Blood Magic Rework

Blood magic is a unique form of magic which has a very small following, almost completely unique to the Kailzim. Blood magic's main difference from traditional magic is the source of mana. Mana is either taken from within oneself or from the environment at large. The source of mana used in blood magic, however, is clear from its namesake, blood.

Each being has mana flowing through it, each part of them being somewhat infused with it. Humans and other sentient beings, those chosen by the Life Gods to have such qualities, are more attuned to magic and almost always have larger supplies of inherent mana. Some areas of the body have higher concentrations of mana. Internal organs have a higher overall density, though mana is found in high concentrations in the heart and brain.

The heart is a well-protected organ that is imperative for life. It is therefore no surprise that mana naturally congregates in the heart, and thus, blood. Although blood doesn't have near the same level of potency as in the internal organs, it has a considerable amount and can be plentiful in the right situations.

For blood magic to be used properly, one practicing it must be able to draw the latent stores of mana from the blood before the mana loses its natural bond. Once drawn, a spell must be formed quickly and effectively before the mana reaches an unstable state.

The most common errors in using blood magic are the inability to form a spell quickly enough and drawing more mana than the amount used. Because the mana is essentially being ripped from something it is bonded to (as opposed to free-floating mana that may be found in the air around you), it can quickly grow unstable. Unstable mana may miraculously 'cast itself', causing intense kinetic forces in the area it occupies, or cause dreaded 'feedback', flowing into the wary controller and inflicting great harm. This will be the result of any mana drawn that is not used within the first, or, in rare cases, second spell cast.

It must also be noted that there are different mana densities in the blood of different beings. The most important trend has to do with size of internal organs. Creatures of the air and sea, who tend to be quite small, have the least dense mana in their blood. Large sea creatures often have larger mana densities than the largest land creatures, but would not have more mana than land creatures of equivalent size if they existed. This is due to the prevalence of fat necessary for buoyancy in sea creatures. The second most important trend is related to sentience and the ability to use magic. Sentient creatures are especially gifted, and they have a greater natural store of mana. Races with the ability to use magic (which requires sentience) haven even mana in even greater densities. Sentience and the ability to use magic levels off as a mana density factor with size somewhere beyond the blood of an elephant. The third most important factor is the longevity of the species. The more long-lived a species, the greater its mana density (Although the mana density as a being lives its life changes little). Sea turtles can have blood more mana-rich than those of other sea creatures many times its size.

The benefits of blood magic focus on the source itself. When gathering mana from the environment, the feedback caused is greater and is infrequent in its density. Blood is a tangible liquid with a nearly continuous density (not to mention higher than air's), making it a good object to draw mana from. Being able to use up external stores of mana before utilizing internal stores provides a great advantage. An added advantage is that the feedback caused by pulling mana from blood is absorbed a great deal by the blood itself. Although this means that the blood will become useless waste, the mage has to worry about even less feedback than from using mana from within oneself (unless the mage somehow pulls mana from their own blood).

Blood magic is with its own flaws, however. Mana will naturally lose its connection with blood after some time, releasing it into the air and ruining its efficiency. This also means that the mage must draw the mana out while it still has a connection, essentially tearing it away. This causes the mana to quickly become unstable, the effects of which have already been stated. It also means the mana cannot be integrated with anything else, so it must be used in its entirety, lest any remnants grow unstable. Mixing mana of different sources can cause the pool of mana to become unstable faster and also yield more feedback. The most common result of mixing mana sources is having a spell go awry and misfire, causing disfigurement and death.

A mage highly skilled in blood magic can quickly slay opponents, increasing his potential mana stores with every fallen body. A mage unskilled yet using blood magic can quickly become source of mana himself.

There's not much more here than a bit of explanation and some edits, but now it follows the current magic system a lot better.

Some things aren't quantified (like how long it takes for mana to lose its connection to blood in high densities), but that sort of information is something that needs to be decided later when we have a more complete picture.

Admin wrote:Blood magic is a unique form of magic which has a very small following, almost completely unique to the Kailzim. Blood magic's main difference is the source of mana.

Main difference from what? It's nothing but nitpicking but for the final article you should probably specify.

Mana is either taken from within oneself or from the environment at large. The source of mana used in blood magic, however, is clear from its namesake, blood. Each being has mana flowing through it, each part of them being somewhat infused with it. Some areas of the body have higher concentrations of mana. Internal organs have a higher overall density, though mana is found in high concentrations in the heart and brain.

The heart is a well-protected organ that is imperative for life. It is therefore no surprise that mana naturally congregates in the heart, and thus, blood.

Although blood doesn't have near the same level of potency as in the internal organs, it has a considerable amount and can be plentiful in the right situations.

For blood magic to be used properly, one practicing it must be able to draw the latent stores of mana from the blood before the mana loses its natural bond. Once drawn, a spell must be formed quickly and effectively before the mana reaches an unstable state.

The most common errors in using blood magic are the inability to form a spell quickly enough and drawing more mana than the amount used. Because the mana is essentially being ripped from something it is bonded to (as opposed to free-floating mana that may be found in the air around you), it can quickly grow unstable. Unstable mana may miraculously 'cast itself', causing intense kinetic forces in the area it occupies, or cause dreaded 'feedback', flowing into the wary controller and inflicting great harm. This will be the result of any mana drawn that is not used within the first, or, in rare cases, second spell cast.

