The mystics practiced the gentle magic of natural wizards. They are much like druids I would suppose. Earthy creatures bonded with nature, they represent all that is good. They rely heavily on music and harmony. The Skeksis are the opposite they are evil vile creatures that fight nature and pervert it for their own ends. They rely solely on the crystal for their powers. It's energy helps keep them alive. One of the Skeksis even developed a machine that uses the Crystals power to extract the essence from Gelflings and Pod People turning them into mindless slaves. This essence was a sort of potion of youth and was given to the king. Basically all the Skeksis power comes from the crystal. They have spy bats that they use and what the bats see they can see in the crystal.
It is important to note if you have forgotten that the Skeksis and Mystics are really one race that split apart into two when the crystal cracked and it is not until it is repaired that they can join together again. This leads to interesting events as the two races are one in the same when one skeksis dies his corresponding mystic must also die.
The Mystics have six arms and a long tale. The Skeksis are very skinny reptils with large snouts. Their apparent girth comes almost entirely from the lavish amounts of clothing and jewlery they adorn themselves with. Clothing and decorative materials are the most treasured items of the skeksis and the amount and quality of the clothes is used as a measure of prestige.
I Have the DVD and will watch parts of it tommorow to fill in some more details. It has a list of each of the roles of the skeksis ex. Chamberlain, Gotham Lord, etc. and Mystics ex. Weaver.
Female gelflings have wings and the mystics were originally called the uru.
I highly recommend picking up the DVD if you have the chance; it is absolutely superb.
'
