Rebellion

GLOSSARY

Abysm: The conduit down which Cythonian souls are believed to pass after death. It exists in several places at once in Hightspall.

Acidulator: A perilous piece of alchymical equipment in which powerful acids are boiled.

Aditty: A little old miner.

Alkoyl: A deadly alchymical fluid used for a myriad of purposes by the Cythonians. It will dissolve anything, even stone and flesh. Said to be wept by the Engine.

Ancestor Gallery: Spirit versions of the 106 most important kings and ruling queens of old Cythe, recreated by Lyf as advisors, though they’re more prone to lecture and hector him.

Arkyz Leatherhead: A gigantic, murderous bandit whose gang of thugs has been terrorising the Nandeloch Mountains for a decade. After the war begins, he seizes Garramide.

Astatin: A witch-woman in Garramide.

Banj: Tali’s overseer when she was a slave in Cython. She killed him during her escape, with an uncontrollable blast of magery.

Bedderlees: A local lord who agrees to help Rix in the raid on Jadgery.

Benn: Glynnie’s little brother, aged ten.

Blathy: Leatherhead’s mistress, a bold and dominating woman who is willing to risk all on a bluff. Blathy is also vengeful and malicious.

Bledd: The capital of Bleddimire.

Bleddimire: The wealthy north-western peninsula of Hightspall.

Bloody Herrie: An angry shade, one of Lyf’s ancestor gallery.

Bombast: A barrel-shaped explosive weapon hurled by a catapult.

Bondy, Lord: The lord of Castle Swire.

Caitsthe: The most powerful and savage of all shifters, a cat or cat-man, seven feet tall, which can heal wounds quickly by partial shifting. The one sure way to kill a caitsthe is by burning its twin livers on a fire fuelled with powdered lead.

Carr of Caldees: A provincial leader at the peace conference.

Castle Rebroff: The strongest fortress north of Lake Fumerous, held by Lyf’s greatest general, Rochlis.

Caulderon: The capital city of Hightspall, on the south-eastern shore of Lake Fumerous. Caulderon was built on the site of the Cythian city of Lucidand, which the Hightspallers largely tore down.

Caverns, the: The uncanny chambers deep below Precipitous Crag where Lyf’s wrythen dwelt and plotted for almost two thousand years after his death.

Cellar/Murder Cellar: A skull-shaped chamber deep beneath Palace Ricinus where Tali’s ancestors were killed for their ebony pearls. In ancient times it had been the Cythian kings’ private temple but it was defiled by Grandys’ treachery there, and his assault and abduction of King Lyf.

Chancellor, the: The leader of Hightspall, a small, twisted, cunning man. After ordering Tobry hurled off the tower to his death, and Rix’s right hand severed, the chancellor fled Caulderon when it fell to the enemy, with a small band of retainers. He took Tali and Rannilt with them, for their healing blood.

Chuck-lash: A chymical device like a thick bootlace. When thrown at someone, it explodes against the skin leaving a burned wound like a whip lash. Heavier versions, such as death-lashes, can blast a limb off, or kill outright.

Chymical or Alchymical Art: An art practised with considerable mastery by the Cythonians, lately used to create many new kinds of weapons of war.

Chymical Level: The secret level below the main level of Cython, where the enemy practise alchymical arts and build weapons of war.

Clangours: A sound-based alarm system in Cython, in which bell tones are carried throughout the underground city by a series of pipes.

Command: A powerful compulsion spell.

Crebb: A black-bearded thug who attacks Tali and Holm on the south coast.

Cythe: The name of the Cythians’ island realm in ancient times.

Cythian: Pertaining to Cythe, the name of the land and the kingdom in ancient times.

Cython: The underground city of the Cythonians. After losing the Two Hundred and Fifty Years War, some of the surviving Cythians went into the mines of Cythe fifteen hundred years ago and built a great city there. Cython lies under part of the Seethings, a thermal wasteland.

Cythonian: Pertaining to Cython; also, the people of Cython.

Deadhand: Rixium Ricinus.

Degradoes: The Cythians who survived the Two Hundred and Fifty Years War were herded into filthy camps, and became known as degradoes. Several hundred years later Hightspall burned the camps and the degradoes were killed, save for a group of innocent children who disappeared underground, led by three matriarchs, who founded Cython following the instructions set down by Lyf in the Books of the Solaces.

