Skysworn (Organization)

Sacred Arts
Cradle Locations
Cradle Factions
Cradle Theories

The Skysworn organization protects and defends the Blackflame Empire. It also guards against illegal use of sacred arts from within the empire. It's colors are green and ....

## Captain Naru Gwei

* Commander of the organization
* An Underlord, among the top three in the empire, by rank
* Related to Naru Huan, emperor of the Blackflame Empire
* Quite skillful with the Naru clan wings
* Grisled, always acts weary, chews on a leaf, greasy gray hair, burn scars on one side of face
* Employs a massive dark slab of a sword
* Cannot tolerate the company of Eithan Arelius
* Can occasionally show begrudging wisdom

### Members

* All Skysworn are sacred artists
	+ Lowgold is the lowest rank in the Skysworn, but they are only used in extreme need
* Squad Leaders include Bai Rou and Renfei
* For a while, one Skysworn squad was led by Eithan Arelius. His unit included Wei Shi Lindon Arelius, Yerin Arelius, Akura Mercy, and Orthos
* At times, even the emperor Naru Huan joins the battle, as does his sister Naru Saeya, as well as Cassias Arelius and his wife Naru Jing

## Cloud Headquarters

The Skysworn are headquartered in Starsweep Tower on Stormrock, the cloudship fortress/city. The fortress includes jail cells, a hospital, a foundry for smithing weapons, clouds and other magical constructs , including Skysworn armor, as well as a fairly well-stocked library of sacred arts. The huge fortress can float around the empire, but does so only rarely and if needed, because it requires excessive amounts of madra to fuel it. Instead, the Skysworn employ numerous cloudships, which are highly mobile. Excerpt, from Underlord:

> The Skysworn’s flying city of Stormrock was built on a massive green cloudbank. Guard towers loomed over forbidding walls of black stone, even as one tower rose over the rest of the city. Starsweep Tower. Headquarters of the Skysworn. Other cloudships, Thousand-Mile Clouds, carriages pulled by winged creatures, and flying sacred artists had to stop at the gates of the city, but Naru Gwei’s cloudship soared over the walls without even slowing down. They headed straight to the highest floor of Starsweep Tower, where a broad path of stone jutted out like a bridge to nowhere. The dock for his ship. (Underlord)
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* Eventually, Fisher Gesha sets up a soulsmithing shop in this floating city. She runs it with help from members of the Fisher Sect from the Desolate Wilds

## Skysworn Armor

* Skysworn armor is deep emerald green
* It comes with a tight-fitting cloth suit that's worn beneath it
* “There are defensive constructs in the armor that cover the head. That's the real defense, more than the armor itself. And there are protective scripts circling the neck.” (Underlord)
* Armor package includes various extras:
	+ a dream construct that could transmit messages
	+ a Thousand-Mile Cloud contained in a compartment on the back
	+ a triggered defense in the form of a wind barrier
	+ passive defenses in the form of scripts that weakened hostile madra and spiritual attacks
	+ a long list of additional options that could be added by the Skysworn Soulsmiths (see Underlord)

### Armor Shortcomings

* Each of those constructs had to be powered. If it drew on itself for power, it would only last for a few days before needing to be replaced. If the sacred artist fueled the constructs, their madra had to be compatible. Even so, the armor would need near-constant maintenance, and the more options it had, the more expensive it would be to maintain." (Underlord)

* Wei Shi Lindon Arelius improved upon his armor with scripts and soulsmithing, aided by Dross and Fisher Gesha