100 réponses à ce sujet

[Maiden Crowe]

Not necessarily. Killing things also weakens the Veil. So a large scale war could do it. 

 

 I think I see where this is going, I am guessing red lyrium has it's part to play as well?

[LobselVith8]

Has that ever been explicitly stated? I mean the fact that the Warden can learn the specialization from a book and Hawke already has that knowledge stored away in an unused portion of his brain that becomes re-activated when points are pumped into the spec should be evidence to the contrary, didn't Jowan gain his knowledge on the subject from a book as well?

 

No, it's not mandatory to learn blood magic from a "demon" (if we're going by Andrastian terms). Jowan is implied to have learned blood magic from books on the subject. The Orlesian Warden can verbally ask the Baroness to teach him blood magic as a reward, at a point in the story where he (or she) believes that the Baroness is simply another mage. Anders asks Merrill if she learned blood magic on her own. WoT reads that in Tevinter, some mages teach their students blood magic. In short, it's not mandatory to learn it from a denizen of the Fade.

[Giga Drill BREAKER]

I think any normal person would find using blood to fuel anything abhorrent, it also comes with a great many negatives and not many positives. Plus in my Dragon age games blood mages have very little chance of survival, they usually die first when I encounter them.

[ames4u]

* Performing Blood Magic renders the user more susceptible to demonic possession.

* As Tevinter has shown, the amount of abuse when using said Blood Magic is extremely high.

* Slaves are taken for the sole purpose of using them as sacrifices to fuel their spell's. (thus fueling the slave trade as the demand for more slaves is high and concentrated in Tevinter)

* Blood Magic also grants the ability to control a living person.

* Killing or spilling blood in vast quantities also weakens the veil.

 

It is extremely dangerous and very easy to become corrupted by the power that Blood Magic can grant a mage. Even if the mage strictly uses his or her own blood, at some point they will give in to the temptation to use the blood of others to fuel and bump up their spell-power. The player character however is exempt from this due to them being plot proof.

 

Even with all this, I still don't understand why anyone would consider Blood Magic useful. I found it terribly restricting and didn't find it more useful than any of my other skill set's. So I tended to avoid using it and Merril.

[KC_Prototype]

It causes physical harm to the caster and it brings the attention of demons to the caster. It also can control people's minds and bend their will to the caster needs...It's freakin' awesome

[Insaner Robot]

World of Thedas 

 The more violent the pain or death used in blood magic, the more powerful the spell becomes.

 

So not only is it fueled by blood but further empowered by violence and death.

[LobselVith8]

I think any normal person would find using blood to fuel anything abhorrent, it also comes with a great many negatives and not many positives. Plus in my Dragon age games blood mages have very little chance of survival, they usually die first when I encounter them.

 

I don't see that as the case. Some Grey Warden mages use blood magic to give them an edge against the darkspawn; the order doesn't prohibit the use of blood magic, which can be brought up by the protagonist when speaking with Dryden at Warden's Keep. The Joining and the phylacteries are forms of blood magic, according to the developers. Finn used a type of blood magic to locate the Eluvian in the Dragonbone Wastes, which is why he asked everyone to keep it a secret. Merrill used it to cleanse a shard of the darkspawn taint. Some apostates use blood magic against the templars because the templars can nullify ordinary magic. It's not simply a school of magic that's used by the villainous, despite how it's been misused by some mages.

[Zyree]

I don't see that as the case. Some Grey Warden mages use blood magic to give them an edge against the darkspawn; the order doesn't prohibit the use of blood magic, which can be brought up by the protagonist when speaking with Dryden at Warden's Keep. The Joining and the phylacteries are forms of blood magic, according to the developers. Finn used a type of blood magic to locate the Eluvian in the Dragonbone Wastes, which is why he asked everyone to keep it a secret. Merrill used it to cleanse a shard of the darkspawn taint. Some apostates use blood magic against the templars because the templars can nullify ordinary magic. It's not simply a school of magic that's used by the villainous, despite how it's been misused by some mages.

 

That is true, blood magic has been seen to be used for some "positive" things in DA (though I wouldn't include Merril's cleansing in there as the devs have given strong hits that that will have negative repercussions in the future), but I think that for the most part it is used with villainous intentions or survival intentions, and unless this ends, not many people will be open to looking at ways to use it for good.

 

Plus the Wardens live on a strict "anything to win" motto, and we've seen in the past this doesn't always end in good circumstances.

[TheJediSaint]

 

So not only is it fueled by blood but further empowered by violence and death.

