Rebel Elements (Seals of the Duelists) (47 page)

Danatu:
title of the former Balanganese king. Fearing a civil war among his sons after his impending death, the Danatu brokered a deal with Emperor Hedrick of the Waarden Empire to absorb Balanganam into his many lands and maintain peace among his sons and his people

Datu Lualhati:
Bayan’s father, a successful Balanganese farmer

Den chanter:
a chanter assigned to a duel den

Diantha:
one of Doc Theo’s campus chanters

Diogenes Essendorp (Odjin):
a brash young man who joins Bayan’s hex

Diwata Lualhati:
one of Bayan’s sisters, aged eleven

Doc Theo:
see Theo Willemsen

Dose:
to imbibe a potion

Dosing:
consuming potions in an addictive fashion

Duel den:
a dueling arena and living quarters and occupied by several duelists. Duel dens are housed within major cities or placed strategically among several smaller towns, so that all imperial citizens have access to duelism mediation

Duelist:
a caster of elemental magic, trained at the Duelist Academy, in service for life to the empire. Duelists serve the people during peace time by battling to determine the outcome of civil conflicts, and fight the empire’s enemies in times of war. Duelists hold high status no matter their cultural origin, but they are bound to a lifetime of magical service and cannot abandon their post without serious consequences

Duelist Academy:
a campus for training duelists to master their elemental magic, hidden among the tunnels and valleys of a limestone mountain in the south of Helderaard. Previous valley floor iterations were sacked during various wars

Duelist Savant:
a rare class of duelist who is unable to achieve a perfectly emotionless Void and bonds his or her magic to a particular emotion instead. Since emotion makes magic strong and wild, most Savants injure or kill themselves or someone else before achieving perfect control over their emotional magic. Survivors are often stripped of their magic for everyone’s safety.

Dunfarroghan:
a pragmatic, easily adaptable culture, descended from Tuathi who settled on conquered Waarden lands. The Dunfarroghan live in Marghebellen and Gallenglaas, as well as the western part of Helderaard and the southern stretch of Kallichon. They’re characterized by either pale or black hair, light eyes, and a tendency to wring everything they can out of any deal

Eirene:
a noblewoman serving at the Kheerzaal, skilled in detecting forged coins

Eithne Mikellen:
the Academy’s Earth Instructor, she holds the rank of Avatar Duelist

Elemental Duelist:
the first rank a student can achieve at the Duelist Academy, accomplished by most of the students in each class. Elemental Duelists can control all six elements of their magic, bending it to their will with the perfected use of the six sacred motions, which they use to cast their spells

Elements:
Flame, Water, Wood, Air, Earth, and Shock

Eward Raalgat:
a shy Waarden boy who wants to lead but doesn’t know how. He becomes a member of Bayan’s hex

Fabian:
one of Philo’s assistants and guards

Feast of Many Harvests:
a late autumn festival celebrating the end of the fertile season

Feast of Tuq:
the day on the old Aklaa calendar that marks the beginning of the spring season, roughly corresponding to Low Spring on the official Waarden calendar

Femke:
Empress of the Waarden, wife to Emperor Jaap, mother of Juriaan and Sebastiaan

Firedust:
the mysterious ingredients that form the colorful, noisy explosions of fireworks. Also the name of Calder’s Flame avatar

Firedust Guild:
a licensed guild that uses the secret knowledge of exploding powder to entertain audiences during feasts, festivals and holidays

First Tuathi War:
803-960 IC, during which the Tuathi captured Marghebellen, Gallenglaas and much of Helderaard, where they destroyed the Duelist Academy’s first, loosely organized campus. The Waarden duelists finally brought the war to a close when they discovered a previously unknown magical technique that gave Elementalists a distinct advantage over anima casters in battle. The shift in power forced the Tuathi to sue for peace and settle across their captured lands or flee across the Maam Ardcath

Frits:
one of Philo’s assistants and guards

Gael:
one of Philo’s Kheerzaal assistants, a Dunfarroghan eunuch

Gallenglaas Day:
a Waarden holiday in late winter, celebrating the province’s return to imperial rule in 1691 IC after being in the hands of the Tuathi since the Second Tuathi War

Gamay:
a mature seerwine pitcher plant which grows in the forest near Bayan’s home

Gerrolt Visser:
Academy Groundsmaster, a gruff man with a deep love of all plants

Ginina:
a baker of skill at the Eshkin ancestral estate on Wisnuk Bay

Godsmaw:
the Karkhedonian term for the Gyre

Gyre:
the dangerous circular sea located in the northeast part of the empire, bordering Pallithea and Helderaard, south of the independent realm of Karkhedon. Known for its frequent, deadly storms and swift, swirling currents

Greer:
the Academy’s head Meditation Instructor

Hahliq:
leader of Savitu’s small band of warriors

Hall of Seals:
the assembly room for all Academy gatherings. A circular dais is surrounded by six sections of benches representing the six elements. Teachers, students and other staff sit in the sections favored by their skills or talents

Hanna:
Head Duelist at the Muggenhem duel den

Head Duelist:
the duelist responsible for the upkeep, public relations, and duelists of their duel den. They approve all client choices of duelist and schedule all duels for their den

Hedrick voorde Helderaard:
the old emperor, Jaap’s father, now deceased

Hegemon:
title of the ruler of Karkhedon

Helderaard:
principal province of the Waarden Empire, in the center of its lands, containing Akkeraad, the capital city

Helma de Rood:
Master Duelist who lived a century ago and died fighting in the War of Steel. Her sacrifice for the empire earned her and her descendants the honorific “de Rood”

