The Curse of the Mistwraith

Of Strakewood’s complement of nine hundred and sixty, scarcely two hundred men lived, half that number wounded; fourteen boys of Jieret’s generation were all that survived Etarra’s campaign against Arithon. The Tal Quorin’s waters rolled muddied and stinking, and a swathe of ancient greenwood lay razed and fire scarred and smoking.

Unless the hunters ranged far into the mazed back glens of the river basin, game for the stewpots was thin and scarce.

As hungry and tired as the men who had lost their families and their lifestyle to defend their rights of territory, Arithon s’Ffalenn raised a stone still clotted with mud and moss and placed it against the cairn that marked the burial of Steiven, Earl of the North, caithdein and Warden of Ithamon. Interred at his side rested his beloved Lady Dania, whose piercing wit and intuition would provoke and delight no man further. Silenced by remembrance, the Master of Shadow scuffed dirt from split fingers on the leathers her kindness had provided him. Then he bundled an arm about the shoulders of the boy who stood motionless at his side.

‘Your parents were fine people, Jieret. I was proud to know them. Forgive me if I can’t always match up to your memory of their example.’ Under his hands, the boy quivered.

Arithon tactfully let him go.

Jieret pushed back his sleeve cuffs and pulled out the whittling knife he had used to carve toys for his sisters. He turned it over and over like a talisman while, careful not to watch the boy’s tears, Rathain’s prince knelt on earth still thrashed and torn from the passage of heavy destriers. ‘Here,’ he said, and gently removed the dagger from the boy’s hand. With a care that appeared to consume his attention, he began to scratch runes of blessing and guard on the river slate that crowned the cairn.

The patterns used in the ritual configuration of magic held a certain stark beauty; each traced line captured thought in severe simplicity which offered its own consolation. As Arithon sketched the intricate angles, the circular curves and interlocked ciphers, he spoke. ‘A kingdom and its prince are only as strong as their warden. Caithdein, when you come of age, I’ll be honoured to swear oath on your blade. I can already say you’ve served this land’s prince. If not for your courage, Rathain’s royal line would be ended, and your father’s fine work gone for nothing.’

Jieret dashed his cheek with the back of one dirt-grained wrist. Red hair sprang like wire between the folds of a bandage, cut from the silk shirt sewn by Sethvir for the ceremony of Arithon’s coronation. The peculiar sharp attentiveness he had taken from his mother stayed trained in unswerving contemplation of the gravestones. In words not those of a child he said, ‘Your Grace, my father’s life was never wasted in your service. He made me understand as much, when he told me he knew he was going to die. One day, perhaps before I come of age, you will need me again.’

Oddly caught out in embarrassment, Arithon paused. ‘Well. On that, Ath forfend, I hope you’re wrong.’ The figure under his hands was complete. He lifted the blade and studied the balanced geometrics of patterns learned when his fingers were barely old enough to grip a chalk stick. But unlike his childhood scrawlings on slate in his grandfather’s study, he sensed no subliminal surge of energy. Whether this mark in Strakewood held power to ward, or whether its lines were just pretty scratchings copied over by rote from memory, he had no means in him to tell. The odd, static flashes of mage-sight that had plagued him since shaping the banespell had diminished, until finally he could summon no vision at all.

The self-discipline learned at Rauven remained; but to the craft he had mastered, his senses had gone dumb and dead. Arithon sought the essence of the trees and the air but perceived only as other men saw.

Grief remained, of a depth he could share with no one. Not for the first time since his choice to pursue his s’Ffalenn inheritance, he missed the counsel of the cantankerous s’Ahelas grandfather who perhaps still lived in Rauven’s master tower. Dascen Elur with its wide oceans lay behind, forever lost. Here spread a land whose sky, hills and rivers held secrets only partially studied. Cut short in the midst of discovery, Arithon felt deprived of an arm or a leg; or as an artist suddenly blinded to colour in a hall filled with masterworks.

Across the glen, through the sun-dappled pillars of lichened trunks, the layered harmonics of a lyranthe being tested for pitch threaded the forest. As personal as written signature, Halliron’s favourite tuning phrase spattered fifths like a running spill of coins. Each note pierced Arithon’s perception, separate as the impact of small darts. As if in counterbalance to reft senses, his awareness of sound had grown acute. Birdsong never rang so pure in his ears, and the clang of pickaxe and steel as graves were covered over never clashed so wincingly dissonant.

Still on his knees, Arithon stabbed Jieret’s knife into dirt. He bowed his head. As he had the past night laid hands to cold flesh, today he touched his palms to old stone and stilled his inner awareness. He had personally accomplished the ritual to free the sundered spirits of these, his lost friends. Something of residual peace should emanate from the bones now embraced in quiet earth.

Nothing; he felt nothing at all.

Arithon sighed, a tightness to his shoulders the only sign of the ambivalence that wrenched him. Even the cairn stones were mute. Where the least fleck of sand from the creek bed should ring in its essence with the grand energies that defined all existence, these disparate rocks gave back the scrape of rough edges against the uncalloused burn barely scarred over since Etarra. Left only memory, Arithon touched nothing of the true reality known to mages at all, but saw only the flat spectrum of visible light. The ghostly resonance left on this land by Paravian inhabitance, that Asandir had attuned to his being in the hills of Caith-al-Caen, would neither thrill nor harrow him, now. If he wished he could walk Ithamon’s ruins and not be haunted.

Mastery of his shadows remained; but no knowledge to suggest whether time would heal his other gifts.

‘They’re starting.’ Jieret touched his prince’s wrist to rouse him. The shadows had moved. An interval had passed that Arithon found difficult to measure. Deshir’s survivors at some point had set aside tools to gather into a circle for the rite to honour their dead.

Arithon recovered Jieret’s knife from the earth and straightened up. ‘I’ll listen from here.’ He began to return the small blade to the boy, then impulsively hesitated. ‘Let me keep this,’ he asked. ‘As the steel we used to swear bloodpact, I’d like to have it. To use. To have you know that I think of you often.’

‘You’re leaving us.’ A statement; Jieret did not sound surprised. Not yet a man, more than a boy, he had too much pride to ask why. In a manner that reminded painfully of Steiven, he said, ‘You forget, I think, that I offered you that same blade already.’

Arithon tossed it, absorbed by the flash of the river pearl handle as it turned and landed with a slap in his palm. ‘When I’d finished the tienelle scrying. I remember.’

‘That’s a good knife for carving willow whistles,’ Jieret said. ‘I shan’t be needing it any longer.’ And he gestured toward its replacement, a narrow, quilloned main gauche he wore strapped to his belt. ‘Ath go with you, my prince.’

Arithon tucked the little knife into the tight-laced leather that cuffed his shirt. Then he pulled Jieret to him and exchanged a fierce embrace that he broke with a quick push to send the boy off toward his people.

Within the latticed sear of strong sun that striped through branches singed of foliage, Deshir’s clansmen in their war-stained, ragged leathers joined hands. Their circle parted to include Jieret, then unravelled a second time as a stocky figure in studded belts and black bracers broke away. Caolle, Arithon identified by the vehement thrust of the man’s stride. The clan captain had keen intuition, but in the absence of Dania’s sisterly intolerance, he retained all the style of thrown brick.

At the centre of the circle, incongruous in the slashed elegance of black silk and gold, Halliron stood in the restored splendour of his court clothing, his lyranthe tuned in his hands. He called.

But with Steiven dead and himself left trustee of the clans Caolle deferred to no one. He stamped across the churned ground with his bootcuffs slapping and his shoulders hunched up, and his whiskered chin jutted for argument.

Behind him, somebody said something commiserating and the clansmen quietly closed the gap.

Craggy from strain and sleeplessness, grazed by brush burns and patched red from accumulated midge bites, Caolle looked ready to murder. ‘You’re leaving us,’ he accused.

Suppressing a wince as his tone grated against an almost painful sensitivity, Arithon felt no answering anger. ‘I must.’ He looked back in forceful directness that forestalled Caolle’s bluster. Across the thicket the soft, sad notes of Halliron’s lyranthe gentled the quiet: the opening phrases of the ritual to sing Deshir’s dead into memory. This was the first open sentiment any clansman had shown, and would firmly and finally be the last.

The flight to take refuge in Fallowmere would begin immediately following the ceremony.

Caolle waited, fumingly impatient. Then as the poignance of Halliron’s playing touched even his bearish mood, he hooked large-knuckled thumbs in his swordbelt. ‘You can tell us why.’

