The Wars of Light and Shadow (9) - INITIATE'S TRIAL: First book of Sword of the Canon

by Wurts, Janny

  DAVIEN THE BETRAYER—Fellowship Sorcerer responsible for provoking the great uprising in Third Age Year 5018, that resulted in the fall of the high kings after Desh-thiere’s conquest. Rendered discorporate by the Fellowship’s judgement in Third Age 5129. Exiled since, by personal choice. Davien’s works included the Five Centuries Fountain near Mearth on the splinter world of the Red Desert through West Gate; the shaft at Rockfell Peak, used by the Sorcerers to imprison harmful entities; the Stair on Rockfell Peak; and also, Kewar Tunnel in the Mathorn Mountains. Restored as a corporate being following Asandir’s interaction with the Great Drake, Seshkrozchiel, in the banishment of the Scarpdale grimward in Third Age Year 5671. Bound into the dragon’s service ever since.

  pronounced: dah-vee-en

  root meaning: dahvi – fool; an – one, ‘mistaken one’

  DESHIR—north-western principality of Rathain.

  pronounced: desh-eer

  root meaning: deshir – misty

  DESH-THIERE—Mistwraith that invaded Athera from the splinter worlds through South Gate in Third Age 4993. Access cut off by Fellowship Sorcerer, Traithe. Battled and contained in West Shand for twenty-five years, until the rebellion splintered the peace, and the high kings were forced to withdraw from the defence lines to attend their disrupted kingdoms. Confined through the combined powers of Lysaer s’Ilessid’s gift of light and Arithon s’Ffalenn’s gift of shadow. Currently imprisoned in a warded flask in Rockfell Pit.

  pronounced: desh-thee-air-e (last ‘e’ mostly subliminal)

  root meaning: desh – mist; thiere – ghost or wraith

  DHARKARON AVENGER—called Ath’s Avenging Angel in legend. Drives a chariot drawn by five horses to convey the guilty to Sithaer. Dharkaron as defined by the adepts of Ath’s Brotherhood is that dark thread mortal men weave with Ath, the prime vibration, that creates self-punishment, or the root of guilt.

  pronounced dark-air-on

  root meaning: dhar – evil; khiaron – one who stands in judgement

  DIER KENTON VALE—a valley located in the principality of Vastmark, Shand, where Lysaer’s war host, thirty-five thousand strong, fought and lost to the Master of Shadow in Third Age 5647, largely slaughtered in one day by a shale slide. The remainder were harried by a small force of Vastmark shepherds and clan scouts from Shand, under Caolle, who served as Arithon’s war-captain, until supplies and loss of morale broke the Alliance campaign.

  pronounced: deer ken-ton

  root meaning: dier’kendion – a jewel with a severe flaw that may result in shearing or cracking.

  EAST BRANSING—town located on the coast of Instrell Bay in Tysan.

  pronounced: bran-sing

  root meaning: brienseng – at the base, at the bottom

  EFFLIN—a croft holder near Kelsing, and older brother of Tarens and Kerelie.

  pronounced: eff-lin

  root meaning: e – prefix for small; ffael – dark; en – suffix for ‘more’; effaelin – a dark mood

  ELAIRA—initiate enchantress of the Koriathain, currently serving the order as a wandering independent. Originally a street child, taken on in Morvain for Koriani rearing. Arithon’s beloved, became handfast to Rathain in Third Age Year 5672.

  pronounced: ee-layer-ah

  root meaning: e – prefix, diminutive for small; laere – grace

  ELKFOREST—free-wilds forest located in Gent, Havish. Site of the Queen’s Glade.

  ELLAINE—daughter of the Lord Mayor of Erdane, once Princess of Avenor by marriage to Lysaer s’Ilessid, and mother of Kevor s’Ilessid, who became an adept of Ath’s Brotherhood.

  pronounced: el-lane

  not from the Paravian

  ENNIE—a young woman from Kelsing.

  pronounced: any

  not from the Paravian.

