The Valdemar Companion

by John Helfers; Denise Little

  Lightwing

  A Tayledras scout. (Winds)

  li’ha’eer

  A Shin’a’in exclamation meaning “by the gods.” (Oath)

  Liha’irden

  The Deer Clan of the Shin’a’in, their name literally means “deer-footed.” They helped, healed, and protected Tarma after the slaughter of her own Clan, and were guardians of Tale’sedrin herds and assets while Tarma pursued her revenge and built her reputation. (Oath)

  Lilly

  The barmaid and sometime prostitute at Errold’s Grove tavern who was slandered by village gossips. When the barbarians came, she served one of the invaders officers, both in order to preserve her life, and also to keep the barbarians’ attention off of the other girls. After the Blood Bear barbarians were defeated, she decided to leave Errold’s Grove and go into business for herself as an inn owner so that she could make a clean start in that trade, uncarnlshed by her past. (Owl)

  Lily

  A kestra’chern with Urtho’s forces. (Gryphons)

  Lineas

  An ally of Valdemar, it lies on the country’s western border, with Baires to its north. Lineas’ capital is Hlghjorune, the seat of its Palace, ruled by the clan Remoerdis, headed by Deveran. After a long period of strife, Lineas agreed to peace with Baires, sealing the bargain by marrying Deveran to Ylyna Mavelan of Baires. The couple had a son named Tashir. After the incident at the palace when every Remoerdis except Tashir was killed, he became sole heir to both countries. A contract between Lineas and Baires stated that if one family died out by means other than provable assassination, then the heir of the other family will inherit both kingdoms. In reality, the Mavelans planted an assassination device they thought would also kill Tashir. When this failed, they accused the boy of murder and tried to take the throne. Vanyel discovered the device in his investigation of the incident and triggered it back onto the Mavelans, effectively wiping them out. Tashir now ruled both countries with the backing of Valdemar. When the Lineas’ line of succession died out, the land was absorbed into Valdemar along with Baires. (LHM)

  Linnay (Lady)

  An ineffectual old noblewoman murdered by Hadanelith. (Gryphon)

  Lion Lilies

  A symbolic gift from a Haighlei monarch to a woman he regards highly. They are large, tawny gold flowers with a heavy fragrance. Three lilies signify interest, four a serious courtship, and a dozen, with accompanying betrothal necklace, a firm proposal of marriage. (Gryphon)

  Lion Throne

  The traditional governing seat of the Emperor in Khimbata. (Gryphon)

  Lionwind

  K’Leshya’s Clan Chief, and an “old soul.” His parents were both shamans and he is a Mindhealer. His mount is a warmare. (Gryphon)

  Li’sa’eer

  A Shin’a’in exclamation of highest surprise, literally, “by the highest gods” (Oath)

  Lisha (Herald)

  One of the three Heralds serving as escorts for the k’Sheyna party. (Winds)

  Liss

  One of the Third Form students at the Merchants’ School, she decided to follow the lead Lavan and Owyn set by boycotting the school dining hall to avoid their Sixth Form tormentors. (BB)

  Lissandra (Herald-Mage)

  The Herald-Mage who, with her Companion Shonsea, anchored the North in Vanyel’s setting of the new Web-Spell. Lissandra had assumed Guardianship of the North along with her Whites. Close to achieving Adept status, she was also a specialist in alchemy, poisons, and their antidotes. A victim of Leareth, she was killed in her lab, apparently from an accident involving the chemicals she was working with. Her Companion died at the same moment in the northern end of the Companion’s Field. (LHM)

  Little-death

  A kyree ability to enter into a trance that closely resembles death. Warrl used this trick to fool Thalhkarsh into believing he was dead. (Oath)

  Little gods

  A reference to ancestor veneration used in the Empire. In its higher form it honors all previous Emperors and their Consorts. Sometimes phrased as “the forty little gods” or “the hundred little gods,” neither is an accurate number. (Storm)

  Littles

  A common Valdemaran term for children. (BV)

  Lodella

  Predatory creatures with fuzzy tails, dorsal spines, hairless heads, and a sensitivity to magic. Two of these creatures were attracted when Darkwind spellcast messenger birds, and had to be dealt with. (Winds)

  Loden

  A town on the South Trade Road near the border. During the Mage-Storms a bridge there was destroyed by the peculiarly violent weather then assaulting Valdemar. (Storm)