Unflinching, Arithon continued to regard him. ‘I think you know. Where I go, Lysaer’s armies will follow.’ He drew a breath.

As though daring insults or evasions, Caolle clamped his hands under taut forearms. He was a man who liked his clothing loose and his belts tight; the blades that were visible on his person drew all the quicker, while the invisible ones stayed unobvious. He regarded his silent liege lord, his black eyes inimical as shield-studs.

The Prince of Rathain gave no ground. Sincere where before he had been secretive, he said, ‘I can neither repay nor restore your losses. Nor would I cheat you with promises I’m powerless to uphold. You gave me life and offer a kingdom. Your lord shared a friendship more precious. In return I give my word as Teir’s’Ffalenn that I won’t squander these gifts.’

That softness covered a will like steel wire, as Caolle had cause to respect. Touched by an uncharacteristic patience, he recalled the ballad of Falmuir and the uncanny tableau up the grotto. Forbearance allowed him not to rise to the hurt, that even after Etarra’s armies, this prince seemed too reticent to place his full trust in the clans.

In the clearing, at the centre of the circle, Halliron raised voice in cadenced expression of pure sorrow. Laid bare by the music, Arithon lost all composure. His throat closed and he half spun away, ashamed of the tears he could not curb. The music broke his will and his feelings for these stern, unbending people undid him. He felt Caolle’s hand close on his shoulder, as it had many times to comfort Jieret.

‘You could be my bastion,’ Arithon admitted, rarely vulnerable. ‘Except for Lysaer. Any who shelter me will become target for his armies. I would not see your great-hearted clans exterminated for my sake. And so I ask your leave to depart, unsupported and alone until such time as I can return and fulfil your cherished hope, to rebuild a city in peace on the foundations of old Ithamon.’

‘I’ve misjudged you.’ Caolle withdrew his gruff touch, and for a long minute the rise and fall of Halliron’s beautiful voice resounded through wood and clearing. Both men listened, each haunted by different regrets. Then Caolle raked back his scruffy, iron-grey hair. ‘I’ll do so no more. But in return, I ask your sanction to raise the clans of Fallowmere, and after them, clansmen the breadth of the continent.’

‘I’m against it.’ Arithon spun around. If his eyes blazed through a sparkle of unshed tears, the force in him was that of a sword unsheathed. ‘I wish no more killing in my name.’

Caolle’s stiff stance rendered the short silence eloquent.

And Arithon gave a sigh that seemed wrung from his very depths. ‘My wife and children were not murdered by headhunters.’ Gentled in a way Caolle would once have disparaged, the Prince of Rathain traced the rune on the clan chieftain’s marker with fingers too fine for the sword but that could, and had, killed in battle. ‘My losses are as nothing to yours. I say that raising an army begs a repeat of this tragedy. But I’m not cold-hearted enough, or maybe I’m no true king at all. I haven’t the nastiness to refuse you. My blessing is yours, if not my approval. Go in grace, captain. Care for Jieret, whom I love as my brother.’

In token of friendship, Caolle offered his palms and accepted the prince’s double handshake. Across their clasped grip, while the song of lamentation spiralled and dipped through the greenwood, he gave his liege a voracious appraisal. The small build and fine bones, the green eyes with their depths and veiled secrets; both harboured deceptive strengths. Nearly too late Caolle had discovered an integrity that admitted no compromise. He would never in words be forced to admit that this scion of Rathain was both perfectly suited and tragically paired with a fate that must waste his real talents. ‘One day you’ll be grateful for our support, your Grace. We lend ourselves gladly. One could say it’s not meet for Maenalle s’Gannley in Tysan to swear fealty to s’Ilessid unwarned.’ He released Arithon’s hands and stepped back. ‘Ath keep you safe from all harm.’

‘And you.’ Arithon’s mouth bent, a softening just short of warmth. ‘We’ve been adversaries. I’m not sorry. If I had my choice, your sword would go rusty for want of use. Hate me for that all you wish.’

Caolle’s chin puckered. For the sake of the mourning song still in progress, he coughed back a raw burst of laughter. ‘My sword,’ he said firmly, ‘will only get rusted when I’m dead. Dharkaron break me for idiocy, how did I come to swear fealty to a dreaming fool?’

‘You were duped.’ Arithon grinned. ‘Lord Steiven did that to both of us.’ He turned and, with quiet lack of ceremony, strode away from the riverbank.

Caolle watched him go, narrow-eyed, tightness like a fist at his throat. As Halliron struck chords for the lamentation’s final stanza, the war captain of Deshir’s clansmen whispered, ‘Go in grace, my prince.’

The song dipped and mellowed, softened through its closing bars to a brushed note that quavered and trailed away into the rustle of flame-seared leaves. By then the Teir’s’Ffalenn in his tattered black tunic had vanished from sight. Whether trees had hidden him, or some trick of shadow, Caolle found impossible to tell.

Dusk settled over Strakewood. In clear silver light, under trees like cut felt against cobalt, Arithon sat on a beech log. His tucked up knees cradled folded arms. His cuff laces dangled over hands without tension as he listened to the first, uneven chorus of frogs in the marshes. He savoured the quiet as day ebbed and softly surrendered to nightfall. The first star appeared, a scintillating pinprick between the pines; he looked on its solitary beauty without mage-sight to unlock its mystery.

Later was soon enough to decide where to go. This moment content to hang his thoughts on the sweet descending triplets of a woodthrush, he closed his eyes and lost himself in the abiding whisper of pine tassels stroked by the breeze.

He had no one to answer to. Nothing burdened him but a scorched conscience and a sword he would have given sight to have exchanged for the lyranthe left in Etarra.

Absorbed and relaxed, Arithon suspected nothing until a stick snapped loudly behind his shoulder.

He shot spinning to his feet and came face to face with a figure picked out in sparkles of gold chain and jewels.

Halliron Masterbard stood still decked out in his topaz studs, sure sign he had ended his stay with the clans. The fine buttons that fastened his cloak and hung his beautifully cut cape sleeves swung and glittered even in failing light.

Serene, his veined hands folded on the strap that slung his lyranthe, the Masterbard said, ‘It’s a poor time for solitude, your Grace.’

Arithon bridled. ‘It’s a worse hour for companionship with close to eight thousand lives done and wasted.’ Since the bard had presumed he was brooding, he would foster that impression to be rid of him. ‘I didn’t ask for sympathy. I thought I made my wishes clear to Caolle?’

Halliron clicked his tongue behind spaced front teeth. ‘No need to raise your temper.’ Unwilling to accept such short shrift, he seated himself on the log the Master of Shadow had just vacated. Against his dark doublet, his pale hair spread over his shoulders like watered silk. ‘I thought it wouldn’t hurt to ask whether you’d join me on the road. Fallowmere holds little to attract me. I’ve lingered overlong in the north.’

Nettled now deeper than artifice, Arithon recoiled backward. ‘Ah no.’ He sounded as if somebody had hit him, or as if he shied off from hidden fear. ‘I’ll be no man’s company after this. You of all men should best understand my motive.’

‘You’re not the first prince to take your oath through times of strife.’ Gold chains shivered in reflection as the bard shrugged. ‘Daelion knows you won’t be the last. And you won’t, though you try, put me off through a show of self-pity.’

Arithon stiffened. ‘I think you’ve said enough.’ The words were a warning, which Halliron ignored by remaining in unbroken tranquillity on the log. In the forest, the wood thrush had silenced. More stars burned through the branches, and the frogs sang their rasping bass chorus. The balance had fled; twilight had ebbed unnoticed, and the gloom now swallowed even the brittle spark of the topaz studs.

The veneer of peace so thinly established shattered suddenly beyond recovery. Into a silence that reproached, Arithon said in breaking anguish, ‘Ath help me, I had to stay. Without conjury or shadow, do you think any clansman would have survived to hear your lament for Deshir’s dead?’

‘Well, that’s now behind you,’ Halliron said placidly. ‘Guilt is no use to anybody. The only thing a man gains from his past is the power to ensure his future. You can see the same circumstances are not permitted to happen again.’

‘I was doing just that, I thought.’ Arithon’s anger intensified to a level that admitted only pain. The moment still haunted and cut him, that Lysaer’s death and an end to Desh-thiere’s geas had been balanced by Jieret’s life. His voice skinned and raw, the Master added, ‘Will you leave? I’m quite likely to survive without counsel.’

