The Gifts

Magic in the world of The Valley is an unspectacular, everyday thing. Not everyone has a Gift, and the amount of work it takes to become proficient in the Gift is enough to cause most to turn away from the pursuit of Magic.
For those who are dedicated to the pursuit of excellence, however, a new world of Creation and Creativity is open.
There are six ways that a Gift can manifest and four areas of specialization in these manifestations that only a small percentage can access.

The Process

The more one invests in the process of Creation, the stronger the item they create will be. We will look at a smith with the Metal Gift to demonstrate this. They are forging a rapier for a Lawkeeper. If they use metals that an apprentice harvested, tools that someone else made, a forge that someone else made, and a heating element that someone else created, the sword will be good, but not much beyond what someone of similar skill without the Metal Gift could create.
However, if this Smith mined their own metals with tools that they made, refined the metals in a furnace that they made (with charcoal that they mined,) forged the weapon with tools, a forge, and with coal that they made and harvested the weapon will be exceptional. The edge will hold for years without needing to be sharpened, and it won't rust or break.
Some weapons are said to have near-mythical powers. For example, ancient masters of the craft are said to have forged swords capable of cutting through bone with barely any resistance. Some war hammers grow heavier as the warrior who wields them swings down toward their enemies. While the masters of the Valley have not reached this level, some have begun to create wonderful works wrought in metal.

This same process is repeated for all of the Gifts. Those of the Flowering Gift can grow produce nearly three times as large as the average farmer. Musicians of the Wood Gift can build instruments whose music brings an entire audience to dance. Goats who have been raised for generations by the same individual with an Animal Gift can give milk so rich and creamy that one could live off of the liquid without any other food.

The Gifts

Animate

Wood-Specialization: Fruit/Nuts
As one would guess, those of the Wood gift work with trees. However, there are a variety of ways that this gift can be used. Wood is needed in nearly every construction project, carved items are needed in every home, and many instruments are built out of wood.

	Wood	Fruit/nuts
The Work	Planting, fertilizing, pruning, shaping, felling	Planting, fertilizing, pruning, harvesting, preserving
Uses	Carving, growing, fire, charcoal, building	Cooking/food, brewing/fermenting, ink,

Grass/Grains
Grass and grains are slightly less intuitive. While growing wheat, corn, and other types of grain are immediately obvious: paper is made from thick grass stalks found in the Marsh, clothing is made from flax, beer is made from grain, and some dies are made from colorful grass. While most with the Grass and Grain gift become farmers, some carve out unique positions for themselves in society.

	Grass/Grains
The Work	Planting, tending, watering, harvesting, preparing, storing
Uses	Weaving, cooking, sewing, spinning, looming, brewing/fermenting, paper-making

Animals-Specialization: Taming
Animal husbandry, Hunting, and Fishing. Those with the Animal gift strive to use every portion of the animal's body. Bones are made into fishhooks, combs, flutes, fertilizer, and many other items. Dung, bones, and blood are made into fertilizer. Hides are tanned to make tents or clothing, meat is cooked, sinews are made into string, and fat is made into candles and tallow.
Taming is very useful and has been instrumental in domesticating Blackwell Goats, wolves, and fowl. However, many of those capable of taming attempt to raise animals, such as the Cave Bear and Mountain Cat, that are too dangerous for the general public. While these animals are often friendly to those who raised them (although there have been many stories of a Tamer meeting their end at the claws of an animal they trusted,) they rarely develop a friendliness for the human race as a whole. Because of this, many Tamers are far from civilization, living like the animals they are attempting to tame.

	Animals	Taming
The Work	Birthing, raising, breeding, milking, slaughtering, hunting, fishing	Birthing, raising, breeding, milking
Uses	Leather, sewing, processing of animal byproducts, cooking	Work animals, friendship

Flowering Plants
Most vegetables and non-tree-based fruits, such as berries, fall into the category of Flowers. Curiously, flowering grass doesn't fall into this category; instead, it falls into the Grass/Grain Gift.

	Flowering Plants
The Work	Planting, harvesting, brewing, cooking, preserving, drying, crushing
Uses	Growing, fragrance, food, brewing/distilling, dyes

Inanimate

Earth-Specialization: Stone There are several different directions those with the Earth Gift can go. They can focus on harvesting clay and creating ceramic pots, tiles, and other ceramic items. They can focus on building earthworks and assisting farmers with irrigation and fertilization.
The Stone specialization is slightly less broad and includes mining, blowing glass, building with stone, and harvesting and refining coal.

	Earth	Stone
The Work	Digging, refining, smelting	Mining, carving, carrying, designing buildings
Uses	Ceramics, tilling, building, irrigation, smelting, paths	Glass, coal, roads, carving, building, mining

Metal-Specialization: Precious Metals Many consider the Metal Gift the most useful and the Precious Metal Gift the least useful specialization. Even those with the Precious Metal specialization often ignore it in favor of the more common metals.

	Earth	Stone
The Work	Mining, refining, smithing,	Mining, refining, smithing
Uses	Tools, weapons, fittings for ships,	Jewelry, inlaying

Dangers

While there are many dangers that one can run across while working, these are generally the same as what someone without a Gift would face. A farming accident could ruin someone's hand, a smithing accident could leave someone burned, and hundred of other small and deadly accidents could happen.
However, this is one danger, and that is The Consumed, also know as Full Creation. This is rare, but does occur in cases when the Gifted push themselves too far.