Weathermancy - influence/full control of a weather pattern, usually very localised, nudging a cloud to let the sun through, agitating clouds to trigger thunder/ rain, maintaining a specific climate (think Lower Tadfield in Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman)
Uproot - pull on/remove/destroy an object/concept eg a plant from soil, a nail from a plank, a book from its shelf, a person from their home, darkness from a soul, memory from a mind.
Faulton Fray’s Decay - decay caused by magiq, closely mimics mundane decay, but more grotesque and prone to rippling effects. Known to manifest on its own, causing distress to the caster credit @native-signal. Proficient casters can control the decay, sped it up, slow it down, control the scope and ripple effect or even displace decay (think The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde)
Charm and Deception - bluffing++, likeability ++, talk your way out of/in to anything, invisibility plausible(Susan Sto Helit in Hogfather/Theif Of Time/Soul Music by Terry Pratchett), Glamour (The elves in Lords and Laries by Terry Pratchett), Mission Imposible esk face/voice change.
Mend - Fix visible fractures/tears/breaks/imperfections. Easier on inanimate items. eg repair a broken plate, repair broken bow/bow string, cuts/scratches, broken tree branch, ‘ruined’ masonry
Bestiary Arts - Unnaturally good with animals, injured animals are extremely unlike to act out agressivly and have been known to seak out guild members. credit @Courtney_Bradford
Caster can sense near by creatures and call on/direct them. This sense can increase into telepathic like comunication when there is a unique bond between castor and animal.
Weathermancy seems to be a touchy business, if the greenhouse question in the Guide is anything to go by. You’d have to use it quite carefully, since it will affect the greater weather pattern. As a weathermancer you’d have to understand that and be willing to accept any consequences. Which I guess is why this falls under Balimora, even beyond it being a naturey maqiq.
Uproot I feel is quite versatile. Used gently it would be most useful for repotting plants or moving trees out of the way of construction projects. Why cut down a forest to build a road when you can just ask the trees to budge over a bit, right? I really like the idea of using Uproot on anything that’s “rooted”, not only on things with literal roots. I’d been thinking about that myself recently and it could be quite a devious magiq. Though I also think with many Balimorans working together we could make the Huorn army from Lord of the Rings. hroom-a-hruum!
My husband is listening to The Wheel of Time right now and at the end of the first book a character is destroyed by what seemed to be a version of Faulton Fray’s Decay. He was basically eaten by accelerated mushrooms. Since I’d been thinking of Faulton Fray himself as a particularly (in)famous botanist with a specialty in magiqal mushrooms and other fungi, it seemed appropriate. I think that’s how it would manifest for me and it would definitely be exhausting to make them work and grow so fast. In some ways Mend seems like FFD’s opposite, speeding up the natural repair process or returning to cohesion something that would otherwise be in pieces/succumbed to entropy.
Charm and Deception sounds like the Trickster side of things for sure! I grew up learning to be wary of faeries and this seems like all the faery mischief. Though I think there could also be a camouflage aspect. Like a cuttlefish! Or stick bugs! Or those butterflies that look exactly like monarchs, but aren’t to fool predators because monarchs taste awful (so birds say). Also puts me in mind of angler fish and pitcher plants.
Bestiary Arts to me includes not only communing and bonding with animals, but the ability to understand the animal in a way that just observation or telepathy doesn’t quite reach. I expect this would be a more advanced application, but someone very versed in Bestiary Arts would be able to sort of set their sense of self aside and adopt that of the animal partner. While not full Shapeshifting on its own, it would definitely change your perception of the world. It could be used to gain a hound’s sense of smell, or a bat’s echo location, or a bird’s sense of direction. The trick would be balancing the animal mind with holding onto your own, and combining it with actual Shapeshifting would probably be a little dangerous. You could completely forget you were ever a person.
And lastly Gosmere, possibly the hardest guild to nail down any kind of detail as a lot of the skills are personal or tailored to a 1-1 interaction.
Gossmere
Communion Magics - mind and dream linking. (think Dreamweavers in Age of Five series by Trudi Canavan)
Shapeshifting Arts - varies depending on level of control/practise, full or partial transformation to another creature. Full shapeshift risks becoming too much like the animal and getting stuck. Partial transformations take a great deal of control eg bat ears for enhanced hearing
Therapeutics - medical magic relating to the body and physical damage; herbalism, potions, charms, healing touch
Trusted Confidant - medical magic relating to the mind/soul; herbalism, potions, Vision Quests(similar to practices of Native Americans), headology(cite Granny Weatherwax, Witches Abroad/Masqurade by Terry Pratchett ). Significant cross over with Therapeutics as the link between phsyical and mental health is explored and understood better.
Call To Hearth - Honestly not a clue on this one.
I have no idea what this magiq is or does, but I can describe how it feels.
It’s the comfort and peace of being home. eg hygge, snugling by the fire with with your partner/book, walking along a feild/wood/stream that is home, being round a camp fire with your nearest and dearest, feeling like you belong in a place or with a person.
Choreomancy - Any magic is possible but its the movement of the caster that powers and informs the magic.
eg Gossmerian friend not currently on the forums or caught up. He used this to purge himself of a VOID that was taking over his soul and preventing him access to his ritualised magics. The movement will be different for each caster, but in this case a cross between tai chi and fencing, his movement was tailored to his intent and his power was drawn from his movements.
To me Call to Hearth sounds like drawing people together for a common, positive purpose. You know the vibe that exists among students in the weeks leading up to summer break, or the general idea of “Christmas cheer”? It seems like it would cause that sort of feeling in people, but in a more direct and intentional way. Kind of a magiqal “Come hither and celebrate!” psychic invite?
Gossmere magiq feels so snuggly! I’m imagining healers Shapeshifting into whatever therapy animal would make their patient most comforted.