‘Well that may be. Except that I was the one come begging.’ The Masterbard folded his supple hands and maddeningly, solemnly regarded the ground between his boots. ‘If you’d unstop your ears and still your infernal s’Ffalenn conscience, you’d see that I’m an old man. I need a strong shoulder on the wheel when my pony cart mires in these bogs, and somebody ought to partner my rambling on the nights when cold rains drown my fire.’ A mischievous tilt to his lips, he looked up. ‘Never mind that your talents need schooling. If those fingers of yours are ever to shape more than promise, I’m offering the lowly station of minstrel’s apprentice, your royal Grace. Will you accept?’

Arithon stared at him, his rigid bearing abandoned and repudiation stupid on his face. He sat down on the deadfall, banged his elbow on a branch and tangled his calf in the sword-scabbard he had forgotten he still wore. Faintly breathless, he cursed.

Mildly amused, and also queerly tense and vulnerable, Halliron chuckled. ‘The choice is that awful? You can’t pretend to be surprised.’

‘No.’ A choke or a strangled phrase of laughter twisted in Arithon’s throat. ‘Does the minstrel Felirin have prescience?’

‘What?’ The Masterbard lost his composure. His heart in his eyes, and his knuckles clamped together in white knots, he radiated panicked trepidation.

Arithon looked back at him and grinned. ‘Well, it’s simple. Felirin forced me to a promise once should you ever come to offer me apprenticeship.’

‘And?’ Halliron sounded smothered. He had raised both hands to his throat as if he needed help to keep breathing. ‘And?’

‘I shall have to accept,’ Arithon said. ‘I’ve been party to all else but oath-breaking, these days. My score with the Fatemaster’s bad enough.’

‘You devil!’ Halliron shot to his feet with a force that jostled a thrum of bass protest from his soundboard. ‘You let me think you’d turn me down!’

‘Well, you let me think you’d come to lecture.’ Arithon laughed now with a bursting joy that dissolved the last of his antagonism. ‘Fiends take me, I wanted to kill you for that.’

‘Well you lost your chance. You carry the greatest blade in Athera and never once thought enough to use it.’ Halliron started walking decisively. ‘My pony and cart are hidden in a brushbrake somewhere up the Tal Quorin. Once we find them, I’m fixing a strong pot of tea.’

Then he stopped with a suddenness that caused Arithon to narrowly miss crashing into him.

‘No,’ said Halliron, his expressive voice queerly jangled. ‘No. I’m needing no tea. The truth is that’s not what I’m wanting at all.’ There and then in the darkness, he unstrapped his bundle and tugged off oiled leather coverings. ‘Play me that tune I once asked for.’ Not waiting for answer he thrust his beautiful instrument into the arms of his apprentice.

Arithon caressed the scrolled soundboard, drew a breath that smelled of wax and resins and fine wood. He could not speak. He feared to move, lest he disturb the frailty of his happiness. Halliron Masterbard had laid a lyranthe between his hands and offered his heart’s whole desire.

Unseen in the fragrant summer gloom, the shy woodthrush ventured a last, lyric arpeggio. Crickets rasped undisturbed by any approaching footstep. After a moment of fractured suspension, Arithon laid to rest his final fear. He accepted that no one would burst from the wood in appeal for a cause he could not for conscience fail to shoulder.

For this night and others he was free. He could sit, set his hands to silver strings and at long last, bend sorrow into music.

Reflections

In Mirthlvain Swamp, Asandir and Dakar join Verrain’s patrol of black pools, to check for resurgence of meth-snakes before the seasonal autumn spawning: Traithe and Kharadmon arrive in Shand; and while the Fellowship’s hope for the south centres on one last prince raised in hiding, the Warden of Althain tracks two cursed royal heirs who survive, and awaits against hope any sign that the Black Rose Prophecy might still hold valid…

In Korias the hour after sunrise, First Enchantress Lirenda presents report from the lane-watch to her mistress, Morriel Prime; and the news is unhappily received, that the initiates entrusted with scrying through fifth lane vibrations have lost track of the Master of Shadows…

In the lightless shaft of Rockfell, sealed behind triple rings of wards, the Mistwraith that once blocked sunlight from Athera languishes in confinement; and if it knows that its grand curse to destroy two half-brothers has once been tested and thwarted, it endures in unquiet hatred…

Glossary

ADON – statue of centaur king, one of the twins who founded the Ilitharis Paravian royal line in the First Age. The carving forms one side of the arch of Standing Gate on the road leading east into the Pass of Orlan, Camris, Tysan.pronounced: a-don, rhymes with ‘hay don’root meaning: daon – gold

ALATHWYR TOWER – one of five towers built by Paravians in the middle of the First Age at Ithamon, principality of Daon Ramon, Rathain. Its stonework of white alabaster is warded by the virtue, Wisdom. It stands North, of the four towers that remain standing in the Third Age; hence the common name used by men, being Compass Point Towers, or Sun Towers.pronounced: ah-lath-weer (a’s to rhyme with as) emphasis on middle syllableroot meaning: wisdom: alath – to know; wyr – all, sum

ALITHIEL – one of twelve Blades of Isaer, forged by centaur Ffereton s’Darian in the Second Age from metal taken from a meteorite. Passed through Paravian possession, acquired the secondary name Dael Farenn, or Kingmaker, since its owners tended to succeed the end of a royal line. Eventually was awarded to Kamridian s’Ffalenn for his valour in defence of the princess Taliennse, early Third Age.pronounced: ah-lith-ee-elroot meaning: alith – star; iel – light/ray

ALTHAIN TOWER – spire built at the edge of the Bittern Desert, beginning of the Second Age, to house records of Paravian histories. Third Age, became repository for the archives of all five royal houses of men after rebellion, overseen by Sethvir, Warden of Althain and Fellowship sorcerer.pronounced: al like all, thain to rhyme with mainroot meaning: alt – last; them – tower, sanctuaryoriginal Paravian pronunciation: alt-thein (thein as in ‘the end’)

AMROTH – kingdom on West Gate splinter world, Dascen Elur, ruled by s’Ilessid descendants of the prince exiled through the Worldsend Gate at the time of the rebellion, Third Age just after the Mistwraith’s conquest.pronounced: am-roth (rhyme with sloth)root meaning: am – state of being; roth – brother ‘brotherhood’

ANGLEFEN – swampland located in Deshir, Rathain. Town of same name at the river mouth with port to Stormwell Gulf. One of the six port towns that link sea trade-routes with Etarra.pronounced: angle-fenroot meaning is not Paravian

ARAETHURA-grass plains in southwest Rathain; principality of the same name in that location. Largely inhabited by Riathan Paravians in the Second Age. Third Age, used as pastureland by widely scattered nomadic shepherds.pronounced: ar-eye-thoo-rahroot meaning: araeth – grass; era – place, land

ARAITHE – plain to the north of the trade city of Etarra, principality of Fallowmere, Rathain. First Age, among the sites used by the Paravians to renew the mysteries and channel fifth lane energies. The standing stones erected are linked to the power focus at Ithamon and Methisle Keep.pronounced: araithe, rhymes with ‘a wraith’root meaning: araithe to disperse, to send; refers to the properties of the standing stones with relationship to the fifth lane forces

ARITHON – son of Avar, prince of Rathain, 1,504th Teir’s’Ffalenn after founder of the line, Torbrand in Third Age year 1. Also Master of Shadow, and the Bane of Desh-thiere.pronounced: ar-i-thon – almost rhymes with ‘marathon’root meaning: arithon – fate-forger; one who is visionary

ASANDIR – Fellowship sorcerer. Secondary name, Kingmaker, since his hand crowned every high king of Men to rule in the Age of Men (Third Age.) After the Mistwraith’s conquest, he acted as field agent for the Fellowship’s doings across the continent. Also called Fiend-Quencher, for his reputation for quelling iyats; Storm-breaker, and Change-bringer for past actions when Men asked to settle upon Athera.pronounced: ah-san-deerroot meaning: asan – heart; dir – stone ‘heartrock’

ATAINIA – Northeastern principality of Tysanpronounced: ah-tay-nee-ahroot meaning: itain – the third, ia suffix for ‘third domain’ original Paravian, itainia

ATH CREATOR – prime vibration, force behind all life.pronounced: ath to rhyme with ‘math’root meaning: ath – prime, first (as opposed to an, one)