Deroe: A magian possessed by Lyf’s wrythen over a hundred years ago and used by him to cut out the first ebony pearl. Deroe subsequently rebelled and stole the next three pearls. He was killed by Lyf in Vengeance.

Dibly, Madam: An aged healer, tasked with drawing Tali’s healing blood.

Droag: A lazy guard at Garramide.

Elbrot: A focus used by magians, an elbrot is often in the form of a swirling pattern cut from wood or cast in metal.

Empound: The Pale’s living quarters in Cython.

Engine, the: At the lower end of the Hellish Conduit, in the deep heart of the land, Cythonians believe that a great subterranean Engine powers the workings of the land itself, causing volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and other phenomena. The Engine has to be kept in balance by the king’s healing magery, but since king-magery was lost on Lyf’s death two thousand years ago, the land has not been healed and the Engine is increasingly out of balance.

Errek First-King: The first known king of Cythe; the legendary inventor of king-magery. Lyf has recreated a spirit version of Errek, to advise him.

Facinore: A vicious shifter-beast created by Lyf, and subsequently cannibalised to give him a body again, so he would be able to leave his caverns and take charge of the war.

First Fleet: The original fleet that came from ancestral Thanneron to Cythe, two thousand years ago, bearing the Hightspallers (and some Herovians, including those later known as the Five Heroes). Three more fleets came, though the Third or Herovian Fleet was wrecked by a storm and only one person out of seven thousand survived, a girl said to be Grandys’ daughter, but actually adopted by him.

Five Heroes, the: The Five Herovians — Grandys, Syrten, Rufuss, Lirriam and Yulia (later called the Five Heroes) began the war that led to Cythe falling to the Hightspallers, and are credited with founding Hightspall. They all disappeared mysteriously, however. In fact they were hunted down by Lyf’s wrythen, turned to opal, agonisingly, and hurled into the Abysm.

Floatillery, the: An underground canal running from Cython to the Merchantery Exit, where heatstones and other things were traded with Hightspall.

Fortress Rutherin: A grim old fortress on the cliff-top above Rutherin, where the chancellor takes refuge after fleeing from Caulderon.

Garramide: A vast, strong fortress on a high plateau in the Nandeloch Mountains, built by Grandys for his daughter nearly two thousand years ago. Rix’s great-aunt left it to him on her death.

Gauntlings: Humanoid, winged shifters created by Lyf for spying and for carrying his human spies. Gauntlings are prone to insubordination, vengeful malice and madness.

Gift, the: Magery.

Gift, Healing: The ability to heal by the laying on of hands. It’s related to magery, though many people consider it separate from magery. This kind of healing is unrelated to the kind of healing that the kings of Cythe could do, which was a form of magery.

Glimmering-by-the-Water: An ancient temple site on the southern tip of the Nusidand Peninsula in Lake Fumerous; site of the peace conference.

Glowstone: A kind of rock, mined in Cython, which emits a feeble bluish glow. Used for lighting in Cython, and elsewhere.

Glynnie: A young maidservant from Palace Ricinus, aged seventeen. Glynnie begged Rix to allow her and her little brother, Benn, to stay after House Ricinus fell and the chancellor cast out all the house’s servants.

Grandys, Axil: A great warrior and leader; a brutal and treacherous man who was the first of the Five Heroes and the legendary founder of Hightspall. He betrayed the young King Lyf in his own temple, hacked his feet off then walled him up in the catacombs to die, in an attempt to seize Lyf’s powerful king-magery when he died. Grandys failed and the king-magery was lost, but at the point of death Lyf managed to form himself into a wrythen which existed for two thousand years.

Grenado: A hand-thrown exploding weapon.

Grizel: Ugly name the chancellor gives to Tali while she is disguised by his chief magian’s magery.

Healing blood: Tali’s blood, and perhaps the blood of some other Pale slaves, has the virtue of healing. It can even heal some people who have been turned to shifters, if given soon enough. This virtue may be due to exposure to emanations from heatstone.

Heatstone: A kind of rock, mined in Cython, which can be used for a myriad of heating purposes. Rebellious male slaves in Cython are condemned to work in the heatstone mine, which soon bakes them to death. Breaking a heatstone can be fatal because of the vast power released. The heatstone deposit is surrounded by a halo of sunstone, and that by a halo of glowstone.

