This discussion got me thinking and inspired me to create a new magiqverse out-of-world Creationary prompt.
Yes, the Guide to Magiq gives one specific view of each guild, but what does your guild mean to you, specifically?
How is it the same as the Guide and the ideas of your guildfellows? How does it differ?
How do you see your guild evolving in the future?
The guilds are ever-changing after all. 
To me, Gossmere isn’t about singing and dancing, music and healing. It’s about community. It’s about love. It’s about standing together and holding hands. It’s about knowing you aren’t alone in the world anymore, that there are souls to celebrate with you in the good times and stand with you in the bad. It’s about sharing that on a fundamental, spiritual level. Hearts beating together, to the rhythm of life, to the rhythm of the Common Drum.
It’s about Brotherhood, and Sisterhood, and fundamental/elemental love.
You know how many Balimorans have taken me aside to say but I don’t like nature?
I think there are deeper and more personal aspects to discover in each of the guilds.
Well, 
being the House of Purpose… not super-related, but every time the Ebbie stuff mentions “purpose” it reminds me of one of my college acting classes. We were supposed to just walk as we normally would and the class/teacher would analyze it. The one thing that I remember (aside from my great desire to be done with the class) was that they felt I walked with purpose.
And I know when I interviewed for my current job that I mentioned liking making things and sharing them with others…
As far as expanding the Ebbie definition beyond the Guide… I’ll have to think on it.
Oh man, I have so many thoughts.
What I See:
I kind of talked about this in the other thread, but I think my vision of Flinterforge is as designers. People with big ideas who have the gumption to bring those ideas to fruition. I think Flinterforge is more about the nurturing of ideas, it’s about people wanting to bring something new into this world and that’s the most important aspect. I also think that many Flinterforge choose one or several mediums of creativity that they use to engage with their ideas, and these mediums are very personal and very important to the Flinterforge.
I don’t think all of the skills a Flinterforge has are “practical.” There are many Flinterforge who haven’t touched a power tool in their lives. Some people are artists, some are writers, musicians, etc. Others are scientists or engineers. It’s not about having skills but also having a purpose, a design, to use them for, as well. The folks who are, for example, carpenters, are also architects. The tailors are also costume designers. Also, going along with not everything having to be “practical”, I think more of a focus is on the joy of creativity than the result. Not everything is going to save the world, and that’s not the sole point of creating.
There’s always a yearning to do more, to be more creative, and that’s something each Flinterforge has to harness within themselves. There are creatives in every guild, people with the skills to make certain things, but it’s about how Flinterforge engage with creativity that defines them.
There’s a really poignant quote from the Guide, “You seek not only to see new light, but to create it. To do what has never been done. And to do what has been done, even better.” To me, that’s the goal, chasing some beautiful new idea and seeing it through. In many different ways, not just by building or inventing.
A long time ago, before we even knew Neithernor was a thing, I talked about the Flinterforge guild home being a makerspace, essentially. And I honestly still kind of, conceptually, see the guild that way. Or something akin to a massive artist’s salon. I see us as a gathering of creatives who are excited about making new things, developing our next big project. And I connect infinitely more with this image than I do this image.
Oh, also, on the subject of the elements… I’ve never seen Ore as literally ore? To me, I react more to crystals as a symbolic fit. Because the “ore” is ideas - a raw material that is refined and turned into something great. But I guess that’s manifested as crystals to me because I see them as something beautiful and inspiring, and also mysterious and charged with power. They bring ideas to life.
What I Think Others See:
I think a lot of people see the name and make a strong judgement about the guild as a whole. They see Flinterforge and they think “Oh, well Flint is a firestarter, and Forge is like a blacksmith’s forge, so they’re all blacksmiths who work in a forge.” So everything ends up looking like Tolkien, or imagery about forges burning, and so on.
And I have to admit, there’s a part of me that thinks maybe, no matter how much creative exploration I do, no matter how much gentle prodding of “It’s the Flintershop, not the Forge”, that impression will never change. And I’ve gotta admit, that’s a disheartening thought.
