Kitter Keep
Earth
Novice
Enhance Strength
Enhance Strength
Lift heavy objects and smash sturdy walls with ease!
Learning: Some Kitters reach the Acolyte level of mastery without ever learning this ability. Other Kitters find this ability so easy to learn that they accidentally start using it before they’ve even been taught it. This is because the ability requires a Kitter to focus on their inner drive. If a Kitter does not know what drives them, then they cannot use this ability. By remembering the thing that can give them the strength to persevere through any troubles, they can summon extraordinary strength to perform great feats. At first, a Kitter must spend several minutes focusing on this inner drive. Constant practice will eventually allow a Kitter to use this summon this ability in instinct without even thinking.
Usage: There are nearly endless possibilities for how this gift of strength can be used. Lumberjacks, fighters, miners, laborers; these are just a few jobs where this ability is useful.
Limitations: This ability leaves a Kitter feeling very tired after using it. The more strength they summon, the more tired they become. Additionally, the amount of strength that can be summoned is limited. Most can only summon just a little more strength than that of what a Felthurr possesses.
Addendum by Hazel the Magic Shopkeeper: I know the book said that most Kitters can only reach a level of strength similar to that of a Felthurr, but the truth is that it is theoretically possible to reach higher levels of strength. There are legends of a couple earth affinity Kitters who have challenged Cragwolves in a test of strength and won. Now I know they’re supposedly only myths, but if you want my opinion, every myth has some hint of truth to them. Say what you will, but that’s one of the few things I disagree with Hazel about. However, don’t go trying to prove my theory. The last thing I want to hear is that some stupid Kitter tried to challenge a Cragwolf just to impress me.
Sense Vibrations
Feel the silent footsteps of scampering critters or stealthy Kitters!
Learning: The best way to learn this ability is to go to a quiet place where very few people walk. This can be anything from an empty room to a peaceful field. Here, they simply have to relax, calm their mind, and connect their senses to the ground. Once their senses are attuned to the earth, they should tap the ground and try to feel the vibration. It can be difficult to feel even large vibrations when one is first learning this ability, but after a couple weeks of practice, small sounds such as bugs crawling or Kitters walking will become easy.
Usage: This ability is extremely versatile. Law enforcement and explorers use it to sense attackers who are trying to ambush them. Animal lovers use the ability to find shy critters without startling them. Some Meeps like to cheat at hide-and-seek with this ability.
Limitations: Extremely loud vibrations, such as a boulder falling or an earthquake, can drown out small vibrations in the same way that loud sounds can drown out little sounds. While it is possible to learn to distinguish large vibrations from little vibrations, the amount of effort needed to do this is extremely exhausting.
Geokinesis
Command the earth with your mind!
Learning: Geokinesis can be a tough ability to learn if one weren’t tenacious enough to pursue it. Moving the earth is difficult on account of it being a stagnant material that seldom moves. It stays firm, resisting most of the forces that others thrust onto it. As such, gradual but constant practice is the most efficient way to learn how to move along the earth as you see fit. You have to imagine a force moving along the earth, and visualize the imaginary bonds that hold the earth together be severed. When learning this ability, Kitters will often start with finer materials like sand, dust, and even gravel, before trying more difficult things like rocks and boulders.
Usage: Geokinesis has a plethora of practical usage. One may utilize it to move debris out of their path, or simply dig out the dirt for planting flowers or burying something.
Limitations: A kitter may only be able to completely control a single mass of earth at once, else they risk overwhelming themselves & breaking their own concentration. Additionally, moving larger masses of earth can be very straining & perhaps impossible after a certain amount of time. As an Earth kitter becomes more adept at their magic, this skill becomes easier to control at high levels of difficulty.
Refine Minerals
Purify natural resources!
Learning: All that is needed is an unpolished raw stone or gemstone, and a quiet area for the kitter to work. Having a polished and refined version of the gem or stone may help speed the process as the kitter will have an idea what it is they are aiming for. For a beginner it is recommended to really feel the mineral, rolling it around with your limbs, nuzzling it, sleeping with it under your pillow for a night-Some who have difficulty with refining the stone even put the mineral in their mouth, though it’s not been proven if this actually benefits the process any. After the kitter has gotten to know the mineral they must sit alone with it, and close their eyes, reaching out to it with their magic, sensing it’s presence and seeing the potential for further beauty. Visualising the mineral they must feel as it peels back its layers and reveals its refined beauty, and if done correctly will have a mineral that is now near flawless. Through use the results slowly come out more polished and smooth, and eventually may be done with the eyes open and without the long process of getting to know the stone, though there may not be other kitters present or it will not work. Mineral will be hot to the touch after, and watching the process is like watching a mineral rise into the air and spin, leaving a cloud of dust to fall down leaving the refined mineral behind.
