A Fire in the North

by David Bilsborough

  ‘You back then?’ one of them enquired, coming over to join the party.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘You get it then?’

  ‘Get? It?’

  ‘That gold. Or magic. Or whatever the fockin’ ell you wen’ off for,’ the youth elaborated, leaning rudely on the Peladane’s shoulder for support. ‘You know, that whatever you wen’ off for in Quiravia . . .’

  ‘We haven’t been to Quiravia, you diseased boy. We went north. To Melhus Island. You remember? To kill Drauglir.’

  ‘Oh yeah, that’s right . . . So, was it all right?’

  Here, right at the end, in his home town, Gapp was probably more flummoxed by this than by any other event in the entire journey. While Nibulus continued with his breakfast, seemingly unaware of the youth using his shoulder for support, while Wodeman curled his upper lip back to taste the SBA he had smeared on it, and while Yen slipped bits of weba-garnished Marla under the table to Shlepp beneath, Gapp simply stared at his friends.

  ‘We . . . slew a rawgr,’ he tried to explain, not knowing quite where or how to start. ‘We fought with ogres, wolves, a Leucrota . . . We battled against swamp spirits; we were imprisoned by a huldre, and—’

  ‘You get that flat-skimmer Medraunt asked you to fetch ’im?’ his friend interrupted. Gapp was struck dumb. Then he realized the lad was not actually talking to him, but had switched his attention to one of the other boys.

  ‘Brogi nicked the focker yesterday,’ the other replied, clearly relieved to be on more familiar ground now that the conversation had returned to stone-skimming.

  ‘Wanker.’ The first boy rested his backside against the back of Nibulus’s chair and continued his conversation, Gapp already forgotten.

  Gapp stared around, the fry-up only now beginning to make its weight felt upon his stomach.

  ‘Well,’ he said, ‘I’m back.’

  Glossary

  A Races

  1 Demi-humans

  Boggarts – Small, downtrodden and hairy, they are usually encountered scavenging on the edges of civilization, or used as slaves by Polgs. Certain strains of Boggarts do, however, possess shamanistic powers of an unknown nature.

  Dhracus – Strange, isolated race of people that are rarely encountered, and then only ever singly. No towns or settlements are known to exist, even in their homelands. Superbly dexterous, highly intelligent and said to possess psionic powers, the Dhracus are universally feared by other races.

  Grells – A thug-like brutish people of strikingly ugly appearance and demeanour. Found all over Lindormyn, either in their own stockade towns or living among other races.

  Haugers – A short, slightly built, flat-faced people that dwell in well-ordered communities. Highly civilized and inventive, they are excellent craftsmen and shrewd merchants.

  River Haugers – More interactive with other races than their Stone cousins due to their control of large stretches of Lindormyn’s waterways. Noted for their expertise in herbalism and alchemy.

  Stone Haugers – Plateau towns or upland escarpment villages are their favourite haunts. Lindormyn’s most skilled engineers. Though quiet by nature, their kings retain sizeable armies of uniquely equipped soldiers.

  Jordiske – A disgusting and animalistic race encountered only in Fron-Wudu. Arch-enemies of the Vetterym.

  Marmennil – A largely unknown race of marine folk.

  Polg (pl. Polgrim) – Hunter-nomads of Lindormyn, short, lithe and extremely tough. They are proud, fierce and contemptuous of other races. Somewhat ostentatiously attired, they affect a permanent swagger.

  Vetter – The short, almost rat-like Vetterym live only in the deepest reaches of Fron-Wudu. Though bestial in appearance, they have developed a unique and highly inventive culture. The only outside race they have had contact with is the Polgrim, and then only very sporadically.

  2 Giants

  Gyger (forest giant) – Twelve feet tall but stick-thin, Gygers are nonetheless extremely strong and tough. Excellent hunters and trappers. They usually live in communities but some prefer the solitary life.

