by Mark Smylie
GALIA—an emirate of the Thessid-Golan Empire just south of the Middle Kingdoms. Anciently the kingdom of Agall, now a realm of prosperous merchant-traders.
GENICHÉ—Queen of the Underworld and once Goddess and Queen of the Earth, the giver of life, and, with her sister Geteema, the mother of all within Yhera’s creation. The Earth was once her garden, and she ruled it as a Paradise until, in a moment of grief and anger, she abandoned the world and fled into darkness. She created the Underworld and spoke the First Law.
GETEEMA—sister to Geniché and Yhera, monstrous Queen of the Dark Earth, the Dragon Mother and the Mother of the Giants; her children include Irré the Black Sun, Amaymon the Whisperer, Vani the Mountain King, Heth the Sea King, and many others. Out of jealousy she sent many of her children to destroy ancient Ürüne Düré, and she herself consumed the body of Agdah Cosmopeiia, after which Yhera imprisoned her in the Underworld.
GITHWAINE—last of the Worm Kings, discovered masquerading amongst the warlords of Djar Mael and Uthed Dania. He killed Erlwulf, the last known Dragon King, before being slain by Fortias the Brave; his death marked the end of the Winter Century.
GOLA, the—name for the lands of the south around the Leta river and home to some of the oldest cities in the Known World. Now organized as Grand Sekeret and Setine, key emirates of the Thessid-Golan Empire.
GOLDEN AGE, the—first age of Known World history after Geniché left the Earth for the Underworld. Generally dated from the founding of Düréa and considered to have lasted just over 1000 years, until the fall of Ürüne Düré and the War in Heaven.
GORGONAE, the—the Triple War Goddess, daughters of Djara, worshipped singly and as a trio. The Gorgonae are kept chained in the Underworld, and only Yhera Anath or her general, Ariahavé, may set them loose.
GRAND SEKERET—the city-states of the Gola, as they have come to be known, after their victory over Akine Mog; scene to some of the greatest fighting in the wars against the Worm Kings following the Catastrophe. The largest and oldest is Seker, followed by Camathune, both of which have some of the oldest Great Schools.
GRAY DREAM, the—cursed dream that befell Akkalion before the Black Day Battle, now the subject of intense speculation amongst mystery cults throughout the Thessid-Golan Empire, the Hemapoline League, and Palatia.
GREAT SCHOOLS—halls of learning originally founded and patroned by Daedekamani himself, found throughout the Gola and Thessidia.
HALÉ—the Goddess of Slaughter, goddess of (mindless) rage and berserker fury. One of the Gorgonae.
HANNATH HAMMERGREIA—greatest of the last Queens of Düréa, and considered by many its last True Queen and last of the Rethet Thesa. A virgin huntress and voracious warrior, she defeated the Black Hunter and died many deaths, until her final death at the fall of Ürüne Düré.
HATHAZ-GHÚL—Old Éduinan name for cursed once-men, things that should be dead but cling to life by feeding on the bodies of the living and recently deceased. They are often said to come from Lost Uthedmael.
HATHHALLA—the Devouring Fire of the Sun, worshipped as the lion-headed goddess of battle and vengeance, goddess of the Sun’s righteous strength. At Yhera’s behest she imprisoned her half brother Irré in the Underworld after he cast down her half brother Illiki Helios. She ruled the Heavens as the Sun’s Veil during the Winter Century, and rules the Six Hells as their great guardian and keeper.
HEMAPOLI MAGNI—greatest city of Hemispia, and a rival to Palatia in all things mercantile and military.
HEMAPOLINE LEAGUE, the—patchwork of city-states and kingdoms in Hemispia and Illia dedicated primarily to trade, led by the rulers of the city of Hemapoli Magni. Stronghold of the followers of the Sun Court, but beset by republicanism.
HEMISPIA—lands east of the Mera Argenta now ruled by the Hemapoline League. Anciently the lands of the first Dragon Kings.
HETH—the Sea Bull, the Sea King, god of surface waves, sea storms, and the Deep. Ancestor-god of the Aurians, who cursed his descendants and turned his back upon them after they destroyed the Green Temple of An-Athair.
ILLIA—isle just north of Hemispia, favored by the gods of the Sun and location of the first Dragon Throne. Home to the Sun Court.
ILLIKI HELIOS—the Sun-Bull, a son of Agdah Cosmopeiia and Ami the Morning Star, the father of Islik the Divine King. As the Spring Sun he bestows progeny and protects crops, an archetype of divine kingship, and as the Winter Sun, he is the dying god with knowledge of the Underworld, cast from the Heavens by his half brother Irré the Black Sun. He was later restored, either by Yhera or by his son Islik.
