Halcyon (The Complete Trilogy)

by Joseph Robert Lewis

  Don – Fiction: An Espani title of respect and nobility for men. Fact: A Spanish title of respect and nobility for men. Similar to “Sir” for an English knight.

  Dona – Fiction: An Espani title of respect and nobility for women. Fact: A Spanish title of respect and nobility for women.

  Drachmas – Fiction: Money in Hellas. Fact: Money in Greece (back before the Euro).

  Ejido – Fiction: A city in southern España. Fact: A real location in Spain.

  El – Fiction: One of the names of God in the Middle Sea region. Fact: This is the Hebrew word for God.

  Envelope – Fiction: The reinforced fabric balloon above an airship, which contains hydrogen to lift the airship through the atmosphere. Fact: Same.

  Eran – Fiction: An empire that encompasses areas of North Ifrica, Arabia, and other eastern provinces. Previously known as the Persian Empire. Fact: The Persian Empire spanned many centuries under various names and rulers, centered around the modern nation of Iran. “Eran” is one of the early versions of the name Iran.

  Espada – Fiction: The signature fencing sword of España. Fact: The espada ropero was lighter and more elegant than earlier swords, but not as advanced at the rapier, which appeared around the same time. The word espada means sword.

  España – Fiction: A country in western Europa. Fact: This is the Spanish name for Spain.

  Espani – Fiction: A person from or the language of España. Fact: The Spanish word for Spanish is actually Español.

  Europa – Fiction: A continent to the west of Asia, currently experiencing an Ice Age. Fact: While Europe emerged from the Ice Age long ago, it still has many glaciers in the Alps.

  Fariza Othmani – Fiction: A wealthy Mazigh industrialist. Fact: The name Fariza means light.

  Father – Fiction: In the Roman and Constantian Churches, this is the aspect of God that embodies the concepts of law and justice. Fact: In Catholicism, the Father is one of the aspects of the Holy Trinity.

  Ferdinand Magellan – Fiction: An Espani admiral. Fact: A Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century, and the first person to lead a sailing expedition all the way around the world (although he died halfway along).

  Firenze – Fiction: A city in northern Italia. Fact: Firenze is the Italian name for the city of Florence, Italy.

  Flying foxes – Fiction: Large flying nocturnal mammals that can be found throughout North Ifrica. Fact: Some large species of bats are called flying foxes.

  Gadir – Fiction: A city in southern España. Fact: A real location in Spain. Gadir was the Phoenician settlement that became the modern city of Cadiz.

  Ghanima – Fiction: A young pilot in the Mazigh Air Corps. Fact: The Swahili name Ghanima means good fortune.

  Ghost – Fiction: When a person dies, their soul lives on outside the body as a ghost, which can only be seen by living people when there is enough aether mist in the area. Fact: None.

  Giant armadillo – Fiction: A huge armored mammal, similar to a tortoise but much larger with a mace-like tail. Fact: These creatures roamed ancient South America before becoming extinct 10,000 years ago. Also known as glyptodonts.

  Gibraltar – Fiction: A city in southern España. Fact: A real location in Spain.

  Gilded Grebe – Fiction: One of the courier airships in the Mazigh Northern Air Corps stationed in the city of Tingis. Fact: None.

  Golden Death – Fiction: A plague native to South America, where most indigenous people are immune. This disease killed the majority of the invading Espani army. Fact: When the Spanish invaded South America, they brought diseases such as small pox that killed millions of the indigenous peoples.

  Gondola – Fiction: The cockpit and cabin compartment of an airship located below the envelope (balloon). Fact: Same.

  Granada – Fiction: A city in southern España. Fact: A real location in Spain.

  Halcyon I – Fiction: One of the courier airships in the Mazigh Northern Air Corps stationed in the city of Tingis. Built by Isoke Geroubi and Taziri Ohana with electric motors instead of a steam engine to improve air safety following the explosion of the Silver Shearwater. Fact: None.

  Halcyon II – Fiction: The first aeroplane in the world. Designed and built by Isoke Geroubi. Fact: The first airplanes were built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Seaplanes resembling the Halcyon II were first built around 1940.

  Halcyon III – Fiction: An aeroplane able to transform into a locomotive using the first petrol-powered engine in the world. Designed and built by Taziri Ohana. Fact: Flying locomotives first appeared on the Transformers cartoon show with the character Astrotrain. They are rarely seen in reality.

