by Janny Wurts
pronounced: dah-vee-en
root meaning: dahvi – fool; an – one, ‘mistaken one’
DESHIR—north-western principality of Rathain.
pronounced: desh-eer
root meaning: deshir – misty
DESH-THIERE—Mistwraith that invaded Athera from the splinter worlds through South Gate in Third Age 4993. Access cut off by Fellowship Sorcerer, Traithe. Battled and contained in West Shand for twenty-five years, until the rebellion splintered the peace, and the high kings were forced to withdraw from the defence lines to attend their disrupted kingdoms. Confined through the combined powers of Lysaer s’Ilessid’s gift of light and Arithon s’Ffalenn’s gift of shadow. Currently imprisoned in a warded flask in Rockfell Pit.
pronounced: desh-thee-air-e (last ‘e’ mostly subliminal)
root meaning: desh – mist; thiere – ghost or wraith
DHARKARON AVENGER—called Ath’s Avenging Angel in legend. Drives a chariot drawn by five horses to convey the guilty to Sithaer. Dharkaron as defined by the adepts of Ath’s Brotherhood is that dark thread mortal men weave with Ath, the prime vibration, that creates self-punishment, or the root of guilt.
pronounced dark-air-on
root meaning: dhar – evil; khiaron – one who stands in judgement
DIER KENTON VALE—a valley located in the principality of Vastmark, Shand, where Lysaer’s war host, thirty-five thousand strong, fought and lost to the Master of Shadow in Third Age 5647, largely slaughtered in one day by a shale slide. The remainder were harried by a small force of Vastmark shepherds and clan scouts from Shand, under Caolle, who served as Arithon’s war-captain, until supplies and loss of morale broke the Alliance campaign.
pronounced: deer ken-ton
root meaning: dier’kendion – a jewel with a severe flaw that may result in shearing or cracking.
EAST BRANSING—town located on the coast of Instrell Bay in Tysan.
pronounced: bran-sing
root meaning: brienseng – at the base, at the bottom
EFFLIN—a croft holder near Kelsing, and older brother of Tarens and Kerelie.
pronounced: eff-lin
root meaning: e – prefix for small; ffael – dark; en – suffix for ‘more’; effaelin – a dark mood
ELAIRA—initiate enchantress of the Koriathain, currently serving the order as a wandering independent. Originally a street child, taken on in Morvain for Koriani rearing. Arithon’s beloved, became handfast to Rathain in Third Age Year 5672.
pronounced: ee-layer-ah
root meaning: e – prefix, diminutive for small; laere – grace
ELKFOREST—free-wilds forest located in Gent, Havish. Site of the Queen’s Glade.
ELLAINE—daughter of the Lord Mayor of Erdane, once Princess of Avenor by marriage to Lysaer s’Ilessid, and mother of Kevor s’Ilessid, who became an adept of Ath’s Brotherhood.
pronounced: el-lane
not from the Paravian
ENNIE—a young woman from Kelsing.
pronounced: any
not from the Paravian.
ERDANE—originally a Paravian town given over to Mankind’s rule; became the seat of the old Princes of Camris and the s’Gannley blood-line until the uprising that followed Desh-thiere’s conquest in Third Age 5015. Became an iniquitous nest of necromancy in the years following, then the site of the True Sect High Temple of the Light since the Great Schism in 5683, and where the conclave of priests signed the doctrine into the First Book of Canon Law in 5691.
pronounced: er-day-na with the last syllable almost subliminal
root meaning: er’deinia – long walls
ERDANI—from Erdane.
pronounced: er-day-nee
root meaning: er’deinia’i – being of the ‘long walls’ – colloquial suffix for identity.
