Kalindinai was a good queen and a fertile one as well, bearing the crown a daughter a scant two summers after their marriage. The new Queen was tough but fair, and having served in the ranks of the soldiers well regarded and respected. With house Valharesh having it’s eldest daughter in the seat of the Queen, the “barely noble” family flourished and grew in strength as their eldest son Bertrand maneuvered for political advantage. Eventually, he would win favored status and a place on the ruling council, establishing House Valharesh as one of the ruling houses.
The Valharesh magical legacy was thought to have stopped with Bertrand and Kalindinai’s generation as there were no serious mages among Kalindinai’s daughters. However, a recent development was the discovery that Janai T’Evagduran not only had learned magic while away in Canth, but was actually an exceptionally skilled mage. Janai has not revealed who taught her magic, but there are thoughts that the patron of Valharesh is the source of her secretive magical skills.
See Also: Corwin, magic, Malan, Titaan
— I —
Ice Falcon — Alias for Aarlen Frielos. see Frielos, Aarlen.
See Also: Frielos, Aarlen
Idun — Pantheon lord of the Aesir, goddess of immortality. Idun is one of the more powerful goddesses of the Aesir. In mythology she tends the fruit which grant the Aesir longevity. As a pantheon lord of the Ring Realms she is the keeper of fruits which have restorative powers on pantheon lords that also can temporarily imbue a mortal creature with immort strength, resilience, and magick.
Idun is the mother of Euriel Kergatha Idundaughter, and grandmother of Liandra Kergatha.
See Also: Kergatha, Liandra {Wren} Idun-daughter
immortal — Any of class of creatures which have effectively infinite life-spans. Immortal in the greatest sense can mean almost impossible to kill. The pantheon lords fall into this category being able to heal back from the most fearsome of wounds. In later stories, Bannor tests just how far “immortality” goes.
implant — (specific to Cyberware c.f.) In reference to a particular techno-enhancement placed in the body. The implant has experienced shutdown.
inertia — The tendency of a body to remain at rest or continue in motion unless disturbed by an external force.
interdimensional — Of or pertaining to alternate realms of existence and their access.
interface — The method by which human-machine or machine-to-machine interaction takes place. A computer keyboard is a human-machine interface.
Ishtar — Pantheon lord, goddess of love and war.
Ishtarvariku, Dorian Degaba — Dorian’s history is long and complex. She started life in another guise, as a man named Gondor Degaba. Gondor’s life was one of adventure. He forayed against slavers, and giants, and evil elves. As a skilled mage he was injured many times but had never really met his match. It wasn’t until he joined up with the Band of the Crescent Moon in their fight against a Lich Lord named Ceta that he met with real defeat. The undead creature made everyone’s life hard. Her minions killed two of the band outright and Gondor himself was turned into a vampire which the party was forced to destroy in order to continue their quest. Through some powerful magics Gondor’s lifeforce was preserved, but he was an unembodied spirit. The band had undertaken their quest at the behest of the Aesir pantheon lords, and it was lord Loki who decided to take a hand in providing a new form for Gondor. The god bound Gondor into the body of a woman. From then on Gondor became Dorian. This made life difficult as during the course of their adventuring Gondor and Cassandra had already become close and sworn to each other. It wasn’t until a few months later they discovered how close they had become, because Cassandra was pregnant. Gondor/Dorian’s life was only beginning to get complicated.
As a woman, Dorian went on developing her skills as a mage. Her relationship with Cassandra grew and changed, and later changed further still as Desiray entered the picture. She helped raise Cassin and Annawen and watched them grow into young women. Dorian’s adventures continued.
Dorian is a skilled and creative mage that is far more powerful than a typical mage of her age and skills. She has a knack for creating magic items and blending magicks to create devastatingly powerful combinations. In later cycles, she takes up the sword and martial training purely for the physical “toughening” to enhance her powers even further. Over the course of decades Dorian has developed a reputation as a schemer and a manipulator. She has successfully won the support, dedication, and even adoration of many extremely powerful allies, including such personages as Gabriella Sarn Ariok, who now mentors her in magick. While all are suspicious of Dorian, there is more than a little respect as well, where brute force has failed, Dorian’s clever deceptions have more than once saved the day.