  Jutul (fire giant) – Ten feet tall but extremely broad, the black-skinned Jutul are best known for their skill with metal, especially the making of bizarre weapons, which they trade with other peoples for magic. Apart from this, they live their strange subterranean lives apart from the rest of the world.

  Tusse (herd giant) – Eight feet tall, the most common of all giants,and closest to humans in appearance and culture. They roam the wide lands as nomadic herders. Their society is divided into strict castes, with one type of herd-beast particular to each of these castes.

  3 Huldres

  Abyssian – Shapechangers. They will take on the exact form of a person or animal, imprisoning the original within huldre-home, while they wreak mischief in the world of their victim.

  Afanc – Not a true huldre, but the offspring of huldre and non-huldre. They are rare and their exact nature depends on the particular combination of their parents. Thus they can be of any size, any appearance and possess any type or level of power. Frequently chaotic.

  Benne Nighe – A spectral apparition very rarely encountered by non-huldres. When it is, it is usually in the form of a cloaked and hooded female figure washing bloodied clothes in a stream. The onlooker may recognize the clothes as his own and thus realize that his death is near.

  Ellyldan – The Nahovian term for the Ganferd.

  Ganferd – The most forlorn and lamentable of huldres, found only in the most desolate places, this figure will entice travellers to follow it, trap them and feed from their departing life force.

  Knockers – Fairy miners. Often heard, rarely seen, they have a reputation for spite and mockery.

  Nisse – The smallest and most benign of household guardians, the Nisse appear as little old men, but then only rarely, as they prefer to remain invisible.

  Succubus – Another Abyssian, but one that will only ever take on the form of a female human/demi-human. The principal reason why Afancs exist.

  Urisk – One of the more benevolent, less chaotic manifestations of Afanc. In effect, an outdoor Nisse.

  B Creatures

  Adt T’man (slough horse) – A small, tough, agile horse that lives free on the Tabernacle Plains. Their eastern name means friend-horse, but westerners call them slough horse due to their moulting.

  Baluchitherium – Lindormyn’s largest and strongest land mammal. A herd beast with an exceptionally tough hide.

  Cervulus (pl. Cervulice) (Vettersteed) – Weird bipedal creature of Fron-Wudu, part humanoid, part deer. Quarrelsome and aggressive, they fight with both horn and sword.

  Forest hound – An ancient race of fierce pack-hunters, one of Lindormyn’s largest land predators. The forest hound reaches three or four feet at the shoulder, and is eight to ten feet long. Larger varieties can even be as tall as six feet, and up to sixteen feet long.

  Fossegrim – The dreaded Sea-Wyrms of Aggedon, whose blood is the most poisonous substance in the world.

  Parandus (pl. Paranduzes) (Treegard) – One of Fron-Wudu’s larger multi-part creatures, part deer and part Gyger.

  Wyvern – Distantly related to dragons, though much smaller, Wyverns appear to combine features that are draconian, raptorial and equine all at the same time.

  C Other-Dimensional Beings

  Children of the Keep – Travellers to Wrythe usually assume these to be genuine Ogginda (the children of the Oghain of Wrythe) to their cost. The Children of the Keep are in fact the most powerful of Scathur’s servants, terrible rawgrs who, though lacking in intelligence, nevertheless surpass Scathur in many ways – most notably speed and imperviousness to heat.

  Fyr-Draikke – Dragon.

  H’urvisg – An elemental earth spirit, contacted by Torca for augury puposes.

  Rawgr – Demon. The most ancient of all beings, older even than the gods, rawgrs existed in the chaos before the world’s creation.

  Sprite – Tiny imp made of smoke, originating f
rom the elemental plane of fire.

  Stained-Glass Demons – Entities that lurk in the dimension just beyond mirrors/glass.

  True Giants (Second Ones) – After the rawgrs, the two-hundred-foot tall giants are the oldest of creatures and the first born of Lindormyn. Extinct now, they can still however be summoned into corporeal existence by the Spirit of Battle.

