Alldark week
–Midwinter, a period of 24-hour darkness that lasts 10 days, when the close, slow-moving moon (Ulim, also a god to some) largely eclipses the suns for a period of ten days. Traditionally a time of great fear, when people refuse to leave their homes and carry out rituals to appease the gods and ward off evil.
Anna
–A year, consists of 11 seasons–however, several ‘seasons’ are more events on the calendar such as Doublesun Cahooday. The seasons are: Alldark Week, The Thawing, Youngsun, Sowing, Springtide, Highsun, Doublesun Cahooday, Richness, Harvest, Glooming, and Rains.
Akki-Ayali
–Roymerian warrior-God.
Argan oil
–Type of oil pressed from hard berries grown in Damantia, commonly used as a lamp oil in the Fiefdoms.
Armittalese
–Race inhabiting the land of Armittal beyond the mountains called the Ammilese March. They are little understood, being slaves to the Nummandori Overlords and also sold as slaves to the Eldrik. P’dáronï and Benethar are notable Armittalese characters.
Athocary
–A practitioner of basic medicine in the Umarik Fiefdoms, often a fraud. El Shashi changes this through his campaign of education via the Solburn Monks.
Amaranth marble
–Distinctive green-veined marble beloved in Eldrik architecture.
Baltagia tea
–‘Poor man’s tea’, herbal brew common in the Umarik Fiefdoms.
Banishment
–Deliberate cleansing of the Eldrik race under the doctrine of Lucanism propounded by the Sorcerer Lucan. Meant to purify the Eldrik race leading them to a heavenly state called the
hyngreal
. A caste of Interrogators identify the impure and unworthy in Eldrik society. The Interrogators test each child at the age of seven and twelve, ostensibly to determine their prime occupation and talents, but also to remove those who fail for any reason. Those removed are forever wiped from memory and records, not even mourned for they are imperfect, but simply and irrevocably excommunicated to Birial Island.
Barkdeer
–Woodlands deer, eats bark during the cold of Alldark season in order to survive.
Belion
–The secondary sun, or white sun, scorches the world at the time of Doublesun, but does not appear above the horizon for most of the anna.
Benethar
–Armittalese slave, works for the Sorcerer Lucan.
Benok Holyhand
–A name used by El Shashi to hide his work amongst the Solburn Monks.
Bindwort
–Bitter medicinal herb, grows in swampy places.
Birial Island
–Place where the Eldrik Banished are sent, a magical prison.
Birthingday
–The day of one’s birth.
Bitterwort
–Medicinal herb.
Blackbeast
–Mythical black wolf-like creature, said to stalk the byways of Roymere preying on unwary travellers. Various remedies are prescribed: for example, wearing charms, putting spring onion in one’s boots at night, and burning lyrithbark in one’s campfire.
Brazen
–Tree common to mountainous regions of Roymere, Hakooi and Elbarath, distinctive red blossom at Springtide.
Brag
azzar
–An aromatic wood prized for its softness and rich texture, much used for carving and decorative furniture.
Brith buns
–Hakooi round bread, made with herbs and peppers.
Bruke trousers
–Herliki trousers cut just below the knee, made of a soft flaxen thread, usually tan in colour.
Burshingling
–Most commonly describes a bow of greeting held low, during which the left hand his held behind the back and the right is waved back and forth, the fingers wriggling to signify showers of Mata’s blessing.
Buskal
–A Roymerian custom, signs made with the right hand to signify Mata’s mercy, pleading, peace, rejection, or friendship.
Darkthorn
–Thorn bush, switches of tied darkthorn are used to whip criminals in some parts of the Fiefdoms.
Days of the week
–There are seven days of the week: Levantday, Sayth (the day of rest), Rushday, Joinday, Glimday, Xarday, and Rimday.
Digit
–Umarik unit of measure, being the length of the top digit of the Hassutla of Hakooi’s thumb.
Dioni and daimi orisons
–Songs of praise traditionally sung to Mata at sunrise and sunset from the village or town’s Songstrel spire.
Doublesun
–During summer and autumn, the secondary sun (Belion, the white sun) becomes visible in the skies–hence Doublesun.
Doublesun cahooday
–A popular Roymere festival involving competitions such as dancing, keg-wrestling, and beer-brewing, and an inordinate amount of feasting and merriment to go along with it.
Dream-pipe
–Long pipe with small round bowl, used to smoke varieties of tobacco or leaf drugs.
Dusky Fahric
–Language of the academic elite, use restricted to the scholarly elite.
Dyndigit
–Eldrik unit of measure, one hundredth of a digit.
Dyndyndigit
–Eldrik unit of measure, one hundredth of a dyndigit.
Eldoran
–Capital city of the Eldrik people.
Eldoria
–The Eldrik lands.
Eldrik
–A race separate to the Umarik. Enjoy a utopian society which has a strong culture of mentoring. Fighting and strife are unknown and the arts are highly valued. Very powerful Warlocks and Sorcerers. Generally diminutive in stature and fairer of complexion than Umarik although dark-haired. Keep slaves of the Armittalese race. Scientifically much more advanced than the Umarik. The Eldrik enjoy a kind of communal mind, the
gyael-irfa
, which functions to share knowledge and wisdom, but also controls the populace with behavioural conditioning.
El Shashi
–Arlak Sorlakson, the man of many names, man who can heal with a touch, literally means ‘the man who flees’.
Fiefdoms
–Umarik states, sometimes free states, usually ruled by a Hassutla or a ruling family, for example, Chasturn, Roymere, Elbarath, Hakooi, Brephat, Damantia, etc.
Fromite
–Distinctive purplish mineral deposit, common to the mountains of Arlak’s birth and a few other parts of the Fiefdoms.
