Offering of Blood
"While some places still perform a form of the offering symbolically, the practice of cutting open the flesh and yielding blood to the Gods has thankfully ceased within the Empire. It is, in fact, outlawed across all the provinces under penalty of death. But the less said about places outside the Empire, the better.."Every culture has, at some point, dabbled in what many civilizations have deemed a taboo: the spilling of blood to seek the approval of the gods. The wild tribes in the wilderness are known to practice it even today, worshipping beings who have little interest in anything other than tearing down walls of the cities. Humanity once did so in ancient temples now fallen into ruin, in pursuit of the gods' favor so they could hold back forces which would snuff them out. Even the elves once had a desperate time where they turned to sacrifices in the hopes of staving off the end of their empire, according to ancient records stolen from high elven ruins. Yet the effectiveness of such acts has been called into question more than once, despite temporarily drawing great power from elsewhere.
As should be expected, this fashion of worship has been outlawed in most places on Erisdaire. The Rhyliss Empire has defined the tradition very broadly, but succinctly: "any offering of flesh or blood is forbidden, and those performing the act forfeits their life". This includes such things such as sacrificing animals, or even a few drops of blood, in addition to the unthinkable. The Myrisic Sages do not have a formal outlawing of the practice, but it remains a taboo which rarely is rewarded with positive attention. Elves consider it a serious affront to the Will of the Seasons to harm another or oneself in the hopes of venerating greater powers.
However, once outside the cities in either of these civilized regions, the practice does tend to show up in surprising places. Orcs, goblins, and such are known to have specific tribes which give sacrifices for various reasons ranging from seeking good fortune to attempting to divine the future. Gnolls who follow the Howling Lord are known to be almost casual about the act of leaving "one eighth" of their kills for their dark god. There are whispered rumors of villages of humans who still sacrifice a prized bull in the hopes of guaranteeing a safe winter or rich harvest. Lastly, there are confirmed accounts of sailors throwing unfortunate "volunteered" souls over the side of the ship with chains around their legs to seek favorable winds or heavy catches of fish. There are enough instances of this apparently working for these grim traditions to have advocates even in modern days.
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