Colin Tabor - The Fall of Ossard

New Moon’s Night – The night of rioting against the Flet slaves in the Core that marked the fall of the Fourth Dominion over two hundred years ago (see Def Turtung). Known to the Lae Velsanans as Lae Lunis Pors.

Newbank – The main Flet district of Ossard, and found on the south east side of the Cassaro River. It is very poor, mostly unsewered, crime-ridden, and crowded.

Northern Sea – The chill and grey sea between Ossard and Fletland.

Northcountry – The rugged and steep valleys about Ossard that are farmed to feed the city, and through the rich city-state’s history have been mined for valuable metals to pay for its rise to power and influence.

Oblivion – The fourth world, a place of nothingness, and a place where souls that are drained or used send their shadows. There is no chance for rebirth or regeneration for any soul lost to oblivion.

Old Wair-Rae – The Fourth Dominion, which fell during the upheavals caused by the revolt of the Flet slaves triggered by the bloody riots in Yamere on New Moon’s Night (known to the Flets as Def Turtung – the Killing).

Oleander – A wild bush that grows to twice the height of a middling man, has toxic sap and leaves, and is extremely hardy. It grows out from its core, is roughly round, generally not thick in its greenery, with long and thin leaves. It has flowers of pink or white that appear in bunches, but wilt when cut. Its canes are now Ossard’s most commonly used timber.

Ossard – A city-state of just under a million people, and member of the Heletian League. A large minority of the population of Ossard (a wealthy city of merchant princes) are Flets, although they have largely missed out on their share of the city’s wealth. The wealth of the city is controlled by the Heletian majority. A third of the city-state’s population reside within the walls of the city, the rest across farming settlements in the Northcountry.

Pedro Liberigo – See Liberigo, Pedro.

Pillar-cities – The cities of the Lae Velsanans, named as such for their builders’ penchant for summoning pillar-towers to crown their cities. Notable pillar cities of Lae Wair-Rae are; Yamere, Lae Bareth, Akermanis, Rumaza, Milcama, Markae, Jor Jamilla, and Andrin Lae.

Pits, The – The name given to the hellish underworld that doomed spirits are sent to by unforgiving gods according to most middling folklore and theology.

Praagerdam, The – The lost land of the Flets, an autonomous district of Old Wair-Rae, the Fourth Dominion of the Lae Velsanans. It was overrun and razed during Def Turtung.

Prince Jusbudere – The eleventh son of High King Caemarou. Despite his youth, already famed as an exceptional warrior, commander and leader.

Quersic Quor – Centre of the gargoyle nation, and nesting place of Dorloth. Formerly the capital of the fallen Second Dominion, Kalraith.

Quorin – The common language used across Dormetia, particularly as a trading tongue. It has Lae Velsanan roots.

Quor – A colony of the Lae Velsanans’ Fifth and Final Dominion of Lae Wair-Rae. It is also the closest Dominion territory to Ossard

Rabisto – One of the many faces of the Horned God. He is the patron of the lucky, of the risk takers, and thieves and bandits. He is also known by the names of Tabiro and Ranndolf.

Rajis Jenn – See Jenn, Rajis.

Reformers – The followers of the new saints.

Renegade – A mage who uses heart magic and refuses to join the Cabal and follow its rules. Many renegades are necromancers or sanjo drajos (blood drinkers).

Rosa Sorrenta’s – The establishment visited for Juvela’s Mint Lady outing.

Rose Tree – The now extinct symbol of Ossard. This small tree used to cover much of the Northcounty, but was wiped out by blight and the need for timber by the booming mines and the growing city. It grew to three times the height of man, and each spring and autumn would come to flower with generous white rose-like blooms.

Saint Baimio – Son of Krienta, and leader of the Heletians in the Heletian-Ogre wars of five centuries ago. He was elevated into godhood and the celestial after defeating the Ogres at Ba-Mora and razing the mountain city.

Saint Marco – The patron saint of travellers in the Church of Baimiopia. He lived four hundred years ago in the Kramer Confederation to the south. St Marco’s church and square were built opposite Newbank to appeal to the recently arrived Flet refugees two hundred years ago.

Saldaens – The low race of man. These short and squat people live a longer life than that of the middling races, and one denoted by contentment. They have a close affinity for nature. They can only be found in numbers in New Saldae and Heletian Saldae.

Sanjana – Southern Heletian word for blood.

Sanjo – Northern and standard Heletian word for blood.

Sanjo Drajo – Renegade sorcerers who almost exclusively base their power on blood magic, by harvesting it from others.

Sankto Glavos – The holy knights of the Inquisition.

Santana – One of the new saints, proclaimed by the Heletites as the saint of children. Also the Burvois word for blood.

Schoperde – The Flet name for the goddess, Life.

Sef Vaugen – See Vaugen, Sef.

Seig Manheim – See Manheim, Seig.

Serhaem – The most south-eastern colony of the Lae Velsanans’ Fifth and Final Dominion. It is a city-state positioned strategically between the two Heletian League states of the Kramer Confederation and Greater Baimiopia.

Sisterhood, The – A secretive and forbidden organisation that governs the exclusively female wielders of mind magic. Local cells or covens communicate through the celestial mind-to-mind, and are able to link their cell-minds with others to create networks that augment their power. They owe their allegiance to no body, nation, or god.

Because of their secretive and single-minded nature they are outlawed and distrusted.

Soul-Eater – A slang term for a powerful being (soul) that uses others for strength by feeding. This feeding can be done unconsciously in the way of receiving loyalty or faith, or by the outright consumption of the souls of the dying.

Soul Harvest – A time of soul gathering, when gods come to claim their followers back. Usually marked by catastrophe and calamity.

Spirit Guide – The prophesied mentor for the coming saviour of the Flet people.

Tampanna Sea – The sea to the east of the Ossard’s Northcountry.

Terura Kala – The term the highest race of man, the Lae Velsanans, uses for the cults of the dark powers that try and corrupt. The middling races of man know the same groups as the followers of the Horned God.

Troiths – The climbing towers that rise from the ruins of the Second Dominion’s cities in Kalraith. They’re said to be built from stone and bone, and stand as parodies of the Lae Velsanans’pillar-towers. They are the homes of the emerging gargoyle race.

True Name – The key to a soul.

Una Jenn – See Jenn, Una.

Unae – The name given to the mortal world.

Van Blomstein, Vilma – The sorceress burnt at the stake by the Inquisition, and who helped trigger the riots that saw the Black Fleet forced from Ossard (The Burnings). Mother to Inger Van Leuwin, and grandmother to Juvela Van Leuwin.

Van Leuwin, Inger – Daughter of the witch, Vilma Van Blomstein, and mother of Juvela Van Leuwin. Also wife to Josef Van Leuwin.

Van Leuwin, Isabella – Wife to Juvela’s second cousin, her chaperone for her Mint Lady Outing.

Van Leuwin, Juvela – Daughter of Inger and Josef Van Leuwin, wife to Pedro Liberigo, and mother to Maria Liberigo.

Vangre – The wealthiest city-state of the Heletian League member, the Kramer Confederation, far to the south.

Vaugen, Anja – Sef’s wife, now deceased.

Vaugen, Sef – Bodyguard to Juvela through her childhood, and widower to Anja Vaugen.