Serpent Mage

1

Xar A Chronicle of Power, vol. 24. The personal daily journal of the Lord of the Nexus. (Xar was not his real name. It is not a Patryn name at all in act, and is undoubtedly one he devised himself, possibly a corruption of the ancient word tsar, derived from Caesar.)

2

The term used by both Sartan and Patryns to refer to the lesser races—humans, elves, dwarves. It is interesting to note that this word is borrowed from one of the many pre-Sundering human languages (probably German) and means “people.”

3

References to Haplo’s journeys to the worlds of Arianus, Pryan, and most lately to Abarrach, recorded in previous volumes of The Death Gate Cycle.

4

Lazar: the terrible necromancers of Abarrach, the Realm of Fire, whose living souls are trapped in dead bodies.

5

Since the Sartan language is magic in and of itself, Sartan have two names: a private name which is magical and could possibly give another Sartan power over them and a public name that tends to nullify magic.

6

Dear Stranger, a journal kept by Grundle Heavybeard, princess of Gargan.

7

Father or king. The queen is known as Muter—mother.

8

One of many small, habitable landmasses created by the Sartan. Their name derives from the fact that these small moons orbit the seasun of Chelestra, albeit on the inside, not the outside.

9

Dwarves make several stages of progression through life, beginning with the Time of Weaning, proceeding through the Time of Seeking, and advancing into the Time of Sense. Dwarves are not permitted to marry until they reach the Time of Sense, when it is considered that the hot blood of the Seeking time has cooled into the common sense of adulthood. This is equivalent in human terms to about fifty years of age. After the Time of Sense, at approximately the age of two hundred, dwarves pass into the Time of Wisdom.

10

The seasun’s position relative to the seamoons makes it appear, to those standing on these particular moons, as if the sun is in the water beneath them. Light shines from the water, therefore, not the sky. The sky itself often appears a turquoise color that comes from mosses growing on the surface of the air-caverns of the seamoon.

11

Dwarven standard of measure: 1 stadion = 620 dwarf feet. The stadion is also a dwarven footrace that commemorates the combined Times of the reign of the first two kings. Whether the race was named after the standard or vice versa is not known.

12

Dwarven military service is organized around family clans whose young men serve together as a unit. Units, known as regos, are organized under the clan master. Hartmut commands a rego consisting of four clans, thus his title. Above him are the rego master, the marshall, the clan master, and, finally, the Vater.

13

The dwarves on Chelestra believe that they are all descendants of the only two dwarves to have survived the Sundering and that they are, therefore, all related to each other. While the legend is highly suspect, it does help explain the solid unity of the dwarfs, who have a strong regard for family. In this sense, the royal family are viewed more as parent figures than as monarches.

14

Dwarves use the more appropriate term sinking rather than sailing to describe travel in a submersible. Humans and elves prefer the ancient terminology.

15

Humans were the first to communicate with the dolphins and learn their language. Elves think dolphins amusing gossips, entertaining conversationalists, fun to have at parties. Dwarves, who learned how to talk to the dolphins from the humans, use dolphins mainly as a source of information on navigation. Dwarves—being naturally suspicious of anyone or anything that is not a dwarf-do not trust the dolphins, however.

16

Humans and elves claim that the dolphin is not a fish, but a species similar to themselves, because dolphins give birth to their young the same way they do. Dwarves have no use for such a nonsensical notion. Anything that swims like a fish is a fish, according to dwarves.

17

Children are extremely valued in the Labyrinth and are raised by the Squatters. Runners, such as Haplo, would often father children but, due to the nature of their lives, could not stay with a tribe to raise it. Female Runners, becoming pregnant, would move into a Squatter tribe until the babe was born, then give it to one of the Squatter families to raise.... from Runners, such as Haplo’s parents, would cease their Run and move in with a Squatter tribe until the child was old enough to keep up with them. Such instances were very rare. The fact that Haplo has any memory at all of his biological parents is quite remarkable among Patryns.

18

Although Chelestra is a world made up entirely of water, there are places where large pockets of gases collect to form gigantic bubbles. One of these bubbles surrounds Death’s Gate, probably placed there purposefully by the Sartan, in order to allow time for the traveler to make the transition from one world to another, and to prepare his vessel for entry into the sea.

{19}You will note Alfred does not use a formal title, such as “sir” or “my lord” when speaking to the Head of the Council, which was the ruling body in Sartan society. Such distinctions of rank or class were supposedly unknown in Sartan society at the time of the Sundering. It would, however, have been more correct of Alfred to refer to Samah as Brother. The fact that Alfred does not indicates his continued distrust of his own people.

20

Time on the seamoons is regulated by the passage of the seasun from under one shore to its rising on the opposite side. Human wizards determined this to be a 150-degree arc and split the day into two sextans of 75 degrees. Each sextan is divided into 5 signe; a signe is made up of 60 minutes.

21

A duenna is a member of the royal court who acts as chaperon to unmarried women.

22

As related in Fire Sea, vol. 3 of The Death Gate Cycle.

23

A position of honor, granted to those deemed most likely to be full members of the Council at some future date. The post is often hereditary, but is open to all Sartan. Applicants come before the Council and must pass certain secret tests, pertaining not only to their abilities in magic, which must be superior, but to their general knowledge. Servitors act as pages, runners, and must be prepared to defend the Council members in the unlikely event that they are ever attacked. There are seven Servitors, but only two attend regular Council sessions.

