and the tiers where they are unlocked correspond to the respective magic (for example, Infernal Blood Magic now scales with Naztherak tier). ❉ Bʟᴏᴏᴅ Mᴀɢɪᴄ does not have any knowledge-locked process to gaining a [TA]- so long as a Greater Blood Mage has knowledge of all base Bloodbending and Pallid Rites, they may apply for a [TA] after [1] OOC month. Upon gaining a [TA], they gain knowledge of how to Invoke Insight- the process of connecting individuals to Blood Magic.

[Lᴏʀᴇ Sʏɴᴏᴘꜱɪꜱ]

» Cᴏʀᴇ Fᴜɴᴅᴀᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʟꜱ   » Pᴀꜱꜱɪᴠᴇ Dᴇᴛʀɪᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ

🞙 Genus is the innate and bloodborne mana that thrums within a multitude of beings- fuel and energies which both embody and gleam. 🞙 Runes are carvings in the Material Alphabet that evoke results when Genus is spilt within them- designs which empower and conform. 🞙 Insight, Enlightenment, & Ignorance are rites of Connection, Progression, and Disconnection- how one joins, evolves, or secedes.   🞙 Exsanguination is the natural Bane of all Blood Mages. It is the alteration to their physicality that harrows from the practice. 🞙 The Bloodied Mind are the series of slow, progressive, yet ultimately influential mental effects inflicted upon all  Blood Mages. 🞙 Imbrued Sorcery is a bane inflicted solely on Greater Blood Mages- for it is the taint of blood that attaches to all of their spells

[Aʙɪʟɪᴛɪᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ Rɪᴛᴇꜱ]

» Bʟᴏᴏᴅʙᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ   » Pᴀʟʟɪᴅ Rɪᴛᴜᴀʟꜱ

🞙 Hemorrhaging [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] is a raw, gritty, and brutal use of bloodbending- incited by performing a bashing action like a punch or kick and violently mirroring its force into the target’s bloodstream. 🞙 Haemostasis [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] is a conglomeration of the lesser arts of bloodbending, used for medical and more benign interests- from noncombative genus extraction and wound healing to bloodloss clotting. 🞙 Fervorous Ripple [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] is the compression of a pool of blood within both palms, before jettisoning it forth in a bubble that soars through the air, combusting in a bashing radial bloodburst. 🞙 Tearing [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] the peak of bloodbending among modern practitioners, tearing is the act of violently bisecting, dismembering, disemboweling, or otherwise rending an individual in execution.   🞙 Ensorcell Flesh [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] is the craft of evoking a single element on an individual to imbue both a portion of their body and mind with a blood-derived effect maintained through runic script. 🞙 Invent [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] is a rite of creation and fabrication- the invention of weeping weapons, engorged garbs and armours, or even potent relics of haemomantic origin- yet at quite harsh risk. 🞙 Anoint [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] is the rite of silencing and consecration- to muffle and anoint a room in bloodied sanctification and thus create a zone wherein occult rites may be pursued with greater caution. 🞙 Warping [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] is the art of traversal beyond vast distances, and even between realms- equally a rite that can summon entities or relics forth, or one that can open bloody rifts that span planes.

 

❖ 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 Asulon 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 “haemomancy,” “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- and then they were silenced.

 

❖ Decades ago, Malghourn sapped the world’s hemalurges pale, draining them of their proficiencies within Blood Magic until they were left with but pallid scraps of the craft- what was known then as Pale Blood Magic. Despite his supremacy over the recondite sorcery he pioneered, Malghourn’s unparalleled blood rite to quell his estranged lineage of blood mages was not absolute nor could it be. Yet, still meek and clumsy, those pale blood mages endured and practiced a volatile form of their lost art and enchanted elements and conjured beasts with grave risks and demanding prices. The arrogance and yearning of a blood-drunk wizard should never be underestimated; Malghourn, despite his best effort, could not exterminate them. It blossomed once more into a more vivid form, spreading about the world through the Siliti and their serfs.

 

❖ The Siliti have since slunk behind the scenes, and a newfound and threateningly unexpected lineage has sapped into the world unbeknownst to Malghourn and his ploys- the degenerated Moroi, offsprings of the Corcitura’s curse and the influence of the Unseen. These were… potent threats to the Stone Serpent and his legion. Now, Malghourn grows relentless as the era ticks on. Chiding to him in whispered tones, the silent-observers the Stone Serpent has kept locked upon the worldly affairs have troubled him immensely. These blood mages- from the ones who scattered the world to lesser degrees to those which aligned with the baleful and vicious Moroi which dared usurp his beloved Hazmic strain of blood magic- were all of a most potent threat. Experimentation soon began- attempts to tamper and prod at the inner workings of the magic through the aide of the Red Nexus and its associated Bloodshards.

 

❖ Unintended consequences soon became apparent- the nature of the magic failing even Malghourn itself. This was to be no exsanguination like the fabled Night of yore- it was a tampering with great catastrophe with it. The magic itself altered- it shifted through unprecedented trepiditions. It swelled and it quelled, aspects shifted and memories tremored- it was shafted into a newfound aspect of what once was, churning with unprecedented power- and slowly slipping away from the heralded palms of Malghourn and his creed. It would still be a potent and fervourous thing- yet it would prove to be unconventional for his aims- alterations to the mortal practicioners and their arts, unbeknownst to even them the reason for this alteration. And thus, history has repeated itself- they were bled and left pallid oncemore.

 

Gᴇɴᴜꜱ & Rᴜɴᴇꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪꜰᴇʙʟᴏᴏᴅ & ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴜᴇᴘʀɪɴᴛ

Blood Magic hinges on genus, the esoteric bloodborne energy of passion, rage, odium, power, fervour, and vitality hidden within blood typically found alongside souls, the most common form of sentient life, and otherwise in beings of supernatural power.  Genus is bound to veins and goes unnoticed by typical sorcerers and priests, requiring ancient and grim knowledge to break its shackles and harness. As an energy embodying mortal potential and creativity the powers genus can manifest are diverse and numerous but also volatile and potent, a substance capable of great feats when coupled with direction and intent just as mortal lives can create prosperity or devastation. Like all energies native to the mortal realm and mortal bodies, genus can only be harnessed through magic of the mortal and immortal in twain; dark magic. Occult ritualism utilizing blood is commonly held to be ignoble, wicked, and deadly for good reason and as an art hinging on bloodshed- be it through willing sacrifice or violence - blood magic is cousin to the black crafts of necromancy, mysticism, naztherak, and all mortal-borne, self-reliant magics.

 

	Gᴇɴᴜꜱ Cʜᴀʀᴛ
	» [1] Unit » [2] Units » [3] Units » [4] Units » [5] Units » [6] Units » [7] Units » [16] Units	Musin, Hou-Zi, Wonks, & Zevn Zevn’kiel, Sprites, & Withered Moroi Descendants, Kharajyr, & Thirsting Moroi High Elves, Voidal Magi, Zar’ei, Mori’quessir, & Epiphytes Nephilim, Tree Lords, Zar’akal, & Demi-Djinn [Phase 2] Siliti & Quenched Moroi Demi-Djinn [Phase 3] Drakes, Dragons, Voidal Horrors

 

An individual finds their Genus apportioned fully equally within their blood, though none feel the effects of Genus drain until they are reduced down to [50%] counts of Genus, rounding up. 

 

» At only [50%] of their pool left, they experience the initial symptoms of blood loss including rapid breathing, fatigue, sweating, and unease. Their movement speed combatively is slightly sluggish, reduced by [1] meter per emote.

» At only [1] units left, they will feel severely weary and weak, as they begin to be onset by confusion, profuse sweating, and drowsiness to the point of being unable to concentrate on casting spells or any combative actions- including sprinting.

» At only [0] units left, they are bled to the point of nigh-organ failure; causing them to go unconscious from blood loss. The individual will lie in a highly dangerous limbo between hemorrhagic shock and death, perishing in [4] emotes.

 

With blood as ink and runes as letters, 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- for otherwise, it decays at tremendous potency to only half of what it could’ve been if freshly drained.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

Spoiler

➣ Genus is held in the blood of all creatures bearing Souls- at varying amounts and densities within Greater Souls, or at more minute amounts in sentient beings of Lesser Souls such as Musin or Zevn. Genus decays in blood that is not fresh- only retaining within spilt blood for either [1] narrative day or [3] OOC hours; blood cannot be stored in order to remain fresh.

➣ Genus is solely harvestable and usable from player characters and ST Event Characters; NPCs, summons, and all similar entities cannot be harvested from genus. Similarly, entities summoned as consequence for failing any ilk of Blood Magic ritual cannot be harvested for Genus.

➣ ST Event Characters may have differing counts of Genus as per the jurisdiction of the ST who runs / oversees them. Not all Dragonkin will be consigned to [16] units, nor will all siliti bear [6]; these numbers may vary depending on the specific individual or the scenario, be it higher, lessened, or even reduced to none at all.

➣ Genus from superior beings such as Dragonkin, Greater Horrors, or similar magic-rich entities is prone to result in unprecedented consequences and side effects when utilized within rites, due to their uncanny nature.

➣ All non-Blood Mages regain all stocks of their Genus every [1] OOC day unless their lorepage states otherwise. Blood Mages, who suffer the detriment of Exsanguination, take [2] OOC days to recover all units.

➣ Genus, however, rapidly decays within carcasses at a heightened rate- a dead body’s blood retains genus, albeit it almost-instantly decays in potency, causing them to lose half their units rounding down.

➣ Individuals who have [2] or less counts of Genus at maximum only suffer the effects of Genus loss when they lose Genus. That is to say, if they had [2] counts of Genus and dropped to [1] count, that is where they would suffer the effects of losing Genus- similarly, if they had [1] count at maximum they will begin to perish upon inciting Genus loss due to then having [0] units. Individuals without Genus do not suffer from these effects whatsoever.

Rᴜɴᴇꜱ

Genus on its own lacks direction - much as fire requires the structure of a forge to allow for the smithing of metal. Over centuries of practice and refinement, the concept of Runes were introduced to allow fine, complex manipulation of bloodwrought energy into rituals of power and ensorcellment. The budding language of Runes exists to direct Genus into specific tasks, and each represents broad concepts of reality and the hidden structures which maintain it. When these are scrawled to make composite ritual circles, the layered array of runes is known as a Cypher.

 

Spoiler

Eʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛᴀʟ Rᴜɴᴇꜱ

Elemental Runes describe the natural world. Fire, stones and dirt, the wind, all phenomena crucial to the wider universe. They are often used to mimic things seen in nature, such as permanently altering an object’s shadow or making a ritual's outcome draw its shape from stone and rock. 

Earth represents wisdom, stability and obedience. It is father to cinder and ash when bound to fire, dust and sand when bound to air and filth and mud when bound to water. Earth additionally evokes order, patience or sturdiness.

Fire is unruly and chaotic. It is father to steam and humidity when bound to water, cinder and ash when bound to earth and smoke and miasma when bound to air. It represents anger, pain, strength and heat.

Air is fleeting and quick-willed. It is mother to smoke and miasma when bound to fire, dust and sand when bound to earth and fog and mist when bound to water, and incites speed and light chaos.

Water represents calm and fluidity. It is mother to steam and humidity when bound to fire, fog and mist when bound to air and filth and mud when bound to earth.

Light is clear and understanding, yet blank, desolate. It bears no mother nor daughter, for all other elements may only produce the perception of light - they may generate its visage, but not take its raw form.

Dark is abyssal and eternal. It is shadow and shade; suffocation and cold, but also spaciousness and warmth, endlessness and the end. It bears no father nor no son, for all other elements may only produce the perception of darkness- they may generate its visage, but not take its raw form.

Metal is certain and orderly, resembling fire, water and earth- shaped by flame, changeable as liquid and yet solid as stone. It attracts the element of lightning, and is close to Descendantkind as a creation of theirs.

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.

 

 

Exɪꜱᴛᴇɴᴄᴇ Rᴜɴᴇꜱ

Existence Runes are those of the deeper aspects of the material world, shards and shrapnel of life and their characteristics. These are of more subtle aspects of the world than the vivid elements, and are rooted in more vivid concepts.

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.

Flora is of 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.

Chaos is of the otherworldly; those 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. 

Vigour is of the cryptic and mysterious, and their nature is not set by one single law; they bear all the knowledge one may hold often without the insanity it brings those who are intended to vanguard the realms of creation so the Void does not swallow them whole.

 

 

Tᴏᴛᴀʟɪᴛʏ Rᴜɴᴇꜱ

Totality Runes are those that encompass metaphysical concepts and laws of the world. They are of ascendance, of the concept of presence, and the seams and hews between realms and their outskirts.

Mortality is of the physical and material plane. It is of self-centricism, of the tangible rather than the soul. It is of the twin sides of the coin, orbiting and flipping through the void- it is of the world unseelie and observable.

Aether is of the veil, the seams, and the concept of puncturing them. It is of evocation of the horrors, conjuration of things or means of ascendance, and of interplanar travel. It is a rune of instability- one that is of havoc and wrath alike.

Sacrosanctum is of the occult and secular, the realms veiled beneath the cowls of the aengudaemonic and the powers that their forces proffer. They extend to the realms and planes hidden and seelie, and the entities and forces that manifest within them all.

 

 

Fᴏʀᴄᴇ Rᴜɴᴇꜱ

Force Runes are those that are derived from action and utterance. They are infusion and embodiment, they are sin and they are mayhem. They are avarice as much as they are pride, they are gluttony as much as they are sloth, they are envy as much as they are wrath. They are bloodlust.

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. It is a broad concept and comes in many forms, so thus this rune may be used to empower many things in many rituals.

Draining is the  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.

Binding is the shackles that embody all. It is a catalyst of itself; and its power is ever-flowing through one's mortal veins. It is punishment ever-empowered, only unlocked by the master of those who are runed. It is the chains that are worn with no master but the world and life itself. 

Silence is the antithesis of power and infinite potential, it 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. It is the rattle of the devoid.

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 itself aspires to uphold and a force fueling its own cognition.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Runes hold no meaning in and of themselves and cannot function by themselves; inscribing a Rune of Fire onto a tree trunk will not cause it to burst into flames.

 

 

Tᴏ Iɴᴠᴏᴋᴇ & Tᴏ Eᴍʙᴏᴅʏ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ, ᴘʀᴏɢʀᴇꜱꜱɪᴏɴ, & ᴅɪꜱᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

Invoke Insight [Connection] Invoking Insight is the method of connecting a student to Blood Magic, which may only be performed by those who bear a valid [TA]. It is inherent knowledge upon making one, and performing it is through a freeform rite, which must involve the a freeform lattice of runes to be carved upon the prospect’s forehead- a Cypher of "Insight", tailor-made by the teacher to suit and befit the student in whatever ways they see fit, and thus is subsequently imbued with [1] count of the teacher’s Genus, activating it and instilling the target with insight.   Upon connection, a Blood Mage’s mind is awakened and honed to become a conduit for Genus, and they may post an [MA] for said magic.

Embody Enlightenment [Progression] Embodying Enlightenment is the ritual of progression- by undergoing it, a Lesser Blood Mage- with knowledge of all Lesser Abilities and Rites- can heighten their potential as they become a Greater Blood Mage. Requiring the Lesser Blood Mage who seeks to heighten themselves to kneel in a ritual circle of runes of Sacrosanctum, Power, and Life, this ritual must be led by another Greater Blood Mage and assisted by another Blood Mage of any tier- requiring [5] emotes of ritual invocation to ascend the prospect, who gains a comment on their [MA] stating they are now Greater-tiered.   This ritual is inherent knowledge to all Greater Blood Mages, gained when they undergo the rite themselves.

Invoke Ignorance [Disconnection] Invoking Ignorance is to undo the prowess of harnessing runes and genus, relinquishing access to the powers of Blood Magic. This ritual requires a circle of alternating runes of silence and draining to be drawn repeatedly facing in a looping fashion, which the Blood Mage kneels and inscribes the rune of power. Alone, the blood mage activates the circle fain and knowingly wherein their knowledge of rituals, runes, and their sensitivity to genus is drained from their psyche and forcibly stripped as though their intuition and memories on the topics bled out their ears into the ether.    This self-disconnection rite is innate knowledge to all Blood Mages, and revokes all knowledge of the magic.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

Spoiler

➣ Invoke Insight is a ritual that is inherently acquired by a Blood Mage upon making a [TA], and is the connection method to Blood Magic. By performing it upon an individual, it causes them to become awakened to Blood Magic, gaining an [MA] in it upon completion. Connection to Blood Magic is relatively freeform so long as through some means, the prospect has [1] count of the teacher’s Genus imbued within a Cypher scrawled upon their forehead; connection requires OOC consent, though not IRP.

➣ By performing this rite, the Cypher is what effectively draws a tether to the many stray bloodshards, this distanced and estranged bond easier to access without a direct Signate due to the unintended consequences of this generation's spurring to activate and invoke this insight upon practitioners. Due to the nature of Malghourn’s meddling and second-sapping, this rite no longer needs a tether to a mirror to reflect access unto such- rather, the very blood spilt on their forehead acts as the tether and the Genus proffered acts as the means needed to activate so from their mind.

➣ Because the experience of becoming awakened via one’s mind being flooded with esoteric knowledge and the magical sensation of genus is so intense and overwhelming to the senses, a person who undergoes it cannot accurately recall the symbol used in the ritual enough to replicate it until they grow in power enough to fathom it themselves.

➣ Embody Enlightenment is the progression rite- it is how a Lesser Blood Mage can be ascended into a Greater Blood Mage, gaining access to all further abilities. They may only undergo this rite after learning all abilities of Blood Magic available at the Lesser tier, from all Bloodbending and Pallid Rites. Embody Enlightenment must be led by a Greater Blood Mage and assisted by another Blood Mage of either tier, whom together will perform this upon any Lesser Blood Mage who meets the qualifications and is OOCly consenting to ascend.

➣ Knowledge of performing Embody Enlightenment is instantly gained upon ascending to become a Greater Blood Mage; it is a freeform ritual so long as it occurs in a ritual circle as stated in the description above. Upon ascending to Greater tier, a comment must be made on the [MA] stating such, as the further bane of Imbrued Sorcery is also permanently gained.

➣ After performing this rite upon a prospect, the performer cannot perform this rite again for [1] OOC month.

➣ Lesser Blood Mages cannot perform, acquire, learn, or otherwise utilize any abilities from any Blood Magic marriage pieces; solely Greater Blood Mages are capable of doing so. Hence, one cannot acquire those abilities without first doing Embody Enlightenment.

➣ Invoke Ignorance can only be used on one’s self and requires OOC and IRP intent to perform. It cannot be used against others nor can a character be forced, goaded, or instructed to perform it against their will through any means. Succeeding entails denying the character’s Blood Magic [MA] and all knowledge corresponding to it; they cannot recall any details about Blood Magic or the knowledge of Genus, Runes, Signates, Cyphers, Pale Rites, or Bloodbending they once knew in a manner to reproduce them or teach them to others.

➣ If performed by a Greater Blood Mage, Invoke Ignorance will only cause the mental effects of Blood Magic to slowly wear away after [1] OOC week- they permanently retain the bane of Exsanguination even after disconnection, as consequence of priorly enlightening their mind further to Blood Magic.

➣ After performing Invoke Ignorance, a character can never re-learn Blood Magic again.

 

 

Aᴄᴄᴜʀꜱᴇᴅ Dᴇᴛʀɪᴍᴇɴᴛꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇxꜱᴀɴɢᴜɪɴᴀᴛᴇᴅ & ᴛʜᴇ ɪᴍʙʀᴜᴇᴅ

 

Genus and its understanding are not portents for the weak, for Blood Magic is not without its perils. To be awakened unto it is to invite the eldritch knowledge of slaughter and bloodshed into one’s deepest memories, an injected lesson of the secrets of crimson. Those who undergo this awakening are thus disturbed by it mentally and changed by it physically. 

 

✦ Exsanguination [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ / Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] - A detriment to both Lesser and Greater Blood Mages in twain, Exsanguination is the natural hindrance of the crafts of genus upon the physical coils. Whilst visually-altering parts of it can be alleviated by transmuting oneself into another form or learning Blood Magic whilst being certain creatures, the vast majority of it remains a baleful detriment to them.

 

Spoiler

❖ Primarily, the very heart and circulatory system are of paramount importance and therein are vulnerable- for affliction to them is potent. Thanhic Poisoning in wounds throbs painfully, and being dealt [2] or more stabs or slashes results in an overwhelming nausea and weakness which makes the Blood Mage infirm and incapable of combat whatsoever until [1] OOC hour after the end of the combative encounter. Similarly, Azhl Anemia- another material-onset illness that afflicts the bloodstream- onsets instantly. Lastly, any bloodborne disease of either natural origins or occult craft clings tightly to Blood Mages, requiring twice the treatment/duration to cure them.

🞙 Due to their vampiric internal complexions and supernatural physiology respectively, Vampires (Corcitura & Moroi) and Immortal Creatures (Epiphytes, Sprites, Zar’ei, Zar’akal, Lich-Draugars, & Tree Lords) do not suffer from this primary portion of this bane- however, they still suffer from the two that follow.

❖ Secondarily, their bodily functions are extremely self-reliant. They cannot garner any benefit from Alchemic Potions, which merely are nullified by their internals upon either consumption or application to their flesh. If the Blood Mage is a Klone, they will find they cannot bear the Healthy Body Mutation whatsoever, and their Genus would require an even longer [3] OOC day timer to regenerate (as opposed to the timer of [2] OOC days stated below for normal Blood Mages).

❖ Tertiarily, their Genus regeneration is taxed and severely slowed- whilst all non-Blood Mages regenerate all of their Genus in only [1] OOC day, it takes a Blood Mage [2] OOC days to regenerate all of their Genus stores. This is to say that the [1] OOC day right after they expend it, it does not regenerate whatsoever until the OOC day following it.

❖ For Lesser Blood Mages seeking disconnection, these effects all slowly fade away in the [1] OOC week after Invoke Ignorance has been performed. However, Greater Blood Mages are met with a far worse fate- even if they perform Invoke Ignorance, they permanently bear all the effects and detriments of Exsanguination, which cannot be revoked- not even through transmuting into another [CA], so long as they still bear Genus.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Blood Mages struck by Thanhium [2] times in combat, given both hits impact their bloodstream, will be overtaken by a severely crippling nausea and weakness, barring them from any combative actions for the rest of the combative encounter and [1] OOC hour following such. Similarly, Azhl Anemia is potent against them- it onsets instantly upon striking their blood vessels. Additionally, any mundane, alchemic, or occult diseases that taint the Blood Mage will require [2x] the duration to cure or amount of treatment to cure, respective of whatever ilk of ‘cure’ there is for them.

➣ Individuals who are ‘Immortal’ or Vampiric do not suffer from the above sub-set of the banes given their divergent physiologies. Immortal beings are defined as those who are capable of returning post-mortem through their own self, or alternatively sustain themselves through magical energies- be it innately sourced or transferred within them through a transformative ritual. The following list of creatures are examples of those who are immortal: Epiphytes, Zar’ei, Zar’akal, Lich-Draugars, & Tree Lords. Vampiric creatures include Moroi and Corcitura.

➣ Blood Mages can garner no benefit from the consumption, imbibing, or other ilks of application of any Alchemic Potions (including the Juliet's Potion) to themselves save for those of Tawkin and their grafts. Whilst they may still inhabit Klones, they will not be able to to garner a benefit from the Healthy Body Greater Tawkin Mutations.

➣ Genus regeneration of all Blood Mages and of Klones happens at half-pace; whilst it normally takes [1] OOC day to regenerate one’s genus, it takes Blood Mages [2] OOC days to do so; it does not regenerate at half-and-half apportionment, yet rather all does on the end of the [2] OOC day span. That of a Klone-Blood Mage however takes a lengthened [3] OOC days, given their artificialized nature.

 

✦ The Bloodied Mind [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ / Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] - Mentally speaking, the intangible effects of blood magic include mental effects which begin minor and progressively increase as the blood mage becomes more affluent. These conditions do not need to be severe, you may elect to make them so, but they should nonetheless be a consistent part of the character’s personality. 

 

Spoiler

❖ The most common mental traits include but are not limited to irrational thoughts, 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 thinking patterns with examples including: 

🞙 Disqualifying positive things

🞙 Always being right

🞙 Blaming and holding others accountable

🞙 Emotional reasoning (“I am mad, therefore I am right”)

🞙 Filtering (“ignoring positives and focusing on negatives”)

🞙 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 untrustworthy”)

🞙 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)

❖ Furthermore, Vampires- be they the Lesser Corcitura or the Greater Moroi- solely suffer from the banes they are inflicted with under Exsanguination; they do not suffer from any of the mental effects, for their forms of Vampyric nature are more acclimated to the crimson arts- albeit they too render their own litanies of mental effects as per their respective lorepieces. Immortal Creatures (Epiphytes, Zar’ei, Zar’akal, & Tree Lords) are not outright immune to these mental alterations like Vampires are, though they suffer them to a lessened extent than those of mortal nature.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ 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 of 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 if you choose to run with it. Blood Mages can be addicted to anything: the feeling of an emotion, an object, a substance, a song, and so on, but the most common addictions include: drugs and alcohol (cactus green, rubrium, sugar, etc), gambling and chance taking, spending money, entertainment (anything that amuses), tattooing and piercing, binge eating or food addiction (“I cannot eat anything but sweetrolls and pumpkin pie”), and risky behavior or thrill seeking.

➣ Do not be a freak with these mental effects. These mental affects- primarily those under Addiction- are not to have any fixation given interpersonal, romantic, sexual, or any other ilk of intents pertaining to anything of that vein. Failure to heed this warning will lead to an instant, irrevocable blacklist without appeal.

 

✦ Imbrued Sorcery [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] - Progress too far, and one’s mind begins to slip- blending together the portents of Blood Magic into their innate and acquired arts, all sorcery and abilities are bloodied- a mottled mess that warps casting visually.

 

Spoiler

❖ Imbrued Sorcery is the innate and unpreventable alteration of all magic casting that a Greater Blood Mage does- be it spellcasting from magics or innate abilities from being a creature, no matter what they always will bear these tells. Guidelines for such are as follows:

🞙 They bleed from their palms and eyes- or otherwise are forced to seep blood in an overt fashion from anywhere on their body- whenever connecting and casting to any magic, on top of said magic’s normal tells. This bleeding is harmless, and does not count for becoming Bloodlet. Additionally, when using any Bloodbending abilities, they now must bear this tell.

🞙 All spells will either drip with blood as they move about or are visibly bloodsoaked- flame is anointed with blood, voidal stones are warped and soaked in ichorous dregs, and vampires are shrouded in blood when they transmute through metamorphosis- if tells would be hard to discern how to alter to become bloodied and imbrued, players should feel free to reach out to [ST] to inquire such.

🞙 This does not alter the tells or magic of Slotted Seerdom or Voidal Illusion, given their unique forms of magic- yet alters everything else, from [MA], [FA], to even [CA] abilities.

❖ Imbrued Sorcery functions on every and all spellcasting abilities and innate abilities that a Greater Blood Mage wields, tainting it with the visible scorn of bloody arcana. This is an inescapable side-effect of being a Greater Blood Mage and cannot be avoided by anything- save the Slotted Seerdom ability to occlude magic with their own tells. Keep in mind that if a Slotted Seer does this, the tells are not ‘reverted’ back to how the magic’s traditional tells are, though rather paints over the bloodied tell with one of the Slotted Seer’s own tells.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Imbrued Sorcery are only ‘altered’ by diminutive manifestations of the surplus knowledge of Blood Magic within the Greater Mage’s mind, and are by no means inherently weaker or stronger, more or less effective or imbued with any additional qualities over their usual variants. Additionally, all spells from magics with Blood Magic marriage piece, if their respective piece alters the magical tells due to having Blood Magic, are still altered by Imbrued Sorcery.

➣ Imbrued Sorcery is not dual-casting and is an aesthetic alteration and bane wrought through upon their casting. Spells cast and altered by Imbrued Sorcery utilise their respective sources of mana and power in the same ways specified in their respective lore pieces. That is to say spells are still subject to the same potency and detriments as written in their lore, and do not receive any additional boons or banes, merely are forced to appear bloodied.

➣ Imbrued Sorcery affects all ilks of Magic, Feat, and Creature active abilities (not passive ones)- save for abilities of Slotted Seerdom and Voidal Illusion. All other abilities must be bloodied and a mess, visibly corrupted and tainted by the bloody craft. 

➣ The bleeding of the palms, eyes, and anywhere else throughout their body is not harmful in the slightest nor does it count as becoming Bloodlet- however, these bloodied tells will seep through seams in armor and dampen through cloth- they may not be hidden under helms, gauntlets, cowls, and so on by anything save Slotted Seerdom’s abilities to alter tells.

 

 

Bʟᴏᴏᴅʙᴇɴᴅɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴡᴇᴀᴠᴇ ɪᴄʜᴏʀ

 

Much of the ancient ways of Bloodbending have been lost to time and relegated to the most elite and potent of creatures. Nowadays Blood Mages can only dream of those powers and instead are left with the rather simple spells as though fate left them crumbs. Every ilk of Bloodbending requires the Blood Mage to become Bloodlet- this is not a connection, yet rather a state of being. So long as a Blood Mage is actively bleeding, they are considered to be Bloodlet- this may either occur from being struck by another individual and made to bleed, or spending [1] emote to willingly slash themselves and incite said bloodflow. One cannot begin casting on the same emote that they become Bloodlet; furthermore, even though being Bloodlet is a state- not a connection- one does not remains Bloodlet during holding other connections, but returns to that state after leaving those other connections.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

Spoiler

➣ The state of being ‘Bloodlet’ is not a magical connection; it is rather a prerequisite for utilizing any Bloodbending abilities under this following section. Whilst it is a state that cannot be held in concurrence to magical connections, it returns to being 'held' after connections to other magics are relinquished. There must always be [2] emotes between casting any ability of Blood Magic and connecting to any other magic.

➣ Entering the state of Bloodlet requires the Blood Mage to either be struck with a bladed strike that incurs bloodloss, or spend [1] action to willingly slash themselves and enter the Bloodlet state. If the latter method of entering the state is utilized, one cannot begin casting or do any other combative actions during that emote. Internal bleeding does not initiate the Bloodlet state. If the Blood Mages ever ceases to bleed, they instantly leave the state of being Bloodlet.

➣ In terms of interaction with Thanhium or other magics that depend on spell tier, all Bloodbending abilities function as if [T3].

➣ All abilities of Bloodbending require full actions to be dedicated on every emote of casting. Furthermore, their ‘concentration’ may only be broken by either force equivalent to a direct strike of concussive nature that either knocks back, knocks down, or a puncturing strike or having one’s blood afflicted by Azhl or Thanhium; either of the latter two metals will fully inhibit them from utilizing Bloodbending until the end of the combative encounter. Keep in mind that whilst concentration may be broken, it does not undo the state of being Bloodlet unless through some means, their bleeding is fully halted and clotted.

 

❉ Hemorrhaging - [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] [Noncombative / Combative] [2 Emotes]

Whilst bloodlet, a Hemomancer may either evoke discomfort in a cantrip form of bloodbending, or perform a bashing action like a punch, kick, or strike to violently mirror its force into the target’s bloodstream.

 

Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ:

Spoiler

After becoming Bloodlet, a Hemomancer may move a limb in a controlled, methodic motion over [2] emotes, transferring over the force of a punch or kick to a target within [8] meters’ range of the Blood Mage. This force is only equivalent to that of the Blood Mage, which is respectively weakened if they partakes in any magic that hinders their strength. This wields the very blood itself to mirror such a blow, and as such bashes them directly as if it struck through armor, causing moderate to severe bruising depending on the force proffered.

 

After a strike has been conveyed and mirrored via Hemorrhaging, this ability briefly goes on ‘cooldown’ for [5] emotes, after which it can be used again. This ability may only be used by Lesser Blood Mages [1] times per combative encounter without cost and up to [2] times per combative encounter for Greater Blood Mages- any further casts consume [1] unit of Genus from the Blood Mage.

In a noncombative cantrip form of Hemorrhaging, a Blood Mage only needs to wrench their palm in a claw-like gesture not dissimilar from the Rune of Water, incapable of being concealed beneath garb and veil alike. Through this, they are capable of inflicting this upon a target within [16] meters’ range- starting or stopping a nosebleed, inducing the feeling of one’s heart uncomfortably pounding in their chest, causing bleeding from the ears, tear ducts, gums and even coughing up blood.

 

Eᴍᴏᴛᴇ Exᴀᴍᴘʟᴇꜱ:

❖ [ɪ] Clad in maroon robes, a Hazmic sorcerer regarded his foe with bloodshot gaze. An interloper, a walker of planes, donning alchemically-treated armor and utterly incongruous with the painted-land of Nylln. The Planeswalker was speaking; Aok listened not, his upper shoulder sliced by one of the man’s thrown knives. Soon, he’d taken a low stance, moving his arms in a slow, exaggerated mimicry of a punch, winding slowly amidst ribbons of gleaming blood-magic. 