Dorian is the wife of Brin Ishtarvariku, she has eleven children between four partners, two with Brin: Rindar and Jaraed. Four with Cassandra: Cassin, Annawen, Kassandra, Dorrian. Three with Desiray: Darin’Kel, Eviria, Leandra. Lastly, two with Megan Vinax: Ralani and Silvia.
See Also: Ariok, Gabriella Sarn, Felspar, Desiray Illkaren, magic
ishtite — A rare metal especially conducive to the conduction and absorption of magic. Ishtite itself is typically far too rare and not durable enough to make solid objects from. Other materials are usually wrapped around it or alloyed with it. An amount of ishtite able to make a simple finger ring can be valued at hundreds of thousands of gold depending on the material’s purity. Pure ishtite is incredibly rare and probably exists in only one or two magic labs in all of the Ring Realms.
See Also: magic
Isis — Pantheon lord, goddess of magic and fertility.
See Also: magic
Ivaneth — Name of the kingdom south of Malan, with Corwin on its western border, and East realm and Coormeer on the east. Ivaneth is ruled by King Edmund Tradeholme. The capital of Ivaneth is Ivaneth City. A city of just over 1 million people.
See Also: Coormeer, Corwin, Malan
— J —
Jalt, Areth — Eternal and alpha rank member of the protectorate in charge of intelligence operations. Areth is the stunningly attractive loremistress that serves the cadre of eternals in several capacities as archiver, researcher, and information gathering expert. Where Sroth simply retrieves information, Areth is the one who puts that data into perspective and assimilates it for use by the Protectorate. Areth is the cultural and technological expert, knowledgeable in the lore and legacies of all the major races of Eternity. What she doesn’t know, she has the resources and powers to discover. Aurra’s spiritual talisman is named Starsong. The weapon’s major power is the manipulation of sound. However, it’s debatable if this ability is really more significant than the weapon’s ability to truespeak any object, living or inanimate. This truespeak can reveal a creature’s secrets and weaknesses, and even reveal it’s spiritual truename. Arabella is Areth’s “surrogate to be”, having fought a long campaign to catch the eternal’s eye and join the Shael Dal. Arabella’s major motivation is to learn bard skills from Areth, as she is probably the oldest bard in existence. It doesn’t hurt that as Areth’s surrogate, she would gain access to the truly staggeringly vast warehouse of lore that Areth has collected over her many eons of life as an eternal.
See Also: Eternity, eternals
jump — (generic) Of or pertaining to the entry into any kind of quantum travel (hyperspatial).
Jyril — Elder race capable of movement throughout the multiverse. They are the oldest known race of creatures with a knowledge of magic and technology that dwarfs anything else yet encountered. Little is known about these curious creatures or their real motives, except that certain sects of this ancient people act as a kind of cosmic police force. The Jyril fought and won a war against the Kriar, putting upon them a “curse” of infertility that kept the gold-skinned creatures from reproducing for millions of cycles.
See Also: kriar, magic
— K —
ka’amok — Name given to savants by the pantheon lords. It means
“chaos bringer”. The ka’amok are sought by the lords for their ability to serve as avatars.
karanganoi — The name of the ‘other’ Kriar dasta (and name of their homeworld). The Fabrista and Karanganoi are two clans of Kriar that went their separate ways during first exodus. See Fabrista.
See Also: kriar
kath — Combat grade rank in the Kriar military equal to a captain. See also Kriar Ranks.
See Also: kriar
Kegari — Dragon in the employ of the pantheon lord Idun, she and her friend (sister mate?) Tymoril travel extensively with Bannor.
See Also: dragon, Tymoril
Kell — Powerful being that appeared in citadel Kul’Amaron and bested several savants, a Shael Dal, and a Kriar belkirin with little effort. Kell’s origins are unknown but it appeared that he had both savant and Baronian heredity.
