SHADES: One of the lowest castes of Unseelie. Sentient but barely. They hunger—they feed. They cannot bear direct light and hunt only at night. They steal life in the manner the Gray Man steals beauty, draining their victims with vampiric swiftness, leaving behind a pile of clothing and a husk of dehydrated human matter. Threat assessment: kills.
Addendum to original entry: I think they’re changing, evolving, learning.
Addendum: I know it is! I swear it’s stalking me!
Addendum: They’ve learned to work together and shape themselves into barriers.
SHAMROCK: This slightly misshapen three-leaf clover is the ancient symbol of the sidhe-seers, who are charged with the mission to See, Serve, and Protect mankind from the Fae.
SIDHE -SEER : (SHE-seer) A person Fae magic doesn’t work on, capable of seeing past the illusions or “glamour” cast by the Fae to the true nature that lies beneath. Some can also see Tabh’rs, hidden portals between realms. Others can sense Seelie and Unseelie objects of power. Each sidhe-seer is different, with varying degrees of resistance to the Fae. Some are limited, some are advanced with multiple “special powers.”
Addendum to original entry: Some, like Dani, are superfast. There’s a place inside my head that isn’t. like the rest of me. Do we all have it? What is it? How did we get this way? Where do the bits of inexplicable knowledge that feel like memories come from? Is there such a thing as a genetic collective unconsciousness?
SIFTING: Fae method of locomotion, occurs at speed of thought. (Seen this!)
Addendum to original entry: Somehow V’lane sifted me without my awareness that he was even there. I don’t know if he was able to approach me “cloaked” somehow, then touched me at the last minute and I just didn’t realize it because it happened so fast, or if perhaps instead of moving me, he moved the realms around me. Can he do that? How powerful is V’lane? Could another Fae sift me without me having any advance warning? Unacceptably dangerous! Require more information.
*SIFTING SILVERS OR SILVERS, THE: Unseelie or Dark Hallow, an elaborate maze of mirrors created by the Unseelie King once used as the primary method of Fae travel between realms, until Cruce cast the forbidden curse into the silvered corridors. Now no Fae dares enter the Silvers.
Addendum to original entry: The Lord Master had many of these in his house in the Dark Zone and was using them to move in and out of Faery. If you destroy a Silver does it destroy what was in it? Does it leave an open entry/exit into a Fae realm like a wound in the fabric of our world? What exactly was the curse and who was Cruce?
Addendum to original entry: Barrons has one and walks around in it!
*SINSAR DUBH, THE: (she-suh-DOO): Unseelie or Dark Hallow belonging to the Tuatha Dé Danaan. Written in a language known only to the most ancient of their kind, it is said to hold the deadliest of all magic within its encrypted pages. Brought to Ireland by the Tuatha Dé during the invasions written of in the pseudo-history Leabhar Gabhåla, it was stolen along with the other Dark Hallows, and rumored to have found its way into the world of Man. Allegedly authored over a million years ago by the Dark King of the Unseelie. (A Definitive Guide to Artifacts; Authentic and Legendary)
Addendum to original entry: I’ve seen it now. Words cannot contain a description of it. It is a book but it lives. It is aware.
Addendum: The Beast. Enough said.
*SPEAR OF LUISNE, THE: Seelie or Light Hallow (a.k.a. Spear of Luin, Spear of Longinus, Spear of Destiny, the Flaming Spear): The spear used to pierce Jesus Christ’s side at his crucifixion. Not of human origin, it is a Tuatha Dé Danaan Light Hallow, and one of few items capable of killing a Fae—regardless of rank or power.
Addendum to original note: It kills anything Fae and if something is only part Fae, it kills part of it, horribly.
*SWORD OF LUGH, THE: Seelie or Light Hallow, also known as the Sword of Light, a Seelie Hallow capable of killing Fae, both Seelie and Unseelie. Currently, Rowena has it, and dispatches it to her sidhe-seers at PHI as she deems fit. Dani usually gets it.
Addendum: Saw it. It’s beautiful!
TABH’RS: (TAH-vr) Fae doorways or portals between realms, often hidden in everyday human objects.
TUATHA DÉ DANAAN OR TUATHA DÉ: (TUA day dhanna or Tua DAY) (See Fae above) A highly advanced race that came to Earth from another world, comprising the Seelie and Unseelie.
UNSEELIE: The “dark” or “fouler” court of the Tuatha Dé Danaan.According to Tuatha Dé Danaan legend, the Unseelie have been confined for hundreds of thousands of years in an inescapable prison. Inescapable, my ass.
V’LANE: According to Rowena’s books, V’lane is a Seelie Prince, Court of the Light, member of the Queen’s High Council, and sometimes Consort. He is a death-by-sex Fae and has been trying to get me to work for him on behalf of Queen Aoibheal to locate the Sinsar Dubh.
VOICE: A Druid art or skill that compels the person it’s being used on to precisely obey the letter of whatever command is issued. Both the Lord Master and Barrons have used this on me. It’s terrifying. It shuts down your will, and makes you a slave. You stare helplessly out from your own eyes and watch your body doing things your mind is screaming at you not to do. I’m trying to learn it. At least to be able to resist it, because otherwise I’ll never be able to get close enough to the Lord Master to kill him, and get vengeance for Alina.
Pronunciation Guide
AN GARDA SIOCH’NA: In Dublin, garda, or on garda shee-a-conna. Outside Dublin, gardee.
AOIBHEAL: Ah-veel. (Not Irish Gaelic but an older language unique to the Fae.)
CRAIC: Crack.
CUFF OF CRUCE: Like the cruc in crucify.
DRUI: Dree.
FIRBOLG: Fair bol ugh.
LEABHAR GABHALA: Lour Gow ola (lour like flower, Gow like cow).
MALLUCÉ: Mal-loosh.
Irish pronunciations obtained from sources in Dublin at the Garda and Trinity. Any errors in pronunciation are mine.
About the Author
KAREN MARIE MONING is the internationally bestselling author of the Highlander and Fever novels. Her books have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists, and have won numerous awards, including the prestigious RITA. The Fever series has been optioned by Twentieth Century Fox/New Regency Productions. You may write to her at Karen@KarenMoning.com.
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