Writing with blood: Beginner's set

Writing with Blood: Beginner's Set is a stationery set produced by the Ahmad Book Company. It comprises of two calligraphy nibs, a single wooden nib holder, a choice between yellow talisman paper and textured cardstock, coloured microfiber cloth and a bottle of ink randomly labelled as either goat, chicken, or the ever rare mosquito's blood. Despite the name, Ahmad Book Company insists that their stationery set only emulates the feel of writing with blood. There is a large disclaimer on the packaging that the ink used are approximations of what it would be to write with said blood types. Most non-magical civilians who purchase this set often get it for novelty purposes or as prank gifts to friends.
Last financial year, Ahmad Book Company revealed that sales of the Beginner's Set tripled in just two months, due to high demand for calligraphy materials during a lockdown. This created a shortage for students taking Pendidikan Pemahaman Sihir for the first time since the optional subject was introduced.

Creation

The Beginner's Set was created in response to Talismanic Writing and Written Spellcasting being introduced in select schools throughout the Glowing Lands. Haron Abdullah, son of Ahmad Book Company's founder and grandson of the man who gave his name to the business, found there was a need to utilise pens and writing utensils that did not corrode from exposure to blood. While for most classes there was no need to use actual blood, most final exams and projects of the two subjects often demanded extensive use of blood to imbue the final product with the necessary power to successfully pass. Haron had failed twice trying to pass Talismanic Writing, due to improper cleaning of the metal nibs he used. The nibs corroded very quickly and was time consuming to clean.
He first set out to create a set that could be easily discarded with minimum waste but soon found the cost prohibitive, especially when using metal nibs. Wooden nibs did not hold on to the blood well enough for extended writing periods. During this time he also experimented with many different types of inks and writing instruments before trialling the very first kit himself.
The "finalised" Beginner's Set which Haron took with him to his third sitting of Talismanic Writing Final was a wood nib holder with a calligraphy nib that had been very very thinly coated with gold. He also brought a brightly coloured cloth for cleaning. It was so thin that some thought the gold was fake. The set also came with a small bottle of blood, harvested the night before and mixed with anti-coagulant. Legend goes that a test that would take two or three years for most others students to complete, he took about ten months. Some historians have pointed out that the same year was a bumper season for crops - making it less likely for his blood to clot as quickly as it did the preceding years and corrode the nib.
In any case Ahmad Book Company then made the Beginner's Set available for sale the following year, where it was sold out. Prior to the 1990s, the set was almost never sold openly in stores.

Limited Edition Sets

In the last twenty years, Ahmad Book Company has put out several limited edition sets, most of which are meant more for display and bragging rights than actual use. They have released sets where the traditional wooden nib holder and calligraphy nibs have been replaced by glass dip pens of various nib thickness, microfiber cleaning cloth with designs to mark special occasions, and even limited edition paper types. Their most popular series though, is the pastel-coloured themed "Metallic Blood Series" where the traditional red-to-brown ink has been replaced with Octopi (light blue), Earthworm (light green) and the most rare Priapulida (light purple). These are often sold out almost as soon as they are put up for order, with resell prices going as high as five digits depending on the year it was made.

Item type

Book / Document