Gantul
–Generation.
Grephe
–The sixth sense, a sense of insight or special knowledge, sometimes foreknowledge.
Guardtower will
–A supposedly impenetrable mental/magical construct used to hide features or parts of a mind from observation or manipulation by outside forces. Implemented by Janos in Arlak to hide his Eldrik heritage and cut him off from the
gyael-irfa
.
Gyael-irfa
–Communal mind of the Eldrik race. A means of common communication, a racial feature which they believe raises them above other races. Used by the Interrogators to snoop on the doings of individual Eldrik; employed by Jyla to subvert minds and turn them to her use. The guardtower will can hide a person from the
gyael-irfa
.
Herikbane
–Cereal crop rich in oils which make jatha slightly mad for a period of several makh.
Hexogi
–Six-sided Roymerian inn design, built around a central hearth with five wings branching off the main building. The sixth facet is the front door, often fronting a space for parking carts and takibuges.
Hassulkarian
–The Hassutl of Herliki’s chain of office.
Hassutl
–Male ruler of a city or state, consort to the Hassutla.
Hassutla
–Female ruler of a city or state.
Hewehat
–A type of grain, similar to wheat. Distinctive lime-green when unripe. Hewehorm is a fabric dye of similar hue.
Holia
–Eldrik dwelling.
Holitaph
–Hakooi traditional feast-day.
Holok
–Mentor who offers young women a practical education in sexual matters before the Matabond, an old Umarite custom.
Honoria
–Respectful form of address for a lady of rank.
Hyngreal
–A collective mind-state of Mata-worship, much valued by the Eldrik as the ultimate expression of worship to the creator and sustainer of life.
Illiathi
–Eldrik favourite, very spicy fish dish.
Jalkwood
–Tough mountain tree, resistant to rot, used for furniture-making.
Jatha
–Large domesticated bovine with thick, spreading horns as wide as a man’s outstretched arms, used to draw carts, provide meat, and leather for hides. Glues are made from the hooves.
Jerlak
–Wild cousin of the domesticated jatha, a dangerous and unpredictable animal.
Kabari tunic
–Hakooi traditional tunic for men, a patchwork riot of clashing colours.
Khat
–Mildly narcotic leaf used to keep drudges happy and compliant, related to tobacco.
Konis
–A herb.
Lahi bread
–Eldrik favourite bread spiced with rumiaflower seeds.
Larathi
–Swear word.
Layik
–Leader of a village, head woman.
Liathe
–Goddess of Sorcery.
Lillia
–Eldrik word for a store of magic power, or the command of magical potential.
Limmerwort
–High-grown root vegetable.
Limnisflower
–Armittalese perfume imported to Eldoran from beyond the Ammilese March.
Lithpot
–Ink pot.
Lithlin runes
–Lithlin is a deep blue ink extracted by a secret process from the leaves of the taramara tree; runes written with a quim using lithlin ink.
Lloviatir
–Eldrik, hair worn over the right shoulder and dressed in complex braids, only for qualified female graduates of the Guilds.
Lohki
–Leafy vegetable grown in the mountains.
Loiol tree
–Tree of 50 paces tall on average, has a smooth trunk and a single tuft of lavender leaves on the top.
Lormix
–Parasitic fungus which affects jatha, left untreated will blind and eventually kill the animal.
Lucanism
–Term describing the doctrine of Lucan, the separatist leader who ‘cleansed’ the Eldrik people and created the Banishment, then took his own life, martyr for the cause. Publicly revered by many Eldrik as the father of modern Eldrik society. A great wizard, poet and philosopher, and a politically astute man who took his life after completing his signature work, the Banishment.
Lumdog
–Small pet dog common in the Fiefdoms.
Lummericoot
–Stringed instrument with a long neck having five or seven strings, either played with a bow or plucked.
Luninol tree
–Tall but flexible tree with long, thin hanging branches, which sways in the slightest breeze, most commonly found in Eldoran.
Lurdik flower
–Small flower, extract used in medicine.
Lurganberry
–Tart berry common to the southern Fiefdoms, used in creating berry wines.
Lurmint
–Type of hardwood tree common to the Fiefdoms.
Lymat
–Grain variety, high-grown.
Lynfay
–Armittalese material spun from spider-silk.
Lyom / Lyomhouse
–Domestic fowl which lays green speckled eggs.
Lyrakosh
–Large desert cat, approximately the size of a lion, lives in the mountains on the edge of the Great Erg.
Lyrithbark
–A type of tree.
Makh
–A period of approximately two hours, there being fourteen makh in a day, five to sleep and nine to work.
Mata
–The Creator Goddess, regarded by Umarite and Eldrik alike as the highest of all Gods.
Matabond
–Marriage vows made before Mata.
Mataflower
–Rare and costly gemstone mined in a secret location near Soluk Village.
Matali-ur-uli
–Practice by religious fanatics (Grathayn sect) of shining sunlight or other powerful light sources into a person’s eyes to exorcise evil from the quath.
Meliki scimitar
–Double-edged, double-pointed scimitar favoured by the coastal peoples of Herliki Free Fiefdom.
Merriol silk
–Tough silk produced from merriol worm cocoons.
Mokir
–Men’s headscarf, worn for modesty in Brephat.
Moxi
–Grain variety, high-grown, used in bread-baking.
Myki Mahdros
–An ancient Umarite legend, wherein Myki the Snake cheated the Goddess Yuthe of the nectar of immortality, hoping to make himself one of the Gods. Imyni, the Goddess of Hunting, hunted Myki to the ends of the lands and shot him through the heart with one of her burning arrows, thus recovering the nectar. Some versions of the tale claim that Myki had two hearts and thus cheated death.