 

To be more concise, it's powered by evil.

[RevanFlame]

The long story short of it is two things. First is the way the summoning takes place. Blood magic "Allows the Veil to be open completely so that demons may physically pass through into our world." In other words, blood magic actually rips open a hole to the fade to pull magic forth. This is why its more powerful, but far more dangerous. Normal mages can become possessed while in the fade, turning them into abominations, but blood mages actually create a passage for demons full power to come through. Take the Broken Circle quest. The Sloth demon possesses a mage in the fade, turning his body into an abomination. It has power in the abomination body, sure, but not as much as it does in the fade itself. Uldred, on the other hand, uses blood magic and pulls a full fledged Pride demon into the world, rather than becoming possessed. Abominations can also be saved by confronting demons in the fade. So on top of potentially weakening the veil, the blood magic can call a Demons full powered form into the world.

 

The second is that "Although lyrium will allow a mage to send his conscious mind into the Fade, blood would allow him to find the sleeping minds of others, view their dreams, and even influence or dominate their thoughts." So Blood magic can preform certain spells lyrium cannot, and its mostly focused around dominating minds and influencing other humans, something frowned upon pretty much everywhere.

 

Theres a codex entry about it, which is where the quotes are from. Codex Entry: Blood Magic

[Althix]

because you can force people to do this:

Spoiler

[LobselVith8]

That is true, blood magic has been seen to be used for some "positive" things in DA (though I wouldn't include Merril's cleansing in there as the devs have given strong hits that that will have negative repercussions in the future), but I think that for the most part it is used with villainous intentions or survival intentions, and unless this ends, not many people will be open to looking at ways to use it for good.

 

Plus the Wardens live on a strict "anything to win" motto, and we've seen in the past this doesn't always end in good circumstances.

 

I think Laidlaw was talking about Marethari letting Audacity loose as to why he saw it as a "bad call", but the cleansing of the taint in the shard wasn't a malicious act, which was what I meant. Blood magic depends entirely on the user. We know the lore reads, "Nothing inspires as much wild-eyed terror as the Blood Mage. Mages of this type take the raw energy of life and twist it to their own purposes. They can corrupt and control, and sustain their power by consuming the health of others, willing or not. The effects can be vile, but this specialization isn't limited to madmen and monsters. Many see it as the only form of magic that is truly free, because it's tied to the physical, not favors to spirits or demons."

 

There was also the entry addressing the current climate of tension between mages and templars leading to some apostates turning to blood magic as a matter of survival, "Known as 'maleficarum,' blood mages are feared not only for the incredible power of their spells, but also their ability to control minds. Templars hunt blood mages relentlessly, yet despite their efforts, Kirkwall sees more instances of blood magic with each passing year. Some whisper that the Order's relentless hunt has driven good intentioned apostates to blood magic in their desperation to survive and keep their freedom."

[Zyree]

I think Laidlaw was talking about Marethari letting Audacity loose as to why he saw it as a "bad call", but the cleansing of the taint in the shard wasn't a malicious act, which was what I meant. Blood magic depends entirely on the user. We know the lore reads, "Nothing inspires as much wild-eyed terror as the Blood Mage. Mages of this type take the raw energy of life and twist it to their own purposes. They can corrupt and control, and sustain their power by consuming the health of others, willing or not. The effects can be vile, but this specialization isn't limited to madmen and monsters. Many see it as the only form of magic that is truly free, because it's tied to the physical, not favors to spirits or demons."

 

There was also the entry addressing the current climate of tension between mages and templars leading to some apostates turning to blood magic as a matter of survival, "Known as 'maleficarum,' blood mages are feared not only for the incredible power of their spells, but also their ability to control minds. Templars hunt blood mages relentlessly, yet despite their efforts, Kirkwall sees more instances of blood magic with each passing year. Some whisper that the Order's relentless hunt has driven good intentioned apostates to blood magic in their desperation to survive and keep their freedom."

 

I didn't say it was necessarily all bad, I just think that most people see it that way, and BW has to seriously push in our face a lot of instances where blood magic doesn't result in murder and mayhem (or eventually lead to it) before I believe that people will be will to explore the other possibilities of it.

 

Personally, I don't think the risks are worth it, but I would be very interested in seeing what could be accomplished with blood magic if the majority stopped using it for cruel acts.

 

And I thought Merril's problem was the completion of the mirror as a whole and the negative problem's that would cause in future games rather than letting Audacity loose, but I could be wrong.

