WMG / Interesting Times Living Curse Of Ransara Monastery

Wild mass guessing!

Maybe even with metapoints!

The title of Kazan denotes a whole group, not just one person

The so-called "Kazan" wasn't a singular position, but instead a group of powerful people who were integral to the ecosystem of the Ransara mountain range. In fact they were very well organized and maybe even had some ultimate task, like keeping some sort of ancient evil at bay.

They were most likely the creators of the Jade Serpent which the group encountered (which enables one to contact the "spirit forces" of the mountain range). They also knew about Ismael's Asylum III (it's literally on their "list of interesting places to visit") and had a well thought out storage system for expensive mineral components. There's a tree that's unaffected by seasons near their hut and the ice frog the group fought was probably one of their pet guardians (it had a collar).

It's also likely that the Drake the group found trapped in ice is a showcase of their power. The group did decipher one of their ancient scrolls which allows ice spells to bypass cold resistance.

It's highly plausible that the Grand Master came for them and eliminated the entire group. Whatever he's doing inside the Monastery is likely destabilizing the local "magical ecosystem" and its guardians had to be dealt with in order for him to carry on unopposed.

Yurika might be a Snow Beast

Among many of the books in the elven library of Valathan one can find songs pertaining to the days of old. One of said songs describes a Snow Beast - a shapeshifting predator which used to haunt the northern reaches of the old Elven Empire and prey on its human inhabitants.

The Beast would infiltrate camps disguised as a weary female traveler. Come nightfall she would change into her true form and obliterate the camp, killing and consuming its inhabitants.

The song describes some distinct features of said Beast. Of particular interest is the verse "hair like snow, eyes that gleam". You know who has hair like snow, eyes that gleam and a supposedly demonic visage hidden beneath her mask? Yurika.

Yurika isn't the mountain seer she claims to be

While she does have the proper, unique ice-based powers to fit into the role, there are a lot of red flags.

When the group first arrived to her place of residence, there was a rather disheartening puddle of dried blood near the hut. She was also surprisingly absent-minded regarding the location of some key components for spells she should know, resulting in these components being seized by a rival adventuring party.

While she does know a lot about the natural phenomena occurring in the immediate area, she also has a disturbingly spotty memory when it comes to others. She also doesn't seem to know where anything is in her very own hut, which is kind of weird.

Last but not least: she claims to have met Xert, who never seems to have ventured this far north. She specifically recalled something about him being a very generous tipper. There's also all her absent-minded talk about lands very far south. It goes as far as her displaying genuine fear when confronted with the perspective of a great fire in the south of Ilyrium, only to calm down after hearing in was Elenport that burned down.

The dominant theory is that she may have some sort of relation to the mountain seers, but she's definitely not one herself. Maybe a far off descendant who came back and found her family slaughtered by the Great Master.

While it is true that the position itself is hereditary, it would also probably entail at least some sort of training, which Yurika seems to painfully lack. It could very well be that she claimed this position by force or was forced into it. To what ends - that remains a mystery.

The party is being used to further the plans of some supernatural entity.

Who else could be behind the basket of agates, or the things Wincent met in caves? There is definitely more going on here than meets the eye.

The Kazan actually worships the world-ending mountain snake.

...