Fluesopp, the imaginary world builder.

A brief paper descripting the Vangara of Selton and their so called Blood Magic
A Vangara couple

The Vangara , from van, meaning blood, and gare, meaning use or user, is a race settled in the country Selton, located in the north-vest part of Arcona. Physically they look like elves with their unusually colored skin, and their pointy ears, but both the Vangara and the elves deny any relationship, partly because of their magic, which is considered unnatural and evil.

Some common physical traits of the Vangara is their height, usually over 2 meters (7 ft. give or take), their great endurance and their ability to thrive in all kinds of temperature, from freezing cold to scorching hot. Other traits of the Vangara in common are their strong devotion to rules and castes, their subdued nature, and of course the blood magic, a magic only present in the Vangara.

The lifespan of a Vangara is about 70 years, with the adolescence ending at the age of 15. And while not complete mature before the age of 23, a young male is now considered part of the society. A female on the other hand is not counted as a part of the society before the age of 21, even though she may have matured at the age of 17. In the last twenty years of a Vangaras life, their skin starts to darken, until they become completely black one or two years before their end. A ‘darkening’ Vangara is highly respected and honored, and may eventually become elders if their wisdom and experience is great enough.

Selton is an empire, and is ruled by a single autocratic ruler, belonging to the royal family. The country is then split into three duchies; Buck , Morr and Ambor, each ruled by a duke from a noble house. The duchy of Buck is ruled by the house of Buck, from Ostwall. Morr is ruled from Maple View, and Ambor is ruled from Farrow. While the emperor dictates the dukes, each duchy has the right to pass its own rules as it sees fit. An example of this is that Morr is more lenient towards crime and blood abuse, while Buck enforces a strong line of justice against all crimes. The emperor has a national army, loyal to the emperor, with the task of protecting the emperor and the country. Furthermore, each duchy has to maintain their own military force to enforce the law.

Selton follows a caste system, with the nobles belonging to the highest caste, the warriors and blood weavers underneath, blood crafters and blood smiths in the next caste and farmers and workers in the lowest caste. Criminals and blood abusers usually have no caste, and are shunned by most, even those belonging to the lowest caste. Marriage is usually arranged between parents, and follows a simple rule; young women are not allowed to marry men of lower castes, while young men are allowed to marry women from one caste below. An average couple normally gets three children, and when married, they stay together till the end. When a couple marries, they enter a blood bond in which they give some of their blood to the other. This lets the couple ‘feel’ each other.

Vangara are very resistant to climate, and dress as such however they like. Still, most vangara dress simple, and in style with their caste. They usually decorate themselves with gold if they can afford it, but silk and blood smithed stones are likewise common decoration items. Status among the different families are often measured in how nice their family homes are. A well-crafted home is expensive and time consuming so only the richest families can afford to build the greatest homes.

In politics, the emperor has the right to decide everything, from denying a marriage to discharge a duke if he doesn’t like him. However, as long as a duke doesn’t fall in disgrace, the emperor usually let them do as they like. The emperor is surrounded by a council which gives advice and handles day to day business, such as taxes, and their advice has a pretty heavy weight on the emperor’s decision making. At most, the council may consist of twelve members, often two chosen nobles from each of the duchies, and six nobles close to the emperor. The palace is located in Highwell, which functions as the capital city of Selton.

The military in Selton are divided into two divisions; the warriors and the monks. The warriors are soldiers who often have basic knowledge of blood smithing. They wear traditional armor and weapons, often self-made and customized to perfect their balance.
Monks on the other hand are masters of blood crafting and blood weaving. They wield staffs; custom weaved with their own blood to extend the reach of their blood crafting. In combat, the monks use the blood crafting to rapidly manipulate the environment. In addition to staff combat, the monks may shift the ground to weaken their enemy’s footing, or they can make pillars of rock shoot out of the ground. A large group of monks may be powerful enough to destroy a city, but they would have to surround it, and perform a blood ritual with one of the monks acting as the source.

Selton have gained a few enemies over time. The original inhabitants of Selton that the Vangara drove out, the Shienienarans and a lot of other races have suffered from Vangara attacks. In the past few years now however, it has been pretty quiet, and Selton has not been involved in any wars.

The official religion of the Vangara is the belief that the world, Emoria, is a living being and blesses those who are faithful to her. However, not many still believes in that anymore. Nowadays most Vangara don’t believe in anything specific; they simply believe that there is nothing that cannot be explained, either through magic or through science. Still, the ancient festivals still linger and Mother Emoria day is among the favorite festivals of young Vangara. The green festival on the other hand, where the fertility of the earth, and other things, are celebrated, are among the favorite festivals of somewhat older Vangara, without going into detail.

About Blood Magic
Blood Magic, the innate magic of the Vangara is a diverse and adaptive form of magic. It is fueled by the blood of the user and varies from changing the shape of an item to mimicking magic from another discipline. Usually the potency of a Vangara’s blood magic increases until he reaches the forties, it then starts to weaken a little until it stagnates at the level of a 20 year old.

There are five forms of commonly known blood magic; crafting, smithing, weaving, mastery and rituals.

