"Through storms of dust and searing rains,
Across the burning Cinderplains,
There stands the dreaded Ashworks Ring,
Ruled by Strythus, the clockwork king."
The sorceror once known as Strythus was one of the first great powers to side with the Spiral. He turned against his own king and facilitated the cepn infiltration of Savagnos, allowing the assassins to take the form of the king's own trusted friends. The prospect of death terrified Strythus, who believed that the spirits of the dead were pulled into the Eater regardless of their flaws or merits, and destroyed utterly. Thus, he struck a deal with his own nightmare, and was granted a twisted form of immortality for his deeds. He designed a mechanized construct to house his remains, and it was to this death-machine that his spirit was bound. The magician's head and spine were placed in a capsule of enchanted fluid, and mounted atop a hulking adamas frame loaded down with enchanted weapons and devices.
Though no longer able to work magic in the conventional sense, Strythus was armed with a veritable arsenal of deadly artifacts, capable of laying waste to entire towns. His bone and adamas carapace was virtually indestructable, resisting magical spells and weapons alike, and his formidable power made him one of the first in line to assume command of the growing Spiral factions. He is exceptionally intelligent, and consequently the most independant thinker among the Spiral Overlords. However, the Eater's taint has gradually robbed him of the last shreds of his remaining humanity, reducing him to an emotionless, robotic dictator. Lord Strythus is more commonly referred to as the Clockwork King.
Strythus is a brilliant tactician, and often takes direct control of his armies in lieu of his advocates. Like all those dominated by the Eater, he concerns himself most with the eradication of all Believers and the inevitable collapse of Rym's ecosystems. His artifacts are powered by soul-combustion, and he must drain the blood of espcially vibrant creatures in order to remain active. The blood of Believers is especially useful to him, and he has dedicated a great deal of his resources to hunting them down. It was Strythus who created the Husks, the monstrous ghouls that could track the Believers by the light of their souls.
Nirn, the Ashworks, is under Strythus' direct command. Many of the Spiral's war resources are produced by Nirn under the supervision of the clockwork king, including the liquid building resin, necril, derived from fused and melted corpses of slain beings (undead cement). Strythus is a very efficient and effective ruler, and views wasteful displays of power to be childish and pointless. He speaks through a series of grills in his chest, his toneless voice full of metallic echoes resonating from the brass wire vocal chords.
The Spiral Lord's artifact weaponry generally consists of a rotary elemental wand array, and a golden capacitor rod capable of generating lightning bolts. Other features of the artifact suit include vents that emit deadly gas, a teleportation crystal, a forcefield projector, and a series of hollow retractable spines, which he uses to drain the blood that powers his suit. The artificer is constantly designing new weapons and devices, and has a pair of delicate golden service hands to replace the weapons when he's at work in his laboratories.