❖ [ɪɪ] Aok’s slow movements finalised as a slow, exquisitely controlled forwards-movement of his right hand, palm outwards. A thrum seemed to echo around the paint-splattered landscape, and the Planeswalker’s dialogue cut off as he was caught by the full force of this strike, mimicked impossibly across the four-metre distance to strike his chest. A hefty, though unconcerning blow, even if it did bypass his armor entirely. . .However, his single backpedaling step was enough to bring him atop one of Nylln’s painted landmines.

❖ [ᴄᴀɴᴛʀɪᴘ] A Mali’ame druid huffed as she beheld the short dwarf who’d stumbled rather foolishly into her grove. Likely, he was drunk, but his actions - ripping up grass, slamming a metal flask against Ogham stones - placed him under her ire. Still, she did not wish to harm the dwed overmuch. Wracking her free-hand in a claw-like gesture, a strange mimicry of the Rune of Water before pushing outwards, she extended invisible veins of power through the air out of her hiding-spot to latch onto the dwarf, who suddenly acquired a terrible nosebleed, along with the dripping of blood from his eyes. Yelling some curse or other, the stout, drunken fellow spun in fright, stumbling away from the grove.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Even though Hemorrhaging conveys and mirrors the blunt force of the strikes, there are some restrictions to this- firstly, the Blood Mage must be fully unarmed in the limb used to strike to utilize Hemorrhaging, meaning they may not do this whilst holding an item in a hand if punching- likewise, the mirrored damage will be equivalent to just a mundane punch or kick towards the individual as if both individuals were unarmoured when doing it.

➣ Blood Mages cannot always strike with perfect accuracy using this- it is prone to some deviation if the target is within melee range or actively sprinting towards them; in this case, it may vary in where it hits- a strike towards the eye could hit the cheek, one to the chest could hit an arm, one to the stomach could hit a leg, and so on.

➣ The slowed strike that the Blood Mage performs must be uninterrupted- in other words, if the limb is currently grabbed, pulled, or otherwise bound and unable to do that slow, controlled motion, the punch/kick is not transferred.

➣ The target must bear Genus-bearing blood to work- if they were say, a Homunculi or an Undead, nothing would occur.

➣ If cast as a noncombative cantrip, Hemorrhaging similarly require [1] emote of the Blood Mage wrenching a hand in a claw-shaped manner to appear similar to the Rune of Water, before inflicting upon a target within [16] meters’ range with one or more of the effects above.

 

❉ Haemostasis - [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] [Noncombative / Combative] [2 Emotes]

Whilst bloodlet, a Hemomancer may perform one of three differing crafts to proffer a warped form of medical aid- be it transfusing blood from a subject to another, sealing together wounds, or even forcefully and brutally scabbing to staunch bloodflow.

 

Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ:

Spoiler

After becoming Bloodlet, a Hemomancer may perform one of the three subtypes of Haemostasis, each which requires [2] emotes of focus to utilize. Of these three, solely Scabbing may be used in either a combative or noncombative environment, whilst both Sealing and Siphoning are strictly regulated to noncombative use.

 

✦ Scabbing [Combative] - Through a rushed, hasty flittering of gestures upon their own bloodied flesh, that of another, or even upon a puddle of blood a Blood Mage may staunch bleeding of cuts and minute lacerations or clean away any bloody evidence. Scabbing, while not healing or a method to mend violent wounds, can staunch blood loss and help Blood Mages tend to themselves or clean surfaces of ritual circles or themselves; however, every combative use of it causes [1] count of the Blood Mage’s own genus to be drained away. With Scabbing, a Blood Mage can scab wounds no larger than Minor and Moderate Wounds or dissolve puddles/stains of blood up to [3x3] meters in surface area.

 

✦ Sealing [Noncombative] - In an advanced, ritualistic derivative of the primitive and rushed Scabbing, a Blood Mage can act as impromptu menders and battle medics right after combat. Through Sealing, a Lesser Blood Mage can seal all flesh wounds on a Genus-bearing victim that fall under Minor and Moderate Wounds, washing over them with thick, gnarled scabs to end bleeding. Alternatively, a Greater Blood Mage may take this to a heightened level, capable of sealing all flesh wounds- be they Minor, Moderate, or Major- a Genus-bearing victim has sustained that are not immediately lethal, including altering the joints of disembodied limbs or regrowing them in vile, bloody fashion- wherein they remain ridden in scabs and bloodied dregs unless mended by other magics. This safely stabilizes the individual and keeps them conscious, but renders them unable to perform any sort of combat for [1] OOC day. However- this variant comes at a far greater cost, requiring [3] counts of Genus- yet if done on a non-Klone, non-Beastfolk [CA] requires a heightened [5] counts of Genus.

 

✦ Siphoning [Noncombative] - An uncommon feat used by both the benevolent and selfish, siphoning allows users to conduct swift blood transfusions on members of the same race. Siphoning is the lacing of two wounds together with a tether of floating blood which streams from one individual to another to fill their veins. Mortals can only accept the blood of their own race, the blood of others don’t take to the body and spill out from the wound in rejection. Siphoning is typically used to stabilize others or in less common scenarios to replenish a blood mage after a fight. The individual giving blood must be willing or incapacitated/restrained with an open wound for the receiver to accept it, willingly or otherwise.

 

Eᴍᴏᴛᴇ Exᴀᴍᴘʟᴇꜱ:

❖ [ꜱᴄᴀʙʙɪɴɢ - ɪ] In the lull between hordes of summoned Imps, a crossbow-wielding hunter took the moment of respite to reload his armament, check on the status of his allies - two injured, but not severely - and see to his own wound, a laceration torn across his cheek. He rested his crossbow against a ruined pillar, calling up flashes of twisting blood-lightning to gather around his raised hand as he began a series of practiced, though unsettling gestures.

❖ [ꜱᴄᴀʙʙɪɴɢ - ɪɪ] Soon, Drehn’s odd gesturing was over, tines of energy latching onto his open wound. A gnarled, blackened scab grew with fearsome speed along the cut, draining heedlessly through a single unit of the genus held within his veins. The cut was sealed, yet at a comparatively hefty cost to the warrior.

 

❖ [ꜱᴄᴀʙʙɪɴɢ - ᴄᴀɴᴛʀɪᴘ] The ruined antechamber was littered with the cadavers of the freshly-slain, descendants who had served their purpose as cattle for the citadel’s Hazmic benefactors. By the grim mutter that rumbled beneath the Erlking’s mask, it was clear he was discontent with the haphazard slaughter. The hemomancer drafted a bare palm upwards, bloodied fingernails sweeping the air with a plume of crimson mist- with the reddish smog pooling forwards, ravenously sapping away at the pooling blood that stained the floor, rendering it clean and pristine- as much as a dusty chamber could be, at the very least. 

 

❖ [ꜱᴇᴀʟɪɴɢ - ɪ] Aok let out an irritated huff. His student had come afoul of some of Xicohtli’s inhabitants, and bore stings of various size. Some were pin-pricks, yet the worst was caused by the impalement of a sting-spear through his upper arm. The apprentice was alive, if clearly in pain from her fixed grimace. Aok spared little sympathy for her, but moved to sit by her, beginning to weave fluid blood-ribbons from his own flesh, where the last hive-guard’s blow had nicked him before its death. These ribbons arrayed themselves in cross-stitched patterns, each gathering moving atop one of Illistandrista’s wounds.

❖ [ꜱᴇᴀʟɪɴɢ - ɪɪ] With a sharp utterance, and the incantation of some ancient spell, Aok brought his palms together, two distinct flashes of genus left his veins, causing each pattern to gleam brightly before sinking into the apprentice’s flesh, thick scabs growing rapidly over each puncture wounds. This left Illistandrista alive and stabilised, though dotted all over with black-red dots of congealed blood.

 

❖ [ꜱɪᴘʜᴏɴɪɴɢ - ɪ] Strapping the azdromothian herald to a table, the Erlking’s servant made it careful to restrain the saboteur tightly, preventing any potential escape. The benefactor gazed from afar- fractured fingernails rapping against a cot wherein his pupil lay, a bleeding mark spewing from her gut- a knife-wound proffered from the damnable herald. Striding over briskly, the being’s sharpened talons were keen to slash the cheek of the restrained fool, blood dripping from his face. “Primitive imbecile,” the Erlking rasped unto the bleeding prisoner, as blood began to draft from the newly-carved wound of the herald into the wound upon the Erlking’s pupil.

❖ [ꜱɪᴘʜᴏɴɪɴɢ - ɪɪ] Blood gushed from the herald’s cheek at an uncanny rate, stripping and draining from him rapidly- as it took the conduit heralded by the Erlking’s drifting palms, shifting towards his pupil. As the blood contacted the flesh of the wounded hemomancer, it began to seep within her- swelling and reimbursing her body with what blood was lost, with what was taken. Even as the herald began to tremor and whine in slowly-onsetting delirium, the Erlking didn’t even offer him a glance; he had greater things to tend to, with the newfound knowledge of spies in his midst.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Scabbing is only wound-suppression and staunches bleeding; it 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. Every combative use of this costs [1] count of Genus. Noncombatively, it may also be used to dissolve puddles or stains of bloody origin in an area of up to [3x3] meters. This surface-level scab is prone to damage, and if struck again causes the temporary stabilization to break and the wound to re-open instantly.

➣ Sealing by a Lesser Blood Mage is capable of mending Minor and Moderate Wounds, whilst Greater Blood Mages may seal Minor, Moderate and Major Wounds equally- these cannot reattach detached limbs (solely regrow them in vile, scab-laden and bloodied fashion) nor mend critical organs, though mends most other flesh-wounds. Importantly, it does not restore blood and only mends flesh-wounds; it does not have the capacity to fix broken bones; scars and wounds mended by Sealing leave behind burn-like scars.

➣ The ‘wound table’ for Minor/Moderate/Major Wounds is as follows:

🜋 Minor Wounds: Scrapes, Bruises and Lacerations. Everyday wounds that do not cause significant impairment.

🜋 Moderate Wounds: Gashes, Cuts, Punctures, Dislocations and Burns. Wounds that are debilitating and  cause moderate impairment.

🜋 Major Wounds: Broken Bones, Impalement, Dismemberment and Mutilation. Wounds that are severely debilitating and can cause permanent impairment or death.

➣ Siphoning is the transference of blood from one individual to another; a receiver does not benefit from regained blood if it is not from a member of their same race. Half-races, in perhaps one of the very few benefits granted to mongrels like them, may gain blood from either of their respective races of ancestry, but not vice-versa; a half-elf cannot donate blood to a human, but can receive it. Siphoned blood is bereft of Genus once given, and does not recover a person’s Genus. It should be kept in mind that donors must be willing or otherwise incapacitated or restrained in order to give blood.

 

❉ Fervorous Ripple - [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] [Combative] [3 Emotes]

Whilst bloodlet, a Hemomancer may wring forth their genus to compress a pool of blood within both palms, before lobbing it forth in a congealed sphere that bursts after it soars through the air- a bashing and hammering force upon everything in its close proximity.

 

Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ:

Spoiler

After becoming Bloodlet, a Hemomancer may pool blood from exposed cuts of their body, congealing and refining it within a pool clasped between both palms over [3] emotes, before launching itself forwards up to [6] meters and erupting in a [5x5x5] meter zone centered upon it equivalent to a blow from a warhammer. Fervorous Ripple may only be held for [1] extra emote at maximum before the charge is wasted, if wished to be held. Fervorous Ripple’s projectile moves at the speed of an averagely tossed baseball- it is by no means quick. Fervorous Ripple may only be cast [1] time per combative encounter without sapping genus, with every further cast costing [1] count of genus.