  Loman Strecker

  One of the Sixth Form bullies, nicknamed Loathsome by Lavan. (BB)

  Londell River

  The river that runs through the eastern edge of Errold’s Grove, and is the main watercourse serving the village. In addition, its banks yield clay for the town’s pottery needs. (Owl)

  Londer Galko

  Skif’s uncle, his mother’s brother, who took in young Skif after his mother died—though only because he was hoping to make a profit out of the deal. Londer had his finger in many of the illicit activities that went on in the poorer parts of Haven. An abusive and venal man, Londer often commented that if Skif were not already on the school roles he would have gladly sold him to the slavers. This was no idle threat—Londer had an arrangement with the slavers to use his warehouse for temporary storage of captives. Londer would sacrifice any member of his family if it would advance his fortunes in some way, and let his injured son die in jail to take the heat for the troubles at the Hollybush tavern. (TT)

  Long Meadow

  The main pasturage at Forst Reach. Lord Withen was outraged when his son Mekeal put sheep there, ousting his prize cattle. (LHM)

  Long Walk, The

  A euphemism for Death. (BV)

  Lord Holder

  A rank of nobility in Valdemar. Withen Ashkevron holds this title. His tenants farm for him and peasants hold their lands under his protection and governance. Withen often lectured Vanyel on his future duties as Lord Holder, a title and job Vanyel was glad to eventually yield to his brother Mekeal. (LHM)

  Lordan

  Kerowyn’s brother and Dierna Brodey’s bridegroom. He was badly injured during the wedding feast massacre, though he eventually, thanks to Kerowyn and Kethry, recovered to wed Dierna. (Sword)

  Loren

  A Kestra’chern in Urtho’s army assigned to work with the Healers putting together packs of supplies for evacuees going through the Gates to safety before the Cataclysm. (Gryphon)

  Loren (Commander)

  An officer who asked Urtho to reward one of the gryphons under his command. (Gyphons)

  Loren (Master)

  A teacher at the White Winds school when Kethry was training there. Mara Yveda once stole Master Loren’s staff under the mistaken bellef that it was magical. (Oath)

  Lores (Herald)

  King Randale’s envoy to the Court of Lineas. A witness to events which triggered a massacre of the Linean royal house, or so it was assumed, Lores was spellbound and made to believe the sole survivor of the debacle, Tashir Remoerdis, was the culprit. Despite the fact that Tashir had just been Chosen by the Companion Leshya. Lores was determined Lo destroy both, thinking Tashir was a murderer and the Companion was a demon Tashir had summoned. The Herald’s attack on the pair drove his own companion, Jenna, nearly mad with her inability to act against her Chosen or to go to the aid of the ones Lores was striking with his whip. Vanyel and Yfandes were able to stop Lores before it was too late. (LHM)

  Loriganalea

  The Haighlei word for lifebonded, which in their culture also means sacred and sealed by the gods. Trying to break such a bond would bring the curse of the ages on the perpetrator or anyone who helped him or did not aid the bonded ones. If the bondbreaker was a ruler, the curse would fall on his entire people as well as upon him. (Gryphons)

  Loris (Healer)

  A Healer who assiste
d Healer Kerithwyn in treating plague victims during Talia’s internship in the northern sector. (Arrows)

  Lorn and Rellan

  A hertasi couple who had recently moved out of a waterline marsh home because it flooded every spring. They gave the empty tunnel to Nyara to use during her recuperation. (Winds)

  Lorshallen

  A Kestra’chern who took Amberdrake as his apprentice on Silver Veil’s recommendation. Lorshallen was already old then and virtually retired. His Gifts were Healing and Empathy. (Gryphons)

  Loschal (Mayor)

  The Mayor of Trevendale, he was nominated by Talia to be Lord Gartheser’s replacement as speaker for the North on the Queen’s Council. (Arrows)

  Losh

  A Skybolt appointed to command the horse-archers after Pende was put on sick leave because of fever. (Sword)

  Loshi

  A hertasi who was partculariy attached to Darian and Keisha. (Owl)

  Losita

  A Kestra’chern in the service of Uriho’s army. On a day she had pulled a muscle, Gesten arranged for her usual clients to be treated by Amberdrake. (Gryphon)

  Lothar (Prince)

