Earth can be as giving as it can be irate.

The Earth we know is a boat of cooling rock, floating slowly on a sea of molten iron. A nuclear furnace rages above us, twisting the nitrogen gas – nitrogen peppered with oxygen, water and so on, but mostly nitrogen – into hot and cold motion. The oceans wobble, guided by the gravity of a huge distant rock, and slowly grind the rock to dust. These powerful forces are expressed in erosion and weather, glaciers and avalanches, tides and tectonics. Compared to the massive energies acting on the planet, life is a fairly tiny side effect.

Meteoromancy doesn’t directly deal those inhuman energies. Whole civilizations can be torn apart by forces that humans don’t really fully understand. In the face of such power, humans can only construct imperfect shelter and hope the earth remains clement. It is from this mystery, helplessness and awe that Meteormancy draws power.

Meteoromancy tears away the illusion of safety and opens eyes to the nameless fear of the global chaotic forces of nature. Meteoromancy is an incomprehensible secret of harnessing expose to the power of a grand, dynamic, dangerous, inevitable Earth.

The first Meteoromancers were Christian monks in an English monastery in the 17th century. They saw God’s work and were humbled, but when they spoke of it, their power disappeared. Teaching the school to new pupils was difficult, since instruction dispersed the power. To address this, and to formalize the school, one of the monks, now nameless, drafted a series of devotional poems, describing the rapture of nature and Meteoromancy. These poems were the first formulas. Students could read these devotions and understand more of the style, and, somehow, speaking these prayers aloud did not violate taboo – instead, it gave power to the magic.

The school had an incredible burst of power during the Great Fire of London in 1666, and the school began to flourish beyond its monastic origins. However, the high mortality rate of the adepts, combined with the difficulty of finding and teaching new students without violating taboo, led to decline in the school’s numbers after only a few decades.

A big problem for Meteoromancy is its similarity to Entropomancy. Both have a similar framework: risking danger at the hands of impersonal forces, in exchange for later control. Indeed, it’s not uncommon for a Meteoromancer to take on a student, only to discovered they’d somehow trained an Entropomancer instead. Meteoromancers typically see bodybags as doing the magic, but missing the point: Entropomancy lacks the secrecy, devotion and awe of Meteoromancy. The fact that Entropomancy is more powerful chafes Meteoromancers to no end.

But Meteoromancy has grown in strength recently. The increase of the power of cities, structures and civilization makes Meteoromancy all the stronger – when the illusion of immunity to nature became stronger, more power could be gained in breaking through the illusion. Worldwide announcements of distant disasters made the tension between the pride of civilization and the humility of disaster all the stronger. Until the 20th century, Meteoromancers could not use their formulas without loudly proclaiming the original devotional poems in entirety; this is no longer needed, though it’s still considered traditional.

Generate a minor charge: Expose yourself to the elements in a dangerous or inconvenient way without protection. Your health, property or well-being must somehow be at risk.

Generate a significant charge: Expose yourself to the elements, as with a minor charge, but your life must be at risk.

Generate a major charge: Survive at the center of a natural disaster that devastates a major city.

Taboo: You can’t discuss Meteoromancy. Communicating about your magic to others, or even acknowledging it, causes you to lose all charge.

Blast: Meteoromancy blasts take the form of natural phenomenon: wind, lightning, floods, earthquakes, lava, and so on. Typically, the blast is a concentrated version of whatever generated the most recent charge.

Symbolic Tension: Inherent in the school is a humility in the face of nature, and a contempt for human endeavors. The paradox of this school is that this humility and anti-human stance gives adepts human power over nature.

Poetry Note: While it’s no longer necessary to recite the whole poem, most adepts of this school still shout out the title of a formula when performing the formula. Even the title is not needed, but is not a violation of taboo.

Minor formulas

O, Hear My Rev’rent Plea, Pure Noble Sky
1 minor charge
The simplest formula. You determine the weather in your location – it must be weather that’s appropriate for the season and region – at least two weeks in advance. If anything changes the weather from what you’ve requested, you’ll immediately know exactly how, including the location of the changer. If the Invisible Clergy changes the weather, though, you’ll sense that your plea is refused.

Be Like a River’s Leaf, Tossed by God’s Will
1 minor charge
You can direct the motion of an elemental force in a very precise fashion. You don’t create the force, just guide it. You could cause fire to spread in a particular direction, cause a windswept feather to land in your hands, or catch the perfect wave. If used in combat appropriately, this formula yields a +/-10% shift. The formula lasts a minute.

Behold, Ignoble Foes: The Earth Untamed!
2 minor charges
This is the Meteoromancy minor blast. Damage equals the sum of the dice.

O Tiny Creatures, Open Wide Your Eyes
2 minor charges
Make a single target receptive to awe. The next time someing impresses them, even a little, they’ll be deeply moved and overwhelmed, spending at least a few rounds gaping in amazement.

I Sing the Trembling Song of Brother John
4 minor charges
Brother John was an early Meteoromancer, who inspired the author of this formula with his visions of doom. For the next hour, a sense of doom hangs about you. Animals will flee you if able to do so, and humans will get a sense that you are a herald of some great destruction – whether you’re the cause or just a warning depends on attitude and context.

Significant formulas

Father of Wonder, Forsake Not Your Child
1 significant charge
For the next hour, you gain immunity to the forces of nature. Fire, natural and manmade, will not burn you or even singe your clothes. You won’t drown. Storms and earthquakes leave you alone. This can have many dramatic effects, but it doesn’t affect bullets, punches, falls, or even paper cuts. Exactly what’s affected is a GM call.

I Speak Of Death: The Earth’s Great Vengeant Wrath!
2 significant charges
This is the Meteoromancy significant blast.

All Men Are Humbled by The Earth Unleashed!
3 significant charges
All targets you choose within your line of sight are affected by a minor blast. From a mountaintop, you could affect thousands but leave one unseen friend unharmed.

Our Shelters Be No More Than Shadow’d Dust!
3 significant charges
Makes a single building ghostly to you and your actions. You can walk through it, or even shoot a gun or drive through it. It’s intangible to you. Only the building’s structure is affected; people and furniture still touch you.

My Body Lost, I Am Become The Storm!
4 significant charges
Usable during a storm. Your body disappears and you become part of the storm. You can vaguely perceive what’s going on with the storm, but can’t affect the storm’s motion, and can step out of the storm and physically reform. For an extra minor charge each, you can take along willing allies; they’re aware of the storm and leave when you do.

Major Effects:
Become a sentient tornado. Discover how the world will truly end. Launch a significant blast against all foes in sight.