A blood crafter converts the blood from his body to move and shape large objects. The blood is converted to raw energy, so the movement is a forceful one as all the energy is spent at once. The magic can be worked from afar, but requires more blood as the distance increases.

Blood smithing is in some sense similar to blood crafting, but only for a person who’s not indulged in the details of blood magic. For where a blood crafter converts blood to energy, a blood smith weaves thin filaments of blood into a base item, such as a bar of iron or a piece of cloth, to shape it into a desired item. The process is tedious but produces superior crafts. After the smithing is done, the blood is removed, and the item is usable by anyone.

Blood weaving is similar to smithing, only instead of changing the shape of an item, blood is woven into an already existing item to enchant it with magic. What kind of magic the item is enchanted with depends on the source of the blood. A Vangara weaving a staff with his own blood results in a staff which increases the reach of the Vangara’s blood magic, while a fire witch may find that the staff greatly helps her to throw fireballs. However, the magic in the item is only usable by the host the blood came from.

Blood mastery is to manipulate the blood in the user’s body. This ranges from converting blood to heat or cold, to a telekinetic form of control of fresh blood from a wound. This can be used to survive in cold environments, or it could be used as an offensive move, in which the blood is hardened into needles which are thrown telekinetically at a target. An evolution of this magic is a user’s blood is injected into another being, a process which gives the user control over the other being. This is considered both unethical and evil, and is prohibited in all duchies.

Blood rituals are of the dark arts; to execute a blood ritual one needs a source, preferably a virgin, and a chant. The chant must be in the ancient Vangara language and must clearly depict the desired effect. At the end of the chant, if it was clear and correct enough, the ritual leader then cuts open the stomach of the source to start the ritual. The effects can vary, all from putting a curse upon someone, blowing up a house or creating an immensely powerful artifact. However, it is considered evil and is prohibited in all duchies. But still, however powerful this magic is, it is very, very rarely used, and the reasons speak for themselves: Not many know the ancient Vangara language anymore, the chant needs to be completed flawlessly, unless the energy from the source have no way to go except for to the chanter, effectively killing him.

Other uses:
Blood abuse: A Vangara may drink blood to temporary enhance both physical properties and magical powers. However, after use, the user becomes weaker both physically and magically. Eventually, he will recover but if further blood is ingested, the subject will become even weaker than before. The effects of the blood will also become smaller. After repetitive use, the subject will become so weak he need a regular dose of blood just to stay alive, and is therefore addicted. An addicted Vangara is referred to as a Vanpyr. (Pronounced vampire. Va’pir.) Blood abuse is generally prohibited in almost all areas of Selton, and any abusers are considered casteless.

About Dragons and Dragon priests
A Dragon
Dragons, the almighty beasts of stories and fantasies; a winged creature with the ability to breathe fire, rumored to kidnap virgins and hoard gold in large caverns. This is a pretty accurate picture actually. Except for the gold part. Dragons don’t need gold.

Dragons are large winged lizards with a high intelligence and strong magical properties. The exist only in Arcona and are most often shy of other races and live mostly in the high mountains. However, they seem to have taken a particular liking to the Vangara and their blood magic. A dragon cannot speak common tounge, so by taking an avatar, they are able to communicate to the common races. Dragons are usually hostile towards the company of other races, but bonded dragons don’t seem to mind living among the Vangara. But as with all dragons, they won’t ever allow themselves to bow down to a ‘lesser being’, even if the lesser being is a king. So the Vangara doesn’t bother them, and the Dragon doesn’t bother the Vangara.

The dragons who take up such an interest then picks a virgin of the opposite gender and bonds in blood, the same ritual performed by a married couple. However, due to the dragon’s highly potent blood, the bond becomes more than simply ‘feeling’ each other. The Dragon is able to directly communicate with the Vangara after the bonding, and even control the actions of the body. The blood of a dragon are pure white, almost like quicksilver, and after the bonding, the Vangara’s skin quickly turn white. Other effects of the bonding are a great increase in the potency of the blood magic, prolonged life and sterility.

Dragons are able to summon great torrents of fire, much like an elementalist would conjure a fireball. But the inner workings are a little different; a highly flammable liquid is produced in the gizzard, which usually helps in digesting whatever the dragon eats. But shortly after coming in contact with air, it explodes. Thus by vomiting, the liquid is forcefully expelled and as it ignites it propels the rest of the liquid out of the dragon's jaws. The speed which the fire is propelled at is about a galloping horse, and it can reach about 175 feet.
Because of this, a Dragon has a limited amount of fire. The liquid slowly regenerates; an empty gizzard is filled in about three to four hours and gives enough fire for about four to six minutes of continuously vomiting.

There are not many dragons left. Why, nobody knows, since no one has properly studied them. But the truth is that only a dozen dragons are left in Arcona, and among them only one blood bonded dragon. His priestess, Serinth, names him Fagroth but his true name no common tounge can express. They usually reside in Misty Mountains and Morr Forest, and only visit Fogbarrow once or twice a month.
Serinth and Fagroth
Serinth