River Snake: the huge chaos serpent that stretches underground from one end of the Silver to the other, causing earthquakes if not fed
Riverland, the: a long, narrow strip of land ceded to the Kencyrath at the northern end of the Silver
Roane: Randir, cousin of the Witch of Wilden, killed by Ganth
Rori: one of Gorbel’s ten-command
Rowan: female friend of Torisen, randon and steward of Gothregor
Rue: randon cadet from Min-drear, one of Jame’s ten-command
sargent: a sort of non-commissioned randon officer, almost always Kendar, addressed as “Sar”
Scrollsmen’s College: at Mount Alban across from Valantir; also home to the singers
scythe-arm: a weapon comprised of two blades with one edge and two points, worn on the arm
Sene: an alternating form of Senethar and Senetha
Senetha: dance form of the Senethar
Senethar: unarmed combat divided into four disciplines: water-flowing, earth-moving, fire-leaping, and wind-blowing
Senethari: a master and teacher of the Senethar
Seven Kings of the Central Lands: Bashti and Hathir have devolved into seven minor kingdoms who are always at war with each other, often using Kencyr mercenaries
Shade: also known as Nightshade; a Randir cadet, bound to a golden swamp adder; half-Kendar bastard daughter of Lord Kenan of Randir, granddaughter of the Randir Matriarch Rawneth
shadow assassins: a mysterious cult of assassins who make themselves invisible (and ultimately insane) with tattoos that cover every inch of their bodies
Shadow Rock: the Danior keep
Shanir: sometimes referred to as the Old Blood; some Kencyr have odd powers such as the ability to blood-bind or to bond with animals, aligned to one of the Three Faces of God; to be Shanir, one must have at least some Highborn blood
Sheth Sharp-tongue: Commandant of Tentir, Caineron, Caldane’s war-leader
Simmeclass="underline" Rawneth’s servant
sister-kinship: sometimes Highborn women of different houses form lasting bonds with each other, about which their lords know nothing
Snowthorns: the mountain range through which the Riverland runs
Sonny Boy: one of Chingetai’s sons
soul-images: each Kencyr sees his or her soul in terms of an image such as a house or a puzzle or a garden. A healer works with this image to promote physical and mental health.
soulscape: all soul images overlap at some point, forming an interwoven psychic landscape; the Kencyrath’s collective subconscious
Stav: harvest-master at Gothregor
Storm: Torisen’s black war-horse
Tai-tastigon: a city in the Eastern Lands where Jame and Marc met
Tardy: a river that converges with the Silver
Tarn: a Danior cadet, bound to an old Molocar named Torvo
Telarien: mother of Tieri, grandmother of Jame and Tori
ten-command: the basic squad unit of cadets; its leader is referred to as Ten and the second-in-command as Five
Those Who Returned: Knorth Kendar who were driven back by Ganth when they attempted to go into exile with him; most became yondri-gon
Three People, the: Highborn, Kendar, and Arrin-ken, who together are the Kencyrath
Tieri: a highborn Knorth, Ganth’s sister, mother of Kindrie and first cousin of Torisen, whose life was saved during the Massacre by Aerulan
Tigon: a randon from Jame’s youth
Timmon: a cadet, also, the Ardeth Lordan; son of Peredon (Peri), grandson of Adric
Tieri: Kindrie’s mother
Tigger: one of Gorbel’s ten-command
Tirandys: male darkling changer, Jame’s former Senethari or teacher, deceased
Tishooo: the southern wind, also called the Falling Man
Torisen Black Lord: High Lord of the Kencyrath, son of Ganth Gray Lord, who stopped the Waster Horde at the Cataracts
Torrigion: That-Which-Creates, the first face of the Three-faced God
Trishien: the Jaran Matriarch, a scrollswoman
trocks: rocks with teeth, given to infesting wells, dungeons, and latrines
Tubain: owner of the Res aB’tyrr
Tungit: a Merikit shaman and old friend of Index
Twizzle: Gorbel’s pook
Tyr-ridan: human vessels for the Three-Faced God to manifest itself through in the final battle with Perimal Darkling
Upper Meadows: a field near Hurlen where the battle of Cataracts took place
Urakarn of the Southern Wastes: citadel of the Karnids
Valantir: Jaran fortress north of Tentir
Vant: an officious Knorth cadet
Waster Horde, the: a vast, nomadic, cannibalistic collection of tribes who endlessly circle the Southern Wastes, preying on each other
Weald, the Great: a large forest in the Central Lands, home to the wolvers
weirdingstrom: a magical storm capable of transporting people and things instantaneously anywhere
weird-walking: using the weirding mist to travel deliberately
White Hills, the: south of the Riverland, where Ganth Gray Lord fought a great battle following the Massacre, lost, and was driven into exile
White Knife: suicide knife, an honorable death
White Lady, the: the Whinno-hir Bel-tairi
Wilden: the Randir fortress
Willow: little sister of Marcarn, killed when Kithorn fell
Winter: a Kendar randon, first nurse to Jame, killed by Ganth
Wolver Grimly: shapeshifter, friend of Torison
wolvers: creatures who shift easily between human and lupine forms, expert singers, usually peaceful unless they come from the Deep Weald
Women’s World: the Council of Matriarchs in Gothregor trains young highborn women and initiates them into sister-kinship
wyrm: also called a darkling crawler
yackcarn: a huge, bad tempered beast on whom the Merikit depend for their winter food supply
Yce: an orphan wolver cub from the Deep Weald, rescued by Torisen
Yolindra: Matriarch of the Edirr
yondri, yondri-gon: a Kendar who has lost his or her house and has been offered temporary shelter by another; sometimes called “threshold dwellers”