Each power is linked to a specific animal, plant, species etc.. The power only commands some respect from them but does not command them. Most powers can take any form but the animals in their family and more specifically their own animals is their most natural form. No animal of their true form can be harmed while the power is near and animals of that family can seek protection from any Power in that family.

Skin Tone

Earth	Brown Skin
Fire	Black Skin
Rock	Grey Skin
Water (& Ice)	Pale White
Wind	Red Skin
Wood	Olive Skin

Families of Powers:

Dre'en: This family has black skin when they take mortal form due to their mastery of fire and wind. Most of them prefer to use these tricks over their Art in the interest of conserving energy and because the Art has sometimes had very unpredictable results. They have bird forms for the most part and their names are those of birds in other languages. Most of them claim to be able to alter their skin tone, though it is painful.
Tricks: Fire, Wind; Telepathy; Bind Form, Shift Perception, Cloak Form
Known Arts: Compel Other, Earthquake, Destroy Outer Form, Awaken Old Power, Go Between All, Dream Walk.

Fer'enke: This family has mastery of water and earth and are known for their pale skin and ethereal beauty. Of all the families, they have the most reason to hate the races for killing their kin since the fer'enke have the denizens of the seas and rivers as their forms. Any who unjustly harm even the smallest tadpole near a fer'enke is almost guaranteed to die and not even the other Powers know how many fer'enke there are nor how many denizens of the seas have their blood. Every fisherman lives in fear of the fer'enke but a few are said to have taken advantage of the fact that a fer'enke almost certainly will attack any who harm a fish. Most discredit the idea that some fishermen have found a way to capture Powers but it would explain why some of them have survived as long as they have without running afoul of this family.
Tricks: Water, Earth; Silent Kill, Warp Reality; Unbind, Rouse Water
Known Arts: Awaken The First Sea, Go Between All, Sunder Wood, Raise Volcano

Kenrek: The kenrek hold the powers of rock and wood as their dominion. They have the forms of the reptiles as their dominion. They generally have green skin though they can blend into their surroundings with ease. Many of them can also cloak the presence of others to a degree. They are wary of the Art and well aware of the dangers of said abilities. Many of them avoid the races as if they had the plague.
Tricks: Rock, Wind; Hypnosis, Mental Shields; Cloak Form, Blur Memory, Poison Touch
Known Arts: Shift Location, Halt Time, Alter Sun, Go Between All, Inspire Fear, Cloak Reality

Nerel: Nerel are considered the weakest Powers but are the ones most commonly associated with the races. They have the ability to become rodents (mice, rats, hamsters etc.) and insects. While there are few of this family, they are known for aiding the races more than the others, especially for those who refuse to kill a rodent or save one from harm. Their Arts are not incredibly strong since less of the world's life force flows into the nerel but they use the Art far more frequently that other families.
Tricks: Wood, Earth; Healing, Amplify Power, Death Sleep; Block Pain, Hold Form
Known Arts: Time Jump, Shift Sight, Bind Deaths Together, Call Up Ghosts, Destroy Predators

Volp'ino: This strength of the volp'ino lies in the earth and rock. They have brown skin and have the form of foxes, dogs, cats and their four-legged kin. Basically, all four-legged canines and felines fall under their name save the wolf, the power that died long ago. They are often perfectly happy to waste the Art on frivolities since, they claim, it can never do what you really want, never bring that most really crave: friendship, love and acceptance. Thus by using them they spurn their greater abilities.
Tricks: Earth, Rock; Empathy, Sense Danger; Call The First Fires, Spurn Power, Bend Time
Known Arts: Combine Forms, Hide Power, Collapse Building, Alter Speed, Go Between All,

There are various other Powers in the world, those that guard and guide minerals and other natural forces in the world. However, these Powers can rarely rouse themselves to take on a form and many of them are merely intelligent natural forces and barely qualify as powers at all. Most of the families know the names of these brethren and often go out of their way in an effort to make them more aware of the world and what they are.

Even as there are those below the Power of the families, so are there powers so far above them that there is little comparison. Those powers are being that have progressed beyond the need for a body and are simply pure energy, elemental force. (Some powers even speculate that the powers of the minerals and plants are slower to the Greater Powers that the families, just by virtue of having no physical form.) These powers not only saw the world form but gave their strength into aiding said formation and became part of the world. Some even claim they are the life force that the Art is drawn from but no one is sure. All Powers can feel their presence and hold themselves obedient to the wishes of the Greater Powers who serve and are the world in many ways.

        The Arts Explained:

Alter Speed: This ability allows the volp'ino to increase their own speed to an unnatural degree or do the same to another being. Alternatively, they can also decrease the speed of themselves or another being. This is one of the few Arts that can be accomplished only in moments though it is paid for at a later date by a period of weakness.

