OSMARY, LORD: husband to Annwin, Faraday’s elder sister. PACE: see “Distances”. PEASE: an Avar woman killed in the Yuletide attack on the Earth TreeGrove.
PIRATES’ NEST: a large island off the coast of Nor and close to Ysbadd and the haunt of pirates. Some say the pirates are protected by Baron Ysgryff himself.
PLOUGH, The: each Acharite village has a Plough, which not only serves to plough the fields, but is also the centre of their worship of the Way of the Plough. The Plough was the implement given by Artor the Ploughman to enable mankind to civilise themselves. Use of the Plough distinguishes the Acharites from the Forbidden; neither the Icarii nor the Avar practise cultivation.
PLOUGH-KEEPERS: the Seneschal assigns a brother to each village in Achar, and these men are often known as Plough-Keepers. They are literally guardians of the Plough in each village, but they are also directors of the Way of the Plough and guardians of the villagers’ souls.
PORS: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Pors is God of Air.
PRIAM: King of Achar and uncle to Borneheld, brother to Rivkah.
PRIVY CHAMBER: the large chamber in the royal palace in Carlon where the King’s Privy Council meet.
PRIVY COUNCIL: the council of advisers to the King of Achar, normally the lords of the major provinces of Achar.
PROPHECY OF THE DESTROYER: an ancient Prophecy that tells of the rise of Gorgrael in the north and the StarMan who can stop him. No-one knows who wrote it.
RAINBOW SCEPTRE: a weapon mentioned in the Prophecy of the Destroyer.
RAUM: a Bane of the Avar people.
RAVENCREST SUNSOAR: current Talon of the Icarii people.
RAVENSBUND: the extreme northern province of Achar, although it is not administered by the Acharite monarchy.
RAVENSBUNDMEN: the inhabitants of Ravensbund, generally loathed by the Acharites as barbarous and cruel.
REINALD: retired chief cook of Sigholt, undercook when Rivkah lived there.
RENKIN, GOODPEOPLE: farming couple of northern Arcness.
RETREATS: many Brothers of the Seneschal prefer the contemplative life to the active life, and the Seneschal has various Retreats about Achar where these Brothers live in peace in order to contemplate the mysteries of Artor the Ploughman.
RHAETIA: small area of Achar situated in the western Bracken Ranges. It is controlled by Baron Mascen.
RIVKAH: Princess of Achar, sister to King Priam and mother to Borneheld, Axis, and EvenSong.
ROLAND, Duke: also known as “The Walker” because he is too fat to ride. Duke of Aldeni and one of the major military commanders of Achar.
ROMSDALE: a province to the south-west of Carlon that mainly produces wine. It is administered by Baron Fulke.
RUSHCLOUD SUNSOAR: father to RavenCrest and StarDrifter. Theprevious Talon of the Icarii.
SACRED, GROVE, The: the most sacred spot of the Avar people, the Sacred Grove is rarely visited by ordinary mortals. Normally the Banes are the only members of the Avar race who know the paths in order to find the Grove.
SACRED LAKES, The: the ancient land of Tencendor had a number of magical lakes whose powers are now forgotten. Sometimes known as the Magic Lakes. See “Fire-Night” for the legend of their formation. SA’KUYA: a Ravensbund woman, wife to the Chief, Ho’Demi. SEAGRASS PLAINS: the vast grain plains that form most of Skarabost. SEARLAS: previous Duke of Ichtar and father of Borneheld. Oncemarried to the Princess Rivkah. Now dead.
SENESCHAL, The: the religious organisation of Achar. The Religious Brotherhood of the Seneschal, known individually as Brothers, directs the religious lives of all the Acharites. The Seneschal is extremely powerful and plays a major role, not only in everyday life, but also in the political life of the nation. It teaches obedience to the one god, Artor the Ploughman, and the Way of the Plough. SENESCHAL, TOWER of: headquarters of the Brotherhood of the Seneschal. The Tower of the Seneschal is a massive pure white seven-sided tower that sits on the opposite side of the Grail Lake to Carlon. SENTINELS: magical creatures of the Prophecy of the Destroyer. SHADOWSWARD, The: an Acharite name for the Avarinheim. SHARPEYE BLUEFEATHER: Crest-Leader in the Icarii Strike Force. SHRA: a young Avar child. Daughter of Pease and Grindle. SICARIUS: leader of the pack of Alaunt hounds. The name means”assassin”.
SIGHOLT: one of the great Keeps of Achar, situated in HoldHard Pass in the Urqhart Hills in Ichtar. One of the main residences of the Dukes of Ichtar.
SILENT WOMAN KEEP: The Silent Woman Keep lies in the centre ofthe Silent Woman Woods. It is one of the magical Keeps of Tencendor.
SILENT WOMAN WOODS: the dark and impenetrable woods insouthern Arcness that house the Silent Woman Keep. SILTON: one of the nine Icarii Star Gods, Silton is God of Fire. SONG OF CREATION: a Song which can, according to Icarii and Avar legend, actually create life itself. In his address to the Icarii Assembly asking for their help to rescue Axis from Gorkenfort, StarDrifter claimed that Axis sang this to himself in the womb. SONG OF RECREATION: one of the most powerful Icarii spells which can recreate life in the dying. It cannot, however, make the dead rise again. Only the most powerful Enchanters can sing this Song.