See Also: belkirin, kriar, Kul’Amaron
Kerall, Foross — Eternal and alpha rank member of the protectorate serving as Strategic Commander. Foross’ spirit talisman is called Stellaraac. The weapon’s primary ability is to grant the wielder ultimate shape changing power. Foross’ current surrogates are Aarlen Frielos, Beia Targallae, and until further notice—Corim Vale. Foross has something of a love hate relationship with Aarlen, fascinated with her as a person but despising the tyranny that she embodies. He has a much more supportive contact with Beia who despite her rough edges and violent nature is essentially a good person.
See Also: Eternity, eternals, Frielos, Aarlen
Kergatha, Azir — Son of Euriel and Vanidaar Kergatha, and older brother of Wren. Azir is a Sil’Kar Nola, a savant of light. During the avatar raid that captures Wren and makes Euriel and Vanidaar mental prisoners in their own home, the then eighteen summer old boy made his escape into the planescape surrounding Cosmodarus. Already trained in the techniques of plane-shifting as well as survival and woodscraft, it was an easy matter for the young man to elude capture by the avatar’s minions in the ever changing environment around Cosmodarus.
Unfortunately, Azir’s ability to elude pursuit did not prevent him from getting lost amongst of the thousands of parallel worlds of the ribbon realms. He moved from place to place, doing odd tasks to get food and shelter, and looking for a way back home to help his family. After a few seasons spent plane hopping he did eventually find his way back to Cosmodarus, a little older and more determined.
After several aborted attempts to free his parents and barely eluding capture, he went to the world of Titaan, and the city of Corwin, following the trail of his kidnapped sister. He learned that the temple of Hecate there had recently been over-run by the Justicars and most of the prisoners freed. His inquiries with Justicars bore no fruit, as none of the warriors involved in the raid recalled seeing a young girl. It was during these inquiries that he met his school friend Laramis De’Falcone, a well-connected Coormeerian paladin of Ukko, who had just been admitted to the ranks of the Justicars. Laramis’ funds helped finance a wider search of Corwin, but the efforts netted no leads or any evidence that Azir’s sister Liandra still lived or was even still on Titaan.
Azir turned his attention back to trying to find a way to free his parents from Mishaka. He turned his attention to the Elven land of Malan, his parents being longtime friends of the T’Evagduran royal family. It was Malan where he and Laramis had attended academy together learning everything from academic subjects to warcraft. His attempts to garner the help of the royal family were frustrated by a border war between Malan and the neighboring lands of Ironwood, and the Dwarves at Blackstar. The conflict had grown to the point that the T’Evagduran royals were involved and unable to be contacted much less assist in Azir’s family crisis.
Azir then turned his attention to higher powers and his Grandmother Idun, the pantheon lady of the Aesir. He found it strange that the powerful goddess had not already come to the aide of her daughter and granddaughter already. It was during his attempts to contact her that he learned of a wider conspiracy by the court of Odin against Euriel and her mother Idun. For more than two summers his efforts to contact Idun or get into Gladshiem were blocked by various “coincidences” and “happenstances” that he knew were anything but. It was shortly after that, agents of Set and Hecate began pursuing him. He also began having run-ins with the black-winged Valkyries called the Bloodguard. It was only incredible luck, his powers as a savant, and chance alliances with warriors of the All-World’s Tournament that kept him from getting killed or captured.
With such forces mobilized against him, Azir could do little more than run. He spent several years only steps ahead of the agents of the pantheon lords. Eventually they gave up the pursuit and Azir was free to turn his attention back toward freeing his parents. Azir returned to Titaan, and located his friend Laramis, who, over the seasons, had risen considerably in the ranks of the Justicars and the faith of Ukko. Hardened by cycles spent on the run, skills honed by constantly being hairs from death, Azir decided to make one last ditch effort to free his parents with the assistance of Laramis and a few of his retainers.
