Corvus' spells from year +15
I'm deducing that the Maintain:Moon spell can target spells of level up to 20, but this would deserve to be made explicit, no?
You are quite right, on both accounts.
I apologize, I've been taking shortcuts with the less interesting spells. Variants of Maintaining the Demanding spell are close to the core book spell, so I gave it little time and attention.
I like the "Expand the Raven’s Lore" and "Invoke the Raven’s Curiosity" series. I understand that first you use knowledge series to teach them about warriors or mages, and then you use the curiosity series to make them spy random thematic things (warriors or magi) in an area.
Am I wrong?
Nope that's it.
Without true intelligence, they are not as reliable as human spies,. So Corvus gives them inclinations to look for and take note of specific things relevant for a conflict with the Order of Suleiman (or rather: actions leading up to a conflict).
But first he teaches the ravens what "mystics" and "warriors" are, so they know.
For the next period I might add a pair of spells relating to food and farming. If the ravens keep tabs on where the enemy grows and stores food it will be easier to make significant raids. And a bushel of the enemy's food is worth a lot more than an bushel of your own.
Corvus will also look into more offensive spells using Form of Animal as well as granting the ravens true intelligence.
I'm underway with Corvus +30
Corvus continues with spells in the same line, spells with giving ravens human-like intelligence, and spells with flocks of rather than single ravens.
I'm fiddling with a spell, and cant quite find a useful guideline in RAW:
[ReAn 2 “Plant a suggestion in the mind of an animal” is too easy, but 15 “Completely control an animal” is more powerful than needed here. Base 5 is “Manipulate an animal’s emotions and seems fair. But for Mentem the lowest suggestion-type guideline seems to be ReMe 10 "Imbue all of a person's response with a particular emotion"]
Thoughts, comments?
Base 5 seems appropriate to be honest if it’s equivalent to an emotional response. Particularly if the animal can still be distracted or avoid the suggestion due to other inputs.
I thought that as well. The Base 15 for total control is too high, and also too powerful. That one may come at a later date, but for now less can do it. I just thought Base 2 was so very low. Oddly enough, I find the base guidelines to use for Animal most often so high many spells aren't worth the trouble. But not this one.
Base 2 is a suggestion, and perhaps the animal is easily distracted.
One might almost think that Animal was poorly integrated into Hermetic Theory, perhaps?
Maybe even spend time on a project to see if it was possible to achieve a better Hermetic integration of Animal?
Maybe.
I get that it’s more complex to create live animals than living plants, but animal products (unprocessed) are 2-3 magnitudes harder than plant products. Why?
If one goes about Integration of better Animal, that’d be a Breakthrough. That used Int and Magic Theory only, and more or less requires puissance and Inventive Genius. It won’t help at all to be an expert in (a narrow field of) Animal.
And check this one out:
I've added a Muto req and a magnitude for this, although the original Wall of Thorns doesn't even through the thorns are "unnaturally resilient". Is this even necessary?
My design does not add a magnitude for Size, since by my calculations a Group of animal products is a mass equivalent to 10 Size +1 animals, like ponies which I've assigned at 150 kg each. Base individual for Herbam is about volume not mass, it is "a plant roughly 1 pace in each dimension". So for Group and +1 Size you get 100 cubic paces, and the actual size of the wall is 20x4x1=80 so it's well within this limit. But I have an easier time with Animal apparently - about time that Form threw me a bone (pun intended).
As an exception to most all other of Corvus' spells this one not only has R:Voice but also D:Sun.The alternative is that Corvus will invent a level 40 Day of the Demanding Spell to allow lowering the above spell to D:Conc and level 35. But if the Muto req is deemed unnecessary then the spell is a further magnitude easier!
If those are raven bones, I'm pretty certain that blunt force should work really well in breaking the wall.
Birds have famously fragile bones.
Yeah, I had thought about that too - hollow bones.
On second thoughts the bones with a Muto requisite can be "unnaturally resilient" plus if it is a tightly weaved yet flexible lattice" blunt force is more likely to push and flex rather than smash.
On third thoughts, it's more thematically correct of they have this weakness - it's just a minor thing after all.
Just wait until Corvus develops the spell to move that wall! Once it rolls over you it doesn't matter if you have a sword or a mace, or a boiled leek.
So, as I'm fiddling with this follow-up spell I come across the guidelines to move things, and finally a bone is thrown to me:
ReAn2: Manipulate an item made of animal products. This is the only ReAn guideline about moving stuff.
ReHe3: Control an amount of wood/Manipulate an item made of animal products, is the closest thing. There are higher Bases for moving entire plants or more fancy effects
ReTe3: Control or move stone or glass in a slightly unnatural fashion. I think "slightly unnatural" is ok, for things which stay on the ground, and "highly unnatural" is about floating around in thin air.
So to move the aforementioned wall around is: Base 2, +2 Voice, +2 Group..that's only level 10! I might as well throw in D:Conc (or Diam?) so Corvus can use it really offensively. This is easier than moving around the Wall of Thorns, which would be Base 3, +2 Voice, +2 Group +1 Size = 20 at D:Mom or 25 for Conc.
Many years ago a player used Animate Object and Blade Barrier in combination - we liked the idea so much that we ignored the fine print. A whirling wall of sharpened raven bones is equally cool.
It’s got to have a cool name though. Don’t let us down. 
I'll add a magnitude or two for faster movement, enough to chase down humans.
And I'll certainly think up a dramatic name
Manipulate Animal products is ReAn Base 1.
Your spell may have just got nastier again.
However I think there is a valid question of what was meant by manipulate. I raise this as Rego Terram has a few guidelines based around movement being natural or unnatural, and perhaps they should be considered here?
They are hollow, but denser than those of the comparable mammals of their size. They don't, in fact, weight less than those of a terrain based creature of the same weight because of this increased density. I don't think that they are more fragile than other comparable sources of bones.
You're right, it is only base 1.
And Terram makes distinction about natural, slightly unnatural, and very unnatural movement. It's difficult to be sure which spell uses which, because additions for stone are added directly to the base guideline, so I can't know is the base 3 for earth shock is 'very unnatural for earth' or 'slightly unntaural for stone'
Natural movement is base 1 for dirt, base 2 for stone. Unseen arm uses that. Slow movement but may float
Slightly unnatural movement is base 2 for dirt, base 3 for stone. Unseen Porter uses that. Faster movement, may float
Very unnatural movement is base 3 for dirt, base 4 for stone. Wielding the invisible Sling uses that. Fast movement
Animal Form does not make such distinctions, nor does Herbam. Looking at Herbam spells base 3 like Dance of the Staves, Strike of the Angered Branch, Tangle of Wood and Thorns the movement can be both fast enough to do damage, floats in or flies through air. So unnatural to some degree.
Corvus spell has no reason in Re An guidelines to use anything higher than 1, but definitively needs additional magnitudes for sufficient speed and internal movement of the components to function like intended. I'll add magnitudes +2 speed +1 churning components and end up at the same level as before.
Have you ever tried breaking chicken bones?