- "They rule Riverrise with an iron fist, allowing neither disobedience nor dissent. Any who think of opposing them are dealt with without mercy."
- -Felderforth
The Riverrise Custodians, simply called the custodians for short, were an organisation during the Third Age of Flight. They ruled the city of Riverrise with an increasingly tight grip, and brutally dealt with even the thought of dissent. The leader of the Riverrise Custodians was called the Custodian General.
Organisation
Membership
The Riverrise Custodians were all waifs; no non-waifs were allowed to be members. However, waifs of all different kinds were allowed to join. Brogtrolls were often used as guards or workers by the custodians, and, at least occasionally, gabtrolls and gnokgoblins worked as assistants to custodians. Members of the custodians wore white robes and wielded clearwood blowpipes loaded with darts dipped in poisonous blackroot oil.
Leadership
The Riverrise Custodians were led by a despotic Custodian General. Due to his immortality, Golderayce One-Eye was the only person to ever hold this position. However, he was constantly afraid of being assassinated and deposed, so he had to make sure to never show weakness, even to members of his own organisation.
The Custodian General, Golderayce One-Eye
Policies
Riverrise Water
The Riverrise Custodians derived much of their power from their control of the healing water from the Riverrise spring. They carefully regulated the flow of water into highflow and lowflow, and over time they allowed less and less of it to be accessed by the citizens of Riverrise. They required payment in exchange for water, and they prevented anyone except Golderayce One-Eye from accessing the Garden of Life and the most potent water of the Riverrise spring itself, on pain of death. Many people who could have been saved from their ailments died due to inability to access Riverrise water.
Dealing with Dissent
The Riverrise Custodians tolerated no dissent. If they discovered any action or thought of dissent (as waifs, they could hear thoughts), then they would have the offender killed by a waif assassin. Citizens were forced to either overthink or underthink to hide treasonous thoughts, and if they could not do either of those methods then they just couldn’t think treasonously at all. Because of this atmosphere of fear, the Riverrise Amphitheatre, where citizens could publicly discuss and debate among themselves, was abandoned.
Projects
During their time in power the Riverrise Custodians organised many building projects. The Waif Trail was built by red- and black-dwarf slavers and their nameless one slaves for the custodians. The Aqueduct of Riverrise was built by engineers from Great Glade and Hive, and the custodians used it to regulate the distribution of water. Blindfolded brogtrolls, under the direction of Golderayce One-Eye, built the sluice gate in the Garden of Life so that the flow of water could be controlled by the custodians.
The Riverrise Custodians organised the construction of the city of Riverrise itself. The custodians built and manned the Keep to stop intruders from entering the Garden of Life. They also installed lamps in various places throughout the city.
Agreements
The Riverrise Custodians had deals with some other organisations and individuals. They had the red- and black-dwarves build and maintain the Waif Trail through the Thorn Forests. They permitted the dwarves to harshly enslave the nameless ones to achieve this task. Later, just before the custodians’ downfall, Quove Lentis sought an alliance with them. It was rumoured that he wanted his own personal supply of water from the Riverrise spring itself, and because the custodians saw the descenders’ attempts to explore the Edge cliff as blasphemy of the worst kind, as “violating the eternal night,” Quove Lentis stopped supporting the School of Edge Cliff Studies.
Downfall
After centuries of oppressing Riverrise, the custodians were finally brought down. The Custodian General, Golderayce One-Eye, was killed in the Garden of Life in an incident with Nate Quarter and the Caterbird, and immediately afterwards the custodians were expelled from Riverrise, along with the red- and black-dwarf slavers, by the citizens. The custodians’ policies of murdering dissenters, regulating and charging for Riverrise water, enslaving nameless ones, and cutting off access to the Garden of Life were ended, and Riverrise was freed.