The Prince Deceiver (The Silk & Steel Saga Book 6) (35 page)

APPENDIX

LANVERNESS

Lanverness is an old kingdom,
steeped in tradition, often relying on its wealth of natural resources and the
shrewdness of its rulers to grow in prosperity and influence. Never fecund, the
royal line of Lanverness has been forced to branch out several times over the
centuries. The Rose Throne is currently held by the Tandroths. The Tandroths
nearly lost the throne when the last king of Lanverness, King Leonid, failed to
produce a male heir. The king survived a revolt and forced his noblemen to
accept his only daughter, Liandra, as the heir to the Rose Throne on the
condition that she marry a peer of the realm. Liandra is the only queen to rule
a kingdom of Erdhe. Under Queen Liandra’s stewardship, Lanverness has become
the wealthiest kingdom in all of Erdhe.

The symbol of Lanverness is two
white roses crossed on a field of emerald green. The seat of their power is
Castle Tandroth, rising from the heart of Pellanor, the capitol city.

QUEEN LIANDRA TANDROTH
, ruler of the Rose Throne,
also known as the White Rose of Lanverness, also known as the Spider Queen

-her husband,
PRINCE-CONSORT
DONALD TERREL
, chosen from among the noble families of Lanverness, Lord
Terrel was raised up to be the Prince-Consort to the queen on condition that he
forsake his name and his lineage. He died in a hunting accident shortly after
the birth of his second son. The heraldry of house Terrel is a red unicorn
rearing on a field of green.

-their children:

PRINCE STEWART
, heir to the
Rose Throne, promoted to general of the Rose Army, wields a blue steel sword

PRINCE DANLY
, spare heir to
the Rose Throne, a condemned traitor

PRINCESS ASELYNN
, died at
birth

UNNAMED PRINCESS,
died at
premature birth, some consider it murder by poison

-her councilors:

LORD ROBERT HIGHGATE
, the
Master Archivist, the queen’s shadowmaster, right hand to the queen

MASTER RADDOCK,
deputy
shadowmaster serving the queen, was once a condemned thief, rescued from the
dungeons by the Master Archivist

SIR DURNHEART,
the Knight
Protector, raised to a knight after the Red Horn rebellion, wields a blue steel
sword named
Loyalty

LORD TURNER
, a former member
of the queen’s council, boiled alive for treason, a harlequin of the Dark Lord

LORD SHELDON
, the Lord
Sheriff, leader of the constable force of Lanverness

MAJOR RANOTH,
promoted after
the rebellion, he serves as a military advisor to the queen

LORD SADDLER,
a goldsmith
raised to a lord after the rebellion, the Master of Coin on the queen’s council

LORD RICKMAN
, the Lord of
Mines, responsible for the ruby, emerald and iron ore mines of Lanverness

LORD CENRIC,
a cat-eyed
archer, he sits on the queen’s council when he is in Pellanor, leader of Clan
Hemlock, his loyalty is to the Treespeaker and the Deep Green, he wears a cloak
of peacock feathers

LORD CANNING,
newly
appointed Treasurer

LORD GRANGE,
newly appointed
Royal Scribe

PRINCESS JEMMA,
princess of Navarre, a Royal J, wayfaring with the queen to learn the way of multiplying coins, sits on the
queen’s council as the representative from Navarre

-her ladies-in-waiting:

LADY SARAH JAMESON
, a
distant cousin of the queen, principle lady-in-waiting to the queen

LADY MARTHA
, a
lady-in-waiting to the queen

LADY AMY
, the youngest of
the queen’s ladies-in-waiting

LADY LINDSEY,
a
lady-in-waiting to the queen

-other members of the court:

SIR CARDEMIR,
fifth son of the Duke of Graymaris, the seahorse knight, sent by the queen as
an emissary to the Kiralynn monks, murdered by the Mordant’s treachery

FREDERINKO,
an
emissary from the Empire of Ur, a chained servant of the twelfth-fold prince of
Ur, come to the Rose Court bearing gifts, sent to prepare for the prince’s
arrival

MASTER
FINTAN,
an emissary from the Kiralynn Monks to the Rose Court, mysteriously
murdered in the queen’s castle

CAPTAIN
BLACKMON,
captain of the queen’s guards

HEALER
CRANDOR,
a master healer of the Rose Court

LORD NEALY,
once
a lord on the queen’s council, he fell from favor and was banished from the
queen’s presence, owns a wealthy mansion in Pellanor

MAULKIN
,
a shadowman serving the queen

MASTER CARL
,
master baker in the royal kitchens

LADY CLARA
SADDLER
, wife to Lord Saddler

DUKE ANDERS
,
a former member of the queen's council, resigned several years ago after many
arguments with the queen