ATHERA – name for the continent which holds the Five High Kingdoms; one of two major landmasses on the planet.pronounced: ath-air-ahroot meaning: ath – prime force; era – place ‘Ath’s world’

ATHLIEN PARAVIANS – Sunchildren. Small race of semi-mortals, pixie-like, but possessed of great wisdom/keepers of the grand mystery.pronounced: ath-lee-enroot meaning: ath prime force; lien to love ‘Athbeloved’

ATHLIERIA-equivalent of heaven/actually a dimension removed from physical life, inhabited by spirit after deathpronounced: ath-lee-air-ee-ahroot meaning: Ath – prime force, li’era – exalted place, or land in harmony/li – exalted in harmony

AVAR s’FFALENN – Pirate king of Karthan, isle on splinter world Dascen Elur, through West Gate. Father of Arithon; also Teir’s’Ffalenn 1,503rd in descent from Torbrand who founded the s’Ffalenn royal line in Third Age year 1.pronounced: ah-var, to rhyme with ‘far’root meaning: avai – past thought/memory

BRIANE – name of the warship that was crippled in the engagement against the brigantine in command of Avar of Karthan; the vessel later took Arithon s’Ffalenn captive and bore him to South Isle, and thence to Port Royal on the splinter world of Dascen Elur.pronounced: bry-anna to rhyme with ‘fry anna’root meaning: brianne – gull

BWIN EVOC s’LORNMEIN – founder of the line that became high kings of Havish since Third Age year 1. The attribute he passed on by means of the Fellowship’s geas, was temperance.pronounced: bwin to rhyme with ‘twin’, ee-vahk as in ‘evocative’, lorn as in English equivalent, mein rhymes with ‘main’root meaning: bwin – firm; evoc – choice

CAILCALLOW – herb that grows in marshes, used to ease feverspronounced: rhymes with ‘kale-tallow’root meaning: cail – leaf; calliew – balm

CAITH-AL-CAEN – vale where Riathan Paravians (unicorns) celebrated equinox and solstice to renew the athael, or life-destiny of the world. Also the place where the Ilitharis Paravians first Named the winter stars – or encompassed their vibrational essence into language. Corrupted by the end of the Third Age to Castlecain.pronounced: cay-ith-al-cay-en musical lilt, emphasis on second and last syllables; rising note on first two, falling note on last two.root meaning: caith – shadow; al – over; caen – vale ‘vale of shadow’

CAITHDEIN – Paravian name for a high king’s first counsellor; also, the one who would stand as regent, or steward, in the absence of the crowned ruler.pronounced: kay-ith-day-inroot meaning: caith – shadow; d’ein – behind the chair ‘shadow behind the throne’

CAITHWOOD – forest located in Taerlin, southeast principality of Tysan.pronounced: kay-ith-woodroot meaning: caith – shadow; ‘shadowed wood’

CASTLECAIN – corrupted name for Caith-al-Caen, Vale of Shadows, see entry above.pronounced: castle-cane

CASTLE POINT – port city at the western terminus of the Great West Road, located in the principality of Atainia, Tysan.

CAL – mortal name held by Sethvir before he swore pact with the Fellowship of Seven.pronounced: kalroot meaning is not Paravian. (From English, Calum)

CAMRIS – north central principality of Tysan. Original ruling seat was city of Erdane.pronounced: kam-ris, the ‘i’ as in chrisroot meaning: caim – cross; ris – way; ‘crossroad’

CAOLLE – war captain of the clans of Deshir, Rathain. First raised, and then served under Lord Steiven, earl of the north and caithdein of Rathain.pronounced: kay-all-e, with the ‘e’ nearly subliminalroot meaning: caille – stubborn

CIANOR SUNLORD – Born at Caith-al-Caen, First Age 615. Survived both the massacre of Leorne (caused by methuri, or hate-wraiths out of Mirthlvain Swamp) in year 815, and led the Battle of Retaliation on Bordirion Plain (which by the start of the Second Age had been enveloped by the swamp.) In 826 Cianor’s forces were defeated at Erdane by Khadrim; Cianor retired to Araethura, gravely wounded. Crippled but alive, he is on hand at the arrival of the Fellowship of Seven, when Crater Lake was formed in First Age 827. Healed by Fellowship sorcerers. Appointed Keeper of the Records in 902; stabilized the realm after the murder of high king Marin Eliathe in Second Age 1542. Crowned high king of Athera in Second Age 2545 until his death when a rise of Khadrim called him to war in Second Age 3651.pronounced: key-ah-norroot meaning: cianor – to shine

CIERL-ANKESHED – venom of certain strains of meth-snakes, which causes dissolution of nerve tissue. Paralysis is almost instant, with death following days later. Without a known antidote, the poison is caustic and can be absorbed through the skin.pronounced: key-earl-an-kesh-idroot meaning: cierl – nerve; ankeshed – pain/agony

CILADIS THE LOST – Fellowship sorcerer who left the continent in Third Age 5462 in search of the Paravian races after their disappearance after the rebellion.pronounced: kill-ah-disroot meaning: cael – leaf; adeis – whisper, compound, cael’adeis, colloquialism for ‘gentleness that abides’

CILDORN – city famed for carpets and weaving, located in Deshir, Rathain. Originally a Paravian holdfast, situated on a node of the third lane.pronounced: kill-dornroot meaning: cieal – thread; dorn – net ‘tapestry’

CORITH – island west of Havish coast, in Westland Sea. First site to see sunlight upon Desh-thiere’s defeat.pronounced: kor-ithroot meaning: cori – ships, vessels; itha – five for the five harbours which the old city over-looked

DAELION FATEMASTER – ‘entity’ formed by set of mortal beliefs, which determine the fate of the spirit after death. If Ath is the prime vibration, or life force, Daelion is what governs the manifestation of free will.pronounced: day-el-ee-onroot meaning: dael – king, or lord; i’on – of fate

DAEL-FARENN – Kingmaker, name for sword Alithiel; also, one of many Paravian names for the Fellowship sorcerer, Asandir.pronounced: day-el-far-anroot meaning: dael – king; feron – maker

DAELTHAIN – fifth Compass Point, or Sun Tower, built by Paravians at citadel of Ithamon. This was the King’s Tower, whose warded virtue was Justice. The structure fell on the eve of Marin Eliathe’s murder, and crumbled further through the course of the rebellion. By the time of the Mistwraith’s conquest all that remained was the foundation.pronounced: day-el-they-inroot meaning: dael – king or lord; thein – tower, sanctuary

DAELTIRI – sword carried by s’Ilessid high kings. Forged in Third Age 1240 by Paravian artisans to commemorate friendship on the occasion of Jaest s’Ilessid’s accession to the crown at Avenor.pronounced: day-el-tee-reeroot meaning: dael – king, lord; tieri – steel

DAENFAL – city located on the northern lake shore that bounds the southern edge of Daon Ramon Barrens in Rathain.pronunced: dye-en-fallroot meaning: daen – clay; fal – red

DAKAR THE MAD PROPHET-apprentice to Fellowship sorcerer, Asandir, during the third Age following the Conquest of the Mistwraith. Given to spurious prophecies, it was Dakar who forecast the fall of the kings of Havish in time for the Fellowship to save the heir. He made the Prophecy of West Gate which forecast the Mistwraith’s bane, and also, the Black Rose Prophecy, which called for reunification of the Fellowship.pronounced – dah-karroot meaning: dakiar – clumsy

DANIA – wife of Rathain’s regent, Steiven s’Valerient.pronounced: dan-ee-ahroot meaning: deinia – sparrow

DAON RAMON BARRENS – central principality of Rathain. Site where Riathan Paravians (unicorns) bred and raised their young. Barrens was not appended to the name until the years following the Mistwraith’s conquest, when the river Severnir was diverted at the source by a task force under Etarran jurisdiction.pronounced: day-on rah-monroot meaning: daon – gold; ramon hills/downs

DARI S’AHELAS – Princess of Shand who fled through the western Worldsend Gate at the time of the Mist-wraith’s conquest, to escape the rebellion engineered by Davien. Sethvir trained her in the foundational arts of power to increase her line’s chances of survival. Her descendants ruled Rauven in the splinter world of Dascen Elur.pronounced: dar-eeroot meaning: daer – to cut

