So, here it is! I was super inspired by Viv, Remus, and Professor Robert and their work in guild studies and I felt I just had to jump on the bandwagon! Disclaimer: This is just my interpretation of Gossmere and the Common Drum, and I understand that that opinion may vary from person to person.
Common Drum
Before I even chose Gossmere I remember wondering what on earth The Common Drum could even mean. The Great Chaos, Golden Balance, and Day’s Work all seem pretty straight forward (or so I thought at the time) but… Common Drum, what exactly could that mean? Well, after rereading both Remuses Study of Further Fire and Professor Roberts treatise of The Great Chaos, as well as Viv’s amazing study on the guilds and their opposites, I think I finally have an answer I am happy with.
The Common Drum is all the things the guide says it is. It is kindness and love, that fundamental law that says no one is better than anyone else. It is the breath that two people share in small cramped subway, never to speak again, as much as it is the long impassioned kiss of long separated lovers. It’s both grounding, and aetherial. Like kindness, it is this unknowable force that never ceases to bring a smile to our faces. It is more wild than it is tamed, like our emotions it’s both a soft beat, and a wild thrum that can make our whole body shake.
I like to imagine the Gossmerim of old would gather around their hearths, playing guitars, ukuleles, flutes, violins…etc, at the heart though, I imagine drums, the core base beat in any Gossmere song.
There are times where I think it’s hard to be part of The Common Drum, because being the ambivert I am, being around people all the time can be… draining. However, after further reflections I don’t think it works that way. I think we can go out into the forests, or plains, or even being alone in our apartment, and still be connected to The Common Drum, just taking a deep breath and loving ourselves is just as important to the “collective” as your presence.
Gossmere Tribes
“You are the many and the one, gathering in a loose, ever changing assembly of tribes, coming together in the experience of life, a community that embraces all.” -The Magiq Guide
From my research, it seems that Gossmerim have made the plains of Neithernor their home for as long as anyone can remember. In Eaves own words we are “Hufflepuff meets Burning Man”, and out of everything I have heard about our guild that has rung the most true to me. I like to imagine “Plains Vehicles” like a wrecked ship enchanted to hover a few feet above the ground, or a giant sentient snail whose shell is actually a functioning house wandering across the plains, a procession of musicians and merchants behind them. Maybe settling down in certain locations during certain seasons, or melding with other tribes as you meet each other on the plains. Since I was made Caller of Gossmere I have felt this… Desire, I don’t know how else to describe it. Like, I just feel this need to re explore the plains, to visit tribes that no longer exist, to enkindle and be enkindled by them. I keep having dreams about dances, and hearthsongs, and the more they keep happening the more I wonder if they are more than just dreams. They feel wild and free, everyone being themselves with no masks or inhabitants, everyone offering each other a helping hand when needed. It feels right. This leads me to believe that it was once the Callers role to travel amongst the tribes of Gossmerim, to feel the grass beneath their feet and see the sky above the plains and all the colors it had to offer. Maybe, one day, when there are enough Gossmere to wander again, I will go with them, my own voice fading into the chorus. No longer the Caller, but being called just the same.
Rhythms Hearth
From what me and Augo have found, it is the only building that is a constant on the Gossplains. Finely made of wood and stone, I have called it home for the last few months. It was more magiqal than I had imagined, and I have loved exploring the dorms and infirmary. Sitting by the hearth to read a good book is probably my favorite activity. Like the rest of the guild halls, its fallen into ruin, and with only me and Augo…. Repairs have been slow. We don’t know when it was built, but I suspect it to be less ancient than Ebenrest or Thorntower, perhaps it wasn’t made until The War of MM…. I will research this further once we have finished repairs. I believe Rhymes Hearth was once seen as a home base, its location set at the heart of the plains, and its welcoming open gates back up this theory. Just like I have dreamed of the Plains… Augo has had dreams and visions and gut feelings about the compound. They have led to some of our most amazing discoveries to date. Me and Augo believe it has been the Keepers of old who watched over the compound, and kept Gossmere knowledge safe.