by Janny Wurts
pronounced: fee-ark
root meaning: fyerk - to throw or toss
FIRST AGE - marked by the arrival of the Paravian Races as Ath’s gift to heal the marring of creation by the great drakes.
FORTHMARK - city in Vastmark, Shand. Once the site of a hostel of Ath’s Brotherhood. By Third Age Year 5320, the site was abandoned and taken over by the Koriani Order as a healers’ hospice.
meaning not from the Paravian
GARTH’S POND - small brackish pond in Merior by the Sea, on the Scimlade peninsula off Alland, Shand.
pronounced: garth, to rhyme with ‘hearth'
meaning not from the Paravian
GHARMAG - one of the senior captains in Etarra’s garrison.
pronounced: gar-mag
meaning not from the Paravian
GHENT - mountainous principality in Kingdom of Havish; where Prince Eldir was raised in hiding.
pronounced: gent, hard ‘g'
root meaning: ghent - harsh
GNUDSOG - Etarra’s field-captain of the garrison under Lord Commander Diegan; acting first officer in the battle of Strakewood Forest; died in the flooding at the River Tal Quorin.
pronounced: nud-sug, to rhyme with ‘wood log'
root meaning: gianud - tough; sog - ugly
GREAT WAYSTONE - amethyst crystal, spherical in shape, once the grand power focus of the Koriani Order; reputed to be lost since the uprising.
GREAT WEST ROAD - trade-route which crosses Tysan from Karfael on the west coast, to Castle Point on Instrell Bay.
HALDUIN s’ILESSID - founder of the line that became High Kings of Tysan since Third Age Year One. The attribute he passed on, by means of the Fellowship’s geas, was justice.
pronounced: hal-dwin
root meaning: hal - white; duinne - hand
HALLIRON MASTERBARD - native of Innish, Shand. Masterbard of Athera during the Third Age; inherited the accolade from his teacher Murchiel in the year 5597. Son of Al’Duin. Husband of Deartha. Arithon’s master and mentor.
pronounced: hal-eer-on
root meaning: hal - white; lyron - singer
HALTHA - Senior enchantress of the Koriani Order; assigned to keep watch on Avenor at the time of the city’s restoration.
pronounced: hal-the
root meaning: halthien - white aged
HALWYTHWOOD - forest located in Araethura, Rathain.
pronounced: hall-with-wood
root meaning: hal - white; wythe - vista
HANSHIRE - port city on Westland Sea, coast of Korias, Tysan; reigning mayor Lord Mayor Garde; opposed to royal rule at the time of Avenor’s restoration.
pronounced: han-sheer
root meaning: hansh - sand; era - place
HARRADENE - Lord Commander of Etarra’s army at the time of the muster at Werpoint.
pronounced: har-a-deen
root meaning: harradien - large mule
HAVISH - one of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera, as defined by the charters of the Fellowship of Seven. Ruled by Eldir s’Lornmein. Sigil: gold hawk on red field.
pronounced: hav-ish
root meaning: havieshe - hawk
HAVISTOCK - southeast principality of Kingdom of Havish.
pronounced: hav-i-stock
root meaning: haviesha - hawk; tiok - roost
HAVRITA - fashionable dressmaker in Jaelot.
pronounced: have-reet-ah
root meaning: havierta - tailor
HIGHSCARP - city on the coast of the Bay of Eltair, located in Daon Ramon, Rathain.
ILITHARIS PARAVIANS - centaurs, one of three semimortal old races; disappeared at the time of the Mistwraith’s conquest. They were the guardians of the earth’s mysteries.
pronounced: i-li-thar-is
root meaning: i’lith’eans - the keeper/preserver of mystery
IMARN ADAER - enclave of Paravian gem-cutters in the city of Mearth, who dispersed in the times of the Curse which destroyed the inhabitants. The secrets of their trade were lost with them. Surviving works include the crown jewels of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera, cut as focus stones which attune to the heir of the royal lines.
pronounced: i-marn-a-day-er
root meaning: imam - crystal; e’daer - to cut smaller
INNISH - city located on the southcoast of Shand at the delta of the River Ippash. Birthplace of Halliron Masterbard. 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, that separates principality of Atainia, Tysan, from Deshir, Rathain.
pronounced: in-strell
root meaning: arin’streal - strong wind
ISAER - city located at the crossroads of the Great West Road in Atainia, Tysan. Also a power focus, built during the First Age, in Atainia, Tysan, to source the defence-works at the Paravian keep of the same name.
pronounced: i-say-er
root meaning: i’saez - the circle
ITHAMON - Second Age Paravian stronghold, and a Third Age ruin; built on a fifth lane power-node in Daon Ramon Barrens, Rathain, and inhabited until the year of the uprising. Site of the Compass Point Towers, or Sun Towers. Became the seat of the High Kings of Rathain during the Third Age and in year 5638 was the site where Princes Lysaer s’Ilessid and Arithon s’Ffalenn battled the Mistwraith to confinement.
