Crystal (Rowan of Rin)

"But for a thousand years the clans have been united under one all-powerful leader—the Keeper of the Crystal. The first Keeper was a man called Orin the Wise. It was he who found the Crystal, a treasure of great power and mystery, in a cave beneath the Maris sea."

- Timon

The Crystal is a magical stone of great power, wielded by the Keeper of the Crystal, which protects the Maris from invasion by the Zebak. When the current Keeper is dying the light of the Crystal weakens, and a new Keeper must be selected by the Chooser before the light dies away completely. The Crystal was discovered on the Island a thousand years prior to Doss becoming Keeper, by a man named Orin who became the first Keeper. The Crystal is kept in a special cavern along with the Keeper from the moment they are chosen to the moment they die. The Crystal also has the power to control the winds and the tides.

The Crystal is a transparent rock of comparative size that glows with an inner rainbow light when wielded by the chosen Keeper. When Perlain told Rowan the story of how Orin found the Crystal, he described it as glowing "as though a hundred rainbow fires were trapped inside it."

Discovery
A thousand years before Doss became the Keeper of the Crystal, the man who would become the first Keeper, Orin the Wise, was attacked by the Great Serpent while dangerously fishing at sunset during a full moon. It hunted him to the the the Island in the harbour, and there Orin fled into a cave. He plunged through a dark tunnel that led deep below the sea and in a small, rocky cavern, found the Crystal. When he touched it, it began to glow. Orin stayed in the cavern all night, and the next morning he carried the Crystal to the shore. People knew at once that it was a great wonder, but no one realised just how powerful it was. They soon found that it shone only for Orin, and that it had changed him, giving him unique abilities. Before Orin had found the Crystal, he had felt hatred for other clans, but when his clan urged him to use the Crystal to destroy their rivals, he would not. He shared with everyone the knowledge and wisdom of the Crystal, and the first Keeper. As years went by, it was found that the Crystal was more than even Orin had thought. It did not just give, but also took and kept. It contained all the knowledge of Maris, and would store a Keeper's learning and experience as they passed away, so that every Keeper was more wise than the previous one.

Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal
Rowan discovered that the Choosers had been members of his mother's family since the tribe who used to choose were decimated by the Zebak prior to the warrior slaves turning against their Zebak masters. This cruel act was the chief factor that prompted the slaves to rebel and join forces with the Travellers and the Maris. Lieth, Rowan's ancestor, took the burden as Chooser upon himself and his descendants. Rowan travelled to Maris with his mother, Jiller, to take over as Chooser if his mother was killed, as had happened to many Choosers in the past. Rowan recalled what he had been taught about the Crystal, but also learned much more. He learned, for instance, that each new Keeper had added to the wisdom of the Crystal, yet more recently the candidates had been trained only to gain the Chooser's trust, and had little to add to the power of the Crystal. He also learned that it did not matter from what tribe the Keeper came, for the Crystal would overcome any loyalty or treachery.

Two Moons
When the Star of Deltora approached Maris as part of the Rosalyn Contest, they were asked to leave, for the Keeper, by the power of the Crystal, could feel a dread presence on the ship.

Powers
The Crystal has the power to control the winds and the tides. It also allows the Keeper to see into people's hearts and read their minds. It lets the Keeper see things that others can not, feel fish below the water, sense serpents lurking, and allows the Keeper to simply taste the wind and say when storms are coming. The Crystal also contains all knowledge of past Keepers and will save a Keeper's memories when they pass away, making every Keeper wiser than the ones of the past. The Crystal will only shine for the chosen Keeper.

Furthermore, the Crystal allow the Keeper to sense presences, and at great distances. It is unknown if this covers both "natural" and "supernatural" presences. This power was seen used when the current Keeper, Doss, was able to sense the wraiths of the King of Tier on the Star of Deltora, sensing an "evil" on the vessel. He was unable to sense what the evil was, but fearing it was plague he refused the ship entrance at Maris.

Trivia

 * The image of the Crystal in the infobox is from the cover of an earlier version of Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal, with art by Barry Downard.