Read The White Dragon Online

Authors: Laura Resnick

The White Dragon (111 page)

 

The Beyah-Olvari:
a mysterious, legendary race who were the original inhabitants of Sileria

 

The city-dwellers:
the inhabitants of Sileria's cities and larger towns

 

The Guardians:
a Silerian religious sect which communicates with the Otherworld via fire magic
 

 

The Honored Society:
the waterlords and assassins of the Society achieve power through extortion, violence, and control of Sileria's water supply

 

The lowlanders:
peasants living and working on Sileria's agricultural plains

 

The Outlookers:
the gray-clad Valdani occupying force in Sileria; different from the Valdani armies on the mainland

 

The sea-born folk:
bearing intricate indigo tattoos on their arms, they live mostly aboard their boats along Sileria's coasts

 

The
shallaheen
:
mountain peasants; the largest and poorest faction in Sileria

 

The Sisterhood:
usually Silerian widows or young women with a calling, the Sisters are pacifists and healers, and they provide Sanctuary for people in danger

 

The
zanareen
:
a fanatical Silerian sect living atop Mount Darshon, awaiting the coming of the Firebringer
 

 

 

Place Names

 

 

Abayara:
the first moon

 

Adalian:
Sileria's southern port city, famous for its Temple Market

 

Alizar:
Sileria's rich diamond mines

 

Amalidar Mountains:
a western mountain chain which includes many sites where the
shallah
rebels are active

 

Belitar:
Baran's home

 

Britar:
a
shallah
village; there's a Valdani fortress north of Britar

 

Cavasar:
Sileria's western port city

 

Chandar:
the village nearest to the sacred caves of Dalishar

 

Dalishar Caves:
a remote, sacred site on Mount Dalishar in western Sileria, the caves become a rebel base

 

Mount Darshon:
this massive, snow-capped, active volcano in eastern Sileria is the home of Dar, the destroyer goddess

 

Ejara:
the second moon

 

Emeldar:
Josarian's native village, in western Sileria

 

Gamalan:
Tansen's native village, in eastern Sileria

 

Garabar:
a mountain and also the name of a town in western Sileria

 

Golnar:
a village in western Sileria

 

Great Northern Desert:
north of Valdania

 

Idalar River:
this river, which is the primary water supply for Shaljir, has been fought over for years by Kiloran and Baran
 

 

Illan:
a town on the Idalar River

 

Islanar:
a town in western Sileria

 

Lake Kandahar:
the site of Kiloran's home—which has long been a closely guarded secret

 

Kashala:
a Kintish port city

 

Kintish Kingdoms:
a loose association of states on the mainland east of Sileria
 

 

Kinto:
the founding state of the Kintish Kingdoms, and the state in which the Palace of Heaven is located

 

Liron:
Sileria's eastern coastal city, perched on the sacred rainbow-chalk cliffs of Liron

 

Malthenar:
 
a western
shallah
village which became infamous as the site of a massacre

 

Marendar:
a village in the east; home of Jagodan, leader of the Lironi clan

 

Middle Sea:
the inland sea that surrounds Sileria

 

Mount Niran:
Guardians camp in ancient painted caves above the gossamer forests on this mountain in western Sileria

 

Moorlands:
a large mainland region inhabited by perpetually warring tribes, located west of Sileria
 

 

Mount Orlenar:
Josarian's uncle stables some sheep in an abandoned Kintish shrine here; this is where Tansen and Josarian meet for the first time

 

Orban Pass:
a hard day's ride from Cavasar, this where Josarian first killed Outlookers and became an outlaw; the pass leads from the coast to the Amalidar Mountains
 

 

Otherworld:
the place of the afterlife in traditional Silerian religion
 

 

Palace of Heaven:
the central seat of power in the Kintish Kingdoms, home of the Kintish High King

 

Santorell Palace:
located in Shaljir, this is the seat of power in Sileria

 

Santorell Square:
a public square in Shaljir, overlooked by Santorell Palace

 

Shaljir:
the capital of Sileria

 

Sileria:
a mountainous island nation in the Middle Sea; conquered 1,000 years ago by the Moorlanders; invaded eight centuries ago by the Kintish Kingdoms when the Moorlanders pulled out; seized from the Kints two centuries ago by the expanding Empire of Valda in their wars of conquest, and now still ruled by the Valdani

 

Sirinakara River:
the vast mainland river that flows north into the Middle Sea

 

Sirkara:
"heart of the world," an ancient name for the Middle Sea

 

Lake Ursan:
located in western Sileria

 

Valda/Valdania:
capital city/empire, on the mainland north of Sileria
 

 

Zilar:
wealthy town in northern Sileria, home of a famous gold-tiled Kintish temple

 

Zilar River:
a tributary of the Shaljir River

 

 

About the Author

 

 

Laura Resnick is the author of many books, short stories, articles, and columns. Her Esther Diamond urban fantasy series, which features the supernatural misadventures of a struggling actress in New York, has received enthusiastic praise from
Library Journal
and
Publishers Weekly
. The author's epic fantasy novels include
In Legend Born
,
The White Dragon
, which made several "Year's Best" lists, and
The Destroyer Goddess
, which
Publishers Weekly
describes as "a marvel of storytelling."

Before she began writing fantasy, Resnick was the award-wining author of fourteen contemporary romance novels (which she wrote under the pseudonym Laura Leone). Her romance novel
Fallen From Grace
was a Rita Award finalist and has been listed by DearAuthor.com as one of the best 100 novels in the genre.

A longtime opinion columnist, Resnick's book
Rejection, Romance, and Royalties: The Wacky World of a Working Writer
is a collection of her previous essays about the writing life and the publishing industry.

You can find her on the Web at:
www.LauraResnick.com
.

 

 

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Foreword

Map of Sirkara

Map of Sileria

Prologue

Interregnum

Author's Note

About The Destroyer Goddess

About In Legend Born

Also By This Author

Glossary

Characters

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