 

Eᴍᴏᴛᴇ Exᴀᴍᴘʟᴇꜱ:

❖ [ɪ] An infernal thing loomed afar, dragging an oversized scythe through the dirt as it marched forwards towards its quarry. Blood streamed from the incision within Iskandir’s palm as he gazed upon the horrendous being- yet the ichor failed to drip to the floor, rather whipping and churning between his digits, shifting like dough tossed between his hands. The surface of the substance donned an unconventional sheen to it, almost metallic in flavour- before whirling into a small, subtle ball of compressed fluid.

❖ [ɪɪ] Palms coming together with a resonant |CLAP|, the bloodied sphere amalgamated and compressed itself within the core of the ripple, crimson mist rippling from the gaps in his palms as the ichor began to fissure, compression and whirling within Iskandir’s clasp. As the grip unfurled, what remained was a glass-like sphere hewn entirely of blood, a rippling trepidation garbling within the core of it, entrapped and sealed carefully.

❖ [ɪɪɪ] He gave little warning to the encroaching warlord and its horde of accompanying imps- lobbing forwards the sphere as it jettisoned across the air, before winding to a sudden halt [6] meters away from him. The tremoring seam within it snapped- and the sphere compounded upon itself, erupting in a [5x5x5] zone of compressed blood that bashed the horde as if warhammers had struck them all, horrifically mangling the crowd of imps and bruising the warlord.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Fervorous Ripple’s projectile can only be propelled in a straight line up to [6] meters, moving in the direction of the blow that the Blood Mage sends it in; it may not be bended and curved after propulsion, and moves in merely a straight line out of the Blood Mage’s control.

➣ Upon reaching the end of its propulsion or contacting something, Fervorous Ripple explodes into a burst of rigid blood, bashing everything within a [5x5x5] meter zone centered on it with the force of a warhammer.

➣ Fervorous Ripple will only remain 'held' by a Hemomancer’s chosen palm for [1] extra emote, dissipating into harmless red mist after the time elapses without it being used.

➣ The projectile of Fervorous Ripple itself does no physical damage, and only moves at the speed of a casually tossed baseball- solely its combustion actually inflicts damage. If the projectile is intercepted before it reaches the intended end of its pathway, it simply splatters harmlessly.

 

❉ Tearing - [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] [Unique] [1 Emote]

Whilst bloodlet, a Hemomancer may exalt the peak of Bloodbending among modern practitioners- the act of violently bisecting, dismembering, disemboweling, or otherwise fatally mauling an individual in an act of execution.

 

Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ:

Spoiler

After becoming Bloodlet, a Hemomancer may perform Tearing upon a victim who is already incapacitated or restrained through combat and has sustained multiple injuries where they cannot escape, resist, or save themself from impending death. In this event a blood mage may reach deep into the body of their victim to harness their blood and violently maul them in dramatic and gruesome fashion which may be as creative in display as the Blood Mage chooses.

 

A victim may be split in half at a distance, their limbs may be pulled off, their skin may be flayed away in an instant, they may peel apart into layers, and so forth where the blood mage has complete creative freedom to style however the individual dies. Doing so exhausts the victim of all of their genus and is therein considered a wasteful practice by Hazmic sorcerers, a deed used only when a kill is personal.

 

Use of Tearing requires the Blood Mage to contact their victim OOCly to confirm they are comfortable with this sort of roleplay- given its visceral nature- and give them ample opportunity to soulstone away, [/d20], or otherwise leave prior to emoting the execution itself.

 

Eᴍᴏᴛᴇ Exᴀᴍᴘʟᴇꜱ:

❖ [⋆] Drehn danced away from the bleeding warlord, scimitars dripping with rakir-blood as the Infernal being swayed, dropping to its knees and cursing at the planar mercenary. A head was required of Drehn - recognisable, in order for his payment to be given. A head, and no more. Now, Drehn’s mask of professional calm dropped, and a truly unhinged grin sprouted as the man began to slash outwards with his bloodied blades. The Zar’akal grunted, then began to jerk from side to side as each cut mirrored itself upon its form. Drehn continued to cut, and cut, and cut, until the being’s pained cries were silenced, its unmarred head dropping atop a heap of jullienned flesh. 

 

❖ [⋆] The Erlking’s palms crackled, blood gushing from the elf’s splintered fingernails as he swept them upwards; ribbons of amaranthine blood rippled through the air, swaying behind his every motion. Erratic, unconventional- the palms moved in an arrhythmic dance, before coming to a sudden halt- then they snapped to poise towards the bound knave. The knave’s body trembled, twisted- then her neck snapped of its own accord, blood rippling from its eyes and tongue- shifting into silk-like threads, wringing and tugging themselves out of its body. In a sickening display of force, the executed’s flesh deteriorated- giving way to a reddened gel that exsanguinated itself from her cadaver, ripping out into ribbons that joined the Erlking’s bloody dance.

 

❖ [⋆] Illistandrista delivered one last strike with her improvised weapon - a crystalline club carved from one of Speclaton’s many gem-veins - to her teacher’s chest. Bones crunched somewhere within the old Hazmic sorcerer’s chest, and a kick sent him sprawling against a wall. Rage seemed to personify itself over the pale woman as she stalked forwards, throwing out an arm, hand wrenched into a crude mimicry of the Rune of Power. Lashings of blood-energies caught Aok by the hands and feet, and his broken body was lifted, before being slammed sideways at fearsome speeds directly onto a side-jutting crystal. Both it and he shattered in a storm of jade-shards and blood.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Before using Tearing, the target must be OOCly reached out to and given the opportunity to soulstone or /d20 as per the killer's choice if they do not wish to be present for the potentially gorey roleplay, and after which the ability may be used. Tearing does NOT necessitate a PK.

➣ Do not go overboard with the graphic violence potentially present within this ability; do not fetishize the violence whatsoever. Failure to heed this warning will lead to an instant, irrevocable blacklist without appeal.

➣ Tearing cannot be used in any other situation unless specifically allowed by [ST] during an event scenario.

➣ Due to the nature of the implied graphic descriptions, the Blood Mage must OOCly confirm with their victim and those around them that they are comfortable with horror and gore writing and to otherwise keep descriptions to a PG-13 standard as to adhere to server rules and guidelines.

 

 

Pᴀʟʟɪᴅ Rɪᴛᴜᴀʟꜱ ᴛᴏ ɪɴᴠᴏᴋᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴏꜱ

 

Pallid Rites are crafts of blood and rune, but macabre imitations of the primordial invocations of yore. It is to invoke chaos, to gamble against fate itself- for to win such a gamble is to beget great success. Pallid Rites may be of invoking the elements to alter a mind and physique, to invent potent items, or even other ilks of craft- through rolls of chance and chaos. These rites are always performed within a ritual circle created of blood, not dissimilar to a mandala whose ring and innards are littered with a litany of runes associated to each rite.

[ Rɪᴛᴜᴀʟ Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ ]

Spoiler

Even still, these rolls are not flatly done- there are modifiers in play, benefits that can be gained by garnering Blood Mages. These modifiers are as follows, which can be gained simply by having the necessary elements be involved within the rite. Each of them are separate, meaning they may be stacked; however, there is a caveat- no matter what- even if one has a vast amount of bonuses to the roll, if the roll’s result is a natural [1] the ritual will always fail.

 

[+1] for every two extra units of Genus provided.

[+1/+2] for every extra Lesser / Greater Blood Mage.

[+3] if performed in a ritual zone imbued by Anoint.

 

All marriage pieces utilize the aforementioned rolling modifier systems, paired with any external ones that they bear themselves. Throughout this section, every rite that Blood Mages may partake in bears consequence, and is oft a gamble of severe risk. The Lesser Pallid Rites are of more stable nature- and thus, the consequence of failing them is much simpler and does not require [ST] oversight and are self-roleplayed. There are two categories of effects- Hazard and Success- each of which must be self-roleplayed properly- Hazard and Success. They are as follows:

 

» Hazard: The ritual fails with complications and will cause significant harm to those who partake. A limb may be crippled, a devastating laceration may rend across one’s torso, or a spasm of elemental energies will scorch the flesh or shatter bones. Those who suffer from a Hazard may also feel their mind begin to split, leading to a prolonged depression, sense of purposelessness and grief, or more general mental mania.

» Success: The ritual succeeds as intended, for the most part. It almost always comes with slight inconveniences or harms to those who partake in it- afflicting otherwise painful but not devastating injuries.

 

However, there are three categories of results that could be yielded when the overseeing [ST] roll for effects when overseeing Greater Pallid Rites- Catastrophic, Mishap, and Success- these rites are more volatile, and have far greater consequences. They are as follows:

 

» Catastrophic: The ritual catastrophically fails and may produce, among other effects, a violent elemental explosion, the summoning of a hostile entity such as a Voidal terror or inferi serpahs, and/or the appropriate mutation of the intended subjects spinning off  the runes and/or magics used, etc. Failures of this degree bear immense consequences- what spurns from this almost always is something that will incur long-term strife and havoc which is severely difficult to deal with.

» Mishap: The ritual fails with complications and produces, among other effects, an elemental explosion, the summoning of a hostile entity such as a lesser Voidal terror or inferi imps, a gravity well, blinding and choking smoke,  etc. The result of this ilk of failure should bear consequences- albeit these are almost always short-term compared to Catastrophic failures.

» Success: The ritual succeeds as intended, with likely minor elemental or torrential backlash. If decided by the ST, even successes may have unintended results or side effects of varying ilks and means.

 

 

❉ Ensorcell Flesh - [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] [1 Blood Mage] [1 Genus] [3 Emotes] 

By invoking a single element on an individual within a ritual circle, a blood mage can imbue a part of their body with a visual and/or mental effect maintained through baleful inscription.

 

Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ:

Spoiler

Ensorcell Flesh is the simplest of rites- one that requires merely [1] Blood Mage and a meagre [1] count of genus, consecrated over at least [3] collective emotes to imbue an individual with an elemental rune- and the side effects of such. Importantly, this rite may only be attempted once every [1] OOC day by all Blood Mages involved. Individuals may only have their flesh ensorcelled if they bear a soul- furthermore, if they do not have any inherent genus, the Blood Mage must carve the Rune of Life additionally to maintain the ensorcellment, costing [1] extra count of Genus. Individuals marked with Ensorcell Flesh must carry around a Player-Signed item that states the rune applied to them, and where on their flesh it remains for tracking purposes.

