The Ships of Merior

by Janny Wurts

  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 One. Also Master of Shadow, the Bane of Desh-thiere, and Halliron Masterbard’s successor.

  pronounced: ar-i-thon — almost rhymes with ‘marathon'

  root meaning: arithon - fate-forger. one who is visionary

  ASANDIR - Fellowship Sorcerer. Secondary name, King-maker, 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 put 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, is suffix for ‘third domain’ Original Paravian, itainia

  ATCHAZ - city located in Alland, Shand. Famed for its silk.

  pronounced: at-chas

  not meaning: atchias - silk

  ATH CREATOR - prime vibration, force behind all life.

  pronounced: ath to rhyme with ‘math'

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

  ATHIR - Second Age ruin of a Paravian stronghold, located in Ithilt, Rathain. Site of a seventh lane power focus.

  pronounced: ath-ear

  root meaning: ath - prime; i’er - the line/edge

  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

  ATWOOD - forest located in East Halla, Melhalla.

  pronounced: at-wood

  root meaning: ath - prime vibration/Ath’s wood

  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 One.

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

  root meaning: avar - past thought/memory

  AVENOR - Second Age ruin of a Paravian stronghold. Traditional seat of the s’Ilessid High Kings. Restored to habitation in Third Age Year 5644. Located in Korias, Tysan.

  pronounced: ah-ven-or

  root meaning: avie - stag; norh - grove

  BECKBURN - market in the city of Jaelot, on the coast of Eltair Bay at the southern border of Rathain.

  pronounced: beck-burn

  meaning not from the Paravian

  BLACK DRAKE - a brig often hired to run contraband, captained by a woman named Dhirken.

  BLACK ROSE PROPHECY - made by Dakar the Mad Prophet in Third Age Year 5637 at Althain Tower. Forecasts Davien the Betrayer’s repentance, and the reunity of the Fellowship of Seven as tied to Arithon s’Ffalenn’s voluntary resumption of Rathain’s crown rule.

  BRANSIAN s’BRYDION - Teir’s'Brydion, ruling Duke of Alestron.

  pronounced: bran-see-an

  root meaning: brand - temper,- s’i'an - suffix denoting ‘of the one'/the one with temper

  BWIN EVOC s’LORNMEIN - founder of the line that became High Kings of Havish since Third Age Year One. The attribute he passed on by means of the Fellowship’s geas was temperance.

  pronounced: bwin, to rhyme with ‘twin’, eevahk, as in ‘evocative,’ lorn, as in English equivalent, mein rhymes with ‘main'

  root meaning: bwin - firm,- evoc - choice

  CAILCALLOW- herb that grows in Athera’s marshes, used to ease fevers.

  pronounced: rhymes with ‘kale-tallow'

  root meaning: coil - 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 first 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'

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

  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. Currently in Jieret Red-beard’s service.

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

  root meaning; caille - stubborn

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

  pronounced: kill-ah-dis

  root meaning: cael - lelf, adeis - whisper, compound, cael’adeis colloquialism for ‘gentleness that abides'

  CILDEIN OCEAN - body of water lying off Athera’s east coastline.

  pronounced: kill-dine

  root meaning, cailde - salty? an - one

  CILDOHN - city famed for carpets and weaving, located in Deshir Rathain. Originally a Paravian hold-fast, situated on a node of the third lane.

  pronounced: kill-dorn

  root meaning; cieal - thread, dorn - net ‘tapestry’

  CLAITHEN - an adept of Ath’s Brotherhood in the hostel south of Merior.

  pronounced: clay-then

  root meaning: claithen - garden; earth/soil

  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 overlooked

  CRESCENT ISLE - large island located east of Minderl Bay in Ithilt, Rathain.

  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; fezon - maker

  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

  DAELION’s WHEEL - cycle of life and the crossing point which is the transitio
n into death.

  pronounced: day-el-ee-on

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

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

  pronounced: dye-en-fall

  root meaning: daen - clay; fal - red

  DAGRIEN COURT - market in the city of Jaelot, on the coast at the southern border of Rathain.

  pronounced: dag-ree-en

  root meaning: dagrien - variety

  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. At this time, assigned to defence of Arithon, Prince of Rathain.

  pronounced: dah-kar

  root meaning: dakiar - clumsy

  DANIA - wife of Rathain’s Regent, Steiven s’Valerient. Died by the hand of Pesquil’s headhunters in the Battle of Strakewood. Jieret Red-beard’s mother.

  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 - bills/downs

  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. Birthplace of Lysaer and Arithon.

  pronounced: das-en el-ur

  root meaning: dascen - ocean,- e’lier - small land

  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; the shaft at Rockfell Pit, 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'

  DEARTHA - wife of Halliron, Masterbard of Athera; resident in Innish.

  pronounced: dee-ar-the

  root meaning: deorethan - sour tempered

  DESHANS - barbarian clans who inhabit Strakewood Forest, principality of Deshir, Rathain.

  pronounced: desh-ee-ans

  root meaning: deshir - misty

  DESHIR - northwestern 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 Year 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.

