Blood Writing

TW: Mentions of self harm and blood. Viewer digression advised.

Blood writing is a practice that was discovered during the early settlements of Grimmwood; most notably, it was found during the region's infamous War of the Orcs, in which the humans and orcs fought for the land of the continent which was later named Grimmwood. 
During the war, sorcerers discovered a process to send secret messages and codes to their allies and other troops. The process is done when the sorcerer cuts themselves and uses their own blood as the ink. They must use a pen or quill with an iron nib for the spell to work, and they must work quickly so that the blood doesn't dry before they can cast the spell. 
Once blood spills from someone, it still holds part of their aura for a time, but as it dries, that aura dissipates and can't be manipulated anymore, so there is a short period of time where blood can be manipulated and change form before it dries. The iron nib of the pen helps elongate this process as it works with the iron in the blood, and certain papers can also absorb the blood and keep it from drying too quickly. 
The person writing the message must scrawl their message with the blood, then manipulate the aura before it dries to turn it invisible and stay wet longer. The receiver must turn the aura back so they can see the message. Skilled sorcerers can also cast a spell so that the ink can only be seen by the intended reader, though that usually requires the blood to be mixed with another kind of ink. That process works just as well, but it can be difficult as ink is not something that is as easily manipulated as blood, and a sorcerer who is not careful may turn the blood invisible, but not the ink. That is why most claim that it is easier and faster to use blood on its own. 
A famous example of a blood-written letter was from that same war, when an Orkish spy was able to learn the process along with the other secrets he gathered. He was captured by the humans and they attempted to kill him, but he was able to narrowly escape with mortal wounds. While he hid in an old scholar's chambers, he used the blood from his wounds to quickly scrawl out a warning about an impending attack on their camp. He was able to attach it to the leg of his owl before the humans caught up with him and killed him.

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