Overview
Vrakhiri blood looks no different from ours, yet it is far, far more: it is the very seat of their power. They say a vrakhir who slays and drains another inherits the victim's gifts.
In humans its effect differs. A few drops stirred into wine will cure any sickness.
Drink deeper and you grow stronger still — that is how the blood guards, Brencis's elite, are made. They are thought to be fed Xanthe's blood on a regular basis, until they depend on it utterly.
The same overtakes any who drink too deeply of vrakhiri blood: craving takes hold until it devours them and unhinges their minds. A dreadful fate, perhaps — yet Svartrau's streets teem with addicts ready to chance it.