  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

  DHIRKEN - lady captain of the contraband runner, Black Drake. Reputed to have taken over the brig’s command by right of arms following her father’s death at sea.

  pronounced: dur-kin

  root meaning: dierk - tough; an - one

  DIEGAN - once Lord Commander of Etarra’s garrison; given over by his mayor to serve as Lysaer s’Ilessid’s Lord Commander at Avenor. Titular commander of the war host sent against the Deshans to defeat the Master of Shadow at Tal Quorin; high commander of the war host mustered at Werpoint. Also brother of Lady Talith.

  pronounced: dee-gan

  root meaning: diegan - trinket a dandy might wear/ornament

  DURN - city located in Orvandir, Shand.

  pronounced: dern

  root meaning: diern - plain/flat

  DYSHENT - city on the coast of Instrell Bay in Tysan; renowned for timber.

  pronounced: die-shent

  root meaning: dyshient - cedar

  EARLE - Second Age ruin, once a Paravian stronghold, located on the southern tip of the peninsula in West Shand. Site of the defences that contained the Mistwraith’s invasion prior to the uprising incited by Davien the Betrayer.

  pronounced: earl

  root meaning: erli - long light

  EAST HALLA - principality located in the Kingdom of Melhalla

  pronounced: hall-ah

  root meaning: hal’lia — white light

  EAST WARD - city in Fallowmere, Rathain, renowned as a port that served the trade-route to Etarra from the Cildein Ocean.

  pronounced: ward no Paravian root meaning as this city was man’s creation

  ELAIRA - initiate enchantress of the Koriathain. Originally a street child, taken on in Morvain for Koriani rearing.

  pronounced: ee-layer-ah

  root meaning: e - prefix, diminutive for small; laere -grace

  ELDIR s’LORNMEIN - King of Havish and last surviving scion of s’Lornmein royal line. Raised as a wool-dyer until the Fellowship sorcerers crowned him at Ostermere in Third Age Year 5643 following the defeat of the Mistwraith.

  pronounced: el-deer

  root meaning: eldir - to ponder, to consider, to weigh

  ELIE - name of a newlywed woman in Merior. Short for Elidie, which is a common southcoast gill’s name,

  pronounced: ellie (longform, el-ed-ee)

  root meaning: eledie — night-singing bird

  ELKFOREST - wood located in Ghent, Havish; home of Machiel, steward and caithdein of the realm.

  ELSHIAN - Athlien Paravian bard and instrument maker. Crafted the lyranthe that is held in trust by Athera’s Masterbard.

  pronounced: el-shee-an

  root meaning: e’alshian - small wonder, or miracle

  ELSSINE - city located on the coast of Alland, Shand, famed for stone quarries used for ship’s ballast.

  pronounced: el-seen

  root meaning: elssien - small pit

  ELTAIR BAY - large bay off Cildein Ocean and east coast of Rathain; where River Severnir was diverted following the Mistwraith’s conquest.

  pronounced: el-tay-er

  root meaning: al’tieri - of steel/a shortening of original Paravian name,- dascen al’tieri - which meant ‘ocean of steel’ which referred to the colour of the waves.

  ERDANE - old Paravian city, later taken over by Men. Seat of old princes of Camris until Desh-thiere’s conquest and rebellion.

  pronounced: er-day-na with the last syllable almost subliminal

  root meaning: er’deinia - long walls

  ERLIEN s’TALEYN - High Earl of Alland; caithdein of Shand, chieftain of the forest clansmen of Selkwood.

  pronounced: er-lee-an stall-ay-en

  root meaning: aierlyan - bear; tal - branch; an - one/first ‘of first one branch'

  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.

  pronounced: ee-tar-
ah

  root meaning: e - prefix for small; taria - knots

  FAERY-TOES - a brown gelding Dakar won dicing with mercenaries.

  FALGAIRE - coastal city on Instrell Bay, located in Araethura, Rathain, famed for its crystal and glassworks,

  pronounced: fall-gair, to rhyme with ‘air'

  root meaning: fal’mier - to sparkle or glitter

  FALLOWMERE - northeastern principality of Rathain.

  pronounced: fal-oh-meer

  root meaning: fal’ei’miere - literally, tree self-reflection, colloquialism for ‘place of perfect trees'

  FARL ROCKS - standing stones located in Daon Ramon Barrens, Rathain; site of a rendezvous between Jieret Red-beard and Caolle. These markers once channelled the earth forces for the Paravian dances at solstice and equinox.

  pronounced: far(l)

  root meaning: ffael - dark

  FARSEE - coastal harbour on the Bay of Eltair, located in East Halla, Melhalla.

  pronounced: far-see

  root meaning: faersi - sheltered/muffled

  FATE’S WHEEL - see Daelion’s Wheel.

  FELLOWSHIP OF SEVEN - sorcerers sworn to uphold the Law of the Major Balance, and to foster enlightened thought in Athera. Originators of the compact with the Paravian races that allowed men to settle in Athera.

  FEYLIND - twin daughter of Jinesse; sister of Fiark; inhabitant of Merior.

  pronounced: fay-lind

  root meaning: faelind’an - outspoken one/noisy one

  FIARK- twin son of Jinesse; brother of Feylind; inhabitant of Merior.