Spider Wars: Book Three of the Black Bead Chronicles (40 page)

Badnite
Creek:
The large creek that runs from the White Dragon, past
Windfall Dome, down to the cliffs at Meetpoint.

Bear
Under the Mountain:
The group sentience of all life north of the
Escarpment.

bennelk:
Mountain antelope, a smaller cousin of the fenelk, used as a mount
for patrols.

Beta:
S
econd in command.

bhotta:
Large lizard, predatorial, hunter. Penultimate predator of the High
Reaches.

Black
Bead:
A failed Ear whose psi is suspect and not to be trusted.

bloodstone:
S
tones formed inside the
bodies of the animals of the planet tuned by the power of the psi of
the builder to vibrate in synchronized harmony.

blue
tag:
Permission tag given to Packs to foray outside.

Central
Plaza:
P
laza under the
apex of the dome whose center is marked by a large water fountain.

Choosingday:
The day three-year-old girls must prove their psi abilities.

click:
The distance a human man can walk in an hour.

Com
sphere:
A machine made of bloodstones and crystal brains attached
to the inside of a gold sphere that acts as an antenna which becomes
an extension of an Ear’s psi abilities.

Coven:
The First Mother and all her wives.

Darknight:
The winter solstice.

Dragons
Spine:
T
he range of
mountains that separate the High Reaches from the northern ice
fields.

Drover:
Mother learned in the art of riding and managing the herd animals of
the dome.

dubeh
leopard:
Large black cat-like predator.

Ear:
Female member of Pack; psi adept.

East
Trail:
Road leading out the East Gate.

Eiocha:
The largest moon.

Elder:
Tribal member over the age of sixteen.

Epona:
The smallest moon.

Escarpment:
The southern boundary of tribal land.

f
enelk:
H
horned
and tusked antelope from the southern forests, largest herbivore in
the High Reaches that has been domesticated and used as beasts of
burden by the domes in the caravans that move goods between villages.

First
Mother:
The penultimate Mother in the Dome hierarchy, responsible
for all life in and around the Dome.

First
Prime:
First Husband of the First Mother and her Coven.
Penultimate Father in the Dome hierarchy.

fuzzy
gang:
Small communal-minded predator as large as a child’s
fist.

gaiters:
Leather thorn guards; light armor worn on lower arms and calves.

Grimstorm:
Large winter storm that comes out of the ice fields north of the
Dragon Spine; continent-sized cyclones of snow and wind that scour
the high meadows down to bare earth and deposit immense drifts of
snow in the high forests.

High
Mother:
The leader of all the domes in the High Reaches, voted
into office by the First Mothers of each dome.

hopper:
Small ground-dwelling marsupial.

Little
Father:
Formal title of boys who have not reached their majority.

Little
Mother:
Formal title of girls who have not reached their
majority.

Lowlands:
The land below the Escarpment.

Lowlander:
Humans who live in the Lowlands.

Maker
of the Living Thread:
Master Geneticist and Healer.

North
Fork Trail:
Northern trail that splits from East Trail to run
along the top of the cliffs and skree slopes.

Occonomara:
T
he name of the planet
as named by the Lowlanders. Tearmann, according to the tribes.

Omega:
The lowest rank in a Pack hierarchy; or someone who is outside the
structure of a Pack, who is neither Alpha nor lowest but the wild
card of the group that fills the niche that is in need of filling at
any point in time.

omeh:
Plasteel and bloodstone necklace woven whole around the necks of
every child not long after their birth, the pattern of which is
unique to each dome.

Orchard
Road:
North road leading past the orchards into the north
paddocks.

Orchard
Trail:
Road leading out the North Gate.

Orson’s
Sea:
The southern shallow sea between the continent and the Ten
Thousand Islands.

Pack
Hall:
Residence where the declared Packs reside.

Pack:
Group formed by children. A requirement of any who want to leave the
dome. To Pack is enter into a formal binding contract with a chosen
few. Upon reaching majority, these ties are permanent, the members
considered Husbands and Wives.

Pantry:
The dome’s communal food storage.

red
tag:
Foray tag for outside travel used to track all outside
activities.

slab
snow:
The packed snow that precedes an avalanche.

Son
of the Flesh:
Boys born of the dome in which they reside.

Son
of the Heart:
Boys traded in Trade Fairs as future Husbands to
the Mothers of the recipient dome.

South
Road:
The road that splits from the North Fork Trail and goes
south to run along the southern edges of the bogs.

Tearmann:
The name given the planet by the Domes. Occonomara, as named by the
Lowlanders.

Temple
training:
100 days of cloistered training starting the day after
Darkday in which all dome 12-year-olds are taught the finer art of
biofeedback to control fertility, healing, and energy management
through focused exercise and meditation.

