Prodigal Steelwielder (Seals of the Duelists Book 3) (34 page)

Danatu
: title of the former Balanganese king. Fearing a civil war amongst his sons after his impending death, the Danatu brokered a deal with Emperor Hedrick of the Waarden Empire to absorb Balanganam into his many lands and maintain peace amongst his sons and his people

Datu Lualhati
: Bayan’s father, a successful Balanganese farmer

Den chanter
: a chanter assigned to a duel den

Diantha
: one of Doc Theo’s campus chanters. She becomes Head Chanter after Doc Theo’s untimely departure

Diogenes Essendorp (Odjin):
a former member of Bayan’s hex. He was potioneered because he lost a leg. He makes potions at a tiny booth in Yewakma, but secretly runs the Potioneers Savant using ancient knowledge Bayan discovered in a lost book on Duelism

Diwata Lualhati
: one of Bayan’s sisters, aged twelve

Doc Theo
: see Theo Willemsen

Dose
: to imbibe a potion

Dosing
: consuming potions in an addictive fashion

Duel den
: a dueling arena and living quarters and occupied by several duelists. Duel dens are housed within major cities or placed strategically amongst several smaller towns, so that all imperial citizens have access to duelism mediation

Duelist
: a caster of elemental magic, trained at the Duelist Academy, in service for life to the empire. Duelists serve the people during peace time by battling to determine the outcome of civil conflicts, and fight the empire’s enemies in times of war. Duelists hold high status no matter their cultural origin, but they are bound to a lifetime of magical service and cannot abandon their post without serious consequences

Duelist Academy
: a campus for training duelists to master their elemental magic, hidden amongst the tunnels and valleys of a limestone mountain in the south of Helderaard. Previous valley floor iterations were sacked during various wars

Duelist Savant
: a rare class of duelist who is unable to achieve a perfectly emotionless Void and bonds his or her magic to a particular emotion instead. Since emotion makes magic strong and wild, most Savants injure or kill themselves or someone else before achieving perfect control over their emotional magic. Survivors are often stripped of their magic for everyone’s safety. Savants with emotions that favor a particular elements are referred to by that elemental title: Flame Savant, Earth Savant, etc

Dunfarroghan
: a pragmatic, easily adaptable culture, descended from Tuathi who settled on conquered Waarden lands. The Dunfarroghan live in Marghebellen and Gallenglaas, as well as the western part of Helderaard and the southern stretch of Kallichon. They’re characterized by either pale or black hair, light eyes, and a tendency to wring everything they can out of any deal

Eirene
: a noblewoman serving at the Kheerzaal, skilled in detecting forged coins

Eithne Mikellen
: the Academy’s Earth Instructor, she holds the rank of Avatar Duelist

Elemental Duelist
: the first rank a student can achieve at the Duelist Academy, accomplished by most of the students in each class. Elemental Duelists can control all six elements of their magic, bending it to their will with the perfected use of the six sacred motions, which they use to cast their spells

Elements
: Flame, Water, Wood, Air, Earth and Shock

Enchalla
: a city in
Valio
Ouachasta, which is forbidden to use magic and produces large quantities of steel from its smeltery

Enchamanca
: the City of Rapture, capital city of the Corona and home of the Alchazzar

Erinando dyly Gonsala
: special envoy from
Yl Senyecho
to His Imperial Majesty Jaap voorde Helderaard. His Corona title is
Conecho Uniqo dyl Reyo Ochidala

Erramela
: a sea witch in Corona legend. The Red Hound sacrificed himself to curse her into a mortal form that could never touch the sea again. In despair, she saw the doomed General Bermudo dy Chixal approaching to wage futile battle with the now-dead pirate and his armada, and she fell in love with him, and he with her. Together, they founded a kingdom that would eventually become the Corona

Eward Raalgat
: once a shy Waarden boy in Bayan’s hex, Eward has been forced to come into his own by Bayan’s exile. Assigned to a duel den in Renallen, Eward endures false rumors spawned by a loyalist imperial faction of government

Fastamar
: God of Storms, a god of the Corona

Feast of Many Harvests
: a late autumn festival celebrating the end of the fertile season

Feast of Tuq
: the day on the old Aklaa calendar that marks the beginning of the spring season, roughly corresponding to Low Spring on the official Waarden calendar

Femke
: Empress of the Waarden, wife to Emperor Jaap, mother of Juriaan and Sebastiaan

Firedust
: the mysterious ingredients that form the colorful, noisy explosions of fireworks. Also the name of Calder’s Flame avatar

Firedust Guild
: a licensed guild that uses the secret knowledge of exploding powder to entertain audiences during feasts, festivals and holidays

First Singer
: title for the singer in charge of the Temple of Ten Thousand Harmonies. His or her duties include overseeing the training of all singer students, managing the Temple’s outposts and their saleable goods, assigning chanters’ duties across the empire, and deciding when and for which purposes the magic of the Full Choir will be bestowed

