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Shaping

concept · importance 82 · 10 theories

“The will-magic that wrought the Fae from whole cloth”

also known as Shapers, shapers, the Shaping

Appearance§

Shaping has no fixed form, but its workings are rendered as weaving and willed creation. Felurian's grammarie upon Kvothe's shaed is a kind of weaving action, shaping shadow into cloth. Its grandest product is the Faen realm itself, sewn from whole cloth, each Shaper closing their labor by setting a star in the empty sky. The physical residue of the old shaped world survives as ruins: the rusted great machines of the Underthing, the standing greystones, the four-plate door, and the Great Stone Road.

Description§

Shaping is the will-based creation magic of the Shapers, the ancient faction set against the Namers in the deep history of Temerant. Where Naming is the art of knowing a thing's true name, Shaping is the art of imposing one's will to remake and create reality, and the oldest stories divide the world into Knowers and Shapers. By Felurian's account, the Shapers wrought the Faen realm according to their will, and the greatest of them sewed it from whole cloth; the Fae sky had no stars until each Shaper set a single star within it to finish the work. Shaping changes the very nature of a thing, and the elder Shapers used it to make wonders, even to create living things such as the silver-fruited tree. The first and greatest of the Shapers stole the moon and is now shut behind doors of stone. The most powerful and inexplicable artifacts of the world, including swords that cannot be destroyed by ordinary means and the warding greystones, are remnants of this half-lost craft. Within the Fae, the related arts of grammarie, the art of making things be, and glamourie, the art of making things seem, persist; Felurian uses grammarie to weave Kvothe's shaed from shadow, and Bast also practices grammarie. Grammarie makes a thing more fully what it already is, rendering a knife the best possible knife for anyone who wields it, and can make written things become true for all who perceive them. The Archives motto, Vorfelan Rhinata Morie, is translated 'the desire for knowledge shapes a man,' tying its root to the act of shaping.

Relationships§

  • Opposed To Naming — Shaping imposes will to remake reality, contrasted with Naming the art of true names
  • Shaper Sealed The Doors of Stone — the greatest Shaper is now shut behind doors of stone
  • Created The Fae — the Shapers wrought the Faen realm according to their will, sewn from whole cloth
  • Stolen By The Moon — the greatest Shaper stole the moon
  • Practiced By Bast — Bast also practices grammarie
  • Greatest Shaper Iax — the first and greatest Shaper stole the moon and is shut behind doors of stone
  • Practiced By Felurian — Felurian uses grammarie to weave Kvothe's shaed from shadow
  • Related Art Grammarie — grammarie, the art of making things be, persists within the Fae
  • Related Art Glamourie — glamourie, the art of making things seem, persists within the Fae
  • Opposed To Knowers — the deep-history conflict is framed as Knowers versus Shapers
  • Remnant Of Greystones — the warding greystones are remnants of Shaping
  • Root In Vorfelan Rhinata Morie — the motto is translated 'the desire for knowledge shapes a man'

Established facts§

  • Shaping is the magic of the Shapers, the ancient faction opposed to the Namers in the deep history of Temerant.
  • Shaping is the art of imposing one's will to remake and create reality, contrasted with Naming, the art of knowing the true names of things.
  • The deep-history conflict is framed as Knowers (Namers) versus Shapers, the two camps of the oldest stories.
  • Felurian recounts that the Shapers wrought the Faen realm according to their will, and the greatest of them sewed it from whole cloth.
  • The Fae sky held no stars until each Shaper set a single star within it to complete the realm.
  • Shaping changes the nature of a thing, and the elder Shapers used it to make wonders and bring the Fae realm into being.
  • Shapers of the elder days could create organic life, as with the silver-fruited tree, showing that living things could be deliberately made.
  • The first and greatest of the Shapers stole the moon and is now shut behind doors of stone.
  • The world's most inexplicable artifacts, such as indestructible swords and the warding greystones, are remnants of Shaping.
  • Grammarie is the art of making things be, and glamourie is the art of making things seem; both are Fae arts.
  • Grammarie makes a thing more fully what it already is, such as making a knife the best possible knife for anyone who wields it.
  • Grammarie can make written things become true for all who perceive them, even those who cannot read the writing, altering how they think or act.
  • Felurian uses grammarie to weave Kvothe's shaed from shadow, and Bast also practices grammarie.
  • The mortal and older realm contains ruins treated as remnants of the pre-Creation War world, including the Underthing, the Great Stone Road, and the four-plate door.
  • The Archives motto Vorfelan Rhinata Morie is translated 'the desire for knowledge shapes a man,' tying its root to shaping.

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