 

To perform an ensorcellment, a Blood Mage must draw a circle with runes of mortality, flesh, and power paired with a sole elemental rune to bind to one’s form. The subject is placed atop the runic circle, and a matching elemental rune must be inscribed on their body- either soaked in blood, embedded within a tattoo, seared into a brand, or carved through scarring- to maintain the enchantment; the Blood Mage activates the circle by touching it with an open wound and does [/roll 20] to determine success; thresholds of success are as follows, depending on the tier of the highest participating Blood Mage:

 

[Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] - Hazard: [1-10] // Success: [11+]

[Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] - Hazard: [1-5] // Success: [6+]

 

If successful, the effect according to each appears and can be triggered at will like flexing a muscle. Failed attempts may cause minor harm to the mage and the subject, though it will never summon any entities, even whilst most Mishaps would. These effects are purely aesthetic and can alter any part of the body, but having many may make someone appear unnaturally magical, which could be risky in certain circles. The elemental effects are as follows:

» Fire: Externally, fire may produce a dim glow like embers, increase something’s visual intensity or ferocity, and even lift hair towards the sky as though it were lapping flame. One’s body or attire may feel warm to the touch or even feverish. Internally, fire may make one prone to fury, recklessness, chaotic behavior, or lower one’s pain tolerance. 

» Water: Externally, water may produce a light-warping effect as though fragmented, rippling, or cause one’s hair to lift and sway as if underwater. One’s body or attire may be sweaty, damp, or outright waterlogged. Internally, water may make one capricious or prone to mood swings, hone hand-eye coordination, or prone to confusion.

» Earth: Externally, earth may create a dusty or rough-hewn texture, make movement or the body appear unnaturally stiff, or cause hair to fall directly down as if burdened by great weight. One’s body or attire may be dusty or stubbornly dirty. Internally, earth may foster wisdom, obedience, patience, or mental resilience and may soften but not cure mental instability. 

» Air: Externally, air may create a windswept or wavy texture, make movement appear light and graceful, or cause hair to drift or whip in an unfelt wind. One’s body or attire may be affected by breezes or gales no one else feels. Internally, air may make one prone to spontaneity, forgetfulness from racing thoughts, or peaceful and pacified.

» Dark: Externally, dark may create, intensify, or slightly bend shadows or make something outright black. One’s body or attire may become increasingly dark as if shaded or tainted but cannot invoke outright darkness or enable stealth. Internally, dark may repress and suffocate mental pain but not cure it, cause blankness or slow thinking, or foster a sense of safety as if hidden from something unknown.

» Light: Externally, light may create any kind of glow or shine of any one singular color or it may repeatedly shift between two up to the brightness of a torch. One’s body or attire may glow in the same manner. Internally, light may increase clarity of thought and/or the perception of understanding which may increase dogmatism. 

» Metal: Externally, metal may create a glossy or glittery texture and uniquely make one’s voice strained and hoarse and/or even rasp as if metallic. One’s body or attire may take on a magical sheen or become chromelike or galvanized. Internally, metal may make one stubborn, orderly, or mentally resilient to even apathetic.

» Lightning: Externally, lightning may produce minor flashes, uniquely make one’s voice electrified and otherworldly or tuned, or make one’s hair stand on end as if static charged. One’s body or attire may twitch and jerk as if electrocuted. Internally, lightning may increase burnout, self righteousness, or wrath or cause mood swings.

 

Ensorcelled flesh is commonly used for dramatic display such as cause one’s hair and clothes to whip in a sourceless wind while their skin glimmers to make a Voidal connection seem more threatening and charged; otherwise it is purely a thing of whimsy and expression if not a minor tool for afflicting distress or reinforcing stability in the mind.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Ensorcell Flesh is a Lesser Pallid Rite that requires [1] Blood Mage and [1] count of Genus. When applied to a subject, it requires a runic inscription to be maintained. One written in only blood can be disrupted much more easily than one that is carved or tattooed- so long as if it is cleaned, magically cleansed, or carved out of their flesh, the inscription will be instantly disrupted and the ensorcellment will cease to be. This rite may only be successfully performed [1] time per [1] OOC day.

➣ Entities like undead who do not bear Genus cannot be ensorcelled unless an additional rune of life is added to the ritual circle and the inscription; this adds [1] unit of genus to the ritual cost.

➣ By no means does any aspect of Ensorcell Flesh work as a disguise of any kind; these cannot hide the true nature of any being or any aspect of them whatsoever.

➣ Neither OOC consent nor IRP consent is required to mark an individual with these so long as it is to instill a physical effect- OOC consent is needed for those which additionally affect mentality; these are represented IRPly via Player-Signed items, which must state both the username and roleplay name of the character it has been applied to, alongside the type of rune and the mental/physical effects they bear. These items cannot be ‘robbed’ IRPly given they are just means of tracking, and if carved out or otherwise purged must be [/use]’d.

➣ None of these enchantments can impact combat or be twisted to be mechanically relevant as they are purely aesthetic or internal. Fire cannot harm, dark cannot make someone entirely blackened to enable stealth, and so forth.

 

❉ Invent - [Lᴇꜱꜱᴇʀ] [2+ Blood Mages] [6 Genus] [4 Emotes]

The process of creation- the construement of armaments, garbs, or even fabled relics. Arms enchanted with the rune of draining in this rite make for weapons fit for gruesome, bloody deeds, whilst the rune of power upon garbs allows Blood Mages enfeebled by magics to temporarily cast off their yoke at the expense of their magical prowess. 

 

Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ:

Spoiler

Invent is a rite that has three subsets- that of Gilding, Engorging, and Blaspheming. It requires [2] Blood Mages and at minimum [6] counts of genus, consecrated over at least [4] collective emotes to evoke forth one of the three subtypes. Importantly, this rite may only be attempted once every [2] OOC weeks by all Blood Mages involved.

 

Like all Lesser Blood Magic rites, Invent’s subtypes of Gild and Engorge do not require [ST] oversight to perform the ritual, but the emotes and rolls (all within uncropped screenshots to prevent roll-cheesing) will need to be saved and sent to [ST] in a document within the (/sreq) for the item- whilst players, like always, are expected to self-roleplay consequences; Invent’s rolls for these two scale as follows:

 

Hazard: [1-12] // Success: [13+]

 

However, if the subtype of Invent chosen is Blaspheme- the [MArt] creation method- it is a far more risky task to undertake, for it is a far more difficult and baleful craft. Additionally, its creation method will require [ET] oversight to both oversee for and emote for the ritual, and likewise to also perform the roll for results; Invent’s rolls for Blaspheme scale as follows:

 

Catastrophic: [1-12] // Mishap: [13-17] // Success: [18+]

 

✦ Gild - Through Gilding, the ritual is consecrated around any bladed weapon- which is primarily imbued with the rune of draining- twisting it into a Gilded Weapon. This armament conducts blood through it like an electrical conduit- when wet with blood, strikes inflicted with it are applied as though the weapon were serrated, ensuring lasting wounds difficult to stitch, keen to bleed, and viciously ache; these blades additionally self-sharpen upon coming into contact with blood. Aesthetically, Gilded Weapons proliferate the splatter and carnage of battle by excessively and visually multiplying bloodshed with dramatic and gruesome splatters of inert, genus-less blood. This is purely a visceral aesthetic and does not cause additional blood loss whatsoever; walls may be painted and floors may gather pools with this amplification. Lastly, because of this stripping of genus that gathers in the weapon, corcituri and moroi may magically feed via its touch with the armament should they spill an equivalent amount of blood from a victim to feed.

 

✦ Engorge - Through Engorging, the ritual is fixated around a piece of clothing, crown, mask, or armor, primarily applied with the rune of power; Engorged Garb, when wet with blood, may have the rune of power activate, sending puncturing- yet harmless- spikes of blood within the Blood Mage that donned it, slowly unfeebling their magical weaknesses for the duration of donning it. Engorged Garb may not undo physical weakness proffered by [CAs], and may only temporarily undo the weakening-effects of the following magics: Voidal Magic, Naztherak, Mysticism, & Necromancy. When activated, the Blood Mage is incapable of casting any magical spells, passives, or abilities from the weakening magics. However, activating & deactivating the rune is a slow and tedious process as the spikes puncture them and slowly unravel their weakness- it takes [24] OOC hours from activating it for it to take effect. This rune must have the Blood Mage willingly activate it themselves, meaning merely spilling blood on it will do nothing. Once activated or brought into combat, the Blood Mage cannot disable the rune mid-combat; they must wait until the end of the combative encounter, after which they may detach from it.

 

✦ Blaspheme - Through Blaspheming, the ritual begets a far more freeform state- the epitome of creation rituals, used as a freeform method of invention. This requires the circle to be inscribed with as many relevant runes as possible to describe the intended final product alongside possible objects or creatures to act as a base form. Additional magics of any origin or source may be cast into the ritual circle as it is triggered to help guide the invention, epitomizing Blood Magic’s ability to bind with all powers be they divine, arcane, mortal, or otherwise. This ritual requires a [MArt] to be both posted and approved prior to attempting- it should be kept in mind that whilst the roleplay happens after, this is due to the fact that it has the catastrophic possibility to fail in its creation method. In the instance of its creation failing, the [MArt] is not denied but rather an attempt to invent it cannot be done again for [2] OOC weeks as per Invent’s mechanics, after which it may be attempted oncemore.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Invent is a Lesser Pallid Rite that requires [2] Blood Mages and [6] counts of Genus. However, if used to Blaspheme- the [MArt] creation method- it functions as if a Greater Pallid Rite that requires, which requires [ST] oversight for the ritual and its results, and must be led by [2] Greater Blood Mages. This rite may only be successfully performed [1] time per [2] OOC weeks.

➣ Invent may either be used to create a Gilded Weapon, Engorged Garb, or to attempt to create a [MArt]. If the [MArt] creation attempt fails, they may reattempt after [2] OOC weeks to create it. One may not create a [MArt] more than once this way unless the respectively [MArt] specifically states it is possible.

➣ Gilded Weapons are only relevant to flesh wounds and otherwise are normal weapons which retain their edge; their excessive multiplication of bloodshed has no mechanical effect and are mostly an aesthetic wherein battle becomes impossibly bloody and rooms may be painted and pools may form. As well, this inert blood is ineffectual and cannot be used for blood magic, for consumption by other creatures or magics, and does not trigger blood-related effects in other magics or creatures. Gilded Weapons require [ST] approval. Keep in mind that the razor-sharpening effect only works up to that which is mundanely possible; a mace that has become a Gilded Weapon is unable to do this given it has no edge to draw blood, and so on. All armaments may be gilded, but the only ones that bear bladed edges garner this ability to remain razor-sharp and multiply spilt blood. Vampires may utilize this to feed, as per their respective lorepieces.

➣ Engorged Garb may only be activated by Blood Mages- by doing so, they briefly lose the ability to cast any ability from the weakening magics (Voidal Magic, Naztherak, Necromancy, & Mystic Conjurors), whilst they temporarily regain the strength that had been drained from them. It has no effect on individuals not practicing physically hindering magics, (i.e. donning an Engorged Chestplate could be used to make a human mage as strong as a human knight, but not a human knight as strong as an orc). Engorged Garb must be either a Shirt, Pants, Helmet, Crown, Mask, or Chestplate- no other piece of clothing or armor may become Engorged given they would not be able to attach sufficiently to the Blood Mage during the process of activation. Engorged Garb require [ST] approval. 

 

❉ Anoint - [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] [3+ Blood Mages] [8 Genus] [5 Emotes] 

Stagnation is a potent concept, and one that can be evoked to its fullest through the unification of the runes of silence and life- and from it, consecrate and sanctify a room to be a stalwart aide in their Pallid Rites, yet too muffles and hushes the occult acts within from the world outside.

