Living materials

What it is

Every Life spell gathers a recognizable material in front of your hands before it leaves: a seed, a leaf canopy, a blossom, a thorn. The casting circle stays behind your shoulders. Learn the materials and you can tell Life spells apart in a busy fight. The shape you thread still decides where the spell acts.

Ancient Seed gathers a large seed, an unequal shoot and leaves in front of the caster

Ancient Seed gathers a large seed with a lopsided shoot. Grow opens a seed, Regrowth branches a stem and Harvest binds a sheaf. Green alone does not tell you which one you are seeing.

Read the material

What you see	Life effects
Closing tissue, seams and sap	Heal, Restore, Reversal, Stitchtime, Ashen Mercy
Seeds, shoots, grain and branches	Grow, Regrowth, Nourish, Harvest, Ancient Seed, Fortune
Thorns, sacs and gripping fibres	Venom, Bramble, Vinelash, Rootsnare
Sheltering leaves and upright trunks	Haven, Root Bulwark
Petals, blossoms and living bulbs	Cleanse, Remedy, Bloom, Lifebloom, Moonpetal
Paired tissue, lifted seeds and opening paths	Soulbond, Second Wind, Bloomstep
Lichen, berries, spores and falling pollen	Glimmer, Glowvine, Sporebloom, Drowse

Runes in the same row still look and move differently. For effects and costs, see the Life runes.

Moving spells

Vinelash travels toward its target with living fibres trailing behind

Vinelash snakes along its path. Drowse carries a curled petal with falling pollen. Venom leads with a thorn.

Pick the shape for the job. Bolt forms and launches, Self applies the effect to you, and Touch reaches something close. A flashy projectile does not make a helpful rune hurt enemies. The Cord screen tells you what your spell will actually do.

Fused spells keep their ingredients

Root Bulwark carries Earth with its living wood. Second Wind carries a Time piece in its lifted seed. Stitchtime carries Time beside its tissue seams. Ashen Mercy keeps a small heat seam while closing scorched leaves. See Field Signatures and the expedition field journal for altar pairings and limits.

Tips

Minimal visual quality trims decoration but keeps each spell’s material and ingredients.
In a group, set Other casters’ formations separately. Camera motion and Reduced Flash are in visual settings.
To read what a Life spell actually did, see Reading Life Magic.