The Great Bazaar and Other Stories (10 page)

"Don't worry,
don't worry," she said, patting his back. "The poison will leave your
muscles soon." She bent close, caressing his hair, and whispered, "It
moves next into your gut."

Evin let out a low
moan into the dirt.

"I promised
Brianne I'd keep quiet about this," she said. "Herb Gatherers have an
oath to hold secrets, and I'll not break that. But that doesn't mean I can't
act on my own."

She gripped his
hair tightly, forcing his head to turn towards her. "Look at me," she
commanded. He tried weakly to pull away, but she held tight, pushing up his
chin with her free hand to make him meet her eyes.

"You think
hard," she said, "when you're screaming in the outhouse tomorrow.
Think about how the next time I have to treat Brianne or one of the children because
of you, you'll think of today as nothing. I'll make your bones scream, and your
pathetic little dangle shrivel up like a raisin. I'll leave you hobbling on a
cane before you see your thirtieth summer."

Evin looked at
her, his eyes wide with terror. A lather of spit foamed out of his mouth, and a
tear ran down his cheek.

She let go and
stood. His head fell back to the dirt, flopping oddly.

"You think
hard," she said again. Turning, she found herself face to face with
Brianne.

She froze as
Brianne looked down at her husband convulsing on the ground, and then back to
Leesha. Their eyes met for what seemed like forever. Finally, Brianne nodded
once. Leesha nodded in return, and Brianne turned and went back into the cabin.

"Brianne is at
least seven weeks pregnant," Leesha said. "She told Evin a week ago,
and some time not long after, he beat her. The child is fine, but I treated two
broken ribs and a number of bruises."

Bruna nodded as if
Leesha had said nothing more than it looked like rain. "She begged you not
to tell, I assume," she said.

"How did you
know?" Leesha asked. Bruna raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't bother to
reply.

"What did you
do about it?" the crone asked.

"I stuck him
with a needle dipped in slipsnake venom and told him I'd do worse the next
time," Leesha said.

Bruna cackled and
slapped her knee. "Couldn't have done better myself!" she howled.
"Boy won't touch her again, and I wager he'll squirt his breeches the next
time he sees you!"

"That was the
idea," Leesha said, reddening.

"My children
will be in good hands with you one day," Bruna said.

"No day soon,
I hope," Leesha replied.

"Not for a
while yet, at least," Bruna agreed, with a hint of sadness.

ABBAN: Wealthy
khaffit
merchant, crippled during his warrior training.

ALAGAI
:
Corelings, demons.

ALAGAI'SHARAK:
Holy War against demonkind.

AMIT: Crippled
dal'Sharum
with a peg leg who is Abban's principal rival in the Bazaar.

ANOCH SUN: Lost
city that was once the seat of power for Kaji. Believed claimed by the sands.
People and artifacts called Sunian.

ASU: Son, or
"son of." Used as a prefix in formal names.

BAHA KAD'EVERAM:
Krasian hamlet renowned for its pottery, destroyed by demons in 306AR. Name
translates as "Bowl of Everam." People known as Bahavans.

BAZAAR, GREAT:
Merchant district of Krasia. It is run and frequented almost entirely by women
and
khaffit,
because such business is considered beneath the warrior and
clerical castes.

CAMELPISS:
Something or someone low and unworthy, vulgar.

CHABIN: Father of
Abban.
Khaffit.

CHAMBER OF ETERNAL
SORROW: Torture chamber in the underground tunnels beneath Sharik Hora used for
heretics and traitors.

CHIN:
Outsider/infidel. Insulting connotation, implying that the person is a coward.

COUZI: a harsh,
illegal Krasian liquor flavored with cinnamon. There is a brisk underground
market because a small easily-concealed flask will get several people drunk.

DAL'SHARUM:
Krasian warrior caste.

DAMA:
Krasian clerical caste.
Dama
are religious and secular leaders of
Krasia.
Dama
wear white robes and carry no weapons. All are masters of
sharusahk
unarmed combat.

