The Flames of Shadam Khoreh (The Lays of Anuskaya) (79 page)

• privyet: Anuskayan for “hello” or “good day.”
  

• qiram: an Aramahn with the ability to bond with hezhan, giving them the elemental abilities of the spirit.
  

• Rabiah Wahid al Aahtel: one of Nasim’s disciples that he brings with him to Ghayavand.
  
• Radia Anastasiyeva Vostroma: the Duchess of Vostroma.
  
• Radiskoye (Palotza Radiskoye): the seat of power for the Khalakovan family.
  
• Rahid Umar al Gahana: one of the more powerful men from the southern sect of the Maharraht known as the Hratha.
   
  
• Ramina: the northern city on Galahesh, the one closest to Oramka and Yrstanla.
  

• Ranos Iaroslov Khalakovo: eldest son of Iaros Khalakovo. Became the Duke of Khalakovo on Iaros’s death.
  

• Rehada Ulan al Shineshka: an Aramahn woman. Nikandr’s former lover in Volgorod.
  
• Rodion Ledokov: Styophan’s cousin and one of the soldiers assigned on Styophan’s trip westward to Hael.
  
• Rosa Oriseva Lhudansk: the Duchess of Lhudansk.
  
• rudder: a complex set of obsidian cylinders at the center of the ship, the nexus where the four mainmasts meet the obsidian core that runs lengthwise through the ship. These three sets of cylinders are adjusted by the pilot at the helm.
  
• Safwah: an old woman and a powerful qiram from Kohor. Safwah is Goeh’s mother.
  
• Saphia Mishkeva Khalakovo: the Duchess of Khalakovo.
  
• Sariya Quljan al Vehayeh: one of the three arqesh who lived on Ghayavand. Along with Muqallad and Khamal, Sariya caused the sundering three hundred years ago and had been trapped on the island.
  
• Sea of Khurkhan: the sea south of Galahesh, northwest of Nodhvyansk, and southeast of Yrstanla.
  

• Sea of Tabriz: the sea between Yrstanla and Anuskaya, bounded by the empire to the west, Khalakovo to the east, and Volgorod to the south.
  

• seaward: downward, named so because the windships often fly above water.
  

• Selim ül Hakan: the new Kamarisi of Yrstanla. Hakan ül Ayesh’s eldest son. Although he holds the title of Kamarisi, Bahett ül Kirdhash has been appointed regent until Selim is old enough to rule the Empire at the age of fourteen.
  

• Serin: one of the two wives who let Styophan and the others into the tower of wives in Kasir Irabahce.
  

• Shadam Khoreh: the valley in the Gaji Desert where the Tashavir, the followers of Inan who trapped the Al-Aqim on the island of Ghayavand, reside.
  
• shamshir: a curved sword used primarily by the Maharraht.
  

• shashka: a lightly curved sword used primarily in the islands of the Grand Duchy.
  
• Shirvozeh: the Aramahn village to the east of Alayazhar, on the island of Ghayavand. It became the seat of Muqallad’s power when the three Al-Aqim became trapped on the island.
  
• Siafyan: a large village with massive trees and hanging walkways running between them on the island of Rafsuhan.
  

• Sihyaan: the tallest mountain on Ghayavand and the site of the ritual that caused the sundering.
  

• Sihaş ül Mehmed: an envoy who goes to treat with the Grand Duchy.
  
• siraj: Aramahn glowing stones used for illumination.
  

• Sitalyas: the mountain range to the west of Trevitze.
  

• Skolohalla: a formal meeting of the Haelish Kings and their nomadic tribes.
  

• Soroush Wahad al Gatha: leader of the northern sect of the Maharraht.
  

• sotni: a unit of one hundred soldiers.
  
• sotnik: an officer of the Grand Duchy, responsible for one hundred men.
  
• Spar: the large bridge built by Yrstanla over the Straits of Galahesh.
  
• spire: a tower of obsidian used by the Grand Duchy to control the ley lines between the islands. The Matri groom the ley lines using the spires and their abilities in the aether.
  
• starward: upward from the deck of a ship, toward the sky and stars.
  
• strelet (plural: streltsi): the military men of the Grand Duchy.
  
• szubka: hat worn by the women of the Grand Duchy.
  
• staaya: the ducal (Royal) air fleet of the Grand Duchy.
  
• Stasa Olegov Bolgravya: the former Grand Duke, killed on Khalakovo when a suurahezhan, a fire spirit, attacked his yacht as it docked at the eyrie of Radiskoye.
  
