Blood moon

Blood moons are events when the Lightbringer moon shines a bright red hue and causes rapid demonic reproduction and other effects on Welt.

## Overview

Intense demonic reproductive activity causes the moon to become bright red.

## Effects of the Blood Moon

Whenever the Blood Moon is fullest in the sky the Demons and Monsters of Welt will hold night-long, sprawling orgies where they indulge every base lust and bloodthirsty deed they can think of. Much blood is shed, much alcohol is drunk, and many new monsters are conceived, ensuring the cycle of twisted and unholy life is perpetuated. Witches born of lunar lightning and the various cultists join these monstrous and confusing festivities. During blood moons, a mocking, twisted face appears on its surface. On these nights, a foreboding red light bathes the land, and Saccharomyces Demonica collects in pools, known from that moment on as cursed lands. Its influence can curse, mutate, and inspire knowledge on demoncraft. The saturation of the lands makes summoning demons all the more easy for those wishing the aid of the moonbound.

The characteristic red hue is caused by the irradiation of thousands of tons of the yeast arriving on the planet of Welt, to instantly recreate the monstrous biodiversity of the lands over which it shines. It is during these events that monsters and other demonically produced fauna are reborn.
It is to be noted that less than 0.05% of demons born from blood moons actually live to adulthood, it is estimated that should this rate reach 0.2%, Welt would suffer complete ecological collapse.

## Cycles

Blood Moons have erratic cycles, unpredictably appearing in the night sky at midnight. Blood moon cycles can be stopped, and are often one of the rare instances of cooperation between the other races who oppose demons. The period that precedes and follows a blood moon is known as chaos.

Blood moons can be stopped, through vigilance and supervision. Stopping a blood moon varies whether the Dalmer or the Other Races are in charge. The most common tactic is to

### The other races and blood moons

The other races deal with preventing blood moons through crusades and inquisitions destined to root out demon worship.

### The Dalmer and blood moons

The Dalmer, given their tacit acceptance of the demonically possessed as dalmer are less radical in their efforts to stop blood moons. Although demons are manageable, their proliferation on Welt is a major concern for the Dalmer as it is possibly one of the most likely causes for an extinction event taking place on the planet. For this reason, the Dalmer spend considerable resources studying phenomena related to demons and monsters and their management in the empire. The main reason the Dalmer still stop blood moons is to stop the proliferation of rogue demons, which aren't considered Dalmer but extra weltians.

The Dalmer make use of tools to prevent blood moons, such as the chaos meter and the perpetrator program.

#### The Chaos Meter

A chaos meter is an instrument used to measure the presence of conditions that could lead to an outbreak of rogue demonic activity in an area (Chaos). Usually the meter displays 3 emblem slots, which represent the level of Chaos in the area (usually a kingdom).

The meters’ timeline shows how soon a slot will be filled, with the complications that arrive with it based on unsanctioned saccharomyces demonica emission levels in an area.

#### Perpetrator program

The perpetrator program is an added feature of the chaos meter. The feature makes the timeline precise enough to show if specific known demons (perpetrators) are about to be summoned from the moon. These specific demons are known to be harmful by the empire and often trigger the dispatching of specialists to deal with them (most often the stopping of the ritual).

## Effects of chaos

The periods that precede and follow a blood moon are known as chaos. Chaos is an incremental threat that poses a threat when unleashed. Unchecked increase of chaos represents the appearance of several hazards upon the area.

### Cursed lands

Each increase of chaos represents the spawning of cursed lands in the world, adding navigational challenges. These are often curses and other random effects.

### Monstrous activity

Monsters typically will scale with each chaos level, increasing their HP capacities by 5%, 10% or 20% depending on the level of chaos. In more severe cases, perpetrators will appear on the land, actively seeking those that oppose their demon masters.

### Scourges

Naturally, some individuals have a vested interest in the blood moon taking place, and will attempt to stop its cancelling. These are most often cults trying to summon perpetrators. The perpetrators will often send their servants to help stave off any interruptions to their summoning. these are known as Scourge operations.

### Total chaos

If the chaos Meter reaches maximum capacity a blood moon will occur and the area (usually a kingdom) will be engulfed in a state of chaos. Cursed lands will begin to flood the area and greater monsters will appear more frequently.

## Chaos reduction

While dangerous, chaos is a natural process that will in time burn out as the saccharomyces demonica will die out, leaving only the most succesful yeast colonies still alive on welt. Despite this, all of the other races have their methods of reducing the presence of chaos in order to prevent blood moons.

### Dalmer

Disabling a cult device, which are most often summoning rituals, also reduces chaos levels and the chances of a blood moon occuring. Disabling chaos Generators, which are often faith sentiment rings, reduces chaos levels.

### Other races

The other races prevent blood moons by purging chaos acolyte camps and executing anti chaos rituals (such as the Carousel or the Dark Carnival) which reduce chaos levels. Inquisitions and mobs will attempt to root out demon worship in cities, but when obvious culprits cannot be found, they will purge settlements by burning and salting enemy settlements through crusades.