The Fall of Ossard (55 page)

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

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

Rajis Jenn
- See Jenn, Rajis.

Reformers
- The followers of the new saints.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sanjana
- Southern Heletian word for blood.

Sanjo
- Northern and standard Heletian word for blood.

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

Sankto Glavos
- The holy knights of the Inquisition.

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

Schoperde
- The Flet name for the goddess, Life.

Sef Vaugen
- See Vaugen, Sef.

Seig Manheim
- See Manheim, Seig.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

True Name
- The key to a soul.

Una Jenn
- See Jenn, Una.

Unae
- The name given to the mortal world.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vassini, Benefice Gian
- The head of the Church of Baimiopia in Ossard, see Benefice Gian Vassini.

Velsana
- The isolated ancestral homeland of the Lae Velsanans, and the site of Ansilsae, the barren coastal plain that hosted the apocalyptic battle that gave birth to the Ansilsae Prophecy.

The Lae Velsanans were forced from their home as part of that prophecy, and now the Kinreda priesthood preach that it remains hidden by the gods, waiting for the Fifth and Final Dominion to rise and rediscover it. Once reclaimed, it will host the eternal capital.

The island continent is thought to be situated to the west of Dormetia, abandoned and laying fallow. The most ancient texts of the Lae Velsanans show it to be an island continent divided into five regions.

Vilma Van Blomstein
- See, Van Blomstein, Vilma .

Wairanir
- The large island that holds
the Core
of Lae Wair-Rae, the Fifth and Final Dominion, in its south-eastern corner.

White Sea
- The sea to the north of Ossard and the Northcountry, often laden with drifting ice and haunted by savage winter storms.

Witches’ Kiss
- The casual term used by the Inquisition to denote someone who is succumbing to some kind of magical awakening.

Yamere
- A great pillar-city of outstanding beauty, and
current
capital of the Fifth and Final Dominion.

About the Author

Colin Taber lives in Australia, currently haunting the west coast city of Perth.

He’s done many things over the years, from working in banking, retail, dish-pigging, publishing, landscape design, and even running a tree farm. All he really wants to do, though, is to get back to his oak grove and be left to write.

Hopefully, that day is coming.

Ossard’s Hope

Book 2 of the Ossard Trilogy

Available early 2010

For information on this and other coming titles, go to the website at:

www.fallofossard.com