Epic Of Ahiram (Book 1) (65 page)

“All along,” he said as if speaking to the dead king, “for all this time, your shoes of bronze, the real shoes, and your belt of silver, the gold mask, and the wings of meyroon have been here, under the city. And here I am, a slave, like you were, El-Windiir, and I found them. It’s as if you wanted me to find them.” He spoke softly as he slid the gold tile into his pocket. Slowly, he climbed a short flight of stairs, seven steps in total, and stood before the massive gate. Fortunately, it had no locks and despite its antiquity, it pivoted on its hinges with a grating sound. He entered the alcove and drew closer to the sarcophagus. The long side facing him depicted an army fighting a tall monster which Ahiram did not recognize. The leader of the army stood next to a slain standard bearer, while arrows flew overhead. A gleaming sword in hand, he was pointing to the monster as he looked back at his men. Ahiram walked around with deliberate slowness. On the shorter side, he saw a gold mask whose features vaguely resembled that of a dragon. On the second long panel, Ahiram saw the leader, who faced the monster, kneeling before a woman holding a cup. Behind them, a group of women stood holding the man’s sword.

The last panel had three pairs of wings on it.

Ahiram lay a trembling hand on its cold surface and recollected himself. Resolutely and aware of what he was about to do, he climbed onto the bronze platform between two of the silver statues. He leaned on the sarcophagus’ lid and pushed strenuously, expecting it to resist. To his surprise, it moved along hidden rails, producing a screeching sound. He pushed once more, revealing its contents.

He peered inside and saw the skeletal remains of the mighty warrior in full military attire. His sword had slid and fallen to his side. The skull was covered with a mask of gold, the waist had a belt made of silver, and the feet still wore shoes of bronze.

“The tomb of El-Windiir,” he whispered. “Could it be true?” He wished his friends were with him to share in the excitement.
They must think I am dead by now
, he thought.
Well, they’re in for a surprise
.

Deeply moved by the remains of the man who had been an anchor of hope for him, he leaned over, and careful not to disturb the peace of the legendary hero, brought the sword out of the tomb. Something shot up swiftly in a trail of dazzling colors. Ahiram looked up and beheld a pair of wings floating gently in the air. They were made of the darkest material he had ever seen, and radiated a blue light, clear as the day.

Claiming the sword, he let out a shout of triumph, “I, Ahiram, heir to El-Windiir, will be victorious before the King tonight. I will descend on the Royal Hall from the skies and show everyone the power of El-Windiir. Let the bell ring anew; let the flag of Tanniin be raised on high.”

Overwhelmed, Ahiram genuflected.

“Tonight, I regain my freedom, and tomorrow I will leave for Baher-Ghafé, and return to my family. I will stand before my father and tell him I have kept his name: I have honored him. Then, I will come back to Tanniin, and woe to those who stand against me: they shall taste the fury of El-Windiir.”

His voice echoed in the great hall. He knew with an absolute certainty that a new day had dawned; a great power had been awakened.

Ahiram stood up.

Had Kalibaal seen the fierce storm brewing in the young man’s eyes, he would have recoiled in fear.

The Age of the Seer had begun.

Dates in the manuscript follow the American convention of month, day, year. For instance, Tébêt 7, 1197. The majority of the kingdoms used the Babylonian Calendar instituted by the Temple of Baal. A year was three hundred and sixty days in length, subdivided into twelve lunar months of thirty days each. A month had four weeks of seven days named after the seven abodes of the gods the Babylonian magi had seen. The first day of the week was Sin. Tébêt was the tenth month of the year. When adjusted to our solar calendar, Tébêt 7, 1197 fell on Sunday, August 10, 1181, of the Age of the Temple.

Most names have been transliterated from the Common Tongue of the Age of the Temple into English. There are marked differences in pronunciations, indicated below. Two of these bear further explanations. As a rule, the Common Tongue places the emphasis on the last syllable. For instance, an English reader will stress the first ‘A’ in the name A-hi-ram, but in the Common Tongue, the stress is on the last syllable, “am,” a-hee-RAM.

Nouns in the Common Tongue are gendered. A month is masculine, a mountain is feminine, the moon is feminine, and the sun is masculine, etc. I have occulted these gender differences in the English to avoid unnecessary distractions except in dwarfish speech and in proper names.

The gender of a name in the Common Tongue is embedded in the last syllable and I have striven to preserve this in English, particularly with names whose last syllable contains “ii,” “ee,” “uu” and “oo.” A double “e” and a double “i” are both pronounced like the double
ee
in words such as
sheet
or
meet
. The double “e” is used in feminine names as in Noraldeen and Layaleen, whereas the “ii” is used in masculine names as in “Tanniin” and “Jamiir.”

Both “uu” and “oo” should be pronounced as in
moon,
the former in masculine names, such as Urkuun and Aramuun, and the latter in feminine names, such as Foosh and meyroon.

The double “aa” is an exception. The Common Tongue uses it to represent both feminine and masculine names. I have chosen, somewhat arbitrarily, to reserve the “aa” for masculine names, such as Arfaad, and used the accented “â,” for feminine names such as Silbarâd. There is no difference in pronunciation between the double “a” and the accented “a.”

