Alternate spelling for selenseh redian. or Jewel Caves, one of the weirdest natural feature of the world.

There are three known on Sartor, two on Drael, one each on Toar and Goerael, but that doesn't mean there are not more--and that they don't move around, though how what is essentially a cave full of gemstomes can move puzzles people exceedingly.

Though the name comes from positive concepts--selen is Old Sartoran for harmony (elen being love) and red seems to come from rath or roth which means good--a trip inside the caves is not always an uplifting experience.

Many mages think that the amazing clusters of glowing gems are some kind of early life form, though how they get there, and how they metamorphose is anyone's guess. What's clear is that the gems seem to have fire inside them, a corruscant fire that is quite dizzying to stare into. One dreams, or hears whispers, or thinks one's skull has splintered and one's mind is spreading like a bottle of ink spilled into a vast pool. Many feel hot, or out of breath inside the caves, and it's also well known that to enter one with ill intent is to guarantee a miserable stay--if one even makes it inside. Norsundrians have never entered one. Those who manage to force a living person before them just to gain access end up wandering caves for what seems forever. So though, from time to time, various wealthy individuals have offered empire-sized bounty for a single one of the fire stones, no one has actually ever stolen one from the caves.

The stones were once given to mages, especially in the north, and have been cherished beyond any mere treasure. They are sometimes bound with enchantment, but won't hold dark magic long before burning out. However, they act like solar cells: put out in the sun, they will soak in sunlight and radiate it. This attribute has made them much prized by the morvende, and the Venn.

Occasionally the caves appear deliberately, and their effect has been odd indeed. Also, time and space are not to be trusted while humans are inside them.

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