The Ships of Merior (84 page)

DHIRKEN - lady captain of the contraband runner,
Black Drake.
Reputed to have taken over the brig’s command by right of arms following her father’s death at sea.

DIEGAN - once Lord Commander of Etarra’s garrison; given over by his mayor to serve as Lysaer s’Ilessid’s Lord Commander at Avenor. Titular commander of the war host sent against the Deshans to defeat the Master of Shadow at Tal Quorin; high commander of the war host mustered at Werpoint. Also brother of Lady Talith.

DURN - city located in Orvandir, Shand.

DYSHENT - city on the coast of Instrell Bay in Tysan; renowned for timber.

EARLE - Second Age ruin, once a Paravian stronghold, located on the southern tip of the peninsula in West Shand. Site of the defences that contained the Mistwraith’s invasion prior to the uprising incited by Davien the Betrayer.

EAST HALLA - principality located in the Kingdom of Melhalla

EAST WARD - city in Fallowmere, Rathain, renowned as a port that served the trade-route to Etarra from the Cildein Ocean.

ELAIRA - initiate enchantress of the Koriathain. Originally a street child, taken on in Morvain for Koriani rearing.

ELDIR s’LORNMEIN - King of Havish and last surviving scion of s’Lornmein royal line. Raised as a wool-dyer until the Fellowship sorcerers crowned him at Ostermere in Third Age Year 5643 following the defeat of the Mistwraith.

ELIE - name of a newlywed woman in Merior. Short for Elidie, which is a common southcoast gill’s name,

ELKFOREST - wood located in Ghent, Havish; home of Machiel, steward and
caithdein
of the realm.

ELSHIAN - Athlien Paravian bard and instrument maker. Crafted the lyranthe that is held in trust by Athera’s Masterbard.

ELSSINE - city located on the coast of Alland, Shand, famed for stone quarries used for ship’s ballast.

ELTAIR BAY - large bay off Cildein Ocean and east coast of Rathain; where River Severnir was diverted following the Mistwraith’s conquest.

ERDANE - old Paravian city, later taken over by Men. Seat of old princes of Camris until Desh-thiere’s conquest and rebellion.

ERLIEN s’TALEYN - High Earl of Alland;
caithdein
of Shand, chieftain of the forest clansmen of Selkwood.

ETARRA - trade city built across the Mathorn Pass by townsfolk after the revolt that cast down Ithamon and the High Kings of Rathain. Nest of corruption and intrigue, and policy maker for the North.

FAERY-TOES - a brown gelding Dakar won dicing with mercenaries.

FALGAIRE - coastal city on Instrell Bay, located in Araethura, Rathain, famed for its crystal and glassworks,

FALLOWMERE - northeastern principality of Rathain.

FARL ROCKS - standing stones located in Daon Ramon Barrens, Rathain; site of a rendezvous between Jieret Red-beard and Caolle. These markers once channelled the earth forces for the Paravian dances at solstice and equinox.

FARSEE - coastal harbour on the Bay of Eltair, located in East Halla, Melhalla.

FATE’S WHEEL - see Daelion’s Wheel.

FELLOWSHIP OF SEVEN - sorcerers sworn to uphold the Law of the Major Balance, and to foster enlightened thought in Athera. Originators of the compact with the Paravian races that allowed men to settle in Athera.

FEYLIND - twin daughter of Jinesse; sister of Fiark; inhabitant of Merior.

FIARK- twin son of Jinesse; brother of Feylind; inhabitant of Merior.

FIRST AGE - marked by the arrival of the Paravian Races as Ath’s gift to heal the marring of creation by the great drakes.

FORTHMARK - city in Vastmark, Shand. Once the site of a hostel of Ath’s Brotherhood. By Third Age Year 5320, the site was abandoned and taken over by the Koriani Order as a healers’ hospice.
meaning not from the Paravian

GARTH’S POND - small brackish pond in Merior by the Sea, on the Scimlade peninsula off Alland, Shand.

GHARMAG - one of the senior captains in Etarra’s garrison.

GHENT - mountainous principality in Kingdom of Havish; where Prince Eldir was raised in hiding.

GNUDSOG - Etarra’s field-captain of the garrison under Lord Commander Diegan; acting first officer in the battle of Strakewood Forest; died in the flooding at the River Tal Quorin.

GREAT WAYSTONE - amethyst crystal, spherical in shape, once the grand power focus of the Koriani Order; reputed to be lost since the uprising.

