What Does Your Guild Mean to You?

[Nimueh]

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)

[OracleSage]

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.

[Viviane]

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.

[Ginger]

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.

[Sellalellen]

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.

[Revenir]

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!

[Viviane]

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

[Mr5yy]

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.

[Rimor]

I’m still struggling with my guild as when I took the guide I was placed into Thornmouth, the guild of knowledge and understanding. Every test I’ve taken has always placed me in the “Smart group” but I’m not your typical intelligent person. I made it through secondary school with a minimum pass mark and I then scored high in college but only because of the huge amount of help I received. When I went to university I failed my foundation degree but I still progressed onto my third year by some great miracle and then I dropped out of university failing again. I have shelves full of books on all sorts of subjects but non have been read. They just sit there gathering dust, a horde of information. So to me being placed into Thornmouth felt wrong, like I’m pretending to be someone I’m not. It’s a guild that’s about knowledge and understanding but no matter how much I try I still don’t understand my guild and I don’t think I ever will. But I think that’s the point of Thornmouth, it’s an enigma wrapped in a conundrum always pushing you to know and understand more but never giving you a straight answer.

[Remus]

Whoops, I guess I’m going to jump into this thread a bit late as well!

I first want to start by saying that I agree wholeheartedly with my guildmate, @Skylad. When I first took the guide, I was extremely confused by that I got Weatherwatch. I’ve written about this before on an essay I wrote about the Further Fire, but I think Sky’s comments earlier on in this thread have already deconstructed my old concerns with my belonging in the guild.

So what does my guild me to me? Well, I agree with @CJB: Weatherwatch is the House of Exploration. That means exploration in all senses: physical, mental, social, emotional, intellectual, etc. Weatherwatch tends to be associated with the physical kind of exploration, but as that’s not representative of the whole guild. I’m sure some pirates, aviators, and any number of explorers (unproblematic and not) would have gotten Weatherwatch if they had taken the guide, but there are plenty of other people who never went further than 20 km from their homes who would have gotten WW, too.

That doesn’t mean that I don’t associate physical travel with my identity within the guild - every time I travel, I get this stupid grin on my face because I know I am going away from where I’ve been. But it does mean that I think Weatherwatchers have had a variety of professions outside of those who have to travel professionally. That’s because I literally can’t travel most of the time, and I’m okay with that most of the time. I live in a small city an hour away from the nearest larger cities; I don’t have any way of reliably getting away. And yet, I still feel very much like I am a part of WW because I define exploration more broadly than just travel. As someone who hopes to one day become an academic, it’s essential that I continue to rethink and reconsider how the topics I’m interested have been considered in the past. I have to EXPLORE. And that kind of Weatherwatcher, to me, is just as valid as any adrenaline-fueled daredevil Weatherwatcher.

I think Ascender, one of the few Weatherwatchers in TMP, is a good example of this. Though he did travel a bunch throughout his life, he did this often times out of necessity, not necessarily out of the desire to travel. His exploration was personal and intellectual, and when you travel that much for so long (especially after the Storm almost got him), he likely had to do some personal exploration as well. I believe the Further Fire manifests itself differently for each Weatherwatcher, and I think that the pulls that each Weatherwatcher feels can change.

Weatherwatch is if nothing else a guild that pursues change, and sometimes that change is positive and sometimes it is negative. Exploration implies a kind of change - it’s not quite discovery (I find discovery to be a problematic term in many cases - see the Age of “Discovery”). But still, something changes and those changes have results, not all of which Weatherwatchers can predict.

Weatherwatchers move onwards to the Further Fire. By following its light, we become the lights which bring about changes.

That’s what Weatherwatch means to me.

[Skylad]

Perfectly said Remus Everyone is totally upset they’re not a Watcher now!!

[Robert]

Sweet, I haven’t had a chance to write far too much about my guild lately.

Being in Balimora means … being home.

(What? That took me 4 hours and 17 edits to get it perfect. Don’t judge me.)

[annabloem]

I only joined here very recently, so I don’t have a super clear view of my guild yet, but I wanted to share some of my thoughts here anyway.

When I got the result from the Guide Of Magic, I was super intrigued by the quote it gave me: You will bring shade where brightest and light were darkest.
I loved it. I still do. In one way, it speaks about bringing balance, but I feel like a lot of my personality fits with that, like, when people are super positive I might seem like a downer yet, when people are super negative I am much more popular, so I guess that spoke to me.

Then as I read up a bit more about the guilds, I realized that Balimora was about chaos. Quite frankly, I don’t like chaos. I like lists, things going according to plan, and order. I’ve been getting a bit better with this lately, but when I was young I could not deal with anything that wasn’t in order, so it felt weird to be in a guild that was about chaos.

Going forward, when I wrote about myself for the Christmas Exchange I realized that maybe it’s not about me liking/preferring chaos. I realized that I am all over the place in terms of things I like and am interested in. I love most sports, I love reading and art, I love science and knowledge and even math. I love things that are difficult, and get tired of simple/easy things quickly. Not just that, my personality also is full of contradictions. I had a bunch on examples, but I somehow forgot them as I was typing this out . Long story short, I am all over the place and full of contradictions, so I might not like chaos, but I certainly am chaotic, so maybe I do fit in my guild after all.