DAVIEN THE BETRAYER – Fellowship sorcerer responsible for provoking the great uprising that resulted in the fall of the high kings after Desh-thiere’s conquest. Rendered discorporate by the Fellowship’s judgement in Third Age 5129. Exiled since, by personal choice. Davien’s works included the Five Centuries Fountain near Mearth, on the splinter world of the Red Desert, through West Gate. Rockfell shaft, used by the sorcerers to imprison harmful entities. The Stair on Rockfell Peak, and also, Kewar Tunnel in the Mathorn Mountains.pronounced: dah-vee-enroot meaning: dahvi – fool; mistake an – one ‘mistaken one’

DASCEN ELUR – splinter world off West Gate; primarily ocean with isolated archipelagos. Includes kingdoms of Rauven, Amroth and Karthan. Where three exiled high kings’ heirs took refuge in the years following the great uprising.pronounced: das-en el-urroot meaning: dascen – ocean; e’lier – small land

DESH-THIERE – Mistwraith that invaded Athera from the splinter worlds through South Gate in Third Age year 4993. Access cut off by Fellowship sorcerer, Traithe. Battled and contained in West Shand for twenty-five years, until the rebellion splintered the peace, and the high kings were forced to withdraw from the defence lines to attend their disrupted kingdoms.pronounced: desh-thee-air-e (last e mostly subliminal)root meaning: desh – mist; thiere – ghost or wraith

DESHANS – barbarian clans who inhabit Strakewood Forest, principality of Deshir, Rathian.pronounced: desh-ee-ansroot meaning: deshir – misty

DESHIR – northwestern principality of Rathainpronounced: desh-eerroot meaning: deshir – misty

DHARKARON AVENGER – called Ath’s Avenging Angel in legend. Drives a chariot drawn by five horses to convey the guilty to Sithaer. Dharkaron as defined by Ath’s adepts is that dark thread mortal men weave with Ath, the prime vibration, that creates self-punishment, or the root of guilt.pronounced: dark-air-onroot meaning: dhar – evil; khiaron – one who stands in judgement

DIEGAN – Lord Commander of Etarra’s garrison. Titular commander of the war host sent against the Deshans to defeat the Master of Shadows.pronounced: dee-ganroot meaning: diegan – trinket a dandy might wear/ornament

DURMAENIR – centaur, son of the armourer who forged the twelve Blades of Isaer. Sword Alithiel was fashioned for Durmaenir, who died in battle against Khadrim in the Second Age.pronounced: dur-may-e-neerroot meaning: dir – stone; maenien – fallen

EAST WARD – city in Fallowmere, Rathain, renowned as a port that served the trade-route to Etarra from the Cildein Ocean.pronounced: wardno Paravian root meaning as this city was man’s creation

EDAL – next to youngest daughter, Steiven and Dania s’Valerientpronounced: ee-dollroot meaning: e’ prefix, diminutive for small; dal – fair

ELAIRA – initiate enchantress of the Koriathain. Originally a street child, bought up in Morvain for Koriani rearing.pronounced: ee-layer-ahroot meaning:e’ prefix, diminutive for small; laere – grace

ELDIR s’LORNMEIN – prince of Havish and last surviving scion of s’Lornmein royal line. Raised as a wool-dyer until the Fellowship sorcerers train him for kingship following the defeat of the Mistwraith.pronounced: el-deerroot meaning: eldir – to ponder, to consider, to weigh

ELSHIAN – Athlien Paravian bard and instrument maker. Crafted the lyranthe that is held in trust by Athera’s Masterbard.pronounced: el-shee-anroot meaning: e’alshian – small wonder, or miracle

ELTAIR BAY – large bay off Cildein Ocean and east coast of Rathain; where river Severnir was diverted following the Mistwraith’s conquest.pronounced: el-tay-erroot meaning: al’tieri – of steel/a shortening of original Paravian name, dascen al’tieri which meant ‘ocean of steel’ which referred to the colour of the waves.

ELWEDD – clansman under Steiven’s rule. Wagered Halliron Masterbard that Arithon s’Ffalenn had poor swordsmanship.pronounced: el-wetroot meaning: el – short; weth – sight

ENASTIR – Sunchild, Paravian high king. Son and heir of Lithorn. Ruled in the early Second Age until his death on the talons of Great Gethorn.pronounced: ee-nas-teerroot meaning: e’ prefix for small; nastir – warrior

ENITHEN TUER – seeress in residence, city of Erdane. Where Asandir stays while passing through Camris, Tysan.pronounced: en-ith-en too-erroot meaning: en ‘wethen – farsighted; tuer – crone

ERDANE – old Paravian city, later taken over by men. Seat of earls of Camris until Desh-thiere’s conquest and rebellion.pronounced: er-day-na with the last syllable almost subliminalroot meaning: er’deinia – long walls

ETARRA – trade city built across the Mathorn Pass by townsfolk after the revolt that cast down Ithamon and the high kings of Rathain. Nest of corruption and intrigue, and policy maker for the North.pronounced: ee-tar-ahroot meaning: e’ prefix for small; taria – knots

FALLOWMERE – Northeastern principality of Rathainpronounced: fal-oh-meerroot meaning: fal-ei-miere literally, tree self reflection – colloquialism for ‘place of perfect trees’

FALMUIR – city, once in Kingdom of Melhalla, ruined during a war of succession/never rebuilt. Princess of Falmuir subject of a ballad that Halliron uses to illustrate a point to Caolle after the Battle of Strakewood.pronounced: fal-mu-earroot meaning: ffael – dark; muir – cause

FELIRIN – minstrel who joins Asandir’s party enroute to Erdanepronounced: fell-eer-inroot meaning: fel – red lyron – singer

FELLOWSHIP OF SEVEN – sorcerers sworn to uphold the Laws of the Major Balance, and to foster enlightened thought in Athera

FFERETON s’DARIEN – centaur armourer who forged the Twelve Blades of Isaer, among them, Alithiel.pronounced: fair-et-onroot meaning: ffereton – craftsman/master-maker

GHENT – mountainous principality in Kingdom of Havish; where prince Eldir was raised in hidingpronounced: gent, hard groot meaning: ghent – harsh

GNUDSOG – Etarra’s field-captain of the garrison under Lord Commander Diegan; acting first officer in the battle of Strakewood Forestpronounced: nud-sug to rhyme with ‘wood log’root meaning: gianud – tough sog – ugly

GRITHEN – last descendent, earls of Erdane. Leader of the raid on Asandir’s party in the Pass of Orlan.pronounced: gri-then, rhymes with ‘with hen’root meaning: kierth – mistake; an – one

HADIG – commander of archers, Etarra City Garrisonpronounced: hay-digroot meaning not from Paravian

HALDUIN s’ILESSID – founder of the line that became high kings of Tysan since Third Age year 1. The attribute he passed on, by means of the Fellowship’s geas, was justice.pronounced: hal-dwinroot meaning: hal – white; duinne – hand

HALLIRON MASTERBARD – Masterbard of Athera during the Third Age; inherited the accolade from his teacher, Murchiel in the year 5597.pronounced: hal-eer-onroot meaning: hal – white; lyron – singer

HALMEIN – statue of centaur king, one of the twins who founded the Ilitharis Paravian royal line in the First Age. The carving forms the left side of the arch of Standing Gate on the road leading east into the Pass of Orlan, principality of Camris, Tysan.pronounced: hal-may-inroot meaning: hal – white; mein – haired

HANSHIRE – port city on Westland Sea, coast of Korias, Tysan. Where enchantress Elaira is stationed following her escapade at the Ravens Inn.pronounced: han-sheerroot meaning: hansh – sand; era – place

HAVISH – one of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera, as defined by the charters of the Fellowship of Seven. Ruled by the s’Lornmein royal line. Sigil: gold hawk on red fieldpronounced: hav-ishroot meaning: havieshe – hawk

HAVISTOCK – southeast principality of Kingdom of Havish.pronounced: hav-i-stockroot meaning: haviesha – hawk; tiok – roost

IDRIEN – Jieret’s companion on the raid in which they take Halliron Masterbard captive on the road south from Ward.pronounced: i-dree-enroot meaning: e’ – prefix for small; drien – partner

ILITHARIS PARAVIANS – centaurs, one of three semi-mortal old races; disappeared at the time of the Mistwraith’s conquest.pronounced: i-li-thar-isroot meaning: i’lith’earis – the keeper/preserver of mystery

IMARN ADAER – enclave of Paravian gem-cutters in the city of Mearth, who dispersed in the times of the Curse which destroyed the inhabitants. The secrets of their trade were lost with them. Surviving works include the crown jewels of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera, cut as focus-stones which attune to the heir of the royal lines.pronounced: i-marn-a-day-erroot meaning: imarn – crystal; e’daer – to cut smaller