ERIEGAL—second youngest of the fourteen child survivors of the Tal Quorin massacre known as Jieret’s Companions. Renowned as a shrewd tactician, he was ordered to serve Jieret’s son Barach as war-captain in the Halwythwood camp rather than fight Lysaer’s war host in Daon Ramon Barrens in Third Age Year 5670. Tried and executed for Crown Treason in 5674.
pronounced: air-ee-gall
root meaning: eriegal – snake
ESFAND s’VALERIENT—heir designate to the Caithdein of Rathain, son of Cosach s’Valerient and Jalienne.
pronounced: es-fand s’val-er-ee-ent
root meaning: esfan – iron; ‘d – suffix for behind
ETARRA—trade city built across the Mathorn Pass by townsfolk after the revolt that cast down Ithamon and the High Kings of Rathain. Nest of corruption and intrigue, and policy-maker for the North. Lysaer s’Ilessid was ratified as mayor upon Morfett’s death in Third Age Year 5667. Site where Arithon defeated the Kralovir necromancers in Third Age Year 5671. Also the former seat of the Alliance armed forces. Ruled by acting elected mayor Lysaer s’Ilessid, in residence since the Great Schism in Third Age Year 5683.
pronounced: ee-tar-ah
root meaning: e – prefix for small; taria – knots
FALLOWMERE—north-eastern principality of Rathain.
pronounced: fal-oh-meer
root meaning: fal’ei’miere – literally, tree self-reflection, colloquialism for ‘place of perfect trees’
FATE’S WHEEL—see Daelion’s Wheel.
FELLOWSHIP OF SEVEN—sorcerers bound to Athera by the summoning dream of the dragons and charged to secure the mysteries that enable Paravian survival. Achieved their redemption from Cianor Sunlord, under the Law of the Major Balance in Second Age Year One. Originators and keepers of the covenant of the compact, made with the Paravian races, to allow Mankind’s settlement on Athera in Third Age Year One. Their authority backs charter law, upheld by crown justice and clan oversight of the free wilds.
FFEREDON-LI—ancient Paravian word for a healer, literally translated ‘bringer of grace’ and the name given to Elaira by an Araethurian seeress on the hour of Fionn Areth’s birth.
pronounced: fair-eh-dun-lee
root meaning: ffaraton – maker; li – exalted grace
FIADUWYNNE—site of a Second Age focus circle, and a once vast complex of healer’s gardens and telir orchards, located in south Lanshire, Havish, at the banks of the River Lithwater.
pronounced: fee-ah-dew-win-e – with the last syllable nearly subliminal
root meaning: ffiadu – to make whole; wynne – orchard
FIATH—deceased croft holder from Kelsing, husband of Saffie, uncle to Efflin, Tarens, and Kerelie.
pronounced: fee-ahth
root meaning: ffiath – a verity, a truth; ff’i’ath – giving identity to that which is Ath
FORTHMARK—city in Vastmark, Shand. Once the site of a hostel of Ath’s Brotherhood. By Third Age 5320, the site was abandoned and taken over by the Koriani Order as a healer’s hospice.
root meaning not from the Paravian
GESTRY s’LORNMEIN—heir designate of Havish, crowned High King of Havish in Third Age Year 5922.
pronounced: guess-tree slorn-main
root meaning: geies – obligated duty; tieri – steel; liernmein – to centre or bring into balance
GLENDIEN—a Shandian clanswoman, wife to Kyrialt s’Taleyn, formerly the heir designate of the High Earl of Alland; mother to Arithon’s bastard daughter, Teylia, conceived in the confluence at Athir in Third Age Year 5672.
pronounced: glen-dee-en
root meaning: glyen – sultry; dien – object of beauty
GREY KRALOVIR—see Kralovir.
GREAT WAYSTONE—see Waystone.
GRIMWARD—a circle of spells of Paravian making that seal and isolate the dire dreams of dragon haunts, a force with the potential for mass destruction. With the disappearance of the old races, the defences are maintained by embodied Sorcerers of the Fellowship of Seven. Of seventeen separate sites listed at Althain Tower, thirteen are still active.