  Harpy eagle – Fiction: This species of predatory bird from the New World is the largest and most powerful eagle in the world. Fact: Same.

  Hartebeest – Fiction: A species of antelope found in Ifrica. Fact: A species of antelope found in Africa.

  Hatun-anka – Fiction: A nine-foot tall “terror bird” used by the Incas as mounts and weapons in war. Resembles a feathered velociraptor. Fact: Terror birds such as Titanis roamed South America until becoming extinct about two million years ago. The Quechua (Incan) words hatun anka mean great eagle.

  Hellan – Fiction: A person from or the language of Hellas. Fact: The adjective for something from Greece is Hellenic (as well as Greek).

  Hellas – Fiction: A country in east-central Europa. Fact: A real location in Europe. The Greek name for Greece was originally Hellas, and the official name of Greece today is the Hellenic Republic.

  Hidalgo – Fiction: An Espani rank, similar to a knighthood. Entitles the individual to the title “Don” and exemption from taxes. Fact: Same. The Spanish rank of hidalgo was created in the twelfth century.

  Huesca – Fiction: A town in northern España. Fact: A real location in Spain.

  Ice-sailer – Fiction: A vehicle for traveling the frozen rivers of España. Resembles an outrigger canoe mounted on ice skates and powered by a sail. Fact: The sport of ice yachting is at about three hundred years old and is practiced in northern Europe, Russia, Canada, and the United States.

  Ifrica – Fiction: A continent to the south of the Middle Sea. Currently the most temperate and fertile region in the civilized world. Fact: The name “Africa” evolved from multiple sources, and the northern coast of Africa was called Ifriqya from the seventh to the sixteenth century. Thousands of years ago, the region we now call the Sahara Desert was in fact green and fertile and contained a massive inland sea.

  Igbo – Fiction: One of the peoples of West Ifrica conquered by the Songhai Empire. Fact: The Igbo people currently live in southern Nigeria.

  Ikelan – Fiction: The slave caste of the traditional Mazigh society, which was abolished two generations ago. Fact: The slave caste of the Tuareg (Berber) people still exists today.

  Ikosim – Fiction: A town in Numidia, originally settled by the Phoenicians. Fact: An ancient village settled by the Phoenicians three thousand years ago.

  Imajeren – Fiction: The ruling caste of the traditional Mazigh society, which was abolished two generations ago. Fact: The warrior-aristocrat caste of the Tuareg (Berber) people still exists today, but in a diminished form.

  Imrad – Fiction: The worker caste of the traditional Mazigh society, which was abolished two generations ago. Fact: The worker or servant caste of the Tuareg (Berber) people still exists today, but in a diminished form.

  Inadin – Fiction: The free craftsman caste of the traditional Mazigh society, which was abolished two generations ago. Fact: The smith/artist caste of the Tuareg (Berber) people still exists today, but in a diminished form.

  Inca – Fiction: The ruling empire and people of South America, who speak the Quechua language and repulsed the Espani military invasions led by the Pizzaro brothers. This empire, called Jisquntin Suyu (“The Nine Nations”), is ruled by the young emperor Manco Inca from the capital city of Cusco. Fact: One of the largest indigenous empires of the New World in the sixteenth century, who spoke the Quechua la
nguage and were defeated by the Spanish invasions led by the Pizzaro brothers. This empire, called Tawantin Suyu (“The Four Nations”), was briefly ruled by the young emperor Manco Inca from the capital city of Cusco (in modern Peru). Technically, the word “Inca” only referred to the ruling nobility or family, but the Spanish applied the word to the entire people.

  Ineslemen – Fiction: The priest caste of the traditional Mazigh society, which was abolished two generations ago. Fact: The clerical caste of the Tuareg (Berber) people still exists today, but in a diminished form.

  Inti – Fiction: The Incan sun god. Fact: Same.

  Isoke Geroubi – Fiction: An officer and engineer in the Northern Air Corps in Marrakesh. Last captain of the Silver Shearwater. Designer of the Halcyon I and Halcyon II. Fact: The name Isoke means Gift from God.

  Italia – Fiction: A country in central Europa. Fact: This is the Italian name for Italy.

  Italian – Fiction: A person from or the language of Italia. Fact: The Italian adjective is Italiano.

  Izza – Fiction: The personal assistant of Lady Sade. Fact: The Arabic name Izza means honor.

