Tricksters Queen (51 page)

Ambririp:
harbor on northern tip of Imahyn Island.
arak:
distilled palm-sap liquor.

Azure Sea:
body of water between Imahyn, Jerykun, Ikang, and Lombyn islands, known for its calm, bright blue waters.

basilisk:
immortal (cannot be killed by old age or disease), lizard-like creature, can be seven to nine feet tall, walks erect, is skilled with languages, possesses a shriek that can turn its targets to stone.

Bazhir:
collective name for the nomadic tribes of TortalTs Great Southern Desert.

Birafu:
estates on Tongkang belonging to Jimajen family, in rebellion.

Black God, the:
hooded and robed god of death, recognized as such throughout the Eastern and Southern Lands.

blazebalm:
sticky, paste-like substance that clings to everything it touches and burns very hot.

Carthak:
slaveholding empire that includes all of the Southern Lands, ancient and powerful, a storehouse of learning, sophistication, and culture. Its university was at one time without rival for teaching.

Chain, the:
network of rebel mages, mostly full and part-raka, spread throughout the Copper Isles, with members on every isle, including one posted especially close to the isle's royal governor. It has been in existence over one hundred years. Its present commanding mage is Ochobu Dodeka.

Copper Isles:
originally named the Kyprin Isles, once ruled by queens of the Haiming noble house, presently ruled by the Rittevon dynasty. The Isles form a slaveholding nation south and west of Tortall. The lowlands are hot, wet jungles; the highlands cold and rocky. Traditionally their ties are to Carthak rather than Tortall. Kyprin pirates often raid along the Tortallan coast. There is a strain of insanity in the Rittevon line. The Rittevons hold a grudge against Tortall (one of their princesses was killed there the day that Jonathan was crowned).

Corus:
capital city of Tortall, on the banks of the River Olorun. Corus is the home of the new royal university as well as the royal palace.

darking:
creature made in the Divine Realms that has evolved into an independent being; small, blob-like, able to manipulate shape, reproduce by splitting, capable of thought and learning; some reside in Dragonlands in Divine Realms, others have returned to Mortal Realms.

Dawn Crow:
male god of the crows.

Dimari:
eastern harbor town on the island of Lombyn.

Divine Realms:
home to the gods and to many immortals.

Dockmarket:
section of town defined by Dockmarket Street along wharves; open-air markets for food, spices, various products; includes warehouses, slave market.

Downwind:
poorer section of Rajmuat.
duan:
raka word for old man, boss.
duani:
raka word for old lady, boss.

Eastern Lands:
name used to refer to those lands north of the Great Inland Sea and east of the Emerald Ocean: Scanra, Tortall, Tyra, Tusaine, Galla, Maren, Sarain. Original home of the luarin nobility and kings of the Copper Isles.

Ekallatum:
one of the most ancient kingdoms in the history of the Southern Lands, now part of the Carthaki Empire.

Emerald Ocean:
body of water west of the Eastern and Southern Lands, containing the Yamani Islands and the Copper Isles, among others.

Examples:
Kyprin term for nobles and wealthy people who are executed by the Crown and displayed on posts as a warning to others.

Fief Tameran:
neighboring fiefdom to Pirate s Swoop.

Flowergarden:
district north and west of Downwind, contains lower-class residences, also district of brokers of domestic animals, fullers, tanners, blacksmiths.

Gainel:  
god  of dreams, with  one  foot  in  the  Mortal

Realms and one foot in the realms of Chaos.

Galla:
country to the north and east of Tortall, famous for its mountains and forests, with an ancient royal line. Daine was born there.

Galodon:
housing town for military and royal navy fortress and reserves.

Gempang:
island in the Copper Isles, across the Long Strait from Kypriang.

Gift, the:
human, academic magic, the use of which must be taught.

Gigit:
smallest coin of the Copper Isles: 10 copper gigits equal 1 silver gigit; 50 copper gigits (5 silver gigits) equal 1 copper Ian; 1 copper gigit will buy a cup of tea, a bun, or an orange.