What do you mean by cast itself?

The benefits of blood magic focus on the source itself. When gathering mana from the environment, the feedback caused is greater and is infrequent in its density. Blood is a tangible liquid with a nearly continuous density (not to mention higher than air's), making it a good object to draw mana from. Being able to use up external stores of mana before utilizing internal stores provides a great advantage. An added advantage is that the feedback caused by pulling mana from blood is absorbed a great deal by the blood itself. Although this means that the blood will become useless waste, the mage has to worry about even less feedback than from using mana from within oneself (unless the mage somehow pulls mana from their own blood).

Blood magic is with its own flaws, however. Mana will naturally lose its connection with blood after some time, releasing it into the air and ruining its efficiency. This also means that the mage must draw the mana out while it still has a connection, essentially tearing it away. This causes the mana to quickly become unstable, the effects of which have already been stated. It also means the mana cannot be integrated with anything else, so it must be used in its entirety, lest any remnants grow unstable. Mixing mana of different sources can cause the pool of mana to become unstable faster and also yield more feedback. The most common result of mixing mana sources is having a spell go awry and misfire, causing disfigurement mana stores with every fallen body. A mage unskilled yet using blood magic can quickly become source of mana himself. and death.

A mage highly skilled in blood magic can quickly slay opponents, increasing his potential

As the article says mages who use blood magic (that aren't Kailzim) would need to take it from someone else. How does that extraction process work?

CromTheConqueror wrote:
Main difference from what? It's nothing but nitpicking but for the final article you should probably specify.

Traditional magic. Will edit to fix.

What do you mean by cast itself?

Unstable mana may miraculously 'cast itself', causing intense kinetic forces in the area it occupies

Magical phenomena caused by unstable densities of magic. Intense kinetic forces is an example.

As the article says mages who use blood magic (that aren't Kailzim) would need to take it from someone else. How does that extraction process work?

It only works with blood that's not within someone already (unless you're a Kailzim, then they can do it on blood within themselves). The thing I mentioned about using one's own blood, though, is when you've got an open wound and use it (Or the Kailzim use the blood pumping through their veins as opposed to the blood stored elsewhere in their body). Blood can be 'extracted' from someone from wounding them, then pulling the mana from the blood flowing from the open wound. This is one of the most common tactics for humans accompanying Kailzim (see Doom's story Kail'traesht on the old rokk.darkbb site. It mentions flow-scars and the like).

You say miraculous as in it helps the mage or in that its just very amazing to see it happen?

So how does the flow-scar work exactly? Does the mage need to pause and drain the person as he kneels in concentration or can use the blood magic on the fly in the thick of battle while battling someone with a sword.

No, no, it definitely doesn't help them. It's like suddenly turning the air around you into a blender or a concussion grenade or something like that. It's worse than feedback in a way.

Any blood that can be seen and is nearby, preferably if there is physical contact or just short of physical contact (hand hovering slightly above) can have mana drawn from it. Flow-scars work by (I assume this is what Doom meant, but it's what I'm taking it to mean) intentional wounds that are sealed, treated to numb pain, and can be easily re-opened to provide a source of blood for blood magic. It's not necessary for blood magic, it's sort of like a concept that really helps it out.

Does the mage need to pause and drain the person as he kneels in concentration or can use the blood magic on the fly in the thick of battle while battling someone with a sword.

You accidentally forgot that question.

This is one of the most common tactics for humans accompanying Kailzim

So flow-scars would work for people who willing give blood to others for blood magic?

CromTheConqueror wrote:

Does the mage need to pause and drain the person as he kneels in concentration or can use the blood magic on the fly in the thick of battle while battling someone with a sword.

You accidentally forgot that question.

No, the second paragraph was supposed to answer that question. Does the mage need to pause and drain a person as he kneels in concentration? I believe something like that is implied, though a person certainly doesn't need to be drained completely. Can they use blood magic on the fly in the thick of battle while battling someone with a sword? Can a regular mage do that? No. Therefore they can't either.

Since we're mostly talking about the Kailzim, though, I'd like to point out that they are more battle-hardened than most other mages of the world, since they've had to fight for their lives constantly. They have a lot more lee-way when it comes to spellcasting and fighting, but they can't be actively fighting someone at the same time as casting. They'd have to stop for a moment, do everything required, and then cast.

This is one of the most common tactics for humans accompanying Kailzim

So flow-scars would work for people who willing give blood to others for blood magic?

That's the only thing that was ever implied (pretty self-explanatory if you read the Kail'traesht story). I imagine mages could do it too, but since it's mostly just the Kailzim that can do this, they don't have a need to do it.

Does the blood need to be from sentient beings or could it work from say a cow?

My bad, I thought that information was included in here. It's actually in the Kailzimoth article.

He found that life amplified mana, and so integrated his own blood into his spell work. He was amazed at the effects this produced, and began teaching other mages to do the same using livestock's blood. The effects were not nearly as amplified for some reason, although still clearly more powerful. This led him to suspect that human's blood would bring out true potential in spell working.

I'll edit the Blood Magic article to include the reason why sentient blood is more potent.

Any more comments, questions, etc. so I can put this through?