The Joining ritual of the Wardens requires blood from both run-of-the-mill darkspawn and an archdemon, as well as lyrium which of course has powerful magical properties. Additionally we are told that the process of creating the darkspawn blood slurpie requires some preparation by mages.
Does the Joining ritual then, fall under the realm of blood magic?
Guest_StreetMagic_*
Definitely. At least in the loosest sense of the term. Blood fueling spells.
Same with Phylacteries though. And what Finn does in Witch Hunt or how Hawke opens Cory's tomb.
But the real problem with blood magic isn't blood itself. It's the temptation to fuel more and more (and leech off of others) and controlling minds. It has great potential to encroach on everyone else's freedom. And I suppose it somehow is susceptible to demons... but I don't really know what to think about that. I've come to the conclusion that spirit based magics is just as risky (Spirit Warriors, Spirit Healers, etc).
Guest_StreetMagic_*
Has it been made clear whether the blood is actually used to fuel the spells involved in the ritual or is it merely used for the corruption present in it?
Good question actually. There aren't any details. Just the ingredients. The vial of darkspawn blood, lyrium, and then a drop of archdemon blood. I'm not even clear why it needs both darkspawn and archdemon blood.
Alistair says magic is involved. But I don't think blood-magic itself is involved since the mages of the circle prepared the potion, and we all know how Blood Magic is not allowed in the circle.
To quote Finn: "It's a grey area."
The Joining, the creation of phylacteries, the creation of reavers, and the ancient elven spell to locate hidden objects all use blood as a component, not as a source of power. Blood serves as a linking mechanism: Dalish elf to ancient elves, Wardens to darkspawn, reavers to dragons, mage's phylactery to mage.
The in-game definition of blood magic seems to be "using blood as a source of energy to cast spells." By this definition, these things are not blood magic.
If you want to define blood magic as "any magic involving blood," then sure, they're blood magic.
To quote Finn: "It's a grey area."
The Joining, the creation of phylacteries, the creation of reavers, and the ancient elven spell to locate hidden objects all use blood as a component, not as a source of power. Blood serves as a linking mechanism: Dalish elf to ancient elves, Wardens to darkspawn, reavers to dragons, mage's phylactery to mage.
The in-game definition of blood magic seems to be "using blood as a source of energy to cast spells." By this definition, these things are not blood magic.
If you want to define blood magic as "any magic involving blood," then sure, they're blood magic.
Asunder seems to say phylacteries are in fact blood magic. Evangeline muses on how it's "a bit of hypocrisy" the Templars allow since it makes their jobs easier.
That said, the Joining ritual is probably a bit of blood magic as well. Blood magic ins't exactly fueled by blood itself, but on the life force that the blood contains. Which may be why the darkspawn blood needed in the Joining rItual needs to be fresh. And perhaps why recruits come so close to death if not die outright in the ritual. Their life force is used up.
Guest_starlitegirlx_*
Good question actually. There aren't any details. Just the ingredients. The vial of darkspawn blood, lyrium, and then a drop of archdemon blood. I'm not even clear why it needs both darkspawn and archdemon blood.
I think you need archdemon blood to connect with the archdemon and and darkspawn to connect with them.
I think if it is blood magic it's a very benign form of it. You don't use it for control or power but for a connection to them and then that connection acts as a beacon to draw the tainted old god soul to you when you kill it so it is destroyed. I think they discovered that part by accident for some reason. My suspicion is that they needed an edge against the darkspawn as well as a way to protect them from the taint. So they used their blood to become tainted themselves which gave them the ability to sense darkspawn and even connect with the archdemon on some level. But as for it being blood magic, I don't think it's the same level or kind of blood magic that the game considers evil as it's basically not used in the same way or for the same purpose except maybe you could argue that how you kill the archdemon is related to the blood magic but I think since even mages who do this ritual cannot become possessed as a result of it, it is simply a different kind of magic that happens to require blood but not actual blood magic as the kind that is considered evil in the game.
Asunder seems to say phylacteries are in fact blood magic. Evangeline muses on how it's "a bit of hypocrisy" the Templars allow since it makes their jobs easier.
From Witch Hunt:
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Finn: If the elves concealed the relics with magic, only the blood of their kin will reveal them. Ariane.. we need your blood.
Ariane: What? Why me? The Warden’s Dalish too! (If the Warden is Dalish)
Finn: Grey Warden blood is.. different. It wouldn’t work. It has to be you, Ariane.
Warden: Is this blood magic?
Finn: Um.. blood doesn’t power the spell – it’s just a component. It’s.. certainly a grey area, so let’s just keep this between the three of us, shall we?
Dog: (barks)
Finn: Four of us.
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There is clearly a kind of magic that one learns from demons* and which requires the caster to draw power from life force/blood (their own or someone else's). The Chantry forbids this kind of magic and calls those who practice it maleficar.
There is also clearly a kind of magic that uses blood as a component in spells. One does not have to talk to a demon to learn or cast these spells, and the spells are powered by mana (and possibly augmented with lyrium). The Chantry does not forbid this kind of magic, and in fact employs it. However, the close proximity of "blood" to "magic" is enough to make otherwise upstanding Circle mages nervous about doing it, and to get templars thinking about hypocrisy.
I can light a bunch of hickory wood on fire and cook food. That's your standard blood magic. I can light a bunch of charcoal on fire and cook food. That's your standard mana-based magic. I can light a bunch of charcoal on fire and scatter hickory chips on it to hickory-smoke something. That's your grey area. I'm cooking with the charcoal, but using a small amount of hickory to explicitly get hickory flavors in my food. So do I say I'm cooking with wood, with charcoal, or give it a new name?
*I've heard it argued that Jowan may have learned blood magic from the books removed from the library and taken to Irving's office. I think the weight of the in-game evidence is on direct demonic involvement being necessary, but I see where the inference is coming from.
...and now I want to go look for barbeque...
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