Reawakening (34 page)

Ala Sea—
To the east of the Alagard Desert, north of Tiallat and the Emirate of Mirul. Before the Fall of Eyr, the area was above water and known as the Plain of Emala. During the seismic upheavals that followed the defeat of the Shadow at the Fall of Eyr, the Gulf of Gardalor drained east, flooding the plains and forming the new sea. The Ala Sea opens into the Eastern Ocean.

Alagard—
The guardian spirit of the Alagard Desert, worshipped by the Selar nomads who cross the sands. Alagard is known to be a capricious and mischievous spirit, although never malicious. Despite his disinterest in affairs beyond his desert, Alagard should not be underestimated
—
his worshippers call him the Desert Storm for good reason. This author advises that God-fearing men should endeavor never to be trapped in a room with Alagard and the Dragon King Tarnamell when either of them is feeling irritable or, worse still, amorous.

Alagard Desert—
Located south of the Rasha river valley and in the rain shadow of the Illiat Mountains, the Alagard Desert was once the Gulf of Gardalor, until the seismic events that followed the Fall of Eyr. Its terrain is characterized by sandstone pillars and arches originally shaped by the sea. The desert contains two major population centers
—
the oasis town of Istel and the coastal town of Essam, on the Ala Sea.

Aliann—
A trade city located on the north coast of the Ala Sea. At the time of Tarnamell’s reawakening, Aliann was governed by a council of trade representatives from the neighboring countries of Shara, Jorunn, the Ala Isles, and the Emirate of Mirul.

Aline—
A swordmaid in Myrtilis’s court, the queen’s lover and most trusted advisor. Aline was born around 20AFE and joined the Court of Shells after some years of adventuring. Certain ballads of the north, including “The Recovery of the Crown” and “The Lay of Chalaston” refer to one legendary “Swordmaid Aillen,” which may be a reference to Aline. She was present at Tarnamell’s confrontation with the Shadow in Tiallat in 1024.

Amel—
See
High Amel.

Arden—
A dragon and close ally of Tarnamell during the Dragon Wars. Arden was thought to be sleeping in the mountains of High Amel, although his exact location was unknown at the time of Tarnamell’s reawakening. Lord Arden is my most generous patron and sponsor of this work (which he, unfortunately, regards with great amusement. Perhaps if he were to offer more help than the occasional cryptic comment, he would not find it quite so funny).

Arden is also, let us not forget, a master historian, devastatingly handsome, irresistible to men, and the most charming ancient entity you are likely to meet by chance on the streets of Aliann. [My lord, when I asked you to read through my work and check its accuracy, this was not what I meant. I leave this comment for the perusal of future scholars so they may understand a little more truly the challenges faced by a historian of the Dragon Ages.]

Astall’s Bane—
A popular name for the Shadow’s possession or control of mortal men. In the Dragon Wars, only those pledged to a dragon’s hoard were safe from this overshadowing. The Shadow’s control could last a man’s lifetime or mere days, but few mortals survived the experience without severe mental distress. Those who did survive tended to severe depression and often took their own lives within a year. It was recognized by the change in a man’s eye color, as possessed men had eyes blacked out by shadows.

Astalor
—The battlefield below the Shadow’s stronghold, Eyr, during the Dragon Wars. Today, the ruins of Eyr stand at the head of Hurcombe Dale. Although sources from the Dragon Wars refer to Astalor as a barren field, nowadays the region is part of the best farming country in the west.

Barrett—
A spice merchant and writer who travelled in Sethan Lattimar’s caravan. Barrett’s autobiographical
Travels Under the Dragon’s Wing
is a major source for historians of the Reawakening Era. He was among those who travelled south with Tarnamell in 1024.

Book of the Dragon
—
An ancient manual of military strategy dating to the Dragon Wars. Its authorship is unclear, but it is generally attributed to the Dragon King Tarnamell.