Usage: Jewelers and the spiritual alike enjoy this ability as it is much quicker than polishing a mineral by hand, and often times the results are more esteemed. The rich also commision earth kitters to use this ability, geologists as well to study the property of minerals under different conditions.
Limitations: Minerals can accidentally be destroyed if this process is interrupted or if the kitter does not understand the mineral as much as they should. Huge minerals may take hours to polish compared to the briefness of smaller ones, and often times result in the user being tired.
Student
Armor
Requirements: Enhanced Strength
Learning: You might be able to defend yourself with your enhanced strength or lift a rock to absorb a blow, but none of that is more efficient than using the earth itself as your shield. An Earth kitter can use their “Armor” ability to pull the earth from the ground, attach it to their body, and harden it in order to use it as armor. A kitter who wishes to learn how to use this ability should have a good-enough grasp of geokinesis and enhanced strength, as experience in these two skills is nearly essential in being able to use “Armor” effectively. The kitter must will the earth to their body like a magnet with their magic, then enhance its sturdiness and compress it so they can take a harsher blow.
Usage: Armor is best used in outdoor fights and defense in general. It can come in handy against wildlife encounters (like Cragwolves!). Otherwise, it can be used to intimidate others.
Limitations: Moving with a bunch of earth on your body can be a little difficult. Kitters are bound to be sluggish and less agile while this ability is active. If the Kitter loses focus, the armor will fall off and will leave them vulnerable.
Tunnel
Requirements: Sense Vibrations
Learning: An Earth Kitter’s ability to tunnel through the ground is much more than physically shovelling it; they use their magic to make the job easy and facile. They make use of their ability to move the ground below them seamlessly and push the earth out of their way as they dig down. It’s much easier for an Earth kitter to Tunnel if they’re moving the earth along their hands, as they can effectively visualize the ground shifting with their hands while digging. Tunneling is a simple skill to learn for Earth kitters in general who are dedicated to learn it, but being able to do it extensively and swiftly requires a higher level of mastery only achieved through constant practice and focus.
Usage: Tunneling is quite useful if you wish to make a makeshift den to hide or live in. If you need to make a speedy escape, it can also be wise to tunnel away from the source of your problems! You could also use this ability to, theoretically, dig out a secret cave to hide all of your personal belongings away from peering eyes.
Limitations: You can only realistically dig so far in with ‘Tunnel’ before you hit some bedrock, so try and be careful!
Create Construct
Requirements: Geokinesis
Learning: Create little creatures made from the very soil you stand on! This ability can be quite hard to learn, and teachers will advise you to learn this skill after you’ve got the basics of the other Student Earth skills. In order to force pseudo-life into earth, you’ll need to do a few things first: Firstly, you’ll need to know the purpose for which your construct will act. If you know what you want the golem to do, you can easily build its form to your convenience. Once you have the physical earthen craft, you must force your emotions, thoughts, and magic to said earthen form. If you’re successful, the construct will be willed into pseudo-life and you will be able to command it so long as you maintain a magical connection with it.
Usage: Need a little helper for yourself? Want to pick up something out of reach? If you have general tasks that need to be done, minor or major, these constructs can do the job just fine for you! Just make the form to your needs and go!
Limitations: The constructs animated from this ability aren’t wholly sentient and will only respond to/perform simple commands. Additionally, the constructs are not permanent as keeping them active drains the user’s magical output (and their stamina). These constructs are generally aware of their surroundings if you give them the means to view it (like fake, earthy eyes) but they are unable to make use of the other sensory types. Bigger constructs require more magical output to animate-- the most a beginner can make is limited to something meep-sized ‘less they become exhausted within minutes of creating the golem.
Petrify
Requirements: Refine Minerals
Learning: Earth kitters have the ability to invoke the acceleration of the natural petrification process that occurs naturally to everything. It’s not a speedy process, as it takes loads of time and patience to both learn and practice/use. An Earth kitter must focus their magic and harness the power of minerals and rocks to incite a sort of ‘growth’ of rocky material onto their target. Any moving or breathing targets can make this process more difficult and, by extension, take longer to perform.
Usage: This ability is conveniently helpful to museums, as it can make objects and certain creatures preservable for display. This can also be helpful in a pinch, if you need to slow down any pursuers.
Limitations: An earth kitter’s petrification is not instantaneous, and the likelihood of fully petrifying another (unwilling) kitter is next to nothing. You may be able to make the movements of other kitters sluggish at most.
Acolyte
Bestow Strength
Quake
Create Golem
Terraform
Mage