magic system Faunologos

[Trutharchivist he/him]

So, this is my 144th post here! I chose to make something interesting for this number because this is a much cooler number then one hundred. I mean, it's 12 squared! Far better than 10 squared. Also, I wasted my 100th post RPing, so...

This magic system was already posted here, it's in my signature, but this post/topic will be far more detailed and exact, as for the aforementioned RP I gave it more thought. It's still not perfect, but it's more well built.

All right, now without further ado (what exactly this word means? checking on translate oh well, I guess it works), let's speak of the magic system!

So, the idea is about animals connected to human attributes, or, if you wish to look at it like that, spiritual human ideas embodied as animals. Or something like that. Said animals have a specific attribute - Center - for each kind. Examples for now are: Wolves with the Center Longings, Foxes with the Center Change, Owls with the Center Thought, and (thanks @Gears for the idea) Scavengers with the Center Fear (or survival sense). I'm open to more suggestions on this part. I want for some reasons to find a Center for cats, so I will gladly accept help. I thought of names o those animals, and came up with Biopsyche at first, later I produced the name Faunospiritum, but I now prefer Faunologos instead.

Now, for the powers. Each creature of the Faunologos can Harvest, Plant, Cultivate and Fertilize, abilities that will be explained soon. All of them are related to the creature's Center.

Harvest is the creature's ability to... well, "harvest" the portions of a sapient creature's cognition related to said creature's Center. This Harvest is actually the fuel for the rest of the magical powers. Each of the other abilities takes different amount of Harvest.

Planting is the hardest ability, that takes the most amount of Harvest. To Plant is to influence a sapient creature's cognition in a wanted direction, based on the Center. To do it in deep levels is impossible without the patient conscious or unconscious permission, though on shallow levels it could be done, so long as there's no active resistance.

Cultivating is the second-hardest ability, and takes an average amount of Harvest. This is the ability to apply the Center on the surrounding world. In a way, it's like honorsren giving radiants adhesion - the power to bind things together, being spren that "bind things" (Syl). So, with this ability, a creature will be able to "Plant" his Center into materials around him - I'll give examples later. This ability also is supposed to make them able to open interdimentional portals, because of how their world works. I'll explain it later too.

Fertilizing is the most obscure ability, and might not be considered a magical ability at all by some people. It also takes almost no Harvest at all. It makes the creature have a tendency toward its Center, and also gives them sapience. 

I also wish to thank @Yezrien for helping on the original topic.

That's it for now, thank you for reading this far.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Trutharchivist

[Guest Somebody from Scadrial]

Cool, I think I remember seeing this a while back.

[Trutharchivist he/him]

An update! Because I promised to give examples and explain things.

For now, we have four kinds of animals: wolves, owls, foxes and scavengers (probably hyenas specifically). We'll list each one four abilities first, then proceed to explain some of the worldbuilding.

So, we'll start with wolves. Their Center, as stated above, is Longings. The more exact meaning of it is a deep need or desire for something, from being hungry (the need to eat) to being in love (the desire to be with someone). They can Harvest it from people, though if this desire is a deep part of the Harvested person it will be harder, and if he's willing to give it it will be easier. They can Harvest people against their will, though. They can also Plant their Harvest into people, making them want/need something. The shallow level of Planting - the only level you can get to without permission - is to make someone feel a general desire for an unspecified thing, and a weak desire at that. Using it wisely, though, might help open the patient to a deeper Planting. The deeper the level of the Planting is, the more specific and strong the desire/need will be, until the deepest level is supposedly love, or being very addicted to something. This can't happen unless you fully agree to it, and it could be arguable whether your unconscious agreement could be enough. And now, for an example for Cultivating. For wolves, Cultivating will be very much like the Surge of Gravitation. They can make objects attract each other, though I haven't decided yet on power limits. They could make something attract either everything around (a bad idea), specific kinds of objects (like arrows! Yep, maybe a little too much like the Surge of Gravitation), or a specific object. I'm not yet sure if they should be able using this power on themselves, though it won't allow them to fly; they could use items upward to pull themselves (a little like Lurchers), though they'd have to dismiss every pull before passing to a new one. And they might be unable to use it without touching the object that'll pull things. With this ability, a wolf pack could attract another dimension/reality/universe to their own, making the universes clash and open into each other in the area where said wolf pack is. The reason for the need in this power is because they live in a specific world in a multiverse - I'll explain more later. Now last, but not least - the ability to Fertilize. Fertilizing isn't exactly "the ability to...". It's more of a side effect, if you will, though there are who leave their powers mostly at Fertilizing - you'll see in later examples. Fertilization in wolves is, besides the fact they gain sapience, to be in constant need or desire to something they don't have. Wolf packs will usually go around the world(s) in search for something, and when they find it they go on to search for something else. They also believe that one's desire or need is above any kind of morality, which is also part of their Fertilization. 

