Skyblood
To float on the wind
For generations, we were what kept ships safe. We who mastered the winds, mastered flight itself. When they found a way to take that from us, we found other work. We didn't complain. Then they took that work from us too. Now they have abandoned us to a fate they designed, and laugh in our faces when we have the audacity to list "Skyblood" as a benefit on our resumes.It is well known that Skyblood is the most common sorcery found in the Blue. This is true, but it is not as true as it might initially seem. Skyblood is the simplest of sorceries, and as such even those with no formal training can use it in some way. This gives the appearance of it being more prevalent, but this is simply because even those who cannot afford to attend classes at an Academy are also counted among the numbers, unlike the more complicated magics.
Abilities
Pool
The Skyblood can gather a material underneath themselves. This is a fairly simple task, but it does not have a huge amount of use until it is mastered. With enough control, a potent sorcerer can increase the density of the air beneath them until they float above the ground. Many Skybloods already use this ability without thinking about it, and the magic was initially discovered when a Skyblood was found after a shipwreck floating far more slowly downwards than she should have.Disperse
The Skyblood can spread a material thinly around them. The opposite of Pooling, this is most commonly used to help ships traverse the Depths, as the poisons can be somewhat mitigated by a few competent Skyblood sorcerers. On at least one occasion, this technique was used to deprive someone of air, resulting in their death. Due to the naturally high density of air in the Blue, spreading air so thinly that a person cannot breathe is very difficult and strenuous on even adept sorcerers.Do not try to stand. Gathering the required amount of air beneath your soles is possible, but very tricky. Instead, lie down. Let more of your body be available to be supported. This will make it much easier to achieve flight.
Employment
At the dawn of the Sorcerous Age, Skybloods were incredibly useful. The technology that would allow for easy transit across the skies, the Flameblood Bouyancy Pod, had not yet been developed, and so ships instead were kept aloft by more primitive methods, that were easily susceptible to random changes in density. A few Skyblood on your crew meant that there was no way for your ship to falter, even if you ran into a low-aether spot. In the modern day, however, there are not as many opportunities for Skyblood magic to be useful.The Empire
The Trade Union
Tasks & Functions
While Skyblood magic has been mostly replaced by improved machines and airship engines, trained Skybloods are still needed to work the collection rigs of Boreana. With their ability to condense clouds down into liquid, along with the machines that gather and compel clouds to form, the sorcerors are instrumental in keeping the Empire watered. Incredibly talented Skybloods, who show the possibility to be able to condense magic itself, are always in high demand.
A few decades ago, the docks of Sayles were teeming with Skyblood workers, who used their magic to help ease the loading and unloading of cargo. Now, cranes have replaced that work, leaving Skyblood to search for a new task. Many of them end up in mundane factory work, not able to use their sorcery at all. Only the most highly skilled Skybloods find their way into riches, though condensing pure magical energy into Gems.
Payment & Benefits
Because of the fairly limited utility of their magic, Skybloods are often employed in a wide variety of mundane jobs. Skyblood is also considered a 'lesser' blood by the Nobility of Ilysium, most likely because of its widespread use among commoners and slaves. Anyone who shows enough talent to create the Flameblood Gems needed for the Navy's cannons is quickly grabbed up by House Sentisund, where they are cared for, if never allowed to leave.
Without a definite marketable skill, Skybloods often find themselves on the lower side of income in the Free Worlds. However, every Clan needs someone to do tasks that the clan members do not enjoy doing, and this usually falls to Skyblood workers. If they can save enough money to attend classes at the Academy, they have the potential to become a highly valued specialist, with a huge amount of workplace bargaining power.
Root
The root of any sorcery is always uncertain, as there are a lot of different abilities that can be explained in one way or another. Skyblood's root was initially thought to be the air, then any gasses, until it was proven that a potent Skyblood could manipulate liquids as well. The current theory of Skyblood magic is that it manipulates the density of any matter, though some is much harder to change. The density of air is very easy to change, and novice sorcerers do not need to be aware of the root to use their magic.Of the Fullblooded, Vola was the most similar to a Skyblood. All of them could fly, and Vola had wings, but in one story she taught someone to walk out into the open sky and let the air support them. If that isn't Skyblood magic I don't know what is.
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