Blood magic

A highly potent but costly and dangerous form of low magic, blood magic, with its roots in the dark history of orcs, garners a strong combination of awe and fear in those who witness it.

Description
Blood magic involves the sacrifice of blood in exchange for arcane power. The more blood expended for the sake of the magic, the more powerful the resulting spell: during the Tide of Blood era, Thrashk Big-teeth sacrificed the entire Squarefist tribe of orcs for a ritual that nearly destroyed the entirety of bul'Kardath with only one caster. The blood appears to bubble and evaporate when consumed in this way. More common blood magic involves the caster cutting some of his own flesh and using his blood. Fresh blood works best for blood magic, but "stale" blood can be used in a pinch, so many blood mages carry around sealed vials with blood in case of emergencies.

Blood magic tends mainly towards destruction, and the most effective uses of it are aggressive in nature. Like with many other versatile types of low magic, it can manifest in various ways, from blistering fire to bolts of lightning to spikes of ice. These are just twists on the living arcane energy used to fuel them, and so all spells cast with blood magic tend to be a deep crimson in colour. It is therefore very obvious when blood magic is being used.

Practitioners
The orcs of Equis discovered blood magic, but its use has spread to greedy and self-destructive casters of all stripes, both in Equis and Noctis. Still, it is highly prevalent among the orcs, and most tribal shamans, especially in the major Bloodstorm tribe, practice it to some extent.

Because of the self-sacrifice called for by the use of blood magic, most users tend to be riddled with scars, especially on their arms, legs, and hands. Many will be missing eyes or digits as well, and in rare cases some will be missing limbs.

Notable Blood Mages

 * Tonakh
 * Thrashk Big-teeth

History
Blood magic was discovered by the orcs of northern Equis during the Age of Magic (the First Era). This led to the founding of the Bloodstorm tribe, and also set the tradition of naming leaders of tribes based on their skill with blood magic. Soon after the orcs' discovery, the Tide of Blood era of orcish history began. The Bloodstorm, led by a skilled blood mage named Thrashk Big-teeth, opted to "purify" the continent and purge the races they deemed beneath them. Blood magic is used to destroy orcs that don't agree with the Bloodstorm and absorb those that do, and include many terrible acts of blood magic, including the mass-sacrifice of an entire tribe of orcs to destroy the dwarven surface city of bul'Kardath.