Although strength in drucraft is most commonly measured by skill in the three disciplines, there are two other ways in which drucrafters can be ranked: essentia capacity and branch affinity. When combined with discipline skill, these give a fairly comprehensive measurement of a drucrafter’s abilities.
Skill, capacity, and affinity have little correlation. It’s possible to have great skill while having very poor essentia capacity, and vice versa. While training or talent in one can affect the others, the three measurements can be plotted on entirely different axes.
The First Axis: Skill
Drucraft skill is the first and most important measurement of strength, and reflects which of the disciplines a drucrafter has achieved mastery over. This mastery is reflected in their title: tyro, novice, channeller, shaper, manifester.
Skill is universally considered the most important axis. The other two can be a very valuable supplement to a drucrafter’s skill, but they can’t substitute for it. No matter how great a drucrafter’s essentia capacity, or how good their affinities, none of if will be much use if they can’t sense or channel.
The Second Axis: Capacity
A drucrafter’s essentia capacity is a measurement of how quickly they can process ambient essentia into personal essentia. It is a physiological trait that is for the most part determined by a drucrafter’s size.
Essentia capacity effectively functions as a drucrafter’s ‘budget’ for active sigls. A higher essentia capacity allows them to use more sigls at once.
The Third Axis: Affinity
Drucrafters are almost never equally skilled with all the branches. In virtually all cases they will have at least one branch that they find particularly easy to use, and at least one that they find particularly difficult.
Branch affinities become more important the further a drucrafter advances in skill. When learning to sense, a drucrafter’s affinities are more or less irrelevant. For shapers and manifesters, however, they can be very important indeed.
The Three Measurements In Practice
A good way to understand these three measurements is to compare them to human ability in physical fields such as athletics and sports.
- Drucraft skill is equivalent to skill: training, technique, experience.
- Essentia capacity is equivalent to physical condition: strength, fitness, reflexes.
- Branch affinity is equivalent to body type: how well matched someone’s build, body shape, and characteristics are to the sport/activity in question.
So to take the example of, say, basketball, drucraft skill equates to skill in dribbling, passing, and shooting. Essentia capacity is the equivalent of fitness, muscle strength, and reaction speed. And branch affinity is the equivalent of just being tall. A skilled player will always beat an unskilled one, but at higher levels, where everyone is skilled, being fitter or taller can make the difference, and the very best players are typically going to excel at all three.
I knew being a manifester was highly valued by the Houses, but it didn’t really entirely register with me that it was the pinnacle of Drucraft skill. I’m guessing only Calhoun and Stephen can manifest of the potential heirs… at least so far? But does the age at which someone first successfully manifests actually correlate with eventual skill? Also likely Charles can manifest since he is the head of their house. But… he isn’t exactly sitting around making sigls. Seems like ability to manifest has almost nothing to do with the skills needed to run a House. Unless the head of the house would create new essentia molds for Shapers to use?
Like you say, drucraft/shaping skill (which lets you make sigls) isn’t the same as management/leadership skill (which lets you actually run a House). Though it is one of those things which would make you more likely to be chosen to run a House, in the same way that being a military veteran is a plus if you’re running for political office.
Does Charles have the ability to manifest/is he good at drucrafting like Stephen is?Because it seems odd that only Calhoun (and I suppose Stephen but I think he gets his skills from his father…) would be the only prodigy or among the Ashfords.
Unless the House Meusel bloodline is a recessive trait or Edward or Calhoun’s mother had the proper skills.
Charles is a manifester, yes. Most senior members of important Houses would be.
Calhoun isn’t unusual for being a manifester, he’s unusual for being a manifester at such a young age.
Ah that makes sense. Obvious we haven’t seen the Ashfords aside from Calhoun use sigls due to lack of screen time but from what little we have seen, it doesn’t seem like they are that skilled with Drucraft. If they married into House Meusel and only one of them is a prodigy that would indicate they are better at selling sigls than using them.
Magnus seems to be a Drucraft cripple which he passed on to Tobias and Isadora, and Lucella isn’t even a shaper which I think would mean she is only a tyro. That leaves Helen who I believe leans more on the Drucraft business side of things than actually ability and Stephen got his skills for his Father.
So would Stephen in pure Drucraft be behind Calhoun in for lack of a better term rankings for the Ashfords? Or would Charles and his mother have an edge or be equal to him?
Thanks for the insight Celia; it’s nice how these drucraft articles get the mind speculating!
I wonder if the drucraft skill a traditional/bloodline thing (like the Hapsburgs) demonstrating the house’s ‘pedigree’?
Although Charles and Calhoun haven’t been seen making Sigls (But is just may be that Benedict hasn’t recorded it for us) they could be spending time making specialist items that can’t be bought in the exchange.
Another possibility is that they are working on enhancing the house wells with the aim of getting them to ‘A’ Class and hence a seat on the ruling council?
BTW: I hope that work is proceeding well on Book #4 and that the personal issues are now sorted…