Gray Palace:
Eastern Lands-style castle built inside a separate wall on the palace grounds, to house the Rittevon family.

Great Mother Goddess:
chief goddess in the pantheon of the Eastern Lands, protector of women. Her symbol is the moon.

Greater Fortress:
citadel that guards the southeastern approach to Rajmuat harbor.

griffin:
feathered immortal with a cat-like body, wings, and a beak. Males grow to a height of six and a half to seven

feet at the shoulder; females are slightly bigger. No one can tell lies in a griffin s vicinity (a range of about a hundred feet). Their young have bright orange feathers to make them more visible. If adult griffin parents sense that a human has handled their infant griffin, they will try to kill that human.

Gunapi the Sunrose:
raka warrior goddess of volcanoes, war, and molten rock.

Haiming:
name of the former ruling line of raka queens, supposedly wiped out during the Luarin Conquest, with members who survived in secret until the present.

healer:
health-care professional with varying degrees of education, magic, and skill.

his realm's spies:
network of a kingdoms agents, charged with gathering intelligence at home and abroad; spies in service to a particular country.

Honeypot, the:
worst of the Downwind slums.

hostler:
person who cares for horses: their feed, medicine, grooming, cleanliness, saddling.

Human Era
(H.E.): time period that begins 463 years prior to the present book, marking the exile of the immortals from the Mortal Realms.

hurrok:
immortal shaped like a horse with leathery bat wings, claws, and fangs.

Ikang:
island to the southwest of Lombyn (the northernmost island).

Imahyn:
island just northwest of the Long Strait and Gempang.

Immortal:
creatures from the Divine Realms who cannot get sick or grow old. They can be killed, but otherwise they live forever.

Immortals War:
short, vicious war fought in 452 H.E., named for the number of immortal creatures that fought, but also waged by Carthakis (rebels against the new emperor Kaddar), Copper Islanders, and Scanran raiders. These forces were defeated by the residents of the Eastern Lands, particularly Tortall, but recovery is slow.

Jaguar Goddess:
feral and bloody goddess native to the Isles, overthrown by Mithros and the Great Mother Goddess during the Luarin Conquest and chained below the earth until she should be freed. Sister and sometime consort of Kyprioth, who also prefers that she stay chained.

Jerykun Isle:
smallest of the Isles, situated between Imahyn in the south and Ikang in the north. Virtually all of Jerykun is held between the Tomangs, who have grown rich from the trade in sunset butterflies (a source of precious blue dyes and magical ingredients), with smaller estates held by, among others, Sibigat House.

Kanodang:
prison to the northeast of the Downwind slums, over the ridge of the Kitafin mountains that runs between Rajmuat and the coast.

King's Council:
Tortallan monarch's private council, made up of those advisors he trusts the most.

King's Guard:
small contingent of soldiers/bodyguards responsible for the safety of the ruling monarch of the Copper Isles, presently led by Taybur Sibigat. Their armor is chain mail painted black.

King's Watch:
patrol group that polices the city, wears armor painted red.

K'mir:
brown-skinned nomadic horse tribes of Saraine, expert at guerrilla fighting against the Saren ruling class of lowland whites. Queen Thayet of Tortall is half K'mir on her mother's side and has been responsible for a migration of K'miri, who now work for the Tortallan Crown.

kudarung:
Kyprish (raka) term for winged horses.

Kypriang:
main island of the Copper Isles, holding the capital, Rajmuat, and its harbor. Location of the Plain of Sorrows, site of the last great defeat of the raka by the luarin.

Kyprioth:
Trickster, greatest of the trickster gods, former patron god of the Copper Isles, overthrown by his brother Mithros and his sister the Great Mother Goddess, now relegated in the Isles to rulership over the seas that surround them. Cousin to the Carthaki goddess the Graveyard Hag.

