by Davis Ashura
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Linchpin Knoll: A small hill near Clifftop where all the known anchor lines that connect Arylyn to the rest of the world are located.
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Mount Madhava: It is the only true mountain on Arylyn, visible from nearly every vantage point on the island. It had once been an active volcano until a settling of dwarves calmed it. The descendants of those dwarves would go on to live in a set of villages they built within the mountain’s broad shoulders.
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Riven Road: A rugged road that branches off Sita’s Song north of Janaki Valley. From there, it extends around the western and northwestern shoulders of Mount Madhava by passing through Charybdis Way and then Jaipurana Pass. From there, it leads to Arylyn’s northern beaches and watchtowers.
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River Namaste: The river that feeds Janaki Valley. The waters collect from the foothills that surround Mount Madhava. From there, the river flows through Janaki Valley and tumbles over the cataracts, spreading like a fine mist across Lilith’s Cliffs before recollecting at the base of Cliff Spirit. The waters then sweep north through a narrow canyon lined with statues of great figures from Arylyn’s past.
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Scylla Pass: A mountain pass on the northwestern slopes of Mount Madhava. It branches of the Riven Road and parallels Jaipurana Pass before rejoining Riven Road north of Jaipurana Pass.
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Sita’s Song: A long road that runs through Janaki Valley and all the way to the southern base of Mount Madhava.
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Village of Meldencreche: It was the last, living dwarven village on Arylyn before the dwarves became a Memory. It sits within the bulk of Mount Madhava and the Dwarven Memory resides there.
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MISCELLANEOUS
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On Arylyn, those who wish to progress in a profession start out as apprentices. From there, they become journeymen. Finally, they become adepts, or masters.
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Enrune: The national game of Arylyn. It utilizes speed, physicality, and skill with asra. The latter is actually the most important attribute for success in enrune.
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Treatises on Travel—A Translation: A translated book about anchor lines.
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The Intervention: A very boring book about the Nusrael. William discovers it in the library. The librarian advised him to never open the book’s pages, but William didn’t listen. He wishes he had.
SINSKRILL
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SINSKRILL DRAMATIS PERSONAE
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Adam Carpenter (went by the name Adam Paradiso in the Far Beyond): The powerful Secondus to his true brother, Axel. He was also Serena’s Isha during her pilgrimage as a bishan in the Far Beyond.
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Axel Carpenter: Raised to the status of Servitor over twenty years ago when he successfully maintained his position on the Servitor’s Seat. He is the unopposed leader of the mahavans.
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Brandon Thrum: Born to two nameless drones. He is a Walker and was once Serena’s fiercest supporter when he thought she might become a Village Prime.
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Darren Pyre: Fire Prime. An old mahavan. He served as Adam’s Isha.
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Devon Carpenter: Prime of Village Bliss.
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Evelyn Mason: An intense, young Rider with auburn hair that billows about her head when her passions run away with her. She was also once Serena’s supporter on Sinskrill, but she now wants to do nothing more than kill Serena, who she believes a traitor.
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Gold Imbue: Tender Prime. Like all mahavans, he can be casually cruel.
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Hannah Yearn: Captain of the Deathbringer. Competent but risk-averse and Brandon replaces her command of Deathbringer before the battle at Lilith.
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Josiah Danks: The foreman who replaced Justin Finch upon his demotion.
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Justin Finch: A Sinskrill foreman who disliked William and Jake enough to fight them. He was broken to the rank of peasant for striking those considered of higher rank than him.
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Mary Commons: Justin Finch’s fiancé before he was broken to the rank of peasant for fighting William and Jake.
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Rail Swift: Rider Prime. He is a known coward who hides during a conflict.
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Sherlock Carpenter: Prime of Village Paradiso on Sinskrill. He died shortly after lashing Jake.
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Thomas White: A Tender occasionally in charge of William and Jake during their time on Sinskrill.
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Trina Batter: Walker Prime. She often works with Darren Pyre, the Fire Prime. They have a true son, Aaron Batter, who is a Spirit Master, which is an embarrassment to both of them.
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Tristan Winegate: A young Tender who had initially supported Serena in her bid to become a Village Prime. He died at the teeth and claws of a small tribe of unformed.