Next, come the owls. Now, for anyone playing in the Let's Go Find a Dragon RP, this is the magic system Gal uses, though he'll probably be weaker than a normal Faunologos owl. The owls' Center is Thought, as stated above, and its exact meaning is actually a little bit weird. It's about knowledge and intelligence, mainly, and includes memories, since this is some sort of knowledge. I really want them to be able to access this knowledge, but because of the way the magic works I'm not sure if they should. Anyway, their Harvest basically is this: they make you forget things, and be less intelligent. It won't make you not sapient - that's an upper limit for it - but you could become annoyingly stupid. The thing is, as you'll see when we'll arrive to their Fertilization, they aren't very much interested in making people stupid. Their Planting was actually one of the hardest abilities to think of, though my real problem was their Cultivation - you'll see. I wasn't sure about them Planting knowledge, though I guess this is probably the best possibility, along with making people more intelligent. The scale for that would probably be between general knowledge about things (all things fall down) and specific, detailed knowledge (the gravity equation, along with exact knowledge about all of its applications). Again, the level of Planting possible depends on the goodwill of the receiver. The owls' Cultivation was one of the truly hard abilities to think of, because I can't see how a stone knowing something will be of any good. I guess I could make them sapience-granting creatures, but I don't like this idea, and besides, they wouldn't be able to open interdimentional portals this way, so I made it a little different. This ability will, instead, allow owls to apply knowledge on the reality surrounding them. They could, based on the direction of a moving item, its speed and its mass, change small things in its movement, making it have more friction, or making the air resist more, or making it have less mass and jump a little, or all the above, meaning affecting reality by understanding it and changing specific things. The reason they could open portals with it is because in this multiverse, universes clash naturally from time to time in specific places, called unimaginatively Clashing Sites. So, an owl... pack? How do you call a bunch of owls? Anyway, they could nudge universes to clash while they are in the Clashing Site. Of course, it limits them, because not just any place is good for a natural clashing, unlike magical clashings, which can basically happen everywhere. And since that's it for Cultivation, it's time for the Fertilization of the owls, which is a lot more used by the owls than the other abilities, because of... well, because of their Fertilization. You see, owls are Centered around knowledge, which makes them naturally curious and knowledge-searching. The owls are the scholars of the Faunologos world, and this is the real thing they pursue. Sure, they occasionally Harvest, but usually only with permission, because by nature they are less concerned with their own existence. They have immense amounts of Harvest gathered bit by bit in the years since the First Clashing, and they pass it among themselves from generation to generation, Harvesting only to keep it the same, since Fertilization does cost some Harvest. They also gather non-Harvest information - they have libraries across the world. Their Fertilization also makes them more intelligent - they could get to Sherlock Holmes or even Einstein level of intelligence by burning through the Harvest more quickly. Because this wastes Harvest, they use it only occasionally.

The next creatures we'll speak of are the foxes. The magic system actually started from them, though now they are probably the worst example for it. Their Center is Change, and so, the first problem we encounter is obscurity. What is Change, exactly? They Harvest... what? Well, the best answer I can give is they Harvest people's ability to change. As you well know, one's personality usually stabilizes during one's growing to adulthood. So, foxes could get someone to stop, or at least slow, the changing process, stabilizing them where they are. This could potentially be problematic, since the process of change is better when nothing interferes with it. Their Planting is... well, by now you see I could actually just say the Planting's effects are opposite to the Harvest. Well, you can understand, then, that Planting here is making people change, which can happen to anyone, though people during puberty are more prone to it. The scale here is harder to define, but I believe you can understand that there are bigger and smaller changes. The foxes' Cultivation, now, is a really great ability. They can change the shape and substance of materials around them. Of course, changing substance takes generally more Harvest, and in changing shape they can't just eliminate matter, and the different the goal shape is from the original, the more Harvest the Cultivation takes. It might be still a little OP, but I'm not sure how to limit it more. They can open portals by changing the world around them to be more like a nearby universe - of course, there'll have to be more than one or two foxes for that - and by doing that, the universes will overlap. It might be easier to do in Clashing Sites. Their Fertilization makes the foxes capricious and prone to change their minds easily. It's a little stretch, but it also makes them naturally cunning. You can never really trust a fox.

