The Curse of the Mistwraith

by Janny Wurts

  Unseen in the fragrant summer gloom, the shy woodthrush ventured a last, lyric arpeggio. Crickets rasped undisturbed by any approaching footstep. After a moment of fractured suspension, Arithon laid to rest his final fear. He accepted that no one would burst from the wood in appeal for a cause he could not for conscience fail to shoulder.

  For this night and others he was free. He could sit, set his hands to silver strings and at long last, bend sorrow into music.

  Reflections

  In Mirthlvain Swamp, Asandir and Dakar join Verrain’s patrol of black pools, to check for resurgence of meth-snakes before the seasonal autumn spawning: Traithe and Kharadmon arrive in Shand; and while the Fellowship’s hope for the south centres on one last prince raised in hiding, the Warden of Althain tracks two cursed royal heirs who survive, and awaits against hope any sign that the Black Rose Prophecy might still hold valid…

  In Korias the hour after sunrise, First Enchantress Lirenda presents report from the lane-watch to her mistress, Morriel Prime; and the news is unhappily received, that the initiates entrusted with scrying through fifth lane vibrations have lost track of the Master of Shadows…

  In the lightless shaft of Rockfell, sealed behind triple rings of wards, the Mistwraith that once blocked sunlight from Athera languishes in confinement; and if it knows that its grand curse to destroy two half-brothers has once been tested and thwarted, it endures in unquiet hatred…

  Glossary

  ADON – statue of centaur king, one of the twins who founded the Ilitharis Paravian royal line in the First Age. The carving forms one side of the arch of Standing Gate on the road leading east into the Pass of Orlan, Camris, Tysan.

  pronounced: a-don, rhymes with ‘hay don’

  root meaning: daon – gold

  ALATHWYR TOWER – one of five towers built by Paravians in the middle of the First Age at Ithamon, principality of Daon Ramon, Rathain. Its stonework of white alabaster is warded by the virtue, Wisdom. It stands North, of the four towers that remain standing in the Third Age; hence the common name used by men, being Compass Point Towers, or Sun Towers.

  pronounced: ah-lath-weer (a’s to rhyme with as) emphasis on middle syllable

  root meaning: wisdom: alath – to know; wyr – all, sum

  ALITHIEL – one of twelve Blades of Isaer, forged by centaur Ffereton s’Darian in the Second Age from metal taken from a meteorite. Passed through Paravian possession, acquired the secondary name Dael Farenn, or Kingmaker, since its owners tended to succeed the end of a royal line. Eventually was awarded to Kamridian s’Ffalenn for his valour in defence of the princess Taliennse, early Third Age.

  pronounced: ah-lith-ee-el

  root meaning: alith – star; iel – light/ray

  ALTHAIN TOWER – spire built at the edge of the Bittern Desert, beginning of the Second Age, to house records of Paravian histories. Third Age, became repository for the archives of all five royal houses of men after rebellion, overseen by Sethvir, Warden of Althain and Fellowship sorcerer.

  pronounced: al like all, thain to rhyme with main

  root meaning: alt – last; them – tower, sanctuary

  original Paravian pronunciation: alt-thein (thein as in ‘the end’)

  AMROTH – kingdom on West Gate splinter world, Dascen Elur, ruled by s’Ilessid descendants of the prince exiled through the Worldsend Gate at the time of the rebellion, Third Age just after the Mistwraith’s conquest.

  pronounced: am-roth (rhyme with sloth)

  root meaning: am – state of being; roth – brother ‘brotherhood’

  ANGLEFEN – swampland located in Deshir, Rathain. Town of same name at the river mouth with port to Stormwell Gulf. One of the six port towns that link sea trade-routes with Etarra.

  pronounced: angle-fen

  root meaning is not Paravian

  ARAETHURA-grass plains in southwest Rathain; principality of the same name in that location. Largely inhabited by Riathan Paravians in the Second Age. Third Age, used as pastureland by widely scattered nomadic shepherds.

  pronounced: ar-eye-thoo-rah

  root meaning: araeth – grass; era – place, land

  ARAITHE – plain to the north of the trade city of Etarra, principality of Fallowmere, Rathain. First Age, among the sites used by the Paravians to renew the mysteries and channel fifth lane energies. The standing stones erected are linked to the power focus at Ithamon and Methisle Keep.

  pronounced: araithe, rhymes with ‘a wraith’

  root meaning: araithe to disperse, to send; refers to the properties of the standing stones with relationship to the fifth lane forces

  ARITHON – son of Avar, prince of Rathain, 1,504th Teir’s’Ffalenn after founder of the line, Torbrand in Third Age year 1. Also Master of Shadow, and the Bane of Desh-thiere.

  pronounced: ar-i-thon – almost rhymes with ‘marathon’

  root meaning: arithon – fate-forger; one who is visionary

  ASANDIR – Fellowship sorcerer. Secondary name, Kingmaker, since his hand crowned every high king of Men to rule in the Age of Men (Third Age.) After the Mistwraith’s conquest, he acted as field agent for the Fellowship’s doings across the continent. Also called Fiend-Quencher, for his reputation for quelling iyats; Storm-breaker, and Change-bringer for past actions when Men asked to settle upon Athera.

