Shadow Scale (69 page)

Ikat
—physician, civic leader of the dragon exiles in Porphyry

Colibris
—Ikat’s daughter, forever young

Lalo
—exiled saarantras, eager to go home

Mitha
—quigutl of Lab Four, friend to Eskar, insurrectionist and folksinger

General Zira
—prominent Loyalist general

General Palonn
—prominent general for the Old Ard

General Laedi
—new strategist for the Old Ard, the butcher of Homand-Eynn

Sir Cuthberte Pettybone
—knight of Phina’s acquaintance, too old for war, too young to die

Sir Maurizio Foughfaugh
—erstwhile squire of Phina’s acquaintance, still a dedicated nuisance

Sir Joshua Pender
—training the next generation of dracomachists

Squire Anders
—the next generation, easily dazzled

Agogoi
—founding families of Porphyry, now make up the ruling Assembly

Allsaints
—all the Saints in Heaven. Not a deity, exactly; more like a collective

ard
—Mootya for “order, correctness”; may also denote a battalion of dragons

Ardmagar
—title held by the leader of dragonkind; translates roughly to “supreme general”

aurochs
—large, wild cattlebeast, extinct in our world; existed in Europe until the Renaissance

Bibliagathon
—great library of Porphyry

Blystane
—capital of Samsam

Castle Orison
—Goreddi seat of government, in Lavondaville

Censors
—extra-governmental dragon agency charged with maintaining draconic purity

Chakhon
—Porphyrian god of chance, sometimes called Merry Chance

Comonot’s Treaty
—established peace between Goredd and dragonkind

destultia
—draconic drug; an emotional suppressant, analgesic, and pyrocardia cure

Donques
—village in the Ninysh alps

doublet
—short, fitted, and often padded man’s jacket

dracomachia
—martial art for fighting dragons; invented by St. Ogdo

excision
—surgical removal of memories from deviant dragons, performed at the discretion of the Censors

Fnark
—Samsamese village, site of St. Abaster’s shrine

gaar
—Porphyrian anchovy paste, more delicious than it sounds

Goredd
—Seraphina’s homeland, one of the Southlands (adjective form: Goreddi)

Heaven
—Southlanders’ afterlife, as outlined by the Saints in scripture

Homand-Eynn
—site of a terrible Loyalist defeat

houppelande
—robe of rich material with voluminous sleeves, usually worn belted; women’s are floor-length; a man’s might be cut at the knee

ityasaari
—half-dragon (Porphyrian)

Ker
—council of dragon generals that advises the Ardmagar

Kerama
—capital of the Tanamoot

Lab Four
—secret Censorial facility in the Tanamoot

Laika
—island near Porphyry where the Porphyrian navy moors

Lakhis
—Porphyrian goddess of necessity, sometimes called Dread Necessity

Lavondaville
—Seraphina’s hometown and the largest city in Goredd, named for Queen Lavonda, who made peace with dragonkind forty years ago

Loyalists
—dragons who take Comonot’s side in the civil war

Meconi
—river leading from the Omiga Valley to the interior of the Tanamoot

Metasaari
—Porphyrian neighborhood, home to exiled saarantrai

Montesanti
—monastery of St. Abaster’s Order in Ninys

Mootya
—language of dragons, rendered in sounds a human mouth can make

Ninys
—country southeast of Goredd, one of the Southlands (adjective form: Ninysh)

Old Ard
—dragons opposed to Comonot and his Loyalists

Omiga
—principal river of Porphyry

oud
—lute-like instrument, often played with a pick, or plectrum

palasho
—palace (Ninysh)

Pinabra
—vast pine forest in southeast Ninys

Porphyry
—small city-state at the mouth of the Omiga River, northwest of the Southlands; originally a colony of dark-skinned people from even further north; may also refer to its territories along the Omiga River

psalter
—book of devotional poetry, usually illustrated; in Goreddi psalters, there’s a poem for each of the major Saints

pyria
—sticky, flammable substance used in dracomachia for setting dragons on fire; also called St. Ogdo’s fire

pyrocardia
—deadly heart condition in dragons

Quighole
—dragon and quigutl ghetto in Lavondaville

quigutl
—small, flightless subspecies of dragon with a set of dexterous arms in place of wings; do the dirty, fussy jobs that dragons can’t or won’t

saar
—Porphyrian for “dragon”; often used by Goreddis as a short form of
saarantras

saarantras
—Porphyrian for “dragon in human form” (plural form: saarantrai)

St. Abaster
—defender of the faith; hates dragons, but loves smiting; revered in Samsam, but popping up all over

St. Capiti
—representing the life of the mind; Phina’s substitute patroness

St. Clare
—patroness of the perceptive

St. Fionnuala
—Lady of Waters; called Fionani in Ninys

St. Gobnait
—patroness to the diligent and persistent; cathedral in Lavondaville named for her

St. Ida
—patroness of musicians and performers; music conservatory in Lavondaville named for her

St. Ogdo
—founder of dracomachia; patron of knights and of all Goredd

St. Pandowdy
—lost Saint

St. Tarkus
—another one

St. Willibald
—patron of markets and news; called Wilibaio in Ninys and Villibaltus in Samsam

St. Yirtrudis
—the heretic; Phina’s true patroness; author of an interesting testament

Samsam
—rain-soaked country south of Goredd, one of the Southlands (adjective form: Samsamese)

Segosh
—capital of Ninys, center of art and culture (adjective form: Segoshi)

shawm
—oboe-like instrument

skittle-pin
—small pin used in lawn or table bowling

Skondia
—Porphyrian harborside neighborhood

Southlands
—Goredd, Ninys, and Samsam together

Tanamoot
—dragons’ vast country north of the Southlands, wild and mountainous

Vasilikon
—Porphyrian seat of government

Zokalaa
—great square of central Porphyry