The Veredor Chronicles: Book 03 - The Gate and Beyond (14 page)

Irilian Order
– Founded on the banks of the Iril River in the year 2220 BL by three former wizards of the Fire Order. The Irilian Order is one of the three major orders of wizards in the Southern Lands of Veredor. The Irilians generally focus their studies on understanding the natural world and working with men and other creatures for the good of all. They worked primarily throughout the Far Western Lands of Veredor and were revered in those lands. They also worked closely with the Fiorian Knights, the Tabarian Knights, and the monarchies of Dravania and Iarthar. They were often at odds with the Zyranian Order.

Irilian Star, The
– The Irilian Star is a crystal amulet carried by the leader of the Irilian Order. In ancient times the Irilian Order learned how to store raw power inside crystals. Such stored power could be used at a later time making the carrier of the Irilian Star many times more powerful than an ordinary wizard. The Irilian Star was built in the year 1675 BL.

Kaloren of Bergoth
– Kaloren was the second last Gatekeeper of the Fiorian Order. She was born in the village of Bergoth in the land of Everdon. After a chance meeting with the Fiorian Roarna she undertook a dangerous adventure to return the Chalai to Emeril. She became a Fiorian and later aided the Irvarians in a war against the Skatheans in Vastoria. She led an army that liberated Vastoria from Skatheans who had taken hold of the lower regions of the Adira River. After the victory she was named Gatekeeper of Emeril and given the Sword of Light. Elons Ecorian visited Emeril and agreed to join a mission to help King Ignis liberate Ortaria from the Northern Sorcerer Azagord and his army from Kaznor. Kaloren was the leader of a group of Fiorians who went east to challenge Azagord. Kaloren and Elons married at Stonehaven. They went on to Ortaria and fought against Azagord, forcing the sorcerer to retreat across to Zyran where a final battle was staged at the gates of the Citadel of Zyran. Kaloren became pregnant and later gave birth to Eben Ecorian.

Kaznor Empire
– Situated in the north of Veredor. The Kaznor Empire was never a part of the Ecorian Empire and was often at odds with the kingdoms of the South after the fall of the Ecorian Empire. The Empire is home to the Skathean Order and the Northern Sorcerers.

Lesser Creatures
– The lesser creatures include but are not limited to: Foxes, Wolves, Bears, Deer, Jackals, Mountain Lions, Possums, Squirrels, Owls, Birds, Eagles, Hawks, Falcons, Owls, Horses, Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Badgers, Lions, Donkeys, Dogs, Mice, Rats, Bees, Insects, Spiders, and Fish.

Lumen
– Lumen was an Astarian who instructed the first wizards in the ways of Astarian magic. He saw that men and mer were vulnerable to attack if the Prince of Shadows should ever return. He founded the Fire Order to protect Veredor from such an invasion. Lumen left Veredor after completing this task.

Men
– Men came to Veredor in the Forgotten Age to be the dwellers on land. They were invited to Veredor by the Astarians. The Astarians planned for men to inherit the land and the mer to inherit the sea. Men are capable of much good, but often their hearts are frail and they fear vulnerability. The fragility in their hearts makes other creatures afraid of them.

Mer (Mer
folk) –
The mer are a people of the sea. They came after the first arrival at the invitation of the Astarians. They are good natured humanlike people who live deep in the seas and oceans and have the ability to breathe underwater. Mer often live for hundreds of years. They occasionally venture into rivers and lakes. They are allied with the Astarian Casimir. When on land they appear as extremely beautiful women and very handsome men. They are rarely seen on land and only a few instances were recorded. The population of mer never increases because the mer can only have one son and one daughter. Eryna, a princess of the mer, married an Ecorian, and it is said that this was the reason that the Ecorian Emperors could only have one son or daughter. The marriage made the Ecorians into a bridge between the two races and provided the Ecorians with secret abilities, especially around water and the sea.

Muckron Bane Knights
– Were an order of knights from the Far Western Lands of Veredor. They formed as an order to contest groups of muckrons that threatened towns and villages in Iarthar and Dravania. The order was completely destroyed in the final wars before the return of the Ecorian Empire.

