#blight magic

Phin was out of the dorms, which was perfect considering Amity was coming over. Ed would have walked himself over to the Ambrosia’s but he didn’t really wanna play nice, or even ask permission to be around.

So he invited his sister over.

And Ed was determined to keep it sort of light hearted which included a couple bowls of chips on his desk and one on his floor as he lay across his bed half off of it. Within reach as he grabbed some more.

“So are we thinking it has to be someone or something in town? How else would they have gotten here in the first place?”

Tagged by @sunshinemage​!  Thank you! <3 <3 <3

So here’s 5 tidbits about Das’s “blight magic” - one of the benefits of being Avernus’s guinea pig...

1. Before all this, he was never the stealthy type. He was a rogue, yes - but he relied on precision, speed and strength rather than stealth. But the taint changes that. He fights as he always has, but he just...merges with shadows so much more easily. He doesn’t even know he does it until it’s pointed out to him. And he’s faster, too, while moving about more quietly. He’s still very much himself, a Tempest through and through - so once he’s in the middle of the fray you damn well know he’s there, because he’s a total twirling mayhem - but he now has a way of getting there unobserved and popping up out of nowhere and he can slip back into shadows once he strikes and leave enemies none the wiser if he wants to (something he learns to make conscious use of as he grows accustomed to his new skills).

2. Coating his weapons in tainted blood. First time this happened it totally freaked him out: Blood rushed forth into his right hand and the stump of his left forearm, then there was a pang of pain, as if he’d been burnt and blood seeped out of his hand and stump through pores and hundreds of micro-cracks in his skin, forming two clouds of crimson mist around his right hand and his left forearm. He got so startled he dropped his weapon. (Luckily, the other blade was fastened to the wrist of his prosthetic hand, so he was not left completely defenseless.) It’s awkward with the prosthetic and it tends to trigger his phantom pains, so as soon as Das learns how to control it, he usually just directs the blood into his right hand. Taint coated weapons do more damage and leave ugly wounds that turn necrotic in vast majority of cases. Makes enemies vulnerable to Harmony/Discord.

3. Spitting/spraying the tainted blood. Gross but effective. Knocks enemies back like a punch, especially if one hits their eyes and/or the mouth. Makes one feel sick, dizzy and pretty weak in the knees once the fighting is done but it usually pays off. Apart from the direct damage it causes, it also weakens the target and causes an almost immediate onset of nausea. Also makes enemies vulnerable to Harmony and Discord.

4. Now comes the really scary bit. The Harmony abilities. If the Warden’s mental faculties allow for it (i.e. - if they are cunning, smart, determined and/or persuasive enough and if they’ve got at least a trace of magic in them - as I headcanon most non-dwarves in Thedas do, elves in particular), he can tap the powers of the Song itself. a) He can temporarily control the dumber darkspawn. Weave his own strands into the Song and override the Old Gods’ call for a short period of time. b) Same goes for the enemies tainted by his blood. The stronger the taint, the better the chance of success. They’ll be either rendered passive and defenseless - or they may even fight on his side for a while. (The creepy detail? The affected enemies *hum* the Song. And each of them picks a different strand of it. Imagine a battle with dark ambient soundtrack.) The first time Dorian witnesses it, he’s horrified. He’s like... ‘Amatus, you’ve taken blood magic of all things and made it worse.’ 5. And the Discord abilities. Like... Throwing all the nearby darkspawn out of sync by sending a few strong, discordant notes down the songstream... Especially useful where emissaries and other smarter darkspawn are involved. They don’t succumb to control quite so easily, but this trick does mess with their spellcasting. If Das can’t control the enemies tainted by his blood, he can frighten or stun them by picking the worst things he’s seen in his nightmares and punching their brains with it. It’s easier and sometimes just as effective. The skills and abilities related to the Call keep evolving - and Das discovers new potential uses or manages to make them more powerful each time he uses them. But the more he uses them, the more the Song messes with him. In fact, the more he uses any of these skills, the more blighted he looks. It seems reversible, though. If he abstains from using “blight magic”, both his mental and physical state start returning back to some approximation of normal. It does take longer each time, though, and Avernus as well as his apprentices do warn him repeatedly that there *might* be a point of no return for him.

And now, this finishes. Fun fact, this was finished... second out of all of these prompts. Behold, the return of our Cool Fic That We Need To Actually Write On Its Main Front. It's been a lovely Febuwhump! Just... don't worry about what we're doing over here.

