Belatedly answering some questions from the past couple weeks: no animal sampled so far has blood that can fuel Theurgy.
You don’t know whether Abhumans have Theurges or not, nor do you really know enough about them to answer WulfyK’s questions. The Thaumatarchy certainly considers them something between alien and animal, but you’d be inclined to take that with a grain of salt.
Combat in Ch 4 should bring together lots of stats visible and invisible: morale, anarchy, arms, various henchperson skills, etc. It won’t just be a COM or INT check.
Refining doesn’t necessarily stop with a 100% pure product, though – nor is any purification or refinement process foolproof. There will be a way to send poisoned helots in to spoil a Harrower-full of blood. Just not in this bit of the game.
And the product of a Harrower is called aetherial blood – which people take as a vague reference to the spiritual qualities endowed upon the blood by the Angels through the rite of sacrifice.
Chastity before and within marriage is valued by the Karagonds, but celibacy is not; neither Theurges nor Ecclesiasts are expected to remain unmarried. Many Ecclesiasts do, however, as their vows of commonality (holding no wealth of any kind in their own right) make them less attractive marriage partners. Most Theurges are married, including incidentally all the ones you’ve met thus far.
Yes, I know who the Athanatoi were. (: [Edit: or at least I knew the Herodotus/Persian ones – the Byzantine elite troops were new to me.] I wonder if they’re a bit too well known for me to borrow them?
Thanks for the bug catching, all. Will try to fix that for the update…