LORD WESLEY,
a
peer of the realm

LORD FERDIC,
a
minor peer of the realm

LORD
WEATHERLY
, a minor peer of the realm

THE PEOPLE OF
PELLANOR

MASTER NUMAR
, a master of the Kiralynn Order and a
skilled herbalist, he is posing as the master of an apothecary shop, The White
Unicorn, in Pellanor

SIMON,
a monk of the Kiralynn Order serving as an
assistant to Master Numar

GIDEON
, a monk of the Kiralynn Order serving as an
assistant to Master Numar

MINARA
, the madam of a back alley whorehouse

LUCINDA
, a young prostitute working for Minara

BURT
, the innkeeper of The Silver Swan

MERCHANT GILROD
, an influential merchant in Pellanor

MERCHANT LANGFORD
, an influential merchant in
Pellanor

MERCHANT HARSTOW
, an influential merchant in Pellanor

MARLA
, a serving wench at the Brass Rose tavern

THE ROSE ARMY

PRINCE STEWART
, heir to the Rose Throne, General of
the Rose Army, wields a blue steel sword

-his officers and soldiers:

LORD DANE,
eldest son of the
Duke of Kardiff, fostered to the Rose Court at a young age, a sword brother to
Prince Stewart, second in command of the Rose Army, the symbol of the Dukes of
Kardiff is a rearing griffin

KELSO,
serves as one of
Prince Stewart’s commanders

MATHIS,
serves as one of
Prince Stewart’s commanders

MAJOR BATTON,
a commander of
the Rose Army

OWEN,
a soldier captured by
the Flame, becomes a royal guard to Prince Stewart

CROCKER,
a scout captured by
the Flame, becomes a royal guard to Prince Stewart

CRISPIN,
a soldier captured
by the Flame, becomes a royal guard to Prince Stewart

LINGARD

Lingard is a fortress citadel, the second greatest fortress
in Lanverness. The heraldic seat of the Rognalds, staunch supports and loyal
lords serving Queen Liandra. Their symbol is an iron fist on a field of
yellow-gold.

BARON ROGNALD,
a peer of the realm of Lanverness, a
friend and staunch supporter of Queen Liandra, the ruler of Lingard, he is
slain by treachery

-his officers, soldiers, and servants:

LORD RONALD ROGNALD,
eldest
son of Baron Rognald, commander of the south gate of Lingard, heir to Lingard

CAPTAIN LEONARD VENGAR,
captain
of the guard for Lingard

DASCHEL
, seneschal to Baron
Rognald

KURT,
a soldier sworn to the
baron, friend of Vengar

SANDRA,
a whore in Lingard,
friend of Vengar

THE MORDANT

With over a thousand years of
life, the Mordant is the oldest of the harlequins. Imbued with Dark power, he
is the god-king of the north, the ruler of the Dark Citadel. He wields the
Staff of Pain, an iron scepter with a red crystal at the top.

The Mordant's time-worn seat of
power is Dark Citadel, a forbidding fortress-city in the far north. Perched
atop three hundred foot cliffs that overlook the Western Ocean, it is built
upon a huge monolithic boulder. The tiered city has nine layers spiraling
upward around the central stone monolith. Each layer holds a distinct class of
people, with the poorest at the bottom and the palace of the Mordant at the
summit. The stone monolith contains steps leading to a cave that underlies the
Dark Citadel, an ancient sanctum to the Dark God, a source of Dark power.

The Mordant’s domain also
includes the steppes, a vast sea of grass that serves as a desolate greensward
for the Dark Citadel, a barren killing field that becomes the anvil of winter.
The northern steppes are divided from the south by a dark wall studded with ten
Gargoyle Gates.

The domain also includes the Pit,
a massive crater with near vertical glass-sheer walls. Slaves live within the
Pit, toiling within the Mordant’s iron mines. Female slaves are forced to serve
as whores for the Mordant’s army. Residual magic in the Pit results in the
massive abnormalities of newborns. Two new sub-races have been born and bred in
the Pit; the Taals, an ogre-like sub-race with massive strength and limited
intellect, and the Duegar, also called the Hounds of the Mordant, dwarves with
the ability to scent magic.