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HISTORY
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The island was founded as a refuge for the mahavans in 3659 BC but not permanently settled until 1943 BC. Originally Sinskrill was a barren land with a climate similar to the Faroe Islands. As a result, the first inhabitants had to import much of the fauna and flora. They planted tough grass and heather to hold the soil of the lowlands and then forested the hills with lodge pole pines, spruce pines, feltleaf willows, black cottonwoods, green alders, beech, caneloes, and hard log marten. The work might have gone easier with the aide of a sithe of elves. However, since mahavans tend to enslave any woven race they encounter, that proved impossible.
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Nevertheless, the island flowered. It is known that at one time, tens of thousands of mahavans once called Sinskrill home. This included Amethyst, a smaller island off the coast of Sinskrill. However, a combination of the fading of the world’s lorasra and the foolish importation of several large, powerful tribes of unformed led to the devastation of the mahavan population.
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By modern times, all of Sinskrill’s northern villages have been abandoned, and so, too, was Amethyst. The only remaining places of habitation exist along the island’s southern coast. The rest of Sinskrill has been given over to wilderness. In essence, the island has returned to its roots as a rocky place full of rugged mountains. It has once more become a hard place for a hard people, a fact in which the mahavans take great pride.
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Of note, there are no rats, mice, frogs, gnats, or mosquitoes on Sinskrill. The early settlers wisely chose against allowing pests onto the island.
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GOVERNMENT AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
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The government is fairly simple in that the Servitor is the island’s unquestioned sovereign. This unchallenged rule is felt to be ordained through the will of Sinskrill’s god, Shet, who supposedly chooses the island’s next ruler upon the death of the prior Servitor. This happens when a mahavan manages to sit upon the Servitor’s Chair for a full minute, thus earning Shet’s blessing. Any mahavan can make the attempt but lack of success can be painful and earn the enmity of the new Servitor. As a result, it is generally only the Secondus who tries for the Chair, and from that point on, the newly raised Servitor—regardless of whether they are male or female—is referred to as ‘liege’, and they take the surname ‘Carpenter’.
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Of course, like all places, Sinskrill contains politics and a wise Servitor plays each faction off another. In this case, the wise Servitor plays each collegium—around which mahavan society is structured—and their respective Primes, against one another.
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Every mahavan belongs to a single collegium, and there is one for each Element. In addition, the various collegia have different levels of respect amongst the overall mahavan population.
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Those belonging to the
Fire Master collegium are known as Seres, and they the finest warriors on Sinskrill, with training in unarmed and armed combat. The Air Masters are called Walkers, and they are the Servitor’s spies. They are also in a constant conflict with the Seres for dominance in Sinskrill. Those from the Water Master collegium are known as Riders. They cleanse the water of impurities, such as heavy metals that seep down from the northern mountains as well as lorasra that flows from Shet to Sinskrill. The lowest ranking collegium belongs to the Earth Masters, who are known as Tenders. They are essentially farmers.
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As for the Primes, they are mahavans of note who are given command over a collegium or one of Sinskrill’s villages. In this case, Paradiso or Bliss since the Servitor rules Village White Sun directly. The village Primes are also adopted by the Servitor into his/her family and take on the surname ‘Carpenter’.
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In addition, there is a fifth group of mahavans, Spirit Master, or Spiritualists. However, they are of quite limited power and prestige and are not afforded an independent collegium.
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Of interesting note, Servitors tend not live as long as other mahavans, and no one knows why. Some have speculated that it might be due to the fact that upon their elevation, a newly made Servitor is transformed into both a thera’asra and a raha’asra, a fact not widely known.
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An even less known secret—one known only by Servitors and a few of the Secondus’s—is that, in addition to their abilities as asrasins, all Servitors and some of the Secondus’s have the power of an unformed.
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*It should be noted that mahavans believe themselves to be superior to all magi, especially when it comes to physical conflict. Recent events have not borne out this viewpoint.
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SINSKRILL MISCELLANEOUS
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Bishans: Shills who have progressed deep into their training. They are tested a final time at age eighteen after their pilgrimage, and those who pass are made mahavans. However, just as important as completion of the pilgrimage is how such an accomplishment was managed. It is the latter that often determines into which collegium a newly minted mahavan is accepted.
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Demolition: The Servitor’s ship.
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Drones: This is the status of all children at birth, including those born to mahavan parents. Their status remains unchanged until the age of ten when they are given three attempts to pass a Tempering. Failure on all three occasions leads to stripping where they still have some of their lorethasra but can no longer link to lorasra in any meaningful fashion.
