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.
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.
Perfectly said Remus Everyone is totally upset they’re not a Watcher now!!
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.)
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 
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
Being in Flinterforge means being open to any idea, even if said ideas could be somewhat… impractical.
“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.
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.
I love this post.