So many memories.
Sugar and Legs woke to the Creek Widow’s laughter, and after being led to view the creature’s body, they joined Talen and River at the fire, drinking tea and adding the stories of their family. Nettle slept on. But the rest of them talked through the night, the fire crackling at their feet, the stars shining brightly above.
When the eastern sky began to lighten, Blue and Queen joined them, Blue hobbling up the hill on three legs. His hind leg was still worthless, but the injury was healing clean. Eventually he found Nettle and licked his face until he woke.
“Blue,” said Nettle in recognition. He turned and looked at the others by the fire. “What have I got to do to get something to eat?”
“He’s not all gone, is he?” said River.
“You only wish,” said Nettle.
Talen and River looked at each other. Could the old Nettle have come back?
But then Blue licked his face again and Nettle began to roll around like a toddler, playing with the dog.
Down at the farmstead Prince Conroy began to crow, and as the sun rose it turned the ripple of thin clouds a breathtaking gold and pink.
“We’ll need to lever that body onto a cart,” said Talen, “and take it home to Uncle Argoth.”
“No,” said River. “I think in this case we shall leave it where it is and build over it a monument of stones.”
Talen nodded. “After that we’ve got a field of barley to mow.”
“I will help,” said Sugar.
“And I,” said Legs, “will dance and sing.”
TERMS AND PEOPLE
While there are many variations, the basic power hierarchy in the realms of the western glorydoms flows from the Glory down:
Glory
|
Lesser Divines
|
Territory Lords and Warlords
|
District Lords and Village bailiffs
There are still some small areas of the known world ruled by barbarian kings or chieftains, but almost all of these pay tribute to one Glory or another in the form of treasure, slaves, or Fire. The major western glorydoms include Mokad, Koram, Nilliam, Kish, Urz and Cathay.
• Fire Wizards
• Kains
• Skir Masters
• Guardians
• Green Ones
• Glories
Infamous Divines include the Goat King, the Witch of Cathay, and Hismayas, the ancient lord of the Sleth.
MAJOR MOKADDIAN CLANS WITH HOLDINGS IN THE NEW LANDS
• Birak
• Burund
• Fir-Noy
• Harkon
• Jarund
• Mithrosh
• Seema
• Shoka
• Vargon
Hogan
River
Ke
Talen
Sparrow and Purity
Sugar
Legs
The Creek Widow/Matiga
Argoth and Serah
Nettle
The bailiff of Stag Home
Bosser (captain of the Vargon Clan)
The Crab (territory lord with the most holdings of the Fir-Noy clan)
Fabbis (son of a wealthy Fir-Noy lord)
Leaf (the Eye of Rubaloth)
Lumen (the missing Divine of the New Lands)
Rose (sister to Argoth, wife of Hogan the Koramite)
Rubaloth (Skir Master of Mokad)
Shim (warlord of the Shoka clan)
Every clan has various martial orders within it. The ranks of the vast majority of these orders are filled with those who are not full-time soldiers, but farmers, laborers, and craftsmen. However, there are orders in some clans of elite and sometimes professional soldiers. The members of such orders are called armsmen.
Barbarian raiders from the south who have begun striking Mokaddian holdings by sea.
Those without lore who are endowed by Divines with weaves of might. When such weaves are worn, they multiply the wearer’s natural mental and physical abilities. However, the weaves carry a cost: worn too frequently, the body wastes, consuming itself to fuel the magic.
A weave that binds the wearer to a master, allowing communication over long distances.
Not completely of the world of flesh, frights feed on Fire. They most often prey on the sick and dying, attaching themselves like great leeches.
An herb with properties said to repel some creatures such as frights and the souls of the dead. The smoke from one thin braid can rid a house of an infestation for many weeks. But its effect does not discriminate between frights, ancestors, or even the servants of the Creators. Hence the saying: Take care to appease those you’ve chased with smoke.
KING’S COLLAR
A weave wrought by a special order of Divines called Kains. Such collars not only prevent a person from working magic, but also weaken the wearer to make them easy to handle.
Orders of beings that inhabit the heavens as well as the deep places of the earth and sea. While invisible to the naked eye, many do exert power in the visible world and can be harnessed by those knowing the secrets. But not all are useful to man. Many orders of smaller skir are deemed insignificant, while other powers are so dreadful none dare summon them.
A vanished race whose ruins are found in the New Lands. Some claim plague or war took them. Others find evidence they were destroyed by the Six themselves.
Seven creators fashioned the earth and all life therein. However, upon seeing that the finished work was flawed, the seventh, called Regret, wanted to destroy the work and begin again. The remaining Six, whose names are sacred, refused, but they were not able to overcome Regret. And so it is that the powers of both creation and dissolution still struggle on the earth.
SLETH
Another term for “soul-eaters.” In the Urzarian tongue it literally means “the east wind,” which dries and kills life. Applied to those who, in rebellion of the Glories, use an unsactioned form of the lore of the Divines. They are beings and orders of beings supposedly twisted by their polluted draws. Said to have gotten their lore from Regret, one of the seven Creators who, having once seen the creation, realized its flaws and wanted to destroy it.
All life is made up of one or more of the three vital powers. There are many names for these life forces. The most common terms in the western glorydoms are Fire (sometimes called Spirit), Body, and soul. There are rumors, among those who know the lore, of lost vitalities: powers that have passed out of human ken.
Objects of power. Some can only be quickened and handled by lore masters. Others, wildweaves, are independent of a master and can be used by those who do not possess any lore. Weaves may be made of almost any material; however, gold is used most often for the wildweaves given to dreadmen.
Creatures that live in great families beyond the gap in the wilds of the New Lands. About half the size of a man, they are still ferocious and spilled much blood in the battles fought with the early settlers. Although rare, single woodikin are still sometimes seen in human lands.