Muckrons
– Muckrons are large humanoid creatures that are often described as pig men. They stand between six and seven feet tall and have a head that resembles a wild boar or pig, dark fur, and clawed hands. They come from a world beyond Veredor where they were once the predominant species, but they consumed all the resources of their own world and journeyed through the cosmos searching for new worlds to consume. They played a lesser role in the first battles of the Forgotten Age. The Prince of Shadows encountered the muckrons in the Desert of Eternal Loneliness and later brought an army of muckrons to Veredor to serve him in his battle against Fiora and the Knights of Shidon. Most of the muckrons were killed in the battle, but some remained in the wilderness and caused trouble throughout the later ages.

Nodd Colony, The –
The Nodd Colony was a very small colony of men that was founded in the land of Scaldonia in the Forgotten Age. It was so small that it was not considered one of the colonies that formed the people of Veredor. Little is known about the Nodd Colony; however, many people from Scaldonia still use names that are considered Noddian. It is said the Umblan Colony in Silvor was so successful that they eventually populated Scaldonia and assimilated the remnants of the Noddian Colony.

Northern Sorcerers
– Before the dragons left Veredor they instructed several men in their magical arts. They did this in order to help men to protect Veredor from evil, but the dragons did not possess the wisdom to realise that their method was not suitable for men. The dragon magical arts relied on the ability to consume one’s own essence. Men would often consume their own hearts and grow to be evil and fall into self-obsession and debauchery. The Northern Sorcerers were always considered the most powerful of all the magical orders.

Oracles
– Oracles are Astarians who possessed the skill of seeing clearly into the future. There were three oracles in Veredor. They were all hunted down and killed by the Prince of Shadows upon his return to Veredor. The Gerish Oracle (also known as the Scaldonian Oracle) revealed to the Prince of Shadows that the Ecorian line was not yet extinct and that only the Ecorian with the Sword of Light could stand in the way of his conquest of Veredor.

Prince of Shadows, The
– The Prince of Shadows was a revered Astarian at the time of the first arrival. His former name was only known by the Astarians and they refused to ever say it again after he turned to evil ways. He battled bravely in the first wars of the Forgotten Age. Only Fiora could match his ability in battle. He fell from grace in the Forgotten Age and led armies of monsters against the other Astarians. He killed many Astarians including Airleas, who was the carrier of the Sword of Midlight. The Prince of Shadows carried the Sword of Darkness. He was cast out of Veredor by the Astarian Fiora and had the Cosmic Gate sealed against his return.

Seven Relics, The
– There were seven objects brought to Veredor by the Astarians at the time of the first arrival that were forged by a being who gifted Veredor to the Astarians. The Seven Relics were: the Three Swords, the Chalai, the Silver Leaf, the Star of the North, and the Sun Stone. All seven of the relics increased the power of the carrier in different ways.

Shapeshifters
– Shapeshifters were brought by the Prince of Shadows to Veredor in the Forgotten Age. Shapeshifters can change their form at will and increase or decrease their overall size over time. They are a parasitic life form. They will take the form of the dominant creature in any given environment. They survive as parasites by infiltrating the social hierarchy. They can sense the presence of other Shapeshifters and can only breed with their own kind. They are manipulative and unpredictable and will only serve another out of fear. They possess a slightly higher level of intelligence than the average man. They have no other inherent magical abilities. They were used by the Prince of Shadows to infiltrate the societies of men, mer, and sprites in the Forgotten Age. A Shapeshifter was used by the Prince of Shadows to impersonate King Ignis of Ortaria in the last age.

Shidon
– The Fortress of Shidon was built by the Star King at the end of the Forgotten Age to help Fiora overcome the Prince of Shadows. It is situated in a remote location at the northern edge of the Great Mountains on the Alber side. The Prince of Shadows laid siege to the fortress with a massive army of muckrons. He was defeated by Fiora and the Knights of Shidon and banished from Veredor. Because of its remote location very few people ever returned to the fortress.

Silver Leaf, The
– One of the Seven Relics of the Astarians. The Silver Leaf was worn on a chain and provided the wearer with protection from all harmful attacks. It was worn by the wife of the Ecorian Emperors and later was given to Kaloren who wore the Silver Leaf when she challenged the Prince of Shadows in the Hall of Zarkanor.

Skathean Empire, The
– The Skathean Empire was an evil empire that was formed in the Eastern Lands from the year 968 BL by the Skathean Brackin. The empire lasted until the year 686 BL. The Skathean Empire was ruled from the Isles of Dawn by a Skathean who carried the Sword of Darkness. The era is also known as the Dark Age of Veredor. The lands of the east greatly suffered under Skathean rule, and it is said by many that the Eastern Lands never fully recovered after the fall of the Skathean Empire.

Skatheans
– The Skathean Order are an evil order of knights founded by the fallen Fiorian Krogin and the sorceress Scathea. They historically wielded considerable political influence in the Kaznor Empire and the Kingdom of Alber. They were the main antagonists of the Fiorian Order. Many battles were fought between the two opposing orders. The Fiorians prevented the Skatheans from gaining a foothold in the Southern Lands.

Sprites
- Sprites are good natured creatures. They rarely reach a foot tall and they often have pale green skin and clothe themselves in fine linen. They are crafty and said to be good at making fine clothing and complex instruments. Most sprites wear long pointy hats that often nearly double the height of the sprite. They are very reclusive in nature. Sprites came with the Astarians as helpers in the time of the first arrival. Sprites have some limited magical abilities and they live in small family groups. There are three categories of sprites: The Water Sprites, who work with the mer; the Mountains Sprites, who live in high remote places; and the Earth Sprites, who often live underground or in forest glades, especially around mushroom patches. Sprites and Blue Caps are often adversaries.

Star King, The –
The Star King was brought by the Prince of Shadows to Veredor at the time of the last wars of the Forgotten Age. He belongs to a rare race of cosmic builders and architects. He constructed the Fortress of Zarkanor for the Prince of Shadows in exchange for knowledge of Astarian magic. The Prince of Shadows revealed some magic to the Star King in exchange for finishing Zarkanor. After the exchange was complete the Prince of Shadows refused to return the Star King to his home world. The Prince of Shadows tried to force the Star King to continue building fortresses. The Star King refused and grew angry. He fought the Prince of Shadows in the grounds of Zarkanor. The Prince of Shadows prevailed and banished the Star King into the wilderness of Veredor. The Star King later aided Fiora in her struggle against the Prince of Shadows. He built Shidon as a fortress for Fiora and the Knights of Shidon. In the later ages he wandered the lands of Veredor seeking a way to return to his home world. The name Star King was given to him by men; his real name was never known.

Star of the North, The
– The Star of the North is a relic of the Astarian people. Its powers are numerous and mysterious. The Star of the North was thrown into the sea by Artus Ecorian in the year 1700 BL.

Stone Horsemen
– Stone Horsemen are humanoid monsters made from a combination of stone and fire. The Astarians believed that they were constructed by the Prince of Shadows using a similar method that was used to build the gargoyles. Stone Horsemen ride horses that are of the same stone and fire constitution. Thousands of Stone Horsemen were brought to Veredor by the Prince of Shadows to fight the Knights of Shidon in the final battle of the Forgotten Age. The Knights of Shidon destroyed all the Stone Horsemen in the army of the Prince of Shadows. They were not seen again until the wars of liberation.

Sun Stone, The
– The Sun Stone was used by the Astarians to navigate the cosmos. The amulet is capable of opening gateways to any place in the cosmos. The Sun Stone was given to the mer by the Astarian Fiora before she left Veredor. It was treasured by the mer and they used its power to light the depths of the ocean; although they lacked the ability and knowledge to use it to travel beyond the Cosmic Gate. It was the only object that could open a way through the Cosmic Gate.

Sword of Darkness, The
– The Sword of Darkness was one of the Three Swords of the Astarian people. The Sword of Darkness was originally a weapon used to defend Veredor. It became corrupted when it was used against the good creatures of Veredor by the Prince of Shadows. The Sword of Darkness was buried by the Fiorian Knights after the Prince of Shadows was cast out of Veredor. Krogin, the first Skathean, discovered the hidden location of the Sword of Darkness and took it for himself. He used the sword against the Fiorian Knights. For many centuries the Sword of Darkness was used by the strongest knight of the Skathean Order. The symbolic leader of the Skathean Order was always the Skathean who carried the Sword of Darkness. Upon returning to Veredor the Prince of Shadows killed the Skathean with the Sword of Darkness and instantly became the leader of the Skathean Order.