Sellado de sangre
| Sellado de sangre | |
|---|---|
| Relacionado con | Devoción, Dominio[1][2] |
| Tipo | Fin-positivo[3] |
| Mundo de origen | Sel |
| Universo | Cosmere |
“No había ninguna sutileza en lo que hacía el sellador de sangre: ellos no se andaban con remilgos. En vez de habilidad o capacidad artística, usaban trucos y sangre. Sin embargo, su oficio era efectivo. ”
—Wan ShaiLu sobre el sellado de sangre[4]
El sellado de sangre es una manifestación de la Investidura practicada por los selladores de sangre de Dzhamar en el planeta Sel.[5] Al igual que la falsificación (más conocida), el sellado de sangre hace uso de marcas para crear sellos de sangre,[6] runas potenciadas por la investidura del Dor que pueden crear una serie de efectos mágicos.[4] Sin embargo, ahí acaban las similitudes. En lugar de las tintas orgánicas convencionales de la falsificación, los selladores de sangre utilizan sangre humana como tinta para sus sellos.
Proceso
Para que los selladores de sangre puedan acceder al Dor tienen que ocurrir algunas cosas. Parece que tienen que ser dzhamarianos. Los procesos específicos y las restricciones de los selladores de sangre, así como cualquier límite a sus capacidades, son hasta ahora desconocidos, pero aparecen algunas constantes y pistas. El uso de un sello parece ser necesario, así como la sangre del ser humano que está siendo sellado.[4][7] Los sellos no tienen por qué estar hechos de huesos, pero es su material típico.[8] El tipo de hueso y su procedencia pueden ser relevantes para el sello de sangre, pero no es estrictamente necesario. Además, aunque hasta ahora siempre se ha utilizado sangre humana, tampoco se sabe si la sangre de un animal será suficiente para crear uno. Otra regla es que la sangre que se utiliza debe ser fresca, recogida de la persona en las últimas veinticuatro horas.[9] Después de este período de tiempo, la sangre se vuelve rancia y se debe utilizar sangre fresca para realizar sellados de sangre adicionales. Justo antes de que el sello pierda su poder, comenzará a atenuarse,[10] antes de latir y con el tiempo desaparecer.[9]
A partir de aquí, las pruebas sobre el sellado de sangre se basan más en rumores y habladurías que en pruebas reales. Se habla de la utilidad del pelo, las uñas y los efectos personales de un hombre en el sellado.[11] Shai afirma que no serían de gran ayuda y no se menciona su función ni cómo se les daría uso. Además de esto, hay indicios de que los esqueletos de personas específicas pueden ser más útiles que otros en la elaboración de esqueletos, aunque de nuevo se desconoce cómo y por qué.[4]
Se ha visto a los selladores de sangre moverse con una ligereza poco natural. Sin embargo, no se sabe con certeza si esto se debe a su magia o simplemente al efecto desconcertante que su presencia suele tener en los demás. Cabe señalar que la palidez de la piel y el pelo no son el resultado de ser un sellador, si no las características de la raza de dzhamariano.[6] Aún se desconoce si los ojos rojos son el resultado de ser sellador u otro rasgo dzhamariano.
Es probable que al elaborar un sello de sangre sea necesaria una representación simbólica de la forma de Dzhamar, patria de los selladores de sangre.
Usos
Wards
One of the primary uses of Bloodsealing is to craft wards used to imprison a specific person.[4] The rune this process requires looks very similar to an eye. When inked with someone's blood, and placed on a door, the symbol begins to glow with a red light. The person whose blood was used also feels a brief sharp pain. If that person leaves the room in which they are imprisoned or attempts to alter the rune on the door, the Bloodsealer that placed it will know. The blood used to craft the Bloodseal must belong to the person who the ward imprisons.[7] As time goes on, the Bloodseal will begin to fail.[9] The rune's glow will fade,[10] pulse, and then eventually vanish altogether if it is not renewed.[9]
Another, perhaps unintentional impact of a ward created by Bloodsealing is to render an object unForgeable.[6] Just as ralkalest is incapable of being Forged, a Soulstamp will not take on any object with a Bloodseal upon it. Whether this also works the other way is unknown, but seems probable.
Skeletals
The other known tools of a Bloodsealer are skeletals. These creatures are skeletons[4] that have been reanimated by a Bloodseal on their forehead.[9] While commonly crafted from human bones,[9] they may also be made from animal bones, although these may be less capable of following certain commands.[12] The specifics for creating these creatures, as well as where the blood used in their Bloodseals comes from, are unknown. Skeletals have the ability to track a person if they are given blood that was taken within the past twenty-four hours. The skeleton of the skeletal must be intact and if pivotal bones are damaged or removed it will cease to function. In addition, sometimes the bones may be sharpened, such as the vertebrae. This makes them even harder to destroy, as they will hurt the person attempting to disassemble them. Repairs can be made to the skeleton with wooden replacement bones and while their stamps must be periodically renewed, they do not need to be refreshed as regularly as the Bloodseal wards.[13] Skeletals are as feared as they are deadly.[4][9]
Relationship To Dzhamar
Bloodsealing has a specific tie to the land of Dzhamar. Like all Selish magic, Bloodsealing will decrease in power the further from Dzhamar the user gets.[14][15]
Culture
Within the Rose Empire
“There are . . . times when one must accept the aid of darkness in order to contain a greater darkness. ”
Among the Dhazmarians the art of Bloodsealing is steeped in tradition.[16] They have a number of specific beliefs that impact the way they practice Bloodsealing, including their insistance on using bone for the stamps themselves, and their beliefs about the significance of the origins of the bones. While some of this ritual has impact on the magic system, not all of their traditions have an actual effect on the Bloodseals themselves.
