Watch the spider.
Watch her spin the strands of her web with careful precision.
With them, she creates a whole world for herself that will house her, provide food for her, and protect her.
And eventually, will do the same for her thousands of children.
Watch the ant.
Watch her work with her thousands of sisters following complex, invisible paths toward food, toward home, and throughout their world.
Always weaving amid the others, each understanding their own part of the plan.
Watch the Weaver.
Watch them gain understanding that all things interact, and that everything has a part and a purpose.
As their craft, they thread together the sources of magical power and meaning into specific tools to reshape their world.
Vance: As you can see, this graph shows that current M will modify three of this spell’s four major parameters by 17.4 percent.
Weaver: Yes, but how does the spell feel?
Magic in the world, as Weavers see it, is wrapped around a number of singular metaphysical concepts they call aggregates. These diverse power centers represent different magical effects and forces in the universe, from illumination to strength, from protection to dreams. Aggregates themselves are as philosophical as they are physical, both literally and figuratively representing powers that a Weaver can tap into.
But an aggregate by itself has very limited power. It cannot be made fully manifest unless it is combined—or woven—with another aggregate. Doing so brings the two disparate elements of spiritual power to life, and allows the Weaver to access an aggregate’s qualities and influence in combination with the aspects of another aggregate. Only together can they produce power. Hence, they are “woven” together. This is why aggregates are more often called “threads.”
But it isn’t just a matter of mashing together two different concepts to unlock abilities. Weaving is an art, and the level of creativity involved is considerable. It’s not just combining, but creating, because two aggregates can be woven together in many ways. That’s what the qualities embodied in an aggregate represent. Thunder can be sound, but also movement. Thus, woven with Hate, it can be a terrible weapon, or the means to follow one’s escaping enemies. Moonlight and the Tower can be used to create a shield out of light, or to protect one’s deceitful actions.
When a Weaver wishes to create a magical effect, they choose two of the aggregates that they have access to and then create an effect that involves one quality from each. So to grant themselves armor, a Weaver might thread Diamond and the Tower, choosing the qualities of hardness from Diamond and protection from the Tower. Hardness and protection might suggest some kind of transformation of the Weaver’s own flesh or a conjuration of a durable shield. Those kinds of specifics are up to the Weaver’s imagination, which is why Weaver magic is more art than science.
However, no matter how skilled a Weaver is, they cannot create an effect that involves one of an aggregate’s absences. Absences are the opposite of qualities. They define the effects into which a thread cannot be woven. So Blood and Fire can be used to create a wave of healing flames, but not a weapon effective against the dead. Absences make weaving certain threads—Fire and the Sea, for example—difficult, but not impossible. For the Sea doesn’t represent only water, but also distance. An effect involving moving great distances quickly could be woven from such threads.
To determine the level of an effect, and thus its cost to create, refer to the Effects by Level table.
Each aggregate has an entry for a default range and duration (although it is not stated, an aggregate’s default number of targets is one). Increasing or decreasing these defaults affects the final level of the woven effect. In other words, if you increase the range of an effect one step above the default (changing it from near to long), the level of the effect increases by 1.
If the two aggregates being woven do not have the same defaults, always use the more beneficial default. The categories for range (touch, close, near, far, and very far) are discussed in detail elsewhere. Think of each of these categories as a step. Moving up a step increases the level by 1, and moving down decreases the level by 1.
For duration, as with range, assume there are four categories, and think of them as steps as well. Moving up a step increases the level by 1, and moving down decreases the level by 1.
The first duration is one round. You teleport home, you blast someone with ice, you instantly clean your house—these things just take one round.
Short duration is measured in rounds. Such an effect commonly has a depletion of 0 (check each round). A medium duration is measured in hours. The depletion might be “0–1 (check each hour),” or it might be slightly more specific, like “0–3 (check at the end of each combat encounter).”
Last, an aggregate’s default number of targets is one. For each additional target the Weaver wishes to affect, the level increases by 1. So protecting yourself with magical armor might be level 3, but protecting yourself and three friends would be level 6.
Player creativity is highly encouraged when it comes to weaving effects. But the spirit of each aggregate remains of utmost importance. If one aggregate seems disproportionately advantageous or disadvantageous, that is a sure sign that the spirit of what it represents is likely being violated or unfairly disregarded.
A spell woven by a Weaver should not exceed level 10 in effect unless the Weaver learns the Elevate Spells (and thereafter Magnify Spells) secret. This is true regardless of how much Sorcery the Weaver has.
The following are some common aggregates. There are very likely many more being used by Weavers in the Actuality.