  pronounced: ah-san-deer

  root meaning: asan – heart; dir – stone ‘heartrock’

  ATAINIA – Northeastern principality of Tysan

  pronounced: ah-tay-nee-ah

  root meaning: itain – the third, ia suffix for ‘third domain’ original Paravian, itainia

  ATH CREATOR – prime vibration, force behind all life.

  pronounced: ath to rhyme with ‘math’

  root meaning: ath – prime, first (as opposed to an, one)

  ATHERA – name for the continent which holds the Five High Kingdoms; one of two major landmasses on the planet.

  pronounced: ath-air-ah

  root meaning: ath – prime force; era – place ‘Ath’s world’

  ATHLIEN PARAVIANS – Sunchildren. Small race of semi-mortals, pixie-like, but possessed of great wisdom/keepers of the grand mystery.

  pronounced: ath-lee-en

  root meaning: ath prime force; lien to love ‘Athbeloved’

  ATHLIERIA-equivalent of heaven/actually a dimension removed from physical life, inhabited by spirit after death

  pronounced: ath-lee-air-ee-ah

  root meaning: Ath – prime force, li’era – exalted place, or land in harmony/li – exalted in harmony

  AVAR s’FFALENN – Pirate king of Karthan, isle on splinter world Dascen Elur, through West Gate. Father of Arithon; also Teir’s’Ffalenn 1,503rd in descent from Torbrand who founded the s’Ffalenn royal line in Third Age year 1.

  pronounced: ah-var, to rhyme with ‘far’

  root meaning: avai – past thought/memory

  BRIANE – name of the warship that was crippled in the engagement against the brigantine in command of Avar of Karthan; the vessel later took Arithon s’Ffalenn captive and bore him to South Isle, and thence to Port Royal on the splinter world of Dascen Elur.

  pronounced: bry-anna to rhyme with ‘fry anna’

  root meaning: brianne – gull

  BWIN EVOC s’LORNMEIN – founder of the line that became high kings of Havish since Third Age year 1. The attribute he passed on by means of the Fellowship’s geas, was temperance.

  pronounced: bwin to rhyme with ‘twin’, ee-vahk as in ‘evocative’, lorn as in English equivalent, mein rhymes with ‘main’

  root meaning: bwin – firm; evoc – choice

  CAILCALLOW – herb that grows in marshes, used to ease fevers

  pronounced: rhymes with ‘kale-tallow’

  root meaning: cail – leaf; calliew – balm

  CAITH-AL-CAEN – vale where Riathan Paravians (unicorns) celebrated equinox and solstice to renew the athael, or life-destiny of the world. Also the place where the Ilitharis Paravians firs
t Named the winter stars – or encompassed their vibrational essence into language. Corrupted by the end of the Third Age to Castlecain.

  pronounced: cay-ith-al-cay-en musical lilt, emphasis on second and last syllables; rising note on first two, falling note on last two.

  root meaning: caith – shadow; al – over; caen – vale ‘vale of shadow’

  CAITHDEIN – Paravian name for a high king’s first counsellor; also, the one who would stand as regent, or steward, in the absence of the crowned ruler.

  pronounced: kay-ith-day-in

  root meaning: caith – shadow; d’ein – behind the chair ‘shadow behind the throne’

  CAITHWOOD – forest located in Taerlin, southeast principality of Tysan.

  pronounced: kay-ith-wood

  root meaning: caith – shadow; ‘shadowed wood’

  CASTLECAIN – corrupted name for Caith-al-Caen, Vale of Shadows, see entry above.

  pronounced: castle-cane

  CASTLE POINT – port city at the western terminus of the Great West Road, located in the principality of Atainia, Tysan.

  CAL – mortal name held by Sethvir before he swore pact with the Fellowship of Seven.

  pronounced: kal

  root meaning is not Paravian. (From English, Calum)

  CAMRIS – north central principality of Tysan. Original ruling seat was city of Erdane.

  pronounced: kam-ris, the ‘i’ as in chris

  root meaning: caim – cross; ris – way; ‘crossroad’

  CAOLLE – war captain of the clans of Deshir, Rathain. First raised, and then served under Lord Steiven, earl of the north and caithdein of Rathain.

  pronounced: kay-all-e, with the ‘e’ nearly subliminal

  root meaning: caille – stubborn

  CIANOR SUNLORD – Born at Caith-al-Caen, First Age 615. Survived both the massacre of Leorne (caused by methuri, or hate-wraiths out of Mirthlvain Swamp) in year 815, and led the Battle of Retaliation on Bordirion Plain (which by the start of the Second Age had been enveloped by the swamp.) In 826 Cianor’s forces were defeated at Erdane by Khadrim; Cianor retired to Araethura, gravely wounded. Crippled but alive, he is on hand at the arrival of the Fellowship of Seven, when Crater Lake was formed in First Age 827. Healed by Fellowship sorcerers. Appointed Keeper of the Records in 902; stabilized the realm after the murder of high king Marin Eliathe in Second Age 1542. Crowned high king of Athera in Second Age 2545 until his death when a rise of Khadrim called him to war in Second Age 3651.

