SilverTiger

Magma and Silt.

You're welcome! The trick was to make sure that the different affinities were all slightly different- that way, one needs to know more than a few. The most precious gems (diamond, ruby, sapphire, etc.) are the most "powerful" (have the widest range of affinity), while the lesser-known ones are a bit more specialized. Also, I definitely suggest making your own list; your world probably has slightly different needs in magic. Another note: you might want to change the names of some of the gemstones, like Tanzanite and Morganite, to more natural names. I changed Morganite to Aliador, because heliador is a related gemstone and in-world Aliador is associated with the goddess of love/beauty Ealeinia. Also, how much is magic known to the public? Does the populace know about the gemstones/affinities thing? If it is common knowledge, then there might be taboos against certain gemstones, such as dark garnet (used in spells involving hatred), black tourmaline (prevents the truth from being spoken, breaks truth spells), and opals (used for hypnotism and compulsion spells). Or whatever gems are used for those sorts of spells in your world. Good luck!

Here it is! Spoilered for length: I would like to note that there are even more obscure ones, but this list gets a lot, all in one place (I literally went through a book on minerals for them). I also included descriptions of the gemstones: opaque/translucent, color, etc. This list was as much for me to keep all the different gems straight as to list magical affinities. I hope it helps someone.

Curiosity killed the cat... I just spent several minutes typing in cuss words in order to discover what they became. I'm glad no one else saw my computer screen, or it would have been a detention for sure. Also, here's some holes: Jack[wild donkey] and [offspring of adulterous relationship] are not filtered. Neither is [home of demons], [awful nickname for Richard], or [awful nickname for Richard]head.

My reccomendations: To Ride Pegasus, by Anne McCaffrey. Also Decision at Doona. She is one of the greatest SF writers (not just my opinion), and those are my two favorites of her many books. The Ship Who Sang is also good. Mercedes Lackey's Obsidian Trilogy (The Outstretched Shadow, To Light a Candle, When Darkness Falls) is really good. Magic, elves, demons trying to conquer the world... Oh, and a unicorn. Actually, Mercedes Lackey has a lot of books written, but most are adult books. I found her Doubled Edge series and 500 Kingdoms books all good. Doubled Edge is set in England, right before the time of Elizabeth I, and has elves in it. 500 Kingdoms is fairy-tales based, but with interesting twists and more grown-up. Sadly, her more recent books are very good, so I'd recommend not reading the Hunter Trilogy (it really sucks). David Eddings' Belgariad and Elenium series(s). A bit formulaic, but well-written. R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt books might not be the best out there, but they're fun reads. There's a lot, though. Dragonlance Chronicles is a classic. A good classic. The Frostborn series by Jonathan Moeller is really good. Interesting characters, plot, and world.

Well, to answer some of your questions: 1. My favorite magic systems are often broad in capability (can do a lot), but limited in implementation (it is possible to do X, but requires significant effort/knowledge). Magic is something that requires focus, concentration, practice. And working magic is not effortless: requires energy from wielder. [This is really my opinion, it might not help you at all]. 2. Limits would be: you need to know/understand the spells/however-the-magic-works-> can't just fumble your way through. Also, the wielder only has so much energy (or can handle so much energy) to use for working magic. 3. What makes the magic system believable is how it is explained. If there is a somewhat reasonable explanation to it, then I can suspend my disbelief. If the explanation is, "There's magic and it does stuff", then it isn't believable. I hope this helps you some, and good luck on your worldbuilding! I'm also currently designing a world, and it is really complicated. P.S. Since your're making a magic system with gemstones significant to it, I recommend finding a book about different kinds of gemstones. There's a lot of obscure ones out there that you could use. P.P.S. I once made a huge list of gemstones for a worldbuilding project of my sister's. I'd be glad to post it here. It has a lot of obscure gemstones on it, along with "magical affinities" (the idea was that gemstones could store/hold different spells, and had affinities for which kinds of spells they held best). Even if the magical parts doesn't help, just the list of possible gems you could use might.

That's awesome! Good for you!