Cayl Lattimar—
For such a significant figure of the Reawakening Era, surprisingly little is known about Cayl Lattimar’s early life. In 1004, his name is included in a list of the Prince of Shara’s bodyguards. By 1009, he was serving as a lawman in the village of Deiral, in the Asturan Mountains, where he was a witness to the rising of the nixie prince Seilast, one of the first elementals to return. In 1023, he was present at the Council of Shara, alongside his husband Sethan. He was one of those who travelled south with the Dragon King Tarnamell in 1024, and was present at Tarnamell’s confrontation with the Shadow in Tiallat.

Even the place of Cayl’s burial is unknown, although his husband Sethan is buried in Hirah. A life-sized statue of Cayl stands over his husband’s grave, and is the only known memorial to this often-overlooked man.

Court of Shells, The—
Originally built on the seabed of the Gulf of Gardalor for the king of the sea. Myrtilis is supposed to have won it from him after the Fall of Eyr, when her own homeland had been flooded. Myrtiline legends claimed that their queen still lived in this secret stronghold in the desert, training young heroes and offering a refuge to any woman who sought her out.

Dark God’s Children, The—
The Tiallatai resistance movement, which was still loyal to the Dual God. Their leader was named Iskandir, although later events cast doubt on whether this was his true name or merely a pseudonym. Famous members of the resistance include Raif Suheylazad.

Daughters of Myrtilis—
A clerical order of female scholar-warriors, founded in memory of Battle Queen Myrtilis after her disappearance from the field after the Fall of Eyr. Myrtiline sisters train in cloisters, most notably the motherhouse at Shara, but few remain in these houses beyond their novitiate. Most Myrtilines seek work that suits their martial aptitude while allowing them a certain degree of independence. They are often found working as caravan guards, security officers, court historians, or, in the modern world, in the courts of dragons. Despite their scattered locale, it has long been thought that the Myrtiline sisters maintained a close and efficient information-gathering network during the pre-Awakening era.

Dittan Quickblade—
A caravan guard in the employ of Sethan Lattimar. He was among those who travelled south with Tarnamell in 1024.

Dragons—
Given this handbook is designed for the common reader, who may not have met any of the dragon lords of the west, I shall deign to try to describe and categorize the nature of a dragon. Firstly, a dragon, despite appearances, is no beast, but merely the mortal shell of the oldest and greatest of spirit lords. In his natural form, the dragon resembles a winged lizard of vast proportions, with the slightest of their number being no smaller than a row of fifteen houses of four stories, with the span of each wing that length again. The legends and epics of the Golden Age typically refer to dragon kings as resembling the side or peak of a mountain, and this, I may say with absolute confidence, is no exaggeration. I have many times observed the Dragon King Tarnamell flying over Aliann on his way to parley with Lord Arden and can attest his size from my own observations. His shadow does indeed obscure the sun.

Many dragons choose to spend the majority of their days in the form of men, although this too is but a shell. In this form, they possess prodigious strength and command over fire, although few chose to submit themselves to the indignity of guild certification. Dragons are swift of mind, with a facility for languages. As might be expected, they are of a choleric disposition, often proud, warlike, and implacable. They are known for the depth of their passions, and their devotion to the well-being and happiness of their hoards [see
hoard
]. Dragons are among the most ancient spirits. Their origins are not known, but they significantly predate the rise of man. [This author advises the reader never to ask a dragon about the early days of humanity, as they tend to remark that we were much more entertaining as a species before we climbed down from the trees.]

Dragon Wars—
The wars between the dragon lords of the north and the alliance of demon kings that marked the end of the Golden Age. The wars culminated in the dragon lords and their allies raising their hoards and followers against the Shadow in thirty years of outright war. The final battle took place on the field of Astalor, below the Shadow’s stronghold in Eyr, where the dragons and their allies wrought enough damage on the Shadow’s army that the Shadow and the demon kings were forced out of their towers and into direct combat with the dragons. In this battle, the Shadow was cast down and did not reemerge until around 1000AFE, when it is thought to have started its corruption of the Savattin in the southwestern Emirate.

