Lantria: nation whose borders correspond roughly to the South Canopy. Lantria is the second most powerful state in the Tree, as economically influential if not more so than Argos. Lantrians specialise in ship-building, mining for hardwood and increasingly in the trade of captured Nurian slaves.
Leaf-forests: stands of twigs and leaves, often growing so densely out of the top of a branch that the space at their base becomes a knotty lump. In this way a pedestrian might cross parts of the canopy without the need of a dirigible, using roads that wind up and down the branches and through the stands, spanning gaps between the leaf-forests on suspended bridges.
Leaf-line: horizon as seen from the confines of the World Tree.
Leaf-Letters: mystic divinatory language associated with the Tree of Being and used by Nurian Grafters. Argosian sources do not generally mention the Leaf Letters.
Letter of Dominion: one of the Leaf-Letters.
Lightwood: a less durable wood than hardwood, mined from outer reaches of the trunk or from certain branches.
Loss: one of the Leaf-Letters.
Marak: relatively new colonial city (established in the last fifty years) with a mixed population of Argosians and Nurians. Grave tensions persist between the local colonists, the natives, and their Argosian rulers in the Central Canopy. Marak colonials are mostly merchants dealing in ‘Treespice’, the one plentiful natural resource in the Eastern Canopy.
Margoose: flightless bird raised for eggs and meat in Argos. Margeese lack feathers on much of their bodies and have a scaly, leathery hide.
Mora: stifling season before the onset of the autumn rains in the Eastern Canopy. Temperatures soar and the weather is oppressive and overcast.
Nurry: pejorative term used by Argosians to refer to Nurians.
Old Empire: former Nurian Empire.
Old Ones: first humans to settle the Tree, said to be both great Grafters and prolific inventors. They were the first to use dirigible technology and mine for hardwood, as well as obtain the mysterious shining orah, which adorned their houses and became a hallmark of their civilisation.
Orah: a type of magical hardwood mined from the heart of the Tree. The secret of obtaining it has been lost along with much of the knowledge possessed by the Old Ones.
Path [of Sacrifice]: high ledge on the trunk-wall leading from the main road out of Argos city to the Divine Mouth.
Penta: Nurian for ‘Fifth’, specifically one of the five Focals.
Pesh and Amran: two Grafters and prophets in the Argosian tradition. Pesh and Amran were missionaries who sought to convert barbarian tribes a hundred years after Saint Loa crossed the Gap.
Pon: worthless paper currency printed by the Governor of Marak.
Priests’ Quarter: area of Argos city given over to the seminary and Temple complex.
Putar: pejorative term used by Nurians to refer to Argosians.
Rain-well: hole drilled into a branch to harvest rainwater.
Rites-duties: series of tasks to be completed by a Green Year student in time for the spring festival.
Sacrifice: a ritual occurring during the spring festival, in which a Nurian tithe-pilgrim voluntarily gives up his life. In reality many Argosian citizens suspect that the priests use some underhand means to secure a willing victim every year. Tymon finds out from Galliano that the ritual did not always involve a human sacrifice.
Saint Loa: sometimes referred to as the Father of Argos, or the All-Father, Loa was a Nurian prophet who preached a renewal of doctrine and criticised the corrupt and decadent rulers of the ‘Old Empire’. When his movement was banned in Nur he crossed the Gap with his followers to establish a new ‘Kingdom of Light’ in the then-Western Canopy. He went on to start the Priests’ College in Argos city. All Argosians claim to be descended from one of Saint Loa’s twelve wives, but it is more likely that they are a mix of local tribespeople already in the region and Nurian settlers. Nothing is now known of the culture or language of the original inhabitants of the Western Canopy.
Saint Usala the Green: a prophetess living about five hundred years after Saint Loa. Saint Usala defied many of the conventions of Argosian society, not least the tradition that Grafting had come to an end. She set up Focal groups and insisted on teaching young people her art. She was finally declared a heretic by the Council and put to death. About twenty years afterwards the Council was forced to retract its ruling when it was discovered that many of her predictions had come true. She is still, however, considered to be one of the last Grafters.
Sap: mystic force which Argosians claim is the will of God and Nurians characterise as the source of all life. Both traditions credit the Sap with independent intelligence. Grafters are said to commune with it.
