The Power of Iron

The Power of Iron, also called ironcraft is the fifth of the nine powers, which commands any object that belongs to the earth, excepting any living thing, or air, or water, or fire.

The Power of Iron is most common in Merithuros, although it has been known to be born into people of other origin, e.g. Darrow, from the Lakelands in the far north. The people of Merithuros also shun chanters, and chanters are sent to the Black Palace to be educated by chanters of iron, also called sorcerers or ironcrafters. Only a select few sorcerers ever leave the Black Palace, and then only to represent the Black Palace at the court of the Palace of Cobwebs.

At the Black Palace, the ironcrafters are instructed in chantment until the Elders, an elite group of sorcerers, take away an ironcrafter for the Testing. If they pass the Testing, they are initiated into the brotherhood of sorcerers. Those who do not pass disappear. Girls never pass the Testing. The brotherhood of sorcerers is bound together by their fear of the world outside the Black Palace, their absorption in their traditions, and their reverence for the ancient scholarship they guard.

Ironcraft has the lowest range of the chantments, and requires the chanter to sing two notes simultaneously: one in the throat and one in the mouth; this suggests that ironcraft is a form of throat singing. Most ironcrafters are men, although a few women can master ironcraft.