And now for the last kind of animal, the scavengers! I wasn't sure if it's referring to a specific kind of animal or generally to scavenging animals when gears offered it, and actually I'm still not completely sure. Anyway, in my mind the archetype for a scavenger is a hyena (surprisingly, not a vulture), so those would be hyenas. Their Center is Fear, which means survival sense ("this will hurt me, I won't do it"), and possibly the reverse of the wolves' Center, repulsion (the opposite of attraction: the desire to be as far from something as possible, which is how people usually react towards an animal's dead body. Does this even makes sense?). Their Harvest will be of these feelings, the fear and repulsion from things. After a Harvest, the patient will be more indifferent towards things he once feared of. Like the wolves, it's harder with fear instilled deeply into the patient, and easier with permission ("Odium, take my fear!" Sorry. Had to do it). The Planting is, again, the exact opposite of the Harvest, which means instilling fear. The scale is between general, weak repulsion to a very strong fobia from something. Cultivation, for hyenas, is the exact opposite of the wolves' powers: where the wolves pull, the hyenas push. Where the wolves attract, the hyenas repulse. Power is, again, yet to be decided upon, and specifications, again, take more Harvest. They can, theoretically, break things apart, but doing it costs enormous amounts of Harvest, since it's a very specific repulsion that also requires a lot of power. They can make interdimentional portals by tearing apart the wall between universes. Their Fertilization makes them jumpy and paranoid (a little like Vin). They will be very suspicious and wary, and some of them might be just generally scared of everything. If the rule of thumb says you can't trust a fox, it also says a hyena can't trust you.

That's it about the magic system in general. Now, an explanation about the worldbuilding! 

The world in which the Faunologos reside in has never naturally developed sapient life form. It held only the creatures of the Faunologos, and they weren't thinking creatures yet, though the potential was always there. Then, one day, the First Clashing happened. Some creature of the Faunologos were present, and passed through. They then Harvested people for the first time - mind you, "people" here includes every kind of sapient creature imaginable, at least theoretically. It includes elves and dwarves, for example, even though I might want to distance it more from classic fantasy. Anyway, after the first Harvest, which was done unconsciously, they gains sapience and started Harvesting on purpose. Slowly, they begin realizing their abilities, and used them to return to their home world. Once there, they taught their relatives to do the same (more nudged them in the direction to sapient creatures), and so they became numerous. Some sapient creatures stumbled into the Faunologos' world, but they learned by trial and error how to resist being Harvested. There was later a war between the sapient creatures and the Faunologos, which is relevant because it resulted in the first serious appearance of the Wanderers, on which I'll expand below. They are related to Gal's kind of Wanderers, but aren't the same.

The Wanderers are people who where either Harvested or Planted too many times. The thing is, when you are Harvested your mind lacks something, and it'll grow back, only in a different direction. For example, after being Harvested by a wolf, one would not wish anymore for some things he wished before, but to new things. If all the normal directions were Harvested, the mind will grow in weird directions, and might become impossible to Harvest anymore. People who are like that are counted as not exactly sane, and usually are sent out, to wander the world. The other possible direction is being Planted too many times. This, too, makes people become not exactly sane, impossible to Harvest (or Plant), and sometimes, lets them use Faunologos' powers. This is supposedly what happens when one is repeatedly affected by one kind of animal, I haven't consider yet the possibility of one affected by many.

Thank you very much for reading this far. Hope you enjoyed it!

Edited January 3, 2021 by Trutharchivist

[Tesh Any pronouns]

This is really neat! Thanks for sharing!

(I'd say more, but I really need to get working on my math homework.)

I'll try to come back later!

[Nathrangking he/him]

Fascinating!! A lot to take in, but fascinating nonetheless!

[Trutharchivist he/him]

So, this must've been last for you in the walls of text, but I would like, as I wrote, to hear more idea. What Center will fit which animal? Feel free to spit ou any idea, so long as it's not identical to the ones here. You could do so even with fictional animals, because multiverse. I'll just ask you to try make things connected to what an animal represents in fairy-tales and he likes of it. Also, do you think there is a specific kind of animal that the Center Intuitivity fits to?

