Spherical Harmonic (52 page)

Rose
to refer to a quantum-mechanical bound state. I found "ak'il tz'i," which means "leash" in Tzotzil Mayan, changed it into akil tz'i, which the fictional characters used to mean "bound," then further evolved it into Argali. It needed at least two stages (or more) of changes because the original language of the settlers couldn't start out identical to Tzotzil Mayan. It then had to undergo further changes because five thousand years have passed and the original language has evolved into a new one.

 

 

For words intended to be completely new to the language, I used a different method. Since we're imagining that an SF writer translates the language of the characters into that of the reader, it makes sense to put the new words into the reader's language, given that they are modern rather than derived from the older languages. So we get the name Lyode in
Rose,
contracted from "light emitting dyode." The characters shorten it because for them the name is ancient, though it is modern compared to the Mayan that formed the basis for Classical Iotic.

 

 

Another advantage of the above method is that I didn't have to keep explaining word origins, as I did with words like Argali. Without such explanations for the unusual words, the quantum scattering analogy wouldn't have made sense, but constantly stopping to expound on names would have been tedious. This allowed me the flexibility I needed to make the story work. I had that situation in
Spherical Harmonic,
too, but to a much lesser extent because Dehya knows so many languages.

 

 

I've been impressed by how my readers pick up on even the subtlest aspects of the world building. I will leave readers with a puzzle. Many of my books also include references to Greek mythology, not as part of any linguistic scheme, but as allusions. A cipher appears in
The Last Hawk
that has significance to the story. Can you find and solve it?

 

Family Tree: RUBY DYNASTY
Boldface names refer to members of the Rhon. The Selei name denotes the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. All children of Roca and Eldrinson take Valdoria as their third name. All members of the Rhon within the Ruby Dynasty have the right to use Skolia as their last name. "Del" in front of a name means "in honor of."
Family Tree: QOX DYNASTY
Boldface names refer to members of the Rhon.
Characters and Family History

Boldface names refer to the Rhon. All members of the Rhon within the Ruby Dynasty use
Skolia
as a last name. The
Selei
name indicates the direct line of the Ruby Pharaoh. Children of
Roca
and
Eldrinson
take Valdoria as a third name. The "del" prefix means "in honor of" (it is capitalized if the person honored was a Triad member). Names are based on world-building systems drawn from Mayan, North African, and Indian (India) cultures.

 

 

= marriage

 

 

Lahaylia Selei
(Ruby Pharaoh: deceased) =
Jarac
(Imperator: deceased)

 

 

Lahaylia
and
Jarac
founded the modern-day Ruby Dynasty.
Lahaylia
was created in the Rhon genetic project. Her lineage traced back to the ancient Ruby Dynasty that founded the Ruby Empire.
Lahaylia
and
Jarac
had two daughters,
Dyhianna Selei
and
Roca.

 

 

Dehya
is the Ruby Pharaoh. She married William Seth Rockworth III as part of the Iceland Treaty between the Skolian Imperialate and Allied Worlds of Earth. They had no children and later separated. The dissolution of their marriage would have negated the treaty, so neither the Allieds nor the Imperialate recognized Seth's divorce. Both Seth and Dehya eventually remarried anyway.
Spherical Harmonic
tells the story of what happened to
Dehya
after the Radiance War. She and
Eldrin
have two children,
Taquinil Selei
and
Althor Vyan Selei.

 

 

Althor Vyan Selei = 'Akushtina (Tina) Santis Pulivok

 

 

The story of
Althor
and
Tina
appears in
Catch the Lightning.
Althor Vyan Selei
was named after his uncle/cousin,
Althor Izam-Na Valdoria.

 

 

Roca and Tokaba had one child,
Kurj
(Imperator and former Jagernaut), who married Ami when he was about a century old. They had a son named Kurjson.

 

 

Although no records exist of
Eldrinson
's lineage, it is believed he also descends from the ancient Ruby Dynasty. He and
Roca
have ten children:

 

 

Eldrin (Dryni) Jarac
(bard, consort to Ruby Pharaoh, warrior)

 

Althor Izam-Na
(engineer, Jagernaut, Imperial Heir)

 

Del-Kurj (Del)
(singer, warrior, twin to
Chaniece
)

 

Chaniece Roca
(runs Valdoria family household, twin to
Del-Kurj
)

 

Havyrl (Vyrl) Torcellei
(farmer, doctorate in agriculture)

 

Sauscony (Soz) Lahaylia
(military scientist, Jagernaut, Imperator)

 

Denric Windward
(teacher, doctorate in literature)

 

Shannon Eirlei
(Blue Dale archer)

 

Aniece Dyhianna
(accountant, Rillian queen)

 

Kelricson (Kelric) Garlin
(mathematician, Jagernaut, Imperator)

 

 

Eldrin
appears in
The Radiant Seas
and
Spherical Harmonic.
He married
Dyhianna Selei.
They have two children (see
Dyhianna
).

 

 

Althor
has a daughter, Eristia Leirol Valdoria, with Syreen Leirol, an actress turned linguist. Coop and Vaz have a son, Ryder Jalam Majda Valdoria, with
Althor
as co-parent.
Althozr
and Cirrus have a son.
Althor
and Coop appear in
The Radiant Seas.
The novelette "Soul of Light" tells how
Althor
and Vaz met Coop ("Soul of Light" appears in the erotica anthology
Sextopia,
from Circlet Press). Vaz and Coop also appear in
Spherical Harmonic.

 

 

The story of
Vyrl
and Kamoj is in
The Quantum Rose.
An early version of the first half was serialized in
Analog,
May 1999–July/August 1999.

 

 

The story of how