The Hollow Queen (60 page)

Solarrs:
Anborn's lead scout and longtime man-at-arms; a First Generationer of the Third Fleet

Tristan Steward:
the Lord Roland, highest ranking duke in Roland; imprisoned by Ashe for unknowingly fraternizing with the F'dor demon Portia in case he is her thrall

THE MESALLIANCE, THE PERPETRATORS OF THE WAR OF THE KNOWN WORLD

Beliac:
King of Golgarn, nervous monarch of the seafaring nation; fears being eaten by Bolg

Dowager Empress:
Leitha, Empress of the Dark Earth; killed and usurped by Talquist

Dranth:
guild scion of the Raven's Guild, an organization of assassins in Yarim

Esten:
guildmistress of the Raven's Guild, deceased

Faron:
the titan of Sorbold; a Faorina spirit, the denatured, bastard child of a F'dor demon and a Seren woman; now in a Living Stone body with the appearance of a titanic statue of a soldier, sharing it with Hrarfa

Fhremus Alo'hari:
supreme commander of Sorbold's land force; uncle of Kymel

Hjorst:
the Diviner of the Hintervold, a sophisticated and educated man in a primitive role; the religious and political leader of the Icemen in the north, who divines the future chiefly through animal sacrifice and other animist practices

Hrarfa:
the F'dor spirit in the Living Stone body of Faron; of the Older Pantheon; one of the few remaining of the Unspoken, a demon that escaped the Vault

Kymel:
a young soldier; Fhremus's sister's son; an idealist, fifth-generation soldier

Michael, the Wind of Death:
soldier from the Lost Island, known occasionally as the Waste of Breath, a voluntary host to a F'dor demon; the seneschal; the Baron of Argaut, deceased

Stephanus:
a second lieutenant and subcommander under Titactyk, army of Sorbold

Talquist Rev-Penthor:
the Merchant Emperor of Sorbold, in possession of one of the oldest of scales from Sharra's Stolen Deck, who rigged the Scales to usurp the throne

Titactyk:
a regimental commander in the army of Sorbold

Yabrith:
second-rate member of the Raven's Guild of assassins

ADDITIONAL PERSONS AND MYTHIC BEINGS

Earthchild, the:
a conjured being made of Living Stone and brought into life by a willing sacrifice of part of a dragon's soul, in eternal slumber in the Bolglands. The rib from such a child could be used as a key to open the Vault of the Underworld.

Evrit:
slave in a Sorbold ore mine, shipwrecked with his fellow religious pilgrims and family only to fall into Talquist's hands

Grandmother, the:
ancient Dhracian guardian of the Earthchild/Sleeping Child; deceased

Halphasion, Father:
Achmed's mentor from Serendair, named him the Brother

Jacinth Specter:
sailor on the
Flying Sails;
witness to the attack on Avonderre Harbor

Jarzben:
the elder of Evrit's sons, enslaved in the same ore mine as he is

Lady Rowan, the:
the Keeper of Dreams, the Guardian of Sleep; Yl Breudiwyr; a manifestation of Time in the world beyond Death but before the Afterlife

Lord Rowan, the:
the Hand of Mortality; the Peaceful Death; Yl Angaulor; a manifestation of Time in the world beyond Death but before the Afterlife

Miraz of Winter:
a lesser Diviner in the Hintervold

Portia:
a chambermaid, also a First Generation Cymrian possessed by a demon in the employ of Tristan Steward, who brings her to the household of Rhapsody and Ashe

Selac:
the younger of Evrit's sons, enslaved with his family, location unknown

Sharra:
the ancient Seren Seer who read fortunes on the Island of Serendair from a deck of dragon scales (see Given Deck and Stolen Deck); believed to be deceased

Syrus Turley:
captain of the
Flying Sails
; witness to the attack on Avonderre Harbor

Talthea:
also known as the Gracious One or the Widow; the daughter-in-law of MacQuieth Monodiere Nagall; a First Generation Cymrian; deceased

Weaver, the:
the manifestation of Time in history, found behind the Veil of Hoen on the doorstep of the Afterlife. She sits behind an enormous loom, weaving the tapestry of history. It is said that no one can remember what her face looks like after it is seen.

