Red Magic

Originally created after Purple Magic was split in two, Red Magic largely encompasses the reality element of Purple Magic. Like blue, the separation of Purple Magic wasn’t perfect; giving Red Magic some control over time as well. Red Magic is generally considered to be incompatible with life, as changing reality is what leads to Blight. This has caused people to deem this variant of Magic as “bad” or “evil”. Unlike Blue Magic, this label isn’t as arbitrary as people think. The deity in control of Red Magic is evil leaning, and given the fact they have a profound amount of control over their Magic he’ll more often than not bend it to be evil. It’s power is equal, yet opposite, to that of Blue Magic.

Red Magic is most commonly used to manipulate objects. Changing the state of an object, causing something to crumble and decay, reanimating dead bodies, and things of the light. Offensively, people will use Red Magic to harm; making an enemies skin rot, burn, blister, or slough off. It’s also commonly used to create fires; changing the state of an object and causing it to ignite or combust. It’s easy to use something like this to destroy, as destruction is far easier, but Red Magic can also be used to create if used properly.

Red Magic is needed in the practice of Demon Summoning. It harnessed its power to distort reality to create a body for a Demon’s soul to inhabit during their stint in the Mortal realm. Without this, Demon souls would not be able to leave the Void. To a lesser extent, it can do the same thing in reverse in the practice of necromancy. It can give a long dead body a replacement “soul”, giving it a battery of sorts in order to rise from the dead under the control of the one raising it. It can also be used to “heal”, although it’s “healing” effects are far different than Blue Magic. Instead of speeding up the healing process, Red Magic will simply bend reality to give your injuries to another individual, “healing” you as a result.

Because it can bend reality, Red Magic is also commonly used in curses. What better way to ensure the world bends to your will to cause misfortune than to alter reality to ensure it does so? The vast majority of commonly practiced curses harness Red Magic, although it’s by no means the only way to cast a curse upon someone.

Like Purple Magic, Red Magic is largely under direct control of the deity who produces it. This deity doesn’t like Mortals harnessing his power, so in order to curb this if someone abuses Red Magic too much this deity will use the Mana in their system to overtake their body and assimilate them into his Hivemind. Red Magic infection acts similar to rabies. It’ll slowly take over your mind, causing you to act erratically and violently. Those infected are known to lash out at things seemingly at random. They’ll also stop doing things such as eating or drinking; making them succumb far more quickly. Those who aren’t targeted but still abuse the powers of Red Magic will still face it’s wrath. Out of control Red Magic can cause a blight, although to a much lesser extent to Purple Magic. Red Magic cannot create Wraiths.

Red Magic is most commonly found in carrion. What better way to find Red Magic than to find a body that’s been infected by it? Extracting it is pretty easy, as all you have to do is seal the body away and wait for it to decay. Once there’s nothing left of it, you’ll be left with pure Red Magic. The process can take a long time, so people have taken to storing carrion in containers with funneled bottoms, so the Magic can drip down and be collected over time.