GRISMARD—a wealthy townsman from Kelsing.
pronounced: grease-marre
d
not from the Paravian
HALIKA—Caithdein of Havish in service to High King Gestry s’Lornmein.
pronounced: ha-lee-kah
root meaning: hal – white; lie – note struck in harmony; ka – girl
HALWYTHWOOD—forest located in Araethura, Rathain. Current clan lodge of High Earl Cosach’s band.
pronounced: hall-with-wood
root meaning: hal – white; wythe – vista
HAMMON—a fisherman on a lugger from Torwent.
pronounced: ham-mon
not from the Paravian
HATTSEY—a bar maid in Etarra, friend of Daliana sen Evend.
pronounced: hat-see
not from the Paravian
HAVISH—one of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera as defined by the charters of the Fellowship of Seven. Ruled by a queen, succeeded at death by Gestry s’Lornmein. Crown heritage: temperance. Device: gold hawk on red field.
pronounced: hav-ish
root meaning: havieshe – hawk
HELDA—a fourth-rank initiate in the Order of the Koriathain.
pronounced: held-a
root meaning: root meaning: huell – one who protects; da – by/next to
HIGHSCARP—city sited near the stone quarries on the coast of the Bay of Eltair, located in Daon Ramon, Rathain. Also contains a sisterhouse of the Koriani Order.
ILITHARIS PARAVIANS—centaurs, one of three semimortal old races; disappeared after the Mistwraith’s conquest, the last guardian’s departure by Third Age Year 5100. They were the guardians of the earth’s mysteries.
pronounced: i-li-thar-is
root meaning: i’lith’earis – the keeper/preserver of mystery
INNISH—city located on the southcoast of Shand at the delta of the River Ippash. Formerly known as ‘the Jewel of Shand,’ this was the site of the High King’s winter court, prior to the time of the uprising.
pronounced: in-ish
root meaning: inniesh – a jewel with a pastel tint
INSTRELL BAY—body of water off the Gulf of Stormwell between Atainia, Tysan, and Deshir, Rathain.
pronounced: in-strell
root meaning: arin’streal – strong wind
ISAER—power focus built in the First Age in Atainia, Tysan, by the Ilitharis Paravians, to source the defence works of the Paravian keep of the same name.
pronounced: i-say-er
root meaning: i’saer – the circle
ISFARENN—etheric Name for the black stallion once ridden by Asandir. Died in the Scarpdale grimward in Third Age Year 5671.
pronounced: ees-far-en
root meaning: is’feron – speed maker
ISSING—river located in Havistock, Havish, arises in the Storlains and flows south to Redburn harbour at Rockbay.
pronounced: i-sing
root meaning: yssing – spindrift
ITHISH—city located at the edge of the principality of Vastmark, on the southcoast of Shand. Where the Vastmark shepherds ship their wool fleeces.
pronounced: ith-ish
root meaning: ithish – fleece or fluffy
IYAT – energy sprite, and minor drake spawn inhabiting Athera, not visible to the eye, manifests in a poltergeist fashion by taking temporary possession of objects. Feeds upon natural energy sources: fire, breaking waves, lightning, and excess emotion where humans gather.
pronounced: ee-at
root meaning: iyat – to break
IYAT-THOS—clan dialect name for Tarens.
pronounced: ee-at thoss
root meaning: iyat – broken; thos – nose
JAELOT—city located on the coast of Eltair Bay at the southern border of the Kingdom of Rathain. Once a Second Age power site, with a focus circle. Now a merchant city with a reputation for extreme snobbery and bad taste. Also the site where Arithon s’Ffalenn played his eulogy for Halliron Masterbard, which raised the powers of the Paravian focus circle beneath the mayor’s palace. The forces of the mysteries and resonant harmonics caused damage to city buildings, watch keeps, and walls, which has since been repaired.
pronounced: jay-lot
root meaning: jielot – affectation
JALIENNE—wife of Cosach s’Valerient, current Caithdein of Rathain.