Azir’s efforts were to be short-lived by a chance and detrimental encounter with the avatar Hethanon, who would capture the man and give him into the hands of Mishaka. It is shortly after this time that Azir’s sister Wren Kergatha would finally find her identity and her way back home after more than a decade spent in the streets of Corwin where she was a member of the Brethren guild of thieves. Wren and her friends would eventually succeed in their efforts to restore the Kergatha family, and Azir could finally end his cycles of torment and exile.
See Also: avatar, Corwin, Cosmodarus, Kergatha, Vanidaar, Kergatha, Liandra {Wren} Idun-daughter, Malan, Titaan
Kergatha, Euriel Idun-daughter — Daughter of the goddess Idun, wife of Vanidaar Kergatha, mother of Liandra Kergatha and Azir Kergatha.
See Also: Kergatha, Vanidaar, Kergatha, Liandra {Wren} Idun-daughter
Kergatha, Liandra {Wren} Idun-daughter — Daughter of Euriel and Vanidaar Kergatha. Fifteen summer veteran of the Brethren guild. Wren is a Kel’Varan Nola a savant of forces. Wren has had dozens of run-ins with the pantheon lords and their servants. She has fought several avatars and permanently killed two. Even Hecate speaks of this young woman with grudging respect… knowing her full potential especially when backed by the proper allies.
See Also: Kergatha, Vanidaar
Kergatha, Vanidaar — Husband of Euriel Idun-daughter, father of Liandra Kergatha and Azir Kergatha. Vanidaar, like his two children, is a savant—Kul’Vita Nola—a savant of life forces.
See Also: Kergatha, Liandra {Wren} Idun-daughter
keshira — Elven diplomatic term referring to a person of royal descent who is not currently in power or acknowledged by the powers that be. Sarai refers to Bronawyn Darkstalker as “Keshira” because the members of the royal family of Drakmourne were run out of the kingdom (indeed off the continent).
See Also: Shadowstalker, Bronawyn
kidomma — Elvish term of respect for an woman who is older but of lesser rank. Ryelle refers to Euriel Kergatha (who is a baroness by rank) as “Kidomma”. Domma is an elven synonym for “mother”. The prefix ‘ki’ is somewhat like ‘kul’ (which means power) but is more like emphasis than true meaning. So the best translation is ‘special mother’ or ‘respected mother’.
See Also: elvish
Korvel — Shaladen blade and spirit talisman of the eternal Sroth Mephista. Korvel has the distinction of being perhaps the most lethal of all the shaladen weapons. Korvel confers the ability of ultimate stealth upon the user.
See Also: shaladen
kriar — Summary: The Kriar being a vegetative (rather than mammalian) humanoid race possess several plant-like attributes. Their skin is photosynthetic, and they derive nourishment from light. Their tissue is dense (like wood) and thus they are heavier and more resistant to injury. Kriar scientists have heavily modified the hereditary physiology of the species and many of the evolutionary drawbacks of their origins have been enginee
red away. Most Kriar rely on a life-support mechanism called a matrix stone that is embedded in their bodies at a young age. These jewels provide supplemental photosynthetic nourishment so the Kriar can function for extended periods in environments where there is little to no natural sun-light. These jewels are normally installed in sets. A focus stone in the forehead, a distribution matrix enfleshed in the collarbone, and brain-stone or central control enfleshed beneath the lower abdominal muscles. These matrixes often have cybernetic enhancements and convenience mechanisms built into them depending on the kind of work the Kriar does. Warriors typically have additional implants in the palms of both hands. These are high-energy foci. The hand focus allows the warrior to create force weapons and shielding, along with usually having various sensor and cybernetic apparatus built into them.
See Also: energy
krill — krill is actually a generic name for a class of synthetic materials noted for their metallic and crystalline properties. Most of the compounds in this class of material have overlapping or co-bonding electron shells i.e. the molecules bind together so tightly that adjacent molecules begin sharing electrons (the electrons actually begin orbiting two or more nuclei in the molecular mass). The result is a material that once catalyzed is super-inert, wave dense, and non-conducting. Such a material is extremely difficult to manipulate or work because the multi-valent bonds resist expansion and heating. Essentially structures of these materials can only be created through molecular assemblers that maintain the raw atomic material in a plasma state.
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