• Styophan Andrashayev: a trusted soldier, the sotnik of the streltsi who accompany Nikandr.
  

• Sukharam Hadir al Dahanan: one of Nasim’s disciples that he brings with him to Ghayavand.
  

• suurahezhan: a spirit of fire.
  
• suuraqiram: one who bonds with suurahezhan and draws upon their power to wield or alter fire in the material world.
  
• Svoya: the southern city on Galahesh, the one closest to the islands.
  

• Syemon: an old gull who serves on the ship,
  Strovya
  .
  

• taking breath (or, to take breath): the Aramahn act of meditating, where they try to become one with their surroundings, to understand more about themselves or the world.
  
• Tashavir: powerful and ancient qiram from the time of the sundering. Followers of Inan who trapped the Al-Aqim on the island of Ghayavand.
  
• Thabash Kaspar al Meliyah: the leader of the Hratha.
  
• Thirosh: the man who runs a winery in secret for King Brechan of Hael. An ally of the Haelish in Alekeşir.
  
• Tohrab: one of the Tashavir buried in the valley of Shadam Khoreh. Also Inan’s husband, the father of Yadhan.
  
• Trevitze: the city where Nasim finds Sukharam.
  
• Udra Amir al Rasa: Nikandr’s former dhoshaqiram (master of the stuff of life).
  
• Urdi Mountains: the mountains separating the Kohori Valley from the Valley of Shadam Khoreh.
  
• Ushai Kissath al Shahda: a woman of the Maharraht who travels with Soroush in search of Nasim.
  
• ushanka: squat woolen hat.
  
• Uyadensk: the largest island in the Duchy Khalakovo. Home to Palotza Radiskoye and the capital city of Volgorod.
  
• Vaasak Adimov Dhalingrad: the envoy of Zhabyn Vostroma, sent to Baressa to negotiate for him before his arrival.
  

• vanahezhan: a spirit of earth.
  
• vanaqiram: one who bonds with vanahezhan and draws upon their power to wield or alter earth in the material world.
  
• vashaqiram: a state of pure enlightenment. The state of mind most Aramahn search for.
  
• Victania Saphieva Khalakovo: the only daughter of Saphia and Iaros. The middle child.
  

• Vihrosh: the old name for Baressa, and now the section that lies to the west of the straits.
  
• Vikra: one of the rooks of Vostroma, the one Atiana favors the most.
  
• Vlanek: the acting master of the
  Yarost
  on Nikandr’s journey across the Sea of Khurkhan.
  
• Volgorod: the capital and largest city in the Duchy of Khalakovo. Situated near Palotza Radiskoye on the island of Uyadensk.
  
• Wahad Soroush al Qediah: Soroush’s first son, his second child.
  
• windwood: a variety of wood that is specially cured so that it becomes lighter than air. All windships are made of windwood.
  
• windship: one of the ships made of windwood that flies with the help of havaqiram to harness the wind and dhoshaqiram to adjust the heft of the ship’s windwood.
  
• windsman: general term for a man who crews windships.
  
• windward: to the right while facing the fore of a ship, named so because the wind is in this direction when the windship is moored.
  

• wodjan: a mystic among the Haelish people. The wodjana are able to scry using their own blood or the blood of their enemies.
  
• Yadhan: the first of the children to become akhoz on Ghayavand. She was taken by Khamal.
  

• Yalessa: the handmaid that most often attended to Atiana in the drowning chamber.
  
• Yalidoz (Kasir Yalidoz): the palace in Baressa, on the island of Galahesh, home to Bahett ül Kirdhash.
  
• Yasha: a soldier assigned to Styophan on his trip westward to Hael.
  
• Yegor Nikolov Nodhvyansk: the Duke of Nodhvyansk.
  
• Yevgeny Krazhnegov Mirkotsk: the Duke of Mirkotsk.
  
• Yrfa: Saphia Khalakovo’s favorite rook.
  
• Yrstanla: an Empire situated on a large continent to the west of the islands in the Grand Duchy.
  
• Yvanna Antoneva Khalakovo: Ranos’s wife.
  
• Zanaida Lariseva Khazabyirsk: the Duchess of Khazabyirsk.
  
• Zanhalah: the woman who helps Nikandr to heal Soroush’s son, Wahad.
   
  
• Zhabyn Olegov Vostroma: the Duke of Vostroma.
  

