Margaret Weis - Elven Star

Elven word, meaning “boss.”

candy, the elven expression for someone passing fiction off as the truth, is a human concoction much loved by elves, who are extremely fond of sweets. The candy tastes quite delicious but eating too much can have dim consequences on elven digestive systems.

Human measure of time, equal to a fortnight.

Firebrand—a length of wood soaked in resin that flames quickly when the proper rune is spoken.

A word used by both Sartan and Patryn to designate those of the “lower” races—human, elf, and dwarf. Applies to all equally.

A navigational device developed by the Quindiniars. A sliver of ornite is suspended in a tiny globe of magically enhanced glass. Because ornite always points a certain direction (believed by elven astrologers to be a magnetic pole), this direction is labeled norinth. The other directions are determined from that point.

An extremely large, squirrellike animal that can bound swiftly over flat plains on all fours or can glide from treetop to treetop, utilizing a winglike flap of skin, connecting its front and hind legs.

Without any means to navigate, exploration was extremely hazardous because the odds were slim that a person leaving one place would ever find his way back to it.

Labyrinth takes its toll on those imprisoned there. Those Patryns who are driven insane by the hardships are known as “gatecrashers” due to the peculiar form the madness took, leading all its victims to run blindly into the wilderness, imagining that they have reached the Last Gate.

The elves are a matriarchal society; by elven law, land holdings, residence, and household goods pass from mother to eldest daughter. Businesses remain in the hands of the elven males. The house, therefore, belongs to Calandra. All the Quindiniars—including Lenthan, her father—live there by her sufferance. Elves have great respect for their elders, however, and therefore Calandra would politely term the house “her father’s.”

Elven for “I don’t understand.”

Stout beer.

Haplo, Pryan, World of fire, vol.2 of Death Gate journals.

The Fifth Realm—often called Limbo or simply the Nexus by those who are unfamiliar with its structure—is divided into three concentric regions. The outermost region is called the Nexus and is the place where the Deathgates of all realms converge. Four of the Deathgates lead to the Elemental Realms while the fifth gate leads into the Labyrinth. Beyond the Labyrinth lies the Vortex. It was in this place that the Sartan originally imprisoned the Patryns. After three millennia, the Patryns managed to escape the Vortex through the Labyrinth and gain control over the Nexus and all of its Deathgates.