by Davis Ashura
Shur Rainfall: Caste Muran. Born AF 2012 in the city of Arjun. Completed one Trial. He is the leader of the Virtuous.
Sil Lor Kum: The Hidden Hand of Justice. They are the Human agents of Suwraith and are universally hated and despised. Many consider their existence to be a myth, although inexplicable setbacks are often attributed to the Sil Lor Kum.
Sign Deep: OutCaste. Born AF 2042. Sister to Court Deep and cousin to Kart, Cedar, Jessira Grey.
Slash of Iniquity: A judgment by the Kumma Chamber of Lords in which an individual is found to be deviant and traitorous. Such an individual is either executed with his remains left on the Isle of the Crows or in some instances, merely banished forthwith.
Slayer, the: Leader of a glaring of Shylows. Also known as the Kezin.
Society of Rajan: Legendary society originally founded by Raja, a Cherid in Hammer who discovered The Book of First Movement. The Society has come to believe that The Book is the key to defeating Suwraith. Though the Society has failed in its mission of learning the secrets they claim is in The Book, nevertheless, they have spread to all the other cities of Arisa, where their influence and reputation is greater than their actual numbers. The Society in each city is comprised of twenty-one active members: three from each Caste with an Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master. Since the Society members are chosen after they have proven their worth as influential and moral members of their Castes, they are generally in their thirties before they are first brought into the Society as Apprentices. Some Rajans do resign or retire, but this is rare, and such individuals are no longer allowed to vote on Society business.
Current members:
Caste Kumma:
Master: Silma Thoran
Journeyman: Dar'El Shektan
Apprentice: Bravun Silan
Caste Sentya:
Master: Thrivel Nonel
Journeyman: Krane
Apprentice: Chima Plast
Caste Duriah:
Master: Jaka Moth
Journeyman: Anian Elim
Apprentice: Bove Moth
Caste Rahail:
Master: Grain Jola
Journeyman: Lesur Mint
Apprentice: Olin Treave
Caste Shiyen:
Master: Gren Vos
Journeyman: Rassin Chin
Apprentice: Nisin Mercus
Caste Muran:
Master: Ular Sathin
Journeyman: Walid Greenvole
Apprentice: Alms Soildrew
Caste Cherid:
Master: Sim Chilmore
Journeyman: Diffel Karekin
Apprentice: Minet Jorian
Sophy Terrell: Caste Kumma. House Shektan. Born AF 2014 to Kolt and Versana Drathe of House Primase. Married Odonis Terrell of House Shektan in AF 2035. Once a member of the Shektan House Council and murdered by Hal'El Wrestiva.
Sorrows of Hume, the: Aphorisms attributed to Hume Telrest.
Spidergrass: A type of plant that grows best in temperate climates. It is used in the fashioning of items once made with metal. Duriah smiths claim it has tensile properties identical to the finest steel.
Stone Cavern: A neighborhood of craft shops and manufacturing. It is where most Duriahs live.
Stronghold: City of OutCastes founded in AF 1753 by the fifty-five survivors of Hammer's Fall. The city was hidden in the Privation Mountains, deep within Mount Fort before its destruction by Suwraith.
Stronghold Government: The city was divided into ten Croftholds. Each Crofthold had its own Home Council. Within each Crofthold, the Home Councils had wide discretion in governance. The Home Senate was responsible for citywide issues, such as management of the Croft and defense.
Additionally, each Council chose a Senator to represent their interests in the Home Senate. There were ten Senators.
The Governor-General was the highest elected official, and he was elected every five years in a citywide election.
Stryd Bosna: Caste Kumma. House Andthra. Born AF 2032 to Darjuth and Selese Bosna. Completed four Trials. He is the Captain of the caravan to Nestle that was destroyed by Li-Dirge.
SuDin: The Voice Who Commands. The leader of the Sil Lor Kum. Most recently was Hal'El Wrestiva.
