Items you may find in Æor
Archmage (title)
The Archmage is the leader of the Kalari - head of the organized wizards in the region (there are 4 regions named after the compass rose directions.)
Brothership Of Belcronar (religious group)
The Brothership of Belcronar ran the monastery west of Retreol along the road west. They are made up of monks who worship Belcron, led by brother (?)
Child of Sarlima (play)
Raven’s company was performing this production as we first meet her in Retreol.
David’s Path (song)
David's Path is a comical/tragic song, a duet accompanied by two lutes. It is known for being difficult to sing/play by two performers. The song is about David and Finn, semi-scoundrel sailors that happen to find one of only a handful of Ironhand Holdfasts, an ancient anchor forged by blacksmith Thrum Ironhand. Thrum found a deposit of incredibly dense ore that he used to make anchors much more dense than standard iron/steel–impossible works of art for being just ship anchors. Owning one of a handful of surviving pieces is a recognized status symbol among captains and shipwrights. David and Finn stumbled upon one of these anchors on one of their crazy adventures and planned to trade the anchor to the guild for a small ship and guild charter, a lifetime dream for the two sailors.
Upon seeing the anchor, the harbormaster suspected it was stolen from a wreck in the harbor and so he claimed it as maritime plunder. The claims of “the richest man in the town” seem to back up the harbormaster's assertion that they are common thieves. He adds multiple charges to an arrest warrant and dispatches the guard to find and arrest them. They are eventually caught by city guard, the harbor master, and his daughter (who is the lass from the fish market.) The girl really did have some kind of schoolgirl fascination with Finn, ever the dashing scoundrel. She sees the anchor for what it is and begs her father to let them go. He at first refuses.
Seeing they are about to be imprisoned or killed, David swipes the harbormaster's fancy hat–a symbol of his office. To save embarrasment, the harbormaster relents. He gives the pair a leaky raft and a pardon on the condition that they immediately leave Barrington, not to return. In return, the anchor becomes property of the merchant's guild and they have to quietly give his hat back so he can avoid embarrasment.
While the Holdfasts are real anchors, this particular story, most likely, is a fabrication.
Dessard [The Ballad of Dessard] (play)
The Ballad of Dessard takes place in the city of Eremore. It's about a beautiful young woman (Dessard) who becomes engaged to a man named Lucian. On the eve of their marriage, Lucian is killed by a local baron over a debt of nine silver pieces. Dessard makes a contract with a dark magician to trade great power for her soul. This corrupts Dessard and she uses the power of dark magic to kill the baron's wife and his five children and burn his business to the ground. In the fire, she corners the baron, now barely alive, and kills him by taking nine pieces of silver from the cinders of the fire she set in his building and dropping them onto his face. The town guard find her and kill her in the fire.
Dominus (title)
The relationship between a higher-level demon and its lower-level demons. The higher demon is the dominus and the lower is the servus. The plural form is servorum.
Gifted (title)
Those who can manipulate Vis to create magical effects without the training of wizards. This is usually sudden-onset or realized at birth, depending on the manifestation. The aura around Gifted individuals appears to be a crazy interaction between their Essence and the surrounding Vis. Wizards refer to the Gifted as the Scourged and regard them as unworthy of their abilities.
Lockthorn's History of Dryads (books)
The History of Dryads is a five-book series written as a complete description of the history and life of the aquatic creatures. Raven read several of these to her brother while he was in a coma at Glensong following the fight in the statue garden.
Magus Tabernaculum (ritual/spell/item)
The sorceror's tent is a magical construct that appears on the outside to be a 2 meter by 2 meter by 2 meter tent. The tent can be burned or otherwise physically destroyed, but if the casting wizard hasn't overridden the default settings, it will come right back in its original appearance. Upon entering the tent, it is empty except for a small cot along one side (again, unless the casting wizard has overridden the default settings.) If the casting wizard wishes, someone entering the tent can see its true form. The magus tabernaculum has a common area that is 3 meters by 3 meters with several cots and two side areas that are each 2 meters by 3 meters with a plush bed in each. The temperature in the tabernaculum is what the wizard wishes it to be with a height of 2.5 meters throughout.The wizard can open windows on any inside wall that look out to the physical world around it, or windows that can look out into the void dimension where wizards can see all of the other currently-cast instances of Magus Tabernaculum. They cannot travel from one tent to another, however. Tents are well-spaced in the void dimension and NEVER cast on top of each other. If cast specifically to do so, two tents in the physical world can be cast to adjoin in the void dimension. In this case, travel from one to another can be done.
Master of Bravitleer Valley (title)
This title is currently held by Carmen of Gantri, Queen of Tarquin. This is an elected position for the lead ranger of the Bravitleer guard at Thadia.
Mirror of Wills (artifact)
A mirror of wills literally ‘inhales’ anyone who looks upon it. The entity trapped inside is aware of what is going on in the outside world and can fight the possessor of the mirror to escape. Jairin had such a mirror which was taken from him in secret by Raven.
Mortem Sectorem (game)
Also known as Sectorem ('broker') or “wizard's chess.” This game is usually played on an enchanted set on a tabletop, though you can construct the board and various pieces with every-day materials. The board is a 9x9x9 matrix with a player on each side. Each player is granted a number of puncta ('points') with which to purchase individual game pieces to add to their force. Some pieces are beneficial and some are a hindrance. If you purchase beneficial pieces, they have a puncta cost. If you purchase detrimental pieces, they generate puncta that you can use for other pieces. You win the game by destroying your opponent's last Regis or causing their life to fall below 1 point.
Scourge (title) - (see Gifted)
Servus/Servorum (title) - (see Dominus)
Steelstone (type of rock)
A very hard granite rock. It has iron veins in it that limit how it can be worked without fracturing it.
Telmarian (language)
The language of nobility - not a usable language so much as one you would use to show off. The wizards will generally speak to each other in Telmarian, unless they are being very elitist and speaking in the far older Telmarin father tongue.
Willem Ironfoot (ritual)
Willem Ironfoot allegedly lived millennia ago. Legend says that he was the inventor of the horse shoe. For some tribes of horse riders, his legacy is that of protector of riders. His symbol is four circles arranged in a square with lines between them and diagonal lines criss-crossing. The horsemen who revere him believe scratching the symbol in the ground before a battle will lead to good luck and win the favor of Willem and all the fallen horse riders from beyond.