[Ixthos Luke/Luke]

13 hours ago, The Worldookler said:

So, this must've been last for you in the walls of text, but I would like, as I wrote, to hear more idea. What Center will fit which animal? Feel free to spit ou any idea, so long as it's not identical to the ones here. You could do so even with fictional animals, because multiverse. I'll just ask you to try make things connected to what an animal represents in fairy-tales and he likes of it. Also, do you think there is a specific kind of animal that the Center Intuitivity fits to?

There are a lot of animals with mythological perceptions. You have already mentioned

• Wolves (longings) - attract another universe
• Foxes (change) - change to match a universe
• Owls (thought) - know where universes are coming together (also, it is a parliament of owls)
• Scavengers / Hyenas (fear) - tearing a path to another universe

 

Some other possibilities are:

• Spiders (cunning) - skilfully make a portal
• Crows / Ravens (ingenuity) - shift a portal somewhere else where two universes are coming together to their location
• Bears (strength) - force themselves to reach another universe without opening a portal
• Snakes (deception) - make another universe think that region is a part of it
• Bees (cooperation) - work in harmony with the movement of universes
• Hawks (love) - like wolves attract another universe but this time with positive feelings
• Butterfly (life) - emerge into a new universe after dying
• Cats (hunting) - slip between universes

 

[Edit] Also, intuitive can be monkey

Edited December 11, 2020 by Ixthos

[Trutharchivist he/him]

Well, @Ixthos, you have interesting ideas, and I will consider them, though some of what you said is problematic. First, I guess I forgot to mention that, but the Centers should be human attributes as in parts of the mind. I'm not sure that hunting, or being slippery, as your idea for a cat Center seems to be, isn't exactly like what I mean. So could be strength, though this could be stubbornness/determination. I liked the bees idea, and I probably had to make something with snakes, and your idea is good. Life is also not much of an attribute, as I see it. It will probably take me a while to gather where did you get the hawks-love idea from, but the real issue here is, I believe, is that it seems you misunderstood me. The Longings Center for wolves includes love, for good and for bad. wolves are related to any direction those feelings will go, whether it is interpreted as positive or negative. If, for some reason, you think hawks fit this position better - feel free to say so. So, Your ideas that I'll probably try will be: Spiders (though it conflicts with what I know about foxes, bu then again I really didn't make Cunning their Center), Ravens sound interesting, Bears with stubbornness/determination, Snakes and Bees. I might rethink your Cat idea, and monkeys can fit intuitivity, I guess.

[Ixthos Luke/Luke]

15 minutes ago, The Worldookler said:

Well, @Ixthos, you have interesting ideas, and I will consider them, though some of what you said is problematic. First, I guess I forgot to mention that, but the Centers should be human attributes as in parts of the mind. I'm not sure that hunting, or being slippery, as your idea for a cat Center seems to be, isn't exactly like what I mean. So could be strength, though this could be stubbornness/determination. I liked the bees idea, and I probably had to make something with snakes, and your idea is good. Life is also not much of an attribute, as I see it. It will probably take me a while to gather where did you get the hawks-love idea from, but the real issue here is, I believe, is that it seems you misunderstood me. The Longings Center for wolves includes love, for good and for bad. wolves are related to any direction those feelings will go, whether it is interpreted as positive or negative. If, for some reason, you think hawks fit this position better - feel free to say so. So, Your ideas that I'll probably try will be: Spiders (though it conflicts with what I know about foxes, bu then again I really didn't make Cunning their Center), Ravens sound interesting, Bears with stubbornness/determination, Snakes and Bees. I might rethink your Cat idea, and monkeys can fit intuitivity, I guess.

Ahhh, fair enough. This is your setting and you have to make your own choices, but you did ask for suggestions, and your are free to adjust or use any parts you want. These are just suggestions, though you can also potentially have it that there are special centres that talk about the roots of the mind and life itself, rather than just being centred on human minds. The idea with the cats is the idea they, despite being domesticated, are creatures that hunt for fun, and why we have the term of someone playing cat and mouse - so it could be sadism, but that feels a little harsh, so possibly playfulness. Butterflies life, if you don't want to use non psychic things, could be about the human drive for change in terms of maturation, rather than a foxes change in general. I interpreted the wolves longing as more of an unfulfilled desire - you long for things you don't have, but love is something reciprocated. Still, as I said, these are just suggestions. Hope it goes well with you 

Edited December 11, 2020 by Ixthos

[Condensation she/her]

Wow, that's a lot of text. I've read it and it sounds really cool! I'd read about it.