IRON AGE, the—fourth and current age of Known World history, beginning with Akkalion’s assumption of the Imperial throne 446 years ago and leading to the current date: 1471 in the standard Imperial Avellan calendar used by the Sun Court and Middle Kingdoms, 2615 in the old Düréan calendar, 2431 in the Celestial calendar, or 1638 in the Palatian calendar.
IRRÉ—the Black Sun, bringer of unbearable heat, drought, and the blinding intensity of both darkness and light; the Bow Bearer, god of plague and fire; the Black Goat, god of war, struggle, disaster, disorder, the desert and the wilderness; the Last Defender, who guarded the gates of Düréa from the armies of Geteema. He overthrew Illiki Helios for abandoning Düréa before its fall, starting the War in Heaven. One of the Forbidden Gods.
ISHRAHA—the Rebel Angel, a son of Ligrid and a general to Islik when he was King of Illia. After Irré cast down Illiki Helios at the start of the War in Heaven, Ishraha led a rebellion against Islik for withholding the sacrifices due the gods and usurped his throne, casting Islik into exile. He was defeated when Islik returned and is imprisoned in the Underworld. One of the Forbidden Gods.
ISLIK—the Divine King, demigod son of Illiki Helios. He was the first of the Illian Dragon Kings, the founder of the Sun Court, and ruled as King of the Earth. After his father was cast down by Irré, Islik was usurped by Ishraha. After wandering the world for 21 years as one of the Four Kings in Exile, he achieved Ten Great Victories and returned to reclaim his throne, and after imprisoning Ishraha in the Underworld, Islik ascended to the Heavens and became King of both Heaven and Earth. His worshippers do not make sacrifices to the old gods and believe that rather than descending to Geniché’s Underworld, they ascend to the Heavens to Islik’s Palace after they die, but they have divided into two rival schisms, the Sun Court and the Phoenix Court.
ISLIKLIDAE, the—strange and evil Kings who arose in the Far West and conquered the lands of Djar Mael some two hundred years ago, dividing the land into three kingdoms: Morica, Ugeram, and Boradja. They claim descent from Islik, and are served by the Düméghal and Maelite warlords. Called the Isliklidae, Isliklids, Islikids, and the Pretenderai.
JALA—the Good Prince, son of Surep. One of the Four Kings in Exile, he returned to Samarappa to confront Nymarga, regain his father’s throne, and restore the Celestial Court.
KHAEL—isle just east of Palatia, where the Oracle Queens live. Sacked by the Worm Kings at the end of the Age of Legends, now protected by Palatian legions.
KNOWN WORLD, the—term used to describe the whole of the known, mapped world, to distinguish it from the unknown, unmapped world.
LIGRID—the Temptress, the Queen of Perversity, the breaker of taboos and the corruptor of flesh and spirit; a daughter of Geteema, she is described variously as a rival, tutor, or mask of Dieva. One of the Forbidden Gods.
LORD MOTT, the—vizier to the Usurper of Palatia, inventor of the first Indexes, and rumored to be the Philosopher-King-in-Waiting who will usher in the next age of history.
LOST UTHEDMAEL—name given to Maelite and Danian lands loyal to Githwaine and cursed by the Sun Court after his fall at the end of the Winter Century (see Djar Mael and Dania). Now a barren and ashen wasteland of inhospitable ruins.
MAECE—name of the realm taken by the Maelites Kings who stood against Githwaine (see Djar Mael). Their strength was wasted in wars against the Isliklidae, and they remain only as the W
atchtower Kings.
MANON MOLE—high hills along the coast of the southern Middle Kingdoms, home to reclusive hill peoples and bandit knights descended from the Wyvern King who refuse to acknowledge the High King of Therapoli.
MÉDÜRE—the Cunning One, goddess of warlike skill and heroic valor. One of the Gorgonae.
MERA ARGENTA—inland sea framed by Hemispia in the east, the Gola in the south, the coast of the Midlands to the west, and Déskédré and the territories of Palatia in the north. Also called the Silver Scale Sea.
MERETIA—small realm next to the Gola, once part of the Thessid-Golan Empire and now annexed by Amora.
MIDLANDS, the—common name for the lands to the west of the Silver Scale Sea. Once the Paradise of Geniché, now mostly inhospitable desert and mountain.
MIDDLE KINGDOMS, the—common name for the Aurian and Danian kingdoms on a peninsula in the Silver Scale Seas (see Auria, Dania), all aligned with the Sun Court and ruled by the High King of Therapoli.