In certain names of Empyrean, Togofalkian, or Zemorian origins, the “i,” “o,” or “y” modify the pronunciation of a preceding vowel. In those cases, I have represented these letters with an umlaut because the phonetic transliteration is too unwieldy. For instance, the name of the Empyrean Empress Gaëla Meïr Pen would have been approximately written as “Gahyela Mehyeer Pen.”

a
In the table of pronunciation and the glossary, whenever an “a” is pronounced “ah” as in “apple,” it will be spelled
ă.
When it is pronounced as “
Ja
mes” or “
Ma
y,” it will be written
ā
. For instance, the name
A
rf
a
ad
will be phonetically notated as
Ă
rf
ăă
d.

aa, â
Pronounced as a stressed “aah.”

ai
Pronounced as in “br
ay
” or “fr
ay
.”

an
Unless otherwise indicated, “an” in the middle of a proper name is pronounced as in “
an
t,” or the French word “enf
an
t,” and not as in “Anna” or “Anne”.

e
In almost all cases, it is pronounced as in the French article “le” or as the “u” in “burger”.

ë
Appears after a vowel only. Pronounced “yeh” as in “yellow”
where the “y” is stressed.

ei
Pronounced as in “v
ei
n” or “m
ai
n.”

g
Pronounced in all cases as in “
g
roup.”

gh
No English equivalent. The best we can do is to pronounce it as in the word “ghoul.”

h
The “h” is always soft as in “hello.”

i
Pronounced as in “he” or “she” and not as in the personal pronoun “I.”

ï
Appears after a vowel only. Pronounced as “yee” where the y is stressed.

ii
Stressed “ee” sound.

j
Pronounced as the “s” in “trea
s
ure” and not as in “just.” In what follows, we use
“ĵ”
to remind the reader of this alternate pronunciation.

kh
No equivalent in English. It is a harder version of the “gh” in “ghoul.”

ö
Appears after a vowel only. Pronounced as “yoh” where the y is stressed.

on
Pronounced as in “m
on
soon” or “m
on
sieur.”

oo
Pronounced as in “cool” or “pool.” (Appears in feminine names.)

u
Pronounced as in “p
u
re.”

uu
Pronounced as the “oo” in “m
oo
n” or “s
oo
n.” (Appears in masculine names.)

Abaliim
Ah
-bah-
leem
Meyroon Abaliim On-Nayiir; the flying miners of meyroon. Dwarfs who mined the meyroon down shafts were so deep that they were never seen again.

Abiil
Ah-b-
eel
A servant of the Castle of Taniir-The-Strong.

Adorant
Ah-do-
rant
A special order of priestesses of the Temple of Baal, whose voices can drive man to madness, despair, or slavery, becoming puppets in the hands of the priestesses.

Adulaan
Ah-du-
laan
A river that runs outside the walls of Taniir-The-Strong.

Aharof
Ah-ha-
roff
Means “letters.”

Ahiram
Ah-hee-
raam
Son of Jabbar and
Hayat from the town of Baher-Ghafé. A member of the Silent.

Alissaar
Ah-lee-
saar
Alissaar Ben Nadam is an alias for Sureï. See Sureï.

Alkiniöm
Ah-l-kee-nee-
yom
A famed minstrel who lived toward the end of the Troubled Peace, some fifteen hundred years before the birth of Ahiram.

Alviad
Ah-l-vee-
yad
A Silent.

Amalein
Ah-mah-
lein
Lantern of Hope
; the name of a star.

Amalseer
Ah-mal-
seer
Undying Hope; the name of a star.

Amsheet
Ah-m-
sheet
The city fortress of Tanniin guarding the northeastern boundary.

Andaluzian
An-dah-
lu
-zian
A title given to women of exceptional beauty.

Andaxil
An-dah-
xeel
The legendary cave of the Southern Dwarfish Realm, where the greatest treasures of the seven tribes are buried. Lost during a major war. Cursed by Sureï.

Aramuun
Ah-rah
-moon
One of the highest peaks of the eastern Tangorian range in Tanniin. The Aramuun soars, above nineteen thousand feet. Although ‘mountain’ is feminine in the Common Tongue, a ‘peak’ is actually masculine.

Arfaad
Ar-
faad
Captain of the High Riders in the Temple of Baalbek.

Assin
Ah-
seen
This Togofalkian idiom means ‘bitter health’. Togofalkians tend to avoid hard sounds and will typically replace the ‘s’ with a ‘z’.

Atlant
Ah-t-
lant
The city of legends famed for its treasures and great knowledge.

Aylul
Eye-
lool
The first name of the Empyrean Empress, Aylul Meïr Pen. The last syllable is always stressed and never shortened. Aylul can be translated as
youthful
fall
, indicating someone who is young yet wise.

Baal Adiir
Baal Ah-d
eer
Highlights the power and omnipotence of Baal.

Baal Adonaï
Baal Ah-do-
ny
Baal, my Lord.

Baal Essaru
Baal Eh-
ss-ah
-ru
Baal, lord of the dead.