by Brent Weeks
Prism: There is only one Prism a generation. She senses the balance of the world’s magic, can balance the magic, and can split light within herself. Her role is largely ceremonial and religious, not political, except for her balancing the world’s magic so that wights and catastrophes don’t result.
Prism’s Tower, the: The central tower in the Chromeria. It houses the Prism, the White, and superviolets (as they are not numerous enough to require their own tower). The great hall lies below the tower, and the top holds a great crystal for the Prism’s use while he balances the colors of the world. The annual Luxlords’ Ball is held there.
promachia: The institution of a person named to the office of promachos. It gives great, nearly absolute powers during wartime.
promachos: A title given the Prism during war. It allows for his absolute rule and can only be instituted by order of the entire Spectrum. Among other powers, the promachos has the right to command armies, seize property, and elevate commoners to the nobility. It is an ancient term meaning He Who Fights Before Us.
Providence: A belief in the care of Orholam over the Seven Satrapies and its people.
psantria: A stringed musical instrument.
pyrejelly: Red luxin that, once set alight, will engulf whatever object it adheres to.
raka: A heavy insult, with the implication of both moral and intellectual idiocy.
Raptors of Kazakdoon, the: Flying reptiles from Angari myth.
Rath: The capital of Ruthgar, set on the confluence of the Great River and its delta into the Cerulean Sea.
Rathcaeson: A mythical city, on the drawings of which Gavin Guile based his Brightwater Wall design.
ratweed: A toxic plant whose leaves are often smoked for their strong stimulant properties. Addictive.
Red Cliff Uprising, the: A rebellion in Atash after the end of the False Prism’s War. Without the support of the royal family (who had been purged), it was short-lived.
Rekton: A small Tyrean town on the Umber River, near the site of the Battle of Sundered Rock. An important trading post before the False Prism’s War.
Rozanos Bridge, the: A bridge on the Great River between Ruthgar and the Blood Forest that Blessed Satrap Rados burned.
Ru: The capital of Atash, once famous for its castle, still famous for its Great Pyramid.
Ru, Castle of: Once the pride of Ru, it was destroyed by fire during General Gad Delmarta’s purge of the royal family in the Prisms’ War.
Ruic Head: A peninsula dominated by towering cliffs that overlooks the Atashian city of Ru and its bay. A fort atop the peninsula’s cliffs guards against invading armies.
runt: An affably derogatory term for a new Blackguard inductee.
Salve: A common greeting, originally meaning “Be of good health!”
Sapphire Bay: A bay off Little Jasper.
satrap/satrapah: The title of a ruler of one of the seven satrapies.
sev: A unit of measurement for weight, equal to one-seventh of a seven.
seven: A unit of measurement for weight, equal to a cubit of water’s weight.
Sharazan Mountains, the: Impassable mountains south of Tyrea.
shimmercloak: A cloak that makes the wearer mostly invisible, except in sub-red and superviolet.
Skill, Will, Source, and Still/Movement: The four essential elements for drafting.
Skill: The most underrated of all the elements of drafting, acquired through practice. Includes knowing the properties and strengths of the luxin being drafted, being able to see and match precise wavelengths, etc.
Will: By imposing will, a drafter can draft and even cover flawed drafting if her will is powerful enough.
Source: Depending on what colors a drafter can use, she needs either that color of light or items that reflect that color of light in order to draft. Only a Prism can simply split white light within herself to draft any color.
Still: An ironic usage. Drafting requires movement, though more skilled drafters can use less.
slow fuse: A length of cord, often soaked in saltpeter, that can be lit to ignite the gunpowder of a weapon in the firing mechanism.
slow match: Another term for a slow fuse.
spectrum: A term for a range of light; or (capitalized) the council of the Chromeria that is one branch of the government of the Chromeria (see Colors, the).
spidersilk: Another term for paryl.
spyglass: A small telescope using curved, clear lenses to aid in sighting distant objects.
star-keepers: Also known as tower monkeys, these are petite slaves (usually children) who work the ropes that control the mirrors of Big Jasper to reflect the light throughout the city for drafters’ use. Though well treated for slaves, they spend their days working in two-man teams from dawn till after dusk, frequently without reprieve except for switching with their partner.
subchromats: Drafters who are color-blind, usually men. A subchromat can function without loss of ability—if his handicap is not in the colors he can draft. A red-green color-blind subchromat could be an excellent blue or yellow drafter.
Sun Day: A holy day to followers of Orholam and pagans alike, the longest day of the year. For the Seven Satrapies, Sun Day is the day when the Prism Frees those drafters who are about to break the halo. The ceremonies usually take place on the Jaspers, when all of the Thousand Stars are trained onto the Prism, who can absorb and split the light, whereas other men burn or burst from drafting so much power.
Sun Day’s Eve: An evening of festivities before the longest day of the year and the Freeing the next day.
Sundered Rock: Twin mountains in Tyrea, opposite each other and so alike that they look as if they were once one huge rock cut down the middle.
