Waterfire Saga, Book Four: Sea Spell: Deep Blue Novel, A (43 page)

A
STRID
a teenage mermaid from the realm of Ondalina; one of the six summoned by the Iele to destroy Abbadon; descendant of the mage Orfeo; Ragnar’s sister and Kolfinn’s daughter

A
TLANTICA
the mer domain in the Atlantic Ocean; Becca’s home

A
TLANTIS
an ancient island paradise in the Mediterranean peopled with the ancestors of the mer. Six mages ruled the island wisely and well: Orfeo, Merrow, Sycorax, Navi, Pyrrha, and Nyx. When the island was destroyed, Merrow saved the Atlanteans by calling on Neria to give them fins and tails.

A
VA
a teenage mermaid from the Amazon River; one of the six summoned by the Iele to destroy Abbadon; descendant of the mage Nyx; she is blind but able to sense things

B
ABA
V
RĂJA
the elder leader—or obârsie—of the Iele, river witches

B
ABY
Ava’s guide piranha

B
ACO
G
OGA
an eel-like merman; spy for Vallerio and Portia Volnero

B
ECCA
a teenage mermaid from the realm of Atlantica; one of the six summoned by the Iele to destroy Abbadon; descendant of the mage Pyrrha

B
ELLOGRIM
the god of fire

B
IOLUMINESCENT
a sea creature that emits its own glow

B
LACK
F
INS
members of a Cerulean resistance group

B
LACK PEARL
Orfeo’s talisman, given to him by Morsa

B
LACKCLAW DRAGON
one of the many types of dragons that breed in Matali and are the main source of the realm’s wealth; huge and powerful and used by the military

B
LOODBIND
a spell in which blood from different mages is combined to form an unbreakable bond and allow them to share abilities

B
LOODSONG
blood drawn from one’s heart that contains memories and allows them to become visible to others

B
UBBLER
a goblin tool for releasing just a little lava from a seam

C
ABALLABONG
a game involving hippokamps, similar to the human game water polo

C
ADAVRU
living human corpses, devoid of a soul (see also
ROTTER
)

C
AMO
a songspell used to change appearance

C
ANTA MAGUS
one of the Miromaran magi, a keeper of magic (magi, pl.)

C
ANTA MALUS
darksong, a poisonous gift to the mer from Morsa, in mockery of Neria’s gifts

C
ARCERON
the prison of Atlantis. The lock could only be opened by all six talismans. It is now located somewhere in the Southern Sea.

C
ERULEA
the royal city in Miromara, where Serafina lived before it was attacked

C
ETO
leader of the Clan Rorqual, humpback whales

C
LIO
Serafina’s hippokamp

C
OMMODORA
second-in-command to Ondalina’s admiral; spymaster and in charge of the realm’s military

C
ONCH
a shell in which recorded information is stored

C
ONVOCA
a songspell that can be used for summoning and communicating with others

C
OSIMA
a young girl from Serafina’s court; nickname: Coco

C
REOLE
descendants of the colonial settlers of Louisiana, especially those of French, Spanish, African, and/or Native American origin

C
URRENSEA
mer money; gold trocii (trocus, sing.), silver drupes, copper cowries; gold doubloons are black market currensea

D
ANKLING
a person’s deepest fears; Rorrim Drol feeds on them

D
ARKSONG
a powerful canta malus spell that causes harm, legal to use against enemies during wartime

D
EATH RIDERS
Traho’s soldiers, who ride on black hippokamps

D
ESIDERIO
a merman from Miromara; a Black Fin; Serafina’s older brother

D
EVIL’S
T
AIL
a protective thorn thicket that floats above Cerulea

D
IRGECASTER
one who sings after someone’s death

D
OKIMÍ
Greek for
trial
; a ceremony in which the heir to the Miromaran throne has to prove that she is a true descendant of Merrow by spilling blood for Alítheia, the sea spider. She must then songcast, make her betrothal vows, and swear to one day give the realm a daughter.