From that point on, their life path is forged and they work as peasant farmers, largely under the regulation and control of the Tenders.
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*All drones take the surname of the village in which they were born. In addition, boys are eventually sent to a different village from their birth.
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Lord Shet: The god of Sinskrill. He is also the lord of raha’asras and master of all Elements. His compiled wisdom is found in Shet’s Council. Most asrasins believe him to be a myth.
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Isha: One who trains a shill or a bishan.
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Mahavans: the elite asrasins of Sinskrill. It takes years of forging to create one. Once a bishan is elevated to the status of mahavan, they can exchange their village surname for that of their parents, or even that of the collegium into which they were accepted. Most choose family.
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Shill: A drone who has passed their Tempering. At age fifteen, shills are retested and those who pass become bishans. They have two chances to pass and failure leads to stripping.
THE FAR BEYOND
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DRAMATIS PERSONAE IN THE FAR BEYOND
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WIZARD BILL’S WANDERING WONDERS
*The circus that William, Jason, and Serena join in order to temporarily escape Kohl Obsidian.
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Bill Londoner: Portly, co-owner of Wizard Bill’s Wandering Wonders. He gave William, Jason, and Serena a job when they were on the run from Kohl Obsidian. He’s married to Nancy Londoner, and he enjoys his beer. Known as Mr. Bill by his employees.
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Dubrovic Family of Tumblers, the: A supposedly famous family of tumblers from Croatia. In reality, all of them are American gymnasts who are unrelated to one another and thrown together by the manic madness of Mr. Bill for his circus.
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Elaina Sinith: a beautiful, mysterious woman who claims to be a witch from a village called Sand. This inevitably leads to the joke that Elaina is a ‘sand witch’. She works at Wizard Bill’s Wandering Wonders as a fortune teller.
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Jane Smith: Seamstress at Wizard Bill’s Wandering Wonders.
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Jimmy Hanson: The cook at Wizard Bill’s Wandering Wonders. He’s not too bright but very loyal to Bill and Nancy.
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Luc Dubrovic: A gymnast who is supposedly the head of the famous Dubrovic Family of Tumblers from Croatia. In reality, his name is Stanley Wilson.
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Nancy Londoner: The tall, slender co-owner Wizard Bill’s Wandering Wonders. She was the one who pushed her husband, Bill, to give William, Jason, and Serena a chance to join their circus.
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ST. FRANCIS HIGH SCHOOL
*The high school that William, Jason, Jake, Daniel, and Lien attended. Serena joins them at the beginning of their senior year.
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Principal Alfred Walter: School principal.
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Mrs. Gertrude Nelson: Biology teacher. She has a pet boa and William is terrified of the animal.
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Jeff Setter: Defensive captain of the St. Francis High School football team.
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Mrs. Jennifer Clancy: English teacher. She is later put on bed rest during her pregnancy.
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Mrs. Katherine Wilkerson: William and Serena’s homeroom teacher. She has a yearly winter sweater contest that she holds right after the Christmas holidays.
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Lance Owens: Wide receiver on the high school football team. Jason dusts him in a sprint, which earned him the interest of Coach Rasskins.
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Mr. Mike Farther: Jason’s homeroom teacher.
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Father Richard Jameson: Religion teacher who takes them to a church in Over-the-Rhine in downtown Cincinnati.
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Mr. Robin Cleating: Substitute English teacher when Mrs. Clancy is put on bed rest.
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Vice-Principal Roger Meron: A bulldog of a vice-principal who’s more clever than most realize.
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Sonya Bowyer: Jake Ridley’s longtime girlfriend in high school. William had a crush on her until Serena walked into his life.
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Coach Steve Rasskins: Head football coach at St. Francis.
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Steven Aldo: Part of Jake’s group of friends at St. Francis. As such, he’s not expected to show much in the way of friendship toward William, but he subtly does so anyway.
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Mr. Thomas Callahan: American History teacher and speaks like it’s still the 1950s.
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OTHERS
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Aia: Once a small kitten who helped kill Kohl Obsidian. A Kesarin. She is bonded to Rukh.
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Helen Ridley: Mother to Jake and John Ridley. Married to Steven Ridley.
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John Aaron Ridley: Jake’s little brother, and he used to go by ‘Johnny’. He was born with a neurodegenerative condition that has slowly limited his mobility. Jake loves him fiercely.
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Shon: A Kesarin. He is bonded to Jessira.