  pronounced: key-ah-nor

  root meaning: cianor – to shine

  CIERL-ANKESHED – venom of certain strains of meth-snakes, which causes dissolution of nerve tissue. Paralysis is almost instant, with death following days later. Without a known antidote, the poison is caustic and can be absorbed through the skin.

  pronounced: key-earl-an-kesh-id

  root meaning: cierl – nerve; ankeshed – pain/agony

  CILADIS THE LOST – Fellowship sorcerer who left the continent in Third Age 5462 in search of the Paravian races after their disappearance after the rebellion.

  pronounced: kill-ah-dis

  root meaning: cael – leaf; adeis – whisper, compound, cael’adeis, colloquialism for ‘gentleness that abides’

  CILDORN – city famed for carpets and weaving, located in Deshir, Rathain. Originally a Paravian holdfast, situated on a node of the third lane.

  pronounced: kill-dorn

  root meaning: cieal – thread; dorn – net ‘tapestry’

  CORITH – island west of Havish coast, in Westland Sea. First site to see sunlight upon Desh-thiere’s defeat.

  pronounced: kor-ith

  root meaning: cori – ships, vessels; itha – five for the five harbours which the old city over-looked

  DAELION FATEMASTER – ‘entity’ formed by set of mortal beliefs, which determine the fate of the spirit after death. If Ath is the prime vibration, or life force, Daelion is what governs the manifestation of free will.

  pronounced: day-el-ee-on

  root meaning: dael – king, or lord; i’on – of fate

  DAEL-FARENN – Kingmaker, name for sword Alithiel; also, one of many Paravian names for the Fellowship sorcerer, Asandir.

  pronounced: day-el-far-an

  root meaning: dael – king; feron – maker

  DAELTHAIN – fifth Compass Point, or Sun Tower, built by Paravians at citadel of Ithamon. This was the King’s Tower, whose warded virtue was Justice. The structure fell on the eve of Marin Eliathe’s murder, and crumbled further through the course of the rebellion. By the time of the Mistwraith’s conquest all that remained was the foundation.

  pronounced: day-el-they-in

  root meaning: dael – king or lord; thein – tower, sanctuary

  DAELTIRI – sword carried by s’Ilessid high kings. Forged in Third Age 1240 by Paravian artisans to commemorate friendship on the occasion of Jaest s’Ilessid’s accession to the crown at Avenor.

  pronounced: day-el-tee-ree

  root meaning: dael – king, lord; tieri – steel

  DAENFAL – city located on the northern lake shore that bounds the southern edge of Daon Ramon Barrens in Rathain.

  pronunced: dye-en-fall

  root meaning: daen – clay; fal – red

  DAKAR THE MAD PROPHET-apprentice to Fellowship sorcerer, Asandir, during the third Age following the Conquest of the Mistwraith. Given to spurious prophecies, it was Dakar who forecast the fall of the kings of Havish in time for the Fellowship to save the heir. He made the Prophecy of West Gate which forecast the Mistwraith’s bane, and also, the Black Rose Prophecy, which called for reunification of the Fellowship.

  pronounced – dah-kar

  root meaning: dakiar – clumsy

  DANIA – wife of Rathain’s regent, Steiven s’Valerient.

  pronounced: dan-ee-ah

  root meaning: deinia – sparrow

  DAON RAMON BARRENS – central principality of Rathain. Site where Riathan Paravians (unicorns) bred and raised their young. Barrens was not appended to the name until the years following the Mistwraith’s conquest, when the river Severnir was diverted at the source by a task force under Etarran jurisdiction.

  pronounced: day-on rah-mon

  root meaning: daon – gold; ramon hills/downs

  DARI S’AHELAS – Princess of Shand who fled through the western Worldsend Gate at the time of the Mist-wraith’s conquest, to escape the rebellion engineered by Davien. Sethvir trained her in the foundational arts of power to increase her line’s chances of survival. Her descendants ruled Rauven in the splinter world of Dascen Elur.

  pronounced: dar-ee

  root meaning: daer – to cut

  DAVIEN THE BETRAYER – Fellowship sorcerer responsible for provoking the great uprising that resulted in the fall of the high kings after Desh-thiere’s conquest. Rendered discorporate by the Fellowship’s judgement in Third Age 5129. Exiled since, by personal choice. Davien’s works included the Five Centuries Fountain near Mearth, on the splinter world of the Red Desert, through West Gate. Rockfell shaft, used by the sorcerers to imprison harmful entities. The Stair on Rockfell Peak, and also, Kewar Tunnel in the Mathorn Mountains.

  pronounced: dah-vee-en

  root meaning: dahvi – fool; mistake an – one ‘mistaken one’

  DASCEN ELUR – splinter world off West Gate; primarily ocean with isolated archipelagos. Includes kingdoms of Rauven, Amroth and Karthan. Where three exiled high kings’ heirs took refuge in the years following the great uprising.

  pronounced: das-en el-ur

  root meaning: dascen – ocean; e’lier – small land