D
UCA DI
V
ENEZIA
an ancient title conferred on a terragogg by Merrow, the first leader of the mer; the duca’s duty is to protect the mer

E
IS
G
EISTS
murderous spirits that dwell in cold water; created by Morsa, they are neither alive nor dead; they drag their victims behind them until the flesh rots away and then eat the bones

E
LISABETTA
a terragogg who, together with her brother, Marco, helped Becca after she was attacked by the Williwaw

E
SMÉ
, C
OUNTESS
the ghost of a Creole countess; one of three ghosts who keep Manon Laveau company

E
VEKSION
the god of healing

F
ABRA
the marketplace and workers’ quarter of Cerulea, where the city artisans live

F
EUERKUMPEL
goblin miners, one of the Kolbold tribes, who channel magma from deep seams under the North Sea in order to obtain lava for lighting and heating; they allied themselves with Vallerio

F
OSSEGRIM
one of the Miromaran magi, the liber magus, the keeper of knowledge

F
RAGOR LUX
a songspell to cast a light bomb (frag, abbr.)

F
RESHWATERS
the mer domain that encompasses rivers, lakes, and ponds

F
RYST
a clan of giant ice trolls that protects Ondalina’s Citadel

F
YR
goblin word for the underworld

G
ALLOWS DIRGE
the final rite used to return the soul of a condemned criminal to the sea

G
OLD COIN
Pyrrha’s talisman, with an image of Neria on it

G
REAT
A
BYSS
a deep chasm in Qin where Sycorax’s talisman, a puzzle ball, was found

G
RIS-GRIS
a pouch of ingredients combined by a practitioner of voodoo in order to help its owner achieve a certain end

G
ULDEMAR
the Meerteufel sea goblin tribe’s chieftain

H
AFGUFA
the kraken; according to legend, Meerteufel chieftains can call the creature forth in times of trouble

H
AGARLA
queen of the Razormouth dragons

H
ALL OF
S
IGHS
a long corridor in Vadus, the mirror realm, whose walls are covered in mirrors; every mirror has a corresponding one in the terragogg world

H
IPPOKAMPS
creatures that are half horse, half serpent, with snakelike eyes

H
OROK
the great coelacanth, Keeper of Souls, who takes the dead to the underworld, holding each soul in a white pearl

I
ELE
river witches

I
LLUMINATA
a songspell to create light

I
LLUSIO
a songspell to create a disguise

I
NFANTA
Maria Theresa of Spain, whose ship was brought down by a pirate seeking her blue diamond. She gave a fake diamond to the pirate and the real one to Serafina.

I
RON
repels magic

I
SABELLA
Serafina’s mother; the regina of Miromara before she was assassinated by her brother, Vallerio

J
EAN
L
AFITTE
a pirate; one of three ghosts who keep Manon Laveau company

K
ARGJORD
a hilly, desolate barrens at the northernmost reaches of the Meerteufel’s realm; the Black Fins’ headquarters and military training ground

K
EEPER OF
J
USTICE
represents the law in Miromara

K
HARIS
priestess of the death goddess Morsa

K
OBOLD
North Sea goblin tribes

K
OLEGIO
mer equivalent of college

K
OLFINN
Astrid and Ragnar’s father and the former admiral of Ondalina; now deceased

K
OLISSEO
a huge open-water stone theater in Miromara that dates back to Merrow’s time

K
ORA
the mermaid ruler of the Matalin region of Kandina; leader of the Askari

L
AVA GLOBE
a light source, lit by magma mined and refined into white lava by the Feuerkumpel

L
ENA
a freshwater mermaid—and owner of several catfish—who hid Serafina, Neela, and Ling from Traho

L
IBER MAGUS
one of the Miromaran magi, the keeper of knowledge

L
ING
a teenage mermaid from the realm of Qin; one of the six summoned by the Iele to destroy Abbadon; descendant of the mage Sycorax; she is an omnivoxa

L
UCIA
V
OLNERO
once one of Serafina’s ladies-in-waiting; now a pretender to the Miromaran throne, a member of the Volnero, a noble family as old—and nearly as powerful—as the Merrovingia