Sundered Rock, Battle of: The final battle between Gavin and Dazen near a small Tyrean town on the Umber River.
superchromats: Extremely color-sensitive people. Luxin they seal will rarely fail. Far more common among female drafters.
tainted: One who has broken the halo, also called a wight.
thobe: An ankle-length garment, usually with long sleeves.
Thorikos: A town below the Laurion mines on the river to Idoss. Serves as the center for arriving and departing slaves, the bureaucracy necessary for thirty thousand slaves, and the center for the trade goods and supplies necessary, as well as the shipping of the silver ore down the river.
Thorn Conspiracies, the: A series of intrigues that occurred after the False Prism’s War.
Thousand Stars, the: The mirrors on Big Jasper Island that enable the light to reach into almost any part of the city for as long as possible during the day.
Threshing, the: The initiation test for candidates to the Chromeria.
Threshing Chamber, the: The room where candidates for the Chromeria are summoned to test for their abilities to draft.
Tiru, the: A Parian tribe.
Tlaglanu, the: A Parian tribe, hated by other Parians, from whom Hanishu, the dey of Aghbalu, chose his bride, Tazerwalt.
torch: A red wight.
translucification, forced: See willjacking.
Travertine Palace, the: One of the wonders of the old world. Both a palace and a fortress, it is built of carved travertine (a mellow green stone) and white marble. Notable for its bulbous horseshoe arches, geometric wall patterns, Parian runes, and chessboard patterns on the floors. Its walls are incised with a crosshatched pattern to make the stone look woven rather than carved. The palace is a remnant of the days when half of Tyrea was a Parian province.
Tree People, the: Tribesmen who live (lived?) deep in the forests of the Blood Forest satrapy. They use zoomorphic designs, and can apparently shape living wood. Possibly related to the pygmies.
Umber River, the: The lifeblood of Tyrea. Its water allows the growth of every kind of plant in the hot climate; its locks fed trade throughout the country before the False Prism’s War. Often besieged by bandits.
Unchained, the: A term for the followers of the Omnichrome, those drafters who choose to break t
he Pact and continue living even after breaking the halo.
Unification, the: A term for Lucidonius’s and Karris Shadowblinder’s establishment of the Seven Satrapies four hundred years prior to Gavin Guile’s rule as Prism.
Ur, the: A tribe that trapped Lucidonius in Hass Valley. He triumphed against great odds, primarily because of the heroics of El-Anat (who thereby became Forushalzmarish or Shining Spear) and Karris Atiriel.
urum: A three-tined dining implement.
vambrace: Plate armor to protect the forearm. Ceremonial versions made of cloth also exist.
Varig and Green: A bank with a branch on Big Jasper.
vechevoral: A sickle-shaped sword with a long handle like an ax and a crescent-moon-shaped blade at the end, with the inward bowl-shaped side being the cutting edge.
Verdant Plains, the: The dominant geographical feature of Ruthgar. The Verdant Plains are favored by green drafters.
Vician’s Sin: The event that marked the end of the close alliance between Ruthgar and Blood Forest.
Voril: A small town two days from Ru.
warrior-drafters: Drafters whose primary work is fighting for various satrapies or the Chromeria.
water markets: Circular lakes connected to the Umber River at the center of the villages and cities of Tyrea, common throughout Tyrean towns. A water market is dredged routinely to maintain an even depth, allowing ships easy access to the interior of the city with their wares. The largest water market is in Garriston.
Weasel Rock: A neighborhood in Big Jasper dominated by narrow alleys.
Weedling: A small coastal village in Ru close to Ruic Head.
wheellock pistol: A pistol that uses a rotating wheel mechanism to cause the spark that ignites the firearm; the first mechanical attempt to ignite gunpowder. Some few smiths’ versions are more reliable than a flintlock and allow repeated attempts to fire. Most, however, are far less reliable than the already unreliable flintlocks.
Whiteguard, the: The original term for the Omnichrome’s personal bodyguard.
widdershins: A direction; counter-sunwise.
willjacking/will-breaking: Once a drafter has contact with unsealed luxin that she is able to draft, she can use her will to break another drafter’s control over the luxin and take it for herself.
Wiwurgh: A Parian town that hosts many Blood Forest refugees from the Blood War.
wob: A term for a Blackguard inductee.
zigarro: Rolled tobacco, a form useful for smoking. Ratweed is sometimes used as a wrapping to hold the loose tobacco.
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Contents
Cover
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Maps
Epigraph
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Epilogue 1
Epilogue 2
Acknowledgments
Books by Brent Weeks
Character List
Glossary
Orbit Newsletter
Copyright
Copyright
The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2014 by Brent Weeks
Maps by Chad Roberts Design
Cover design by Lauren Panepinto
Cover illustration by Silas Manhood
Cover image of character by Shirley Green
Cover image of tree © Shutterstock
Cover copyright © 2014 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher constitutes unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: August 2014
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ISBN 978-0-316-23555-6
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