Extract from Elements of Magic: A Guide to Spellcrafting Essentials, by Elgath Zolicar
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Introduction:
A relatively common Material element, Blood Magic is oft-maligned due to the nature of its substance. However, once the superstition and unethical magical practices have been stripped away from the element, we are left with a form of magic with a startling degree of versatility and range of associations.
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Contact:
‘Blood’ is magically defined as a vitreous humor within living beings. While the ‘default’ Contact for the Blood element is a crimson in color, utilizing iron in order to transport oxygen throughout the body of complex life, this is not the only form in which it can manifest. All that is fundamentally required is that it is a liquid humor whose purpose includes the distribution of required nutrients to the body. Accordingly, black, blue, yellow, green, and even other colors may appear, depending upon the element’s Locality. Most commonly, the color of blood matches the color of the caster, and blood magic is always easiest to use upon blood which closely matches that of the mage.
In cases where the caster possesses no blood, it defaults to the closest cultural zeitgeist.
Microscale life, consisting of a countable number of cells and thus with no need for an internal transfer of nutrients, does not possess Blood. The mechanisms utilized to transport substances within their cells do not count as Blood, though the internal loose fluid found within insects does, as does tree sap in some circumstances (believed to be tied in some ways to the magic’s Locality).
Should an artificial fluid be introduced into a subject which is capable of performing the majority of functions which Blood undertakes, that fluid begins to function as a Blood Contact. It is in this way which some mechanical golems do indeed possess Blood, most commonly as some form of oil.
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Association:
I divest from my standard format for the sake of Blood, as it is unusual in that it possesses four distinct classical Associations within the Standard Model alone, with each of these Associations drastically impacting the common Behaviors and Aspects for Blood. There also exists a fifth Association, which was intentionally engineered to balance all four of the more organic Associations. When that manifested as its own distinct Association rather than an archassociation, there have since been several further attempts at combining all four (five, now) distinct Associations into a balance of all of them.
* The first, which I have dubbed Vital Blood, is an Association with Life, Water, Decay, Poison. This Association sees Blood as a part of the body, something required for life- the Waters of Life, it is sometimes called- yet in that connection to Life there exists of course the great dangers of disease and poison, full of potential and power and thus hazardous. It is fertility, new life and the end of life, with blood as an integral part of every aspect of every living being’s existence. This Association originated from the Etrix region of Iaxi and spread across that land, replacing whatever was before.
* The second, War Blood, is an Association with Death, Nature, Darkness, Light, Friendship, and Mind (particularly emotion). This Association sees Blood as a byproduct of war, of violence, of hot tempers and mistakes, yet also of glory and magnificent battles won with honor. It traces its bloodline back to the Ordenn and their warlike past, where rivers of blood were simultaneously cause for grief and celebration. A well-won battle is a matter of much bloodshed, a place where true warriors may prove themselves and excel. It is also a place where brotherhoods are forged in blood, where lives are irrevocably changed. Blood, to them, is the greatest catalyst of all.
* The third, Noble Blood, is an Association with Friendship, Life, Death, and Significance. Common in Caldamoor, this Association focuses principally upon the connections which Blood possesses. Blood brothers, family ties, the shared blood of many individuals striving for a common goal. This Association views the shedding of blood as a communal sacrifice for the greater good. It represents the hope that though the way may be hard, the result will be spectacular and only made possible through the combined efforts of countless individuals. This Association is also sometimes seen with Nobility, who view the Friendship and Significance ties as part of their birthright, their Bloodlines.
* The fourth and final classical Association, Blight Blood, is with Death, Decay, Poison. This is the most common Association with Blood, and to allow for a bit of editorializing, by far the most limiting and least-comprehensive of the common sets of Associations.
* The fifth Association, Modern Blood, is a bit of a loose conglomeration of all four that came before. Its closest pair is Life and Significance, followed closely by Death and Nature, with Friendship, Water, and Fate following somewhat closely thereafter. It views Blood largely as a powerful source of life, a very significant aspect of all creatures as part of their birth and death, that it is indicative of hard work and violence, representative in some ways as a microcosm of everything a creature did or could undertake in their life.
