Herb-Witch (Lord Alchemist Duology) (62 page)
Read Herb-Witch (Lord Alchemist Duology) Online
Authors: Elizabeth McCoy
Rom
Yeetl
: a master alchemist in Aeston. As a journeyman herb-witch,
Kessa
technically
reports to Master Rom. (In practice, master
alchemists loosely supervise the herb-witches in their area.
Herb-witches are usually treated as "journeymen," without
any masterwork to give them master-status within the guild.)
roof-rat
:
a term for young thieves, messengers, and spies – primarily
the ones whose territory is in the city proper. At the part of the
city bordering the river, the term is
dock-rat
.
Rose
:
a courtesan at the Crimson Birch. At least mildly infatuated with
Iathor.
Ryneld
Cymeli
: the youngest son of the Princeps.
Saydra
Glasswife
: sister to Darul Reus.
the
Shadow Guild
: the catch-all term for organized and semi-organized
crime in a given city. The Shadow Master prefers to eliminate
disorganized crime in favor of crime that eventually earns money for
him
.
the
Sailor's Haunt
: a tavern in the not-so-good part of town, in
Aeston.
the
Shark Reef
: a tavern in the bad part of town, in Aeston. It has
attic space where roof-rats can nest.
shoulder-cannon
:
the Cymelian term for a rifle. Handguns are unknown.
Siphe
:
the owner of the Crimson Birch. She cross-dresses in "men's"
clothing.
Siren's
Call
: a disreputable brothel, where the employees are subject to
abuse by the customers (or the managers), so long as the right fee is
paid. Its Shadow Guild connections protect it from being closed down.
the
Smoking Flask
: a tavern near the offices of the Alchemists'
Guild. It serves beer and ale, and simple meals.
syndic
:
a person authorized to speak for another in business matters; a
proxy. Merchants, Shadow-masters, and Guild Masters may have syndics
speak for them in situations where the person himself is not
available. For example, the Lord Alchemist is the Guild Master for
all
alchemists, and not just those in his city; master
alchemists in other cities are appointed as his syndics, who run
their local branches of the guild and report to him.
Tag
:
one of Kessa's foster brothers, now a fagin himself, with a crèche
of ten children of various ages.
Tagget's
Tonic
: an illegal hypnotic, made with herb-witchery.
Talien
Irilye
: the youngest daughter of Earl Irilye, with a fondness for
men and no inclination to marry anytime soon.
Tanas
:
the fagin who raised Kessa and her foster siblings, Tag, Jontho,
Laita, and Burk. Tanas became Maila's low-husband shortly after Maila
took Kessa on as an apprentice. Deceased.
Tania
:
Iathor's dramsman cook, and Loria's sister.
Teck
:
Iasen first dramsman, a footman and bodyguard. Dark-haired, with
greenish eyes.
Tegar
Aeslird
: the city-prince of Aeston, owing fealty to the Princeps
and claiming the fealty of those who live in Aeston and its
surrounding lands.
Thioso
:
a watchman. His stipend is paid by the Masons' Guild.
Tialo
:
Herbmaster Keli's carriage-driver. He is also a cousin of her
husband's.
Tiro
Greenhands
: Keli's alchemist husband. He took his wife's name
when they married, which is very uncommon. Deceased.
Tob
Rothsam
: a Watch Commander in Aeston, overseeing the watch that
patrols relevant parts of the city.
tradesmaiden
:
a woman who remains a virgin in order to sell her maiden's blood to
herb-witches (or sometimes alchemists), to be used in dry tea and
men's tea. (Traditionally, this is menstrual blood, but blood from a
cut will also work.)
Tryth
elixir
: a truth potion. It is also toxic to most, causing death
if Purgatorie is not administered quickly. The symptoms are fever,
flushed skin, and a racing heart.
Tych
:
a young roof-rat of indeterminate gender. One of Tag's crèche.
Allegedly no good at pick-pocketing.
Urnbury
:
a count whose lands are within Tegar's purview. One of his daughters
is Aelyta Urnbury.
Usth
:
a baron whose lands are within Tegar's purview. He is interested in
racehorse-breeding.
the
Vast River
: far to the west, a long, wide river reckoned to be a
future impediment to colonization in that direction.
Viam
:
one of Iasen's dramsmen. A cook, thin and dark-haired (for a
Cymelian).
Vigeur
elixir
: a youth potion. Its effects lessen, the older one gets
and the more Vigeur elixirs one takes, until the doses required are
too toxic for even the immune to survive.
Vigor
:
Lairn Ronan's masterwork-in-the-making, a gentler youth potion than
Vigeur, with the potential to remain effective longer. Unfortunately,
it interacts very badly when taken at the same time as Tagget's
Tonic.
Vinkest
:
a long-dead alchemist whose masterwork was sobriety pills.
Violet
Joleusea
: The daughter of Count Joleusea of Nearwater.
Wolf
:
a part-"barbarian" extortionist, who led the gray watch
that harassed Kessa.
Wuria
:
the hired cook who worked for Darul Reus.
Ysanda's
Tattoo Dye
: a prank potion that turns the drinkers
fascinating
shades of orange, red, yellow, and brown.
Zeli
:
the owner of the Emerald Cat.
E
lizabeth
McCoy's fiction has appeared in Marion Zimmer Bradley's
Sword and
Sorceress #7
, in the
Best In Show
anthology by Sofawolf,
and in the fanzine "Pawprints" (published by Conrad Wong &
T. Jordan Peacock). Her tabletop RPG writing is published by Steve
Jackson Games. As her author bios in SJ Games' material continually
state, she lives in the Frozen Wastelands of New England, with a
spouse, child, and assorted cats.
The
Lord Alchemist
duology is her first major fantasy work. It
originally started as a series of about eight drabbles (100-word
vignettes), was expanded to a trilogy of around 400K words, and was
pruned to its current size upon the advice of the extremely helpful
Agent Who Got Away.
S
arah
Cloutier started drawing at a young age, with encouragement from her
parents, went into the sciences rather than art – again
encouraged by her parents – but ended up drawing instead,
which should be a lesson to all parents who hope their children will
be successful doing something they love. She has a degree in
Biopsychology at the University of Michigan, and a long-distance cat.
She
also hates talking about herself, and has therefore allowed Elizabeth
to write this section; this would be more risky if Elizabeth's
adoration of Sarah's art didn't immediately result in incoherent,
dolphin-like noises of awe. To see more of Sarah's awesome art, check
out
melukilan.deviantart.com
and
scloutier.tumblr.com
.
Connect
with me online:
