Imaro: Book I

by Charles R. Saunders

  Place of Stones: A pre-human ruin in a remote part of the Tamburure that is shunned by the people of the savanna.

  shingona: An Ilyassai ceremonial headgear made from the mane of the lion a youth slays on olmaiyo.

  simi: a short sword favored by the Ilyassai and certain other tribes of the Tamburure.

  Tamburure: A vast plain of yellow grass in the east-central part of the continent of Nyumbani, analogous to the Serengeti of the Africa we know.

  Tembo: The elephant.

  Turkhana: A Tamburure tribe that is the greatest rival to the Ilyassai.

  Zamburu: A Tamburure tribe the Ilyassai raid regularly for cattle and women.

  The Kajua

  Afua: A wooden statue festooned with spikes of gold, sacred to the Mtumwe tribe.

  bongo: An antelope of the Kajua forest.

  Kajua: A large rain forest located far to the north and east of the Tamburure. Its main

  feature is the Damba Bolong River, alongside which many tribes dwell.

  Kiboko: The hippopotamus.

  kijiji: A town or village of the river people.

  Mjino: The crocodile.

  mku: Title of chieftains among the river people.

  Mponga: The chimpanzee.

  Mtumwe: One of many of the tribes that dwell on the banks of the Damba Bolong.

  ndizi-pombe: Banana beer.

  Ngagi: The gorilla.

  Nganga: A shaman and diviner among the river people.

  panga: A sharp, single-edged knife favored by the river people.

  ujuju: Magic practiced by the river people.

  East Coast Kingdoms and Borderlands

  amir: A noble of Azania.

  Azania: The most powerful kingdom on the East Coast.

  haramia: Bandits who roam the borderlands of the East Coast kingdoms.

  kambi: an encampment.

  kuva: An enveloping, shroud-like garment worn by women of the Shikaza tribe.

  Mulundu: The capital of Azania.

  Mwamu: title of the king of Zanj.

  mwenye: a commander, or general, of the armies of the East Coast kingdoms.

  Ndashikuya: A kingdom of very tall people located far to the west of the coastal lands.

  Ndurubu: A nomadic tribe of the East Coast hinterland.

  Sha’a: The title of the king of Azania.

  shati: an overshirt worn by the men of the East Coast.

  Shikaza: A remote tribe of the hinterlands known for the beauty of its women.

  suruali: Cotton trousers worn by the men of the East Coast.

  Tangwe: An Azanian border town, sacked by the haramia.

  tuyabene: demonic creatures that dwell in rivers.

  wa-nyanume: The highest rank a sorcerer can achieve in the East Coast kingdoms.

  Zanj: A leading East Coast kingdom, and Azania’s greatest rival.

  Miscellaneous

  Cloud Striders: Benign, extradimensional beings that oppose the Mashataan.

  Isikukumadevu: A demonic creature aligned with the Mashataan that dwells in a fetid pool in the Black Hills.

  Jua: The sun of Nyumbani’s world.

  Mashataan: Demon Gods; extradimensional entities inimical to the people of Nyumbani.

  Mwesu: The moon of Imaro’s world.

  Naama: Kingdom of the High Sorcerers of the Mashataan, located at the southernmost tip of Nyumbani.

  Nyumbani: The continent on which Imaro’s adventures take place; analogous to the Africa of the Earth we know.