Alter Sun: This is one of the more dangerous Arts in that its potential is so enormous. It allows the user to weaken or increase heat as well as change the colour of fire. It is known due to its first use, when the fire of the sun was called down to kill a foe. Though none have ever been able to permanently alter the sun the potential is enough to frighten most.

Awaken Old Power: Many Arts are dangerous to the Power who uses them, and this is one. Some Powers of the world have chosen to sleep and rest for many times and these powers, if one knows there names, can be called up and awakened. Even if the power simply yawns and returns to sleep, the energy gained by this Art can increase any ability a hundred-fold. Though if the Power awakens, it strength and rage may well lay waste to the Power and the surrounding area.

Awaken The First Sea: The first sea is only a thought now, the remembrance of the first water of the world, a glory and strength long absent from the oceans and rivers. This awakening can call up ancient monsters only recalled by the Powers and make those echoes of memory and thought real for a short time.

Bind Deaths Together: This Art causes a person to feel the death of someone they are killing. If used with enough anger, it can actually kill the killer also, or at least make them stop their action. It is very effective at turning people into pacifists.

Call Up Ghosts: When one has killed and refuses to repent or weep for the loss of the dead, this Art can be used to call up the spirits of the dead to haunt said person. It is generally used to drive people insane and any being with ghosts continually haunting them is rarely welcome in any village or city since those ghosts will awaken other ghosts also.

Cloak Reality: Said ability allows a Power to blind someone so that they no longer see reality, only an illusion fashioned by the Power. It can force someone to see only the nothingness around the world and the void between the stars. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of this Art is that it can not drive people insane.

Collapse Building: A truly angry Power is very dangerous, and thus the simple ability such as collapsing a building should never be overlooked. For one, they can collapse many buildings at once and for another, they are capable of truly collapsing the buildings. The building is collapsed in space and time and ceases to exist utterly. It is up to the Power in question, however, if the beings in the building die with it.

Combine Forms: This Art forces the body of a being to combine with another being. While it is only temporary, the shock has killed many beings in the past. This ability is not a binding since they are freed soon. It also forces the combined forms to know each other's entire lives and has proven a very effective means of ending disputes and wars as a result. The only problem is that sometimes they retain echoes of each other or return to the wrong forms.

Compel Other: This is simply a more effective form of hypnosis. When a compulsion is used, the victim must obey the order implicitly but do have the ability to improve on the order. This does not give them the ability to change the order in any way, shape or form, only to improve it. Yet if there improvements result in the order not working, the compelled will die.

Destroy Outer Form: This ability is generally used on other powers in that it destroys only the body of people. Since a Power's form is just energy, the effect is not fatal but hurts. When used on a mortal, it destroys their body but not their mind or powers. In effect, they become very powerful ghosts.

Destroy Predators: Destroy Predators allows a Power to kill any animal(s) that are attacking the animal form they have by unleashing a surge of raw power into the offender. The death is often brutal and very fatal.

Dream Walk: This Art is used to enter the dream of another as well as alter said dreams. It can be a very effective weapon but the dangers of being caught by a nightmare or being trapped inside the body of someone when they awake mean that it is used rarely and mastery of it is a hard-won skill since most who try lose the ability in the process.

Earthquake: This Art allows a Power to touch the world and speak the name of its Powers in such a way as to cause an earthquake. The size of the quake is entirely dependant upon the focus of the name called and the stress on the earth at that moment.

Go Between All: Most powers have this ability. It allows them to step out of reality and into it at another place. It is possible to step out of reality (All) at any point but stepping back in can only be accomplished along certain lines of energy. Also, for every mile traversed, ten seconds pass in the real world. Most Powers can only go between all for a specific amount of time and few can traverse more than the width of Namdara before having to exit the strange land they enter, which is said to be kin to the mage path. Some say this place is the centre of time or its absence but most Powers feel it is their link back to the way things were before the world was created. However, most sense other, foreign forces in that area on occasion and some Powers have been warned by wizards that each time they use that Art they weaken the boundaries between worlds permanently and, perhaps, allow something evil to come closer to the world. This has not been proven yet.

Halt Time: This Art allows a Power to temporarily halt the flow of time in a small area. It can generally affect a room or about twenty people as a maximum. No Power has even contemplated trying to halt time itself since the effort of this Art is enough to warn them that halting the entirety of time is well nigh impossible.

Hide Power: This useful Art allows a Power to hide a specific form of energy, often themselves, from being sensed by others. Unlike the Talents version of hiding, this ability does not need to be hid also, which makes it much more effective.

Inspire Fear: This is the ability to make people flee from the Power. It can also be set on an area to protect it from intrusion. The fear effect generally can be made to last for half a year before it is ineffective.

Raise Volcano: This Art is used by the fer'enke to deter killing of animals in the rivers, seas, and lakes. It has proven remarkably effective. Raising a volcano also serves to deter most foes since none are quite sure as to how much Art the fer'enke can draw from the waters -- or if they can reverse it. (A city suddenly sinking into the water at the world heart could be very dangerous.)

