Bloodstained Hands

Bloodstained Hands

Mystic

Apprentice

300 hours

This ritual allows the blood that coats the hands of a murderer to show for all to see. This is a subtle magic, nearly an illusion, with very graphic results. A great part of the operating principle of this magic ritual is the intent and guilty conscience of the accused. An apprentice may determine simple guilt or innocence if the accused intended to slay, and did so. The victim's body must be present, and the name known, for the ritual to work at this level. The apprentice causes the guilty murderer's hands to turn red with blood. A journeyman has greater skill, she may determine if the killing was not intentional (did not know the burning house was inhabited, only swung the sword to wound, etc.) if the fingertips alone drip blood. The accused must have knowledge that his actions caused the death, and must feel at least some remorse. Deliberate murders cause the entire hand to turn, just as an apprentice. A journeyman needs either the body or the name of the deceased. A master has additional options and powers. In addition to intentional and known accidental deaths, the master can determine if the accused has killed anyone recently (one week per caster level, or one month per three levels). Twinned slashes appear on each palm, in a cross shape and does not run or drip, if the accused was responsible for any death in that timeframe—even if unknown—determining if the murder at hand was what provoked this result requires the journeyman level effects. Additionally, the master can cause someone's hands to remain stained (as determined by their degree of guilt) for up to one month per caster level per murdered victim. Invoking this spell involves burning large amounts of musky incense; learning the spell involves intentionally slaying a person—you cannot find guilt unless you know it. Despite the nearly binary and infallible nature of this spell, it is not allowed as legal evidence under Formourian law, in part because of the requirements to learn it. It is, however, allowed in certain courts in the Byzant Empire, and in some of the southern nations.