  Jaguar Order – Fiction: A military order in the Aztec nation. Fact: The Aztecs had several military orders including the Jaguar knights and Eagle knights. The Jaguar knights wore jaguar skins. And while they were deadly fighters, they specialized in military tactics to capture, not kill, their enemies.

  Jeronimo Carranza – Fiction: An Espani fencing master who trained Lorenzo Quesada. Fact: A Spanish fencing master who invented the destreza fencing style in the sixteenth century.

  Jisquntin Suyu – Fiction: The Incan (Quechua) name for the Incan Empire, it means Nine Nations because it encompasses nine conquered provinces. Fact: The Incan Empire was called Tawantin Suyu, meaning Four Nations.

  Kanem Empire – Fiction: A nation in central North Ifrica. Fact: The Kanem Empire existed from the seventh to the fourteenth century in central North Africa (modern Chad, Nigeria, and Libya).

  Kel Ahaggar – Fiction: A people related to the Mazighs. They live in the mountainous nation of Ahaggar to the east of Marrakesh. Fact: The Kel Ahaggar (“people of Ahaggar”) live today in southern Algeria and are also known as the Tuareg or Berber peoples.

  Kel Tamasheq – Fiction: The ancestors of the modern Mazighs and Kel Ahaggar. Fact: The Kel Tamasheq (“people who speak Tamasheq”) is another name for the Tuareg or Berber peoples.

  Kella Massi – Fiction: A police detective in Arafez, Marrakesh. Fact: The name Kella is Amazigh.

  Kemet – Fiction: The ancient Aegyptian name for Aegyptus. Fact: The ancient Egyptian name for Egypt, meaning black land (fertile). Note: The name Egypt is a foreign word derived from ancient Greek.

  Kenan Agyeman – Fiction: A former Mazigh soldier, he transferred into the marshals, then into the Air Corps, and finally became a private detective in Tingis. Fact: The Biblical name Kenan means possession.

  Khahesh mikonam – “You’re welcome” in Farsi (Persian / Eranian)

  Khemisset – Fiction: A city in central Marrakesh. Fact: A real location in Morocco.

  Kilima Njaro – Fiction: The tallest mountain in Ifrica. Fact: Mount Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania, is the tallest mountain (and volcano) in Africa. One theory is that the name comes from the Swahili “Kilima Njaro” meaning little white mountain.

  Kirumichi – Fiction: Large feline predators used by the Incans as hunters and weapons of war. Fact: Saber-toothed cats like Smilodon were the dominant predators of North and South America until they became extinct about 10,000 years ago.

  La Seo – Fiction: A large cathedral in Zaragoza. Fact: A real location in Spain. Also known as the Cathedral of the Savior.

  Lady Nerissa – Fiction: A Hellan princess and hereditary ruler of the city-state of Constantia. Fact: The Greek name Nerissa means nymph.

  Landsick – Fiction: When travelers step off a ship after a long journey, the sudden stillness of the land after the gentle rocking of the ship may cause dizziness, queasiness, and other mild symptoms similar to motion sickness, which usually pass in a matter of minutes. Fact: Same.

  Lixus – Fiction: A coastal town in Marrakesh, originally settled by the Phoenicians. Fact: A coastal town in Morocco, originally settled by the Phoenicians in the seventh century BC. Its ruins are located near Larache, Morocco.

  Lorenzo Quesada de Gadir – Fiction: An Espani soldier, master fencer, and hidalgo. He was one of the few soldiers to survive the plague in the New World and he led the final retreat of the Espani survivors from the fort-town of Cartagena at the end of the war. In addition to his prowess with the sword, he is famous for his wife, an Incan princess, and her dangerous animal companions, as well as his discovery of the “skyfire stone,” an ancient Espani relic. Fact: None.

  Lynx – Fiction: A large wild cat from España with long-haired ears. Fact: A real animal in western Europe.

  Macuahuitl – Fiction: An Aztec weapon, the hardened wood club is studded with obsidian spikes to form a sword-like blade. A devastating weapon against bare flesh. Fact: Same.

  Madrid – Fiction: A city in central España. Fact: A real location in Spain.

  Malaga – Fiction: A city in southern España. Fact: A real location in Spain.

  Mali – Fiction: One of the peoples (and nations) of West Ifrica conquered by the Songhai Empire. Fact: The Mali Empire existed from the thirteenth to the sixteenth century in regions of modern Mali and Mauritania.

  Mallorca – Fiction: An island of the eastern coast of España. Fact: A real location in the Mediterranean Sea.