 

Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ:

Spoiler

Anoint is a rite of stagnation and eternal pause- one that requires [3] Blood Mages and at minimum [8] counts of genus, consecrated over at least [5] collective emotes to consecrate a room- carving it to be suited for rites of the bloody and occult nature. Importantly, this rite may only be attempted once every [1] OOC week by all Blood Mages involved. As with all Greater rites, it must be led by at least [2] Greater Blood Mages, whilst the other Blood Mages who partake may be either Greater or Lesser; it requires [ET] oversight to both oversee and emote for the ritual and also to perform the roll for results; Anoint’s rolls scale as follows:

 

Catastrophic: [1-6] // Mishap: [7-12] // Success: [13+]

 

Anointed rooms, through their creation, augments a [5x5] meter ritual circle at the core of the room to ensorcell and fixate the congregation of the rite about, which remains the core of the effect splayed upon the room. At maximum, the room Anointed may have the dimensions of its base span up to [30x30] meters. Upon success of the rite, this ritual circle remains a ‘template’ that other Pallid Rites may be done through, giving a [+3] bonus onto the rolls for all Blood Magic Ritual successes as according to the modifiers table earlier within this segment of the lorepiece. Anointed zones are resilient against things spurred by the failure of rites that occur within- they physically are not so easily torn apart by failures induced by Blood Magic rites, and entities and effects spurred from both failed and successful rites are retained within more resiliently. 

 

Anointed zones are maintained via said ritual circle, which must bear an [ST Approved] sign to validate the area. The effects of an Anointed zone can be destroyed with the core of the room itself- [6] direct strikes must impact the core ritualistic circle, which causes it to erupt and cease function. When within this zone, it is muffled- speaking is limited to #quiet. Nothing from outside can also be heard within, and vice-versa- it is a perfect seal of noise.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Anoint is a Greater Pallid Rite that requires [3] Blood Mages and [8] counts of Genus. Like all Greater Pallid Rites, it requires [ST] oversight for the ritual and its results, and must be led by [2] Greater Blood Mages. Anointed zones may not be stacked- you may not Anoint a room that already has been Anointed. One requires RO consent to perform Anoint in an owned tile. This rite may only be successfully performed [1] time per [1] OOC month.

➣ Anoint is centered around a runic circle that bears the dimensions of [5x5] meters within the core of a room- the entire room is augmented by the rite and Anointed, so long as the base of the room is equal to or less than [30x30] meters. Within this Anointed room, Pallid Rites and all other rituals of Blood Magic- like those from marriage pieces- gain a [+3] modifier to their rolls, as stated within the beginning of this section.

➣ Anoint’s ritualistic circle may be broken with [6] direct strikes to it, causing the enhancement of the entire room to unravel. Furthermore, the fundamental destruction of the room will likewise disable the enhancement within it- albeit in a cataclysmic surge of power which will suffer the consequences of a Catastrophic Failure. Anointed rooms may not be metagamed via just their ‘quietness’ alone. It should be kept in mind that destruction via purging magics (Clericism, Shamanism, etc.) do not incur this destructive wrath. If destroyed mid-RP, roleplay is paused until an [ST] member becomes present to emote the consequences

➣ Anointed rooms are extremely resistant against things that are wrought there from Blood Magic- be it entities summoned as consequence or objects wrought there from Warping, the room itself is capable of taking a surprising amount of damage from them before giving in- though even it is not impervious to such things. They are utterly immune to damage drafted from Lesser Rites, though only as aforementioned resistant towards destruction wrought by Greater Rites.

➣ Bearing offshoots and fragments from the old rites of Quiet, the Anointed chamber is utterly soundproofed from the exterior-in, and vice versa. All noise within is likewise muffled as if the people within were underwater; it is a relatively hushed environment, making it perfect for performing occult rites within. This does not count as verbal blockage for magics which need verbal spellcasting components, such as Naztherak and Ordained Heraldry.

 

❉ Warping - [Gʀᴇᴀᴛᴇʀ] [4+ Blood Mages] [12 Genus] [6 Emotes]

Named on account of its transposition of subjects, a ritual of warping may either conjure an entity or object to the ritual site or create a rift through which individuals may pass into other planes. This rite is among the most dangerous to perform- for summoned entities have no inherent allegiance or docile disposition towards their summoners, and rifts can lead to chaotically hazardous lands and may even leave travelers stranded unexpectedly.

 

Mᴇᴄʜᴀɴɪᴄꜱ:

Spoiler

Warping is a rite that has two subsets- that of Hailing and Embarking. It requires [4] Blood Mages and at minimum [12] counts of genus, consecrated over at least [6] collective emotes to evoke forth either a rift that spans between realms or vast distances or summon forth an entity or object. Warping is a major violation of the natural order of the universe, and thus is often tied directly to severe PK clauses, given Cosmic Correction's involvement.

 

Importantly, every attempt of Warping to do anything requires express [ST] approval to even attempt, which may be declined by [ST] and [LT Management], both of which are by no means obligated to approve any or all requests of these natures and are not obligated to explain their reasoning. Like all Greater Blood Magic rites, any form of Warping requires [ST] oversight to both oversee and emote for the ritual and also to perform the roll for results; Warping’s rolls scale as follows:

 

Catastrophic: [1-7] // Mishap: [8-16] // Success: [17+]

 

✦ Hail - Through Hailing, an object, entity, or force can be attempted to be summoned before the Blood Mages- requiring the circle to be inscribed with as many ‘relevant’ runes as possible to describe the entity or object to help hone the accuracy of the rite. For example, water, flesh, divinity, mortality, and power to summon a hydra, or fire, flesh, mortality, life, and transcendence to attempt to summon a firebird. It should always be kept in mind that the same string of runes could conjure a similar but unintended creature or object, or it could outright explode if fate wills it. Summoned entities are at best neutral, and at worst incredibly and severely hostile; Blood Mages must be keenly aware of the possibility of disaster as well as success for whatever they summon, intended or otherwise, has no inherent kindness or subservient nature towards them and at best will be neutral and dismissive of them.

 

Entities or objects with strong magical ties or from other planes such as inferi as well as specific, named creatures or objects can also be summoned but with much less reliability- first the blood mages must use additional reagents to assist in describing the entity or object, such as ritualistic offerings or the blood of specific race or creature on top of the necessary runes and genus. An example of this might be metal, divinity, sacrosanctum, power, and life to summon a war-automaton of Garumdir that requires the lifeblood of an animii additionally. Such additional offerings are nigh always of high importance to bear, for attempting to hail objects additional reagents connected to a specific object/entity leaves the results to chance. Invoking direct subsidiaries of the Aengudaemonic realms- such as Nephilim within Azdromoth’s Gardens of Fate or Judges of Tahariae’s Gilded Court- requires even far greater sacrifice, typically objects or relics linked to deities or their realms. All attempts of using Hail to summon an object or entity require consent to a Hard PK event to all players present without lore-approved means to respawn; if they are not willing to be there from the beginning, they may soulstone away- though after consent has been given and the event has begun, they cannot rescind consenting to the PK event.

 

✦ Embark - Through Embarking, a rift may be spurned forth before the Blood Mages- permitting traversal either over vast spans of distance in the material plane, or between the very planes themselves. By creating a bleeding portal from one place to another, this rite requires the ritual circle to be inscribed with as many ‘relevant’ runes as possible to describe the place intended to hone the accuracy of the rite such as metal, fire, mortality, sacrosanctum, and flora to travel to Ulthradulite or earth, water, air, flora, and mortality to travel to Anthos. As alluded to, rifts are notoriously fickle and when it opens to reveal what lay ahead it may not at all be the intended destination- just something like it- and given the vast multitude of planes and descriptions it is not always certain to succeed. Rifts remain open for a relatively brief time, only a meagre [1] narrative day, and displays the world ahead of them in an eerie crimson light after which they slowly stitch back together like a sealing wound.

 

To enter a blood rift is to accept a Hard PK clause as there is no guarantee a character can conduct the ritual again to return home, and death in distant planes means true-death to any being, even if they have lore-approved means to respawn; players who do not wish to accept this PK clause may SS out of the roleplay. Planar traversal is extremely risky- for the law of cosmic correction will set in at a surprisingly hastened rate given the sheer attention that something as messy as a blood rift draws to the site. By chance- and by [ST] verdict- rifts opened by Embark may remain open indefinitely longer as both a boon and bane- whilst it may assist in the return of the party, there remains no way to easily close it- and entities within may wield it as a potent way to invade the mortal plane. If attempting to invoke a portal to a deific realm, similarly to Hail, one would almost always need relics of significance tied to the deities of said realm- failure to do so will often lead to instant obliteration upon trying to pass through.

 

Further, a Greater Blood Mage acting alone can utilize a cantrip version of Warping to create multiple minor blood rifts linked at predetermined destinations that are higher or lower on the same median plane, allowing one to create ‘portals’ that can send the user though otherwise solid spaces without necessitating the construction of physical lifts, stairs or ladders (mechanically represented by lift signs). These minor rifts are left active at all times following creation and cannot be broken mid-combat, and are merely lift re-skins- they are just flavour-reskinning of elevator signs and do not need [ST] signatures nor approval.

 

Rᴇᴅʟɪɴᴇꜱ:

➣ Warping is a Greater Pallid Rite that requires [4] Blood Mages and [12] counts of Genus. Like all Greater Pallid Rites, it requires [ST] oversight for the ritual and its results, and must be led by [2] Greater Blood Mages. Players who are used as “sacrifices", or others who do not wish to proceed OOCly with the events procured from these, are not obligated to remain after their blood has been spilled and may freely SS out specifically for Warping rites before the roll, given the commonly-found PK clause tied to these events.

➣ Hailing is the process of attempting to summon a specific or generic item or entity,  and all these attempts bring with it a Hard-PK clause.

➣ Hailing, if conducted inside of a city, lair, or a nation's capital region, requires consent from at least one RO; this does not apply across entire nation tiles, and only on the tiles of a city, lair, or a nation capital.

➣ To attempt summon a specific creature or object the Blood Mages involved must be aware of their existence in roleplay; the limits of their understanding give the [ST] more room to flex creative freedom. For example, Blood Mages may attempt to summon a “demon lord”, though their result could drastically vary from a Zar’akal to a Zar’kiel or Zentherak of any banner or band.

➣ Additionally, summoning an object may have unintended consequences; summoning a lost page of the Planar Dictate- an unlikely event- might bring with it a maelstromic and bewildering planar anomaly of torn space, or attempting to summon the Laurels of Mordring could bring with it a terrifying Lich-Wight keen to make their summoners heel to their writ and order. Regardless, attempts to summon specific lore-objects requires [LT Manager] approval.

➣ 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. However, prepared ritualists may have means of frightening the entity or otherwise force it in a direction they wish for it to go such as towards a nearby city to wreak havoc.

➣ Objects being hailed must have sufficient space when summoned or risk being destroyed. A house being hailed would not make space for itself, for example and would require an already open area. For example, a basement or cavern underground would not cut out a new space.

➣ Hailing cannot be used to summon in any ilk of reagents, [ST]-signed metals, or other rare, nonspecific resources. One cannot summon Azhl nor Carbarum with this, and so on.