Hellish Conduit: A winding, exotic passage that leads down from Cython towards the subterranean Engine.

Herovians, the: A persecuted minority who came to Hightspall on the first fleets, seeking their Promised Realm, two thousand years ago. Due to their fanaticism and brutal excess they fell from power and many now conceal their true heritage.

Hightspall: The nation founded by the people who came on the First Fleet, after taking Cythe from the Cythians.

Hillish: One of Lyf’s generals.

Holm: An oldish man, very clever with his hands, who helps Tali. He uses the alias Kroni.

Hox: Twin brothers in Garramide; mutineers.

Hramm: One of Lyf’s generals.

Ice, the: Ice sheets spreading up from the southern pole, and down from the north, are steadily cutting Hightspall off from the rest of the world. The ice is thought due to the Engine at the heart of the land getting out of balance. Many Hightspallers also believe that the land is rising up against them because of the evil way they took it from the Cythians two thousand years ago.

Immortal Text, the: The sacred book of the Herovians. It sets out the guiding beliefs of their faith, tells them where to seek the Promised Realm, and how to take it. Other people believe the Immortal Text to be a pernicious, racist tract which should be destroyed.

Iron Book, the: A book, The Consolation of Vengeance, written by Lyf for his people; the final book thus far of the Solaces. He etched the words of the book onto sheet iron pages, using alkoyl. The book’s appearance in Cython was a call to war, though the iron book was not yet complete when Tali stole it from Lyf. It was subsequently stolen by Mad Wil, a blind Cythonian seer and killer who is obsessed by completing the story in the book.

Iusia (vi Torgrist): Tali’s mother, murdered in front of Tali by Lord and Lady Ricinus for her ebony pearl, at the beginning of Vengeance. They on-sold the pearl to Deroe.

Jadgery: A town in the lower Nandelochs; the enemy have a garrison there.

King-Magery: Magery used by the king or ruling queen of Cythe to heal the land or the people. No one else in Cythe was permitted to use magery. King-magery was only passed on to the new king on the death of the old king. But because Lyf died alone and his body was never found, the death rituals could not be enacted, his king-magery was never passed on, and it was lost. King-magery is different from, and far more powerful than, other forms of magery.

Kroni: An old clock attendant in Fortress Rutherin. Also known as Holm.

Lady Ricinus: Rix’s late mother, a cold, manipulative woman, obsessed with raising the social position of House Ricinus at any cost. She was executed at the end of Vengeance for high treason, and the murder of Tali’s mother and grandmother for their ebony pearls.

Lirriam: One of the Five Heroes, a cold, buxom temptress.

Lizue: A beautiful prisoner in Fortress Rutherin.

Lord Ricinus: Rix’s father, and lord of House Ricinus, formerly one of the wealthiest and most powerful Houses in Hightspall. A foul drunkard, sick with guilt at the crimes his wife forced him to commit. Executed at the end of Vengeance for high treason and murder.

Lucidand: The capital city of Cythe, in ancient times.

Lyf, King Lyf: The eighteen-year-old king of Cythe at the time the first war began. He was betrayed in his own temple by Grandys and the other Heroes, maimed and walled up to die in the catacombs. But after death Lyf’s soul could not pass on, and he used the last of his king-magery to become a wrythen, so as to protect his people and take revenge on the enemy. Later Lyf wrote the Solaces, a series of books which showed his people how to live underground. As a wrythen, he spent the next two thousand years harrying Hightspall, and trying to get his king-magery, and a body, back. He eventually did, partly by using ebony pearls. Then he ordered war against Hightspall.

Magery: Wizardry, sorcery. Magery was brought by the Hightspallers from Thanneron, but has been failing ever since. This is believed to be due to the land they conquered rising up against them. Magery has a different origin to king-magery.

Magian: A wizard or sorcerer.

Maloch: An old sword, made from titane, given to Rix by his mother. It bears an enchantment of protection against magery. Rix is somewhat unnerved by this, though the sword has saved his life more than once. Maloch is a Herovian sword and originally belonged to Axil Grandys.

Matriarchs: When the king-magery was lost, Cythe could no longer have a king, and after the Cythonians took refuge in Cython they were ruled by a trio of matriarchs, who were themselves advised by the Solaces.