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Aspects:
As an excellent example in the manner in which all components of an Element interact with one another, each of the four ‘classical’ Associations influences the ways in which Aspects manifest. Some of the more common aspects are as follows:
Life
* Vital: The most common Aspect, Life-aspected Vital Blood does much of what the Association already does best. This makes for potent regenerative and disease-treating healing spells. While relatively ineffective against magical maladies, it is exceptionally potent upon anything which the body could theoretically heal on its own.
* War: While less common, Life-aspected War Blood is primarily useful as a stimulant. Empowered muscles and enhanced endurance, some uses of this form of mana are also useful in draining spells, taking the Life of another and empowering the caster. It is not, however, conducive to sacrificial rituals.
* Noble: Not common yet not rare, Life-aspected Noble Blood principally aids with ensuring good health and longevity. Fixing inborn flaws, enhancing traits a family is known for, improved fertility, and counteracting disease and poison are all things which this mana excels at.
* Blight: Among the rarer conventional aspects for Blight Blood, it functions predominantly as a form of sickly, cancerous life. Malformed limbs, fungal growths, fleshwarping, and improper healing, among many other grotesque uses, are all within this form of mana’s specialties.
* Modern: One of the more common Aspects, Life-aspected Modern Blood combines many of the traits of Vital, Noble, and War blood. It acts as an admirable generalist biological empowerment, speeding up wound recovery and enhancing biological functions under the caster’s guidance.
Death
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* Vital: Less common, Death-aspected Vital Blood is principally utilized as something of a disease-killer, a way to trim away rotten or gangrenous flesh, or otherwise prune aspects that are causing harm to the greater whole. It is also utilized to grant quick and merciful deaths, though there are many situations wherein this Aspect represents hidden dangers and therefore lends itself quite well to poisonings.
* War: The most common Aspect for War Blood, Death-aspecting revels in the act of spilling blood and in combat in particular. Duels to first blood and to death alike, this kind of mana represents the end of something notable to a life. It is superior in most ways to Life-aspected War Blood for the purposes of draining spells, and some spells do not even require the blood to be utilized directly, the mere act of defeating a foe in combat is often a component in these spells and rituals.
* Noble: Moderately common, Death-aspected Noble Blood represents permanence, a state of affairs which shall exist from now until Death or beyond. Curses are common, but so too in workings that are intended to outlast all those who made it, when cooperating together.
* Blight: One of the more common Aspects for Blight Blood, Death-aspected mana represents disease and, unsurprisingly, death. It is poisons and demises inevitable, the reaper coming to visit and the last drops of blood leaving a life. It is darkness and decay, rot and putrefaction.
* Modern: Represents finality, and terminus. Useful for workings that are intended to end, but also sees a lot of use extracting value from a death (or inflicting it).
Sacrifice
* Vital: Rare, yet documented, Sacrifice-aspected Vital Blood is a fairly straightforward aspect, taking advantage of an abundance of life energy to transfer it to another for healing. Commonly utilized in sympathetic healing, where wounds are transferred from one individual to another.
* War: Relatively common, Sacrifice-aspected War Blood is about self-sacrifice, about committing the entirety of one’s being into a task with no thought for reward or future benefits. Often highly detrimental or even fatal for the caster, it is capable of truly stunning feats of magic, and lends itself well to use with Fate magic.
* Noble: Less common, Sacrifice-aspected Noble Blood magic is about trade-offs and exchanges. It is about one individual giving themselves to aid a larger whole, or many giving their lives to serve a cause. In darker situations, it is about many giving their lives to serve a single individual. Regardless, it is akin to War Blood’s Sacrifice Aspect, yet its lack of singular purpose leaves it more muddled and overall less efficient in many situations. It does excel in offerings, however, where a supplicant is offering the power of another as a gift or tribute.
* Blight: The classic Blight Blood Aspect, Sacrifice-aspected mana is about blood rituals and draining, of taking another’s life and directing it into a purpose of the mage’s choice. It can work truly impressive magics with the elaborate rituals it lends itself to, yet is never clean and rarely willing.
