The Queen of Lies (53 page)

Bamor:
the de facto capitol of the Protectorate. With a population of more than a million, it’s easily the largest city-state. The population and nobility are predominantly dark skinned, and the city has a reputation for iniquity. Saint Jeffrey declared a thousand-year jubilee when he defeated the Harrower Vilos. It is now year 568 of that celebration, which is held nonstop in one quarter of the city by revelers.

Barstea:
a member of the Free Cities

Blood
magic:
the practice of reading and manipulating blood and other humors

Border Nations:
impoverished monarchies with little access to magical power, including Amhaven, Veyal, Mythercia, and Gorin

Cameron:
a firebrand assemblyman, representing the lower district of the Backwash

Dame Woodhouse:
a woman of noble rank and an avowed rival of Muriel Silverbrook

Daphne:
the leader of the Inquisition and Heath’s estranged mentor

Dolmen:
an ancient monument placed by the empires of the Second Era. Dark powers inhabit them.

Dominance:
an imperial dynasty that stretches across the five oceans ruled by hereditary weather mages known as Stormlords. The nation is called Thrycea, and its capitol is Thelassus.

Duke Rothburn:
A distant cousin of Jessa’s
who contests her claim to the throne of Amhaven,

Everstorm:
A continuously raging storm centered above Thelassus that provides electricity to the city from its regular lightning strikes.

Fodder:
an abbreviation of “cannon fodder,” a derogatory term for the disposable nature of Patrean mercenaries. People who use this term are racially insensitive.

Free
Cities:
See Protectorate.

Geas:
 a compulsion magically imposed on a person. A favorite enchantment in the lost Sarn empire.

Genatrova:
the continent upon which the Free Cities and border nations sit

Gorin:
a border nation. Its primary industry is fishing.

Hamartia:
a seal that has been inscribed incorrectly, creating a flawed result; typically manifests as a physical or mental affliction

Harbinger:
member of the travelers. His wyrd is to preside over inevitable tragedy. Like all Travelers he possesses strong, mysterious theurgy. He can teleport and see any future that will never come to pass.

Harrower:
one of thirteen mysterious creatures bent on sowing misery. Each night they claim a single victim while he or she sleeps.

Heath:
a thirty-five-year-old mercenary, former Inquisitor, former criminal

Hierocracy:
the primary organized religion of Rivern. Its followers preach the value of life, faith, and charity.

Ilyara:
the Witch Queen

Inquisition:
the part of the Hierocracy devoted to rooting out and destroying Dark Magic

Invocari:
the void mages who have protected the city of Rivern for more than five centuries

Iridissa:
the Tempest and empress of Thrycea

Isik:
a necromancer who works as a coroner. Since necromancy no longer is taught at the Lyceum, he was born and educated in Volkov.

Jessa:
daughter of Satryn and princess of Amhaven

Karthanteum:
a far-off city where transmutation magic is practiced

Kondole (aka the Father Whale):
a god worshiped by the peaceful ancestors of the Stormlords

Kultea
(aka the Hungry mother):
a goddess of cruelty and power worshiped in Thrycea

Libertine:
a Traveler who just likes to have fun, regardless of the situation

Lidora:
a distinguished seal mage, known for her caution and reserve; one of the first women to be appointed to the Lyceum’s regents board since Pytheria

Lyceum:
the arcane college of Rivern. It was once a premier institution until Dean Pytheria was convicted of unholy necromantic experiments. Its reputation is recovering; it is still considered the premier school for artificers.

Maceria:
an ancient empire

Maddox:
a twenty-six-year-old wizard

Maelcolm:
Satryn’s twin brother and Jessa’s uncle

Maenmarth:
An ancient forest inhabited by witches and spiritfolk, the bulk of which resides in the borders of Amhaven.

Mazitar:
a settlement in the Dominance famed for pink-sand beaches and bioluminescent plankton

Memento Mori:
a place to converse with echoes of the dead. See Dolmen.