Also, that package I sent to Saberlane? It was a total love letter to this type of Flinterforge. Every item in there was about embracing this idea of creativity, and Flinterforge as an artistic guild. It also included two letters from the owner of said objects, talking about how other guilds were projecting an image of Flinterforge being the the gearhead/blacksmith guild and how he felt isolated/stifled by those associations. 
Lets see, here… My guilds meaning to me…
Balimora is… less a group to me, and more… a sense of unity. We got together through chaotic and unpredictable circumstances, and with time thats become a binding thread. Our common thread is that there IS no common thread, and that means everyone i meet in balimora is so different from me as a person that every day is fun and interesting with them. Genuinely, i consider them a second family, far more than anyone else ive met online. The mountaineers have been… such a bright point in my life for so long, my guild just seems like a subsection of my life by this point. The tenets are basically my lifestyle xD
While I’m never in one spot or ever do one thing for too long I feel that Weatherwatchers don’t necessarily need to always be exploring the world around them. There’s so much more to explore wether it’s philosophies or ideas, religions or cultures.
I think that Weatherwatch could be perceived as a very boastful and proud guild (my bad on that front, buuuuut you gotta admit WW is AWESOME!!!) but that’s not enirely correct. We’re just passionate and excited at and by everything! And we want to share our enthusiasm with everyone around us so they can see how awesome it all is too!
Going along with this conversation, there’s one other aspect that might be cool to talk about. What about the perceived image of the guild vs the people who make up the guild.
When I think about Flinterforge, we have a costume designer/illustrator, a mechanical engineer, a software analyst/costume designer, and a writer/publishing assistant (correct me if I’m mischaracterizing anyone!). In the past, we’ve had some writers and artists. And if we include TMP characters, we’ve got an artist/personal trainer, a software developer, and a journalist. Of course job titles don’t define people, but maybe that’s also why I lean so strong towards “Flinterforge are idea people/designers.” 
I have a bunch of feelings here. And I’ll actually take Rev’s thought and expand on it tomorrow (cause I need to sleep soon)
Like how I see the guild, what it means to me, and how its perceived from the outside.
It’s crazy to think about how I’ve only been here less than a year, yet what a deep personal adventure I’ve been on when it comes to being a Balimora. When I first joined, Balimora was the result I got twice in a row, so it made sense to me that I’d fit in it. However, this was before I actually joined the forum and really got a look at the options I had and what they all meant. Once I learned the basic info on each guild, I so badly wanted to be a Thornmouth, I thought that was the guild that fit my current interests best. I was living in a dorm stacked high with overstuffed bookshelves and my main hobby was to constantly be learning about vague topics outside of school and writing my own papers on them. The identity I saw, was that of an eager mind, constantly hungry for more knowledge and education.
For a while afterwards, I naturally started to consider taking on a polyguild identity, which confused me. If I so truly thought I was a Thormouth, what was holding me back from a complete shift to that guild? At first, I thought it was because I didn’t want to leave the group I originally tested into, but I eventually realized that I kept seeing the presence of Balimora traits throughout my daily life. I had this nagging thought that manifested into a realization. Thornmouth was how I may have viewed myself and wanted to be viewed, but at my core, I was 100 percent a Balimora even though I didn’t originally notice.
Originally I saw Balimora purely as this nature-focused recklessness guild. But when you look into it fully, when I looked into fully, it was something else entirely. What caught my attention was the guild description phrase “called to tend that deeper balance”. How is there balance in The Great Chaos? It took some time, but I feel like I at least somewhat have a better understanding of what it means.
The deeper balance that Balimora represents is calculated chaos and ensuring change. If there is one thing that is constant, it’s the constant presence of Change; of chaos in our lives that we can choose to fight, or welcome. When we learn to accept that chaos, we’re better at introducing chaos into our lives to fuel adventure, improv, quick decision-making, and so much more. I vaguely remember touching down on how I interpreted the Great Chaos during the Festival of Guide and Guild, but that didn’t include what the Guild that bonds through that shared connection of Chaos and Wild, means to me personally.
