From the introduction of On Dynasties and Ancestry: A Guidebook to Bloodlines, by Senior Gosiah of Ithular:
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To my dear readers.
The study of Bloodlines and the ways in which they influence the magic and bodies of their holders has long since been a study of the Ithular Academy, yet the mysteries of inherited power have remained just that for far too long, mysteries. They have been split among countless research papers, written in incomprehensible language too dense for any but the eldest scholars to glean any information from.
This tome is not intended to supplant the vast body of knowledge which my peers have collected over generations. Rather, this work is meant as a guide and map to the immensely complicated world of Bloodlines and their ilk as their experiments and trials undertaken over the course of centuries are hard to understand so I have carefully collated and described their conclusions in precise, but simple terms for us lesser scholars to understand.
Thus, much of what I say will be reduced often to the point of uselessness for truly advanced work, and I caution any of my readers from rashly acting upon the knowledge contained herein. Instead, look to the works I shall direct you to for more of the information required to truly innovate, to expand their own knowledge and familiarity with this, the greatest of all studies.
To ensure that you and I, dear reader, both understand my claims, I will begin by defining the terminology I will be using in this work:
A Bloodline is magical capability inheritable by one’s children (or of course, inherited from one’s parent’s).
This may seem self-apparent, but utilizing that definition will become important as we explore the many ways in which they can manifest.
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The first misconception I wish to clear away is that Bloodlines all originate from an individual’s ancestor procreating with a mighty magical being, such as a dragon, demon, or angel. Indeed, for all that it is the most common understanding of what a Bloodline is, there are in truth very few Bloodlines instantiated through the genetic crossbreed of different species. These are, however, the most visible of all Bloodlines.
As will quickly become a running theme with everything within this discipline, there exists substantial debate as to what precisely classifies as a Crossbreed Bloodline. To begin, nearly all schools of thought distinguish two broad categories of Crossbloods: Xeno and Ntopio.
Within those two categories, there are some who believe that Ntopio Bloodlines are not ‘true’ Bloodlines, and others who define ‘Teras’ Bloodlines as distinct from Ntopio, despite the most common definitions of the distinction between Ntopio and Xeno Crossbloods defining Teras as firmly Ntopio in form.
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Firstly, Xeno Bloodlines are born from crosses of entirely different classes of life. Whether Elemental and Mortal, Primordial and Divine, most of these offspring only exist due to magic, be it intrinsic or external. Still, these beings can often be singular across the cosmos, impressive with their dual nature. Most Xenoblooded principally manifest as one half of their heritage or the other, acting as Mortal with Primordial attributes, Elemental with Liminal features, or some other combination which massively favors one side of their parentage.
This split is not static, however, and one born as a nearly completely mundane Mortal may find themselves becoming almost entirely Elemental as they age, or with an unusual ability to change between a Mortal and Elemental form at will.
In exceptionally rare cases, each class of life may land in perfect balance, creating a (for example) fully Primordial and fully Spiritual being simultaneously, with all of the opportunities afforded to each parent wholly embodied within the child.
Xeno bloodlines can indeed propagate across countless generations, at least in theory, though the incredibly distinct classes of life which make up their existence may often render these beings sterile. Even among those who are capable of producing offspring, there has never been a recorded instance of a third or fourth Class of life being integrated with their descendants. Though unproved, it certainly seems nigh-impossible for a Xeno Bloodline to integrate more than two classes of life. These Bloodlines do remain potent for many generations when relevant, though, and are usually accompanied by drastically distinct physical appearances.
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Secondly are Ntopio Bloodlines, which are merely the result of different species of the same class of life. Some of these are even capable of existing without the use of additional magic, though without magic such offspring are often infertile.
As mentioned, Ntopio Bloodlines are a fairly debated topic. Some creatures, such as mules or some mud elementals, are debatably entirely mundane for their normal class of creature, with no substantial magical benefits from their existence. Of course, it can certainly be argued that as with all species, they possess unique magical interactions when compared to their parents, and could thus be said that they possess magical capabilities due to their potential.