Muriel Silverbrook:
the richest, most influential woman in Rivern. She’s also a countess and the matriarch of a family that holds many seats on the Assembly.

Mythercia:
a border nation on the western coast

Nasara:
Empress Iridissa’s oldest daughter

Nash:
a major Stormlord, father of Satryn and secret consort of Empress Iridissa

Necromancy:
the arcane study of death and reanimation of the dead

Nerrax:
Jessa’s cousin and son of Nasara

Night wrestler:
a homosexual Patrean, skilled in hand-to-hand combat

Ohan:
the god of sunlight, life, and renewal

Orthodoxy:
See Hierocracy.

Patreans:
named for the wizards of the Patrean empire, who created them. A race of cloned people who serve in the world’s armies as contracted mercenaries. They’re stronger and faster than humans and don’t dream or experience fear. They possess no magic. Every Patrean union results in a child who is a clone of his or her Patrean mother or father. Pregnancy lasts six months, and women can fight well into the third month without issues.

Petra Quadralunia:
archwizard from Archea. Also a member of the senate.

Protectorate:
a loose confederation of city-states that have thrown off the shackles of monarchial rule to be governed by the will of the people. Though each city-state has independence, the center of the Protectorate’s collective government is in Bamor.

Pytheria:
the disgraced former dean of the Lyceum who used her position to perform illegal necromancy experiments. She would be more than 100 years old today.

Quirrus:
the head of the college of blood magic at the Lyceum. He creates strange hybrids by combining parts of different animals.

Red:
the Patrean commander of the Twin Shields brothel

Reda:
a fishing village

Riley:
former student at the Lyceum

Rivern:
one of the Free Cities of the Protectorate. It’s known for engineering and steam works. The city is built around the split of three rivers known as the Trident which sits atop a great waterfall that spills into the lower city, a district known as the Backwash.

Sarn:
an ancient empire

Satryn:
queen regent of Amhaven

Seal:
an inscribed design that grants its bearer certain powers, such as telekinesis, longevity, truth detection, and the ability to produce fire

Sireen:
Jessa’s aunt

Stormlord:
a person born to Thrycean royalty who wields the power of storm and water

Stormraider:
An ancient tribe of corsairs known for bloodthirst, who with the help of the coelacanth conquered the peaceful Wavelords and sired the current lineage of Stormlords.

Sword:
An ancient weapon forged in Sarn, possessing an intelligence and capable of controlling it’s weilders. Once bonded to the Sword the host body will be controlled by Sword’s intelligence until death. Sword’s personality and reasoning capabilities are limited or enhanced by the natural ability of its host.

Tertius:
the dean of the Lyceum and Maddox’s mentor

Thelassus:
the capitol of Thrycea. Population is more than a million. The city has working electricity.

Thrycea:
See Dominance.

Torin Silverbrook:
a mage from the Lyceum; Maddox’s classmate and Jessa’s suitor

Travelers:
a reclusive, mysterious faction of immortals. They vary widely in temperament and abilities. Each bears an epithet that describes their wyrd, a duty or obsession they pursue to the exclusion of all else. Examples are the Harbinger, the Libertine, and the Stargazer.

Turnbull:
a mage at the Lyceum.

Veyal:
a border nation with a failed government, ruled by a bandit prince. Nasara’s father hails from here.

Volkov:
Northern member of the free cities known for necromancy

Wavelord:
A peaceful tribe of weather mages who lived on the beaches of Mazitar before being conquered by the Stormraiders.

Michael James Bode was born on Valentine’s Day and grew up in rural Indiana surrounded by woods and horses.

Bode received a degree in sociology from Atlanta University. In the technological sector, he used computers to process natural language.

The Queen of Lies
is Bode’s first novel. He has published a number of short stories and performed spoken word pieces. The daily life of the characters inhabiting fantasy worlds fascinates Bode, compelling him to explore the ways in which such people could carve places for themselves in worlds where the fantastical is commonplace. He currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

His website is
www.mikebode.com
which has updates on his forthcoming books.