  D Races, Religions and Titles

  Aescals – Predominant inhabitants of Wyda-Aescaland.

  Akynn – Bards, storytellers, the keepers of history.

  Asyphe – Desert warrior people, living in the Asyphe Mountains south of Qaladmir.

  Cynen – Polg title meaning king; also used by Vetterym.

  Lightbearers – Any follower of Cuna, including:

  Elder – High priest of Cuna.

  Mage Priest – Priest of Cuna.

  Nahovians – People of Vregh-Nahov.

  Oghain – People of Wrythe, including:

  Oga – Women.

  Ogginda – Children.

  Ogha – Men.

  Oghain-Yddiaw – The fighting corps of the Oghain.

  Olchorians – Any follower of Olchor, including:

  Necromancers – Priests of Olchor.

  Peladanes – Followers of Pel-Adan, a racial religion, including:

  High Warlord – Supreme leader of all Peladanes on Lindormyn.

  Warlord – Leader of a Toloch.

  Thegne – Leader of a Manass-Uilloch.

  Sergeant – Leader of an Oloch.

  Skalds – Bards.

  Torca – Pagan people of the north.

  E Deities and Demi-Gods

  Cuna – The god of Truth and Light, ostensibly.

  D’Archangels – The three arch-rawgrs, most powerful servants of Olchor:

  Drauglir (also known as Daemon, Fiend, Hell Hound, Kelet the Devourerer of Whales, Night Stalker) – Most powerful of the unholy trinity of rawgrs.

  Gruddna – Second most powerful of the three, a rawgr in the shape of a Fyr-Draikke.

  Scathur – Third of the D’Archangels, a rawgr in man form.

  Erce – The Earth Spirit.

  Jugg – A fertility god.

  Luttra – A bard-god.

  Olchor – The dark god of Evil (according to his enemies).

  Pel-Adan – War god of the Peladanes.

  Shogg – A beast god.

  Skela – The collective name for the Syr, the Keepers of Balance. According to Quiravian teaching, there are thirteen Syr in total, though some seers include another ten (lesser, non-neutral) powers in their number. In this story we see only Chance, Fate and – head of the Skela – Time.

  F Places

  Baeldicca the Great – The waterfall that gushes out of the great cliff at the head of the valley of Perchtamma Uinfjoetli, source of the River Folcfreawaru.

  Blue Mountains – Uninhabited range that separates Wyda-Aescaland from the ‘wild north’.

  The Chase – Farmers’ pub in Nordwas, famous for the ale known as SBA.

  Cyne-Tregva – Vetter town in Fron-Wudu.

  Dragon Coast – Sparsely inhabited north-west coastline, the ‘edge of the world’.

  Eotunlandt – Fabled Land of the Second Ones.

  Fron-Wudu – Huge northern forest, entirely wild.

  Ghouhlem – Northern land of the Dhracus.

  Giant Mountains – Huge arctic mountain range entirely surrounding Eotunlandt.

  Godtha – Southern land of the Dhracus.

  Herdlands of the Tusse – Massive expanse of plain and scrubland, mainly inhabited by the herd giant nomads.

  Jagt Straits – Arctic sea that separates Melhus from the mainland.

  Last Shore – Northernmost coastline of continental Lindormyn.

  Lindormyn – The world. A name meaning dragon.

  Lubang-Nagar – The ‘Draikke Tunnel’ of Vaagenfjord Maw that connects the Hall of Fire to the Inner Keep.

  Melhus Island – Large volcanic island, the most northerly in the world.

  Moel-Bryn – Small town in western Pendonium, Bolldhe’s birthplace.

  The Moghol – The Trough of the Dead, a deep subterranean chasm separating Vaagenfjord Maw’s outer reaches from the inner.

  Myst-Hakel – Small swamp town in the Rainflats. Its name means cloak of mist.