MILLENE—legendary capital of Dauban Hess’ Golden Empire, destroyed by a volcanic maelstrom in the Catastrophe. All that is left are a few ruins at the center of a plain of volcanic ash.
MOGRAN—the Riot Goddess, goddess of terror, confusion, and dissension. One of the Gorgonae.
NAMELESS CULTS, the—common term for the cults surrounding the Forbidden Gods.
NYMARGA—the Magician, the Devil Incarnate, called by some the first and greatest evil of the Known World, who rose to power in the Celestial Court. He slew King Surep to usurp the throne of Samarappa, but Jala returned and threw him down. He next appeared in Vanimoria, where he killed Coromat to usurp the throne, conquered Thessidia, and ruled as the Worldly Tyrant until Dauban Hess slew him and dismembered his body, hiding and burying the pieces in salt. Some believe he also incarnated as the King of Brass, the Horned Man, the Corn King, and Maelfess at different points in ancient history and legend. One of the Forbidden Gods.
OLD ÉDUINAN—ancient language of Dania, Daradja, and the Maelites (see Djar Mael), similar to the language of ancient Düréa.
OLD RELIGION, the—common term for the worship of Yhera and other ancient gods and goddesses. Followers of the Old Religion believe that meat should only be consumed by mortals in the context of an animal sacrifice to a god or goddess.
ORACLE QUEENS, the—the descendants of Bragea, possessed of the greatest oracular visions in the Known World, and rulers of the Isle of Khael.
PALATIA—city-state of the northern Mera Argenta, founded by Achre and Archaia. A minor city in the Golden Age, but now the center of a vast and expanding empire, possessed of legions, fleets, and merchant networks rivaled only by the Hemapoline League and Thessid-Golan Empire, each of which it has defeated in recent wars. Now ruled by the Usurper.
PHOENIX COURT, the—Imperial Court of the Empire of Thessid-Gola located in Avella; also the highest Divine King authority in the West (see Islik). Opposed to the Sun Court, the Phoenix Court advocates a model of kingship based on appointment or election rather than inheritance, and so chooses or elects the officers of the Court and the emirates of the Empire. Briefly but disastrously corrupted by the Worm Kings.
RAHABI—great spirits of darkness and fire that sided with Irré during the War in Heaven. Their name comes from Rahab, the great monster-general that led the army of Irré. Their ranks included the Dhuréleal, the Bharab Dzerek, the Gamezhiel, the Ghazarab, the Golodriel, the Nephilim, and the Sharab Deceal. They now dwell mostly in the Underworld and the Six Hells.
RED ELIXIR—one of the three magical elixirs produced by alchemy. A red powder (or as the Alkahest, a red liquid) that can be used to turn base metals into gold, give oracular dreams or visions of the future, create a basilisk, or impart immortality.
RETHET THESA, the—name for the Carrion Queens of Düréa during the Golden Age when they were most active in the Known World as warriors, hunters, and conquerors, just prior to the fall of Ürüne Düré.
SAMARAPPA—fabled land of spices in the Far West, known for its literate and sensuous peoples.
SEATED KING—a King recognized by the Sun Court. Seated Kings were granted power once it was obvious there would be no more Dragon Kings.
SEEDRÉ—a son of Geniché who was the first to follow his mother to the Underworld and became the Judge of the Dead. Also called Osidred by cult of the Divine King.
SETINE—an emirate of the Thessid-Golan Empire, inland of the cities of Grand Sekeret in the Gola. Ruled by Akine Mog during and after the Winter Century, until his defeat by the armies of Sekeret.
SPRING QUEENS, the—priestesses of the Green Temple of An-Athair during the Age of Legends, who created a wondrous and magical land centered in the Erid Wold. They were protected by the order of the Golden Knights. Their realm was ended by the arrival of the Aurians (see Auria).
SULTAN—title given an Emir elected by the Phoenix Court to speak in the name of Akkalion. The current Sultan is Agameen tep Marahet.
SUN COURT, the—highest religious authority in eastern lands devoted to Islik. Located on Illia, once the home of Islik himself, the Sun Court stands against the Phoenix Court and champions the tradition of hereditary kingship passed from father to son. Sun Court lands include the Hemapoline League, Amora and Meretia, and the Middle Kingdoms.
SUREP—son of Yhera and Agdah Cosmopeiia; a legendary and divine ruler of Samarappa during the Golden Age, slain by Nymarga.
THERAPOLI MAGNI—ancient capital of the Middle Kingdoms, built during the Golden Age.
