| The ancient practice of blood magic has been outlawed in many civilised societies, for though it allows access to staggering levels of magical power the price can be very high. Savage tribes often respect blood magic, though even they tend to fear and avoid it where possible – its power is the stuff of legend, to be invoked only by those who expect to achieve great things or die in the attempt. A few warriors of the old school will swear blood brotherhood or other blood oaths but learning much more than that is generally the province only of primitive sorcerers or the most vile and despicable wizards. Those who go into blood magic with good intentions often find themselves seduced by its savage power, and soon want more – at whatever cost, up to and including dozens or hundreds of innocent lives.
The power inherent in sentient blood has been recognised by many of the great philosophers and sages throughout history, both religious and secular. Whether spilling his own blood to fuel his spells, creating a ritual to bond two comrades in blood brotherhood, or sacrificing enemies for magical power, the practitioner of blood magic is drawing upon that ancient, primal force, and must take great care that he can control it, and not vice versa.
According to the oral traditions of the Bl’taxu tribe, as well as the forbidden tome known to scholars and blood magicians alike as the Crimson Book of Keddah, blood magic’s origins lie at the very dawn of time. Though the accounts differ in detail, there is sufficient similarity between the two, and between other manuals of blood magic, to give sufficient evidence to support the theory known as the Elder Blood Hypothesis.
The Bl’taxu posit a primal Creator God, Bl’taaax, who fashioned the universe from his own blood. It is said that the first man and woman, Phlaz and Sela, were formed from the clots in Bl’taaax’s blood, and given the instruction to breed so they could appease him by blood sacrifice. Gradually it is said that Bl’taaax and his magical son Ar’taaax taught the firstborn descendants of Phlaz and Sela to become the sorcerer-chiefs of the tribe, with all other tribal members being either warriors or slaves, depending on their ancestry – the beginnings of a caste system. |