Glossary

Ae'anadah: Lit, without knowledge; figuratively, without sex. Used as a slur against Deiyens.

Aevat: Impure.

Agari: A long dead but technologically advanced culture in Chaesharin which predated the five great kingdoms. Many of Chaesharin's languages and relics are based on Agari scripts and artifacts recovered from ruins.

Ahashai: A minor wife of second or lesser importance.

Aihalan: Lit, gods. A collective term for all minor gods and supernal beings. The beings who bring mortals back to life as vaishineph.

Aihavot: Lit, good gods. The twelve benevolent aihalan who sacrificed themselves to preserve Hadam and the sapient kinds in the aihalan's creation account.

Aramaya: The scribal language of all of the great kingdoms in Chaesharin. A direct descendant of Agari.

Areshar: Lit, light gate. A shimmering wall of magick that bars demons, vaishineph, and other supernal beings from passing.

Arun: Lit, ark or vessel. A powerful relic that holds liquid magick. Also, figuratively, the generic name for a member of one of the five royal cults.

Ashre: An massive empire that used to dominate the region northeast of Chaesharin. Ashre was crushed almost overnight a century ago when Veye's kaimal butchered the Ashrean army and plagued their capital cities.

Atri: The oldest of the five great kingdoms, headed by the dalaihal Amenisis, and located in the southwest of Chaesharin. Formerly called Kaph, and headed by Reus.

Ayeph: A veil, worn by Isstiliphi, and by married women in Atri and Lisrai.

Ayinal: Lit, god's eye. A magick chamber in a culthouse that gathers dreams.

Boshek: A large, upright sitting lizard, related to the crocodile, favored as chariot pullers and beasts of burden in Atri.

Chaesharin: The Shadow Crescent. The region in which TWE is set.

Chag: A wide strip of cloth wrapped around the thighs, genitals, hips, and breasts, and commonly worn as clothing in seaside cities.

Daen: Lord or master. The owner of a household or of slaves.

Daenadain: Lit, lord of lords. A title used by many different groups to refer to many different deities. Daenadain is known as a combination of the dalaihal Haj and Vaal, and is revered by urban elites in Lock, Lisrai, and Nacaanit. The Soshi revere a god they call Daenadain, who they believe to be the son of Lae and Ereshaial. The Lomavoth revere a god they call Daenaedain who seems to be synonymous with Taitima.

Dalaihal: Lit, great god. The royal cults' term for the five gods at the head of the kingdoms.

Dalarun: Lit, great ark. A high priest and head of one of the five royal cults.

Daldaen: Lit, great lord. The head of a noble house or ancestral clan.

Dalresh: A high official of the royal court and direct adviser to the enthroned High Prince.

Deiyeh: A nation of fierce pride and piety, headed by the dalaihal Veye, and located in the southern reaches of the Mountains of Sin.

Ereshaial: The underworld. Also, the name of the Agari goddess of the underworld and the first wife of Lae.

Hadam: The world in which The Way of the Earth is set.

Hainas: High Prince. The civil and military leader of one of the five great kingdoms and the highest rank a mortal can hold. The king in each kingdom is assumed to be the dalaihal themselves.

Isstiliph: A kingdom of seafaring foreigners, headed by the dalaihal Dagger, now occupying the eastern shores of Tai.

Javi: A simple, light and tight-fitting robe with a wide hood, commonly worn in Chaesharin. Deiyens exclusively wear javi.

Kaidir: Lit, way or road. The combination of religious and social conventions that define right behavior in the five kingdoms. Believed to be expressions of the dalaihal's will.

Kaimal: Lit, messenger. Hypothetically, supernal servants of all of the dalaihal, however, only Veye's kaimal have ever been seen.

Kelai: Relics. Magick items that produce miraculous effects.

Kitaphor: Lit, little gray. A species of wolf dog commonly trained for hunting and companionship in northern Chaesharin.

Kitsamak: Lit, little joy. A potent opiate drug made from poppy and demon blood.

Koh: The Deiyen priestly caste.

Ktsae: A vulgar word for refuse. Used as an expletive or insult.

Kutuv: A versatile tunic, often worn by those who labor in the sun.

