The Offering

by Rosary Deville

  Brigacos or Brig

  An alpha who used to bully Fern in school

  Fern had been in middle school, and Brigacos had been a senior in high school

  The bullying stopped once Don intervened, even though Fern didn’t know it was him who had done so

  Cerowain, the God of Fertility

  Beta god, with stag horns on his head

  Mate of Arduinna

  Formerly was a stag that gave Arduinna such a hunt that she turned fell in love with him and turned him into a werewolf

  Change, the

  The zombie rite of passage into adulthood. A zombie is subjected to a curse that kills them before reanimating their body, and awake as a full-fledged zombie

  Coupling

  A practice where the alpha stays inside the beta while doing other tasks unrelated to sex. The idea is for betas to get used to being under their alphas

  Crones

  Also known as hags, these are usually older witches that had sold their souls to Cursed Phantoms, or Sprites

  They lived off body parts to survive

  Begs for body parts to eat or use in spells

  These witches were banished from the witch community, who feels like the crones have earned the entirety of their race a bad name

  Dagda the All Father

  Father of the Gods

  Alpha and mate to Luna the Moon Goddess

  Despite being the creator of the gods, neither he nor Luna created the Werewolves, so Arduinna is their mother goddess

  There are sects devoted to him, as there are to other gods

  Days of the Week

  Dagasday (da-GAST-day) = Sunday. Named from the God Dagda, the All Father

  Belsday (BELLS-day) = Monday. Named for the Sun God Bel

  Dweensday (du-WEENS-day) = Tuesday. Named for Arduinna, Goddess of the Hunt

  Twinsday (TWINS-day) = Wednesday. Named for the Twin Gods of War

  Morriansday (MORE-ends-day) = Thursday. Named for the Morrígan Goddess of Sex

  Surensday (sur-RENS-day) = Friday. Named for the God Cerowain, God of Fertility

  Alunsday (a-LOONS-day) = Saturday. Named for Moon Goddess Luna, the Life-giver and Mother of the Gods

  Druids

  Wereduin dedicated their lives to serving the gods. Most are betas, but a few alphas occasionally take vows. Seldom do they leave werewolf form

  Elaine, Goddess of Obedience

  Alpha goddess in whose honor Obedience Training is done

  Family Vaults

  Sometimes called Den Vaults, these act as a communal bank for the entire Den

  They are expensive to own, so only Highborne families have them

  They are maintained by gollums, which is why they cost so much. See gollums

  Fangorre

  A metal band of werewolves. Their logo is a set of fangs dripping with red blood

  First Death

  The death experienced by zombies during their Change. Unlike regular death, while it kills their body, their mind is restored afterward because of the Voodoo spells and concoctions that are used in the ritual

  First Offering, the

  See the Hunt

  Hands of the Moon

  Cult of priestess and priests devoted to the Goddess Luna, the Life-giver

  Betas that are impotent and thus not desired by alphas

  They dedicated themselves to serving the community

  Highbornes

  Wealthy wereduin in the top echelons of werewolf society

  Each belongs to a Den, having started out being a child of the Den leader and lives in the mansion. Those who were not direct heirs later move out into their own homes but are still considered members of the den

  A Highborn den, such as the Blackfang den, has a family estate as well as a vault

  Fern’s mother is the daughter of the Brightwood Den leader, while Don is the son of the Blackfang Den leader

  A beta will become a member of his alpha’s den and will need to be initiated after he is officially mated

  Hummock Prairie

  A vast prairie littered by dunes, or hummocks, in the countryside

  It is the home of molebats, and the Second Offering is held there to test if werewolf pairs can survive the night

  Hunt, the

  The first of three Offerings where alphas hunt their future beta

  Done in honor of the Alpha Goddess Arduinna, Goddess of Hunt who legend has it hunted her mate Cerowain and turned him into a werewolf

  Alpha can only take one beta unless the others are slave betas

  After the Hunt, the beta can move into the alpha’s home and must be subservient to them

  Iron Furies, the

  A professional spawn team that Don has been a fan of since puphood

  Jabir Zelaji

  A zombie guitarist from Zombie Blood who owns a brand of acoustic guitars

  Jut

  One of Don’s lowlife friends who’s part giant and part wereduin. He’s one of Don’s friends that Fern likes, and who in turn is kind to Fern

  Likes to taunt Don using the nickname Donny boy

  He’s so huge, he makes Don look small. Since he’s a half breed, his ears aren’t pointy like wereduins, rather they look like giant human ears, and the tip of his huge nose is round like a ball

  Loa

  Spirits that serve as intermediaries between the zombies and the supreme Voodoo god

  Zombies perform rituals and acts of service to them to performing spells and hexes

  Lord Kenneally

  A distinguished Highborne wereduin who rules the Kenneally den

  He has salt-and-pepper hair and a deeply furrowed brow that makes him look stern even when smiling. He also has a white scar across his eye, a mustache and wears top hats