pronounced: jah-lee-en
root meaning: jia – binding, tie together, intertwine; lien – to love
JESSIAN OATHKEEPER—historical sister of the Koriathain, prior to settlement on Athera, when the order was a secret society, sent to the planet Scathac to treat with the Biedar, and witnessed the tribal rite that preserved the planet from Calum Kincaid’s Great Weapon. Subsequently came to trial and imprisonment when she refused to break the silence sworn to the Biedar matriarch never to reveal the experience. Her secret was kept until she was executed, but the mystery it concealed launched the Koriani Order on a search that eventually resulted in coercive disclosure and theft of the ancient Biedar knowledge.
pronounced: jess-ee-an
not from the Paravian
JEYNSA s’VALERIENT—daughter of Jieret s’Valerient and Feithan, born Third Age 5653; appointed successor for her father’s title, Caithdein of Rathain. Married Sevrand s’Brydion.
pronounced: jay-in-sa
root meaning: jieyensa – garnet
JIERET s’VALERIENT—former Earl of the North, clan chief of Deshir; Caithdein of Rathain, sworn liegeman of Prince Arithon s’Ffalenn. Also son and heir of Lord Steiven. Blood pacted to Arithon by sorcerer’s oath prior to the battle of Strakewood Forest. Came to be known by head-hunters as Jieret Red-beard. Father of Jeynsa and Barach. Husband to Feithan. Died by Lysaer s’Ilessid’s hand in Daon Ramon Barrens, Third Age Year 5670.
pronounced: jeer-et
root meaning: jieret – thorn
KADIERACH—Ilitharis Paravian, or centaur guardian, who was called forward by High Earl Jieret’s transcendence. Also appeared to Arithon s’Ffalenn during his passage through Kewar’s Maze in Third Age Year 5670.
pronounced: kad-ee-er-ack
root meaning: kad’i – to quicken etherically, or bring to blossom throughrefined awareness; era – place; ch – suffix for attached to or rooted to a site
KATHTAIRR—barren land-mass in the southern ocean, across the world from Paravia.
pronounced: kath-tear
root meaning: kait-th’era – empty place
KELHORN MOUNTAINS—a range of shale scarps located in Vastmark, Shand.
pronounced: kell-horn
root meaning: kielwhern – toothed, jagged
KELSING—town located south of Erdane on the trade-road in Camris, Tysan.
pronounced: kel-sing
root meaning: kel – hidden; seng – cave
KERELIE—crofter’s daughter from Kelsing, sister of Efflin and Tarens, niece of Saffie and Fiath.
pronounced: care-ah-lee
not from the Paravian
KEWAR TUNNEL—cavern built beneath the Mathorn Mountains by Davien the Betrayer; contains the maze of conscience, which caused High King Kamridian s’Ffalenn’s death. Arithon Teir’s’Ffalenn successfully completed the challenge in Third Age Year 5670.
pronounced: key-wahr
root meaning: kewiar – a weighing of conscience
KHADRIEN s’VALERIENT—clanborn second cousin to Esfand s’Valerient, friend of Siantra s’Idir.
pronounced: cad-ree-en sval-er-ee-ent
root meaning: val – straight; erient – spear
KHARADMON—Sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven; discorporate since rise of Khadrim and Seardluin leveled Paravian stronghold at Ithamon in Second Age 3651. It was by Kharadmon’s intervention that the survivors of the attack were sent to safety by means of transfer from the fifth lane power focus. Currently working the wardings to defer a minor invasion of wraiths from Marak.
pronounced: kah-rad-mun
root meaning: kar’riad en mon – phrase translates to mean ‘twisted thread on the needle’ or colloquialism for ‘a knot in the works’
KORIANI—possessive and singular form of the word ‘Koriathain’; see entry.
pronounced: kor-ee-ah-nee
KORIATHAIN—order of enchantresses ruled by a circle of Seniors, under the power of one Prime Enchantress. They draw their talent from the orphaned children they raise, or from daughters dedicated to service by their parents. Initiation rite involves a vow of consent that ties the spirit to a power crystal keyed to the Prime’s control.