GREAT WEST ROAD - trade-route which crosses Tysan from Karfael on the west coast, to Castle Point on Instrell Bay.

HALDUIN s’ILESSID - founder of the line that became High Kings of Tysan since Third Age Year One. The attribute he passed on, by means of the Fellowship’s geas, was justice.

HALLIRON MASTERBARD - native of Innish, Shand. Masterbard of Athera during the Third Age; inherited the accolade from his teacher Murchiel in the year 5597. Son of Al’Duin. Husband of Deartha. Arithon’s master and mentor.

HALTHA - Senior enchantress of the Koriani Order; assigned to keep watch on Avenor at the time of the city’s restoration.

HALWYTHWOOD - forest located in Araethura, Rathain.

HANSHIRE - port city on Westland Sea, coast of Korias, Tysan; reigning mayor Lord Mayor Garde; opposed to royal rule at the time of Avenor’s restoration.

HARRADENE - Lord Commander of Etarra’s army at the time of the muster at Werpoint.

HAVISH - one of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera, as defined by the charters of the Fellowship of Seven. Ruled by Eldir s’Lornmein. Sigil: gold hawk on red field.

HAVISTOCK - southeast principality of Kingdom of Havish.

HAVRITA - fashionable dressmaker in Jaelot.

HIGHSCARP - city on the coast of the Bay of Eltair, located in Daon Ramon, Rathain.

ILITHARIS PARAVIANS - centaurs, one of three semimortal old races; disappeared at the time of the Mistwraith’s conquest. They were the guardians of the earth’s mysteries.

IMARN ADAER - enclave of Paravian gem-cutters in the city of Mearth, who dispersed in the times of the Curse which destroyed the inhabitants. The secrets of their trade were lost with them. Surviving works include the crown jewels of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera, cut as focus stones which attune to the heir of the royal lines.

INNISH - city located on the southcoast of Shand at
the delta of the River Ippash. Birthplace of Halliron Masterbard. Formerly known as ‘the Jewel of Shand’ this was the site of the high king’s winter court, prior to the time of the uprising.

INSTRELL BAY - body of water off the Gulf of Stormwell, that separates principality of Atainia, Tysan, from Deshir, Rathain.

ISAER - city located at the crossroads of the Great West Road in Atainia, Tysan. Also a power focus, built during the First Age, in Atainia, Tysan, to source the defence-works at the Paravian keep of the same name.

ITHAMON - Second Age Paravian stronghold, and a Third Age ruin; built on a fifth lane power-node in Daon Ramon Barrens, Rathain, and inhabited until the year of the uprising. Site of the Compass Point Towers, or Sun Towers. Became the seat of the High Kings of Rathain during the Third Age and in year 5638 was the site where Princes Lysaer s’Ilessid and Arithon s’Ffalenn battled the Mistwraith to confinement.

ITHILT - peninsula bordering Minderl Bay, located in Kingdom of Rathain.

IVEL - blind splicer hired by Arithon in his shipyard at Merior.

IYAT - energy sprite native to Athera, not visible to
the eye, manifests in a poltergeist fashion by taking temporary possession of objects. Feeds upon natural energy sources: fire, breaking waves, lightning.

JAELOT - city located on the coast of Eltair Bay at the southern border of the Kingdom of Rathain. Once a Second Age power site, with a focus circle. Now a merchant city with a reputation for extreme snobbery and bad taste.

JIERET s’VALERIENT- Earl of the North, clan chief of Deshir;
caithdein
of Rathain, sworn liegeman of Prince Arithon s’Ffalenn. Also son and heir of Lord Steiven. Bloodpacted to Arithon by sorcerer’s oath prior to battle of Strakewood Forest. Came to be known by headhunters as Jieret Red-beard.

JINESSE - widow of a fisherman, mother of the twins Fiark and Feylind, and an inhabitant of Merior by the Sea.

KALESH - one of the towns at the head of the inlet to Alestron’s harbour, located in East Halla, Melhalla, and traditionally the enemy of the reigning s’Brydion duke.

KARFAEL - trader town on the coast of the Westland
Sea, in Tysan. Built by townsmen as a trade port after the fall of the High Kings of Tysan. Prior to Desh-thiere’s conquest, the site was kept clear of buildings to allow the second lane forces to flow untrammelled across the focus site at Avenor.