In the final battle, as the chronicler Ganta records, the elementals and spirit lords on both sides of the war drew so heavily upon the regions and powers that had spawned them, that “the mountains fell into the valleys, oceans ran dry, and the plains were raised up unto the highest mountains, for three thousand miles from Eyr in every direction, nigh unto the equator and the pole.” [See
Ala Sea, Alagard Desert, Rulat, Tiallat
].

Drake Clan—
The descendants of the human hoards of the dragon lords of the Golden Age. The term is misleading insofar as it encompasses the hoards of numerous dragons and their descendants in various locations. Drake Clan was rumored to have survived in the mountains of High Amel for many centuries after the Fall of Eyr.

Dual God, The—
The patron god of Tiallat. The worship of the Dual God emerged during the later years of the Zoraia Empire and is believed to have begun among the descendants of the Rulat steppes horsemen who then dwelled on the central plateau of Tiallat. It spread rapidly across the region, and following the fall of the Zoraia Empire, the Dual God emerged from the plateau to take charge of the newly emerged nation of Tiallat.

The Dual God wears two faces: that of the Bright Lord, patron of art, trade, weddings, and births, and the Dark God, who watches over thieves, poets and madman, funerals, and the dead. The Dual God’s worship is moralistic, with much emphasis on the various routes to virtue and the value of enduring suffering.

Durul Parlapour—
A physician in the army of the Fist of God, brother-in-law of Akel Oyazad. An admirer of Namik Shan’s poetry.

Echta—
A hill lord of prehistoric Amel. I can say no more about him because no records remain to prove whether he existed. I only know his name because King Tarnamell insisted I include him in this handbook. If any future historian wishes to interrogate the dragon king for more information, they are braver than I.

Elementals—
A term used broadly for the spirit lords and immortal creatures of the earth. The term encompasses spirit creatures of varied origins and so can cause confusion in the inexpert reader. This historian has long argued for the introduction of more precise and categorical terms, but is aware that he fights a lone battle against the tides of common language. Here I will attempt to introduce some distinguishing terms.

i) Nature Guardians—
These are the true elementals, spirits that arise out of nature. The majority of these spirits never enter the human record. Think of the dryad guarding her own tree or the nixie who never leaves her stream. The source of their power is simply the land they guard and the low instinctive emotions of the creatures who dwell in it. They are relatively weak, although most will use the power they have hoarded cunningly if roused to defend their ground.

From time to time, a more powerful spirit arises from their ranks: a lord not merely of one tree, but of a forest. How these greater spirits are generated is a mystery. I have heard it suggested that they represent the last survivor of a region of clashing elementals, that they are the amalgam of numerous small and near-mindless minor spirits, or that they are generated out of moments of great disruption or distress such as floods, earthquakes, and devastating storms.

These greater nature elementals can pose more danger to humankind, simply because they are more likely to encounter us. Some react against us by retreating further into nature, becoming less thinking and gathering their power purely from nature. Think of the nameless spirit that makes the forests of northern Jorunn so dim and dangerous. Others see humanity as an opportunity and follow the example of dragons in taking a human form and interacting with us, in curiosity, mischief, or tenderness. This point, where nature elementals gather the regard of humans, is the point where their power grows. All elementals, no matter their origin, draw strength from the emotions of their followers, whether it be fear or loving loyalty. A thinking creature gives more strength to an elemental than an animal reacting on instinct alone. The greater the number of human followers, the closer an elemental draws to becoming a god. The foremost example of this, of course, is the Desert God of Alagard.

ii)
Immortal Heroes—
The second genus of elementals arises from an entirely different origin. There are certain humans in every generation, who, through some quirk of inheritance, possess the potential to outlive death. The more beloved these rare souls are, and the greater number of their fellow humans who admire and follow them, the more chance they have of surviving each successive brush with death. Some die at the third death, others at the sixth, but a few outlast death and become impossible to kill, whether by sudden violence or by the creeping touch of age.