I’d dealt with a lot of feelings of organizational failure in my life because the chaos I added to it didn’t adhere to the norms of how people carried out there work ethics or daily lives. I was considered at times to be rash, unpredictable, disorganized, reckless. I thought that something was wrong with me because I couldn’t stick to this straight line that I was informed was the Golden Standard of moving forwards. It really made me feel outclassed by my more successful peers. I also was unable to see the chaos other people had in their lives whether wanted or not. So I began to see my chaotic side as a weakness. I saw a vital part of who I was as an individual, as something that should be repressed and changed.
But now as a member, leader, and more importantly, friend within Balimora, I know that the Chaos we choose to add to our lives is wonderfully powerful. The Chaos Quorum validates the way I choose to spice up my life and introduce risk, intrigue, and excitement into my life and the lives of others. And it means so much to me to be able to share that. We overcome the societal norms of structure and stress and are able to show the beauty that is the natural presence of Chaos. Chaos in the presence of Emotion and Change and Nature. And doing it every day in small, but significant ways. Encouraging someone to try a new outfit, trying out a new hobby or schedule, playing that draw 4 in UNO when you don’t have to, playing a prank, speaking up when you normally wouldn’t; the list goes on and on and on. It’s an incredible gift in itself to introduce and care for the presence of the Great Chaos in this world (and others), but to do it with friends is a whole other level of amazing.
I was having a discussion about which guild I fitted into the other day with Chi, and it really made me think about what each guild is to me, and more specifically what makes me a Bali over anything else. I have the creative streak of Flinter, that strong sense of purpose of Ebenguard, the pull to explortion of Weatherwatch, the need of knowledge and understanding of Thornomouth, the want of commuity, and music, and healing of Gossmere. But in the end, I think what makes me a Bali more than anything is the choices I make. Choosing many crafts over one, choosing to leave my life’s path to chance, choosing to leave that essay to the last minute cause you I just know it’s gonna suck to write.
Bali to me are the oddballs, the people you never quite know what you’ll get from them. Its those people just as content to sit locked away inside all day doing nothing much as they are to treck deep into a forest to climb an old tree they’d heard about. They have these messy desks and rooms that have no order, yet they can find anything they need in an instant. They are scatter brained, with ideas and random pieces of knowledge ever poping in and out of the foreground. They’re the ones with 67 tabs open trying to solve a puzzle and they have zero idea where the music is coming from (you know the meme, lol).
Edit: (damn, that took way longer to write than I thought, and gosh, what a hard job it is to follow Helios’ amazing post that is too scarily accurate, lol)
Not to disrupt any of this amazing Flinter talk, but I am passionate about this subject.
Gossmere was such an identity validation to me, I’ve talked about this with CJ and a few others, when I read the Gossmere guide my immediate and only thought was “home”. I grew up loving books, specifically fantasy. I fell in love with worlds where being soft, or caring too much, or being a healer-they all made you a background character. I have never felt as though the tribes, or any of the guilds, belong in the background.
Like Balimora who don’t care for nature, I actually struggle a lot with people. I have a clinical case of social anxiety that is considered pretty extreme. However, I love people and animals; I always have. Observing them, and when I can manage it, being among them, always makes my heart sing. To me being Gossmere is about seeing others for who they are, and loving them for who they are. As a lot of you guys know, when I found out there were burning man undertones to Gossmere, I got really excited. It’s because I knew that the plan for us wasn’t the soft guys in the background whose only point was to support the lead. The tribes have history, events and leaders.
When I chose Gossmere and I as I learned more, I knew that Gossmere would be my home no matter what. Like Sel with her reading nook in Thornhouse, I have a specific hill on the plains I have imagined really clearly. My happy place, if you will. Gossmere has continued to be an example I try so hard to value, everything I am and everything I want to be.
