Sanguimancer

May contain spoilers from Shades of Blood

Rare

There’s a balance in blood. The arteries send surges of the fresh, life-giving liquid to the furthest reaches of the body, even as the veins return spent blood to be renewed. Healthy blood contains the essences of life and energy, while unhealthy blood might be anemic or even laden with disease. Within this duality of blood is great power—to infuse energy, health, and life, or to expunge it just as quickly.

Some individuals are sensitive to the power within blood, and in time might even begin to control it. This practice is known by magical scholars as sanguimancy to distinguish it from a sorcerer’s magical bloodline, though most people are ignorant of the distinction and use the same term—blood magic—for both. Sanguimancy is a strange and lonely path. Those who practice it are few in number, and when they do come into contact with others, people often react to them with caution, if not outright revulsion. Consequently, few actively seek out these bloody powers. Those with ties to blood, be it vampires and their associates, practitioners of bloody rites—such as worshippers of Camazotz—or even specialists in medicine can all find themselves drawn to sanguimancy.

While its effects are undeniably magical, sanguimancy falls outside the established norms of spellcasting.