* Modern: One of the more common Aspects, and once again borrowing primarily from Vital Blood, Sacrifice-Aspected Modern Blood mana is principally about tradeoffs and transference, about taking an attribute from one place and granting it somewhere else. It is balanced, fair.
Infection
* Vital: Occasionally recorded, Infection-aspected Vital Blood represents danger and disease, sometimes in combating them but usually as an inherent hazard, a constant truth of life in all its forms.
* War: A fairly rare Aspect, Infection-aspected War Blood represents bloodlust and rage, a spreading fervor of emotion and turmoil. It may induce rage upon an unwilling subject, or whip a crowd into a frenzy like a predator smelling blood.
* Noble: Only documented once, Infection-aspected Noble Blood was utilized in a strange variant of mind-control working, pushing multiple people to work together to create something that would outlast them, the Garden of Vales, and outlast them it certainly did as they all gave their lives to the project.
* Blight: The second most-common Blight Blood Aspect, Infection mana is about spreading contamination, or dark rivers of blood creeping through darkened passages and carrying disease, poison, filth, and wickedness as it spreads. It is bad blood and bad influences, a sanguine miasma willing to corrupt all it encounters.
* Modern: A relatively rare Aspect in Modern Blood magic, as it concerns itself with spreading disease (and in minor situations, combating it) in a fairly straightforward manner.
Binding
* Vital: Very rarely documented, Binding-aspected Vital Blood functions similarly to water in that it aids kinesis in inhibiting motion. Due to the blood found within all living beings, it is capable of more easily puppeteering the flesh of other living creatures.
* War: Quite common, Binding-aspected War Blood is about the bond shared between friends and comrades formed in the heat of battle or stress. The unbreakable bonds between such individuals, and the incredible feats they are capable of together, it bears several resemblances to Friendship magic, yet cares less for the actual feelings shared between individuals and more about shared experiences, history together, and to some extent closeness of purpose.
* Noble: Relatively common, Binding-aspected Noble blood has a curious property, in that it is singularly capable of establishing bloodlines. This ties some notable property, either magical or physical, to the blood and soul in such a way that it becomes a true part of the individual, such that it may even be capable of being passed along to their children. However, that is not even the principle use of Binding-aspected Noble blood, which is the ability to create Blood Oaths. In this process, two individuals willingly bind their lives together in exchange for some promise kept. While the promise is maintained, each benefit from their shared life, the whole greater than the sum of its parts. This can also result in the sharing of inherited or otherwise unique abilities.
* Blight: Fairly common, Binding-aspected Blight Blood is about controlling others directly and indirectly. Contracts written in blood, utilizing kinesis to directly puppet the actions of another and robbing them of all choice and volition within their lives.
* Modern: Experimental but undergoing current exploration, Binding-aspected Modern Blood is about self-control and self-actualization. It is about setting Oaths to one’s self and then enabling the actual forcing of such things. This can be extended to other creatures, yet is not focused on such things.
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Locality:
Blood magic is fairly universal, and predates all written records, involved in many of the oldest rituals. It has been indelibly tied to sacrificial magic in nearly every culture which has that discipline.
The primary Locality influence upon blood was mentioned previously, in that the ‘default’ blood, affecting the color and easiest form wherein Blood can be controlled, is usually tied to the color of the individual’s blood or the most common type of blood in their surroundings.
This is particularly notable in spiritual undead, where their Blood magic usually manifests with their ectoplasm or spiritual substance. This occasionally even extends to an inability to control more material blood, but may extend their reach into broader ectoplasm/soulstuff manipulation instead.
Also worth mentioning are many forms of Vampire, who utilize a blend of Blood and Death magic as a substitute for Life magic in their daily functions, and accordingly have a slightly altered Locality. This Locality twists any blood magics to be more parasitic and self-focused in nature, losing much of its propensity to affect others but in turn becomes more variable and potent when called upon by the vampire to enhance themselves or cast other magics.