Suge Wrestiva: Caste Kumma. House Wrestiva. Born AF 2040 to Hal'El and Kilwen Wrestiva. He had yet to be chosen for his first Trial at the time of his death when he was killed in a duel by Jaresh Shektan. Known snowblood addict.
Sunpalm Orchard: A wealthy, quiet neighborhood of stately townhomes and small craft shops. It is home to many Shiyens.
Suwraith: A murderous being of wind and storm who suddenly exploded into existence two thousand years ago. Her only desire seems to be the extinction of Humanity. Her origin is a mystery, although the Baels claim that She was the Daughter of the First Mother and the First Father, murdering them on the Night of Sorrows. The Fan Lor Kum name Her Mother Lienna. Humanity also names her the Bringer of Sorrows or the Queen of Madness.
Talents: Skills possessed by individuals of various Castes, each one unique to a Caste.
Tanner's School of Animal Husbandry: Shiyen school of veterinary medicine.
Teerma Shole: Caste Kumma. Born AF 2012. Widow. Recently appointed as a member of the Shektan House Council.
Thrum: A russet-coated Kesarin. Bonded to Jaresh Shektan.
Trial: The holy duty in which warriors leave the safety of an Oasis and enter the Wildness in order to defend a caravan, even if it costs them their lives.
Trell Rue: A fashionable neighborhood of artisan shops and restaurants.
Triumph Court: Plaza surrounding the Glory Stadium.
Ular Sathin: Caste Muran. Clan Balm. Born AF 1989. Completed two Trials before retiring at age twenty-eight. He was a well-to-do farmer before selling his property to other members of his Clan. He was a MalDin of the Sil Lor Kum. After his death, he provided Dar'El Shektan with a journal that exposed nearly all the members and activities of the Sil Lor Kum.
Unworthy: A designation by which a Kumma is felt to be a coward and/or morally compromised. Such an individual is banished from the city.
Upanayana ceremony: Ceremony that consecrates a boy to his duties as a man. It involves two days and two nights of fasting and praying in solitude and silence. In the case of Kummas and other warriors, it is followed by the granting of the Insufi blade at dawn.
Vadina: Sister-in-law (older brother's wife or husband to an older sister).
Van Jinnu: Caste Rahail. Born AF 2018. Completed two Trials. Widower. Murdered by Hal'El Wrestiva with the Withering Knife.
Varesea Apter: Caste Rahail. Born AF 2019. Widowed. Married to Slathtril Apter. MalDin of the Sil Lor Kum and was killed by Mira Terrell.
Verchow College of Medicine: One of the two Shiyen medical colleges in Ashoka.
Virtuous, the: A large group of Ashokans who believe all the OutCastes should be killed. They are led by Shur Rainfall and the Heavenly Council of the Virtuous.
Well: The place within an individual wherein Jivatma resides. Some believe the Well is simply another word for consciousness, and from consciousness, Jivatma springs forth.
Wildness, the: The vast area beyond the borders of the cities and their Oases.
Withering Knife, the: A black blade rumored to steal Jivatma from those it murders.
Word and the Deed, the: Author unknown. It is a sacred text written prior to the fall of the First World. Over time, it has supplanted The Book of All Souls as the main source of religious scripture within the world.
Yuthero Gaste: Caste Shiyen. Born AF 2025. He is one of the youngest professors of Surgery at Alminius School of Medicine. He was also a MalDin of the Sil Lor Kum and was executed.
About the author
Davis Ashura is a legend . . . in his own mind. He resides in North Carolina, sharing a house with his wonderful wife who somehow overlooked Davis' eccentricities and married him anyway. As proper recompense for her sacrifice, Davis then unwittingly turned his wonderful wife into a nerd-girl. To her sad and utter humil
iation, she knows exactly what is meant by 'Kronos'. Living with them are their two rambunctious boys, both of whom have at various times helped turn Davis' once lustrous, raven-black hair prematurely white (it sure sounds prettier than the dirty gray it actually is). And of course, there are the obligatory strange, strays cats (all authors have cats—it's required by the union). They are fluffy and black with terribly bad breath. When not working—nay laboring—in the creation of works of fiction so grand that hardly anyone has read a single word of them, Davis practices medicine, but only when the insurance companies tell him he can.