Oracle: Great interpretation of Shapeshifting arts, as well! In the past we’ve discussed Shapeshifting forms and what animals we feel most connected to. I personally believe a bear would be mine because I grew up in Vermont, and frequently encountered bears from afar growing up. I always had a deep love and adoration for them!
i feel i’d change to a birb, or a maybe some kind of terrestrial mammal, like a wolf, or lion, or stag.
just depends on how those things re understood yeah?
Saberlane: And remember, from what we know about magic, the unpredictable nature of Neithernor, and your individual intention, what happens when one person performs something like Faulton Fray’s Decay may be different from when someone else performs it. Even if you don’t have access to Neithernor (I mean, I literally only got there last week) we’d love to know how you think something like Decay or any other affinity might work for you.
now to think of how my affinity for certain magiqal arts and practices may change due to my Ebbie guild affinity. like, I for one, definitely feel like i’d have quite teh affinity for a few flinterforge magiqal affinities, and i could def try performing a few of the goss and WW ones. just to see what happens.
Because thats how i see my magiq and my guild connections. but that all depends on how magiq holds and how my own take on it changes things.
also, experimentation, imagination, and careful curiosity, are the keys to innovation and understanding. so i’d love to give it a shot!
In the past Call to Hearth has been used as a way to calm a raging beast, or bring peace between two upset friends. However, like all magiq it is up for interpretation.
I find this concept perhaps the most interesting @Sapphire I adore these lists of affinities you have assembled and have made note for future thought.
May I hazard a perhaps early speculation on what Astral Thinking may be? I’m sure it’s going to resemble it’s user in manifestation differently however what if this is a for of metaphysical thought. Everything from ‘lightbulb’ moments of understanding or out of body experiences of dissociated awareness to the complete dissolve of self and ego that can be experienced on psilocybin?
I do have a question about affinities I’d like to throw out there for discussion.
The power of senses?
I’m very sensory as a person but the keenest I find is scent. If I catch the scent of someone I can tell a lot about them, mood, demeanour, desires & intent. I also tend to find that I can find them again. Or where they have been, what or who they have made contact with. I’m a Flinter so this is just dang baffling but I’d enjoy people’s thoughts.
P.S I don’t reveal this trait often as I like the little advantage it gives me. My little knowing and seeing if you catch me
Could you be poly-guild?
That kind touches ideas speculated for Weatherwatch Navimancy and/or Ebenguard Grim’s Convergance. Perphaps if you trained your skill with scenting might develop into 1 of those skills?
I dont think we have a full picture of magiq yet, but I seriously doubt that you can only perform magiqs that your guild has an affinity for, you arent born to your guild, at least not in the current age. And we have cast spells that require all guilds/elements to be represented, so its not unreasonable to assume there are magiqs not categoriesed by the affinities.
I think the afinities are more statistically based guideline, eg skilled and powerful Alchemists tend to be Flinters, but thats not to say there arent edge cases and strong Alchemists in other guilds.
In the other direction, you might not be capable of an affinity specific to your guild.
Its more like a venn diagram with overlaps and strong correlations, but it is by no means absolute, if it was, imagination wouldnt be as powerful as it is.
I am poly guild I’m a Flinterforge and Thornmouth. I’m forged from life and alchemy is deeply inherit in my magiq as are runes and wards however I notice that I have always been sensory and in another life or time and another name I will not speak I was a hound for finding that which sought to remain hidden.
I think that the divergence between the Book of the Wild and the Book of Kings makes it hard to see the true nature or capacity of some or the choices one would make if allowed unfettered. Sometimes even a cage of our own creation is still a cage and what our reach could be can’t be known. Maybe you are right about the Peering arts
This is probably a more mundane answer than you are looking for but it could be sensory issues? I also can tell lots about people from their scent, but my sensitivity is almost certainly tied to the fact that I am autistic. It could just be that your brain is wired in such a way that you can’t ignore the information you get from your nose, but you’ve turned it into a strength rather than a weakness.
That being said, I’m sure it will be very useful for alchemy. I haven’t found much mundane use for it personally except “you said you’re not wearing makeup but I can smell your mascara” but it may have some other advantages when it comes to magiq.
Earlier whilst just sitting with my dog I had a thought.
Could communion magiq be related to the part of the Gossmere description, “Or a great champion, fighting to free the enslaved with the shared spirits of brave warriors in your heart” Could communion magiq be what’s being referenced here? Might communion magiq not only be used to link thoughts or minds or those living, aka could you talk to a figure from the past and/or someone whose dead? I am not saying it would only be with “brave warriors” but any and all you wished to communicate with?
Just a thought. Let me know if anyone has another interpretation! (I’ve read most of those previous but I might have missed a few.)
It’s worth reading the age of five series. And my response is about the get a bit spoilery…
Dreamweavers in Age of Five, use the mind and dream linking to share current thoughts and feelings and their own memories and memories from others.
It allows them to pass on healing knowledge that can’t be put into words and is one of the main reasons they are such great healers. They can pass on complex techniques, but also experience and understand their patients.
The memories of everyone can be shared and they carry memories from long dead Dreamweavers. Careful grounding is needed to prevent yourself being lost in anothers memories.
Communing with the past is in a way possible, you can’t interact with someone dead, but if they shared their memories then you can experience their memories as your own, or as a watcher.
Communication with the dead, would be closer to my theorised version of the Swift Tongues of Kalivar.
@Sapphire For astral thinking I believe it’s similar to astral projecting. But instead of your full conscious being sent into the A.P. (astral plane) only a small portion of your mind is. So it can more or less focus on one given task or situation without interruption. Though I’m not a Thornmouth and haven’t tried the spell myself so I’m no expert.
hroom-a-hruum! 