Kind, helpful, and surrounded by a community that I can loose my voice singing along with.
Aggggghhhhh, can I just say how much I love this thread, and this community? 
Also, brace yourselves - an essay is coming.
Although I now identify as Flinterforge through and through, I also had to go through a process of coming to grips with Flinterforge as my Guild identity. I think this was partly because I recognize that I present myself in a way that comes off as very Thornmouth - I will admit to probably being a Thornie when I was younger. But despite that incorrect perception, most of the internal crisis I experienced came not from feeling “too much” of another Guild’s traits, but from not feeling like “enough” of a Flinter.
I see myself as a mildly creative person, at best. I have a lot of crazy ideas, but there are also not a lot of skills in which I feel that I particularly excel. Having not read any of the Guild descriptions beforehand, I was simultaneously excited and terrified to get Flinterforge from the Guide that first time. I fell immediately in love with the idea of Flinterforge, the desire to make things new and better, to explore the real possibilities of ideas. At the same time, I was completely intimidated by the examples of the magimystic talents in Flinter, both in the Guide’s description and in real life. I wasn’t a botanist, or an architect, or an engineer. I wasn’t a software developer or a talented artist. My job at the time was basically data entry, which is one of the most un-creative things I can think of, and I had pretty much given up on my writing, which has been my most dominant form of creative expression throughout my life (although you maybe wouldn’t know that looking at me today).
However, I loved the ideals of Flinterforge very deeply, and when I read the other Guilds’ descriptions I found I had no comparable feelings anywhere else, nothing that clicked for me quite so deeply. Not wanting to stand on the sidelines anymore, I jumped in and declared myself. At first I struggled a bit with a sort of magimystic inferiority complex, but the more I explored the idea of Flinterforge beyond the specific examples given, the better I felt about the fit.
The “Assemble Runes” affinity in particular resonates with me, since I enjoy tinkering with language and syntax. At no point in the last two years have I revolutionized farming or tailoring or computer science, but I have rigged up a trench coat with secret bananas, fixed countless hemlines for friends who ripped them, made several scarves as gifts, helped create several themed cocktails, picked out numerous harmonies to songs, drafted half of a novel, and figured out how to cheat a badly-designed computer algorithm or two. None of those things “changed the world” so to speak, and they were never meant to, but all of them possessed some of that spirit of Meeting the Day’s Work. Those are the things that bring me joy, and I think that’s what I’ve really discovered and deepened about myself as a Flinter - the desire for improvement, for using whatever skills I possess to enact something that leaves my world better than I found it, even if that thing is small, or silly, or a badly-designed prototype.
I also feel like there’s a bit of an outside perception that Flinterforge is some sort of crazy talented mad science club, where we’re turning out cool new toys for people every other day, no big deal. And while that’s a really complimentary perception, I find that the other thing I treasure the most about my Guild is sort of the opposite of that perception. Before we can hand someone a cool new toy, we spend hours sketching models or drawing on whiteboards, rigging up prototype after prototype and watching each one explode in a new and different way, carefully measuring and measuring and hoping when we finally get around to cutting the piece that all the measuring worked. And your Guildmates are the ones seeing you through all of that, giving you coffee while you stay up and finish the designs, patting you on the back as you cross out method 1,635 as another no-go, reminding you that maybe the equations will make more sense after you’ve slept for more than 10 minutes at a time, just a thought. They know what it’s like to hit that creative dead-end, to feel uninspired, to burn out, and they remind you that what you’re working toward is bigger and better and more worthy than those setbacks make it feel.
So yeah. I also want to add that I think many (if not all) of the guilds have some sort of “symbology” attached to them that doesn’t always resonate with all of its members - Bali and nature, Goss and Burning Man, etc. But that symbology itself isn’t the core of what that Guild/House represents. In the end, each person can see how their own particulars fit into their Guild’s ideals and explore its meaning through the lens of their own traits and tendencies, which I think is how life is meant to be experienced anyway.