  Nordwas – Stockade town in northern Wyda-Aescaland.

  Pendonium – Huge country in the extreme west, homeland of the Peladanes.

  Qaladmir – Desert city, Finwald’s birthplace.

  Quiravia – Massive southern country, forested and temperate in the north, arid in the south. The much-vaunted ‘seat of learning and culture’. Largely peaceful and prosperous but with an undercurrent of corruption.

  Ravenscairn – Cat’s-tooth-shaped pinnacle above Vaagenfjord Maw.

  Sluagh Valley – Largely unknown haunted cleft in the Blue Mountains.

  Smaulka-Degernerth – Vaagenfjord Maw’s Hall of Fire, a huge tunnel that almost entirely encircles the Inner Keep of Ymla-Myrrdhain.

  Trondaran – Tiny isolated mountain country of Jyblitt the Hauger king.

  Tyvenborg – Thieves’ Fortress on the western edge of Pendonium.

  Vaagenfjord Maw – The fastness of Drauglir on Melhus Island.

  Vregh-Nahov – Dark forested country east of the Polgrim hunting grounds.

  Wrythe – Most northerly town in the world, home to the Oghain.

  Wyda-Aescaland – Mid-sized country south of the Blue Mountains. Home originally to the Torca, now predominantly inhabited by Aescals but ruled by Peladanes.

  G Weapons, Warfare

  Assegai – Short Polg spear with a leaf-shaped blade.

  Bagh-nakh – Spiked knuckledusters.

  Bhuj – Meat cleaver.

  Chakram – Small, Hauger-made metal discs, usually poison-coated.

  Crow’s beak staff – Short, hefty staff with a sharp beak at the business end.

  Fasces – The old alliance between Peladanes, Oghain and Nahovians that defeated Drauglir five hundred years ago.

  Flamberge – Ancient heavy sword with an undulating blade.

  Habergeon – Long coat of scalemail.

  Haladie – Polg double-dagger.

  Katar – Short, V-shaped punch-dagger designed to pierce heavy armour.

  Kh’is – Mainly Olchorian sacrificial dagger with undulating blade.

  Left-hander – Heavy, wide-bladed parrying dagger.

  Manass-uilloch – Company of 2,500 Peladanes, or fifty Oloch, under the command of a Thegne.

  Manople – Long blade attached to an iron gauntlet.

  Maul – Very heavy five-foot-long two-handed mace.

  Misericorde – Long thin stiletto-like dagger designed to deliver the final blow to a fallen armoured horseman.

  Mitre – Heavy mace-like club with a spiked ball as a head.

  Moonspear – Huge flint-headed poleaxe, a Parandus speciality.

  Oloch – Company of fifty Peladanes under the command of a sergeant.

  Pata – A cross between a katar and a manople. The assassin’s choice.

  Swordbreaker – Hefty, notch-bladed knife used to parry, twist and snap an opponent’s sword.

  Tengriite – Very strong but light metal used by Peladanes in armour and weapon making.

  Thresher – Barbed chain used to swing heavy swords around. Kuw Dach’s invention, still at the prototype stage.

  Toloch – Company of 50,000 Peladanes, or twenty manass-uilloch, under the command of a Warlord.

  Tulwar – a sword with a short, hefty chopping blade and a squared-off end rather than a point.

  Tzerbuchjer – Primitive sword usually made of bone or stone, with jagged edge composed of anything from predators’ teeth to shards of pottery.

  Ulleanh – The green cloak of the Peladane.

  Unferth – The legendary Greatsword of Pel-Adan, a name given to the Greatswords of all Warlords.

  Vambrace – Armour plating for the arm.

  Voulge – Poleaxe with a s
pike extending at right angles from the main spear-tip.

  Xienne – Yellow metal from Trondaran, used as fuel for lanterns.

  Zibeline – Special leather monetary unit used in Peladane lands.