  ERDANE—originally a Paravian town given over to Mankind’s rule; became the seat of the old Princes of Camris and the s’Gannley blood-line until the uprising that followed Desh-thiere’s conquest in Third Age 5015. Became an iniquitous nest of necromancy in the years following, then the site of the True Sect High Temple of the Light since the Great Schism in 5683, and where the conclave of priests signed the doctrine into the First Book of Canon Law in 5691.

  pronounced: er-day-na with the last syllable almost subliminal

  root meaning: er’deinia – long walls

  ERDANI—from Erdane.

  pronounced: er-day-nee

  root meaning: er’deinia’i – being of the ‘long walls’ – colloquial suffix for identity.

  ERIEGAL—second youngest of the fourteen child survivors of the Tal Quorin massacre known as Jieret’s Companions. Renowned as a shrewd tactician, he was ordered to serve Jieret’s son Barach as war-captain in the Halwythwood camp rather than fight Lysaer’s war host in Daon Ramon Barrens in Third Age Year 5670. Tried and executed for Crown Treason in 5674.

  pronounced: air-ee-gall

  root meaning: eriegal – snake

  ESFAND s’VALERIENT—heir designate to the Caithdein of Rathain, son of Cosach s’Valerient and Jalienne.

  pronounced: es-fand s’val-er-ee-ent

  root meaning: esfan – iron; ‘d – suffix for behind

  ETARRA—trade city built across the Mathorn Pass by townsfolk after the revolt that cast down Ithamon and the High Kings of Rathain. Nest of corruption and intrigue, and policy-maker for the North. Lysaer s’Ilessid was ratified as mayor upon Morfett’s death in Third Age Year 5667. Site where Arithon defeated the Kralovir necromancers in Third Age Year 5671. Also the former seat of the Alliance armed forces. Ruled by acting elected mayor Lysaer s’Ilessid, in residence since the Great Schism in Third Age Year 5683.

  pronounced: ee-tar-ah

  root meaning: e – prefix for small; taria – knots

  FALLOWMERE—north-eastern principality of Rathain.

  pronounced: fal-oh-meer

  root meaning: fal’ei’miere – literally, tree self-reflection, colloquialism for ‘place of perfect trees’

  FATE’S WHEEL—see Daelion’s Wheel.

  FELLOWSHIP OF SEVEN—sorcerers bound to Athera by the summoning dream of the dragons and charged to secure the mysteries that enable Paravian survival. Achieved their redemption from Cianor Sunlord, under the Law of the Major Balance in Second Age Year One. Originators and keepers of the covenant of the compact, made with the Paravian races, to allow Mankind’s settlement on Athera in Third Age Year One. Their authority backs charter law, upheld by crown justice and clan oversight of the free wilds.

  FFEREDON-LI—ancient Paravian word for a healer, literally translated ‘bringer of grace’ and the name given to Elaira by an Araethurian seeress on the hour of Fionn Areth’s birth.

  pronounced: fair-eh-dun-lee

  root meaning: ffaraton – maker; li – exalted grace

  FIADUWYNNE—site of a Second Age focus circle, and a once vast complex of healer’s gardens and telir orchards, located in south Lanshire, Havish, at the banks of the River Lithwater.

  pronounced: fee-ah-dew-win-e – with the last syllable nearly subliminal

  root meaning: ffiadu – to make whole; wynne – orchard

  FIATH—deceased croft holder from Kelsing, husband of Saffie, uncle to Efflin, Tarens, and Kerelie.

  pronounced: fee-ahth

  root meaning: ffiath – a verity, a truth; ff’i’ath – giving identity to that which is Ath

  FORTHMARK—city in Vastmark, Shand. Once the site of a hostel of Ath’s Brotherhood. By Third Age 5320, the site was abandoned and taken over by the Koriani Order as a healer’s hospice.

