Blood Magic- An OOC Resource
by Thurold/Nygarth Defias Brotherhood
This may be the wrong place to post this, but I wanted to put it first in a place where the main Magic Community could get their teeth into it before unleashing it upon the public.
Now as quite a few of you may know by now, my main character Orthur Thorgint, is a practising Bloodpriest/Mage, eager to teach any an aspiring Mage the Art. Yet there are many questions about Blood Magic or Hemomancy that are unanswered and vague, where does it come from? What School does it belong to? What can it do? What are it's limits? Well I don't claim myself to be all knowing about this controversial topic, nor do I quote any DnD resources, but as a long term Roleplayer I write this 'guide' with just my experience to reference.
First and foremost, I'll answer the frequently asked questions.
Where does Blood Magic come from?
Interesting question with no real answer other than this, culture. Within WoW's Universe there are many upon many Races based on Magic and Faith within those you'd often find some source of Blood Magic. Evidently you can deviate that these cultures, from the Shamanistic Horde to the Scholarly Quel'dorei, all found a common source of power from simply, their own Blood.
What School does it belong to?
In short, it doesn't. Blood Magic isn't a School of it's own but a technique within many different Schools. Warlocks use it with Fel Magic, tempting Demons with it, using it as a reagent in gross unnatural rituals or even drinking Demon's Blood to strengthen themselves. Shamans use it to draw spirits to themselves and send themselves into a state of trance by devouring it, or absorbing it. Bloodpriests, for example the Hakkari, make sacrifices (blood letting) to their respective Gods and receive blessings in return. Alchemists use Blood as a powerful reagent in many healing potions, for example the ever useful Trollsblood Potion. Arcanists can manipulate it and use it to empower their other spells, for example Fire Magic. Yet the list doesn't end there; Necromancy, Divination, Evocation and even Inscribing all are other examples of branches of Magic that can use Blood within them and the Blood Mage or Priest seeks to delve into all of these branches and master those techniques.
Quite literally, the only people that would claim that Blood Magic is it's own School would be the extremists that are blinded by it's power, as all Magic, it does corrupt and addict.
What can it do?
Quite a vague question, but if I had to answer it, I’d say this. As a font of power, it's potentially limitless. Blood Magic teaches you to draw power, energy, mana if you will from life itself. That's the Evocation, yet, as a form of Divination, the Law of Sympathy states that Blood has a strong spiritual connection a person thus can be used in those aspects. Scrying, for example. However in terms of what it can do for certain specific types of Magic, well, I'd have to ask you to PM me. The list would go on forever and I'd certainly forget something along the way.
What are it's limits?
Blood Magic relies on the Blood to be living, infact, Dead Blood is rather deadly to absorb and especially hard to manipulate. Furthermore like any type of Magic, it's limited to the skill of the Caster, the strength of the Caster and the will of the Caster. Blood Magic in itself is extremely draining, and even whilst absorbing the energy you can grasp from it, the high is only temporary with a extremely harsh downer, one that in time will cause the user to simply constantly be on the look out for Blood to absorb, rather vampiric in that sense.
Now as a general overview I'd say the crux of Blood Magic is the absorbing of Blood, the energy that exists within Life's necessary 'juice'. Only after mastering that technique can the Mage actually continue learning advanced techniques, as the majority of them, require a certain amount of power that's only attainable via draining. Things such as manipulating Blood as a physical weapon, transmuting it into different physical states or manipulating it for healing purposes and everything else -needs- you to be in a state of enhanced high. For this reason many Blood Mages would usually carry around several vials of Blood to drain or self harm themselves before or during Spellcraft.
One of the biggest, that I can't believe I forgot on first draft, uses of Blood Magic is in Divination and Scrying. When one owns someone's Blood they have an extremely powerful hold over them, often in comparison to knowing something's 'True Name'. This then can be incorporated into Possession, Puppeteering and Scrying. The Law of Sympathy ties in nicely here as a person's Aura and Spirit is innately and powerfully tied with their Blood. A more indepth commentry on the Law of Sympathy and it's tie ins with Blood Magic can be found quoted here, from Drustai's Guide on Magic;
SPOILER:
As a player that focuses a lot on Theology and Faith, I incorporate Blood Magic in this also. In Orthur's personal opinion, Blood is the physical manifestation of the Holy Light, it's the counter part to the metaphysical power that is the Holy Light and is Holy in every sense. He dismisses connotations with death and pain and enforces connotations with life and pleasure. Of course I don't expect anyone else in game or out of the game to agree with me on this, but I find it an interesting manner of justifying the Magic. Due to this, Orthur sacrifices the traditional Light Philosophies and doesn't use it at all, Blood is His Light.
Regardless, in conclusion, Blood Magic as 'confusing' as it seems is actually really, really simple. A form of evocation, it's about gaining energy from sources of life and as a magic on it's own right, it's just a collection of Schools using Blood in different ways. How does the Blood Mage control the Blood into a whip? By knowing it, absorbing it partially and via the Arcane control it. In the same way anything else is formed and controlled. How does a Blood Priest heal a Blood based Disease? By acquiring Trollsblood, breaking the veil of the patient (skin) and transfusing the two Bloodtypes allowing the regenerative Trollsblood to spread about the bloodstreams healing. It's as powerful as it is simple, a part of many types of Magic, and I'd love for it to get more of a footing in Defias Lore.
I hope you enjoyed reading as the magical community!
Drustai, I expect many disagreements and 'corrections'! <3
-Orthur out.
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Subject: Blood Magic- An OOC Resource 
Fri Jul 27, 2012 2:09 am