Seeming: illusion called into being by a Grafter which acquires physical reality if people believe strongly enough in it.
Seven Hypocrites of Mung: Mung was a city in the Eastern Canopy. The Hyprocrites were followers of Saint Loa, who after swearing fealty to him in Argos regretted their decision and wished to return home.
Shanti: the person calling the faithful to prayer at a Nurian temple. The shanti also lead some rituals. Practitioners of the Eastern Doctrine have no formal priesthood and look to the Focals for spiritual guidance. However, some shanti (lit. ‘temple singer’) have been known to give sermons and exhort their fellow citizens like Argosian priests.
Shillee: herd-dwelling mammal with small cloven feet that allow it to climb steep areas of the Tree with relative ease. Shillees eat moss and other plants and are kept by herders for their meat, milk and pelts.
Shortwheat: a type of barley-vine grown in the Eastern Canopy, drought resistant.
Sight [the]: the raw capacity or talent to be a Grafter. Someone with the Sight may experience premonitory dreams or visions.
Silesian bellweed: a hallucinogenic plant found in the North Fringes, toxic in high doses.
Som: a sedative made from purified Tree-spice, smoked to produce a lethargic state and vivid dreams. Highly addictive.
Sorceress of Nur: a legendary character who opposed Saint Loa in the Eastern Canopy. Her name has not been preserved but her machinations are legendary. She appears in so many different stories and over such an extended period that some scholars maintain the character is a composite.
South Fringes: southern extremities of both the Central and Eastern Canopies.
Storm: cloud-cover shrouding the base of the Tree in mist. The Storm is a repository for legendary horrors. As well as demons and the souls of the damned, strange beasts are said to inhabit the clouds, nesting in the lower regions of the Tree. Dirigibles sailing near the Fringes have reported giant flying snakes and tribes of winged monkeys in the Storm.
Storm Ventures: expeditions organised by the Explorer Sect, who claimed that Hell had physical mass and wanted to map the area beneath the Storm. According to seminary history books no one ever returned from the Ventures.
Strawpaper: cheap and low quality paper made from straw pulp and mostly produced in the Eastern Canopy.
Talek: Argosian wood money carved from hardwood discs. A talek generally bears the image of a stylised Tree on one side and a depiction of Saint Loa on the other, although different, limited edition tenders are carved on special occasions.
Tithe-ship: dirigible bearing a consignment of tithe-pilgrims from the eastern colonies.
Tithe-pilgrims: Nurians who have signed on to fulfil the annual quota of workers from their area of the Eastern Canopy. The families of tithe-pilgrims are paid up-front in barrels of water. Tithe-pilgrims theoretically regain their freedom after a period of hard labour.
Tree of Being: the Eastern Doctrine posits the existence of a mystic Tree of Being containing and connecting all things. It can only be Seen by Grafters in a trance who step outside the physical universe. The Sap is the life-energy flowing through the Tree of Being.
Tree-rift: natural chasm or opening in the World Tree.
Tree-cat: a medium-sized feral feline.
&nbs
p; Tree-ether: a gas naturally occurring in pockets in the World Tree, tapped and harvested for use in dirigibles.
Tree-face: large flat area of bark, generally a section of the trunk.
Tree-gall: dregs left behind when Treesap is distilled and purified.
Tree-mines: man-made shafts sunk into the World Tree in order to extract certain products such as hardwood. Work in the Tree-mines is notoriously difficult and dangerous, often accomplished by slave labour.
Treeology: a study of the layout, composition and characteristics of the World Tree, including climate, flora and fauna. Treeology courses for students at the seminary also include some navigation skills and a rudimentary understanding of astronomy. Professors in Applied Treeology focus on engineering, physics, chemistry and climatology.
Treesap: liquid running through the branches of the Central Canopy, tapped and used by humans for various purposes. In the Eastern Canopy the Treesap has largely dried up, leaving behind a powdery residue called Tree-spice.
Treesap wine: alcoholic beverage made from fermented Treesap.
Treescape: a vista of the World Tree.
Tree-spice: residue remaining after Treesap has dried within the arteries of the World Tree. Mined for medicinal and preservative purposes among other uses.