  The first time Fern meets him, he makes Fern uncomfortable

  Lucian

  Fern’s vampire friend

  Aristocratic vampire who lives in a coven, as most do, and is the favorite of the coven leader, known as Father

  He’s the true goth of Fern’s group, dressing in an antiquated style

  His closest friend is Alphonse, and he’s quite protective of him – including standing up for him against his cousin, Loretta, Father’s daughter

  He and Shamar can hit heads mostly because of the zombie-human conflicts that effect Alphonse, and so Lucian gets upset

  Will return in spin-off

  Luna, Beta Goddess of the Moon

  Known as Luna the Life-giver, she is the mother of the gods

  The beta to Dagda the All Father

  Despite being the creator of the gods, Luna did not create Werewolves. Arduinna is their mother goddess

  Mating Song

  Equivalent to the official wedding vows alphas and betas say to each other after the Final Offering to bind them together forever

  Mating Quilt

  Made to honor the God of the Offering,

  Used to consummate the mating vows during the Offering

  Made by beta parents to their beta children

  Alphas cannot enter the Mating Quilt of a beta claimed by another alpha

  Mating Week

  First week wereduin couples are officially mated. Most pairs spend the entirety of it in bed. To conceive during Mating Week is good luck

  Meatheads

  Another metalcore band Fern’s into and wears their band tees

  Meat Skuwls

  Zombie metalhead band of zombie players

  Logo is a Voodoo doll with pins stuck to it. Dripping blood. The expression on the face is showing teeth. Part of the brain is exposed

  One of Fern’s favorite bands and he often wears their tee shirts

  Mites

  A flea-bitten old werewolf that’s one of Don’s lowlife friends. Unlike a lot of his other friends, Mites shares a connection to Don that sets him apart from the others

  Molebats

  They are a mixture of bat and rodent with faces resembling bats with their beady eyes, pig-li
ke snout, and large bat ears. Inside their mouths, two fangs protrude on either side with rows of tiny, jagged teeth. Their skinny arms stretch like a bat, but they don’t have wings. They have knife-like, retractable talons on their three fingers. They walk upright on two legs or crawl on all four. They have rat legs, toes, and tail, and they scurry when they move, much like rodents. While their arms are naked like bats, their faces, bodies, and legs are covered in fur

  They live underground in burrows, which are a complex network of tunnels. Molebat drones gather prey and bring the carcasses back to the colony

  Although much smaller than werewolves, they attack in vast numbers. Often entire colonies attack at once and can overcome a lone wolf, or a small group

  Moon Vale

  Wereduin equivalent of heaven in the afterlife

  A place where the gods live and only those mortals who are found worthy may enter after death

  Myrtle

  Fern’s acquaintance that was turned into a slave beta that he sees in the Second Offering

  Nightshade cigarettes

  Cigarettes made specifically for Zombies, created from the deadly nightshade plant

  Only werewolves and zombies can smoke this. It’s strong enough to kill humans

  Non-fighting zones

  To keep civilization flowing, as well as to appease the other races, there are places called non-fighting zones where werewolf fights are illegal

  Nomans Forest

  A vast woodland that said to be named by prehistoric humans, those that existed long before the Van Helsing line. Today various races used it in their Rites of Passage ceremonies

  Offering, the

  Ritual that exists to produce couples

  All werewolves, alpha or beta, must participate in this Ritual to be allowed to mate. The exception is for slave betas that are born into slavery

  The ritual is a month and consists of three Offering ceremonies spread out evenly, with the days in-between for other ceremonies, banquets, and bonding time between couples. The very last week is the week of the full moon and mating week.

  Obedience Training

  An all-encompassing How to Submit Your Beta is what it really should have been called. It also opens the gate for championships

  Takes place in a large arena where alphas dominate their beta, walking them on leashes and taking them to other activities—those designed with sex in mind

  Pirkko Brightwood

  Fern’s mother

  Her father is the alpha head of the Brightwood Den, and her older brother inherited the Den when her father stepped down

  Highborne wereduin that cares greatly about appearances and forces Fern into the Offering

  Is kind and loving to Fern’s papa and contributed to Fern being sheltered from his harsh society

  Also, one of Don’s trainers/teachers, and he refers to her as Teacher Brightwood. He also addresses her with high respect

  Don had informed her of his intentions to pursue Fern before the Offering

  Pseudo-clothes

  Clothing made from a special fabric that doesn’t rip while shifting between forms

  The fabrics shrink down to mere threads that fit between the fur follicles and are thus not visible when in either wolf or werewolf form. In wereduin form, the clothes fill out and act as regular clothes

  Most pseudo-clothes are made for alphas, with a few for betas. Fern has a few pairs

  All kinds of clothing exist as pseudo-clothes. Shorts, pants, shirts, dresses, robes, shoes, etc.…