[Guest Somebody from Scadrial]

23 hours ago, The Worldookler said:

So, this must've been last for you in the walls of text, but I would like, as I wrote, to hear more idea. What Center will fit which animal? Feel free to spit ou any idea, so long as it's not identical to the ones here. You could do so even with fictional animals, because multiverse. I'll just ask you to try make things connected to what an animal represents in fairy-tales and he likes of it. Also, do you think there is a specific kind of animal that the Center Intuitivity fits to?

So my original thought for Intuitive/Intuitivity was an octopus or cephalopods in general, but my idea can likely be changed to Freedom. Essentially the harvest would lock in the habits and make them feel trapped. Planting would make a person seek Freedom at all costs, the Cultivation would unlock locks, open doors and make small holes bigger. They could get to another universe by picking the lock and opening the door to another universe. Their Fertilization would make them constantly want to be free from all restraints.

[Trutharchivist he/him]

So, here's another update! First, I want to say that I actually wanted to keep it at seven kinds of animals, maybe up to ten. It's not to say I meant that the world will have only seven kinds of animals in the Faunologos, but to focus on seven species. The Faunologos actually is supposed to include otherworldly non-sapient creatures, and to be really vast. Still, I want to chose a smaller amount of creatures. What I mean is, even though I probably will only build the world around the animals I stated below, you are free to keep offering.

One more thing before I actually list what I thought of: I actually never meant to enter any invertebrate or sea creatures. @Ixthos has an interesting idea about bees and so I took it, but I prefer not to take an octopus as a Faunologos creature. Sorry, @Somebody from Sel. They can be in another portion of the world, but I intend to stay on land, more or less. It could be another portion of the world, with a completely different set of Faunologi. I liked the idea of the Freedom Center, though, and don't you think cats could have this Center just as well? Maybe not, but I think it might work.

And so, to what I thought to take from your ideas! I'll make it a full with abilities post, though I'll try to keep it short.

Cats, with the Center Freedom. Hope it works. The abilities Somebody from Sel gave this Center are sound, though I have some things to add: Harvest won't make the patient feel trapped - they will feel fine with boundaries. The Harvest will make the patient a little more obedient. The Planting will be on the scale from feeling uncomfortable with being constrained (a little claustrophobic, maybe?) to wanting to break all boundaries. The Cultivation will be generally about expansion of things - making open spaces bigger. Maybe opening portals by widening existing holes? Fertilization stays as Somebody from Sel stated.

Bears, with the Center of Stubbornness. I thought to try pairing some creatures as opposites, like wolves and hyenas, but now I'm not sure if Stubbornness is the opposite of Change or Freedom (I wanted it to be Freedom). Anyway, as I see it, their Harvest will make people... more obedient, apparently. They won't stand for their own much, and will mostly agree with other people. Their Planting... well, it's pretty clear, no need to say anything. Their Cultivation would be hardening things so they don't move, maybe also contraction of spaces, as the opposite of cats. Actually, contraction of spaces could be their way to harden things, contracting spaces on the mulecular level. They may open portals by making a natural portal stabilize and stay open. Their Fertilization is very clear - they will be stubborn, and hardly ever change their mind or their traditions.

Snakes, with the Center Deception/Secretivity. Their Harvest will make people less close, and more open to share secrets. Their Planting will range from small desire not to share things to Scadrial levels of secretivity - "There'sss allwaysss anottther ssssecret." (Sorry, had to. Sounds nice, don't you think?) Their Cultivation will be... I'm not sure if illusion should work, because it's about light. I don't believe the other powers messed around with natural forces not directly connected to their Center. Anyway, it's probably the best idea. I think the method of opening a portal will stay the same as Ixthos wrote, though it might seem a little out of the pattern. I think it still might work, anyway. Fertilization follows as usual, no need for further explanation.

And, last but not necessarily least, bees. There is, of course, the problem that I prefer not to enter insects to the system, but the bees demand I cooperate with them, and I guess I must obey. The Harvest of the bees will make people prefer acting alone and being alone, while their Planting can range from a simple desire to be with someone else up to wanting to work inside and with a crowd. Their Cultivation will probably be something very much like Sympathy from the Kingkiller Chronicles - which is to say, making objects connected to each other so they'll move together. Opening portal will be along the lines of Ixthos, making the universes cooperate. Fertilization is, again, unnecessary to explain, I think. They love working together and cooperation.