Trade
Fair:
Semi-annual events held in the host dome where the
abundance and overstock of goods is traded amongst the domes and
where the seven-year-old boys are traded as future husbands to other
domes to ensure genetic diversity.

treebear:
Man-tall clawed marsupial.

underager:
Children under the age of eight.

Waste:
The polar lands north of the Dragon Spine.

Waterfall
Trail:
Road leading out the South Gate.

Watch
Ears:
Mothers who use their psi ability to ling to an array of
com spheres set at key points to monitor weather and herd movements.

Weapons
Locker:
Building on the south side of the Central Plaza where the
weapons and tools are stored.

Weapons
Master:
Elder in charge of Weapons Locker.

West
Road:
Road leading out the West Gate.

White
Dragon Peak:
T
he tallest
mountain in the Dragons Spine mountain range.

woolsey:
Spider silk and wool fabric.

wrangler:
Father in charge of caring for the animals of the domes.

yellow
tag:
Apprenticeship tag for those who do long-term study outside
the dome.

Alain:
Born in Firewalker Dome, Tam’s
Second. Beta male of pack.

Cheobawn:
Born in Windfall Dome, Mora is her Truemother, Nestmother, and
natalmother. Black Bead in Blackwind Pack, a rankless Omega Ear.

Connor:
Tam’s Truebrother. born in Waterwall Dome, Tam’s Third.

Megan:
Born in Windfall Dome. Amabel is her Truemother. Rank – alpha Ear
of pack.

Tam:
Born in Waterwall Dome, Alpha male of pack.

Amabel:
Mora’s Second Wife. Master Geneticist, Master Maker of the Living
Thread, Megan’s Truemother.

Brigit:
Mora’s Fifth. Nursery Mother.

Hayrald:
First Prime, Mora’s Fist Husband, Husband to the Coven, titular
head of the Fathers of Windfall Dome.

Menolly:
High Priestess to Windfall Dome, Mora’s Fourth Wife.

Mora:
First Mother to Windfall Dome, Alpha Ear of the Coven. High Mother to
all the High Reach Domes. Truemother of Cheobawn.

Phillius:
Hayrald’s Third, Husband to the Coven, Head Pack Liaison.

Raddoc:
Second Prime, and Hayrald’s second. Security Chief and Crystalline
Mind expert.

Sybille:
Mora’s Third in command. Brilliant warrior, mathematician, chief
liaison with Fathers.

Wissen:
Coven’s Husband, Hayrald’s Fourth.

Breyden:
Sigrid’s Second. Ramhorn
Pack’s strategical thinker.

Erin:
Ramhorn’s Alpha Ear.

Iroc:
Sigrid’s Fourth.

Sigrid:
Alpha male in Ramhorn pack.

Soral:
Ramhorn Pack’s Second Ear.

Meshel:
Sigrid’s Third.

Brathum:
Elder killed in the first grimstorm.

Brindle:
An oldpa who occasionally stands light duty at the South Gate into
the stables.

Finn:
Master Tinkerer. Brilliant engineer.

Gudu:
Finn’s apprentice, journeyman.

Nedella:
Master Chef, Mother in charge of the communal kitchens and food
storage.

Zeff:
Packless oldpa, he runs the boarhounds, Lady and Prince.

Cloud
Eye:
Ttwo-year-old bennelk,
novice mount; Cheobawn’s mount.

Druda:
Vinara’s Alpha wrangler.

Gann:
New apprentice wrangler.

Herd
Mother:
Alpha female of the domesticated Windfall Dome bennelk.
Dancer, Sybille’s mount.

Kite
Wing:
Herd Mother’s sister and second in command of the herd.
Connor’s mount.

Red
Tail:
Five-year-old bennelk. Soral’s mount.

Star:
O
lder bennelk. Sigrid’s
mount.

Vinara:
Master drover.

CPC:
Central Planets Consortium, the
political body that oversees the governance of all human space;
collects taxes and conscripts the humans to wage war against the
Spiders. Headed by a Prince of the royal family, appointed by the
CPC.

Colonel
Bohea:
A
gent of the
royal hegemony, titular head of the CPC forces arrayed around
Cheobawn’s planet, Tearmann.

Nnursht:
First spider to contemplate space travel.

Samwell
Wheelwright:
Lowlander, born of a wealthy merchant family;
college dropout; former CPC conscript and survivor of the Spider
Wars.

Sargent
Garro:
Spider Wars veteran; mercenary and agent of the star fleet
commanded by Bohea.

Scerrons:
A species of psi adepts used by the humans as pilots to drag their
ships through dimensional hyperspace.

Spider:
T
he
personification of the Spider hive mind, being that amalgam of
energies that contain all the memories of the species of
multi-legged, exoskeleton, crystal brained spider-like beings who
originated on the planet called Occonomara by the human settlers.