Afterword

Like many works of fiction, The Lays of Anuskaya was years in the making. The creation of a new world and the story that lives within it often begins well before the first words hit the page. It was no different here. The genesis of The Lays of Anuskaya can be pinpointed to a trip to Scotland I took with my wife in 2004. We went on a whirlwind tour of the UK and Ireland, and one of the stops was Edinburgh, where we visited the National Gallery of Scotland. While there, I was struck by many of the beautiful paintings, especially some of the paintings from the Dutch masters on display, and I thought, I’m going to write a story from these. I had no idea what the story might be—only that I wanted to gather certain works as inspiration and use them to help seed the story I was about to embark upon.

Little did I know what sort of people the characters in those paintings might become—not only Nikandr and Atiana, but Nasim, Ashan, Rehada, Soroush, Victania, and Iaros. Over the years, what started out as a story that was important for me to write became one that was deeply personal. The story of these characters became so much a part of me that I felt real feelings of loss when the story was done and turned in. It was wonderful to have the story complete and ready to go out in the world and into readers’ hands, but I also knew I would miss these many characters.

One thing that strikes me, now that the tale has been written, is the personal journey I’ve taken over the course of the many years it’s taken me to start, publish, and shepherd this project to market. I was not a neophyte author when I started working on The Lays of Anuskaya, but neither was I seasoned. I grew immensely as a writer during the telling of these tales. I grew and changed as a person. My daughter was just a baby when I started, and now she’s seven. My son is only three, and so was many years in my future by the time I put hands to keyboard. The world has changed around me and changed me as a result. And through it all I’ve been chipping away at this tale, hoping it will find a home out there in the world. That has been one of the more gratifying parts of this journey. I truly enjoy interacting with those that have read and found these books fun to read. It’s a very gratifying thing for the writer, because let’s face it, even with social networking, writing is a terribly lonely profession, and it’s wonderful to speak to people that relate to what you’ve written, and also to find like-minded souls.

I also look back over the journey told within the pages of the book and find myself deeply gratified with how it turned out. Tolkien once said that writers are like archeologists. The tales are there to be found and told and we authors simply uncover the truth of it, slowly but surely. I like that take on it, because it speaks to the internal consistency writers are looking for in a story. But it sure does pay short shrift to the work we put in to flesh out the world, the magic, the characters, and the plot.

As I write, the story seems so full of possibility. It could go so many ways as it begins to unfold and various people and places and plot points come to me. But like concrete the story eventually begins to set. It feels more solid. Less able to change. Until eventually it’s fixed and feels more like a window to another world than an unending set of possibilities. That’s what this story has become to me now. A real world. A whole world. One that started before I began writing and will continue well beyond it.

That is my fervent hope for you as well, that you find this world wondrous and unique and complete.

Another thing I’ve rarely talked about is the fact that 9/11, the Iraq War, and the surrounding conflicts were one of the primary sources of inspiration for this story. Like so many people—not just Americans, but people all over the world—I was greatly affected by the events of 9/11. There was rage and confusion and a deep desire to “get to the bottom of it,” to understand why the perpetrators of that crime had done what they’d done. The more I searched for answers, however, the more I realized that it’s an endless story with endless causes and endless consequences.

Look, I’m a pragmatist. I know there are hard truths in our world, and I’m fully aware that there are legitimate reasons to use violence to achieve an end, but it also seems that too often violence (or the threat of violence) is the first thing we reach for in our arsenal (a funny word to use when you’re trying to broker peace, but somehow it seems apropos; and by the way, when I say we, I mean the entire human race). So much of our politics is posturing and refusing to give in for fear of being seen as weak or “appeasing” the enemy. This is true of many conflicts around the world and was true of the conflict in the Middle East, and as I watched it unfold, it built within me a frustration that was hard to reconcile. It was in that frustration that the seeds of The Winds of Khalakovo were laid down. Those seeds started to bear fruit as I fleshed out the conflict that’s told in the story, one that has roots in generations past but that’s coming to a head just as Winds opens.

The heart of the story—a tale of irreconcilable differences—didn’t change very much in the telling. It continued to be the primary driver of what happened, but I was able to show that some people, if they try hard, can meet somewhere in the middle, and I was able to bring that new perspective to several different characters. That was one of the more gratifying things for me, to show a tale in which the characters learn and come to understand another culture from a perspective that was beforehand very limited. As you now know, not everyone ended up agreeing with the other side—that wouldn’t be a truthful story—but they certainly understood more if nothing else, and all of that came from my inner desires for us, in this world, to do the same.