Intuition was my idea for a Center, and so I probably should be able to come out with powers. Monkeys sound good to it, only I'm starting to feel that we have too many mammals here; we have only one reptile, one bird and one insect, and I just removed the only cephalopod. The result is that more than half of the Faunologos are mammals, while other classes have only one example each. I guess I can also give up on cats for now to make it even, though I probably won't go for cephalopods but for sparrows, who's Hebrew name actually also means freedom. So, lets first make the powers of the Intuition Center, then decide. So, Harvesting, in this case, will make the patient thought process a little less jumping to quick conclusions and a little more thoughtful. It will make them want me to explain at more length what Harvesting Intuition means and what is it's Planting, because it's harder to them to make the jump from one to the other. Of course, as I'll have to explain them, the planting will only make this easier, and will range from vague intuition about something to a specific, strong intuition and quick thought process, though it won't necessarily make the patient smarter. The Cultivation of the Faunologi with this Center will be a little like the owls, only with sharper changes. Things like a very strong gust of wind that will change drastically the object's direction, and such things. The portals also work similarly to the owls, only with a lot less need in a close Collision. Fertilization will make them able to understand intuitively what their Fertilization will be, though even if your intuition isn't enough for it you can logically deduce it by yourself.

I might need one other animal, but I'll need to think more about it. Anyway I probably have an idea for both Center and animal, I only need to think of it a little more.

Thank you for reading, and sorry for writing at length after saying this will be short.

Edit: I just saw it's the 12th post, so hooray! Because the duodecimal system is far better than the boring decimal one. Twelve points to whoever points out the hypocrisy in this message.

Edited December 21, 2020 by Trutharchivist

[Guest Somebody from Scadrial]

13 minutes ago, Trutharchivist said:

So, here's another update! First, I want to say that I actually wanted to keep it at seven kinds of animals, maybe up to ten. It's not to say I meant that the world will have only seven kinds of animals in the Faunologos, but to focus on seven species. The Faunologos actually is supposed to include otherworldly non-sapient creatures, and to be really vast. Still, I want to chose a smaller amount of creatures. What I mean is, even though I probably will only build the world around the animals I stated below, you are free to keep offering.

One more thing before I actually list what I thought of: I actually never meant to enter any invertebrate or sea creatures. @Ixthos has an interesting idea about bees and so I took it, but I prefer not to take an octopus as a Faunologos creature. Sorry, @Somebody from Sel. They can be in another portion of the world, but I intend to stay on land, more or less. It could be another portion of the world, with a completely different set of Faunologi. I liked the idea of the Freedom Center, though, and don't you think cats could have this Center just as well? Maybe not, but I think it might work.

And so, to what I thought to take from your ideas! I'll make it a full with abilities post, though I'll try to keep it short.

Cats, with the Center Freedom. Hope it works. The abilities Somebody from Sel gave this Center are sound, though I have some things to add: Harvest won't make the patient feel trapped - they will feel fine with boundaries. The Harvest will make the patient a little more obedient. The Planting will be on the scale from feeling uncomfortable with being constrained (a little claustrophobic, maybe?) to wanting to break all boundaries. The Cultivation will be generally about expansion of things - making open spaces bigger. Maybe opening portals by widening existing holes? Fertilization stays as Somebody from Sel stated.

Bears, with the Center of Stubbornness. I thought to try pairing some creatures as opposites, like wolves and hyenas, but now I'm not sure if Stubbornness is the opposite of Change or Freedom (I wanted it to be Freedom). Anyway, as I see it, their Harvest will make people... more obedient, apparently. They won't stand for their own much, and will mostly agree with other people. Their Planting... well, it's pretty clear, no need to say anything. Their Cultivation would be hardening things so they don't move, maybe also contraction of spaces, as the opposite of cats. Actually, contraction of spaces could be their way to harden things, contracting spaces on the mulecular level. They may open portals by making a natural portal stabilize and stay open. Their Fertilization is very clear - they will be stubborn, and hardly ever change their mind or their traditions.

Snakes, with the Center Deception/Secretivity. Their Harvest will make people less close, and more open to share secrets. Their Planting will range from small desire not to share things to Scadrial levels of secretivity - "There'sss allwaysss anottther ssssecret." (Sorry, had to. Sounds nice, don't you think?) Their Cultivation will be... I'm not sure if illusion should work, because it's about light. I don't believe the other powers messed around with natural forces not directly connected to their Center. Anyway, it's probably the best idea. I think the method of opening a portal will stay the same as Ixthos wrote, though it might seem a little out of the pattern. I think it still might work, anyway. Fertilization follows as usual, no need for further explanation.

