urZah the Ritual-Guardian "urZah the Ritual Guardian had another widom. His mind was like a deep pool stirred by profound currents. Very slow to move, to speak; as wise as the silent stars. He made the sand paintings of prophecy for the urRu, pouring out the colored sands while the others chanted; combining and brushing the sands of amethyst, opal, agate, onyx, and chalcedony; building the forms of spiral energy, himself a spiral, and at the moment of completion and revelation sweeping all away with his tail. He spoke more freely than the other urRu, but in riddles for choice. Long nights of meditation had left thought spirals not only on the skin of his face, as on the faces of the other urRu, but all across his body. Of this he would not speak."

urIm the Healer "To the eyes of urIm the Healer, the corona that had flared around the heads of the urSkeks still flickered over the urRu. His amulets, his baths, his acupuncture, were designed to restore balance to the corona. With his right hands he made patterns in the air to restore the fires of the soul; with his left hands he made patterns in water to reduce them. He knew the art of the death trance; all other music he neglected."

urSol the Chanter "UrSol the Chanter had two voices: one light and gentle for speach, one deep and resonate for for song that could calm thunder or make waterfalls still. Music, he said, is the most ephemeral form of sculpture and therfore the most powerful. He wore his hair tied in a club; the knots it formed were varied for each chant and loosened at lesser conjunctions. He had the art to sing one note that made all the different stones of the valley tremble."

urTik the Alchemist "UrTik the Alchemist was forever lost in his experimentations. He would seek to change the forms of things, solids into liquids, liquids into solids agsin. With humility did he approach his work, bearing in mind the knowledge that he could not make or create anything that was Nature's work."

urAmaj the Cook "The closest together among the urRu were urAmaj the cook and urNol the herbalist. They attended to the greater and lesser balances of the body and spirits of their companions. Over much time urAmaj would blend the flavors and textures of fruit and root and grain and soice, sour and sweet, salt and aromatic, smooth and granular and fibrous, till the dish had the desired properties to sooth the urRu."

urNol the Herbalist "UrNol's herbs were taken for adjustment in the time between meals; he also made use of birds' feathers, and in particular the mosses and lichens thst grew on the Standing Stones, where he had his favorite gardens."

urAc the Scribe "UrAc the Scribe wrote the simpler thoughts of his comrades on unwound cloth soirals. This they called writing in rays of sunlight. Thoughts that he judged deeper and worthy of growth he wound into spirals to bring out their richness. Also he made the prayer sticks and composed their prayers."

urYod the Numerologist "UrYod the Numerologist kept track of time with moving strings of stones. I read his stars in secret; once we exchanged concordances. Before the division he aided me with the Observatory."

urUtt the Weaver "The blanket coats of all the urRu were made by urUtt the Weaver. Such delicate work from such thick fingers! Each coat was a record of its wearer's though and fate, with spirals that were also a comment on his past life and that controlled his dreams. At an urRu's last breath, the coat became as delicate and transparent as gossamer, then collapsed as the body beneath it vanished and the thoughts within its weaving were released. The urRu die, said urYod, because they can no longer join their future with their past."

Text from The World of the Dark Crystal by Brian Froud,
Henson Organization Publishing/Alfred A. Knopf, New York 1982
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