SKALI: a young Avar female, daughter of Fleat and Grindle. She diedduring the Skraeling attack on the Sacred Earth Tree Grove at Yuletide. SKARABOST: large eastern province of Achar which grows much ofthe realm’s grain supplies. It is administered by Earl Isend. SKRAEBOLDS: leaders of the Skraelings. SKRAEFEAR: senior of the SkraeBolds. SKRAELINGS: (also called wraiths or Ghostmen) insubstantial creaturesof the frozen northern wastes who feed off fear and blood. SMYRTON: a large village in northern Skarabost, virtually at theentrance to the Forbidden Valley. SORCERY: see “Magic”.
SPIKEFEATHER TRUESONG: an Icarii Wing-Leader. SPIREDORE: one of the magical Keeps of Tencendor. SPREADWING RAVENCRY: Crest-Leader in the Icarii Strike Force. STAR DANCE, The: the source from which the Icarii Enchantersderive their power. STARDRIFTER SUNSOAR: an Icarii Enchanter, father to Gorgrael, Axis and EvenSong.
STAR GATE: one of the sacred sites of the Icarii people. STAR GODS, The: the nine gods of the Icarii, but only seven of theirnames have been revealed to the Icarii. See separate entries under”Adamon”, “Xanon”, “Narcis”, “Flulia”, “Pors”, “Zest” and “Silton”. STARMAN, The: the man who, according to the Prophecy of theDestroyer, is the only one who can defeat Gorgrael – Axis SunSoar. STRAUM ISLAND: large island off the Ichtar coast inhabited by sealers. STRIKE FORCE: the military wing of the Icarii. SUNDOWN CROOKCLAW: one of the Icarii Strike Force killed inthe Skraeling attack on the Sacred Earth Tree Grove at Yuletide past.
EvenSong SunSoar filled his place in SpikeFeather TrueSong’s Wing. SUNSOAR, HOUSE of: the ruling House of the Icarii for manythousands of years. TAILEM BEND: great bend in the River Nordra where it turns from itswesterly direction and flows south to Nordmuth and the Sea of Tyrre. TALON, The: the hereditary ruler of the Icarii people (and once overall of the peoples of Tencendor). For the past six thousand years amember of the House of SunSoar has filled the office of Talon. TALON SPIKE: the highest mountain in the Icescarp Alps, the home ofthe Icarii people.
TANABATA: a Ravensbund elder. TARANTAISE: a rather poor southern province of Achar. Relies ontrade for its income. It is administered by Baron Greville, TARE: small trading town in northern Tarantaise. Home to Embeth, Lady of Tare.
TARE, PLAINS of: the plains that lie between Tare and Grail Lake. TEKAWAI: the preferred tea of the Ravensbund people. It is alwjbrewed and served with great ceremony and is drunk from smporcelain cups bearing the emblem of the blood-red blazing sun. TEMPLE MOUNT: plateau that once housed the Temple complex <
the great mountain which dominated the Island of Mist and Memoi TEMPLE OF THE STARS: one of the lost Icarii sacred sites. It wlocated on Temple Mount on the Island of Mist and Memory. TENCENDOR: the ancient name for the continent of Achar befothe Wars of the Axe.
THREE BROTHERS LAKES, The: three minor lakes in south Aldei TIME OF THE PROPHECY OF THE DESTROYER, The: the tinthat begins with the birth of the Destroyer and the StarMan and thwill end when one destroys the other. TIMOZEL: son of Embeth and Ganelon of Tare, and a member of dAxe-Wielders. Champion to Faraday. TREE FRIEND: in Avar legend Tree Friend is the person to lead dAvar back to their traditional homes south of the Fortress Ranges. TrFriend is also the one who will bring the Avarinheim behind StarMa TREE SONG: whatever Song the trees choose to sing you. Many rimthey will sing the future, other times they will sing love and protetion. The trees can also sing death.
TYRRE, SEA of: the ocean off the south-west coast of Achar. UNIT: see “Military Terms”.
UR: an old woman who lives in the Enchanted Wood. URQHART HILLS: a minor crescent-shaped range of mountainscentral Ichtar.
VENATOR: a war horse. The name means “hunter”. VEREMUND: one of the Sentinels, brother to Ogden. WARLORD: title given to Borneheld, Duke of Ichtar, by King Priato acknowledge Borneheld’s de facto command of the armies of Ach; WARS OF THE AXE: the wars during which the Acharites, under ddirection of the Seneschal and the Axe-Wielders, drove the Icarii atthe Avar from the land of Tencendor and penned them behind dFortress Ranges. Lasting several decades, die wars were extraordinariviolent and bloody. They took place some thousand years before dtime of the Prophecy of the Destroyer. WAY OF THE HORN: a general term sometimes used to describe tllifestyle of the Avar people. WAY OF THE PLOUGH, The: the religious obedience and way of lias taught by the Seneschal according to the tenets of the Book of Fieand Furrow. The Way of the Plough is centred about the Plough arcultivation of die land. Its major tenets teach that as die land is clean and ploughed in straight furrows, so the mind and the heart are similarly cleared of misbeliefs and evil thoughts and can consequently cultivate true thoughts. Natural and untamed landscape is evil; thus forests and mountains are considered evil because they represent nature out of control and they cannot be cultivated. According to the Way of the Plough, mountains and forests must either be destroyed or subdued, and if that is riot possible, they must be shunned as the habitats of evil creatures,-Only, tamed landscape, cultivated landscape, is good, because it has been Subjected to mankind. The Way of the Plough is all about order, and about earth and nature subjected to the order of mankind.