  Created by witch technology

  Pup maker

  Derogatory name for a mated beta

  Rage, the

  A period when zombies become mindless eating machines and will kill friends and lovers alike. These states begin after the zombie has gone through the Change. What’s happening here is their mind is temporarily dying—reverting to the state they were in upon their First Death, but Voodoo spells and concoctions are used to restore their minds. The Rage never goes away, and in fact, gets more frequent before finally peaking and leveling out with maturity and age. At first, the Rage can occur several times a month, but eventually can dwindled for months in-between, even longer. Zombies will feel the Rage coming on like the start of a migraine—most detect it a day before it happens, and so are able to prepare. Despite the results, the Rage period is important and even sacred to most zombies, and has great significance in their Voodoo religion

  Second Offering

  The second of the three Offering used to weed out weak alphas an unprotected betas

  Done in honor of the Twin Gods of War

  The alpha must keep their beta alive through the night while fending off molebats and bloodwhispers

  Also known as the Silver Offering

  Sequoia-oak

  An ancient tree large enough to house buildings inside it.

  Some of these monstrous trees can even hold up entire palaces, like the City Hall Tower

  Shamar

  Fern’s zombie best friend

  Has green-colored skin, mangy black hair that always looks uncombed, like he has recently gotten out of bed. He sprinkles a bit of dirt on it

  Walks with a shuffle

  Overly emotion, loyal, and strongly dislikes Don

  Silver Offering

  See Second Offering

  Spawn

  A professional sport where the goal is to capture the opponent’s trident and bring it back to home base while keeping theirs protected.

  Gets its name from the origin of the Twins of War. When war broke out in the heavens, the Dagda and Luna spawned the Twins of War to fight and so protect the heavens from the old gods

  Its origins might be wereduin, but spawn is a mainstream game in society that multiple races enjoy

  A particularly vicious sport that requires teamwork, strategy, and a lot of fighting

  Playing fields, or tracks, can be huge. Sometimes half the city gets roped off. Often, they’re made up of obstacles. Beasts are sometimes added to provide additional challenges. Fields frequently change, depending on the stages of difficulty

  Two teams start out on opposite sides of the playing field at their home temple. Inside the temple is the trident of the gods. The goal is to protect their trident while also stealing the opponents. The first to achieve this goal wins

  Twin Gods of War

  Also known simply as the Twins of War

  These are the War Goddess, Cath Bodva, and her twin, the God Camalus

  Their symbol is a pair of silver, crisscrossing blades

  Ules

  Pronounced yew-els, (like jewels with a y) are the currency of this society. When not represented digitally, ules are pieces of gold

  Unalive

  Fern and his friends’ emo-metal band

  Underbelly

  A series of drainage tunnels, sewers, underground rivers, and caverns that lay below the city. It is a shady place full of criminal activity, such as the black market, gambling, and drug trafficking

  Vampires

  They did not start out as humans, although that is disputed by humans. They are a living race, but not alive in the same way as Fern and Alphonse.

  Have platinum blond long hair, pointed ears that stick out past their heads, pale skin, long faces, and high cheekbones

  All vampires have purplish eye color

  Speak Vampirean

  Live in covens headed by Father, a name they give their leader

  Have forked tongues

  Their fangs extended longer when about to feed

  Vampirean

  Language spoken by Vampires

  Wereduin

  The humanoid form. Most werewolves stay in this form because it requires less energy than werewolf form

  Form between wolf and werewolf forms

  This is the normal state most wereduin live in

  Wereduin require more energy to stay in this form, which is why it takes pups time to transform from wolf and stay as wereduin

&n
bsp; Beta wereduin can transform into wereduins by around age six or seven

  Alpha wereduin can transform earlier, some as early as the first year of life

  Wereduin Housing

  Live in tune with nature. Their houses often have trees growing through them, as opposed to cutting them down. Sometimes they are built inside of a giant tree

  Wereduin Reproduction

  Beta wereduin are always fertile except when already pregnant

  Betas go into heat once every so many months. During this period, the beta is highly fertile and more likely to produce alpha offspring. This period cannot be brought about by an alpha

  During the gestation period, male betas need to have their pup fed by their alpha’s essence during intercourse to keep growing and developing. This is not the case with female betas. Although additional nourishment can be provided by the alpha, it’s not required as it is with male betas

  A gestation period for wereduin is roughly six months, anywhere between 26 to 28 weeks

  To give birth, all betas must go into wolf form

  Wereduin Society

  Another name for Werewolves society in this fictional world

  Wolfsbane

  Drug that prohibits the wereduin from shifting into werewolf form

  Worg

  A wereduin’s wolf form. Prehistoric wereduin started out as large wolf-like beasts, but over time they ended up looking like regular wolves. Alphas still have features present from their prehistoric forms, such as their size

  It is a wereduin’s natural state, so it doesn’t require additional energy to maintain, which is why it takes pups a little time to learn how to shift into wereduin and stay there. Often the result is to have some features still present from wolf state even while in other forms