Lae: The Agari father god and the name of one of the six original dalaihal. Head god of Koveyah before it split into Deiyeh and Lisrai. Now known by the names Veye and Haj.

Lililai: One of the six kinds of demons and the most numerous among them. Lililai have the appearance of monstrous nude women and steal the reproductive essence of men and women.

Lisrai: The youngest of the five great kingdoms having only recently split off from Deiyeh, headed by the dalaihal Haj, and centered in the northern foothills of the Mountains of Sin.

Lock: A port kingdom where many peoples and cultures come to harbor, headed by the dalaihal Vaal, and located northwest of the Mountains of Sin.

Lomavoth: Lit, the undying. A group of cave dwellers who haunt several Agari ruins in the northern Chaesharin river valleys. They practice strange rituals, worship none of the dalaihal, and are viciously hostile to outsiders. Stories say that they are immortal, incestuous, and drink the blood of their leaders.

Loshai: Lit, no women. A space in which it is taboo for women to enter.

Mahal: Commonfolk.

Maeshal: The Titled. The landed nobility of Chaesharin.

Manna: The fiery blood of the gods and other supernal beings.

Masram: The giant tomb structures in Atri containing their honored dead. Used by the Atrian royal cult as magick batteries to generate the world's largest wards against demons.

Nacaanit: An alliance of tribal groups displaced by Koveyah's founding with long ancestral ties to central Chaesharin. Samisa was said to have taken one husband from among the Nacaanit.

Osan: Prostitute/s or members of a royal harem.

Paikusi: Mouth-breeder. A common slur referring to the Isstiliphi.

Parash: A massive, sixth kingdom from a far away eastern land, headed by the dalaihal Zurashu, recently begun what looks like an invasion of all Chaesharin.

Phaekash: A sorcerer. Someone who uses a deviant form of magick; mediums, soothsayers, and bloodbinders.

Redevin: The most common spoken language in Chaesharin. A simplified dialect of Aramaya. The terms in the glossary are Redevin terms.

Resh/Resha: An official of a royal court.

Reus: The original name for Amenisis in ancient times when Atri was called Kaph. Samisa's rebellion and the destruction of Kaph's royal cult led to the change of Reus' and Kaph's names.

Roshai: A first wife.

Samisa: The first vaishineph, who single-handedly destroyed ancient Kaph's royal cult, and led tens of thousands of fugitives, slaves, and outcasts to central Chaesharin.

Seraphin: Giant, six legged serpents, used by elite Deiyen soldiers as mounts.

Shakod: Pure. Can be applied to spaces, creatures, times, and sapient kinds.

Sheshakad: Lit, the purest purity. The capital temple of each kingdom.

Shaed: Demons. Spawn of the mother of monsters.

Shaivat: Lit, impure woman. A generic term for foreign (ethnically/behaviorally) women.

Shainasa: Princess. The first wife of a kingdom's High Prince.

Shumrekdar: Lit, keeper of the way. A royal cult.

Soshi: A group of desert nomads in the southern desert of Chaesharin with ancestral ties to the early kingdom of Koveyah. Samisa was said to have taken one husband from among the Soshi.

Sin: Lit, moon. A large ridge of mountains running through central Chaesharin. Also the name of Taitima's first and greatest daughter by Reus, and mother of all other lililai demons.

Tai: A massive oval sea of deep and treacherous waters west of Chaesharin that gives the land its crescent shape.

Taitima: The mother of monsters. A primordial being born from the tears of the dalaihal. Killed and dismembered by five dalaihal at the end of the War of Chaos. The sea of Tai is named for her.

Tsaiph: A long shawl, typically worn to denote rank, status, or membership in a faction or cult.

Vaishineph: The returned souls. Mortals resurrected by the aihalan.

Vassha: Large jackal-like creatures with forked tails, long-rectangular ears, and no mouths, that are used as mounts and chariot pullers, particularly in Atri where they are native.

Vetshak: Culthouse. A regional temple staffed by members of the royal cult where dreams are gathered and relics are manufactured and maintained.

Yan: A potent and expensive wine made from basket grown grapes in the high hills of Lisrai, generally flavored with cinnamon and figs.