Kestrel Woodbind is a Blood/Familiar cross-magician. Cross-magicians are rare in the world of Familiar Magic, while the Blood witch population has been on the decline ever since the scouring that followed the illegalization of Blood magic during the Reformation. Blood magic influencess living flesh and Familiar magic influences plantlife.
The only family Kestrel knows are her two aunts, Clara and Brance Woodbind. Triplets, Clara, Brance and Hope, Kestrel's mother, were born with a "Fates' Curse," which bestowed on each of them limited Oracular ability manifested as brief flashes of insight into past, present or future, respectively. The "Fates' Curse" neutralizes other magical abilities, so Kestrel's aunts have neither Blood nor Familiar magic. Like Kestrel, her grandmother, Fern Bloodbind, was a Blood/Familiar cross-magician. Fern practiced Blood magic, her stronger talent, almost exclusively until its ban, at which point she changed the family name from Bloodbind to Woodbind. The Bloodbinds were once a well-known and prosperous Blood family, but much of their estate was confiscated during the Reformation.
Tom Shifter is a shapeshifter of prominent lineage who, like all the Shifters of the main family branch, was born an Alchemical wizard. In his youth, he mastered three transformations: rat, snake and wolf. In his interactions with Kestrel, he also takes on the form of a hawk. Three transformations is considered sufficient for a "master shifter," so Tom's shapeshifting ability is especially strong.
The Shifters are a prominent family of shapeshifters who introduced a strain of Alchemical magic into their lineage through intermarriage many years ago. Ever since, Shifters have exclusively married Alchemical wizards in the hopes of consolidating and strengthening that magic. Children of the Shifter family who cannot perform at least two transformations are considered defective and cannot inherit. Many of the shifters who work for the Shifter family in service, domestic and facilitative capacities are supposed to have descended from low-powered members of the family at one point and time, when they were presumably expelled by the main branch. In these instances, the quality and accuracy of the records vary from case to case.
Elemental magic influences the basic elements of Familiar Magic's world: Air, Fire, Earth and Water, and is used most often for combat and the creation of supernatural phenomena that emulate natural forces. Unless the wizard is a cross-magician, the elements cannot be used in combination. A Water mage, for example, can call up a flood, but cannot bring down rain unless she also has Air talent. A Water/Air mage can cause rain, but not lightning, which would require a Fire talent. Cross-magicians are more common among Elemental wizards than in any other guild. Each wizard has power over her respective element (or elements) to different degrees, and it is not uncommon to see the lower ranking single-element wizards working in combination.
Uses: Combat, Agriculture
Plane: The Heavens
Oracular wizards can be divided into two basic types: Seers and Oracles. Seers perform conscious readings, often using foci like cards, crystals, and objects of magical or emotional significance. Oracles experience flashes of Insight, often without conscious attempt. The skills of Seers and Oracles are highly sought after among the ambitious. Some Oracles are also Seers, and vice-versa, and there is a very potent class of Oracle-Seer whose members not only phophesyze, but are incapable of lying. These Soothsayers are in especially high demand, as Oracular Wizards have developed a reputation for dishonesty that is due in part to the actions of the False Prophets who turned the wizarding classes against one another in the years leading up to the Reformation. Seers and Oracles are considered "lucky" according to common superstition, and ingredients like "Seer's Eyes" and "Oracle's Tongue" can be found in mny of the older potions recipes.
Uses: Prophecy, Forecast, Advisement, Fortune-Telling
Plane: Mind
Familiar magic is, along with Summoning, one of the two acknowledged Supported Magicks. In order to awaken his full potential, a Familiar wizard contracts with a being of strong magical power. This being, known as a familiar, takes the wizard's power into itself and holds it in trust along with its original store of power, which the wizard can access at will. Once bonded, neither familiars nor wizards can practice magic independently, and the link between wizard and familiar can only be destroyed by death. The most common familiars are domestic animals, followed by wild animals, insects, spirits, demons, and humans, of whom there have only been four in recorded history. Because only beings of tremendous magical power can become familiars, all human familiars were at one point wizards themselves. A popular legend among Familiar wizards references an angelic familiar, but so far his existence has not been verified.
Uses: Healing, Agriculture
Plane: Soil (Upper Earth)
Alchemy influences non-living matter. The easiest kind of matter to influence is mineral, because rocks were never alive. It is more difficult to affect plant-based matter, like wood. By the same token, it is easier for an Alchemical wizard to influence metal than earth, as earth is often composed in part of the particulate matter of things that were once alive. The only wizards who can directly influence dead animal matter are Blood/Alchemical cross-magicians, of which category no known living wizards exist. As in all the other guilds, different Alchemical wizards have different specialties. A low-powered Alchemist is a "stuff" mage and a Liquids Alchemist is referred to as a Potionsmaster. Other variations include Transmuters and Manipulators.
Uses: Combat, Construction, Transmutation
Plane: Foundation (Lower Earth)
Illusory magic is probably the least well-respected of all the acknowledged guilds of wizardy. Illusory wizards, or "trick" magicians, are not really said to influence anything. Their power is to create illusion, but only very potent and skilled Illusory wizards can create anything resembling a realistic illusion, so the potential for successful deceit is actually pretty limited. Most Illusory wizards work as entertainers.
Uses: Deceit, Entertainment, Dreamweaving
Plane: Dream
Summoning wizards summon and contract with demons and other supernatural entities. Along with Familiar magic, Summoning is one of the two acknowledged Supported Magicks. While a Familiar wizard shares an innate bond with his or her familiar, Summoned creatures (or Summons, for short) are contracted to serve their wizards by magically binding agreement. The particular wizard-Summons relationship depends on the stipulations of the contract. There is no limit to the number of Summons a wizard can have, or even to the number of wizards a Summons can serve, except as stated in the terms of each contractual bond. Both Summons and wizard have to be "willing" when they contract in order for the bond to hold, but a contract made under duress is still considered valid.
Uses: Combat, Guardianship
Plane: The Underworld
Uses: Combat, Healing
Plane: The Body
Uses: Teleportation, Transport, Timeshifting
Plane: The Immateria
I started drawing comparatively late in the game. With the exception of some dimly remembered High School drawing classes, I have no formal training in this medium whatsoever. For years, I told myself I "couldn't draw" and for years this became more and more true. Then something clicked in my head. I realized that I could draw, and by "draw" I do not mean "draw excellently, well and/or bearably." I mean only that I realized that I could express myself visually in a way that I could enjoy. I hope you enjoy it as well.