DUKES OF ROLAND/NOBILITY OF CYMRIAN ALLIANCE

Baldasarre, Dunstin:
younger brother of Quentin Baldasarre; duke of Bethe Corbair

Baldasarre, Quentin:
duke of Bethe Corbair

Canderre, Cedric:
duke of Canderre; the Baldasarres' uncle; Madeleine's father

Karsric, Ihrman:
duke of Yarim

Ivenstrand, Martin:
duke of Avonderre

Navarne, Gwydion:
seventeen-year-old duke of Navarne

Navarne, Stephen:
late duke of Navarne; Gwydion and Melisande's father; Ashe's best friend

Steward, Lady Madeleine Canderre:
Cedric's daughter; the Lord Roland's wife; known among the nobility and the populace as the Beast of Canderre

Steward, Tristan:
Lord Roland and Prince of Bethany

ARCHONS

Archon:
a Firbolg child chosen from one of the clans by Achmed and Rhapsody, selected for special skill and intelligence and trained to be a leader in the society

Dreekak:
the Archon known as the Master of Tunnels

Greel:
the Archon known as the Face of the Mountain/Mining

Harran:
the Loremistress

Krinsel:
the Archon of the Midwives

Kubila:
the Archon of trade and diplomacy

Ralbux:
the Archon in charge of Education

Trug:
the Archon of communications known as the Voice

Yen:
the broadsmith; the Archon in charge of weaponry

RATH'S LIST OF F'DOR DEMONS AND OTHER PREY

Ficken:
the greedy Glutton, preying on unsuspecting small folk, both of stature and spirit

Fraax:
F'dor, loose in the upworld, unknown of character

Hnaf:
the Outcast of Outcasts, mistrusted by his own kind, possessed of cheap malice

Hrarfa:
the Liar of Liars, more scent than fire, beckoning with false promises

Sistha:
F'dor, loose in the upworld, unknown of character

Ysk:
the name the Firbolg gave Achmed upon birth, meaning spittle or vomit

DRAGONS

Dyancynos, Elynsynos, Marisynos
(deceased),
Talasynos, Valecynos:
the Five Daughters, the firstborn children of the Progenitor Wyrm. Each guarded one of the five World Trees, the gigantic trees that grew in each of the places where Time began, as measured by the first appearance of one of the five elements on the Earth. Dyancynos (Frothta, Water); Elynsynos (Great White Tree, Earth); Marisynos (Sagia, Ether); Talasynos (Eucos, Air); Valecynos (Ashra, Fire). Their lost sibling, the sixth egg of the original clutch, is the Sleeping Child, the dragon within the earth comprising one-sixth of its mass. The F'dor seek to awaken the Sleeping Child so that it can consume the Earth.

Chao:
a sparkling, evanescent creature from the bright lands of the rising sun

Mikanic:
from the Great Overward, his hide like the sand of the desert in which he lives

Mylinmacr:
a dragon lore-singer and historian; Witheragh's grandmother; deceased

Salinus:
lives in great salt beds, his white hide streaked with yellow and gray

Sidus:
a coal dragon from the lands of darkness beyond the sea

Sinjaf:
the vaporous steward of poisonous swamps and everglades

Witheragh:
the dragon who guards the Molten River of Fire in the Nain kingdom

ELEMENTAL BASILICAS

Abbat Mythlinis:
the basilica of Water in Avonderre (name actually means
Father of the Ocean-born
, but is believed to mean
Master of the Sea)

Lianta'ar:
the basilica of the Ether, the Patriarch's basilica in Sepulvarta (name actually means
Bearer of Light
, but is believed to mean
Light of the World
)

Ryles Cedelian:
the basilica of Air dedicated to the wind in Bethe Corbair (name actually means
Breath of Life
, but is believed to mean
Spirit of the Air)

Terreanfor:
the basilica of Earth/Living Stone at Night Mountain in Sorbold (name actually means
King of the Earth
, and is correctly translated from Old Cymrian)

Vrackna:
the ringed temple of elemental Fire in Bethany (name is actually the name of a demon from the old world, but is believed to mean
Fire of the Universe)