pronounced: ith-a-mon
root meaning: itha - five; man - needle, spire
ITHILT - peninsula bordering Minderl Bay, located in Kingdom of Rathain.
pronounced: ith-ilt, to rhyme with ‘with halt'
root meaning: ith - five; ealt - a narrows
IVEL - blind splicer hired by Arithon in his shipyard at Merior.
pronounced: ee-vell
root meaning: iavel - scathing
IYAT - energy sprite native to 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.
pronounced: ee-at
root meaning: iyat - to break
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.
pronounced: jay-lot
root meaning: jielot - affectation
JIERET s’VALERIENT- 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. Bloodpacted to Arithon by sorcerer’s oath prior to battle of Strakewood Forest. Came to be known by headhunters as Jieret Red-beard.
pronounced: jeer-et
root meaning: jieret - thorn
JINESSE - widow of a fisherman, mother of the twins Fiark and Feylind, and an inhabitant of Merior by the Sea.
pronounced: gin-ess
root meaning: jienesse — to be washed out or pale; a wisp
KALESH - one of the towns at the head of the inlet to Alestron’s harbour, located in East Halla, Melhalla, and traditionally the enemy of the reigning s’Brydion duke.
pronounced: cal-esh
root meaning: caille’esh - stubborn hold
KARFAEL - trader town on the coast of the Westland Sea, in Tysan. Built by townsmen as a trade port after the fall of the High Kings of Tysan. Prior to Desh-thiere’s conquest, the site was kept clear of buildings to allow the second lane forces to flow untrammelled across the focus site at Avenor.
pronounced: kar-fay-el
root meaning: kar’i'ffael - literal translation ‘twist the dark'/colloquialism for ‘intrigue'
KARMAK - plain located in the northern portion of the principality of Camris, Tysan. Site of numerous First Age battles where Paravian forces opposed Khadrim packs that bred in volcanic sites in the northern Tornir Peaks.
pronounced: kar-mack
root meaning: karmak - wolf
KARTHAN - kingdom in splinter world Dascen Elur, through West Gate, ruled by the pirate kings, s’Ffalenn descendants of the prince sent into exile at the time of the Mistwraith’s conquest.
pronounced: karth-an
root meaning: kar eth’an - one who raids/pirate
KARTH-EELS - creatures descended from stock aberrated by the methurien, or hate-wraiths, of Mirthlvain Swamp. Amphibious, fanged, venomed spines, webbed feet.
pronounced: car-th eels
root meaning: kar’eth - to raid
KELDMAR s’BRYDION - younger brother of Duke Bransian of Alestron; older brother of Parrien and Mearn.
pronounced: keld-mar
root meaning: kiel’d'maeran - one without pity
KHADRIM - drake-spawned creatures, flying, fire-breathing reptiles that were the scourge of the Second Age. By the Third Age, they had been driven back and confined in the Sorcerers’ Preserve in the volcanic peaks in north Tysan.
pronounced: kaa-drim
root meaning: khadrim - dragon
KHARADMON - Sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven; discorporate since rise of Khadrim and Seardluin levelled Paravian city 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 sent to the worlds cut off beyond South Gate to explore the Mistwraith’s origin.
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'
KIELING TOWER - one of the four Compass Points or Sun Towers standing at Ithamon, Daon Ramon Barrens, Rathain. The warding virtue that binds its stones is Compassion.
pronounced: kee-el-ing
root meaning: kiel’ien - root for pity, with suffix added translates to ‘compassion'
KITTIWAKE TAVERN - sailors’ dive located in the city of Ship’s Port, Melhalla.
KORIANI - possessive form of the word ‘Koriathain'; see entry.
pronounced: kor-ee-ah-nee
KORIAS - southwestern principality of Tysan.
pronounced: kor-ee-as
root meaning: cor - ship, vessel; i’esh - nest, haven
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 (thain rhymes with ‘main')
root meaning: koriath - order; ain - belonging to
LANSHIRE - northwestern principality of Havish. Name taken from wastes at Scarpdale, site of First Age battles with Seardluin that seared the soil to a slag waste, pronounced: lahn-sheer-e (last ‘e’ is nearly subliminal)
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 written by the Paravians. The primary tenet is that no force of nature should be used without consent, or against the will of another living being.