DAMAJI:
Tribal leaders/high priests. Their council is the ruling body in Krasia.

DAMA'TING:
Krasian Priestesses and healers. Said to have magic powers,
dama'ting
are held in fear and awe by all outside their order.

DESERT SPEAR, THE:
The Krasian term for their city, Fort Krasia.

DRAVAZI, MASTER:
Famous pottery artisan from Baha kad'Everam. His fine pottery became priceless
posthumously.

EVERAM: The
Creator.

GREEN LANDS: The
lands north of the Krasian desert.

GREENLANDER: One
from the green lands.

JAMERE: Abban's
nie'dama
nephew.

KAJI: The ancient
Krasian leader who united the tribes and then the known world in holy war
against the demons. Believed to have been the first Deliverer, who will come
again.

KHAFFIT:
Men who fail warrior training and are forced to take a craft. Lowest caste in
Krasian society.
Khaffit
are forced to dress in the tan clothes of
children and shave their beards as a mark of shame.

NIE'DAMA
:
Young clerical acolytes;
dama
in training. Literally "not
dama.'"

NIGHT VEIL: Veil
worn by warriors to show unity and brotherhood in the night.

PAR'CHIN:
Literally "Brave outsider;" singular title for Arlen Bales to qualify
that, though
chin
, he is no coward.

PIG-EATER: Krasian
insult meaning
khaffit.
Only
khaffit
eat pig, as it is considered
unclean.

SHARIK HORA:
Temple made out of the bones of fallen warriors. Literally "Heroes'
Bones."

SHARUSAHK:
The Krasian art of unarmed combat.

TRIBES: Krasia is
divided into 12 tribes: Anjha, Bajin, Halvas, Jama, Kaji, Khanjin, Krevakh,
Majah, Mehnding, Nanji, Sharach, and Shunjin. Tribe is considered part of one's
name.

UNDERCITY: Huge
honeycomb of warded caverns beneath Fort Krasia where the women, children, and
khaffit
are locked at night to keep them safe from demons while the men
fight.

INTRODUCTION:

Wards are magical
symbols whose origins are lost to history. Long thought to be the stuff of
superstition, their power was rediscovered when, after an absence of thousands
of years, the demon corelings returned to plague the surface of the world.

By themselves,
wards have no power. Demons, however, are infused with core magic, and wards
siphon a portion of that magic away, repurposing the energy. The most common
wards are defensive in nature, but a handful of wards that can achieve other
effects are known, and in theory, it is possible to create a ward for any
desired effect. Recently, mankind has discovered offensive wards, which can
actually harm demons, who are otherwise immune to hand weapons and can quickly
recover from almost any injury.

Defensive wards draw
magic from demons to form a barrier (forbiddance) through which the demons
cannot pass. Wards are strongest when used against the specific demon type to
which they are assigned, and are most commonly used in conjunction with other
wards in circles of protection. When a circle activates, all demon flesh is
forcibly banished from its line. Some examples:

Defensive ward
against:
Clay Demons

First appeared:
The Great Bazaar

Description:
Clay demons are native to the hard clay flats on the outskirts of the Krasian
Desert. Small, they are about the size of a medium-sized dog, made from compact
bunched muscle, and thick, overlapping armor plates. They have short hard
talons that allow them to climb most any rock face, even hanging upside down.
Their orange-brown armor can blend invisibly into an adobe wall or clay bed.
The blunt head of a clay demon can smash through almost anything, shattering
stone and denting fine steel.

Defensive ward
against:
Flame Demons

First appeared:
The Warded Man/The Painted Man

Description:
Flame demons have eyes, nostrils, and mouths that glow with a smoky orange
light. They are the smallest demons, ranging from the size of a rabbit to that
of a small boy. Like all demons, they have long, hooked claws and rows of razor
sharp teeth. Their armor consists of small, overlapping scales, sharp and hard.
Flame demons can spit fire in brief bursts. Their firespit burns intensely on
contact with air, and can set almost any substance alight, even metal and
stone.

Defensive ward
against:
Mimic Demons