So, I lost my temper last Friday during class. I may have whacked the girl next to me on the arm, because people were talking during class (including her). Problem is, whacking people is not an appropriate response. I had to apologize after class. She told her mom, and her mom filed an official complaint. Now I am in big trouble (at worst, I could get suspended). I am waiting for school to start, and I will learn the consequences today. Just what I needed on Monday, besides the remnants of a sinus infection... Ugh.

If you happen to be an evil villain, do not betray/plan to betray your allies, minions, or servants. Don't randomly threaten, kill, or torture them either. Also, be a benevolent tyrant- make nice, fair laws for all the commoners. This will help prevent a rebellion.

Hahahah... I play flute. Also, two funny stories from my high school band class: One day, the clarinetist was having issues with her instrument (the problem was actually behind the instrument, though). After she made one particularly bad noise while trying to tune it, the band director said he'd heard a noise like that once. Someone asked, what noise? He replied that once, while backing out of the parking lot, he'd heard that sort of noise coming from behind his car. When he went to go see what had made the noise, he discovered that he'd run over a goose. Once, the band director showed the class an unusual instrument: a piccolo. He then let the 3 flutists try to play it. At some point, we decided to see if we could actually crack glass with our flutes. So I played the highest note I could on the piccolo (a C# an octave higher than normal), while my two friends played the same note on their flutes. It was really high-pitched. And loud. Sadly, we didn't crack the windows. But we did give everyone else ear- and head-aches. And that was the one and only time I have played the piccolo.

I have been reading for so long, and so many books, that it's kinda hard to remember... But I remember reading The Magic Treehouse series when I was really little; and then Chronicles of Narnia, then the Hobbit and Anne McCaffrey's books. I especially remember Narnia, because my mom has this really old boxed set of the books back from when she was little. The pages are all yellowy now, but I still have them on my bookshelf. I ventured through the wardrobe with Lucy and Peter and Edward and Susan, met Aslan, and have loved the series since.

When someone (who knows what they're doing) tells you to stay put and/or not to touch/do/say anything, listen and obey them. And if you get lost, stay put until your friends find you. Keep your mouth shut, pay attention to things, and don't make assumptions.

I know how you feel... My cat Star doesn't always eat her food, and then either my sister's cat (who is always ravenous) or the dog eats it instead. I get worried about both kitties 'cause of it. About the bowl, some cats (goes for dogs, too) don't like food bowls because they can't see out while eating. Which is something I found out, thanks to Star, a few years ago.

I have two cats-- check that, I have a cat and my sister has a cat. My cat is named Midnight Star, Star for short; she's a black kitty with a white spot on her chest. Star is a one-person cat, does not like strangers, and likes to climb onto me and hold on tight. She also cries whenever I go outside, and burrows under whatever blanket I happen to be under when I sit/lay down. I absolutely love her. My sister's cat is Star's complete opposite: a big, fluffy, white male cat who sheds fur everywhere. And I mean everywhere... He's also so lazy, I once vacuumed him. He also likes to race around the house at night, making a racket as he sprints up and down the stairs. When I'm trying to sleep. Sometimes he attacks Star (for playfights, not real ones) at night. His name is either Sunspot, Sunny, or Captain Fuzzybutt, depending on who you ask. My mom also has a dog, Jazz, which is a little dog that follows her around. Oh, funny thing-- Star has recently discovered what the inside of my sock drawer is like when I leave it open at night. She curled up in it. On my white socks. Silly kitty :)

Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series, Decision at Doona, and To Ride Pegasus are all clean and very good. More Sci-fi than fantasy, though (yes, even the dragons). The Frostborn series by John Moeller is good. He has another series, called Demonsouled, that's also clean. The Frostborn series is based on the premise that King Arthur's grandson lead the remainder of Camelot through a magical portal to world of elves, dwarves, orcs, etc. A thousand years later, a mysterious evil race (the Frostborn) seems to be about to return after having been supposedly driven extinct centuries ago. But basically no one believes the omens (or the evil people who are claiming it's going to happen/preparing for it to happen) except a outcast (depressed and suicidal) ex-knight and the "idiots" (friends) who follow him: an amnesiac sorceress (long story), an orc warrior, a dwarf, and a few other he picks up along the way. The books have a good plot: it seems to be clear-cut good vs. evil, but the evil is real good at hiding- and there's not just one evil cult, sorcerer, demon, etc., there's a lot. There's a lot more understory/mystery than I expected when I first started the series. The author has another series too, Demonsouled, that's really good and clean. The only possible problem with his series though is that they have a strong religious theme, and the Catholic Church is around in the Frostborn series. It's more worldbuilding than plot device, though.