However, this is not truly a magical ability granted by their parent. It is inheritable, yes, but it is not a meaningful magical ability in any true sense of the word, merely an expression of Corizan’s principle of Magical Uniqueness. Therefore, by my definition of Bloodlines, such creatures do not possess Bloodlines. Some even classify elves with parents of different races as possessing Ntopio bloodlines, which is patently absurd.1
However, that is not to say that all Ntopio ‘Bloodlines’ are undeserving of the latter half of their title. Half-elves undoubtedly possess sorcery-related capabilities inherited from their parents, possessing, on average, stronger magical wills than the average elf and much more flexibility in body and soul than the average human. Similarly, mortals with dragon’s blood running through their veins invariably possess grand magical and even physical might compared to their mundane kin, without question acting as a proper Bloodline.
Ntopio Bloodlines are, in summary, the first place wherein the true messiness of Bloodlines becomes apparent, and may easily overlap with other forms of inherited ability. Further complicating some things are the way in which some of these Bloodlines stabilize and become their own unique species after some generations, self-propagating and biologically distinct (such as Rayin Shifters, who descended from the offspring of an elf and a human werewolf)
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Teras Bloodlines are something of a ‘fix’ to the nigh-meaningless category of Ntopio bloodlines. Teras Bloodlines are borne of the union of two creatures sharing the same class of life, but are radically different types of creature within that class. Dragons and any other Mortal are one of the classic examples, but whether or not the offspring of phoenixes and thunderbirds is contentious even within this already-debated category.
Some (such as Tian and Soricqlsay) maintain that the offspring of creatures with different body plans are Terasblooded, others (such as Balin, Hexira) that any creature pair which requires external magic to mate are Terasblooded, if basic biological functions or order of thinking are different, or countless more. It is often stated in jest that there are more opinions upon what counts as a Terasblooded than there are Terasblooded currently living, a joke whose truthfulness has never been conclusively settled.
Thus, Terasblooded remain a fine theoretical solution to one portion of the Ntopio Bloodline problems, yet riddled with its own iniquities and issues. These Bloodlines are often only true Bloodlines if one or both parents are highly magical on their own, and there is no inherent boon to this cross-matching of species.
Overall, despite the legendary tales of Heraldian/Thunderbird crosses shaking the heavens themselves with their triumphant rumbles of thunder, most Crossblooded are in truth minor figures, whose heritage is a matter of curiosity rather than any real import, not possessing a true Bloodline.
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In strict contrast to the rare and minimally impactful Crossblooded Bloodlines, Marck Bloodlines are ubiquitous and omnipresent, and shape the shape of magical dynasties more than any other force in the cosmos.
Marck Bloodlines are built upon Zor-En’s Law, which states that the soul is influenced by magic both external and internal, gradually changing to better suit the magic it is exposed to.
Just as Zor-En’s Law defines and is responsible for magimorphosis, it likewise is the guiding principle behind magical practice. Just as the physical body grows and improves itself with exercise, so too shall practicing a spell slowly make the soul better at casting it.
However, unlike physical exercise, this soul-exercise is inheritable, and the child of an exceptionally potent mage is liable to have proclivities which match their parent (or parents). This can be most easily seen in how a parent displaying symptoms of magimorphosis may pass along those symptoms to their children, or at minimum drastically increase the probability of their children manifesting magimorphosis of a similar or matching form of their parent.
Marck Bloodline inheritance is of course not complete, as can be trivially evidenced by the child of an archmage not being an archmage from birth solely thanks to the merits of their parent. It is, however, omnipresent and incredibly influential on the scale of civilizations.
Naturally, dear reader, magical proclivities may just as easily be negative as they are positive. An active repulsion to or hatred of a form of magic is unlikely to be passed on to children, though that is solely due to such hatreds rarely being nearly so defining to the soul as decades of practice can be. That does not make it impossible, it is important to note, simply rare.