Mia: Tali’s best friend, executed in Cython for using magery. Tali blames herself and swore a blood oath to make up for failing Mia. This subsequently became a blood oath to save her people, the Pale.

Mimoy, Mimula: Tali’s great-great-great-grandmother, an irascible, foul-mouthed old woman.

Moley Gryle: Lyf’s personal attendant.

Nandelochs, Nandeloch Mountains: A high and rugged range of mountains in north-east Hightspall. A Herovian stronghold.

Noys: Rix’s captain at Garramide.

Nuddell: One of Leatherhead’s gang, later Rix’s loyal sergeant.

Nurse Bet: An old Pale healer in Cython. She taught Tali self-defence, among other things.

Nusee: Tali’s grandmother, murdered for an ebony pearl.

Oosta: The chief healer at Garramide.

Pale, the: A thousand years ago, a host of noble Hightspaller children were given to the enemy as hostages, but, oddly, never ransomed. Their enslaved descendants are known as the Pale because, having lived underground in Cython all their lives, their skin has never been exposed to the sun.

Pearl, Ebony: Black, marble-sized objects that have grown inside the heads of certain Pale women in Cython, due to radiance from the heatstone deposit. Ebony pearls can enhance a gift for magery many times over, and are beyond price. Only five can exist at any one time. Four of Tali’s ancestors were killed for their ebony pearls and Tali bears the fifth, the master pearl, though few people know this deadly secret.

Porfry: The Keeper of the Records at Garramide; a fanatical Herovian.

Poulter: A four-legged fowl, supposedly created by Lyf to help feed his people after they took refuge in Cython.

Promised Realm: The legendary land the Herovians came to Cythe in search of, but have not yet found (or created).

Radl: A tall, beautiful Pale in Cython. Tali’s enemy since childhood.

Rancid: An oily, vicious guard in Garramide; a mutineer.

Rannilt: A much-bullied slave girl, about ten years old, who escaped from Cython with Tali. Rannilt has an enigmatic gift for magery, manifested by displays of golden radiance. In an attack in Lyf’s caverns he appeared to steal much of her gift and she lay near death for some time afterwards.

Rezire: The curator at Tirnan Twil.

Ricinus: A fabulously wealthy house in Hightspall, toppled by the chancellor after the discovery that the basis of its wealth was the depraved trade in ebony pearls. The name comes from the deadly poison ricin, obtained from the castor oil plant.

Riddum: One of Leatherhead’s gang, later one of Rix’s raiders.

Rixium (Rix): Formerly heir to the vast estates of House Ricinus, he was stripped of this inheritance by the chancellor due to the high treason of Rix’s parents. Rix is a brilliant swordsman, and also a masterful artist, though some of his paintings have been disturbingly divinatory. Rix has recently discovered that he’s Herovian, descended from Axil Grandys himself; he is ambivalent about this. Also known as Deadhand.

Rochlis: Lyf’s greatest general. A man with a conscience.

Rufuss: One of the Five Heroes, a tall, gaunt man whose only pleasure is denial.

Rundi of Notherin: A provincial leader, a murderous coward.

Rutherin: An old fishing port on the south-west coast of Hightspall, now in decline because the sea level has fallen and the coast is well offshore of its former position.

Salyk: A compassionate female Cythonian soldier who found Rix’s brilliant portrait of his father, and saved it, disobeying Lyf’s order to burn it. She later rescued Tobry but was put to death by her own people for aiding the enemy.

Seethings, the: A thermal wasteland of boiling pools, chymical lakes and deadly sinkholes.

Shell racer: Small, light sailboats which can also be rowed by four rowers. Very fast and manoeuvrable, but fragile.

Shifters: Vicious, bastard creatures created by Lyf with the blasphemous art of germine, in order to harry the Hightspallers. Shifters come in a number of kinds, such as hyena and jackal shifters, caitsthes and gauntlings. All are prone to insanity. Exposure to their bite or blood can cause others to become shifters.

Shillilar: A foreseeing. It was Wil’s foreseeing that identified Tali as the one who would change the story Lyf had written in his iron book, The Consolation of Vengeance, and thus change the world.