@Steeldancer, *hugs* I am in high school too, so I understand, mostly. Actually, that's part of why I am in this thread... So, I have issues. First off, I don't talk to people. At all. And I am technically smart, and could get straight A's if I really tried, but I don't. I get B's and C's. I have trouble focusing during class, and remembering stuff like assignments and homework. And focusing. Third, I'm like a cat. If I don't feel good, am in pain or feel sick, I don't show it. I don't complain. I just power through it. I never complain about it. It's weird, because my sister complains about feeling ill/in pain all the time. When things start to go really wrong, I begin to shut down. I ignore whatever's wrong. Mostly grades. My parents get upset, yell, etc., but I just begin to shut down. I have actually just curled up and started sobbing during school because I couldn't handle it anymore. I once got somewhat suicidal, and seriously considered strangling myself (I'm well past that, don't worry). But the fact remains, I don't cope well when I feel like things are out of control. Recently, I started seeing a counselor. It was supposed to be so I could talk, but the last counselor I saw was only interested in school and my lack of friends. He spent most of each session trying to shove me into discussion about people, and friends, and I stopped going pretty quickly. But this time, it was so I could talk to someone, and get it all out. It began to work. Also, it turns out that I am very ADHD, so I started medicine for it. It seemed to work. I even started to write again, and began a worldbuilding project on my own, which I haven't done in years. Then I wrote a very good story. Things are somewhat better. But not all. I still feel like I'm sleep-walking through school sometimes, and it's a chore to get stuff, normal stuff like brushing my teeth, done. I just don't want to and then don't do it. And I have a bad temper, of sorts. See, I don't get angry much. I don't hold grudges, and most things that would upset/anger other people just roll off me. Or spur me to think of solutions *cough*politics*cough*. Not angry. But when I do get angry, my temper starts rise. And I have an awful temper. As in, I don't lose it much, it isn't short, but when I do lose it bad things happen. I don't yell, or start nasty rumors, I physically react. Twice in elementary school I actually clawed (with my nails like a cat) someone and drew blood. The second time there was a peeled-off piece of skin beneath my nail (in explanation, I have very tough, long nails). Once in 7th grade, I sprayed dry-erase-board cleaner in another girl's eyes during class. Those were the two worst to date, but I'm worried that that's going to change soon, b/c I have come close to losing it several times recently. The latest, I "controlled" by digging my nails into my palm. Hard enough to break the skin. I feel like that if I lose it, I might actually cause serious damage to something or someone. And basically, my life is wavering between a state of "things are looking up" and "everything sucks".

I've never had sushi, but I have eaten bugs, clover, raw fish, and crawfish tails. So yeah, it is annoying when people judge food without trying it first. And then go "Ewwww" when I tell them it wasn't gross.

I wrote a story today. Then I emailed it to my English teacher and the school librarians, to submit it to school's literary magazine. They said it was really good. This is important to me, because I had been having trouble (for years) coming up with stories and such. And then I wrote a really good one in one day. I am happy.

Huh. I haven't noticed many people getting the flu down here (south Louisiana). I hope everyone else stays safe.

Update: school is closed today, too. Yesterday, the sun melted just enough ice to make a layer of (cold) water on top of the ice, which then froze again last night. Now everything is slippery. And I have yet to go to school this week.

We just got some snow in Lafayette, too. And then the roads ICED OVER last night. Everything has just shut down, school's out, and I nearly took an unplanned ice-skating trip down my driveway.

The roads are icing over here. In south Louisiana. It is so strange.

Are they on Earth or Roshar? Because Szeth would win either way. Even if he loses Nightblood, he could summon his sprenblade.

Well, the problem here is that there's 10 Heralds and 1 Lord Ruler, and that the Heralds are insane. Although the sort of conversation between an insane Ishar and the Lord Ruler would be interesting (from a distance).

Merry Christmas to all! And @Mestiv's cat is adorable. I wish I could get mine to tolerate a Santa hat.