Brief Description:
Weaving spells can alter nearly any property of a target without transforming it into something completely different. Solid steel can be transmuted to liquid (Matter), a sword can be enchanted to damage beings in Twilight (Death or Spirit), or a few seconds of time can be rewritten (Time).
In Game:
As befits such an eclectic Practice, Weaving effects run the gamut when it comes to covert versus vulgar and Mana cost versus none. Because of the wide scope of potential Weaving effects, it is a versatile Practice, allowing for all sorts of mid-range magical manipulations, some of them quite strong. Some spells make inert materials pliant, while other spells bestow the ability to strike ephemeral entities, and still others create thinking servants composed of telekinetic force alone.
Because of the wide scope of Weaving’s effects, Weaving is a favorite mid-level Practice for almost any mage. An intelligent mage can fi nd a multitude of uses for almost every Weaving spell in his repertoire. Because of Weaving catchall nature, many newly researched spells end up being classed within the Practice of Weaving.
No matter how powerful most mages become, they tend to fall back on Weaving spells when the situation warrants. They’re overall less risky to use than the more potent Patterning and Making magics, while still retaining a level of power and flexibility completely beyond the purview of Compelling or Ruling spells.
When executed properly, many Weaving magics, even the vulgar ones, can be performed subtly enough to elude the senses of Sleepers, and the covert ones don’t give up much in the way of effectiveness for the sake of subtlety.
In Story:
Some mages describe the Practice of Weaving as the most central to the Awakened state: the art of touching one’s environment with will alone and leaving the environment changed by one’s passing. In many ways, this is the primordial dream of magic, the idea that a person can change the world, in ways both great and small, simply by wishing it so.
Awakened mentors pay close heed to how their students make use of Weaving magics, since this is the first time that the less experienced willworkers are able to express themselves directly using magic, as opposed to through the changes that they create with magic.
In other words, while the student could previously use magic to set up conditions that could influence her environment, she can now do so without the benefit of a “middleman,” as it were. Thus, her mystic style becomes manifest through the magic that she creates.
In terms of the mid-to-higher-end Arcana effects, Weaving spells are probably the most commonly used. They’re powerful enough (especially in the hands of a skilled and clever mage) to accomplish many tasks, and are often covert in aspect, meaning that a willworker is opening himself, and those around him, to fewer risks by casting such magics.
Despite the greater scope of effect available at higher levels, spells of the Practice of Weaving tend to have decently broad utility and allow the Awakened to perform most mundane tasks with a preternatural aplomb, while still allowing for a considerable degree of competency with purely supernatural works.