As a whole, Bloodsealing seems to be a controversial art elsewhere in the Rose Empire. It is only known to be practiced in Dzhamar, who have not been mentioned to have any issues with its use. The Grands, ruling class of the empire, seem to have a certain distaste for the Investiture, but have displayed their willingness to make use of it over Forgery.[4] Both the MaiPon and the Mulla'dil or Strikers have a strong and lasting hatred for Bloodsealers and their magic. MaiPon see it as twisted and unnatural.[4][6] The mountainous homeland of the Strikers borders Dzhamar, so there is also a lasting enmity between the two peoples.[5] For their part, the Bloodsealers also fear and hate the Forgers of MaiPon.[6]
Teod and Beyond
On a global scale, as of the Late Era of Sel, Bloodsealing appears to be relatively unknown beyond the borders of the Rose Empire. It is uncertain what if any attitudes there is towards Bloodsealing in Teod or the nations of Opelon. It is possible that this is due to the diminishing returns on power often associated with moving beyond the borders of an Investiture's homeland.[15]
Parallels with other Invested Arts
Relationship to Forgery
Like all forms of Investiture on Sel, Bloodsealing uses patterns and shapes to draw upon the power of the Dor.[17] However, Bloodsealing and Forgery bear a striking resemblance to one another in the method.[18] While the creation of magical seals is something they have in common,[4][19] what the two systems seem capable of is vastly different. The whole idea behind a Forgery is to build a plausible lie,[20] in order to make both the Cognitive aspect of an object[19] as well as other people[4] believe an untruth. However, this idea has nothing to do with the two previously outlined contexts in which we have seen Bloodsealing used. Skeletals in particular, being walking skeletons devoid of any muscle or flesh,[9] seem to very directly contradict the plausibility requirement necessary for a successful Forgery. These two systems at first glance appear very like one another but upon closer analysis they are still distinct, albeit closely related systems.[21]
Similarities to Awakening
There are several notable similarities between Bloodsealing and the Investiture of Awakening on Nalthis. The most overt comparisons can be drawn between skeletals and the Type II BioChromatic entities known as Lifeless. Both involve the reanimation of corpses to serve the living.[4][22] Both Investitures cease to function if the body they work on is heavily damaged.[9][23] In Awakening, this twisted resurrection is fueled by BioChromatic Breath[24] instead of the Dor, but there is no denying that they are similar. It is, however, important to note, that while it is possible to reanimate a skeleton with Breath, it requires much more Breath and it would be much simpler to simply Awaken a full corpse rather than simply a skeleton.[22] Indeed, the two processes are very similar in how they function, drawing upon an external source of Investiture to cause the body to believe it lives again.[25] The primary difference between the two is that the creation of a Lifeless uses a part of the body's own soul, whereas a skeletal does not. The bones themselves are very important in the creating of the skeletal. The comparison with Lifeless raises an interesting possibility. It may offer an insight into how a skeletal is created. Lifeless are returned to life and given a Command, which is a combination of a spoken order and a Cognitive concept of what the Awakened object is to do.[22] If skeletals need a similar Cognitive concept, it would appear the Bloodseal on the forehead serves this same function.
Bloodsealing's other notable similarity to Awakening is based on a lie that Shai tells. She tells the Strikers that the Bloodsealer guarding her has been stealing bits of hair and fingernail from them to use in some ritual.[11] While she claims that the Bloodsealer would be able to do little with only those bits, the possibility remains that those pieces too can be used in Bloodsealing in some manner. If this is true, then there exists another notable parallel with Awakening. As per the law of BioChromatic Parallelism, the number of Breaths required to Awaken things is reduced when an object being Awakened is made closer to the form of life,[22] such as when blood, nails, or hair are used in its creation.[26][27] If there is any truth to Shai's lie, this is another fascinating parallel between the two Investitures.
Known Bloodsealers
Notes
- ↑ SpoCon 2013
— Arcanum - 2013-07-10# - ↑ /r/fantasy AMA 2013
— Arcanum - 2013-04-15# - ↑ Calamity release party
— Arcanum - 2016-02-16# - ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n El alma del emperador - Día 3#
- ↑ a b El alma del emperador - Día 42#
- ↑ a b c d e El alma del emperador - Día 76#
- ↑ a b Orem Signing
— Arcanum - 2019-03-16# - ↑ Orem Signing
— Arcanum - 2019-03-16# - ↑ a b c d e f g h i j El alma del emperador - Día 98#
- ↑ a b El alma del emperador - Día 17#
- ↑ a b El alma del emperador - Día 97#
- ↑ Orem Signing
— Arcanum - 2019-03-16# - ↑ Orem Signing
— Arcanum - 2019-03-16# - ↑ Oathbringer San Francisco signing
— Arcanum - 2017-11-15# - ↑ a b A Memory of Light Milford Signing
— Arcanum - 2013-02-16# - ↑ Orem Signing
— Arcanum - 2019-03-16# - ↑ SpoCon 2013
— Arcanum - 2013-07-10# - ↑ SpoCon 2013
— Arcanum - 2013-07-10# - ↑ a b El alma del emperador - Día 12#
- ↑ El alma del emperador - Día 30#
- ↑ SpoCon 2013
— Arcanum - 2013-07-10# - ↑ a b c d El aliento de los dioses capítulo 46#
- ↑ El aliento de los dioses capítulo 33#
- ↑ El aliento de los dioses capítulo 21#
- ↑ Orem Signing
— Arcanum - 2019-03-16# - ↑ El aliento de los dioses prólogo#
- ↑ Warbreaker Annotations
— Arcanum - 2010-07-08#