Feb 94 min read

Origins of Bloodrunes

"Sit down, girl. It is time you learned the history of that which you plan to practice."

"There is a reason why we Eolo are the only ones to perform the art of sealing magic. While we may not be able to perform the magical arts of the other species of Lithoterria, our ancient ancestors discovered that there was no need for us to be relegated to just the swing of an axe when we go to harm our enemies, or a shield to protect ourselves. In the pursuit of strength, they looked inward, not to their souls but to their bodies. In the same blood that runs in my veins and yours, they found magic. It can’t form in the ways the others do it - we will never throw fireballs or beams of sunlight, but we can do other things. They used the magic laden in their lifewater to fight. The shapes of the runes directed the magic, told it what to do and bent it to its will. They also added the flora of the land, adding direction to the output - flowers harvested from volcanos allowed our forebears to bring fire from the blade, while the oceans provided jets of water, and deep underground caves allowed the manipulation of rock and earth. The only thing we could never truly harness with regularity was the air - the flora drifted on the highest breezes, far above our heads. The ancient ones used that power to fight against our enemies, and to try and hold onto our home against the Yui who attacked us. While we may have lost our old home, we still held onto our talents."

"Today, you will learn the shapes of the runes. You will learn the beginner arrangements, the depths of the engravings, the amount of blood required, and the flora you need to mix it with. You will learn, and learn, and learn again, until you can recite the numbers from memory. This is because runeworking is an exact art - if an engraving is done wrong, if a shape is just a little off, if the flora doesn’t carry the right power, the rune will not work. And considering it will be your blood that pours into the carving, it would be best that you get it right the first time, lest you pass out from unnecessary blood loss. After all, you can only give nine units of blood a day without risking your life." "The most basic bloodrunes you will learn will be the quandria and melodia runes - the minor versions of course. To attack and defend is vital for the magically challenged adventurer, and they will be scrambling to hire you for even these, the most basic implementations of our craft. Phosphoria and atopia runes will allow you to see to the needs of the eoloan peoples - to provide light in the darkness is of great importance for the people that wander the streets of Somati, Akutcha, and Onuda. That makes the phosphoria rune in great demand, due to the necessity of replacements thanks to damage and erosion. Atopia runes allow us to cook our food, drink fresh water even in the terrain we find ourselves in, and grow crops so that we can keep ourselves fed." "The last one is especially important, since it’s hard to find water suitable for irrigation in the dense rainforests that surround us. As you prove you’re able to make those same runes repeatedly, while taking some of the workload off me, you’ll be able to improve your skills to develop more complex runes. You’ll be able to form catalysts, necessary for the more powerful runes, made from a mixture of the different flora. Then you can make runes like the euphoberia rune, capable of hiding items’ true identities. When you get to the very end of this stage, you’ll be creating carvings like the shadeila rune, which will allow you to find hidden peoples far easier." "You’ll find more commissions coming your way from the eoloan Kilnsi that keeps us safe as you grow, or from more wealthy folk that desire cardia runes to influence the people that come into their stores. It’s important to remember that it’s best to not take the commissions that involve you influencing people’s negative emotions - those people are never good to have on your bookkeeping statements."

"Eventually, you’ll have your own store, because you’ve developed to the point that you can make the major versions of the runes. Major melodia and quandria runes are wanted by any adventurer that ever lived, and you’ll have so many demands for them that you’ll never run out of business. Euphoberia runes will be wanted from more unseen organisations, asking you to hide their homes. Best to keep them off your statements as well. But the best jobs you’ll ever take, the most well paid, will be the null runes. To be able to lock off magic from any caster is an incredible ability for any mercenary guild, policing group, and more." "They’re difficult, but it’s possible to make… What? An ortilia rune? I doubt you’ll ever see someone asking for them. While the arrays were great tools, the materials are incredibly hard to get, and cordite will never be worked by us again. That art was lost to us."

"Still, you must be careful revealing your skills to anyone not an eolo. Our work makes us valuable to those that would seek to exploit us. Even if we weren’t runeworkers, the magic in our blood makes us valuable to those that would enslave us. It’s better to fight and die than to be kept in a cage, used as storage for blood. Remember that, daughter. "

(Freeth Flett, runeworker, passing down her knowledge to her daughter Liv.)