LEINTHAL ANITHAEL - great Paravian navigator who was first to circumnavigate Athera
pronounced: lee-in-thall an-ith-ee-el
root meaning: lienthal - direction; anithael - to seek
LIRENDA - First Senior Enchantress to the Prime, Koriani order; Morriel’s intended successor.
pronounced: leer-end-ah
root meaning: lyron - singer; di-ia - a dissonance (the hyphen denotes a glottal stop)
LITHMERE - principality located in the Kingdom of Havish.
pronounced: lith-mere, to rhyme with ‘with here’
root meaning: lithmiere - compound word with the sense ‘to preserve intact or to keep whole’, as in to maintain a state of perfection
LUHAINE - Sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven - dis-corporate since the fall of Telmandir. 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’ being nearly 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.
pronounced: lie-say-er
root meaning: lia - blond, yellow or light, saer - circle
MACHIEL - steward and caithdein of the realm of Havish. In service under King Eldir.
pronounced: mak-ee-el
root meaning: mierkiel - post, pillar
MAENELLE s’GANNLEY - steward and caithdein of Tysan.
pronounced: may-nahl-e (last ‘e’ is near subliminal)
root meaning: maeni - to fall, disrupt; alli - to save or preserve/colloquial translation: ‘to patch together'
MAENOL - heir, after Maenalle s’Gannley, Steward and caithdein of Tysan.
pronounced: may-nall
root meaning: maeni’alli - ‘to patch together'
MAIEN - nickname for Maenalle’s grandson, Maenol.
pronounced: my-en
root meaning: maien - mouse
MAGYRE - scholar who discovered the secret of black powder. In accordance with the Fellowship sorcerers’ compact, he was forced to give up his studies, but a copy of his papers survived.
pronounced: mag-wire
root meaning: magiare- a chaotic force
MAINMERE - town at the head of the Valenford River, located in the principality of Taerlin, Tysan. Built by townsmen on a site originally kept clear to free the second land focus in the ruins further south.
pronounced: main-meer-e ('e’ is subliminal)
root meaning: maeni - to fall, interrupt; miere - reflection, colloquial translation: ‘disrupt continuity'
MARL - Earl of Fallowmere and clan chieftain at the time of the battle of Strakewood Forest.
pronounced: marl
root meaning: marle - quartz rock
MATHORN MOUNTAINS - range that bisects the Kingdom of Rathain east to west.
pronounced: math-orn
root meaning: mathien - massive
MATHORN ROAD - way passing to the south of the Ma thorn Mountains, leading to the trade city of Etarra from the west.
pronounced: math-orn
root meaning: mathien - massive
MEARN s’BRYDION - youngest brother of Duke Bransian of Alestron.
pronounced: may-am
root meaning: mierne - to flit
MEARTH - city through the West Gate in the Red Desert. Inhabitants all fell victim to the Shadows of Mearth, which were created by the Fellowship sorcerer Davien to protect the Five Centuries Fountain. The Shadows are a light-fuelled geas that bind the mind to memory of an individual’s most painful experience.
pronounced: me-arth
root meaning: mearth - empty
MEDLIR - name carried by Arithon s’Ffalenn while he travelled incognito as Halliron’s apprentice.
pronounced: med-leer
root meaning: midlyr - phrase of melody
MELHALLA - High Kingdom of Athera once ruled by the line of s’Ellestrion. The last prince died in the crossing of the Red Desert.
pronounced: mel-hall-ah
root meaning: maelhallia - grand meadows/plain -also word for an open space of any sort.
MELOR RIVER - located in the principality of Korias, Tysan. Its mouth forms the harbour for the port town of West End.
; pronounced: mel-or
root meaning: maeliur - fish
MERIOR BY THE SEA - small seaside fishing village on the Scimlade peninsula in Alland, Shand. Site of Arithon’s shipyard.
pronounced: mare-ee-or
root meaning: meriozen - cottages
METH ISLE KEEP - old Paravian fortress located on the isle in Methlas Lake in southern Melhalla. Kept by Verrain, Guardian of Mirthlvain. Contains a fifth lane power focus and dungeons where methuri, or hate-wraiths, were held temporarily captive before transfer to Rockfell Pit.
pronounced: meth isle
root meaning: meth - hate
METHLAS LAKE - large body of fresh water located in the principality of Radmoor, Melhalla.
pronounced: meth-las
root meaning: meth’ilass’an - the drowned, or sunken ones
METH-SNAKES - crossbred genetic mutations left over from a First Age drake-spawned creature called a methuri (hate-wraith). Related to iyats, these creatures possessed live hosts, which they infested and induced to produce mutated offspring to create weakened lines of stock to widen their choice of potential host animals.
pronounced: meth to rhyme with ‘death'
root meaning: meth - hate
METHURI - drake spawned, and iyat-related parasite that infested live host animals. By the Third Age, they are extinct, but their mutated host stock continues to breed in Mirthlvain Swamp.
pronounced: meth-yoor-ee
root meaning: meth - hate; thiere - wraith, or spirit
MINDERL BAY - body of water behind Crescent Isle off the east coast of Rathain.