First Tuathi War
: 803-960 IC, during which the Tuathi captured Marghebellen, Gallenglaas and much of Helderaard, where they destroyed the Duelist Academy’s first, loosely organized campus. The Waarden duelists finally brought the war to a close when they discovered a previously unknown magical technique that gave Elementalists a distinct advantage over anima casters in battle. The shift in power forced the Tuathi to sue for peace and settle across their captured lands or flee across the Maam Ardcath

Full Choir
: an outdoor assembly of every singer in the Temple of Ten Thousand Harmonies. Due to the perfect acoustics in the bowl-shaped Temple grounds, the magical potential of songs performed by the Full Choir is nearly limitless, and can stretch for thousands of miles

Gael
: one of Philo’s Kheerzaal assistants, a Dunfarroghan eunuch

Gaarana
: the Dancing Duelist, master of a lost duelism style

Gallenglaas Day
: a Waarden holiday in late winter, celebrating the province’s return to imperial rule in 1691 IC after being in the hands of the Tuathi since the Second Tuathi War

Gamay
: a mature seerwine pitcher plant which grows in the forest near Pangusay

Gerrolt Visser
: Academy Groundsmaster, a gruff man with a deep love of all plants

Ginina
: a baker of skill at the Eshkin ancestral estate on Wisnuk Bay, and Kiwani’s birth mother

Godsmaw
: the Karkhedonian and Muggenhem term for the Gyre

Gorwin
: a duelist in Kiwani’s duel den

Graela
: one of Tala’s Solo classmates

Greer
: the Academy’s head Meditation Instructor

Griogair
: Iulan’s hexbird companion in Katacha

Gushgirls/gushlings
: half-smitten fans

Gyre
: the dangerous circular sea located in the northeast part of the empire, bordering Pallithea and Helderaard, south of the independent realm of Karkhedon. Known for its frequent, deadly storms and swift, swirling currents. Known as the Godsmaw to the denizens of Karkhedon and the city of Muggenhem

Hahliq
: the leader of Savitu’s small band of warriors, he perished during the Battle of the Kheerzaal

Hall of Seals
: the assembly room for all Academy gatherings. A circular dais is surrounded by six sections of benches representing the six elements. Teachers, students and other staff sit in the sections favored by their skills or talents

Hanna
: Head Duelist at the Muggenhem duel den, and Calder's immediate superior

Head Duelist
: the duelist responsible for the upkeep, public relations, and duelists of their duel den. They approve all client choices of duelist and schedule all duels for their den

Hedrick voorde Helderaard
: the old emperor, Jaap’s father, now deceased

Hegemon
: title of the ruler of Karkhedon

Helderaard
: principal province of the Waarden Empire, in the center of its lands, containing Akkeraad, the capital city

Helma de Rood
: Master Duelist who lived a century ago and died fighting in the War of Steel. Her sacrifice for the empire earned her and her descendants the honorific “de Rood”

Hetta
: a Potioneer Savant in Odjin's cohort

Hex
: a group of six duelists assigned to train together after passing their basic exams. A hex is also the basic military unit of the duelist army in times of war

Hex house
: a small building where members of the same hex can gather on campus. Hex houses are laid out in six rows of six, built up the side of a steep hill. Each row of hex houses is traditionally given an elemental designation

Hexbirds
: cousins of the crow, hexbirds have lived amongst duelists for millennia. They’re believed to be smarter than crows, lucky, and perhaps even infused with a little magic

Hexing
: casting hexmagic in the forms of two or more avatars, elements, or magics at the same time

Hexling
: mildly derogatory term for a student assigned to a hex. Recently, the name given to any avatar created from more than one element

Hexmagic Duelist
: the third rank a student can achieve at the Duelist Academy, and the highest most students ever hope to achieve. Hexmagic Duelists can manifest all six elemental avatars and can combine elemental magics with their hexmates to create nearly anything, except living creatures

Hexmates
: generally, any six students in the same hex at the Duelist Academy. The term has been co-opted to refer specifically to anyone in Bayan’s old hex. His exile caused a political rift between Emperor Jaap and some of his supporters. In the chaotic aftermath, the Hexmates—Calder, Kiwani, Eward, Tarin, Taban, and Aleida—were often used as a rallying point for those who believed the emperor was exercising too much power over those gifted with magic within his borders. The emperor ordered them topped out at the Academy and dispersed across the empire, but the term has remained in use

High Ways
: Imperial roads stretching between major cities, maintained by the empire to facilitate trade and travel

Idle
: to control an avatar’s motions, but not cast any spells. To Idle an avatar, the duelist must maintain the shape of the sacred motion that matches the avatar’s element

Ignaas witten Oost
: an influential instructor on the Academy campus, the minor Waarden noble is the empire’s only Master Duelist. He takes over the position of headmaster, but continues to teach his own private hand-picked students

Imee Magittang
: Bayan’s former lovemate. Daughter of Isagani Magittang. She follows her betrothed, Dakila, to Renallen, where they learn Bayan has been exiled and is beyond their assistance. A merchant’s daughter to the core, Imee finds work managing Dakila and his hundred Balanganese volunteers as caravan security personnel