What are the chances of Swain having studied blood magic in his youth?

Blood Magicks·Jan 19, 2018·10 votes·1,634 views

A lot of people are noticing the effects on Swain's teaser, in particular his transformation:

https://i.imgur.com/ErZGKJS.gif

And saying that it quite resembles the effects of blood magical Darkin , the blood mages in the Varus comic, and of course and .

So, what if Swain knows quite a bit of hemomancy and started his career as a hemomancer? What if that's how he got introduced into the Black Rose in the first place? What if Rakan's "given Vastayan blood" quote is quite legitimately to do with Swain's arcane explorations?

What if he used blood magic to outsmart and bind the Demon (that's a theory from /r/SwainMains)?

~~My other tinfoil thread isn't gaining much traction so let's try again.~~

Finally, on a bit of a tangent, are sanguimancers considered warlocks?

18 Comments

ChompyWulfJan 19, 20184 votes

My tangent take "blood magic" is actually advanced waterbending.

Blood MagicksJan 19, 20181 votes

It's either that or pure warlockery. Here's the DnD definition of a warlock:

Warlocks in 3rd edition receive their abilities through the influence of some unearthly being such as a Demon or Fey. They are either born with these powers or receive them through a fell pact, which turns their soul into a dark font of eldritch powers.

Here's the thing though

Blood magic originates from the Darkin (so higher being check)
Vlad's passive is called "Crimson pact" so what sort of pact are we talking about here?
Additionally, warlocks have to offer tributes to their patrons, e.g. Swain uses souls to feed the demon. But blood sacrifices are common in hemomancy, e.g. Sion was created via a blood sacrifice.

I honestly lean on the warlock side of blood magic because it's cooler. However, it doesn't make perfect sense that blood mages have a cult around the Darkin since all five of them are imprisoned and forgotten. I hope future updates clarify this.

EDIT: Maybe blood mages and the Darkin bow to the same god?

https://i.imgur.com/OlvOKOT.png

Tails9016Jan 19, 20181 votes

But I thought that can only be done on a full moon?

GreenLoreJan 19, 20181 votes

Well the thing is that Noxus has a red,black and dark grey color scheme,so it makes sense that they recolored his abilities into red.

Blood MagicksJan 19, 20182 votes

Blood magic is also a bit of a national hobby in Noxus, so that might be bound to the red colour scheme in some way.

GreenLoreJan 19, 20181 votes

There are only 2 champs related to blood magic Vlad and Sion. That doesn't mean that its especially widespread.

Blood MagicksJan 19, 20181 votes

Rhaast and Aatrox too.

There's also the two blood mages in the Varus comic which seemed to function as DPS/Cleric for a small military party.

That, and Riot WHREN saying the worldbuilding team has been working on expanding and defining the role of blood mages in Noxian society and armies(so presume it's widespread).

Overall I think it's fairly fitting for an ambitious young mage to dabble in the sanguine arts.

GreenLoreJan 19, 20181 votes

I was talking about noxian champions. Aatrox and Rhaast don't live in noxus and they aren't even humans. Eitherway we'll have to wait and see for the full rework to know if Swain is a blood mage or not. (also how is Swain an ambitious "young" mage?He is old...)

I'm just saying that just because his ability particles are red we shouldn't jump to conclusions,as they were most likely changed to red just to fit the noxian color scheme.

Chromatic EagleJan 19, 20181 votes

BM is saying when Swain was younger, it is possible that he studied blood magic.

GreenLoreJan 19, 20182 votes

Yeah,but we don't know anything about swains past,so that is just baseless speculation.

DeadUnbornJan 19, 20181 votes

Beatrice is confirmed to be a Demon and the one giving powers to Swain. That being said the use of blood magic cannot be rules out by him. However the overlap with Vladimir might be too great

ssj8BrolykugetaJan 19, 20181 votes

Yes tie everything into the darkin for one huge mega event staring aatrox. His in game playstyle may be disgust but i still love him thematically

Gamer GalladeJan 19, 20181 votes

He does have Vastian blood on him and it could be the reason why he has that power to grow wings.

That and Noxus is known for some blood magic and all sorts of dark arts that we know very little of because The Black Rose.

GreenLoreJan 19, 20182 votes

It was already said,that Rakan might be simply mistaken about the whole vastayan blood thing. He sees a guy who is able to transform into an animal form and just assumes that he has to be related to the vastaya.

Stars ShaperJan 19, 20181 votes

It could be a combination of Blood Magic used on Vastayan blood for some weird ritual.

Swain surely isn't the kind of guy who'd refuse a try of it.

GreenLoreJan 20, 20181 votes

I'm not saying it is impossible. I'm just saying that we shouldn't take Rakans words as facts.

Stars ShaperJan 20, 20181 votes

I'm not, I just like speculating ways of connecting things :3

Sahn UzalJan 19, 20182 votes

The Rakan quote is canon for live server Swain, Riot already confirmed that, if that is not the direction they decide to take Swain in, they'll get rid of the Rakan quote.