  root meaning not from the Paravian

  GESTRY s’LORNMEIN—heir designate of Havish, crowned High King of Havish in Third Age Year 5922.

  pronounced: guess-tree slorn-main

  root meaning: geies – obligated duty; tieri – steel; liernmein – to centre or bring into balance

  GLENDIEN—a Shandian clanswoman, wife to Kyrialt s’Taleyn, formerly the heir designate of the High Earl of Alla
nd; mother to Arithon’s bastard daughter, Teylia, conceived in the confluence at Athir in Third Age Year 5672.

  pronounced: glen-dee-en

  root meaning: glyen – sultry; dien – object of beauty

  GREY KRALOVIR—see Kralovir.

  GREAT WAYSTONE—see Waystone.

  GRIMWARD—a circle of spells of Paravian making that seal and isolate the dire dreams of dragon haunts, a force with the potential for mass destruction. With the disappearance of the old races, the defences are maintained by embodied Sorcerers of the Fellowship of Seven. Of seventeen separate sites listed at Althain Tower, thirteen are still active.

  GRISMARD—a wealthy townsman from Kelsing.

  pronounced: grease-marred

  not from the Paravian

  HALIKA—Caithdein of Havish in service to High King Gestry s’Lornmein.

  pronounced: ha-lee-kah

  root meaning: hal – white; lie – note struck in harmony; ka – girl

  HALWYTHWOOD—forest located in Araethura, Rathain. Current clan lodge of High Earl Cosach’s band.

  pronounced: hall-with-wood

  root meaning: hal – white; wythe – vista

  HAMMON—a fisherman on a lugger from Torwent.

  pronounced: ham-mon

  not from the Paravian

  HATTSEY—a bar maid in Etarra, friend of Daliana sen Evend.

  pronounced: hat-see

  not from the Paravian

  HAVISH—one of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera as defined by the charters of the Fellowship of Seven. Ruled by a queen, succeeded at death by Gestry s’Lornmein. Crown heritage: temperance. Device: gold hawk on red field.

  pronounced: hav-ish

  root meaning: havieshe – hawk

  HELDA—a fourth-rank initiate in the Order of the Koriathain.

  pronounced: held-a

  root meaning: root meaning: huell – one who protects; da – by/next to

  HIGHSCARP—city sited near the stone quarries on the coast of the Bay of Eltair, located in Daon Ramon, Rathain. Also contains a sisterhouse of the Koriani Order.

  ILITHARIS PARAVIANS—centaurs, one of three semimortal old races; disappeared after the Mistwraith’s conquest, the last guardian’s departure by Third Age Year 5100. They were the guardians of the earth’s mysteries.

  pronounced: i-li-thar-is

  root meaning: i’lith’earis – the keeper/preserver of mystery

  INNISH—city located on the southcoast of Shand at the delta of the River Ippash. 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 between Atainia, Tysan, and Deshir, Rathain.

  pronounced: in-strell

  root meaning: arin’streal – strong wind

  ISAER—power focus built in the First Age in Atainia, Tysan, by the Ilitharis Paravians, to source the defence works of the Paravian keep of the same name.

  pronounced: i-say-er

  root meaning: i’saer – the circle

  ISFARENN—etheric Name for the black stallion once ridden by Asandir. Died in the Scarpdale grimward in Third Age Year 5671.

  pronounced: ees-far-en

  root meaning: is’feron – speed maker

  ISSING—river located in Havistock, Havish, arises in the Storlains and flows south to Redburn harbour at Rockbay.

  pronounced: i-sing

  root meaning: yssing – spindrift

  ITHISH—city located at the edge of the principality of Vastmark, on the southcoast of Shand. Where the Vastmark shepherds ship their wool fleeces.

  pronounced: ith-ish

  root meaning: ithish – fleece or fluffy

  IYAT – energy sprite, and minor drake spawn inhabiting 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, and excess emotion where humans gather.

  pronounced: ee-at

  root meaning: iyat – to break

  IYAT-THOS—clan dialect name for Tarens.