[Riverdaleswhiteflash]

I didn't say it was necessarily all bad, I just think that most people see it that way, and BW has to seriously push in our face a lot of instances where blood magic doesn't result in murder and mayhem (or eventually lead to it) before I believe that people will be will to explore the other possibilities of it.

Maybe one of these could be curing cancer?

 

The current medical understanding of the blood system is that it spreads in a fractal pattern through the body. This fractal pattern is disrupted by the growth of cancerous tumors, since the large numbers of cells in the tumor need more blood to feed them. Therefore, I don't find it that far out there that a mage whose thing is that he uses blood can sniff out tumors by observing the deviations from the pattern and destroy them by violently disturbing the blood inside those areas.

[Innsmouth Dweller]

i haven't got the slightest idea why blood magic is abhorred. some silly blood bag idea, i suppose

[Zyree]

Maybe one of these could be curing cancer?

 

The current medical understanding of the blood system is that it spreads in a fractal pattern through the body. This fractal pattern is disrupted by the growth of cancerous tumors, since the large numbers of cells in the tumor need more blood to feed them. Therefore, I don't find it that far out there that a mage whose thing is that he uses blood can sniff out tumors by observing the deviations from the pattern and destroy them by violently disturbing the blood inside those areas.

 

Exactly! But it first has to be established that there are absolute safe ways to practice this magic, that does not lead to people being mind controlled, risk possession or weaken the veil. If that happens, then I think there are a lot of possibilities in that branch of magic.

[Riverdaleswhiteflash]

Exactly! But it first has to be established that there are absolute safe ways to practice this magic, that does not lead to people being mind controlled, risk possession or weaken the veil. If that happens, then I think there are a lot of possibilities in that branch of magic.

Except that as I understand it, the last two happen with all magic. There are more and less dangerous forms of magic, and I think most of the things mages really ought not risk using except to thwart a national level threat tend to involve blood, but all magic is a risk in this setting.

[Zyree]

Except that as I understand it, the last two happen with all magic. There are more and less dangerous forms of magic, and I think most of the things mages really ought not risk using except to thwart a national level threat tend to involve blood, but all magic is a risk in this setting.

 

I was under the impression that Blood Magic is just more of a risk? Or perhaps it's just that usually only weak minded people turn to it and thus they are more easily possessed. 

[Heimdall]

I always thought the primary culprits were these two:

Mind Control - The very idea of it scares the hell out of people, with good reason.

Human Sacrifice - Can a blood Mage draw from themselves? Yes, but it still opens the door to so many unpleasant avenues with blood being so much easier to get your hands on than lyrium.

[LobselVith8]

I didn't say it was necessarily all bad, I just think that most people see it that way, and BW has to seriously push in our face a lot of instances where blood magic doesn't result in murder and mayhem (or eventually lead to it) before I believe that people will be will to explore the other possibilities of it.

 

Personally, I don't think the risks are worth it, but I would be very interested in seeing what could be accomplished with blood magic if the majority stopped using it for cruel acts.

 

I know, it was more to emphasize the general idea that blood magic is used for purposes other than malicious intent, due to how some people view it. As for blood magic, I can see the argument for it. When it's a matter of life and death, it might make all the difference in the world. I'm hoping that we encounter some three-dimensional blood mages in Inquisition.

[Shadow Fox]

How can this be a serious question?

 

Perhaps because, you know, they use blood as resource? No? Nothing? That doesn't give you a little hint?

 

• Uses blood as resource and even without any evidence I think we can say that people in Ferelden dislike being cut up so a mage could cast a spell.
• Easier to take over by demons in the Fade and turned into abominations which take several Templars to kill.
• Can control other people including important politicians making the mage able to control entire countries to do things such as kill people, start wars and worse.

Are those not enough reasons?

Don't forget it also weakens the Veil.

 

That said...my Mage Warden and Hawke are Blood Mages. 

[KainD]

Blood magic is abhored because it gives mages more power. No one wants mages to have more power. 

[myahele]

It's a slippery slope too. Since you're gonna kill an enemy anyways why not keep them as use them for blood magic? Its practical, but unethical.

Lyrium is expensive.

[Riverdaleswhiteflash]

Blood magic is abhored because it gives mages more power. No one wants mages to have more power. 

There are more legitimate reasons than that (though I don't think much of some of the reasons the Chantry gives), but I'll grant you've struck on a large part of it.

[drake heath]

Besides mind-control, human sacrifice, demons, stupid plot devices and making meat monsters?

 

Well, it's call "blood magic" anything called that is up there with necromancy and demon summoning in the "Magic Evil People Do" list.