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The primary fact I wish to impart regarding Marck Bloodlines is a simple one: Marck inheritance is only a single generation. A mighty archmage may have children who are veritable prodigies in the art of magic, yet should any of them not practice sorcery, their children will have almost no benefits from their grandparent’s magical might. There are no ‘dormant’ Marck bloodlines. It is the parents and the parents alone who define this form of inheritance for their children.2
I will of course provide the caveat that it is far, far easier to maintain a Marck Bloodline than it is to develop one, as the natural proclivity for magic passed from parent to child already lends itself well to deep integration into the soul, and it requires truly abandoning or wholly ignoring a bloodline for a child to have no trace of the family’s specialty. A water specialist from a long-lasting bloodline of fire mages would have a child whose inherited proclivity was water, not fire, no matter how incompetent of a water mage the parent may have been. 3
With proper maintenance, training, and support, Marck Bloodlines are capable of growing to truly fantastic heights. Each generation possesses greater potential than the previous, and while it may be a relatively fragile form of inherited power, it is undoubtedly effective. Some of the mightiest mages of all time, such as The Green Mother, are the culmination of countless generations of extreme training and the effort of entire dynasties focused into singular individuals.
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The third and final major type of Bloodlines are in truth the most iconic. Family spells, impossible to cast by outsiders yet as effortless as breathing to the dynasty’s heirs. Lineages of mind mages and skinchangers, pyromancers completely immune to their flames, and more besides.
Inheritance Bloodlines, as they are called, are the result of a single spell or magical ability tied into the soul’s very core, bound so tightly that it is passed along from parent to child effortlessly. It may skip many generations or express itself in unusual ways if the conditions for its manifestation are incorrect, but indelibly tied to the very core of the lineage.
These are the most broad of all Bloodlines in effect, and may range from a body-enhancement spell to full psychic powers, the ability to innately manipulate fire magics, or even teleportation.
Indeed, the only commonality of all of these disparate capabilities are their origin. Rather than an emergent property of life, as is the case of Crossblooded and Marck Bloodlines, Inheritance Bloodlines are all artificial. At some point, every Inheritance Bloodline’s Progenitor underwent a ritual or trial which imprinted the power onto their soul, establishing the lineage then and forevermore.
In some circumstances, an Inheritance Bloodline may not have been willfully instantiated by the Progenitor, and was instead a divine gift or, as was the case with the Velinor Dynasty, simply the result of an incredibly unlikely set of situations and environments.
These Inheritance Bloodlines functionally transform their recipients into a form of magical creature and can even allow their Inheritors to utilize magic with little to no external infrastructure, beyond the work of their ancestors.
Metaphysically speaking, Inheritance Bloodlines are indelibly tied to the soul’s Core, an intrinsic part of the being’s identity, and due to being part of the soul from early development, can have an incredible amount of influence over the other portions of the soul as they grow. It is worth noting that both Inheritance and Marck Bloodlines can affect many of the similar things, such as affinity for a particular element, and may culminate in truly impressive results for highly disciplined families and dynasties.
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1 Contrary to the common misconception, the offspring of distinct elves are not, by any definition, inheritors of any bloodline, Ntopio or otherwise. This is because all elven races are in fact merely distinct manifestations of the exact same species, merely with (albeit drastically) different features based on their immediate heritage and surroundings. For more information, see my other work, On The Sapient Species.
2 This stands in strict contrast to both Crossblooded and Inheritance Bloodlines, which may naturally lie dormant for many generations if the conditions for them expressing themselves are not met.
3 I am ignoring, for the sake of simplicity, rituals such as the Ceremony of Everbloom Ascendant, which may ‘awaken’ a ‘dormant’ Bloodline in a prime candidate, as they in no way function in that manner. It is in truth more akin to creating a wholly new Bloodline, with some caveats (see Appendix C for details).