Custodian of the Claw

The Custodian of the Claw is an Urizen Imperial title created following an announcement in Autumn 378YE by the Crystal Architect of the Spires. The position of Custodian is a sinecure, requiring minimal responsibility but offering a regular income of crystal mana.

Responsibilities

The Custodian has no particular responsibilities; they simply receive a bounty of crystal mana from the Caves of the Claw in Morrow. If the Caves were to be threatened in any way, it would be the responsibility of the Custodian to deal with those threats.

Powers

As a sinecure, the Caves of the Claw provide their Custodian with no particular powers; rather they receive an income of 9 crystal mana each season.

Selection

The Custodian is an Urizen national position appointed by the Senate. Under normal circumstances it will be appointed by unanimous vote of the Urizen senators.

Because this is a national position, the title can only be held by an Urizen citizen.

Removal

The Custodian serves has tenure and serves until they die, step down or are revoked.

The Custodian can be revoked by the Urizen national assembly, the the General assembly or the Assembly of Nine.

History

Expansion of the Caves of the Claw was completed shortly before the 379YE Summer Soltstice. The senators of Urizen will appoint someone to the title of Custodian during the ucoming summit.

The Caves of the Claw

The Caves of the Claw are a series of deep caves in Ravion in Morrow. They were rediscovered by the Minister of Historial Research in 378YE, and during the SPring of 379YE were excavated by ushabti associated with the citadel of Phoenix Reach in Morrow under the supervision of the Crystal Architect of the Spires.

The caves are extremely unwelcoming. They are damp, narrow and claustrophobic, and the walls are jagged and sharp. In many places, it is neccessary to crawl through extremely narrow passages - but the journey is definitely worth it. The open chambers of the Caves of the Claw are lined with rough crystal formations of a deep crimson hue and great beauty.

In order to encourage the growth of mana crystals a number of mithril focussing mirrors were positioned in precise locations to scatter daylight throughout the network (or as deep into the network as is feasible), and a series of delicate aqueducts have been constructed to ensure the caves stay moist. This increased flow of water and light has ensured that the caves have begun producing usable crystal mana once again.

As a side effect, the excavation work and the new illumination have highlighted the natural beauty of the cave system. Stargazers and Seers have begun visiting the caves to engage in meditation on the nature of the realms of Spring - and to a degree of Summer. Hopefully, these pilgrims will be sensible enough not to interefere with the actual structure of the caves.

The passion of Irulan

Local legends assert that the crystals were not always red; In the distant past, a young woman named Irulan sought to prove her virtue in the hope of impressing a suitor. She sword to reach the far end of the caves - deeper than anyone had travelled before. Her succes won her the attention of her love, but she was badly cut by the sharp crystal formations in the process - and her blood stained the crystals to this day.

According to the story, Irulan's arms are marked forever with scars forming the shape of the runes of Passion and Blood. Of course in the story Irulan apocryphally goes on to become one of the finest Spring realm Magi in Urizen, and credits her experiences in the Caves with her success and deeper understanding of the Spring realm.

The tale is obviously fanciful - there is no evidence that Irulan was a real woman, for example- but it is diverting nonetheless. A much more likely explanation for the rich colouratio of the crystals is is that they are tainted with trace orichalcum impurities. The story has been handed down through the generations however - even after the location of the caves themsevles were lost - and used to teach young Urizen the importance of harnessing one's passions.