Blood Magic

The ancient art of casting magic through blood

Author's Note: Rather than exploring specific Hemomantic spells, this article will act as a brief summary of the art of Hemomancy as a whole. Specific Hemomancy spells will be linked to this article as they come.
An ancient, and largely forgotten form of Magic, Blood Magic - or Hemomancy - is the magic art of being able to directly manipulate the blood of either yourself or another person. Despite its rarity in the modern day, Blood Magic is one of the oldest forms of magic, having been found as far back as the Age of Giants when the mortal races were just beginning to expand their understanding of magic.

Effect

Blood Magic has a variety of effects of differing intensity, depending on the individual spell. Broadly speaking, Blood Magic revolves around the manipulation of blood for a variety of unusual effects. Some spells allow you to wield blood as a weapon, others can manipulate blood to either boil or freeze someone from the inside, and some Blood Magic spells can be used to transform people into a walking bomb. Blood Magic can alternatively be used in more utility-focused ways, such as being able to hunt and track someone by a few drops of their blood, or by reinforcing a person's body against injury.

Side/Secondary Effects

Blood Magic's primary side effect is that almost every spell that falls under its umbrella has some kind of physical cost, generally a small wound or loss of blood. Stronger Hemomancers have the ability to sidestep that cost, or can even use the blood of others instead.

Manifestation

When Blood Magic is cast, the caster often tends to have a strong smell of blood and iron around them or the target. Depending on the nature of the specific spell, blood may be pulled from the caster or the target, whether through cuts in the skin, through their pores, or out of their nose, ears, eyes, or mouth.

Source

While Blood Magic is primarily drawn from the ambient magic in the world like most other forms of magic, the physical cost involved means that a person's own blood empowers the spell.

Discovery

It's difficult to date how far Blood Magic has existed, but it is known that it was prevalent during the Age of the First Men almost 6,000 years ago and the reign of their Empire. Some records date it back further, as far back as the Age of Giants over 8,000 years ago, where it was used by primarily Druidic factions who supposedly manifested hemomancy by sacrificing themselves and others to a nameless God of Blood.

Applied Restriction

Blood Magic cannot affect creatures that do not have blood in their system, such as constructs or the undead.