INSTRELL BAY – body of water off the Gulf of Stormwell, that separates principality of Atainia, Tysan, with Deshir, Rathain.pronounced: in-strellroot meaning: arin’streal – strong-wind

ISAER – power focus, built during the First Age, in Atainia, Tysan, to source the defence-works at the Paravian keep of the same name.pronounced: i-say-erroot meaning: i’saer – the circle

ITHAMON – city built on a fifth lane power-node in Daon Ramon Barrens, Rathain. Originally a Paravian keep; site of the Compass Point Towers, or Sun Towers. Became the seat of the high kings of Rathain during the Third Age and in year 5638 was the site where princes Lysaer s’Ilessid and Arithon s’Ffalenn battled the Mistwraith to confinement.pronounced: ith-a-monroot meaning: itha – five; mon – needle, spire

IYAT – energy sprite native to Athera, not visible to the eye, manifests in a poltergeist fashion by taking temporary possession of objects. Feeds upon natural energy sources: fire, breaking waves, lightning.pronounced: ee-atroot meaning: iyat – to break

JIERET s’VALERIENT – son and heir of Lord Steiven, clan chief of Deshir, earl of the north and caithdein of Rathain. Bloodpacted to Arithon Teir’s’Ffalenn prior to battle of Strakewood Forest.pronounced: jeer-etroot meaning: jieret – thorn

KARFAEL – trader town on the coast of the Westland Sea, in Tysan. Built by townsmen as a trade port after the fall of the high kings of Tysan. Prior to Desh-thiere’s conquest, the site was kept clear of buildings to allow the second lane forces to flow untrammelled across the focus site at Avenor.pronounced: kar-fay-elroot meaning: kar’i’ffael – literal translation ‘twist the dark’ /colloquialism for ‘intrigue’

KARMAK – plain located in the northern portion of the principality of Camris, Tysan. Site of numerous First Age battles where Paravian forces opposed Khadrim packs that bred in volcanic sites in the northern Tornir Peaks.pronounced: kar-mackroot meaning: karmak – wolf

KARTHAN – kingdom in splinter world Dascen Elur, through West Gate, ruled by the pirate kings, s’Ffalenn descendants of the prince sent into exile at the time of the Mistwraith’s conquest.pronounced: karth-anroot meaning: kar’eth’an – one who raids/pirate

KARTHISH – from Karthan, term denoting nationalitypronounced: karth-ishroot meaning: kar’eth’an – pirate

KELSING – town immediately south of Erdane, located in Camris, Tysan. Nearest inhabited site to the old earl’s court which served as summer quarters for the Koriani Prime and her Senior Circle at the time of Lysaer and Arithon’s arrival through West Gate.pronounced: kel-singroot meaning: kel – hidden; seng – cave

KHADRIM – flying, firebreathing reptiles that were the scourge of the Second Age. By the Third Age, they had been driven back and confined in a warded preserve in the volcanic peaks in north Tysan.pronounced: kaa-drimroot meaning: khadrim – dragon

KHARADMON – sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven; discorporate since rise of Khadrim and Seardluin levelled Paravian city at Ithamon in Second Age 3651. It was by Kharadmon’s intervention that the survivors of the attack were sent to safety by means of transfer from the fifth lane power-focus.pronounced: kah-rad-munroot meaning: kar’riad en mon – phrase translates to mean ‘twisted thread on the needle’ or colloquialism for ‘a knot in the works’

KIELING TOWER – one of the four Compass Point or Sun Towers standing at Ithamon, Daon Ramon Barrens, Rathain. The warding virtue that binds its stones is Compassion.pronounced: kee-el-ingroot meaning: kiel’ien – root for pity, with suffix added translates to compassion

KORIANI – possessive form of the word, Koriathain; see entrypronounced: kor-ee-ah-nee

KORIAS – southwestern principality of Tysanpronounced: kor-ee-asroot meaning: cor – ship, vessel; i’esh – nest, haven

KORIATHAIN – order of enchantresses ruled by a circle of eight seniors, under the power of one Prime Enchantress. They draw their talent from the orphaned children they raise, or from daughters dedicated to service by their parents. Initiation rite involves a vow of consent that ties the spirit to a power channel keyed to the Prime’s control.pronounced: kor-ee-ah-thain (thain rhymes with ‘main’)root meaning: koriath – order; ain – belonging to

LANSHIRE – northwestern principality of Havish. Name taken from wastes at Scarpdale, site of First Age battles with Seardluin that seared the soil to a slag waste.pronounced: lahn-sheer-e (last e is nearly subliminal)root meaning: lan ‘hansh ‘era – place of hot sands

LIRENDA – First Senior Enchantress to the Prime, Koriani order; Morriel’s intended successor.pronounced: leer-end-ahroot meaning: lyron – singer; di-ia a dissonance (the dash denotes a glottal stop)

LUHAINE – sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven – discorporate since the fall of Telmandir. Luhaine’s body was pulled down by the mob while he was in ward trance, covering the escape of the royal heir to Havish.pronounced: loo-hay-neroot meaning: luirhainon – defender

LYRANTHE – instrument played by the bards of Athera. Strung with fourteen strings, tuned to seven tones (doubled). Two courses are ‘drone strings’ set to octaves. Five are melody strings, the lower three courses being octaves, the upper two, in unison.pronounced: leer-anth-e (last e being nearly subliminal)root meaning: lyr – song; anthe – box

LYSAER s’ILESSID – prince of Tysan, 1497th in succession after Halduin, founder of the line in Third Age year 1. Gifted at birth with control of Light, and Bane of Desh-thierepronounced: lie-say-erroot meaning: lia – blond, yellow, or light; saer – circle

MADREIGH – senior scout, Deshir clans. One of the eleven who stood to Jieret’s defence in the battle of Strakewood Forest.pronounced: mah-dree-ah (ah is near subliminal)root meaning: madrien – staunch

MAENALLE s’GANNLEY – Steward and caithdein of Tysan.pronounced: may-nahl-e (last e is near subliminal)root meaning: maeni – to fall, disrupt; alli – to save or preserve/colloquial translation: ‘to patch together’

MAIEN – nickname for Maenalle’s grandson, Maenol.pronounced: my-enroot meaning: maien – mouse

MAENOL – heir, after Maenalle s’Gannley, Steward and caithdein of Tysan.pronounced: may-nahlroot meaning: maeni’alli – ‘to patch together’

MAINMERE – town at the head of the Valenford River, located in the principality of Taerlin, Tysan. Built by townsmen on a site originally kept clear to free the second lane focus in the ruins further south.pronounced: main-meer-e (e is subliminal)root meaning: maeni – to fall, interrupt; miere – reflection colloquial translation: disrupt continuity

MARIN ELIATHE – Paravian high king murdered in his own hall by an assassin in Second Age 1542.pronounced: mahr-in el-ee-athroot meaning: marin – happening; e’li – in harmony with; ath – prime force behind all life

MARL – earl of Fallowmere and clan chieftain at the time of the battle of Strakewood Forest.pronounced: marlroot meaning: marie – quartz rock

MATHORN MOUNTAINS – range that bisects the kingdom of Rathain, east to west.pronounced: math-ornroot meaning: mathien – massive

MATHORN ROAD – way passing to the south of the Mathorn Mountains, leading to the trade City of Etarra from the west.pronounced: math-ornroot meaning: mathien – massive

MEARA – daughter of Steiven, earl of the north, and Dania; older sister of Jieret.pronounced: mere-ahroot meaning: meara – willow

MEARTH – city through the West Gate in the Red Desert. Inhabitants all fell victim to the Shadows of Mearth, which were created by the Fellowship sorcerer Davien to protect the Five Centuries Fountain. The Shadows are a light-fuelled geas that binds the mind to memory of an individual’s most painful experience.pronounced: me-arthroot meaning: mearth – empty

MELOR RIVER – located in the principality of Korias, Tysan. Its mouth forms the harbour for the port town of West End.pronounced: mel-orroot meaning: maeliur – fish

METH ISLE KEEP – old Paravian fortress located on the isle in Methlas Lake in southern Melhalla. Kept by Verrain, Guardian of Mirthlvain. Contains a fifth lane power focus and dungeons where methuri were held temporarily captive before transfer to Rockfell.pronounced: meth isleroot meaning: meth – hate

METHLAS LAKE – large body of fresh water located in the principality of Radmoor, Melhalla.pronounced: meth-lasroot meaning: meth’ilass’an – the drowned, or sunken ones.

