The Bleeding Phoenix

The Bleeding Phoenix is one of the four Dreadgods on Cradle, a monster of unimagineable power that even Monarchs hesitate to face. Like the other Dreadgods it spends much of its time sleeping, only waking to satisfy its endless hunger. The Dreadgod cult associated with the Bleeding Bird is Redmoon Hall, led by the Blood Sage, Red Faith.

Origin

The Bleeding Phoenix, like the other three Dreadgods, is the result of research and experimentation conducted under the Labyrinth in an attempt to control hunger aura. It was originally an unremarkable Dreadbeast when it was born and was infused with hunger aura like others of its kind, yet for an unexplained reason it quickly grew beyond its peers and was studied closely. It eventually escaped confinement and entered the outside world after the researchers lost control of the hunger aura they were studying.

Appearance

"It was so large as to defy description, swallowing half the sky and stretching into the clouds. Each of its feathers was an oozing, flowing blob, as though it had been made from clumps of crimson gel pushed together. Its beak was curved like a scythe and razor-sharp, and its eyes were shapeless masses of white-hot power." - Chapter 16 Skysworn

Abilities

The Bleeding Phoenix possesses great physical strength, able to fight on equal ground with Akura Malice, during which she was using her bloodline ability, and shrug off blows from Northstrider.

Blood Shadows

The Bleeding Phoenix is the only Dreadgod that can be physically destroyed. However, when defeated, the Bleeding Phoenix molts thousands of its feathers as Blood Shadows that scatter far and wide. Each Blood Shadow carries a fragment of the Dreadgod's consciousness. When a Blood Shadow finds a powerful sacred artist, it latches on to their core as a parasite and begins feeding from the host's madra, blood, and life force. The Blood Shadow returns to the Bleeding Phoenix when it is full to deliver the stolen power. In this way, the Bleeding Phoenix gets stronger as it rests. This is the basis of power used by Dreadgod cult followers, Redmoon Hall. As far as we know, the only sacred artist to resist a Blood Shadow — which is to say, a Dreadgod— is Yerin, when she was only a child of seven. For a almost ten years, she wore that Blood Shadow as a belt.

Bloodspawn

Bloodspawn seems to be the same as blood shadows, maybe baby shadows. Within the Phoenix's miles-wide range of blood aura, natural spirits known as bloodspawn are formed. Vaguely humanoid in appearance, they rise from sources of blood, including open cuts on still-living people. (Skysworn, Chapter 9; Bloodline, Chapter 15) They aim to wound those around them, increasing their own numbers and providing more blood madra for Phoenix, their master.