Shift Location: Shift location is the ability to move quickly from one location to another as well as move other things there as well. It is instantaneous but can generally move only to the nearest point of power. Shifting location has also been used -- though with great strain -- to allow a Power to be at both their original location and at the point of power simultaneously for a time.

Shift Sight: This ability is used to make someone look away from the Power or to force someone to see out of the eyes of another being. This is often utilised to force someone to see out of the eyes of an animal they are intending to kill.

Sunder Wood: The Art of sundering wood is used by fer'enke to destroy any vessel that dares sail into waters they protect. No known defence exists from this power save wards and luck. It has also proven effective against other substances than wood and generally reduces the offending craft to splinters or ashes, depending on the mood of the fer'enke.

Time Jump: This skill allows a Power to leap into the past or future for a period of up to one hour. Altering the past is dangerous since it may make the future they came from inaccessible, in which case they languish in a void until freed. Jumping into the future is much safer since it has not occurred yet and thus you can always return to the past since that has not changed. The greatest danger of time jumping to alter events is that the Power will remember the original event and may be expelled from that time line as an aberration (i.e. die very soon). Not even the Greater Powers are said to be proof against the whole of time banishing them and it is said many have left the world due to this.

        The Tricks Explained:

        The first two sections in Tricks merely show the elements said family controls as well as the Gifts and Talents they hold. Since those are explained elsewhere, only the third section, the abilities unique to each family, will be explained herein.

Time: This trick allows powers to temporarily alter time as it applies to person or object. The object is folded in time and rendered temporarily invisible as well as being unmovable. Alternatively, a the chosen subject be visible but would still be unmovable, even by a Power. The effect generally lasts a few minutes.
Bind Form: Binding a being's form allows a Power to make said being serve their will for up to one week. The more powerful the Power, the less likely it is that the bound person will remember their ordeal.

Block Pain: This skill allows a Power to stop feeling pain. It can be used on themselves or others as the situation warrants and lasts until the Power stops it or the person dies. The subject not only is feels no pain but they lose the ability to even know that the wound exists. The obvious dangers of such a trick mean that Powers only use it when they have no other choice.

Blur Memory: The trick of blurring people's minds is very practical for Powers who have no wish to be seen or remembered. it can only be used soon after the event has taken place and often using it for longer than half an hour makes it too easy for others to make the subject recall their memories. Only very effective replacement of those thoughts will hold out against direct scrutiny of that time.

Call The First Fires: This trick calls up the fires from when the first waters became the sky and land was formed by the war between both elements. This fire is unequalled by anything else and is instant death to shadow demons and vampires. Use of the first fire is very dangerous since it can call to the world beings attracted by such light as well as melt entire cities. It is used with great caution.

Cloak Form: Cloaking a Power and area from others is a very valuable trick. A true cloaking can even hide a place from reality and time if used correctly and limited precisely. The danger of this is that, when afraid, it is possible for a being to cloak themself so well they never find reality again.

Hold Form: This simple trick allows a Power to freeze another person or object in motion for a time. They are unable to move or breathe but still exist in a stasis state wherein they age and think, though they do the latter rather slowly. Some held beings have still been able to use Talents and Gifts by virtue of still ageing and thus tapping their life force and sacrificing it to free themselves from the trick. As a result, it is most often used for short duration or on things like arrows and weapons.

Poison Touch: This trick simply sends a specially chosen poison into someone by touching them. Most of the poisons chosen are non-lethal since the Power also feels the pain of the poison, though to a lesser degree. The poison lasts as long as the Power is concentrating on it and often has no antidote save the blood of a Power.

Rouse Water: This ability causes water to rise up in anger. It is very effective at forming whirlpools and tidal waves, though they rarely last too long. Most fer'enke simply use this power for show since forcing the water to move unnaturally causes them great distress.

Shift Perception: Perception is a vital tool for Powers to alter. This trick allows a Power to look out of the eyes of another as well as fore another to see what a Power sees and as they see it. This has an unfortunate tendency to drive most mortals insane, however, and it used sparingly as a result. Looking out of the eyes of a mortal is rather popular but is generally stopped if they sense this other presence since a feeling of continuous watching may also drive them insane. Many Powers believe that mortals reach insanity far too easily and some have considered giving mortals the ability to never go insane.

Spurn Power: The trick of spurning power allows a Power to refuse to be affected by an ability or to not acknowledge the existence of another Power. It is the equivalence of swatting a fly and is done more for effect than anything else.

Unbind: Unbinding allows a Power to break bonds, be they those of a binder or simple chains. It can Open the mind of another being or weaken the fabric of reality for a time. Many Powers believe it falls into the grey area between tricks and the Art and so are rather wary of using it. It is also very useful in banishing ghosts and halting possession attempts.