Shadowy, dingy, and filthy, alleyways are the dark side of civilization where clandestine and criminal activities are planned and conducted.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Stealth
Trickery
Poverty
The lower classes
Rumor
Filth
Whispers
Betrayal
ABSENCES
Nobility
Health
Prestige
Blood is the essence of life and strength, representing health and energy but also family.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Health
Strength
Vigor
Thirst
Energy
Wounds
Family/Ancestry
ABSENCES
The dead or undead
Metal and stone
Timidity
Challenge stands in our way, offering barriers, struggle, and lack of understanding, but despite all that (or because of it), it gives life meaning.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Obstacles
Contests
Battles
Mysteries
Understanding
Purpose
ABSENCES
Avoidance
Movement
Health
Diamond is the epitome of hardness and strength, coming from deep within the earth, cut into an object of brilliant beauty.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Strength
Stone
Hardness
Gravity
Beauty
Wealth
Land
ABSENCES
Softness
Absence
Destruction
Fire is a hungry consumer of all things that provides light, heat, and life even as it destroys.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Near
QUALITIES
Damage
Destruction
Heat
Illumination
Movement
Passion
ABSENCES
Water
Cold
Building
Freedom is the movement and joy we seek when our shackles are finally gone.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Near
QUALITIES
Escape
Movement
Destruction
Joy
Distance
Sight
ABSENCES
Imprisonment
Despair
Structure
Hate is an inability to see. It is a quiet, seething power that can be nurtured over time into an explosive destroyer.
Default Duration: Short
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Damage
Vengeance
Pursuit
Ignorance
Blindness
Time
ABSENCES
Charm
Romance
Health
Heart is life, laughter and love, interaction and society.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Health
Strength
Courage
Love
Relationships
Interaction
Secrets
ABSENCES
Violence
Fear
Silence
Infinity is more than we can grasp. It is everything, stretching forever, without end.
Default Duration: Short
Default Range: Far
QUALITIES
Space
Size
Capacity
Duration
Movement
Other universes
Mental damage
ABSENCES
Captivity
Endings
Understanding
Lust is passion, desire, and physical need as well as pleasure.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Compulsion
Conjoining
Desire
Attraction
Proximity
Pleasure
ABSENCES
Hatred
Absence
Distance
Moonlight softly falls over the landscape. Its subtlety belies its quiet influence.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Illumination
Subtlety
Quiet
Silver
Softness
Deception
Night
Sky
ABSENCES
Flamboyance
Sound
Heat
The Sea separates us, yet touches everything. It harbors and takes life.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Near
QUALITIES
Journeys
Distance
Water
Aquatic creatures
Life
Secrets
ABSENCES
Subtlety
Stealth
Gentleness
Sleep is the rest that we all need, yet sometimes fear.
Default Duration: Short
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Rest
Recuperation
Sleep
Dreams
Nightmare
Immobility
Sloth
ABSENCES
Action
Movement
Clarity
Thunder is the impossible-to-ignore herald of storms, war, and terror.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Power
Sound
Damage
Shaking/Breaking
Movement
Fear
ABSENCES
Subtlety
Stealth
Gentleness
The Tower is a monument built by intelligent hands as a bastion of safety, keeping things either in or out.
Default Duration: Short
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Protection
Shelter
Height
Imprisonment
Strength
Stone
ABSENCES
Movement
Freedom
Destruction
Wind is the breath of the world, moving and touching all things.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Near
QUALITIES
Speed
Grace
Speech
Breath
Invisibility
Weather
ABSENCES
Flame
Stone
Defense
Winter brings endings and slow, cold death.
Default Duration: Short
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Cold
Ice
Damage
Silence
Stillness
Endings
Impassivity
ABSENCES
Warmth
Motion
Creation
The Woods harbor both life and mystery.
Default Duration: One round
Default Range: Touch
QUALITIES
Nature
Plants
Darkness
Wood
Growth
Mystery
ABSENCES
Sight
Clarity
Death
To help you get started, below are examples of effects created by weaving. The Notes sections explain how each one was built.
FLAMING SPEAR
Threads: Fire and Challenge
Level: 3
Calling upon the concepts of battle and flame, the Weaver hurls a bolt of heat and fire that strikes a nearby target and inflicts 3 points of damage.
Notes: Inflicting 3 points of damage is a level 3 effect, and the Fire thread has a default range of near.
HEIGHTENED SPEED
Threads: Wind and Freedom
Level: 4
Using the qualities of speed and movement, the Weaver can run at supernatural speeds, moving up to a very long distance as an action, or moving a long distance as a part of another action.
Depletion: 0–4 (check each hour)
Notes: Taking Wind’s default range of near and making it affect only the Weaver reduces the level 4 effect “Move a very long distance instantly” by 1. Freedom’s default range of near turned to medium increases the level by 1.
INCITE VIOLENCE
Threads: Lust and Hate
Level: 4
The Weaver calls upon compulsion and vengeance. The person they touch using their next action attacks the nearest person to them (who isn’t the Weaver).
Notes: This uses the level 4 effect “Control a creature’s mind for one round.”
MASS REGENERATION
Threads: Blood, Heart, Infinity
Level: 6
Using the qualities of health, duration, and family, the Weaver allows all close allies to fully restore one Certes pool each round for four rounds, until all four pools are restored.
Notes: Takes the level 5 effect “Restore one pool” and uses Infinity’s duration and range to expand it out. Affecting more than one target, however, increases the final level by 1. Obviously, since this is using three threads, the Weaver would have to be of the 3rd degree or higher.
TELEKINESIS
Threads: Heart and Freedom
Level: 5
Using the aspects of distance and strength, the Weaver can grab a far object up to 25 pounds (11 kg) and move it up to a short distance each round.
Depletion: 0 (check each round)
Notes: This uses the level 4 effect “Move up to 25 pounds (11 kg), ongoing.” Freedom makes the spell short range, so upgrading it to far range increases the level of the effect by 1.