  The Ruler of Ruvan, he was often called “the Looney,” although never to his face. After the disaster at the Temple of Thalhkarsh, Lothar decreed human sacrifice punishable by enslavement. (Oath)

  Lother

  Apprentice to Henkeir Told-True, the Snow Fox clan’s shaman. (Owls)

  Loverhawk

  A Tayledras endearment. (Winds)

  Low Magic

  The collective term for basic sorcery and earch-witchery, often scorned by snobbish High Magic-users. Although Low-Magic spells are not powerful, they are useful for tasks such as water-finding and fire-making, among other things, and judiciously applied, can be very effective. In addition, these spells are often functional when little other magic is. Low Magic is hampered during the dormant season, when there is very little ambient energy available. (Oath)

  Lurchan

  A luck-god whose sect makes cursed coins. Lurchan’s followers try to plant the counterluck talismans on the unsuspecting. The only way to get rid of the cursed coin is to have someone accept it of their own free will. (Oath)

  Lursten

  The hertasi Darkwind assigned the task of providing Elspeth with a wardrobe more practical for the Vale than her Whites. (Winds)

  Lyam

  The hertasi secretary to Tarrn, the kyree scholar. They both came to the ruins of Urtho’s Tower to translate the ancient texts found there. (Storm)

  Lyam

  One of Kethry and Jadrek’s children, and Laryn’s twin. (Oath)

  Lyan

  One of Kethry and Jadrek’s children. (Oath)

  Lyavor

  A town near Viden where travelers prefer to stay to avoid Lord Gorley’s traveler taxes. (Oath)

  Lyer

  Wlnterlight’s daytime bondbird, a snow-eagle. (Winds)

  Lyle

  One of Bazie’s boys when Skif joined the thieves’ gang. He was an excellent pickpocket, but he eventually met a farm girl and settled down to an honest life. (TT)

  Lynnell (Bard)

  She brought Stefen to the Bardic Collegium when he was barely ten. The bewildered boy had no idea why this strange woman wearing red robes had plucked him out the street where he was performing. Lynnell was embarrassed when she learned the boy thought she was a procurer and had kidnapped him to sell to a shaych bordello. (LHM)

  Lyonnes (Lady) Kalthea

  One of the nobles who opened her manor to provide hospitality for the k’Sheyna group on their way to Haven. (Winds)

  Lyosha

  One of the Second Wing gryphons serving Urtho. She tried to flirt with Skan, but at that stage he was too absorbed in watching Zhaneel to notice her. (Gryphons)

  Lyr

  A flat-voiced, colorless woman, the head of all Skybolt scout groups. When the fleeing mercenary company was forced to split up to evade the pursuing Karsites, Kero ended up with twenty riders led by Lyr. (Sword)

  Lyra (Princess)

  Princess of Valdemar, and the twin of Prince Kris, she is the daughter of Selenay and Daran. (Winds)

  Lyris (Countess)

  An older noblewoman at Raschar’s court, she was a good source of information for Tarma and Kethry in their quest to discover what had happened to Idra. (Oath)

  Lysle

  The Herald-trainee assigned to help Ambassador Uhrich at the Palace. (Storm)

  Lysle

  The hertasi who helped Vikteren to his tent after the mage collapsed from overwork. (Gryphon)

  Lytha

  The gryphlet nest mate of Jervan and daughter of Treyvan and Hydona. (Storm, Winds)

  Lythan

  One of the two morning stars visible from Valdemar. The other is Leander. (LHM)

  Lythands

  The neighbors to Kerowyn’s family Keep. Kethry’s youngest daughter, Lenore, was fostered with the Lythands, and returned trained as a lady and uninterested in anything but dreams of romance and an idyllic life as a Keep Lady. (Sword)

  Lythecare

  The Jkathan town where Adept Jendar lives, though the mage-school he founded is in the Rethwellan city of Petras. He prefers to live in Jkatha, nearer his Shin’a’in relatives. He also refuses to live in Kata’shin’a’in because its fall and winter climate is so dry, and it lacks the luxuries he demands. (Winds)

  Lytherill

  One of Treesa’s ladies, and an incurable chatterbox. She cornered Starwind until his bondbird drove her away (LHM)

  Lythiaren (Queen)