The symbol of the Dark Citadel is
a gold pentacle emblazoned on a field of black. The Darkflamme is the Mordant’s
personal battle banner, twelve feet of black silk ending in two silken tails of
bright red flecked with gold, creating the illusion of darkness on fire

SERVANTS OF THE MORDANT

BISHOP BORGAN,
a bishop of the Pentacle serving as the
seneschal to the Mordant, a master forger

MAJOR
TARQ,
commander of the Eighth Fist, a cadre of elite guards from the Dark
Citadel, sent south to serve the Mordant

DOLF,
a master assassin of the Ninth Rank, posing as a
manservant to the Mordant

ROLO
, a senior snargon to the duegars

FREDERINKO
, formerly a chained servant of UR, the
eunuch was kidnapped by MerChanters and then turned to Darkness by the Mordant,
he serves as an emissary to the Rose Court

DOMINIC
, an assassin disguised as a jester, gifted to
Queen Liandra by Frederinko

CASTOR
, a duegar disguised as a jester, gifted to Queen
Liandra by Frederinko

TOKAR
, a snargon of the duegars

SORKON
, a snargon of the duegars, Tokar's brother

KRUGAR
, an assassin

CLAVIS
, an assassin

BARRY
, an assassin

GRON
, a torturer

HOLDOR,
a master assassin of the Ninth Rank

CAPTAIN GARVER,
a guard captain from the Dark Citadel
sent south to serve the Mordant

CORLIN,
a
master assassin of the Ninth Rank

CRIMSON,
a concubine from the Dark Citadel

AMBER,
a
concubine from the Dark Citadel

SABLE,
a
concubine from the Dark Citadel

ARMY OF THE PENTACLE

GENERAL
HAITH
- High General of the Army of the Pentacle, witness to the beheading
of the Mordant in his prior life

GENERAL
MARRIS
- General of the Army of the Pentacle

TRANTOR,
a snargon of the duegars, serves General Haith as his personal snargon

MAJOR
RUGGAR,
military aide to General Haith

COMMANDER
CRULL
, second to General Marris

CAPTAIN
JOHNSON
, aid to General Marris

COMMANDER
ANDRIUS
, second to Commander Crull

MAJOR
BARKER,
serves under General Marris

COMMANDER
TROVIS
, serves under General Haith

CENTURIAN
HASTINGS

VOLTRAN,
chief handler of the gorehounds

BRUTHUS,
Master Torturer

THE ORACLE PRIESTESS

The Priestess is
the ruler
of the Isle of the Oracle, the guardian of the sacred well, the wielder of the
Eye of the Oracle. She rarely uses her true name, but often goes by the name of
Lady Cereus, a name given to her by Prince Razzur of Coronth. Beyond the Oracle
Isle, she takes the phases of the moon as her symbol, gold on a field of
purple. After the collapse of the Flame religion, she claims the southwest
corner of Coronth for her queendom, establishing a capital in the ancient city
of Rhune. She assumes the name of Queen Selene, the Lady of the Moon.
Silverspire is her castle.

Hidden in depths of the Great
Southern Swamps, the Isle of the Oracle is an ancient wellspring of Darkness, a
place of power where the Dark Lord reaches through the Veil to touch his
dedicates. At times of great prophecy, the Dark Lord releases his priest or
priestess into the kingdoms of Erdhe to participate in the Great Dark Dance.

-her servants and soldiers:

GENERAL TARMIN,
a major of
the Flame Army, sworn to the service of the Priestess and promoted to the
general of her army,  he commands her forces in Rhune, a lover to the Priestess

LORD STEFFAN,
formerly the
Lord Raven of Coronth, goes by the title of the Lord of Darkmoor, a dedicate to
the Dark Lord, lover to the Priestess

BRAXUS
, a lover to the
Priestess, serves as her seneschal, also a skilled sword

HUGO,
captain of the guards,
a lover to the Priestess

LYDIA
,
dark-haired
handmaiden to the Priestess

TARA,
blonde-haired
handmaiden to the Priestess

LORD STEFFAN
, formerly
known as Lord Steffan Raven of Coronth, the true power behind the Flame War, a
dedicate of the Dark Lord with the power of dice. After the defeat of his army
at Pellanor he travels to Rhune to reunite with the Priestess. Once again he
becomes her lover and ally, scheming with the Priestess to regain a position of
power in Erdhe.

-his servants and soldiers:

BISHOP TILDEN
, a former
Bishop of the Flame, a refugee from the war, he leads a band of solders turned
mercenaries, he secretly takes serves with Lord Steffan

CAPTAIN DONKLIN,
a former
captain of the 4th Brigade of the Flame Army, a veteran of Lingard and
Pellanor, a leader of Bishop Tilden's band of mercenaries

CAPTAIN MARKS,
a former
captain of the Flame Army

TANDON,
a former soldier of
the Flame, expert with the halberd

SCOBE
, a former soldier of
the Flame

SCANLON
, a former soldier of
the Flame