Tree-water: naturally occurring reservoirs of rainwater caught in the World Tree. Some originate in the ice and snow of the Upper Fringes, creating quasipermanent torrents through hollow channels in the Tree.
Tree-worship: Nurian term for Argosian religious doctrine. Nurians practising the Eastern Doctrine maintain that Argosian priests have forgotten or twisted the original teachings of Saint Loa, substituting worship of the ordinary World Tree for the divine Tree of Being.
Twig-tongue: a hybrid language spoken in the Eastern Domains, a mix of Nurian and Argosian.
Upper Fringes: the summit of the Central Canopy, leafless and covered in ice and snow. There is little air to breathe in the extreme Upper Fringes and they are mostly unihabited.
Void [Circling, or the]: general name for all that lies beyond the confines of the World Tree, including the Storm.
Weather spirits: a remnant of animistic belief in invisible spirits controlling the wind and weather.
Well of Worlds: an area in the South Fringes of the Eastern Canopy where the Storm clouds are thin. According to reports it is possible to see another canopy beneath the clouds.
West Chasm: region of open air near Argos city. Unlike the Gap, branches are always visible on three sides of the Chasm. The Storm clouds are obscured by those below.
White-neck: Argosian born in the Eastern Domains.
Wind-wells: windmill-like devices used by ancient Nurians to extract Treesap from deep shafts. According to some sources, it was this technological over-exploitation of the Eastern Canopy that led to the sap-wells drying up and the loss of the canopy’s leaves. Other (Argosian) sources claim that Nurians lost their Treesap through wrong belief.
Year of Fire: an eschatological marker roughly equivalent to the ‘End Times’.his is the moment all Grafting prophecy has been leading up to: the period immediately preceding the appearance of the Green Lord. Five ‘Signs of the Sap’ herald the start of the Year of Fire, including events as diverse as the death of certain flora and fauna to the doomed reign of the twelfth Kion. Some Grafter sources describe the Year of Fire as being the permanent mystic birth and rebirth of the world, but that interpretation has largely been sidelined in favour of more apocalyptic prophecies.
Yosha: fragrant herb found in the Eastern Canopy and infused in hot water to form a refreshing drink.
Nurian terms and phrases
Argosi: Argosian
Askar: temple
Attar: Tree-spice
Bas: enough
Beni: blessed
Foy: fire
Las: alas
Maz: thank you
Mo dia: my god
Nami: friend
Nosra morti: we will die
Penta: fifth
Putar: son of a whore
Sav vay: may the Sap watch over you
Sav beni: may the Sap bless you
Shanti: singer
Syor/a: sir or madam
Syon o Sav: Sign of the Sap
Vaz: go on
Y maza Sav:…and thanks to the Sap
Acknowledgments
I could not have written this book without the staunch support of a number of people. I am deeply grateful to my agent, Helenka Fuglewicz, for patiently nurturing this project to life from its earliest days and to my editor, Stephanie Smith, for shepherding it through to completion. I am indebted to my mother, Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, who acted as teacher, mentor, first reader and best critic throughout. Last but not least I could not have been free to devote myself to writing full time without the help and support of my husband, Frank Victoria. To all those who participated near and far in bringing my dream to life: thank you.
About the Author
Mary Victoria was born in 1973 in Turner’s Falls, Massachusetts in the United States. Despite this she managed to live most of her life in other places, including Cyprus, Canada, Sierra Leone, France and the UK. She studied animation and worked for ten years in the film industry before turning to full time writing. She now lives in Wellington, New Zealand with her husband and daughter.
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Books By Mary Victoria
CHRONICLES OF THE TREE
Tymon’s Flight (1)
Copyright
HarperVoyager
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2010
This edition published in 2010
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Mary A.Victoria 2010
The right of Mary A.Victoria to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Victoria, Mary.
Tymon’s flight / Mary Victoria.
ISBN: 978 0 7304 9272 6 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978-0-730-49272-6 (epub)
Victoria, Mary. Chronicles of the tree; bk. 1.
NZ823.3
Cover design by Darren Holt, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover illustration by Frank Victoria
Map by Frank Victoria
Tymon's Flight Page 43
