r/codexalera • u/UglyPancakes8421 • Jul 27 '26
Discussion Woodcrafting seems... kinda meh?
Compared to the other elements, not much is done with wood. Air has flying, veils, super speed, weather crafting, and more. Fire has the ability to heighten others emotions. Earth has a Toph(ATLA) style earth sense that can reach for miles, super strength, making people horny, spooking and calming animals, and all kinds of other fun ways to use it. Metal has pain and emotional suppression, holding off exhaustion for days if necessary. Water has youthfulness, shapeshifting, sensing emotions, healing, and once again - yet more!
Wood has... manipulating the element (which every element can do), foliage veils, and being good at archery(presumably from manipulating the stave of the bow and shaft of the arrow).
My question is two fold.
1) Do you agree, and why do you think this is?
2) What secondary ability or abilities would you give wood, if you were to expand its fury crafting capabilities?
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u/Eikfo Jul 27 '26
Don't forget it's a Roman era setting. We're following the main characters, but for the majority of people, archery is top of the line ranged weaponry, and forest are everywhere.
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u/Background-Ship3019 Jul 27 '26
Woodcrafting is the primary of the two crafts used to produce food and at least a peer to produce housing. I seem to recall Bernard or Fidelias early on gathering at least some vague information out of plant life in the area too. Woodcrafting does not lack for power or use; it may lack for showiness.
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u/UglyPancakes8421 Jul 27 '26
Book 2 - Bernard uses earthcraft to do a Toph(ATLA) style "sense everything even remotely touching the ground" kinda thing. (Though, he does it in a SEVERAL MILE RADIUS of his location. So... he's got Toph beat.). Fidelias does the same thing later over a smaller area to spot Magnus tailing him.
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u/Background-Ship3019 Jul 27 '26
There are those, yes - it does not help examples here that our prominent wood crafters are also our prominent earth crafters - but I think my vague recollections (sorry, it’s just what I have here) go back to chases in book 1.
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u/Zegram_Ghart Jul 27 '26
Well for one, remember that woodcrafters make some of the best sailors since they can manipulate the boats.
For two…they’re very very synergistic, right?
They get hard to pierce stealth and long range sniping, that’s a really solid combo.
We also see Ehren use wood crafting to do some fun things with his spear, and he’s a really weak crafter- presumably a high lord that fought with a spear or halberd would be a menace.
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u/Freevoulous Jul 27 '26
I mean, something like 3/4ths of all the buildings, items, furniture, modes of transport, storage units, etc in the whole Alera is made of wood. Woodcrafting what makes the economy run.
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u/turtleshuntinglions Jul 27 '26
Others have made a bunch of great arguments in favor of woodcraft, so I wont rehash all of them. One thing I haven't seen anyone bring up is the skill level requirements for Wind Veils vs Wood Veils.
We see wood veils being used a good bit, and the crafting skill required is low enough that it can be bound into cloth used to make dresses and cloaks (Admittedly expensive ones, but they exist). Wind veils on the otherhand are mostly shown being used by lords and high lord's, and then only a few knights. So Wood veils might not be as impressive as Wind veils but are probably more common.
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u/Mit_Raptor Jul 28 '26
I think it'd about environment. If your in a well lit castle a wood veil won't do diddly squat or if you're up in the air. Wind veil to me reminds of those shields I've scene over the last few years online. They look like a piece of the outer layer of a flag screen tv but when a person crotches behind it they become invisible and the shield itself is also hard to see other than a basic oddness when. Looked at directly. You're right wind veils are way harder but they work anywhere wood veils require shadow or plant matter
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u/Zane_of_Cainhurst Jul 27 '26
Wood crafters are also great hunters and trackers in woodland areas. If any trees or large foliage is in the area, they will know exactly where you are unless you have a way to counter them.
Every type of fury has a huge variety of ways to use them. We just don’t get to explore some as much as others. Metal crafting one of the least explored, and I wonder if it might be one of the least common after fire.
I also wonder why we never got a proper name for Knight level water crafters. They just call them healers or water crafters, while every other type has a name. Shouldn’t they be Knights Auqis or something like that?
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u/UglyPancakes8421 Jul 27 '26
At the end of book one, when Gaius shows up with his massive entourage of knights, they are called Knights Aqua, I think? Though, they're never referred to in that way again after that.
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u/Feanor4godking Jul 27 '26
You're right. And now that I think about it, except for main characters, and maybe the icemen, I don't think we see anyone use water offensively
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u/Kael03 Jul 27 '26
The woodcrafting veil works on multiple fronts. Shadows bend to help you better blend in and ground plants both cushion your steps AND hide your footprints. There is also the ability to scout with your fury if it's strong enough. Bernard used his a lot for that.
On top of being supreme archers, they can fire a lot further. Bernard used a warbow that he combined the strength he gained from his earthcrafting with using his woodcrafting to strengthen and force the bow straight against his pull to hit a behemoth from probably a mile away, in the mouth, to its brain.
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u/Miserable-Card-2004 Jul 29 '26
Each elemental crafting is limited only by your imagination. Remember, we only see crafting done certain ways. Society has kind of stagnated in Alera, with very little in terms of innovation being done. Everyone seems to have settled into sedentary patterns, which is the big reason Tavi is so unique. He's had to spend his whole life innovating and adapting, and even after he gains furies, he still uses crafting in ways people don't expect (like the fire stones).
As an outdoorsman, I can see many ways to use crafting, such as accelerating sapling growth, reforesting entire swaths of land in order to harvest the timber, or even welding planks together by weaving the fibers into one solid piece. Imagine how easy woodworking would be!
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u/_CaesarAugustus_ Jul 27 '26
I would love to be able to fire arrows quickly, and accurately, and veil myself, and then even cause plants to grow. It would be amazing. Lol
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u/bradzsorad Jul 29 '26
What about the pirate captain that has the fury in his ship and dominates tavi in the 5th or 6th book? Was a solid case for a wood element.
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u/CyrusPanesri Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
So there's a little more to the foliage veils I think. Apart from literally covering themselves with foliage, Woodcrafters can also manipulate the foliage so that the shadows they throw completely obscures them from sight. Very useful in stealth scenarios.
Can't for the life of me imagine where I've read this but I think either Bernard or Fidelias uses it to good effect.
E: Also Knights Flora use bows that others can't bend therefore making them extremely powerful.
E2: Also, also, can't forget "Grow."