Hex:
a group of six duelists assigned to train together after passing their basic exams. A hex is also the basic military unit of the duelist army in times of war

Hex house:
a small building where members of the same hex can gather on campus. Hex houses are laid out in six rows of six, built up the side of a steep hill. Each row of hex houses is traditionally given an elemental designation

Hexbirds:
cousins of the crow, hexbirds have lived among duelists for millennia. They’re believed to be smarter than crows, lucky, and perhaps even infused with a little magic

Hexling:
mildly derogatory term for a student assigned to a hex

Hexmagic Duelist:
the third rank a student can achieve at the Duelist Academy, and the highest most students ever hope to achieve. Hexmagic Duelists can manifest all six elemental avatars and can combine elemental magics with their hexmates to create nearly anything, except living creatures

High Ways:
Imperial roads stretching between major cities, maintained by the empire to facilitate trade and travel

Idle:
to control an avatar’s motions, but not cast any spells. To Idle an avatar, the duelist must maintain the shape of the sacred motion that matches the avatar’s element.

Ignaas witten Oost:
an influential instructor on the Academy campus, the minor Waarden noble is a powerful Hexmagic Duelist who teaches upper-level classes as well as his own private hand-picked students

Imee Magittang:
Bayan’s lovemate and his intended bride. A spirited Balanganese teenager, daughter of Isagani Magittang

Imperial Duelist:
a duelist of any rank assigned to the Kheerzaal

Indentured:
a servant with a finite number of years to serve. Indentureds usually enter service due to financial need or to learn a valuable trade with a master tradesman or guild, such as the Firedust Guild

Invocation:
a combination of sacred motions that open the duelist up to either elemental magic in general, or a specific element, or avatar-level spells. The Elemental Invocation is usually performed at the beginning of a duel or a bout of arena practice at the Academy, but during a trainee’s first semester on campus, it is performed only once a day, at the beginning of the day, in order to tame and focus the trainee’s magic through daily exposure to the sacred motions and with meditation. Other, more specific invocations are performed after the duelist has invoked elemental magic, in order to bring about specific kinds of spells.

Isagani Magittang:
a wealthy Balanganese merchant, father of Imee

Isos Sarantis:
a distant cousin of the Hegemon of Karkhedon, who once saved Marco’s life

Iyanu K’mokamo:
a fierce noblewoman who schedules banquets for the emperor and his guests. Wife to Wateyo tes’Eshkin, mother of Kiwani t’Eshkin, her only child

Jaap voorde Helderaard:
His Imperial Majesty, ruler of the Second Waarden Empire, younger son of Emperor Hedrick

Joord:
one of Philo’s assistants and guards

Joos de Rood:
the Academy’s history teacher, descended from the last Master Duelist in imperial history, Helma de Rood

Jujufish:
small, inquisitive fish that live in Balanganese rice paddies. Eaten by people and swamp vipers

Jurgen:
one of the Academy’s Meditation Instructors

Juriaan voorde Helderaard:
younger son of Emperor Jaap

Kah:
a hexbird who shared a room with Bayan, Odjin, Calder, and Eward

Kakios Phokapolou:
a patient killer for hire

Kalabao:
a domesticated bovine, used for farm work and cart transport in Balanganam

Karkhedon:
a neutral land across the Godsmaw from Helderaard. Its inhabitants share a cultural heritage with the Imperial lands of Aeolis, Kallichon, and Pallithea

Kendesi:
an older student, she’s a member of Braam’s hex

Kheerzaal:
the imperial campus, comprised of the royal palace and the headquarters of all imperially run businesses and services

Kilik:
an indentured man in Qivinga’s service

Kipri Nayuuti:
Philo’s current assistant, a eunuch of the Second Class

Kiwani t’Eshkin:
daughter of Wateyo tes’Eshkin and Iyanu K’mokamo, powerful nobles in the emperor’s good graces. Ambitious and proud, Kiwani had her life all planned out before her magic manifested, forcing her to change her goals

Kobus vooren Zeegat:
a minor noble and ship aficionado who lives in Muggenhem year-round. His first wife left him when she learned he was sterile. The old emperor, Hedrick, ordered him to wed the young Aklaa princess, Qivinga, when her land was finally conquered. A kind man who’s more interested in ships than marriage, Kobus has given Qivinga several Aklaa indentureds to keep her company so far from home, but he spends most of his time away from the manor or abandoning her to judgmental Waarden noblewomen at parties so he can talk ships with his old friends

Konrad:
one of Philo’s assistants and guards

Kuvi:
one of Hahliq’s warriors, and Kipri’s uncle

Laarwyck:
a Waarden-dominated province east of Helderaard, whose citizens speak with a thick country accent

Last Starflower, the:
the name given to Qivinga when her realm lost its bid for freedom during the Raqtaaq Wars and her father the ruler of Aklaa was executed, since she became the last princess of Aklaa

Lailani Lualhati:
one of Bayan’s sisters, aged nine

Lemmert:
one of Philo’s assistants and guards

Liliwa Lualhati:
Bayan’s mother

Lost Starflower, the:
Aklaa people’s name for the Last Starflower after she was stolen away by Emperor Hedrick

Lotte:
Philo’s personal chef during his travels in Balanganam, and employee of the royal kitchens before and after her time with Philo

Low Solstice:
the shortest day of the year

Low Spring:
the first day of spring according to the Waarden calendar

Mambajao:
the broad, silty river that flows past Bayan’s home. It was considered too wide and dangerous to cross with a bridge, until Surveyor Philo Sallas arrived