24

By safe, Haplo means that no children could come of such a dalliance, since the various races are not genetically compatible.

25

The pricklebulb fish. Spherical with long razor-edged fronds, it emits a bright light that serves as a lure for its victims. If it feels threatened, its light glows even brighter, until it blinds the potential predator and drives it away. For this reason, it is wise to keep the lantern well fed and comfortable.

26

Human translation: the Dark Place.

27

Similar in appearance to jellyfish, each has a shared intelligence with all the others, each one contains all the knowledge of the entire group. They make excellent spies, since what one learns is instantly passed on to every other gushni on Chelestra. They cannot speak and are probably linked to the dragon-snakes telepathically.

28

Fire Sea, vol. 3 of The Death Gate Cycle.

29

Living space is a problem for dwarves on the seamoons. Since dwarves prefer to dwell below ground level, they build their homes in tunnels beneath the seamoon’s landmass. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the inner core of the moon is, in reality, a living being, the dwarves found themselves unable to go beyond a certain point. The dwarves don’t know the moon is alive; they struck a protective mass through which they could not penetrate.

30

A reference to the elven practice of hiding bad-tasting medicine in sugared rose petals.

31

Most likely cedar.

32

Why, if Samah feared the scroll’s discovery, didn’t he burn it?

“I believe,” writes Alfred, in an addendum to this section, “that Samah had an innate regard for the truth. He tried to deny it, attempted to suppress it, but he could not bring himself to destroy it.”

33

The people of the Labyrinth can be divided generally into two groups: the Runners and the Squatters. The Runners are those who, like Haplo, seek to escape the Labyrinth. They travel alone; their lives are restless, short. The Squatters have banded together to form tribes for protection and to provide for the continuance of the race. They are nomadic, but do not move as fast or far as the Runners. Survival, not escape, is their primary goal.

34

Humans, when in their own homeland of Phondra, have no use for furniture. They sit on the ground, sleep on the ground—a practice both elves and dwarves consider barbaric and another reason that meetings of the royal houses were generally held on Elmas.

35

One reason the elves are extremely amenable to the constantly shifting nature of their coral dwellings. All furniture, clothing, bedding, and suchlike would have to be moved anyway.

36

It is a widely held belief among the Elmas that the short life span of humans is due entirely to their unfortunate habit of sleeping on the ground. Phondrans, on the other hand, view the tall elven beds with horror, are terrified that they will roll off in the night and kill themselves. The Gargan find the entire argument ridiculous. As long as there is solid stone above him, a dwarf could sleep standing on his head. Unfortunately, however, this is one reason many dwarves do not travel comfortably by ship.

37

A reference to what the dwarves know as scurvy.

38

Dwarves have a low regard for fish and eat it only when no other, more substantial, food is available. A slang word among dwarves for fish is elmas-fleish, or “elf-meat.”

39

Reference to a popular dwarven drinking game, the rules of which are far too complex to describe and probably wouldn’t be believed anyway.

40

Reference to the startling and horrifying discovery that the dead were being brought to life in Abarrach, recounted in Fire Sea, vol. 3, The Death Gate Cycle. It is theorized that for one person to be brought to life untimely, another will die untimely.

41

A reference to Alfred’s adventures with the child Bane, the assassin Hugh the Hand, and his first meeting with Haplo, recounted in Dragon Wing, vol. 1 of The Death Gate Cycle.

42

A more complete history of the Patryns can be found in Fire Sea, vol. 3 of The Death Gate Cycle.

43

The next several pages of Grundle’s journal chronicle events previously related. Since-with one exception—they correspond with Haplo’s account, these passage will be deleted. The exception is Devon’s attempted suicide, which Grundle describes as an “accident while picking sugarfruit.” It is interesting to note that even in her own private writings, she loyally perpetuates the deception.

44

This is, however, the last entry in Grundle’s journal.

45

As stated previously, Grundle leaves us no record of later events. We must refer, therefore, to this account, which is taken from Haplo’s Chelestra: World of Water, volume four, Death Gate journals.

46

Reference to Haplo’s fight with the chaodyn, Dragon Wing, vol. 1 of The Death Gate Cycle.

47

Dwarves do not like green vegetables; the potato, the carrot, and the onion are the only vegetables in the dwarven diet, and even these they will not eat raw.

48

Sound is the most reliable form of communication in the sea. Ship captains know and utilize the various distinct sounds that the seamoons—the durnai-make as they drift through the water. These sounds are detected by “elf ears,” magical devices made by elven wizards that pick up the sounds and transmit them through a hollow tube to the ship’s captain. By noting the various locations of these sounds and their distances, the position of the ship can be determined.

Unfortunately, however, the captains would be familiar only with their own local waters. Out of those waters, they must now rely on the dragon-snakes for guidance.

49

For further information on these magical battles, see Appendix I.

50

Extremely unlikely, considering the wide degree of difference in the magical constructs of each race. Most battles were won through sheer luck, though you would never find the victor who would admit it.

51

See “Magic in the Sundered Realms, Excerpts from a Sartan’s Musing,” in Dragon Wing, vol. 1 of The Death Gate Cycle.

52

One theory holds that this game was played by mensch children desirous of emulating Sartan (or Patryn) heroes.

53

Excerpt from a treatise, untitled, discovered in the library of the Sartan on Chelestra.