Urizen territories

Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.

The lands of the Urizen are predominantly mountainous in nature, for they favour the heights and summits of hills and mountains as sites to construct their spires.

Morrow

The spires of Morrow are amongst the oldest in Urizen, dating back to the nation's birth. The heart of the Heliopticon is here, making it a centre of communication for the Nation. The miracle of the Heliopticon is administered from this territory, and most spires maintain a series of prisms, lenses and mirrors atop their tallest roof in order to pass on the flickering messages that keep the nation in constant communication. Many spires in Morrow inhabit some of the original buildings discovered on the mountaintops by the first Urizen to ascend the mountains. Large open buildings, with doorways and halls just larger than a human might need, they create a sense of open space that has set the pattern for all Urizen architecture. Despite its great age Morrow moves inexorably forward, and many of its spires are undergoing constant reconstruction and improvement. It is said that “no two days find the same Morrow” as the Urizen constantly strive to perfect their land even further. A project may take a decade or even more to come to fruition, but the Urizen pride themselves on vision and their desire to perfect their world.

Redoubt

Redoubt is the smallest of the three Urizen territories and the wildest. The peaks are lower here and many spires are actually built in the foothills. The lowlands are quite dangerous, being inhabited by several bandit tribes of orcs and barely a year goes by without a nest of trogoni or a den of drakes becoming a nuisance. Unsurprisingly, there are many citadels here and a strong martial tradition, but this is also a territory that produces more than its fair share of zoologists and botanists. These natural philosophers are sometimes blamed for the more esoteric animals and plants found here, and the occasional mutated hybrid horror that appears here is often a sign that a magician is straying dangerously close to insanity.

Zenith

The mountains of Zenith are the tallest in the nation, and perhaps the Empire, and the air here is still and cold. The spires tend towards the contemplative, the night sky is rarely concealed by clouds making the territory perfect for stargazers. Many religious thinkers and philosophers also reside in Zenith, where they claim that the rarefied air helps them maintain a sense of detachment and clarity. Zenith is well known for its abundant magical auras and many spires have experimented with arrays of metal mirrors that focus the light of the sun into internal chambers to try enhance the production of magical crystals. Zenith also has some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the Nation, with apparently bottomless mountain lakes providing succulent fish to supplement the diet of the inhabitants.

Spiral

Lost in 331YE. The Urizen lived in Spiral long before there was an Empire, but even then it was isolated. The main thrust of pre-Imperial Urizen settlement was in Morrow to the north, and the two territories were connected by a tenuous "bridge" of spires stretching across Zenith. Even then, the place had a haunted reputation. At some point in the distant past, powerful magic was worked here and the echoes of that magic occasionally caused trouble for the Urizen in their mountain fastnesses. At the heart of the territory is the Black Plateau, great plateau of volcanic glass with a dire reputation. Artefacts from the Black Plateau are often considered haunted or touched by malign evil, and are generally destroyed when they are encountered.