Read Herb-Wife (Lord Alchemist Duology) Online
Authors: Elizabeth McCoy
Noreus
:
one of Iasen's dramsmen, a carriage driver.
Peran
:
a master bonesetter who works at the hospice sponsored by the
Alchemists' Guild. Master Peran is one of Nicia's instructors.
the
Princeps
: the ruler of Cymelia.
Purgatorie
:
an alchemical purgative, neutralizing almost all poisons and potion
effects. Causes immediate vomiting, soon followed by diarrhea and,
for women, the start of menstruation. An old imperial variant is
called
Purgafactant
.
Regeth
Kimath
: a master alchemist and guild officer in Aeston. Master
Alaran's cousin. His wife is Dulsia.
Rhaus
:
a baron whose lands are within Tegar's purview.
River
Eath
: the large river that runs past Aeston, with Cym at the last
navigable point on it, and Portguard where the River Eath meets the
sea.
Rom
:
a master alchemist in Aeston. As a journeyman herb-witch, Kessa
technically
reported to Master Rom. (In practice, master
alchemists loosely supervise the herb-witches who are technically
their "journeymen," without any masterwork to give them
their own status within the guild.)
roof-rat
:
a term for young thieves, messengers, and spies – primarily
the ones whose territory is in the city proper. At the part of the
city bordering the river, the term is
dock-rat
.
Rose
:
a courtesan at the Crimson Birch. At least mildly infatuated with
Iathor.
Rotheld
Glassforge
: Saydra Glasswife's husband.
Rothsam
:
a Watch Commander in Aeston, overseeing the watch that patrols
relevant parts of the city.
Saydra
Glasswife
: sister to Darul Reus. Her husband is Rotheld
Glassforge.
the
Shadow Guild
: the catch-all term for organized and semi-organized
crime in a given city. The Shadow-master prefers to eliminate
disorganized crime in favor of crime that eventually earns money for
him
.
Shoaleigh
:
a city in Cymelia, near Cym.
shoulder-cannon
:
the Cymelian term for a rifle. Handguns are unknown.
Siphe
:
the owner of the Crimson Birch.
the
Smoking Flask
: a tavern near the offices of the Alchemists'
Guild. It serves beer and ale, and simple meals.
syndic
:
a person authorized to speak for another in business matters; a
proxy. Merchants, Shadow-masters, and Guild Masters may have syndics
speak for them in situations where the person himself is not
available. For example, the Lord Alchemist is the Guild Master for
all
alchemists, and not just those in his city; master
alchemists in other cities are appointed as his syndics, who run
their local branches of the guild and report to him.
Tag
:
one of Kessa's foster brothers, now a fagin himself, with a crèche
of ten children of various ages.
Tagget's
Tonic
: an illegal hypnotic.
Taleas
"Tal" Chemstone
: eldest son of Daleus and Ietra
Chemstone.
Talien
Irilye
: the youngest daughter of Earl Irilye, with a fondness for
men and no inclination to marry anytime soon.
Tanas
:
the fagin who raised Kessa and her foster siblings, Tag, Jontho,
Laita, and Burk. Tanas became Maila's low-husband shortly after Maila
took Kessa on as an apprentice. Deceased.
Tania
:
Iathor's dramsman cook, and Loria's sister.
Talot
Chemstone
: the younger son of Ietra and Daleus Chemstone, and an
apprentice whitesmith rather than an alchemist.
Teck
:
Iasen first dramsman, a footman and bodyguard. Originally
dark-haired, he was turned blond later.
Tegar
Aeslird
: the city-prince of Aeston, owing fealty to the Princeps
and claiming the fealty of those who live in Aeston and its
surrounding lands.
Therid
:
a city in Cymelia.
Thioso
:
a watchman. His stipend is paid by the Masons' Guild.
Thon
:
Bynae's foster father, a Cymelian.
Torkil
:
a tribesman in Cym, who took part in the attack on Kessa there.
tradesmaiden
:
a woman who remains a virgin in order to sell her maiden's blood to
herb-witches (or sometimes alchemists), to be used in dry tea.
(Traditionally, this is menstrual blood, but blood from a cut will
also work.)
tribesman
:
the Cym term for one of the continent's natives, also called
"barbarians" and "savages" by the Cymelians –
who are rather obviously biased.
Tryth
elixir
: a truth potion. It is also toxic to most, causing death
if Purgatorie is not administered quickly. The symptoms are fever,
flushed skin, and a racing heart.
Turseus
:
a servant-boy in the Kymus household, one of Loria and Tania's
relatives; he's nicknamed "Tursy."
Tych
:
a young roof-rat of indeterminate gender. One of Tag's crèche.
Usth
:
a baron whose lands are within Tegar's purview.
Vigeur
elixir
: a youth potion. Its effects lessen, the older one gets
and the more Vigeur elixirs one takes, until the doses required are
too toxic for even the immune to survive.
Vigor
:
Lairn Ronan's masterwork-in-the-making, a gentler youth potion than
Vigeur, with the potential to remain effective longer. Unfortunately,
it interacts very badly when taken at the same time as Tagget's
Tonic . . .
Viala
:
a young maidservant in the Kymus household, one of Loria and Tania's
relatives. Viala is not a dramsman.
Viam
:
one of Iasen's dramsmen, a cook, thin and dark-haired (for a
Cymelian). He and Bynae were lovers, but Iasen denied his petition to
marry the girl.
Vinkest
:
a long-dead alchemist whose masterwork was sobriety pills.
Wolf
:
a part-"barbarian" extortionist, who burned down Kessa's
shop in mistaken retaliation for his gang being captured by the city
watch. His "tribal name" is Carak-ihron.
Zeth
:
a young servant boy in Iathor's household; one of Loria and Tania's
relatives, Zeth is not a dramsman.
Zethi
Balamea
: the wife of Master Coty. She likes his alchemy-dyed eyes
too much for him to risk un-doing it just to turn his fingernails
back to normal.
E
lizabeth
McCoy's fiction has appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley's
Sword and
Sorceress #7
, in the
Best In Show
anthology by Sofawolf,
and in the fanzine "Pawprints" (published by Conrad Wong &
T. Jordan Peacock). Her tabletop RPG writing is published by Steve
Jackson Games. As her author bios in SJ Games' material continually
state, she lives in the Frozen Wastelands of New England, with a
spouse, child, and assorted cats.
The
Lord Alchemist
duology is her first major fantasy work. It
originally started as a series of about eight drabbles (100-word
vignettes), was expanded to a trilogy of around 400K words, and was
pruned to its current size upon the advice of the extremely helpful
Agent Who Got Away.
S
arah
Cloutier started drawing at a young age, with encouragement from her
parents, went into the sciences rather than art – again
encouraged by her parents – but ended up drawing instead,
which should be a lesson to all parents who hope their children will
be successful doing something they love. She has a degree in
Biopsychology at the University of Michigan, and a long-distance cat.
She
also hates talking about herself, and has therefore allowed Elizabeth
to write this section; this would be more risky if Elizabeth's
adoration of Sarah's art didn't immediately result in incoherent,
dolphin-like noises of awe. To see more of Sarah's awesome art, check
out
melukilan.deviantart.com
and
scloutier.tumblr.com
.
Connect
with me online: