The Wanderer's Tale (84 page)

Assegai
– Short Polg spear with a leaf-shaped blade.

Bagh-nakh
– Spiked ‘knuckle-duster’; a favourite weapon of assassins.

Bachame
– A special insulating fabric made by Peladanes.

Bhuj
– Meat cleaver.

Chakram
– Small Hauger-made discs of metal, usually poison-coated.

Crow’s Beak staff
– Short, hefty staff with a sharp ‘beak’ at the business end.

Fasces
– The old alliance between Peladanes, Nahovians and Oghain that defeated Drauglir five hundred years ago.

Flamberge
– Ancient, heavy sword with an undulating blade.

Haladie
– Polg ‘double-dagger’.

Katar
– A short, V-shaped punch-dagger designed to pierce heavy armour.

Kh’is
– Mainly Olchorian sacrificial dagger with an undulating blade.

Left-hander
– Heavy, wide-bladed parrying dagger.

Manass-Uilloch
– A company of 2,500 Peladanes, or fifty Oloch, under the command of a Thegne.

Maul
– Very heavy two-handed mace, about five feet long.

Manople
– Long blade attached to an iron gauntlet.

Misericord
– A long, thin, stiletto-like dagger, especially useful for delivering the final blow to a fallen armoured enemy.

Mitre
– Long, mace-like weapon with a heavy, spiked ball as its head.

Oloch
– A company of 50 Peladanes, under the command of a sergeant.

Pata
– A short punch-dagger attached to an iron gauntlet. Assassin’s knife.

Shamsheer
– The curved, five-foot-long, two-handed sword of the Asyphe.

Sword-breaker
– A hefty, notch-bladed knife used to parry, twist and snap opponents’ blades.

Tengriite
– A very strong, lightweight metal used by Peladanes in making armour and weapons.

Toloch
– A company of 50,000 Peladanes, or twenty Manass-Uilloch, under the command of a Warlord.

Ulleanh
– The green cloak of a Peladane.

Unferth
– The legendary greatsword of Pel-Adan himself; also the name given to the greatsword carried by all Warlords.

Voulge
– A pole-weapon with a spike extending at right angles from the main spear-tip.

Paul Frater

Jonathan Greenwood

Robert Hale

Paul Harding

Ian Hutchinson

Paul Waggot

Nigel Winters

and

James Shallow

(the fifth year)

D
AVID
B
ILSBOROUGH
was born and brought up in Malvern, and spent his early working life there as factory worker, barman and van driver. Though he now lives in Indonesia, he still regularly returns to walk the Malvern Hills, the inspiration for much of his writing, and where possibly might live some of the colourful characters who feature so vividly in his story.

First published 2007 by Tor

First published in paperback 2008 by Tor

This electronic edition published 2011 by Tor
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ISBN 978-0-230-76067-7 EPUB

Copyright © David Bilsborough 2007

The right of David Bilsborough to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Maps and runes by Raymond Turvey

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