And, last but not necessarily least, bees. There is, of course, the problem that I prefer not to enter insects to the system, but the bees demand I cooperate with them, and I guess I must obey. The Harvest of the bees will make people prefer acting alone and being alone, while their Planting can range from a simple desire to be with someone else up to wanting to work inside and with a crowd. Their Cultivation will probably be something very much like Sympathy from the Kingkiller Chronicles - which is to say, making objects connected to each other so they'll move together. Opening portal will be along the lines of Ixthos, making the universes cooperate. Fertilization is, again, unnecessary to explain, I think. They love working together and cooperation.

Intuition was my idea for a Center, and so I probably should be able to come out with powers. Monkeys sound good to it, only I'm starting to feel that we have too many mammals here; we have only one reptile, one bird and one insect, and I just removed the only cephalopod. The result is that more than half of the Faunologos are mammals, while other classes have only one example each. I guess I can also give up on cats for now to make it even, though I probably won't go for cephalopods but for sparrows, who's Hebrew name actually also means freedom. So, lets first make the powers of the Intuition Center, then decide. So, Harvesting, in this case, will make the patient thought process a little less jumping to quick conclusions and a little more thoughtful. It will make them want me to explain at more length what Harvesting Intuition means and what is it's Planting, because it's harder to them to make the jump from one to the other. Of course, as I'll have to explain them, the planting will only make this easier, and will range from vague intuition about something to a specific, strong intuition and quick thought process, though it won't necessarily make the patient smarter. The Cultivation of the Faunologi with this Center will be a little like the owls, only with sharper changes. Things like a very strong gust of wind that will change drastically the object's direction, and such things. The portals also work similarly to the owls, only with a lot less need in a close Collision. Fertilization will make them able to understand intuitively what their Fertilization will be, though even if your intuition isn't enough for it you can logically deduce it by yourself.

I might need one other animal, but I'll need to think more about it. Anyway I probably have an idea for both Center and animal, I only need to think of it a little more.

Thank you for reading, and sorry for writing at length after saying this will be short.

That's fine, although it would be nice to see the reasoning for sparrows beyond the name, as cats wanting more space makes sense. Animals can share Centers right?

[Trutharchivist he/him]

4 minutes ago, Somebody from Sel said:

That's fine, although it would be nice to see the reasoning for sparrows beyond the name, as cats wanting more space makes sense. Animals can share Centers right?

Yes. Mainly because in different ecosystems there will be different animals, though the sapient mind won't change all that much. This magic is at least partly about perception.

Though I don't know much about ecosystems, so most of what I wrote here is throwing ideas and ignoring ecological logic.

Edited December 21, 2020 by Trutharchivist

[Condensation she/her]

I'm just... repping your serious chunks of text. I like the ideas of bears and cats!

[Trutharchivist he/him]

I just now remembered there was one more thing. As you undoubtedly saw, I use a lot of terms from the agricultural world, and so, should I call the magic users (the animals, of course) mind farmers/agriculturists/gardeners or something along those lines? I also might call the Wanderers Weeds instead, and the Centers Seeds. What do you think? Should I make a poll?

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

Posting so you don't double post.

[Trutharchivist he/him]

So, does anybody wants a poll for what Center fits you the most? I could try and write a quiz, but I won't be able to do it that easily.

[The Unknown Medallion he/him]

39 minutes ago, Trutharchivist said:

So, does anybody wants a poll for what Center fits you the most? I could try and write a quiz, but I won't be able to do it that easily.

I'll take a poll, a quiz would be nice.

[Trutharchivist he/him]

Another update! Assuming someone bothers reading that.

For now, the magic system is called Mindgardening. the animals still don't have a normal-language name, because I'm not sure what I can come up with. Maybe I'll just ignore the poll and stay with the present terms.

I chose rabbits for the Intuition Center. They Harvest intuition and instincts - quick sub-conscious thoughts. When Harvested, the patient will find it hard to jump into quick conclusion, having to consider things for longer time, though even that will be harder, as we generally base our understanding and thought process on those. Planting will make he patient quicker with such thoughts. Not like a Zinc ferring, but more like allomantically burning Atium, in a more instinctive way, ranging from a general enhancement of intuition to strong, specific instinct towards something. Their Cultivation will be not much unlike the owls - they can change small things physically, though unlike owls, their changes are sharp - like a gust of wind that makes the arrow fly in a completely different direction. They can create portals by quickening the natural process of Clashings by much. Their Fertilization makes them very instinctive and intuitive, usually impulsive and not considerate.

