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Redworking, alternately known as blood craft or the scene, is the semi-formal name of the subculture regarding research, discussion and performance of the various kinds of blood magic as it exists in the 21st century. Practitioners of blood magic who move throughout the scene, be they mortal or vampire, are referred to as redworkers - also used as a catchall for any performer of blood magic in general.

The word 'bru' is often used as a shorthand to denote that someone or something is part of the scene, used interchangeably as a verb: “Does he bru?” or address: “No worries, bru” or an adjective: “She’s bru, man.” Probably derived from either the alchemical 'brew' or 'bruja' (Spanish for “magician”). Maybe both.

Overview[]

The social apparatus of redworking exists in functionally every city in the World of Darkness - at least, every city where thin-bloods do alchemy and Tremere and Banu Haqim desperately look for rituals after their respective home bases vanished.

The scene exists to most of its participants as a business: A substantial fraction of those involved in it have little to no interest in performing blood magic themselves, but those who do practice are often willing to pay handsomely for choice ingredients or elusive rituals and formulae, and many sellers of such goods uphold the wisdom of not sampling one's own product. Similarly, buyers are abundant who are not interested in redworking for the direct power it may provide: Collectors seek rare artifacts to store in personal displays, and far from rare are the wannabes who insert themselves into the dangerous subculture in the hopes of figuring out how to do blood magic in the first place. Both kinds of 'poseur' buyer are usually viewed as marks more than they are as clients.

In most markets, the concept of a clean deal is a fantasy. Redworking scenes don’t usually have formal structure: their markets get managed either by self-appointed judges — a Banu Haqim often takes this role for themselves — or by hope and tit-for-tat game theory: you can’t cheat too often and expect anyone else to deal with you. Sales aren’t on the record, and there are no refunds. The scene is also pan-sectarian: As much as local Princes or Barons try to clamp down on it and twist it to their own ends, the only true authority for what does and does not fly is the law of supply and demand. Even the Sabbat are known to pervade many cities' scenes, and their reception may be cold, but as long as they're able to pay, business will be done with them.

Even beyond the mere base-level trading of rituals, formulae and ingredients for them, redworking concerns itself with all manner of occult matters, hence its overlap with so much mortal sorcery. Rare substances like kalif and Red Mercury often pass through redworking markets regardless of whether or not their buyers intend to use them for sorcerous purposes, and redworkers are often considered specialists in experts that by all rights should concern the Kindred as a whole equally, such as the Blood Serpent and Blood Rider.

Blood trade[]

One of the largest and most common subsections of redworking is the buying and selling of blood and vitae: Most 'standard' sorcerous components can be personally sourced with time, savvy and a little patience, but most forms of blood magic require either vitae (very hard to obtain through over-the-counter methods, given how vampires are) or mortal blood (typically of a highly specific variety, which is hard to discern without specialized training and equipment). As a result, selling blood - genuine or counterfeit - to redworkers is one of the most obvious to get rich off of the scene.

The Circulatory System are far and away the largest and most well-known procurers and suppliers of blood and (if you ask very nicely) vitae, but the brutality of their methods has also resulted in fair trading specialists offering up 'free-range' blood, which takes longer to source and often costs a premium, but is generally viewed as being higher-quality and is generally the only reliable way to get certain resonances such as the industrialization-resistant sanguine aspect.

Vitae dealing in particular is generally seen as a trade practiced only by the insane or, worse, capitalistic. There’s a lot of money to be had in the vitae business, and they squeeze out every last drop. Be they Kindred getting revenge on a rival through one of the most agonizingly slow forms of Final Death imaginable, ghouls embezzling their vitae allowances, or even hunters trying to get something tangible out of their rather shit career, figures in this part of the scene tend to be either the most desperate or the most arrogant.

In particular, torpid vampires run the risk of being discovered (or betrayed by an attendant) and tapped for their often potent vitae. Known as cellar rats, these vitae dealers exemplify just how much dumb luck tends to play into one's success in the scene.

Factions[]

A number of affiliations dedicated to redworking specifically spring up from time to time or form out of existing power structures as the scene took the shape it now exists in over the course of the past thirty-odd years. These groups can either be confined to a single city or small cluster of nearby cities, or consist of decentralized networks spread out over multiple countries. The former is most often seen as alchemical flocks, isolated solitarchies or specialized ritual circles, while the latter usually take the shape of the great Tremere houses or societies of true Kindred that border on being cults.

Xtend Ltd. and the Chopra-Wafadar puppeteering it are a notable group in several redworking markets (particularly those ringing the Indian Ocean) with a general disinterest in furthering the craft, and is composed predominantly of hunters rather than sorcerers of any variety.

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References[]

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