I’m looking forward to learn more about Balimora and the people in it as I continue to read more of the books and talk with more people here! I’m really glad this topic exists, because I have learned so much through reading everyone’s opinions

[grimangel53]

I dont know how to write this.
My mind is racing with thoughts and feelings and i find it hard to make sense of it all.
But I think it all comes down to balance.
for me it’s always about balance.
work/life, balancing money, balancing creativity with practicality.

When i first took the guide, my result was Ebenguard.
I was confused and yet, understood why. I always stand as protector, against fear, against inner demons, against things that would hurt my loved ones. never ceasing and never breaking down.
and as i tried it again and again. I found that I would go off on a tear of other guilds only to correct myself back to that center. eventually I’d find that I straddle a balance between the Ebbies and WW, depending on one single choice. Ebenguard is much more me than i thought. WW is more my self when im searching for something.

I’ve never really understood why, but balance has always been pretty important to me. One of the characters in my thought process was born out of a need to find balance. in fact, many were born out of that need. i find balance in equal parts, in light and dark, in warmth and chill. And my need to find a balance of two extremes in those guilds shows.
But i think that places me more squarely in ebenguard. just due to that simple fact. Balance. We’re ordered, sure, but we’re also capable of great chaos in response. just like balimora is able to find true order in the natural chaos of life.

I still dont entirely get Ebenguard.
We’re the sentinels, the protectors, but we can be so much more than that.
we can be healers, oracles, teachers, athletes, artificers, builders, and so much more.
we balance many hats, because we protect the balance, and find our own way.
We straddle the land and sea, where Weatherwatch travels out everywhere, land, sea, and sky.
I still have trouble seeing guilds in general outside of their perceived purview.
but im trying to learn.

I’m ready to know more, and to understand more, and really find my home again here.
truly. The old home will be found again, and we will take care of it. To heal, to protect, to find peace, and to find our balance again. or at least truly find mine.

I’m trying to believe in my own thoughts, and finding it hard to do.
goes and hides in Ebenrest, guiding himself through with sound

[Nettil]

Being in Flinterforge means being open to any idea, even if said ideas could be somewhat… impractical.

[WizardAstraz]

“Between land and sea, the horizon between day and night”, when I was chosen for Ebenguard and I was reading through the description I immediately wondered if the choice was correct. Yet, as I read more I felt the resonance inside of me.

I have often described myself as an agent of Universal Law, working the weave of magiq to influence possibility and provide a reflection for soul growth and evolution. “…believed there is a reason and purpose and a secret order infusing your existence.”

I have never been able to explain it until recently but I always felt that despite choices I have made (that may appear chaotic and spontaneous) there is an order to them, some driving purpose that explains itself in time. Learning to Trust this has been my primary directive over the past several years (still not easy).

“For harmony and true peace are only possible through dedication and diligence of those willing to swear their life’s work to it.” This makes me reflect on those in the course of history that are not widely known, their contributions changed the world but they faded into the background, allowing the laws of chaos and order to turn their wheels.

The driving feeling and purpose that an Ebenguard can’t escape. It follows us in the shadows and the light of our everyday lives. I know that personally I feel it in every fiber of my being. I know that my choices affect everyone around me and I must Trust that my intent is pure and aligned with the forces of magiq that guide me.

I wouldn’t be here otherwise.

[Bookchin]

To quote annabloem, I’m new here so I’m still learning and figuring things but I also wanted to share this because I felt an odd kind of connection to the Balimoran ideal earlier, so here goes…

I first got Thornmouth after I did the Guide, and I instantly felt a little uneasy. Looking through the description, it seemed to describe a version of me that doesn’t really exist any more. I used to be that person - the studious learner, the endless knowledge-seeker - but as I’ve finished education I’ve found myself drifting further and further from that standard. Indeed, that ideal version of myself that I was attempting to emulate probably died with my studies and the mental health issues that they brought me. I still love to learn and understand, but the more I learn, the less I feel at peace. The more I know, the more I wish I didn’t.

Finishing my Politics degree, I felt increasingly alienated from this world that we’ve built (I’ve read the rules, I won’t go any more political than that, promise!), with my true respite coming whenever I had the privilege to travel or work outdoors in nature. Whilst nature is indeed ever-changing, it isn’t really chaos so much as freedom. Everything works in balance and in conjunction with everything else, whilst simultaneously outcomes hinge on instant moments of random chance. At once, nature is both chaos and order, freedom and responsibility.

I instantly connected with the posts by Helios and annabloem, too. To me, Balimora means open-minded people who don’t truly fit in anywhere because they wish to be everywhere, who have 100 ideas a day that are gone as quickly as they appear, who by nature’s terms are small cogs in an immense machine but who recognise that they are also, by their very individuality, worthwhile. We, like nature, are chaotic and yet predictable. We are individuals who choose to be part of a collective, and in so doing express our individuality in the most meaningful way of all: together.

So yeah, that’s what being Balimoran means to me.

[CJB]

I love this post.