Visit him at www.DavisAshura.com and be appalled by the banality of a writer's life.
Table of Contents
Cover
Copyright
Title Page
A Warrior's Path
Chapter One: Encircled
Chapter Two: Run to the Hills
Chapter Three: A Varied Test
Chapter Four: A Night Out
Chapter Five: A Gauntlet Thrown
Chapter Six: The Tribunal
Chapter Seven: A Trial of a Different Sort
Chapter Eight: A Reckoning
Chapter Nine: Indistinct Foes
Chapter Ten: A Baneful Complexity
Chapter Eleven: The Sil Lor Kum
Chapter Twelve: An Unusual Crime
Chapter Thirteen: An Unwholesome Discovery
Chapter Fourteen: Possible Allies
Chapter Fifteen: A Purchase of Sanity
Chapter Sixteen: Protective Enemies
Chapter Seventeen: An Absence of Trust
Chapter Eighteen: A Need for Caution
Chapter Nineteen: Detente Achieved
Chapter Twenty: A Morning's Revelations
Chapter Twenty-One: Hiding in Plain Sight
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Art of Learning
Chapter Twenty-Three: Replaying Debts Owed
A Warrior's Knowledge
The Trial So Far
Prologue
Chapter One: Losses and Fears
Chapter Two: A Cool Night
Chapter Three: A Brief History
Chapter Four: A Price Paid
Chapter Five: Choices
Chapter Six: Find a Reason
Chapter Seven: The Final Distance
Chapter Eight: Decisions
Chapter Nine: A Kind of Welcome
Chapter Ten: A New Life
Chapter Eleven: Evening Revelations
Chapter Twelve: Finding a Way
Chapter Thirteen: A Twisting Future
Chapter Fourteen: New Questions
Chapter Fifteen: A Narrowed Search
Chapter Sixteen: A Trial of a Different Sort
Chapter Seventeen: An Offer
Chapter Eighteen: Reconciliation
Chapter Nineteen: Mandatory Disciples
Chapter Twenty: Accepting Flaws
Chapter Twenty-One: A Fearful Alliance
Chapter Twenty-Two: Hunted
Chapter Twenty-Three: Knowledge in Ledgers
Chapter Twenty-Four: Prelude to Tribunal
Chapter Twenty-Five: A Final Obstacle
Chapter Twenty-Six: An Unwritten Book
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Past Never Dies
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Hounding Secrets
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Run Through the Hills
Chapter Thirty: Those Who are Hunted
Chapter Thirty-One: Midnight Vows
Chapter Thirty-Two: Secrets Unearched
Chapter Thirty-Three: A Dream Shattered
A Warrior's Penance
The Trial So Far
Prologue
Chapter One: Return to Ashoka
Chapter Two: Magisterial Choices
Chapter Three: Months and Days
Chapter Four: An Eventual Life
Chapter Five: What Has Passed
Chapter Six: Challenges
Chapter Seven: Discoveries
Chapter Eight: Needed Decisions
Chapter Nine: A Turmoiled Trial
Chapter Ten: The Near Wildness
Chapter Eleven: The Cost of Hate
Chapter Twelve: Race the Storm
Chapter Thirteen: Intercessions
Chapter Fourteen: Choice of Sacrifice
Chapter Fifteen: Interlude Ended
Chapter Sixteen: A Trial of a Different Sort
Chapter Seventeen: Blurred Margins
Chapter Eighteen: Confusion and Weariness
Chapter Nineteen: Strike a Blow
Chapter Twenty: Opportunity and Endings
Chapter Twenty-One: Breaking Fire
Chapter Twenty-Two: Disparate Measures
Chapter Twenty-Three: Consuming Consequences
Chapter Twenty-Four: Farewell to Home
Chapter Twenty-Five: Fallow Hopes
Chapter Twenty-Six: Revelations and Loss
Epilogue
Glossary
About the author