Ian:
largest money coin in the Isles: 1 gold Ian equals 10 silver lans; 1 silver Ian equals 5 copper lans; 1 copper Ian equals 5 silver gigits, or 50 copper gigits.

Lesser Fortress:
citadel that guards the eastern arm of Rajmuat harbor.

Lombyn:
northernmost island of the Copper Isles, home to the Tanair estates of Lady Saraiyu and Lady Dove Balitang, the legacy of their mother Sarugani. The location of the Turnshe Mountains, Kellaura Pass, Dimari town and harbor, and the villages of Tanair, Inti, and Pohon.

Long Strait:
narrow, tricky body of water between Kypriang and Gempang islands.

luarin:
raka term for the white-skinned invaders from the Eastern Lands, now used in the Isles to indicate anyone with white skin.

mage:
wizard, male or female.

Malubesang:
largest and most southern of the Copper Isles, notorious for streams that are home to meat-eating fish. Home to the most prosperous estates of the Isles, particularly those of Nomru House. The extended Fonfala family also has lands bordering the Nomru ones.

Maren:
large, powerful country east of Tusaine and Tyra; the grain basket of the Eastern Lands, with plenty of farms and trade.

Market Town:
pricier market district west of Dockmarket.

Middle Town:
district that is part residential for middle class, part shopping area, includes Rittevon Square.

Midwinter Festival:
seven-day holiday, centers around the longest night of the year and the sun s rebirth afterward. The beginning of the new year. Gifts are exchanged and feasts held.

Mithros:
chief god of the Tortallan pantheon, god of war and the law. His symbol is the sun.

Moriji Cove:
cove on the southern coast of Kypriang near Fonfala estates.

network:
group of spies or other persons who exchange information among themselves.

pavilion:
an outdoor structure that can be open on its sides, walled halfway up its sides, or fully walled in.

Port Udayapur:
port city-state on the northeast corner of the Great Inland Sea, entry gate to the mountains called the Roof of the World.

Rajmuat:
capital of the Copper Isles under both the raka and the luarin.

raka:
copper/brown-skinned natives of the Copper Isles, under the lordship of the luarin arrivals from the Eastern Lands for nearly three hundred years.

Rittevon Guard:
guard that covers the palace grounds and walls; combined sun and moon engraved on breastplates.

Rittevon Lancers:
light cavalry military force. They generally carry lances and swords as weapons.

Rittevon's Lance:
major street of Rajmuat and the palace, running through the center of Rajmuat and up through the Gate of Victory to the center of the palace enclosure. Ends in the palace street called the Golden Road.

sarong:
for women, a dress-like wrap-around garment that extends from under the arms to the calves. For men, a skirt-like wrap-around garment that can be kilted in the middle to make rough breeches.

Scanra:
country to the north of Tortall; wild, rocky, and cold, with very little land that can be farmed. Scanra's war with Tortall began in 460 H.E. (the events are covered in
Lady Knight)
and has moved into its third year, though Scanra is visibly weakening.

scry:
to look into the past, present, or future using magic and, sometimes, a bowl of water, a mirror, fire, or some other peering device.

shape-shifter:
someone who can take the shape of an animal or another human.

Sight, the:
aspect of the magical Gift that gives its holders certain advantages in matters of vision. It can be erratic, showing holders only lies, illness, magic, or future importance. In its fullest form, it can allow the holder to see clearly over distance, to see tiny things in sharp detail, and to detect illness, lies, godhood, magic, death, and other aspects of life.

Sky:
the crow goddess, consort of the Dawn Crow.

slave broker:
one who buys and sells slaves.

Southern Lands:
another name for the Carthaki Empire, which has conquered all of the independent nations that once were part of the continent south of the Great Inland Sea.

Stormwing:
immortal with a human head and chest and bird legs and wings, with steel feathers and claws. Stormwings have very sharp teeth, but use them only to add to the terror of their presence by tearing apart bodies. They live on human fear and have their own magic; their special province is the desecration of battlefield dead.