  Mamnoon – “Thank you” in Farsi (Persian / Eranian)

  Manco Inca – Fiction: The current ruler of the Incan Empire. Fact: Manco Inca was one of the last Incan emperors. A very young man, he initially welcomed the Spanish conquistadors (the Pizzaro brothers). But after the abuses of the Spanish became obvious, Manco led several unsuccessful campaigns against the Spanish before his death in 1544.

  Marbella – Fiction: A city in southern España. Fact: A real location in Spain.

  Marmarica – Fiction: A province of the Empire of Eran located in North Ifrica. Fact: An ancient Roman district on the border of modern Libya and Egypt.

  Maroqez – Fiction: A city in southern Marrakesh. Fact: A real location in Morocco (the city of Marrakech).

  Marrakesh – Fiction: A country on the western coast of North Ifrica. The most technologically advanced nation in the world. Originally a matriarchal society descended from the Kel Tamasheq, Marrakesh has been invaded and settled countless times by peoples from all over the Middle Sea region and is now home to many ethnic groups, languages, and sub-cultures. Fact: This location corresponds with the modern nation of Morocco, which is called “Marrakesh” in Persian and Urdu.

  Master Jiro – Fiction: A senior leader of the Sons of Osiris from Nippon and the only person in Aegyptus who knows how to forge an aetherium sword. Fact: The Japanese name Jiro means second son.

  Master Khai – Fiction: A senior leader of the Sons of Osiris from Aegyptus and First Knight of Osiris, placing him in command of the Temple’s warriors. Fact: There was an Egyptian scribe and director of soldiers named Khai.

  Master Rashaken – Fiction: The senior master of the Sons of Osiris in Alexandria. Fact: The Egyptian name Rashaken was the divine name of Osirtesen III.

  Mazdan Temple – Fiction: The state religion of the Empire of Eran and many other nations. A monotheistic religion derived from numerous ancient texts and prophets, and strongly emphasizing the concept of Good (the creator God) versus Evil (the devil or destroyer God). Fact: The state religion of ancient Persia was Zoroastrianism, a monotheistic religion founded by the prophet Zoroaster about three thousand years ago. This religion recognized a supremely good creator God called Ahura Mazda and an evil force called Angra Mainyu. There are about two hundred thousand members of this religion today.

  Mazigh – Fiction: A person from or the language of Marrakesh. Fact: The Amazigh people live in numerous North African coun
tries today. They are also known as Berbers.

  Medur Hamuy – Fiction: An ex-soldier and mercenary in Marrakesh working for Lady Sade. Fact: None.

  Megathera – Fiction: A giant eight-ton sloth native to the New World and imported to Marrakesh to labor in factories that cannot afford mechanical engines. Fact: Giant ground sloths like the Megatherium lived in South America until they became extinct about 10,000 years ago.

  Meknes – Fiction: A city in central Marrakesh. Fact: A real location in northern Morocco.

  Menna Ohana – Fiction: Taziri Ohana’s daughter. Fact: None.

  Merda – “Shit” in Italian.

  Middle Sea – Fiction: A large body of water bordered by Europa to the north, Ifrica to the south, and Asia to the east. Fact: A real location, the Mediterranean Sea. Mediterranean means “middle of the earth.”

  Mirari Velasquez – Fiction: A woman from northern España. Tormented for her deformed ears and social difficulties, she spent several years living in an abandoned silver mine. Drinking the water in the mine turned her skin silver-blue. When wearing a mask to hide her natural features, she adopts the personality of a well-born Espani lady. Fact: Consuming large amounts of silver will permanently color your skin blue-gray, causing a condition called argyria. The Spanish name Mirari means miracle.

  Monte – Fiction: An Espani card game. Fact: A Spanish card game, also called monte bank.

  Mossi – Fiction: One of the peoples (and nations) of West Ifrica conquered by the Songhai Empire. Fact: The Mossi people today live in Burkina Faso and its neighboring nations.

  Mother – Fiction: In the Roman and Constantian Churches, this is the aspect of God that embodies the concepts of life and creation. Fact: In the Christianity, the Mother figure is the Virgin Mary. Also, it has been suggested that the Jewish God originally had a female partner or aspect named Asherah, which was later demoted or erased from the religious texts.

  Mother’s Shrine – Fiction: A Mazigh holy monument located between the Upper and Lower sections of Orossa, Marrakesh. Fact: There is a shrine to the Amazigh warrior queen Tin Hinan in the town of Abalessa, Algeria.