<strong>A Village in the Canopy - Following the Guide</strong><br/><br/><strong>A Elementary Synthesis</strong><br/><br/>To some extent, discussions of blood magic inevitably became problematic when one realized that there was no such thing as a complete history of its practice. The best summary of the last four hundred years or so could be found in the aptly named, if somewhat wordy,<em>A Summary of the Recent History of the Foul Art of Blood Sorcery</em>, which had been penned by one of Reliyian's own instructors. Any number of texts had devoted their entirety to covering a single, particularly impressive hemomancer or those dark periods during which the Sanguine Arts had run rampant.<br/><br/>Blood sorcery fulfilled an unpleasant trifecta which made its presence across history both universal and near-universally despised. It could be adopted with an ease that often startled both scholars and its own adepts. More than one record existed of oppressed, enslaved or marginalized groups developing highly complex and immensely powerful hemomantic traditions in mere years. The second and third elements, however, meant that these more often than not resulted in more suffering, even if successful the occasionally successful revolt meant that the price was shifted elsewhere. Usage resulted in both physical and mental dependence and gradual reshaping of the mind. The most common form of mental degeneration was that of grandiose delusions, making the power-drunk (and blood-reliant) blood sorcerer the fodder of a thousand and one awful tall tales. But odder, and more terrible, shifts had also been recorded.<br/><br/>In the end, lacking any strong authorities to operate off of, it boiled down to putting together a lot of little pieces. Yrsal's shrewd, if heartless, observations about the universal power of life and spirit from his<em>Essays on the Animating Force</em>(which were far nastier than the title would imply, having been written by a fairly infamous serial murderer and necromancer) formed the foundations, but from there every element of Reliyian's education came into play. Everything lent a hand, from lessons on natural history to an oblique reference scrawled in the corner of an old etiquette handbook.<br/><br/>The conclusions and implications were many. Firstly, the lizardfolk were, in some way or another, either protected or limited in their practice of blood magic. Given their blasé treatment of individual lives (particularly those of the very youngsters involved in the fights), strict rejection of the ideological tenants of blood sorcery was unlikely. Part of its modern rarity was due to the strictness with which it was stomped out wherever discovered. Powerful hemomantic traditions and stable societies simply did<em>not</em>play well together in the long term. It offered too much power, too easily, to hateful, unscrupulous, or even mentally unstable individuals. Given that the saurians were unlikely to have colonized the island after its now-destroyed human societies, their presence here must be old, indeed.<br/><br/>Given its propensity for playing havoc with and relying upon life essence, blood sorcery might also help explain the origins of the war beasts referenced in accounts of Vuali invasion forces. Even if the creatures did stem from another discipline of magic, a persistent, hemomantically-inclined society would go a long way towards explaining both the power and callousness of the islanders. Perhaps they had even learned these ways from the lizardfolk. Or maybe the lizardfolk had been the pupils, and the Vuall, the instructors.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Actually …</div><div class="spoiler_body"> You see, that stunt of which you speak is <em>always</em> active (as long as the lore roll specifically concerns the practice or theory of magic). This means that your roll hits the Legendary/+8 tier (assuming that the invoke is shifted to Prodigy of the Silver Tower or another relevant aspect). Hence the wide, and only tangentially related, conclusions that Reliyian has come to.<br/><br/>I may have to invent higher rankings if things keep climbing. One minor contradiction to what Reliyian mentioned: the distinction between trials and animal sacrifices that you mentioned is one of scale and caution, but has been conflated by social/academic/mystic standards to be a wider gap. Deep and devoted practice of blood sorcery, as I noted, is innately corrupting in a fashion that mundane cruelty and depravity is not. Its use in a highly controlled and limited fashion, with no loss of intelligent life, is practically a different discipline which lacks those effects, despite utilizing the same power source.<br/><br/>And I hope I'm leaving enough room open for you deciding how, exactly, Reliyian comes to this conclusions. As always, you're free to add your own ideas (particularly with that crazy roll).<br/><br/>And one final thing, that I couldn't think of how to express without overly putting words in Reliyian's mouth: blood sorcery/blood magic/hemomancy is substantively different from blood sacrifice to divinities or spirits. It is highly likely that this sort of perversion of the natural cycle (think cannibalism versus predation) is what brings the deleterious effects to mortal practitioners when priests and mystics escape them. (Though, I'm leaving it open as to whether that perversion <em>is</em> the cause or the punishment results from some unknown entity acting against blood sorcerers.)