[dirtywick]

I do like Blood a lot too. Battle magic is a pain, as your slaves can get killed easily by archers and make your mages targets too (although they can help in assassination attempts as fodder) and the spells are almost all massive in fatigue. But the summons (Demon Knights at level 4? Yes, please) and items are great, and it's pretty easy to mass slaves quickly and early compared to gems.

But, most nations without blood pick nationals are going to have a really tough time getting blood going, if they can at all without Wish, compared to other schools.