METH-SNAKES – crossbred genetic mutations left over from a First Age creature called a methuri (hatewraith). Related to iyats, these creatures possessed live hosts, which they infested and induced to produce mutated offspring to create weakened lines of stock to widen their choice of potential host animals.pronounced: meth to rhyme with ‘death’root meaning: meth – hate

METHURI – iyat-related parasite that infested live host animals. By the Third Age, they are extinct, but their mutated host stock continues to breed in Mirthlvain Swamp.pronounced: meth-yoor-eeroot meaning: meth – hate; thiere – wraith, or spirit

MIN PIERENS – archipelago to the west of Kingdom of West Shand, in the Westland Sea.pronounced: min (rhymes with ‘pin’) pierre-insroot meaning: min – purple; pierens – shoreline

MIRTHLVAIN SWAMP – boglands filled with dangerous crossbreeds, located south of the Tiriac Mountains in principality of Midhalla, Melhalla. Never left unwatched. Since conquest of the Mistwraith, the appointed guardian was the spellbinder, Verrain.pronounced: mirth-el-vainroot meaning: myrthl – noxious; vain – bog/mud

MORFETT – Lord Governor Supreme of Etarra at the time the Fellowship seeks to restore Rathain’s monarchy following the captivity of the Mistwraith.pronounced: more-fetno root meaning from the Paravian

MORRIEL – Prime Enchantress of the Koriathain since the Third Age year 4212.pronounced: more-realroot meaning: moar – greed; riel – silver

MORVAIN – city located in the principality of Araethura, Rathain, on the coast of Instrell Bay. Elaira’s birthplace.pronounced: more-vainroot meaning: morvain – swindler’s market

NARMS – city on the coast of Instrell Bay, built as a craft centre by men in the early Third Age. Best known for dyeworks.pronounced: narms to rhyme with ‘charms’root meaning: narms – colour

ORLAN – pass through the Thaldein Mountains, also location of the Camris clans’ west outpost, in Camris, Tysan. Where Asandir’s party is waylayed by Grithen enroute to Althain Tower.pronounced: or-lanroot meaning: irlan – ledge

ORVANDIR – principality located in northeastern Shand.pronounced: or-van-deerroot meaning: orvein – crumbled; dir stone

PARAVIAN – name for the three old races that inhabited Athera before men. Including the centaurs, the sunchildren, and the unicorns, these races never die unless mishap befalls them; they are the world’s channel, or direct connection to Ath Creator.pronounced: par-ai-vee-ansroot meaning: para – great; i’on – fate or ‘great mystery’

PESQUIL – Mayor of the Northern League of Headhunters, at the time of the battle of Strakewood Forest. His strategies cause the Deshir clans the most punishing losses.pronounced: pes-quil to rhyme with ‘pest quill’.root meaning not from the Paravian

QUEN – halfwit who serves as door guard and servant to the Prime Enchantress of the Koriathain, Morriel.pronounced: cue-enroot meaning: quenient – witless

RATHAIN – High Kingdom of Athera ruled by descendants of Torbrand s’Ffalenn since Third Age year 1. Sigil: black and silver leopard on green field.pronounced: rath-aynroot meaning: roth – brother; thein – tower, sanctuary

RAUVEN TOWER – home of the s’Ahelas mages who brought up Arithon s’Ffalenn and trained him to the ways of power. Located on the splinter world, Dascen Elur, through West Gate.pronounced: raw-venroot meaning: rauven – invocation

RENWORT – plant native to Athera. A poisonous mash can be brewed from the berries.pronounced: ren-wartroot meaning: renwarin – poison

RIATHAN PARAVIANS – unicorns, the purest and most direct connection to Ath Creator; the prime vibration channels directly through the horn.pronounced: ree-ah-thanroot meaning: ria to touch; ath – prime life force ri’athon – one who touches divinity

ROCKFELL – deep shaft cut into Rockfell Peak, used to imprison harmful entities throughout all three ages. Located in the principality of West Halla, Melhalla; became the warded prison for Desh-thiere.pronounced: rock-fellroot meaning not from the Paravian

ROCKFELL VALE – valley below Rockfell Peak, located in principality of West Halla, Melhalla.pronounced: rockfell valeroot meaning not from the Paravian

SAERIAT – name of the brigantine captained by Avar of Karthan, defeated and burned in engagement against seventeen warships of Amroth.pronounced: say-ree-atroot meaning: saer – water; iyat – to breaks’AHELAS – family name for the royal line appointed by the Fellowship sorcerers in Third Age year I to rule the High Kingdom of Shand. Gifted geas: farsight.pronounced: s’ah-hell-asroot meaning: ahelas – mage-gifted

s’DARIAN – family name for a line of centaurs who were master armourers in the First and Second Ages. Most renowned was Ffereton who forged the twelve Blades of Isaer, Alithiel being for his natural son Durmaenir.pronounced: dar-ee-anroot meaning: daer’an – one that cuts

s’FFALENN – family name for the royal line appointed by the Fellowship sorcerers in Third Age year 1 to rule the High Kingdom of Rathain. Gifted geas: compassion/empathy.pronounced: fal-enroot meaning: ffael – dark; an – one

s’GANNLEY – family name for the line of earls of the west, who stood as caithdein and stewards for the kings of Tysan.pronounced: gan-leeroot meaning: gaen – to guide; li – exalted, or in harmony

s’ILESSID – family name for the royal line appointed by the Fellowship sorcerers in Third Age year 1 to rule the High Kingdom of Tysan. Gifted geas: justice.pronounced: s-ill-ess-idroot meaning: liessiad – balance

s’LORNMEIN – family name for the royal line appointed by the Fellowship sorcerers in Third Age year 1 to rule the High Kingdom of Havish. Gifted geas: temperance

s’PERHEDRAL – line of sunchildren whose issue succeeded Athera’s High Kingship after Enastir, who died heirless.pronounced: per-heed-rallroot meaning: para – great; hedreal – oak

s’VALERIENT – family name for the earls of the north, regents and caithdein for the high kings of Rathain.pronounced: val-er-ee-entroot meaning: val – straight; erient – spear

SEARDLUIN – vicious, intelligent cat-formed creatures that roved in packs whose hierarchy was arranged for ruthless and efficient slaughter of other living things. By the middle of the Second Age, they had been battled to extinction.pronounced: seerd-lwinroot meaning: seard – bearded; luin – feline

SETHVIR – sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven, served as Warden of Althain since the disappearance of the Paravians in the Third Age after the Mistwraith’s conquest.pronounced – seth-veerroot meaning: seth – fact; vaer – keep

SEVERNIR – river that once ran across the central part of Daon Ramon Barrens, Rathain. Diverted at the source after the Mistwraith’s conquest, to run east into Eltair Bay.pronounced: se-ver-neerroot meaning: sevaer – to travel; nir – south

SHAND – one of the Five High Kingdoms of Athera, cut by South Strait, the portion on the western shore being West Shand.pronounced: shandroot meaning: shand – two

SHANDIAN – refers to nationality, being of the Kingdom of Shandpronounced: shand-ee-anroot meaning: shand – two

SITHAER – mythological equivalent of hell, halls of Dharkaron Avenger’s judgement; according to Ath’s adepts, that state of being where the prime vibration is not recognized.pronounced: sith-airroot meaning: sid – lost; thiere – wraith/spirit

SKELSENG’S GATE – chain of cliff caves in the foothills of the Skyshiel Mountains, abutting Daon Ramon Barrens in Rathain. Became a temporary holding-place for the Mistwraith just after captivity.pronounced: skel-seng rhymes with ‘tell bring’root meaning: skel—many; seng—cave

SKYRON FOCUS – large aquamarine focus-stone, used by the Koriani Senior Circle for their major magic after the loss of the Great Waystone during the rebellion.pronounced: sky-runroot meaning: skyron – colloquialism for shackle s’kyr’i’on – literally ‘sorrowful fate’

SKYSHIEL – mountain range that runs north to south along the eastern coast of Rathain.pronounced: Sky-shee-elroot meaning: skyshia – to pierce through; iel light/ray

STEIVEN – earl of the north, caithdein and regent to the Kingdom of Rathain at the time of Arithon Teir’s’Ffalenn’s return. Chieftain of the Deshans at the Battle of Strakewood Forest.pronounced: stay/vinroot meaning: steiven – stag

