Odess: A city in Abornea that sits at the head of the Narrows.
old world: The world before Lucidonius united the Seven Satrapies and abolished worship of the pagan gods.
ora’lem Or’holam: Old Parian phrase loosely translated to ‘hidden light of God’ or ‘the hidden Lord of Light(s).’
Order of the Broken Eye, the: A secret guild of assassins and conspirators, originally from the old city/kingdom of Braxos now beyond the Cracked Lands in western Atash. They specialize in killing drafters and have been rooted out and destroyed at least three times. The pride of the Order is the Shimmercloaks, or Shadows, pairs of purportedly invisible, unstoppable assassins.
Orholam’s Glare: A giant mirror on Big Jasper, set on a platform before the gate to the Lily’s Stem. Used to execute drafters convicted of the most serious crimes.
Overhill: A neighborhood in Big Jasper.
Ox Ford: A town at a crossing of the Ao River on the Atash/Blood Forest border. Recently the site of a disastrous battle in the Wight King’s War.
Pact, the: Since Lucidonius, the Pact has governed all those trained by the Chromeria in the Seven Satrapies. Its essence is that drafters agree to serve their satrapy and receive all the benefits of status and sometimes wealth—in exchange for their service and eventual death before they break the halo.
Palace of the Divines: The ancient residence and meeting place of Dúnbheo’s Council of the Divines, in Blood Forest.
Pericol: A city on the coast of Ilyta.
petasos: A broad-brimmed Ruthgari hat, usually made of straw, meant to keep the sun off the face, head, and neck.
Philoctean Games: Novennial celebration of athleticism in the Great Hippodrome of Aslal in Paria.
physicker: A medical professional who attends to common ailments and injuries.
polychrome: A drafter who can draft three or more colors.
portmaster: A city official in charge of collecting tariffs and managing the organized exit and entrance of ships in his harbor.
Prism: There is only one Prism each generation. They sense the balance of the world’s magic and balance it when necessary, and can split light within themselves to draft any of the seven colors at will. Technically the emperor of the Seven Satrapies, other than balancing, their role is largely ceremonial and religious, with the Colors, the satraps, and the Magisterium working hard to make sure that Prisms rarely wield true political power.
Prism’s Tower, the: The central tower in the Chromeria. It houses the Prism, the White, and superviolets (as they are not numerous enough to require their own tower). The great hall lies below the tower, and the top holds a great crystal for the Prism’s use while he balances the colors of the world.
promachos: Literally ‘one who fights before us,’ it is a title that may be given for a brief duration during a war or other great crisis. A promachos may be named only by order of a supermajority of the Colors. Among other powers, the promachos has the right to command armies, seize property, and elevate commoners to the nobility.
psantria: A stringed musical instrument.
pygmies: A rare, fierce people of the Blood Forest interior, they claim common ancestry with the people of Braxos. Nearly extinct. They can interbreed with humans, though with great danger if the mother is the pygmy, death in childbirth being the norm. Some Blood Forest chiefs and kings in the past saw fit to kill pygmies, declaring it a morally neutral or even laudable act. The Chromeria declared pygmies human, and such killing to be murder; pygmy numbers have never recovered from past massacres and disease.
pyroturges: Red and/or sub-red drafters who create wonders of flame, known particularly for their wonders in Azûlay.
raka: An archaic but serious insult, with an implication of both moral and intellectual idiocy.
Rath: The capital of Ruthgar, set on the confluence of the Great River and its delta into the Cerulean Sea.
Rathcore Hill: A hill opposite (and somewhat smaller than) Jaks Hill in the city of Rath. The hippodrome is carved into its side.
ratweed: An addictive, toxic plant whose leaves can be smoked for their strong stimulant and hallucinogenic properties.
reedsmen: Drafters used to propel skimmers.
Rekton: A small Tyrean town on the Umber River, near the site of the Battle of Sundered Rock. An important trading post before the False Prism’s War. Now uninhabited after a massacre by King Rask Garadul.
Ru: The capital of Atash, once famous for its castle and ziggurats, still famous for its Great Pyramid. The castle was destroyed by fire during General Gad Delmarta’s purge of the royal family in the Prisms’ War.
Ruic Head: A peninsula dominated by towering cliffs that overlooks the Atashian city of Ru and its bay. A fort atop the peninsula’s cliffs guards against invaders and pirates.
satrap (fem. satrapah): A political ruler of one of the seven satrapies. Always paired with a Color. The satraps/satrapahs always reside in their respective satrapies, while the Colors reside on the Jaspers, representing their interests, both political and magical. Power used to largely reside with the satraps or satrapahs, with the Colors being more like their ambassadors. Now power largely resides with the Colors, with the satraps being reduced to provincial governors.
seven: A unit of measurement for weight, equal to the weight of a cubit of water. A sev is equal to one-seventh of a seven.
Seven Lives of Maeve Hart, The: A Blood Forest epic.
Shadow: Another term for an assassin in the Order of the Broken Eye. Shadows are lightsplitters, and any lightsplitter can use a shimmer-cloak to make her-or himself invisible in the visible spectra. (Only paryl-drafting lightsplitters can make themselves invisible to sub-red and superviolet, and that with difficulty.)
Shady Grove: A region within Blood Forest where pygmies reside. Decimated by the diseases brought by invaders, their numbers have never recovered, and they remain insular and often hostile to outsiders.
shimmercloak: A cloak that makes the wearer mostly invisible, except in sub-red and superviolet.
Skill, Will, Source, and Still/Movement: The four essential elements for drafting.
Skill: The most underrated of all the elements of drafting, acquired through practice and study. Includes knowing the properties and strengths of the luxin being drafted, being able to see and match precise wavelengths, et cetera.
Will: By imposing will, a drafter can draft and even cover flawed drafting if her will is powerful enough.
Source: Depending on what colors a drafter can use, she needs either that color of light or items that reflect that color of light in order to draft. Only a Prism can simply split white light within herself to draft any color.
Still: An ironic usage, made up for the mnemonic (Skill, Will, Source, and Still is easier to remember than Skill, Will, Source, and Movement). Drafting requires movement, though more skilled drafters can use less.
slow fuse/slow match: A length of cord, often soaked in saltpeter, that can be lit to ignite the gunpowder of a weapon in the firing mechanism.
soul-cast: An extremely dangerous, difficult, and forbidden type of magic. To soul-cast is to blot out and replace the soul of an animal with the soul of a drafter. The animal’s body may live for days afterward, but its vital spark is extinguished. It damages the caster in more insidious ways. It has been done to humans both living and dead and is considered a black magic. Even if not lethal to the drafter attempting it, soul-casting is grounds for execution on Orholam’s Glare. It is believed that only full-spectrum poly-chromes might successfully soul-cast themselves.