THESSID-GOLAN EMPIRE, the—name for the vast empire first created by Dauban Hess, then dismembered after his disappearance, first during civil wars between the Sun Court and rebel generals in the west, and then by the wars of the Worm Kings. At the height of its expansion under Dauban Hess in whole of the Known World only Palatia and Khael were outside the Empire and even they sent tribute. Akkalion began to reconstitute the Empire after the Bronze Age, but his efforts were halted by his lapse into the Gray Dream, and have only been recently been continued by the most recent Sultan. Currently includes Vanimoria, Thessidia, Grand Sekeret, Setine, Galia, and a host of minor emirates and principalities. Nominally allied to the Isliklidae, with whom the Empire fought the Long War of Night Horrors before reaching a truce.
THESSIDIA—principal emirate of the Thessid-Golan Empire just to the west of the Gola; home to the current Imperial Capital of Avella and site of the ruins of the old capital, Millene.
THRONE THIEF, WARS of the—fifty-year period of civil war and upheaval in the Middle Kingdoms, caused when a person or persons unknown proceeded over several years to steal the magical thrones of the kings of the Aurian and Danian Kingdoms. The thrones are still missing two centuries later.
THULA—a daughter of Geniché; the Forked Tongue, the Mother of Heroes, the Fire Queen who stole the secrets of magic and civilization from the Düréans and the Otherworld for her descendants, the Thulamites. She killed Dara in one of her many raids, and dueled Achre with both weapons and dance to a standoff; according to some stories she could change appearance and gender as easily as a snake sheds its skin, and performed magics that allowed her to bear a child by Achre. Thula sailed to defend Ürüne Düré against Geteema’s children, though she had herself weakened its defenses. Mother of Ceram and Dall and Pulma.
THULAMITES—barbarians of the Midlands, horse-riding raiders who dwell in great stone citadels. Now allied to Palatia.
URGRAYNE—a daughter of Djara Luna; one of the Four Queens of the Compass, and called the Witch-Queen of the Harath Éduins. Active throughout the world since the days of Ürüne Düré, she has a reputation as a mysterious meddler. Some Daradjans are said to follow her instructions and are called members of the Witch’s Host (see Daradja).
ÜRÜNE DÜRÉ—a great isle in the Mera Argenta, where Ariahavé led her favorites in the Golden Age to teach them the arts of civilization and found the realm of Düréa. Lost beneath the sea at the end of the Golden Age. Usually translated from the Düréan as “Mo
untain of Thrones.”
USURPER, the—common name for Urech Aiths, the current Duke of Palatia, who took the Ducal Throne in a coup at the end of the Assassin Cycles.
UTHED WOLD—one of the seven great woods of the Middle Kingdoms, a place of darkness and death held by the Azharites, followers of Azharad and the Nameless Cults.
VALE OF BARROWS, the—ancient burial place of the queens and kings of Daradja and Dania. Largely unused for centuries, now considered cursed and home to necromancers, witches, ghosts, and ghouls.
VANI—a son of Ammon Agdah and Geteema, often depicted as having either an eagle or vulture head; the Mountain King who brings the Spring thaw. Ancestor god of the Vanimorians (see Vanimoria).
VANIMORIA—mountainous land to the west of the Mera Argenta; considered the southern edge of the Midlands, but during the Golden Age was the earthly realm of Geteema, and so was spared some of the desolation which has marked the rest of Geniché’s Paradise. Inhabited by proud, martial mountain barbarians and considered a key component of the Thessid-Golan Empire.
WAR IN HEAVEN, the—a 21-year war at the end of the Golden Age. After the sinking of Ürüne Düré and while Yhera wandered in grief, Irré accused Illiki Helios of abandoning the defense of Düréa to become the Sun King after the death of Agdah Cosmopeiia, and organized a rebellion in the Heavens against him. Illiki Helios was cast into the Underworld and Irré assumed the mantle of the Sun King. On Earth, Ishraha usurped the Dragon Throne of Illia from Islik in a parallel rebellion. At the end of the war, Yhera returned from the Underworld and restored Agdah and Illiki to the Heavens, though neither could be Sun King. That position was taken by Islik himself, who returned from exile to claim both the Dragon Throne of Illia and the Sun Throne.
WATCHTOWER KINGS, the—Maelite and Danian kings and warlords who fought against Githwaine and were granted citadels in western Dania to keep watch over Lost Uthedmael and the Thessid-Golan Empire by Fortias the Brave (see Djar Mael). Once their domain was called Maece.