Bloodstone lore question

[Joranti the Harvester.3976]

Ive watched videos...read up on stuff...I know bout the big stone etc. But we get these little crafting items...and theres the bloodstone glider and such. but...um...what exactly IS it? a guildy told me it contains souls and such and is addictive. Im just a bit confused cause in what I read the souls thing wasn't listed that I saw.

 

Can someone clear this up for me?

[Luindu.2418]

This goes on lore subforum :) but this must help you:

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Magic#The_.22Gift.22_of_Magic

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bloodstone

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Bloodstone

https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/King_Doric (3rd paragraph)

[Danikat.8537]

**Short answer:** Bloodstone is a special type of stone created to act as a kind of magical battery - it can store large amounts of magic and then release it later on.

 

**Long answer:** Their exact power varies between bloodstones and depends on how it's used, but they will absorb magical energy from the area - which seems to include souls - and that energy can be extracted and put to use. Ideally in a controlled way when someone deliberately triggers the release, in which case they're channelling or absorbing the magic or using it immediately. But it can get out accidentally too, in which case the effects are pretty random - the Bloodstone Fen map in GW2 is an extreme example of that.

 

It can be addictive, but I think that's true of any magic, it's just that even small pieces of bloodstone hold so much magic that it gives you a big rush...and also a lot of undesirable effects. I'm not sure if the unpredictable effects of bloodstone are a result of all the different kinds of magic contained in it or just because there's so much power but it definitely has the potential to be dangerous.

 

I'm not sure it's a good idea for us to be using it so freely to create magical items (both the ones we craft ourselves and the ones we can buy from merchants like the bloodstone backpack) and it wouldn't surprise me if there's some negative consequences, but that's true of a lot of things we do in this game.

 

--------------

 

If you want to dig into the lore you'll need to bear in mind that GW2 uses the "unreliable narrator" approach. A lot of what we know about the lore and history of this game is given in-universe by in-universe sources, rather than by developers saying "This is how it happened" and just like real life historians they won't know everything and will be influenced by their own culture and beliefs.

 

A lot of what we know about older stuff in the world comes mainly from humans (because it was introduced in GW1 where humans were the only playable race) so it's influenced by their belief that the 6 Gods created Tyria and directed all events, especially before they left the world in 0 AE, although they continued to interact with their followers until the time the dragons woke up. (GW2 starts in 1325 AE - After Exodus.)

 

According to the human version of events the bloodstones - which were originally 1 gigantic stone - was created by their gods to contain the majority of magic in the world and divide it into 5 schools, so that no one being (human or otherwise) could use it's full power. The bloodstone was split into 5 and scattered across the world to stop them being reunited (which would unleash their full power) and continued to act to regulate the flow of magic, even after some were found and [put to other uses](https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Soul_battery "put to other uses").

 

We now know that they were actually created long before that - approximately 10,000 before the Exodus of the Gods - when the elder dragons last rose to store as much uncorrupted magic as possible and keep it away from the dragons. This is where the majority of their power comes from. Since it appears the dragons absorbed as much magic as they could - destroying most life on Tyria in the process - and then fell asleep it's likely most of the magic in the world today is what's leaked out of the bloodstones, and the elder dragons themselves who appear to gradually lose power as they sleep.

[Palador.2170]

Please note that the bloodstone items you get from the Black Lion (weapons, glider, ect) are supposedly made with fake bloodstones. It's far more likely that they're some form of asurian power crystals, just colored that distinctive red.

[Algreg.3629]

> @"Palador.2170" said:

> Please note that the bloodstone items you get from the Black Lion (weapons, glider, ect) are supposedly made with fake bloodstones. It's far more likely that they're some form of asurian power crystals, just colored that distinctive red.

 

probably, cause I alone already threw out enough bloodstone dust to account for the original stone and then some...

[Brother.1504]

Basically this. Enjoy.

 

[Zelanard.5806]

> @"Joranti the Harvester.3976" said:

> Ive watched videos...read up on stuff...I know bout the big stone etc. But we get these little crafting items...and theres the bloodstone glider and such. but...um...what exactly IS it? a guildy told me it contains souls and such and is addictive. Im just a bit confused cause in what I read the souls thing wasn't listed that I saw.

>

> Can someone clear this up for me?

 

You may want to bear in mind, that the bloodstones can contain magic, but not souls. The Mursaat placed Soul Batteries above the bloodstones, to collect the souls of those who fell on the inscripted bloodstones. These souls were used to power the seal on The door of Komalie and the Onyx Gate.

 

About the bloodstone dust being fake, you may want to have a look at the initial text at the guild wars 1 wiki's entrance on the bloodstone caves:

Many adventurers have told legends of the Bloodstones, and a few brave souls claim to have seen them. Even after hearing these stories, standing in the presence of such power is still quite... intoxicating. A brilliant Asuran researcher named Gadd assisted us in our search for another Bloodstone. With our help, the Asura would have to decipher a series of inscriptions placed by the guardians... odd creatures called inscribed ettins... before we could reach the legendary relic. The guardians were busy shoring up their defenses, and our allies in the Shining Blade had taken an interest in their activities. Their scouts, always on the lookout for enchanted weaponry to use in their struggle against the White Mantle, noticed the ettins returning to this place repeatedly, where they harvested some sort of magical essences. Bartholos believed they could be weaponized for the Shining Blade's war effort.

[Danikat.8537]

No one said bloodstone dust is fake. @"Palador.2170" said the bloodstone themed items from the Black Lion Trading Company like the black lion chest bloodstone weapon set and the bloodstone glider are fake. They appear to have huge chunks of bloodstone attached to them but apparently it's not real. Here's what Evon said in the announcement:

 

_"Repeat after me: “Inspired by bloodstone.” I don’t want any more investigators in here giving me the stink eye. Do you think I’d sell weapons made of actual bloodstone? I don’t even allow the dust on the trading post! The deep red is a good look, though—very classy."_

 

https://www.guildwars2.com/en-gb/news/bloodstone-weapons-peacock-scepter-and-mini-garm-in-the-gem-store/

 

Weaponizing bloodstones is possible however. As well as the mursaat soul batters you mentioned we use it to craft ascended weapons and armour and if you play through the Season 3 storyline or the White Mantle related raids you'll see a lot of more...direct applications.