➣ Embarking necessitates the acceptance of a PK clause as the character may end up with no avenue for returning. If entering another realm, characters who may persist past death due to natural respawn mechanics and perish within a distant realm do not respawn, given the soul is too far away to recongolomerate. Thus, death within another realm is always a Hard-PK, regardless of any other circumstances.

➣ Rifts are fickle and even a success could lead Blood Mages to an unintended destination; [ST] decide and describe the location, allowed to do so entirely through text or with a build prepared for representation. The [ST] may, at the conclusion of the event, decide whether the characters have the means to return, if they can acquire the means to return, to continue the event in-game or over Discord at a later date, or that the characters are lost if not already dead and effectively PK’d where they are stuck in that place until they slowly perish.

➣ Attempting to leave a realm via Embarking does not need another roll, just the necessary Blood Mages and Genus. Furthermore, Blood Mages on the outside of a rift may attempt to open a rift oncemore at a later date in an attempt to find and free entrapped individuals should they still be alive.

➣ Warping may be used in a solo and miniscule cantrip form to create ‘blood-rifts’; simply reskinned elevators and lifts which are represented mechanically by lift signs, which do not need [ST] approval nor signatures.

 

 

Pᴜʀᴘᴏꜱᴇ, Iᴍᴘʟᴇᴍᴇɴᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ, & Cʀᴇᴅɪᴛꜱ

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

Hey folks, Sam here. Whilst a rewrite and change to Blood Magic has certainly been something that the LoTC community has been holding their breath for, the purpose of writing this form of Blood Magic is to take an angle more-so reminiscent of what Blood Magic was originally about in its post-Lore Games rendition, as Pale Blood Magic. Blood Magic in its current form is plagued by many issues: a distinct case of a confused identity (namely due to the presence of Ensorcell Material, which made a magic built toward communal outcome something that is predominantly used for individual greed in a niche that, frankly, it shouldn’t have anything to do with), a lack of inbuilt structural support in order to sustain the formation of communities in the lack of the once-crucial presence of the Siliti community, and a greater lack of use of the magic as a result of vast mountains that must be climbed in order to teach the magic to an individual in the first place, in the same way that it is equally difficult to find other individuals with which to engage in the magic’s practices of rite and ritual that the magic’s entire point goes toward. It cannot be denied that Blood Magic, in its current form, is exceedingly and unnecessarily complicated, its design kiltering toward a system that does not necessarily fit the traditional Five-Tier magic, and in the lack of Siliti, the remnants of this magic punish its practitioners and teachers in many ways that are wholly unnecessary.

 

With this, our mission statement in the writing of this presented rendition of Blood Magic encompassed a singular, crucial action - the simplification of all that Blood Magic presents. Players who have engaged with this magic, both past and present, understand innately that there is a vast distinction between the simplicity of what is written on paper and what the resultant magic is actually like when used in-game. It’s our belief that the previous Blood Magic, whilst great on paper, became something that was neither practical nor efficient to interact with, learn, or teach in any shape or form on the server in actual usage. With 18 spells and rituals altogether, a system that mandated the screenshotting and marking of learned abilities on application, and a system that, within itself, required the mothering of the ST at nearly all times in order to utilise the magic beyond the basic utilisation of things such as Haemorrhage and Scabbing, the current rendition of Blood Magic is an unfinished, unpolished system that is more of a chore to engage with than a form of entertainment, made ever-clearer by the lack of a parental and supporting role in that of the presence of the Siliti when they did exist. 

 

To this end, we have adjusted or introduced entirely new factors into the fundamentals of this rendition of Blood Magic that we are presenting. We have changed Blood Magic to be a Tierless system, split only into the Lesser and Greater forms, for sake of reasoning that the lack of spells, rites and rituals beyond the eight that we have now condensed the previous 18 abilities into simply does not match with a system with 5 tiers. This is crucial, as it will open many doors, previously left closed, for the teaching and learning of the magic within itself, allowing students and teachers to work together to learn and teach the abilities in any order they desire, as opposed to an oppressive tiered system that did not make sense, as each of the abilities and rituals found in both the current and the proposed rendition are not “built upon” each other so much as they are relationary, as each of them is individually built upon a different set of Runes that is taught to any initiatory Blood Mage. The Lesser and Greater forms exist, now, to separate the most devoted amongst these sorcerers from the less-initiated, as certain weaknesses are a permanent part of a Greater Blood Mage’s life that are not so for the Lesser BMs. 

 

As previously mentioned, we have also condensed and combined many of the abilities and rituals within the magic, not so much as removing many as much as unifying many of them under more singular banners. This serves to simplify the process of teaching, as many of the outcomes of these rituals are, fundamentally, extremely similar in nature, and resultantly we found it best to group the once numerous abilities and rites under different groupings that would be taught as singular abilities with multiple facets. Certain previous abilities, such as Quiet and Spiritspell, existed solely for the sake of fulfilling some form of ritual presence for their associated Rune within the codex of runes, and provided no practical outcome or usage, thus rarely ever being used. These two rituals were reworked entirely to present forth a new ritual, Anoint, that serves to provide a built-in support for the formation of blood mage cabals, covens and other groups, a backbone to a magic that currently has none, for those who are willing to take the risk and effort required to create an Anointed Room for use in all other rituals. 

 

Closer to the review and (hopeful) acceptance of this iteration, we plan to begin to prepare for our always-foreseen room for expansion to Blood Magic, that being the ever-elusive Second Slot lore, which will be posted in the near-future upon acceptance of this proposed rendition. For this reason, the mechanic of needing to take a Second Slot (seen in the current rendition of BM) is no longer necessary in this proposed rendition, as this mechanic currently exists only to be another boundary that must be unnecessarily crossed, only having ever been added in the first place in order to prepare for an eventual second-slot addition that never came. Our planned addition of the Second Slot will be more greatly focused on combative Blood Magic, as the One-Slot form predominantly exists for the sake of rite and ritual, with minimal combative usage beyond Haemorrhage and Fervorous Ripple. 

 

Altogether, we want Blood Magic to be more than a superficial form of singularly one-dimensional Dark Magic. Traditionally, it has always occupied a space wherein it is viewed IRPly by both its practitioners and those who engage within it as an ambivalent sorcery – it can be used for any purpose, whether malicious, benevolent, or anything in between, and it is one of the few sorceries that engages with a natural, biological and metaphysical substrate, that being Genus. A “natural” magic, in short. This rendition intends and attempts to entirely embrace the ambivalence and liminality that Blood Magic naturally demonstrates in practice, allowing the opportunity for this magic to find itself across any assortment of different organisations and groups, from the altruistic to the wicked, wherein the distinction lies within the intent of the use, as opposed to the action of utilisation itself, for both the practitioners and those who engage with the magic to determine the morality and the nature of the heart of the user. 

 

- sam

 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

 

Heyo, Pallo here to close this piece off with our proposal of how implementation should best be done in the case of this piece’s acceptance. The following process is what we deem to be the most simple and efficient means to implement this lore- creating a simple distribution which permits individuals to be properly and simply sorted within Lesser and Greater tiers, whilst also granting the chance to de-tier or even drop the magic if they so wish, with the changes that come. Furthermore, there is a request to wipe all active Teaching Applications, wherein any Greater-Tiered mage is capable of posting them freely; this is to ensure that the lore, with its severe changes throughout much of its progression and mechanics will be taught properly in the progression to come. Ensorcelled Materials are a peculiar and tricky thing to deal with- the best view in our case is to legacy them, as detailed in the proposal below- this is perhaps for the best from what we think at this moment, but of course they could always just fully be reverted and undone. Regardless of the yapping, my implementation proposal for this Blood Magic rewrite is as follows:

🞙 Blood Mages of [Tɪᴇʀ I] to [Tɪᴇʀ III] are grandfathered into the [Lesser]-tier of Blood Magic, with full knowledge of all Lesser Abilities and Rites; they are given the choice to drop the magic if they so wish, with no downsides whatsoever.

🞙 Blood Mages of [Tɪᴇʀ IV] and [Tɪᴇʀ V] are grandfathered into the [Greater]-tier of Blood Magic, with full knowledge of all Abilities and Rites; they are given the choice to be grandfathered into the [Lesser]-tier of Blood Magic if they wish (thus only innately knowing all Lesser Abilities and Rites) or likewise drop the magic if they so wish, with no downsides whatsoever.

🞙 All active Blood Magic [TAs] are rescinded. All newly re-tiered [Greater] Blood Mages are given the opportunity to rewrite and submit a [TA] whenever they so wish; the reason for rescission of old [TAs] is due to the major changes on the basis of this lorepiece, especially pertaining progression- it is moreso a formality to ensure all active teachers are properly teaching the magic.

🞙 All combative Ensorcell Material items are hereby defunct, whilst all other (noncombative) Ensorcell Materials will be confiscated at the end of map. These may no longer be used whatsoever in a combative environment; feel free to [/sreq] should you wish for an ensorcell on an item to be removed if it would be ST signed for a different reason (being a materiak).

Ty for reading this lorepiece- and I hope you all have a splendid day :3

- pallo

 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

 

S ᴄ ʜ ɪ ᴢ ᴏ ᴘ ʜ ʀ ᴇ ɴ ɪ ᴀ   I ɴ ᴄ .   v 2

ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀꜱ - ᴘᴀʟʟᴏᴅɪᴜᴍ, ʜᴏʟʏʟᴀɴᴅ, & ꜱᴛɪɴɢʏᴘᴀʀʀᴏᴛ

ᴄᴏɴꜱᴜʟᴛᴀᴛɪᴏɴ - ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ᴍᴀɢɪᴄ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪᴛʏ

ᴘʀɪᴏʀ ʟᴏʀᴇ - ᴢᴀʀꜱɪᴇꜱ & ᴍᴏʀᴅᴜ

 

ʙʟᴏᴏᴅ ʀᴜɴᴇ ᴀʀᴛ - 28ɪᴅʟᴇ

 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

 

mreow

 

[spaazmatism 1018]

Yes!

[Deer__ 1558]

Someone should make sure this guy isn't locked in a basement and forced to submit lore at gunpoint.

[Frostdrop1 1843]

PALLO IS THE CHEF!!!!

Side-node as a CC: I think CC should retain 4 units, owing to the curse on them. Their blood being black and being slightly special works out well for their rp overall and I think it's reasonable enough lore-wise seen as their descendents affected by something else.

It also means the CC page doesn't get even more out-dated, god forbid.

[KidKrinkles 2043]

once again posting top-shelf lore

[Mallow 243]

Blood magic update is huge

[_Black_Drag0n_ 781]

Bro cooks again and again. This is a great rewrite on a currently underwhelming magic! I love it, and wanna pick it up!

[Spellblades 749]

Top tier cooking right here

[Hiccup392 724]

Put an Ensorcell Material on 

[BonesOfTheEarth 2252]

Holy cow its here

[Lapidary 494]

They shot Corcs again guys, still no buff. RIP

[milksoda 2884]

Sorry 2 be a nerd but I need to make one correction as a demi djinn nerdposter from the djinn lore demi djinn have 5 counts of genus in their 2nd phase, in 3rd phase they have 7.

[wootdahnoot 131]

PIERCING BLOOD! 

[Samler 1564]

Why are high elves no longer 4 units of genus base?

[Holyland 3650]