Wundrous Arts

There are nine Wundrous Arts learned by Wundersmiths in the School of Wundrous Arts. Each art corresponds to a Wundrous Divinity and, perhaps, a statue in the Elders' Hall.

Anyone can learn the Wundrous Arts, but it is much, much easier for a Wundersmith to do so. Non-Wundersmiths who have at least partially learnt a Wundrous Art include Hemingway Onstald (Tempus), Saint Nicholas (Inferno), and the Yule Queen (Weaving).

## Wundrous Arts

### Nocturne

"*The Wretched Art of Nocturne. The summoning of Wunder. Singing to make it so.*"
―Ezra Squall[src]The Art of Nocturne is the first and possibly most important of the Arts that young Wundersmiths learn: the summoning of Wunder using singing to call it. Squall mentions the importance in each Wundersmith using their own, individual call (song) to summon the Wunder. Ezra is unimpressed by Morrigan's ability at Nocturne.

When Wunder appears to the summoner and smith it is bright and golden. During Ezra's demonstration at Crow Manor he lights up the grey stones by a million golden fairy lights, this may be an a part of Nocturne.

### Weaving

"*Weaving is about expanding and contracting one’s imagination, weaving together thought, creativity and physical matter to manipulate and create our own reality and bring our vision to life. When we Weave, we pull threads from the Gossamer and rearrange them, either to influence the world as it is … or to make the world anew.*"
―Brilliance Armadeo[src]The Art of Weaving is the art of changing reality to create a new object like a flower or to move an existing object like a chair. Ezra Squall is able to remodel and remake Crow Manor seemingly at will in his demonstration to Morrigan Crow. The Yule Queen uses Weaving to create a serpentine snowdragon.

#### Water Weaving

Water can be manipulated in many useful ways as part of the Art of Weaving to make a puddle splash or a fountain out of still water. Decima Kokoro is able to make rivers run though the Halls of Sub-Nine.

### Inferno

Seal: A tiny flickering flame on the middle finger on left hand

" *THERE! There. That feeling. That fire in your heart, that spark of anger and fear. Focus on it. Feel it. The flickering, burning anger inside—THAT is Inferno.*"
―Ezra Squall[src]The Art of Inferno allows a Wundersmith to use fire. The fire can be used as a weapon, for warmth, for etching, or for entertainment. A user can start with a flame from a fireplace or a candle, or they can create fire by breathing it. Saint Nicholas uses inferno to create an entertaining golden-red firebird.

Morrigan gets her Inferno seal and visits the Wundrous Divinity of Inferno, called The Kindling, after re-igniting the fireblossums.

### Tempus

"*Tempus is the manipulation of time in various ways—moving through it, recording and preserving it, looping it, shrinking it, stretching it—*"
―Sofia[src]Tempus is the Art of manipulating time. Onstald Hemmingway uses the sub-art time-stretching to slow down time. This are is also used to make and annotate ghostly hours.

Henry Mildmay lists some of the ways to manipulate time as: "preservation, shrinking, looping, stretching".

### Veil

"*[Li Zhange had] demonstrated an element of the art of Veil, cloaking himself in the precise colours and texture of his surroundings, like a human-chameleon hybrid*"
―Narration[src]
The Art of Veil involves the Wundersmith camouflaging themselves.

#### Shadowmaking

Shadowmaking is a sub-art of Veil. Morrigan Crow uses it in an attempt to hide Fenestra at the Sunset Gala.

### Masquerade

"*A teenage girl performed a series of sly impersonations of everyone else in the room, imitating their walks and posture and voices and laughter – but it was more than just an impersonation, she was becoming them, her features twisting and remaking themselves into exact replicas of her fellows, to their uproarious delight.*"
―Narration[src]
The Art of Masquerade is becoming a perfect replica of others, acquiring the way they walk, talk and act. Using this Art, Ezra and Morrigan are able to impersonate Gregoria Quinn.

### Ruination

"*Anyone can throw a rock at a window. But the art of Ruination is not about using external brute force. It’s about unravelling a thing from the inside, separating all its constituent parts, then breaking down those parts, and on and on, until you have transformed the thing, made it unrecognisable to itself. The truest, purest act of Ruination is an act of transformation.*"
―Griselda Polaris[src]
The Art of Ruination is the art of taking something apart. Morrigan recognizes that Ezra is using Ruination to reverse the damage of the Hollowpox victims in the teaching hospital.

### Unnamed Eighth and Ninth Art

There are two more arts that are not named in the first three novels. There is speculation that one of these two Arts is the 'parlor trick' that Ezra uses to puppeteer the Marvelous Malau and his audience. It remains to be seen if it is its own Art or a sub-Art.

## Classifications of Wundrous Acts

The Committee for the Classification of Wundrous Acts classifies wundrous Acts places a purple plaque at the entrance which lists the class, the creator, and the sponsor.

#### Singularities

*an original work of absolute genius*

* Cascade Towers — Decima Kokoro

#### Spectacles

*Inspires awe and delight; baffles the brain*

* The Museum of Stolen Moments — Mathilde Lachance
* Jemmity Park — Odbuoy Jemmity

## Wretched Arts

The Wundrous Arts are also referred to as the 'Wretched Arts' by Ezra Squall, Maris Murgatroyd, and the graffiti above the Entrance to the School of Wundrous Arts.

Hemingway Q. Onstald uses different classifications of Wundrous acts in his book *Missteps, Blunders, Fiascoes, Monstrosities, and Devastations: An Abridged History of the Wundrous Acts Spectrum.*

## Wundrous Arts Etymology

**Nocturne** (Old French *nocturne*) is related to the word *Nocturnal*, which means something "done, occurring, or active at night". A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night."

**Weaving** (Old English *wefan*)refers to the "craft or action of forming fabric by interlacing threads".

An **Inferno** (Italian *inferno*) is "a large fire that is dangerously out of control".

**Tempus** (Latin *tempus*) is a Latin word which means time.

A **Veil** (Old North French *veil*) is anything that "serves to cover, conceal or disguise".

A **Masquerade** (French *mascarade*) is either "a false show of pretense", or "pretending to be someone one is not".

**Ruination** (Medieval Latin *ruinatus*) is the action of "ruining someone or something".

## Notes and References

1. ↑ *Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow*, Chapter 38 (*Opening a Window*)
2. ↑ The term 'Water Weaving' per se, is not used by Morrigan or the author of *The Book of Ghostly Hours*.
3. ↑ *Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow*, Chapter 24 (*The Wretched Art of Inferno*)
4. ↑ *Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow*, Chapter 25 (*Traitor*)
5. ↑ *Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrugan Crow* Chapter 8 *(Basement Nerds)* "And Cascade Towers was a Singularity; an original work of absolute genius."
6. ↑ *Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow*, Chapter 19 (*Stolen Moments*) "A spectacle is something that inspires awe and delight, something that baffles the brain."
7. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturne
8. ↑ https://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-meaning-of/latin-word-5c9e9777a44a2e659ab0d9ee77f09ef3625a44c8.html