Burdened and blessed.
Those are the first words in the description of Ebenguard, and oh boy did those hit me hard.
I was drawn to all the guilds. All of them had something I saw in myself or pulled at some string within me, which is why I have such an appreciation for the guild system and how it’s not do or die you’re this one thing. People are complex, and all over the place, and that’s fine.
I got Ebenguard my first go around. Read all the descriptions, took the test again definitely more impulsively, and still got Ebenguard. I never considered a polyguild in any serious capacity, and maybe that’s because no other guild description resonated as much.
Lots of words and images get conjured up in reference to Ebenguard like righteous, purposeful, self sacrifice, I don’t know the stereotypical image of warriors and protectors and whatever.
Part of that is true, but not as big as it seems. Yes, we may believe in a higher purpose or calling of some sort. That doesn’t mean we know exactly what we’re doing every second of everyday or know exactly what impact our actions will always have. It’s more of a belief that there’s a reason for things, that life will direct us to where we need to be. It’s also smaller scale. A belief that what we’re doing in the moment matters, regardless of what others may say or think. Sure there may be those of us who are more driven or know at least in part what gives us purpose in life, but we’re still people, ya know? I still have an existential crisis every other week. I don’t know what tomorrow holds or where I’m going to be. It’s about knowing what brings you and others fulfillment in life, and striving to find big or little ways to pursue that day to day, moment to moment.
Righteous for me has a lot more negative feelings attached to it. I feel like it’s not a far step to then go into being arrogant, but maybe I’m just weird. With Ebenguard I feel that our guild members just naturally have strong moral codes. We know what we deem as right, and we’re not blind to problems that exist around us. We’re pulled to do something when we encounter problems, but it’s not this flashy image of being a do gooder. It’s seeing someone crying and not walking past. It’s calling people out when they say something demeaning. It’s standing up to our friends when they make poor choices that hurt people. This leads into the self sacrifice thing. First off, it’s not always a good thing. Secondly, I don’t doubt that in an extreme case most Ebbies would be willing to give their lives for the cause or whatever, but that’s just that - the extreme. I feel that we’re self sacrificing in the way that we will put aside our problems and wants to help better someone else’s life, or to give someone else a chance they might not have had before. It’s a lot less about dramatics, and more about helping others, inspiring others, sharing the stories of others. It’s about being able to make the tough decision to take a back seat, because there will be another opportunity for you, the same may not be true for others.
Burdened and blessed. The burden of wanting to correct every wrong doing we encounter, but not always being able to win those fights on your own, but the blessing of being able to experience what it’s like to see in yourself or show someone else the potential they hold within them, and how amazing it is watching that seedling bloom.
Sure, there may be some who are valiant freedom fighting activists ready to go to bat, but the majority of us aren’t. I feel that it’s a lot more about knowing that one small act of kindness, one statement standing up for someone else, that these moments can cause a ripple that turns into a tidal wave that might just change the world for the better one day. I think it’s about holding ourselves accountable, knowing that change starts with yourself. That’s how we bring balance and harmony to the world, and that’s why we’re between night and day. We don’t all fit in one box, and we all live our lives differently, but we find ways to fill voids in this world where things are missing. Maybe that’s another side of an old story being told, maybe that’s setting up a creative outlet or inspiring some, but maybe sometimes it’s just being a friendly smile in a world that’s full of fear and uncertainty.
I have lots of feeling about being an Ebenguard if you couldn’t tell. As for the future … I think Ebenguard will be what it needs to be. In Neithernor in the past it might’ve been protectors and fighters. In the time since, it might’ve been storytellers to keep the whispers of Magiq alive and allow them to survive long enough for us Mounties try to bring it back. Who knows what it’ll be down the road? But whatever it is, we’ll do it, quietly in our own little corners or loudly for the world to hear, because that’s what Ebenguards do.
When I first took the Guide, it felt perfect. That hunger for knowledge it described was exactly what had driven me for years. I went all in. I took pictures with whatever book I was reading (I averaged 2 novels a week at the time), I got really into the studious hermit aesthetic, the whole 9 yards. But then I developed mental illness.