  pronounced: ee-at thoss

  root meaning: iyat – broken; thos – nose

  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. Also the site where Arithon s’Ffalenn played his eulogy for Halliron Masterbard, which raised the powers of the Paravian focus circle beneath the mayor’s palace. The forces of the mysteries and resonant harmonics caused damage to city buildings, watch keeps, and walls, which has since been repaired.

  pronounced: jay-lot

  root meaning: jielot – affectation

  JALIENNE—wife of Cosach s’Valerient, current Caithdein of Rathain.

  pronounced: jah-lee-en

  root meaning: jia – binding, tie together, intertwine; lien – to love

  JESSIAN OATHKEEPER—historical sister of the Koriathain, prior to settlement on Athera, when the order was a secret society, sent to the planet Scathac to treat with the Biedar, and witnessed the tribal rite that preserved the planet from Calum Kincaid’s Great Weapon. Subsequently came to trial and imprisonment when she refused to break the silence sworn to the Biedar matriarch never to reveal the experience. Her secret was kept until she was executed, but the mystery it concealed launched the Koriani Order on a search that eventually resulted in coercive disclosure and theft of the ancient Biedar knowledge.

  pronounced: jess-ee-an

  not from the Paravian

  JEYNSA s’VALERIENT—daughter of Jieret s’Valerient and Feithan, born Third Age 5653; appointed successor for her father’s title, Caithdein of Rathain. Married Sevrand s’Brydion.

  pronounced: jay-in-sa

  root meaning: jieyensa – garnet

  JIERET s’VALERIENT—former 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. Blood pacted to Arithon by sorcerer’s oath prior to the battle of Strakewood Forest. Came to be known by head-hunters as Jieret Red-beard. Father of Jeynsa and Barach. Husband to Feithan. Died by Lysaer s’Ilessid’s hand in Daon Ramon Barrens, Third Age Year 5670.

  pronounced: jeer-et

  root meaning: jieret – thorn

  KADIERACH—Ilitharis Paravian, or centaur guardian, who was called forward by High Earl Jieret’s transcendence. Also appeared to Arithon s’Ffalenn during his passage through Kewar’s Maze in Third Age Year 5670.

  pronounced: kad-ee-er-ack

  root meaning: kad’i – to quicken etherically, or bring to blossom throughrefined awareness; era – place; ch – suffix for attached to or rooted to a site

  KATHTAIRR—barren land-mass in the southern ocean, across the world from Paravia.

  pronounced: kath-tear

  root meaning: kait-th’era – empty place

  KELHORN MOUNTAINS—a range of shale scarps located in Vastmark, Shand.

  pronounced: kell-horn

  root meaning: kielwhern – toothed, jagged

  KELSING—town located south of Erdane on the trade-road in Camris, Tysan.

  pronounced: kel-sing

  root meaning: kel – hidden; seng – cave

  KERELIE—crofter’s daughter from Kelsing, sister of Efflin and Tarens, niece of Saffie and Fiath.

  pronounced: care-ah-lee

  not from the Paravian

  KEWAR TUNNEL—cavern built beneath the Mathorn Mountains by Davien the Betrayer; contains the maze of conscience, which caused High King Kamridian s’Ffalenn’s death. Arithon Teir’s’Ffalenn successfully completed the challenge in Third Age Year 5670.

  pronounced: key-wahr

  root meaning: kewiar – a weighing of conscience

  KHADRIEN s’VALERIENT—clanborn second
cousin to Esfand s’Valerient, friend of Siantra s’Idir.

  pronounced: cad-ree-en sval-er-ee-ent

  root meaning: val – straight; erient – spear

  KHARADMON—Sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven; discorporate since rise of Khadrim and Seardluin leveled Paravian stronghold 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 working the wardings to defer a minor invasion of wraiths from Marak.

  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’

  KORIANI—possessive and singular form of the word ‘Koriathain’; see entry.