STRAKEWOOD – forest in the principality of Deshir, Rathain; site of the battle of Strakewood Forest.pronounced: strayk-wood to rhyme with ‘stray wood’root meaning: streik to quicken, to seed

TAERLIN – southwestern principality of Kingdom of Tysanpronounced: tay-er-linroot meaning: taer – calm; lien – to love

TAL QUORIN – river formed by the confluence of watershed on the southern side of Strakewood, principality of Deshir, Rathain, where traps were laid for Etarra’s army in the Battle of Strakewood Forest.pronounced: tal quar-inroot meaning: tal – branch; quorin canyons

TALERA s’AHELAS – princess wed to the king of Amroth on the splinter world of Dascen Elur. Mother of Lysaer s’Ilessid, by her husband; mother of Arithon, through her adulterous liaison with the pirate king of Karthan, Avar s’Ffalenn.pronounced: tal-er-aroot meaning: talera – branch or fork in a path

TALIENNSE – Paravian princess rescued from Khadrim attack by Kamridian s’Ffalenn, for which the Isaervian sword Alithiel was awarded to the s’Ffalenn royal line.pronounced: tal-ee-en-seroot meaning: talien – precious; esia – feather

TAL’S CROSSING – town at the branch in the trade road that leads to Etarra and south, and northeastward to North Ward.pronounced: tal to rhyme with ‘pal’root meaning: tal branch

TANE – father of Grithen, heir to the earldom of Erdane.pronounced: tain to rhyme with ‘main’root meaning: branch

TANE – father of Grithen, heir to the earldom of Erdane.pronounced: tain to rhyme with ‘main’root meaning: tane – sire, father

TANLIE – mother of the dead child that Arithon brought in from the horse knacker’s yards in Etarra.pronounced: tan-leeroot meaning: tun – brown; lie note struck in harmony

TASHAN – Elder on Maenalle’s clan council, present at the west outpost at the time of Grithen’s raid on the Pass of Orlan.pronounced: tash-anroot meaning: tash – swift, quick; an – one

TASHKA – daughter of Lady Dania and Steiven s’Valerient, earl of the north and caithdein of Rathain.pronounced: tash-karoot meaning: tash – quick/swift; ka – girl

TEIR – title fixed to a name denoting heirshippronounced: tay-erroot meaning: teir’s ‘successor to power’

TELIR – a sweet fruit somewhat like a cherry grown by the Paravians, from which they made telir brandy. Telir trees did not bear fruit after the Mistwraith’s conquest and no new seedlings sprouted in the absence of sunlight. pronounced: tel-earroot meaning: telir – sweet

TELMANDIR – ruined city that once was the seat of the high kings of Havish. Located in the principality of Lithmere, Havish.pronounced: tell-man-deerroot meaning: telman’en – leaning; dir – rock

TENNIA – young girl from Rauven in Dascen Elur, the splinter world through West Gate. Deeply attracted to Arithon s’Ffalenn, though her fear of his Shadow Mastery prevented any serious ties.pronounced: ten-ee’ahroot meaning: itenia – uncertain

THALDEIN – mountain range that borders the principality of Camris, Tysan, to the east. Site of the Camris clans’ west outpost. Site of the raid at the Pass of Orlan.pronounced: thall-daynroot meaning: thal – head; dein – bird

TIENELLE – high altitude herb valued by mages for its mind-expanding properties. Highly toxic. No antidote. The leaves, dried and smoked, are most potent. To weaken its potency and allow safer access to its vision, Koriani enchantresses boil the flowers then soak tobacco leaves with the brew.pronounced: tee-an-ell-e (e mostly subliminal)root meaning: tien – dream; iel – light/ray

TIRIACS – mountain range to the north of Mirthlvain Swamp, located in the principality of Midhalla, Kingdom of Melhalla.pronounced: tie-ree-axeroot meaning: tieriach alloy of metals

TISHEALDI – name given to Arithon’s dun mare for the irregular white marking on her neck.pronounced: tish-ee-al-deeroot meaning: tishealdi – splash

TORBRAND s’FFALENN – founder of the s’Ffalenn line appointed by the Fellowship of Seven to rule the High Kingdom of Rathain in Third Age year 1.pronounced: tor-brandroot meaning: tor – sharp/keen; brand – temper

TORNIR PEAKS – mountain range on western border of the principality of Camris, Tysan. Northern half is actively volcanic, and there the last surviving packs of Khadrim are kept under ward.pronounced: tor-neer.root meaning: tor sharp/keen; nier – tooth

TRAITHE – sorcerer of the Fellowship of Seven. Solely responsible for the closing of South Gate to deny further entry to the Mistwraith. Traithe lost most of his faculties in the process, and was left with a limp. Since it is not known whether he can make the transfer into discorporate existence with his powers impaired, he has retained his physical body.pronounced: tray-theroot meaning: traithe – gentleness

TYSAN – one of the five High Kingdoms of Athera, as defined by the charters of the Fellowship of Seven. Ruled by the s’Ilessid royal line. Sigil: gold star on blue field.pronounced: tie-sanroot meaning: tiasen – rich

VALENDALE – river arising in the Pass of Orlan in the Thaldein Mountains, in the principality of Atainia, Tysan.pronounced: val-en-daleroot meaning: valen – braided; dale – foam

VASTMARK – principality located in southwestern Shand. Highly mountainous and not served by trade roads. Its coasts are renowned for shipwrecks. Inhabited by nomadic shepherds and wyvernote struck in harmonys, non-firebreathing, smaller relatives of Khadrim.pronounced: vast-markroot meaning: vhast – bare; mheark – valley

VERRAIN – spellbinder, trained by Luhaine; stood as guardian of Mirthlvain when the Fellowship of Seven was left shorthanded after the conquest of the Mistwraith.pronounced: ver-rainroot meaning: ver – keep ria; – touch; an – one original Paravian: verria’an

WARD – a guarding spellpronounced: as in English, wardroot meaning not from the Paravian

Acknowledgements

Curse of the Mistwraith kicks off a massive project whose inception has been smoothed by guidance and expertise and generous gifts of time. Thanks to the following friends, whose professions and hobbies and suggestions added touches of reality between the magic.

Jane Johnson, editor extraordinaire; David E. Bell, Mike Floerkey, Mickey Zucker Reichert, Suzanne Parnell, Raymond E. Feist, Rosemary Prince, and of course, Don Maitz, my husband, without whom the sheer weight and scope of the project probably would have flattened me.

About the Author

The Curse of the Mistwraith

Janny Wurts is the author of numerous successful fantasy novels, including the acclaimed Cycle of Fire trilogy and The Wars of Light and Shadow series. She is also co-author, with Raymond E. Feist, of the worldwide bestselling Empire series. Her skill as a horsewoman, offshore sailor and musician is reflected in her novels. She is also a talented artist and illustrates many of her own covers. Janny Wurts lives in Florida, USA.

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By Janny Wurts

Sorcerer’s Legacy

The Cycle of Fire Trilogy

Stormwarden

Keeper of the Keys

Shadowfane

The Master of Whitestorm

That Way Lies Camelot

The Wars of Light and Shadow

The Curse of the Mistwraith

The Ships of Merior

Warhost of Vastmark

Fugitive Prince

Grand Conspiracy

Peril’s Gate

Traitor’s Knot

To Ride Hell’s Chasm

With Raymond E. Feist

Daughter of the Empire

Servant of the Empire

Mistress of the Empire

Copyright

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FOURTEENTH EDITION

Previously published by HarperCollins Science Fiction & Fantasy 1994 and by Voyager 1996

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 1993

Copyright © Janny Wurts 1993

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Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

Prologue

I. CAPTIVE

II. SENTENCE

III. EXILE

IV. MISTWRAITH’S BANE

V. RIDE FROM WEST END

VI. ERDANE

VII. PASS OF ORLAN

VIII. CLANS OF CAMRIS

IX. ALTHAIN TOWER

X. DAON RAMON BARRENS

XI. DESH-THIERE

XII. CONQUEST

XIII. ETARRA

XIV. CORONATION DAY

XV. STRAKEWOOD

XVI. AUGURY

XVII. MARCH UPON STRAKEWOOD FOREST

XVIII. CULMINATION

Glossary

Acknowledgements

About the Author

By Janny Wurts

Copyright

About the Publisher