My illnesses didn’t have anything to do with my guild, but it did change my perception of it. Depression stopped me from reading. It just wasn’t interesting anymore. The same book has been on my nightstand for a year now and I still haven’t finished it. Anxiety stopped me from spending hours in the library with the constant worries. Is it wierd to be here for so long? I don’t read much, so what would I even do here? Is it wierd to go to the library just to play on my phone? By the time I decided I didn’t care whether or not it was wierd, the library was aready closed.
I began to doubt whether or not I still belonged in the guild. I started to search through the rest of the guide, but I didn’t really connect with anything else. I do have some Flinter in me, but it never felt like my “main” guild.
But I’ve come to realize that my original view of Thornmouth was rather narrow. I’d focused on the books, the libraries, and the long hours of studying that I simply didn’t have the energy for any more. I’d forgotten the drive, the very thing that had drawn me to the guild in the first place. That need to know more. More about everything. I didn’t pore through the shelves in the library anymore, but I never hesitated to google the strangest things. I didn’t read 3 novels at once but debating whether there were 13 or 15 Doctors with the other Mounties on discord? Thrilling. And not because I was fighting for one side or the other. I want to step into everyone’s shoes and know everything. I want to know how all the kinds of people think and to understand all of them. That is the essence of Thornmouth to me. Some burning, insatiable need to know.
It’s so weird to hear you say this, because I’ve always seen you as a very creative and skilled person? Seeing you talk on the forums and Discord, I really sense a great deal of passion when you talk about literature and when you talk about sewing and costume design.
I definitely agree with what you’ve said here. I don’t think every person in Flinterforge is aspiring to do some world changing thing, nor focus on building new tools or innovations. I know I’m certainly not. I’m just an artist with a lot to say and a lot to share. While I like the idea of doing something new, of making a groundbreaking design, I know that may never happen. And I think that’s okay. It’s the need to create, having important ideas to bring into the world, that makes a Flinterforge.
When I think about how we are as a group, it fits a lot of what you’re saying as well. When we talk, it tends to be about geeking out about something creative, or helping someone else with their creative woes, or just helping people together. It’s a really supportive group. We’re all just trying to get better together, one step at a time. And to me, that’s what Flinterforge is. We might be small, but we’ll help you pick out the best fabric for your project, or encourage you to carry on when your story has hit a block, and we’re always around to celebrate a victory!
Thanks for saying so, Rev. 
I was reticent to describe that experience because I didn’t want to look like I was fishing for compliments or anything, but I also know how much overthinking I did when I first joined this community, and I think I wanted to put this out there for the sake of any new Flinterforge who might come along. The Guide talks about creating “something no one else could have imagined,” and as cool as that sounds, I think many creators, in the digital age especially, are concerned about being derivative or uninspired, and I don’t want that doubt about what they can do to scare away anyone who belongs with us. 
cackles like a mad collector
I’m a bit late for this, but oh well.
In the beginning, and a lot of the middle, Chey and I, along with Steve, took the Great Chaos to heart. We played pranks, messed around; just trying to be as chaotic as possible. As things went on I slowly realized that there are other aspects to Chas the just, well chaos. There’s a form of balance that Balimorans must have that reflects the nature around them. Just as a worm is eaten by a mole and the mole is eaten by a fox, so too is the fox eaten by the mole. This balance is messy and chaotic, but it is there. This “balance” is the nature of the Great Chaos itself and reflects on each Balimoran differently. Just as one one may be goofy, playing pranks all the time, another will be quiet and reserved. I’d have to say that Balimorans are the most random of each of the guilds, with each member only taking up one or two of the main ideals of Balimora at a time.
But what does my guild mean to me? I’d have to say, with the small amount of us that I’ve met, that were family. We may differ on how we run, but there’s a bind that’s formed over the past yearish that I can’t imagine not having.