THE LIGHTCATCHER

Primordial lore, words of deep magic from the Dawn of Time, reveal the power of vibrational color and the properties that each wavelength of light possesses. Each note except the last in the scale has both a sharp and a flat property, usually the opposite of one another. The Lightcatcher was an enormous instrumentality built into the dome of Gurgus Peak, the tallest of the inner peaks of the Teeth, and through the use of colored light, the pitch associated with it, and a true name, the properties of the colors could be accessed. The specific properties and names of the parts of the light spectrum are:

Red:
Lisele-ut
; sharp: Blood Saver (healing); flat: Blood Letter (killing)

Orange:
Frith-re
; sharp: Fire Starter (ignition); flat: Fire Quencher (snuffing)

Yellow:
Merte-mi
; sharp: Light Bringer (illumination); flat: Light Queller (darkening)

Green:
Kurh-fa
; sharp: Glade Scryer (viewing within vegetation or terrain), flat: Grass Hider (hiding within vegetation or terrain)

Blue:
Brige-sol
; sharp: Cloud Chaser (making things clear); flat: Cloud Caller (obscurement)

Indigo:
Luasa-ela
; sharp: Night Stayer (holds off darkness); flat: Night Summoner (brings on darkness)

Violet:
Grei-ti
; the New Beginning (overturns reality in favor of a new version)

EXPLANATION OF THE SCALES OF THE STOLEN DECK

Nine dragon scales harvested from the sixth of the original clutch of dragon eggs, the infant wyrm taken by the F'dor and secreted in the cold depths of the Earth, eternally asleep, awaiting awakening. Each scale is one of the seven colors of light, with their powers noted earlier, plus black and white.

The white scale, one of the two most powerful and awful of the Stolen Deck, was said to have no image inscribed upon it at all. It symbolized Life or Creation, and was thought by many to be a picture of the very face of God. Its counterpart, the black scale, had inscribed upon it a picture of a key, a terrible harbinger of its power to open the Vault itself. It symbolized Void or destruction.

—Rath's explanation,
The Assassin King

EXPLANATION OF THE SCALES OF THE GIVEN DECK

A larger collection of scales sacrificed by younger dragons later in history when the Vault was ruptured by a star known as Melita, later also called the Sleeping Child, which fell to Earth and impacted it. Weaker because they are younger, each of the scales is color-specific and has a lesser power associated with it.

PLACES

Abbey of Nikkid'sar, the:
a respite for lost or orphaned children and their caretakers

Argaut (continent of Northland):
a seafaring city of dark intent and commerce

Avonderre Harbor:
the largest harbor on the Middle Continent; on the central west coast

Axis Mundi:
the centerline of power through the Earth, bisecting it

Bolglands, the:
the former citadel called Canrif, carved into the mountains called the Teeth

Cauldron, the:
part of the Bolglands that was Gwylliam's seat of power, now Achmed's

Cave of the Lost Sea:
the lagoon of salt tears in the lair of the dragon Elynsynos

Circle, the:
center of the Filidic religion, where the Great White Tree stands

Citadel of the Star
(the City of Reason): Sepulvarta, the holy city of the Patrician faith

Cymrian museum, the:
Lord Stephen Navarne's historical collection of Cymrian artifacts

Deep Kingdom, the
(Undervale): the kingdom of the Nain

Dovecote, the:
the name by which Anborn calls Elysian, warning Rhapsody away from it

Easton:
eastern port city in Serendair where Rhapsody lived when she met Achmed and Grunthor

Elysian:
the underground grotto with a cottage in the center of a lake in the Bolglands

Gaematria, the Isle of the Sea Mages:
where magic and the sea are studied as sciences

Golgarn:
the southeastern port kingdom whose king surrendered his ships to Talquist

Grivven:
the tallest peak of the Outer Teeth; a command center and observation post

Gurgus:
in the Bolglands; the highest mountain past the steppes and before the canyon that separates the Cauldron from the Deeper Realms in which the Lightcatcher is housed

Gwynwood:
northern part of the Great Forest of the western continent

Haguefort:
keep belonging to the family of Stephen Navarne