</div></div><br/><strong>Onwards and ... Downwards?</strong><br/><br/>Visha peered at Aeryn for a few, as though waiting for something, then burst into hissing, cackling laughter. “Court. Yes, yes. Is why court<em>yard</em>?” it asked, eventually, once it recovered from the little fit. “Words. Hsst. Funny.” It shook its head, leading them directly away from the unmarked building which had apparently seen so much bloodshed so as to stain it deeper than any other place in the little arboreal town.<br/><br/>Reliyian’s question got a a quick shake of the head. “No. Not hatched. No place in ... justice. Our justice.” It shrugged, making a small, agitated hiss. “Wrong words. Not Kelcis.” Too irritated by its own inability to find the right words, it led in silence for a while unless questioned further. After a few moments, the group found themselves at the top of the rope ladder once more. Visha clambered down quickly, waiting with uncanny (and only partially visible) stillness at the bottom while the trio descended.<br/><br/>The slim lizardfolk led them swiftly through the trees, quite clearly well-accustomed to ground level navigation. Somewhat surprisingly so, in fact, given its fellows penchant for perching. A small contingent of the village’s youths pursued them from the treetops, some of the group, no doubt, which had observed them earlier. Their camouflage still concealed them fairly well among the trees, but even<strong>Mediocre</strong>eyesight and hearing would suffice to pick them out, thanks to the noise of moving at a relatively elevated pace.<br/><br/>And then they were alone.*<br/><br/>The trees here grew further apart than the tangles that they had left, but if anything, the ground was even darker. These mighty trees were<em>old</em>things, each proudly bearing the scars of countless years of exposure and the occasional grand disaster which, like everything else, they had simply waited out.<br/><br/>And among them, she waited, a vision of light and color. Aeryn’s predictions had held true, at least to an extent. If she had stood, she likely would have towered at least three or four feet above the tallest member of the party. She was, at least for the moment, seated and leaning up against a particularly large and gnarled tree, leaving her head just even with theirs.<br/><br/>Despite ostensibly being of the same species as the youths and the somewhat older male with which they had already interacted, her build and general appearance were immensely different. She wore no wraps, clothing, or other ornamentation. The feathers which had been furtively concealed around the head, neck, and shoulders of the other lizardfolk covered her entire body. If any uncertainty had existed with the immature specimens, it was gone here. The long, well-groomed feathers shimmered with their own light, as though they reflected the brilliance of the sun at its zenith. While quite beautiful, looking at her directly was also quite uncomfortable on the eyes, after a short while.<br/><br/>Likewise, her build was fairly different, lacking the keen differentiation between arms and legs that normal bipeds displayed. If anything, she looked quite well suited to both locomotion and fine manipulation with any of her four limbs. Though the analysis that it would take to draw such a conclusion would probably come across as rude, if there were any taboos on staring. Still, despite the feathers, her shape was anything but avian. This was a land-bound predator of the highest order, and all the more so for the obvious glint of intelligence as it met their eyes with its own yellow gaze.<br/><br/>“So,” the matriarch began, voice smooth and low, “you are the creatures that are disturbing my people. I thought you might appear more threatening, but such things can easily be exaggerated. Now, speak. I will hear your story.”<br/><br/>Those who could drag their eyes away from the luminescent would note that, at some point during the final approach, their former guide had fled. For one reason or another, Visha had no desire to approach the matriarch.<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">*Well, not quite.</div><div class="spoiler_body">There are new pursuers. Opposed stealth/notice roll. No teamwork. Pursuers scored Fair/+2: At 2013-05-02 18:44:10, Pursuers (uid: 13420) rolls: 4d3a-6 Result: 2 (http://elliquiy.com/forums/dicebot.php?r=46121). Observer wins the tie, if it occurs.<br/><br/>If you get a tying/winning roll, I’ll PM in details for you to add to your post.<br/><br/>Also, now is time for social conflict against the matriarch. She’ll get a name in the next post. Actions proceed in Empathy order, but as with physical conflict, I’m fudging things here to let you guys act in a bunch.<br/><br/>Also, catching Visha when he or she slips away is possible. As above, PM me and I’ll provide a contesting roll. Otherwise, you'll probably run into him or her later.</div></div>