M
AELSTROM
a powerful whirlpool in the sea

M
AHDI
ruler of Matali; Promised to Serafina; cousin to Neela and Yazeed

M
ALIGNO
a creature made out of clay and animated by blood magic

M
ÅNENHONNØR
Ondalina’s moon festival

M
ÅNENKAGER
a cake, eaten during Månenhonnør, made of pressed krill and iced with ground mother-of-pearl, so it shines like the moon; baked with a silver drupe coin in it for good luck

M
ANON
L
AVEAU
a swamp queen mermaid who lives under the Mississippi River near New Orleans

M
ARCO
a terragogg who, together with his sister, Elisabetta, helped Becca after she was attacked by the Williwaw; he is the latest duca di Venezia, whose duty is to protect the mer

M
ARKUS
T
RAHO
, C
APTAIN
leader of the death riders

M
ATALI
the mer realm in the Indian Ocean; Neela’s home

M
ATALIN
from Matali

M
EERTEUFEL
one of four goblin tribes

M
ERL
Mermish equivalent of
girl

M
ERMISH
the common language of the sea people

M
ERROVINGIA
descendants of Merrow

M
ERROW
a great mage, one of the six rulers of Atlantis, and Serafina’s ancestor. First ruler of the merpeople; songspell originated with her, and she decreed the Dokimí.

M
IROMARA
the realm Serafina comes from; an empire that spans the Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic, Aegean, Baltic, Black, Ionian, Ligurian, and Tyrrhenean Seas, the Seas of Azov and Marmara, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Dardanelles, and the Bosphorus

M
OONSTONE
Navi’s talisman; silvery blue and the size of an albatross’s egg, with an inner glow

M
ORSA
an ancient scavenger goddess, whose job it was to take away the bodies of the dead. She angered Neria by practicing necromancy. Neria punished her by giving her the face of death and the body of a serpent and banishing her.

N
ÄKKI
murderous shapeshifters in the northern Atlantic; they are outlaws and arms dealers

N
ASHOBA
a cruel Choctaw warrior in life; in death, leader of the Okwa Naholo

N
AVI
one of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; Neela’s ancestor

N
EELA
a teenage mermaid from the realm of Matali; one of the six summoned by the Iele to destroy Abbadon; Serafina’s best friend; Yazeed’s sister; Mahdi’s cousin; a descendant of the mage Navi. She is a bioluminescent.

N
ERIA
the sea goddess

N
YX
one of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; Ava’s ancestor

O
CCULA
a songspell used to see over a far distance

O
KWA
N
AHOLO
white people of the water
, in Choctaw; spirits of murderous warriors who were cursed by the sun god to live in the swamps of the Mississippi forever; their black hearts contain memories of the crimes they committed and kill anyone who looks upon them

O
LT
the river in Romania where the Iele are located

O
MNIVOXA (OMNI)
mer who have the natural ability to speak every dialect of Mermish and communicate with sea creatures

O
NDALINA
the mer realm in the Arctic waters; Astrid’s home

O
ODA
Neela’s pet blowfish

O
PIE
Marco’s pet octopus

O
RFEO
the most powerful of the six mages who ruled Atlantis; a healer; his talisman was a green emerald; he was devastated by the death of his wife, Alma, and vowed to take on the gods to get her back; Morsa gave him a black pearl to cheat death, and he created Abbadon, a monster powerful enough to attack the underworld; Astrid’s ancestor

O
STROKON
the mer version of a library

P
ERMUTAVI
a pact between Miromara and Ondalina, enacted after the War of Reykjanes Ridge, that decreed the exchange of the rulers’ children

P
ORTIA
V
OLNERO
mother of Lucia and a powerful duchessa of Miromara; wanted to marry Vallerio, Serafina’s uncle

P
RAEDATORI
soldiers who defend the sea and its creatures against terragoggs; known as the Wave Warriors on land

P
RAX
practical magic that helps the mer survive, such as camouflage spells, echolocation spells, spells to improve speed or darken an ink cloud. Even those with little magical ability can cast them.