Swynlake was boring, Edric was bored. This wasn’t anything like the boiling isles where every turn had something to focus on and look to learn. Not that Ed wanted to learn a lot of things but at least it was more fun than a roommate that couldn’t handle a joke, his sister being too far away and some boys on twitter who thought they were so cool.

Ed needed something more or he was going to combust.

Queue, Amity.

His little sister wasn’t exactly discreet an now that Em and him were here you would think that she might want to do that. Armed with a large black coffee Edric jogged over to the entrance Amity walked in.

“Mittenssssss.“ Ed called out not caring if she ignored him, he’d just repeat until he got a reaction.

Edric decides due to the Belos Decree he needs to go home, now to break the news to Amity:

When: Mid/Late December

@blight-magic

Ashlee didn’t hate work as much as she thought she would. She always thought she would hate customer’s and their stupidity. But if anything it made her realize all the more people were at least a little smarter than she gave them credit for.

So she didn’t hate it. The simple tasks, the time to read when it was slower, or to look up more music when she couldn’t get a dance out of her head.

Some new books had come in when Amity came in for her shift.

“Have you ever heard of Azura? I swear I keep hearing it more recently but it wasn’t on my radar before working here.”

Be friendly and maybe you would make some friends. Just be open and try again. It didn’t all have to turn out horribly.

According to the chantry, the first blight and darkspawn came when the magisters Sidereal forced their way into the Golden City, turning it black.

According to Corypheus, the city was already black.

The lore states that it exist in the fade, and that spirits, even demons avoid the place. 

Incidentally blight magic is unlike any type of magic usually seen in Thedas, it can be used by non-mages which applies to all grey wardens and is truly destructive.

Blight magic is surprisingly effective against demons according to Avernus

The taint can be controlled, as well as passed, and those who have the taint can be in danger of being dominated by the will of a more powerful darkspawn.

Based on what little knowledge gathered, the blight is something created from the city itself or something that passed into the city. Whether or not Corypheus’ comment on it is true we can be sure that it’s an anomaly even to residents of the fade and the taint was not born from the fade or demons unlike blood magic. Hence why spirits and demons stay away from the city and why blight magic can hurt them. To them it’s unnatural. Blight magic consumes and destroys, though it’s argued on which is worse, Solas considers blood magic to be just another form of magic much like elemental, fade, it’s inherently looked down upon by the chantry because the history of slaughter that surrounds it and the madness it causes when abused. But Solas confirms that no one should ever try to use blight magic, because of it’s nature. But I haven’t found many accounts of those using it apart from Avernus and for good reason. I think even most Wardens aren’t aware of the possibility but those who do stay away from it.

I’ve heard theories of it, that the taint was caused with the fall of Arathan and the black city created when the ancient elven city was pulled into the fade and abandoned. I partially believe that may be true, it could explain the structure and the empty thrones, but also that maybe the taint was already there when the elven ‘gods’ were already going mad and the story of Andruil going into the Void to hunt creatures there, coming back with increasing periods of insanity. Perhaps that was the taint or a form of it before the darkspawn. Hence, it could be theorized that the taint originated from the Void and possibly the Forgotten ones. That could explain why Solas sees it as nothing but a corrupting influence.

But consider how the taint works, sometimes it kills other times it turns a person insane and into a ghoul. But there have been undocumented cases of the taint being slowed or even manipulated just so that the subject can live an unnaturally long life and not submit to the darkspawn, yes, Avernus may be the only known case, I can’t find information from anywhere else. However, one could say that the taint could be mastered and used to augment one’s abilities maybe at the cost of their health or loss of healthy appearance (I’m only assuming because it seems all sufferers of the taint eventually look like walking zombies), mages can be terrifyingly powerful, rogues faster and deadlier, warriors become rampaging killing machines and so on. They might even have the ability to command darkspawn. The warden can get a taste of these abilities if he/she accepts Avernus’ offer. Corypheus and the Architect and command legions of Darkspawn without being manipulated by the Old Gods.

The biggest fear is how the blight corrupts and kills, it’s seen as a mindless evil but could it be possible to somehow gain control of the taint, keep one’s conscience and sanity by cutting off the Old God’s and have the darkspawn and blight magic at his/her disposal?