  Queen of Rethwellan, her Royal House had mages in its bloodlines. When the anti-mage crusade began in Karse, it was soon realized that Lythiaren and her kin and realm might be in danger along with Valdemar. King Randale ordered his Seneschal to draft a letter to the Queen to inform her of the situation, offering an alliance against their hostile neighbor. Randale insisted that the message be carefully worded because Lythiaren didn’t entirely trust him after “that mess with the Amarites.” (LHM)

  Maeven (Weatherwitch)

  A resident of Berrybay who accidentally drowned her illegitimate baby. She went mad. This tragedy also awoke her lacent gift of weather clairvoyance. Her fellow villagers pitied her but valued her predictions. Maeyen, thanks to Talia’s insight, was made whole again when she adopted the orphaned gypsy baby Jethry. When Kris and Talia visited Waymeet again, Maeven had retained her weather clairvoyance and her sanity, and was being trained by the local priestess of Astera to succeed her. (Arrows)

  Maffie Olan

  He was a young bully in Errold’s Grove who beat up Dib Dawkin. (Owl)

  Mage of Silence

  One of Urtho’s titles. (BV)

  Mage-barrier

  A shimmering curtain of magical energy which allows Hawkbrothers, their allies, and harmless wildlife in while repulsing everything else. (Winds)

  Mage-craft

  The art of using magic. (BV)

  Mage-fog

  k’Sheyna Vale ran into this magical effect in a valley just beyond k’Sheyna’s wild territory. It was a mottled blue-white colored cloud, thick and oily, and too murky to see through. The mist rose and fell in a wavelike motion, leaving brown and withered vegetation in its wake. It was caustic and deadly for wildlife or humans to breathe. A bachelor herd of dyheli had become trapped by the log but Nyara saved them. (Winds)

  Mage-Gift

  The term for supernormal abilities possessed only by sorcerers, which may also include the Gifts known to Heralds, such as Thoughtsenslng, Fetching, and Empathy, but generally involves the power to reach into nodes or ley-lines, or to draw energy from the surrounding world and from other beings, and use that energy to power magic. (BV)

  Mage-glyph

  A mage’s magical signature. (Oath)

  Mage-light

  Illumination without fuel that is generated by the mage’s own will, it can be dim or bright according to need and hovers without fuel or support wherever the mage commands
it. (BV)

  Mage-raven

  The construct designed by Leareth specifically to attack and kill herald Mage Savil. When Vanyel froze time and replayed it to witness the scene, he saw a tooth-beaked raven with evil red eyes and powerful legs ending in feet with sharp, hand-sized talons. The creature, disguised as wood brought for Savil’s fireplace, penetrated a warded and shielded room to get at its prey. After killing Savil, it sought out and killed her Companion, Kellan. (LHM)

  Mage-sight

  The ability to literally See mage powers or magic potential in a living being as a glowing aura. (LHM, Winds)

  Magic

  An unnatural action or force caused by powers outside those of ordinary human beings. There are four kinds of magic on Velgarth. The first is magic performed by Gifted individuals manipulating energy that only they can see. Like ley-lines or nodes. This is the kind of magic used by Adept mages. The second kind of magic uses power that can be taken from other living things and the land itself and is not dependent on a Gift to perform it, such as the magic utilized by blood-mages and hedge-wizards. The third kind of magic is Mind-magic—the paranormal abilities that Heralds have trained and utilized for centuries, including Fetching, Foresight, FarSight, FireStarting, and so on. The fourth kind of magic is religious or shamanic magic, and is powered by the interference of a deity in the natural world. Magic of all sorts is generally ranked according to whether it is Light or Dark, depending on the system of ethics involved in drawing the power for the magic, particularly for those who gain their power from other sources, and in how those working the magic use it. (BV)

  Magnus

  A child who lived in the village of Garthhold. He wanted to ask Vanyel how he had killed the colddrake, but the older woman tending the shaken youth shooed Magnus away, demanding that he let Vanyel recuperate. (LHM)

  Magpie Clan

  One of the Northern tribes. (Owl)

  Maiden’s Hope

  A fragrant little deep-woods northern flower which blooms only for a week preceding and following Midsummer’s Day, a wreath of it was given out-of-season to Talia s a wedding present from Kris. (Arrows)

  Maisie

  The underage half-wit girl employed by Londer at the Hollybush Tavern. She was the sex-partner of Kalchan, and the reason he went to jail. After the raid on the Hollybush, Malsie was sent to the temples for care and educatIon. (TT)