Solaces: A series of books written by Lyf, detailing various aspects of living underground, which he sorcerously transmitted to the matriarchs of Cython. They are held in the Chamber of the Solaces. There, Wil was the first to glimpse the iron book. He had a shillilar or foreseeing about the one (Tali) but the book burned his eyes out, and he never told the matriarchs the truth about her.

Spectible: A device that can see the aura associated with an enchanted object, or with the use of magery.

Squattery: A communal toilet in Cython.

Stink-damp: Rotten egg gas that seeps up from underground. It’s used for lighting in Caulderon though it’s both poisonous and explosive.

Subsistery: The Pale’s dining hall in Cython.

Suden: The large island south of Hightspall, now covered by the creeping ice sheets.

Sulien: Tali’s great-great-grandmother, murdered for an ebony pearl.

Sullen Man, the: A cold-eyed prisoner in Fortress Rutherin.

Sunstone: A kind of rock, mined in Cython. After exposure to sunlight, sunstone emits a bright light for days or weeks. It’s used to provide “sunlight’ in the underground green farms in Cython. Breaking a sunstone releases all its stored power at once, which is deadly to those directly exposed, and Cythonians (but not Pale) nearby but not directly exposed will be knocked unconscious.

Swelt: The castellan of Garramide, a gross-looking man, but loyal.

Swire: A town in Fennery, scene of the Five Heroes’ ride of glory and initial recruitment drive.

Syrten: One of the Five Heroes, a massive, golem-like man.

Tali, AKA the one: The familiar name of Thalalie vi Torgrist, a Pale slave. She was the first person in a thousand years to escape from Cython. Tali’s mother and three other female ancestors were murdered for magical ebony pearls grown inside their heads, and Tali is being hunted because she bears the fifth pearl, the master pearl, which Lyf needs to complete his plan.

Thanneron: The ancestral homeland of the Hightspallers, on the far side of the world. They came from Thanneron in four fleets, two thousand years ago. All contact with Thanneron was lost after the Fourth Fleet, and it is believed to have disappeared under the ice long ago.

Thermitto: An alchymical powder which burns so hot that it can melt rock; used for mining in Cython by the technique known as splittery.

Thom: A wood boy in Garramide.

Tiddler: A giant of a man in Garramide. A hammer-wielding mutineer.

Tirnan Twil: A remote tower, a kind of museum to the Five Heroes and their heritage.

Titane: A light, immensely strong metal. The secret of how to forge it has been lost.

Tobry Lagger: Rix’s brave, clever but disreputable friend, Tobry lost everything when House Lagger fell when he was about thirteen. Tobry had a mortal fear of shifters, and of becoming one himself, because his maternal grandfather became one and stalked the house, and Tobry was forced to kill him to save his father. At the end of Vengeance, Tobry became a caitsthe because it was the only way to save his friends. He survived, but the chancellor subsequently ordered him hurled from the top of Rix’s tower to his death. Rix calls him Tobe.

Tordy: One of Leatherhead’s thugs, whom Rix casts out of Garramide.

Two Hundred and Fifty Years War, the: The war that Grandys began a couple of years after the arrival of the First Fleet. It ended 250 years later (1,750 years ago) with the utter defeat of Cythe.

Vi Torgrist: Tali’s family name. Vi Torgrist is an ancient house which first came to Hightspall on the Second Fleet, but is now extinct except in the Pale.

Vomits, the: A trio of immense active volcanoes, the Red, Brown and Black Vomits, south-west of Caulderon. Cythonian legend holds that a fourth Vomit blew itself to bits in ancient times, creating the vast crater now filled by Lake Fumerous.

Wil, Mad Wil, Wil the Sump: A lowly, blind Cythonian who has shillilars, and is addicted to sniffing alkoyl. Wil is obsessed by the story set down in the iron book; but the story has gone wrong and he wants to set it right by rewriting the prophetic book.

Wiven: An old historian-mage Tali sees while using her gift to spy on Lyf.

Wrythen: The semi-solid shape Lyf’s spirit takes on after he dies.

Yestin: A local lord who helps Rix in the raid on Jadgery.

Yudi: One of Rix’s ne’er-do-wells, a crude fellow.

Yulia: One of the Five Heroes, she is the conscience of the group.

Zenda: Tali’s great-grandmother, murdered for an ebony pearl.