And I did it again, choosing a mammal instead of something else. And over an offer I've rejected for this reason. Sorry, @Ixthos! Maybe I'll try finding another non-mammal for the tenth Center, or change one of the existing animals.

About the tenth Center, I thought of two possible ideas (I can theoretically use both, but I kind of prefer having only one): Inspiration, or something about translating thoughts to emotions. I'm still not sure what the last one could be. I hope someone will be able to help.

[Ixthos Luke/Luke]

@Trutharchivist it's okay :-) do whatever you feel is best for this setting. Our suggestions are only suggestions, you know the setting better than we do.

[Condensation she/her]

This is awesome, I just have to say. It's obvious you've put a lot of thought into it. Are you planning to write a book?

[Trutharchivist he/him]

Theoretically yes. I'll never really understand why you think I've put a lot of thought into it - to tell you the truth, I kind of work with an existing system I took from somewhere that splits human cognition to ten parts. This is my personal ideas of it, of course, which don't necessarily correspond with the original system, but still. And it's not really always that hard to come out with powers, especially after I've started. I mean, my idea for rabbits was as some sort of opposite to owls - owls are a little Consideration, while rabbits are Impulsiveness.

This might be a good time to explain who's opposing who. The idea was (theoretically) to have two opposites and one middle. It didn't work out too well, and I still need to work on it, but this is, generally, how it's supposed to work:

Owls - Rabbits

Some middle thing - Inspiration Center? Probably some kind of a bird.

Wolves - Hyenas

Foxes as a middle - still in need to work out a little.

Cats - Bears (though maybe bears should have Duty instead of Stubbornness as a Center.)

Bees as a middle - I actually don't have any working middle, this is as good an example as any.

Snakes as standalones - they really need more thoughts about their powers.

My next post is my 343rd post, which is very important (can you guess why?), and I plan to make for it a story (or a beginning of one) with this magic system. I'm not sure yet if I'll do adjustments to the magic system before - the general rules will stay anyway. Maybe there'll be some small additions and changes in specific Centers and powers.

Anyway, I'll write here my idea for the Inspiration (or Creativity) Center, because my next post is supposed to be the story. First, this idea was inspired by the book Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones, which I recommend reading. And now, for the actual powers!

Harvesting this Center will make the patient less creative, without moments of everything connecting and advancing. I'm not sure if I can understand and explain it. You probably had moments of inspiration or creativity - imagine not having them, or having them to a lesser extent. Planting will make inspiration dawn on the patient, ranging from a small idea, a little flash of inspiration, to a giant understanding of interconnections - seeing a full picture in your mind's eye. And assuming this made sense, I need to think of a Cultivation! Now, I could choose the easy path and base it on things from DS, or I could really think, for a change. So, being lazy, I'll just go with the first option, though I'll expand it a bit. So, the Cultivation of this Center will make items around the user grow and expand, even if they never lived. It can make a stone grow, whether it'd be in specific directions or generally, though specifying takes more Harvest, as usual. It could make some fascinating statues - which will probably be a thing, because of their Fertilization. They can open interdimensional portals by making a universe grow towards another. I'm still unsure whether or not they're able to close said portals, but this is a general problem - a wolf won't be able to close a portal he created, since there's no longing in pulling apart. This Center's Fertilization will make the creatures centred around this creative, and... well, I'm not sure I know how to explain that. Imaginative? Like interconnections? If you think you have an idea do tell me.

Anyway, I'll now proceed to try and write a story with this magic system. Wish me luck!

PS, it might be only the beginning of a story. We'll see.

[Aspiring Writer]

How are you choosing the opposites, exactly?

[Trutharchivist he/him]

On 18.1.2021 at 7:33 AM, Aspiring Writer said:

How are you choosing the opposites, exactly?

Sorry for not answering, I hoped I could get to write a story for this magic system for my 343rd post, which didn't exactly work out. Anyway, as I said in my previous post here, I kind of work based on an existing system, which I'm not sure I want to write much about here. The idea (or at least part of it) is to make a separation between negation and opposition. Thought and Intuition was in my head for some time, Longing and Fear came from the aforementioned existing system, and Freedom versus Stubbornness wasn't my brightest idea, but made some sort of sense, in a way, though Duty fits in my head better than Stubbornness as Freedom's opposite. 

Hope it helped!

Edited April 27, 2022 by Trutharchivist