This is the new-donoerperk from the December Giraffe Call, a setting piece on Stranded World

Strand-Workers and Strand-Working Organizations

by Ernesta Roundtree

It has been said – indeed, it was the way I was taught, and my late husband as well – that Strand-weaving is by nature a solitary occupation, and that those who can see and twist the Strands of life and existence do so on their own.

And, of course, there are many walks of life for which this is true, and many who can see or move Strands who spend their entire life doing so alone: if they are lucky, they are taught, and if they are wise, they teach another, but the time in between is spent alone, working small, single-person effects, having small and often selfish results.

But there is nothing inherently isolationist about the craft itself, and, while the organizations that exist today are nothing compared to the great Leagues and lodges, those that exist do great good (or, in some sad cases, great evil) within their spheres.

I will say nothing about the Order of the Linked Circles except that they exist, that that is not the name that they call themselves, and that they are very secretive. One of my children has met one person who claims to be of this Order, but I myself never have.

The Team I belonged to in my youth, with my husband, was a smaller, and, I believe, more informal, certainly less secretive group, closer to a motorcycle gang that happened to twist Strands than anything formal. We had, however, and still do have, an alliance with the Collegium Filorum, which is a small but world-wide organization.

The Collegium has three major missions:
1) To connect new Strand-weavers with teachers, so that they can not only learn best practices but share innovations.
2) To provide a network of weavers, so that, when an emergency occurs, a single weaver will know where to turn for help
and, in some people’s eyes most important,
3) To look for those who would cut the Strands, and stop them.

As far as I am aware, the Collegium is the only world-spanning organization of Strand-weavers still in existence, although small groups still exist, like our Team, around the world.

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