Initiate's Trial

by Janny Wurts

  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-marred

  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.

  pronounced: kor-ee-ah-thain – to rhyme with ‘main’

  root meaning: koriath – order; ain – belonging to

  KRALOVIR—term for a sect of necromancers, also called the grey cult, destroyed by Arithon s’Ffalenn in Third Age Year 5671.

  pronounced: kray-low-veer

  root meaning: krial – name for the rune of crossing; oveir – abomination

  LAITHEN s’IDIR—clanborn woman from Fallowmere, descended from Sidir’s lineage, mother of Siantra s’Idir.

  pronounced: lay-then see-deer

  root meaning: laere – grace; thein – tower; laerethien – pillar of grace; s’ – of the lineage; i’id’ier – almost lost

  LANSHIRE—northernmost principality in the Kingdom of Havish. Name taken from the wastes at Scarpdale, site of First Age battles with Seardluin that blasted the soil to slag.

  pronounced: lahn-sheer-e

  root meaning: lan’hansh’era – place of hot sands

  LAW OF THE MAJOR BALANCE—founding order of the powers of the Fellowship of Seven, as taught by the Paravians. The primary tenet is that no force of nature should be used without consent, or against the will of another consciousness.

  LEYNSGAP—narrow pass in the Mathorn Mountains, Rathain, famed site of Braggen’s stand, where the clan Companion single-handedly fought and held off a troop of Sunwheel soldiers in pursuit of Arithon Teir’s’Ffalenn.

  pronounced: lay-ens-gap

  root meaning: liyond – corridor

  LIRENDA—former First Senior Enchantress to the Prime, Koriani Order; failed in her assignment to capture Arithon s’Ffalenn for Koriani purposes. Held as a passive servant under the Prime Matriarch’s sentence of punishment since Third Age Year 5670.

  pronounced: leer-end-ah

  root meaning: lyron – singer; di-ia – a dissonance – the hyphen denotes a glottal stop

  LITHMARIN—glacial lake located in between Lanshire and Ghent in Havish.

  pronounced: lith-mar-in

  root meaning: lieth – flow; mieren – mirror

  LITHWATER—river

  pronounced: lith

  root meaning: lieth – flow, current

  LORN—town on the northcoast of Atainia, Tysan.

  pronounced: lorn

  root meaning: loern – an Atheran fish.

  LUHAINE—Sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven – discorporate since the fall of Telmandir in Third Age Year 5018. Luhaine’s body was pulled down by the mob while he was in ward trance, covering the escape of the royal heir to Havish.

  pronounced: loo-
hay-ne

  root meaning: luirhainon – defender

  LYRANTHE—instrument played by the bards of Athera. Strung with fourteen strings, tuned to seven tones (doubled). Two courses are ‘drone strings’ set to octaves. Five are melody strings, the lower three courses being octaves, the upper two, in unison.

  pronounced: leer-anth-e (last ‘e’ mostly subliminal)

  root meaning: lyr – song; anthe – box

  LYSAER s’ILESSID—prince of Tysan, 1497th in succession after Halduin, founder of the line in Third Age Year One. Gifted at birth with control of Light, and Bane of Desh-thiere. Also known as Blessed Prince since he declared himself avatar for the following known as the Alliance of Light. Elected Mayor of Etarra in 5667. Declared apostate to the Light at the Great Schism in Third Age Year 5683; retired to his seat at Etarra, signed Treaty of Law with Rathain’s clans in 5688.

  pronounced: lie-say-er

  root meaning: lia – blond, yellow, or light; saer – circle

  MAENALLE s’GANNLEY—former Caithdein of Tysan, put on trial for theft and outlawry on the trade-road, condemned and executed at Isaer by Lysaer s’Ilessid in Third Age Year 5645.

  pronounced: may-nall

  root meaning: maeni’alli – to patch together; gaen – guide; li – exalted, in harmony

  MAINMERE—town at the head of the Valenford River in Taerlin, Tysan. Built on a site originally kept clear to free the second lane focus in the ruins farther south.

  pronounced: main-meer-e (last ‘e’ mostly subliminal)

  root meaning: maeni – to fall, interrupt; miere – reflection/colloquial for disrupt continuity

  MARAK—splinter world, cut off beyond South Gate, left lifeless after creation of the Mistwraith. The original inhabitants were men exiled by the Fellowship from Athera for beliefs or practices that were incompatible with the compact sworn between the Sorcerers and the Paravian races, which permitted human settlement on Athera. Source of the Mistwraith, Desh-thiere, and the free wraiths that threaten Athera.

  pronounced: maer-ak

  root meaning: m’era’ki – a place held separate

  MATHORN MOUNTAINS—range that bisects the Kingdom of Rathain east to west.

  pronounced: math-orn

  root meaning: mathien – massive

  MATHORN ROAD—trade-road running just south of the Mathorn Mountains.