Banol Kax —The lords of the underworld, Xibalba. Driven from the earth and locked behind the barrier after the last Great Conjunction in 24,000 B.C. by the many-times great-ancestors of the modern Nightkeepers, the Banol Kax seek to pierce the barrier and wrest control of the earth from mankind.

boluntiku —The underworld minions of the Banol Kax, the boluntiku are lava creatures that draw their energy from the molten mantle of the earth. They can come to earth only when the barrier is very thin (during a solstice or eclipse), and then only at the expense of great magic. The creatures are killing machines that can sense magic and royalty; they travel in an insubstantial vapor form, turning solid in the moment they attack, using six-clawed hands and wicked teeth.

Camazotz—A member of the Banol Kax also known as Sudden Bloodletter, Camazotz is the ruler of night, death, and sacrifice. His sons are the seven death bats responsible for ensuring the completion of the demon prophecies.

Daykeeper—A Mayan shaman-priest responsible for keeping track of the calendar and using divining rituals to make horoscope-like predictions.

First Father—The only adult survivor of the Nightkeepers’ exodus from Egypt, this mage bound the slaves into winikin, and codified the Nightkeepers’ beliefs into the writs and the thirteen prophecies, in order to guide his descendants over the next five millennia until the end-time.

Godkeeper—A female Nightkeeper who has undergone a ritual near-death experience followed by a sexual encounter with a Nightkeeper male, leading to her being bonded with one of the sky gods. Channeling the gods’ powers with the help of their Nightkeeper mates, the Godkeepers are prophesied to form the core of the Nightkeepers’ fighting force during the 2012 doomsday. itza’at —A female Nightkeeper with visionary powers; a seer. The itza’at talent is often associated with depression, mental instability, and suicide, because the seer can envision the future but not change it. The visions will always come to pass.

Ixchel—The goddess of rainbows, loomcraft, and fertility. May also be associated with medicine and the moon. Often depicted as an aged grandmother with jaguar ears, but may also be seen as a beautiful young woman.

Kulkulkan—The winged serpent god, later known as Quetzalcoatl. An extremely powerful god, one of the creators, Kulkulkan has both light and dark halves. The light half is associated with learning, logic, medicine, and art, while the dark aspects are associated with war and rage.

makol ( ajaw-makol )—The earthly minions of the Banol Kax, these demon souls are capable of reaching through the barrier to possess an evil-natured human host. Recognized by their luminous green eyes, a makol-bound human retains his/her own thoughts and actions in direct proportion to the amount of evil in his/her soul. An ajaw-makol is a makol created through direct spell casting by the Banol Kax or the human host. The ajaw-makol can then create lesser makol through blood rituals on earth.

nahwal —Humanoid spirit entities that exist in the barrier and hold within them all of the accumulated wisdom of each Nightkeeper bloodline. They can be asked for information, but cannot be trusted. In the Mayan culture, they came to be known as nahual (or uay), and were feared as shape-shifting sorcerers and devious alter egos of the Mayan ruling elite.

Nightkeeper—A member of an ancient race sworn to protect mankind from annihilation in the years leading up to December 21, 2012, when the barrier separating the earth and the underworld will fall and the Banol Kax will seek to precipitate the apocalypse.

Order of Xibalba—Formed by renegade Nightkeepers long ago, the order courted the powers of the underworld. Its members, called Xibalbans, drew their power from the first layer of hell. The order was wiped out by the conquistadors . . . or so the Nightkeepers believe.

winikin —Descended from the conquered Sumerian warriors who served the Nightkeepers back in ancient Egypt, the winikin are blood-bound to the Nightkeepers. They function as the servants, protectors, and counselors of the magi, and have been instrumental in keeping the bloodlines alive through the centuries.

Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM)—A system of subterranean waterways and caves in Belize that contains numerous ceremonial relics of the Mayan shaman-priests, as well as a series of hidden submerged tunnels and caves sacred to the Nightkeepers.

Chichén Itzá—Arguably the most famous ruin of the Yucatán Peninsula, this city was a religious center built and inhabited by the Maya in the seventh through tenth centuries A.D., and later incorporated the more blood-thirsty practices of the Toltec through the thirteenth century. Today it is a huge tourist attraction aboveground. Belowground, the Nightkeepers practice their rituals and magic in a series of subterranean caverns that run beneath the ruins.

Skywatch—Built in the 1930s and renovated when the Nightkeepers were reunited, the training compound is located in a box canyon in the Chaco Canyon region of New Mexico.

Xibalba—The nine-layer underworld of the Mayan and Nightkeeper religious systems, home to the Banol Kax, boluntiku, and makol. The spiritual entrance to Xibalba is found in the darkest spot at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The religious (metaphorical) entrances are the passageways at the tops of Mayan pyramids, as well as natural caves, especially those leading to subterranean rivers.

ajawlel —The slave-master’s glyph, worn by a Nightkeeper who has formed a reciprocal blood link with a human servant.

barrier—A force field of psi energy that separates the earth, sky, and underworld, and powers the Nightkeepers’ magic. The strength of the barrier fluctuates with the positions of the stars and planets; the power of the magi increases as the barrier weakens.

chac-mool —An iconographic idol dedicated to the rain god, Chaac, the chac-mool is formed in the shape of a seated human figure, and may be used as an altar, a throne, and/or a place of blood sacrifice.

copan —The sacred incense of the Nightkeepers. This is a variation of the Mayan incense, copal, and is associated with the great ruined city of Copán, located in modern-day Honduras.

demon prophecies—A cycle of seven prophecies that will be triggered in the final four years before the end date. If a prophecy is fulfilled, the barrier thins slightly. If it is thwarted, the barrier strengthens to the same degree. These prophecies, revolving around the seven death-bat sons of Camazotz, are inscribed on a series of Nightkeeper artifacts that were sold off to fund the Nightkeepers’ activities in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Now those relics must be recovered if the Nightkeepers hope to thwart Camazotz and his sons.

hunab ku —A pseudoglyph associated with the 2012 end date, in modern times the hunab ku is not a glyph within the Mayan writing system, but rather is the mark that the Nightkeeper king wears on his biceps, denoting his proximity to the gods.

intersection—Located in the sacred tunnels beneath Chichén Itzá, this is the one point on earth where the earth, sky, and underworld come very near one another, and where the barrier is its weakest. This is where the gods can come through to create Godkeepers, and where the underworld denizens focus their attacks during each solstice and equinox.

jun tan —The “beloved” glyph that signifies a Nightkeeper’s mated status.

k’alaj —The slave mark worn by a human who is blood-bound to a Nightkeeper master or mistress.

pasaj och —Roughly translating to “open door open,” this, coupled with a blood sacrifice, is the basic command a Nightkeeper uses to form an uplink to the barrier’s power.

starscript—Ancient writings carved into temples or artifacts in such a way that the glyphs do not reflect normal sun- or moonlight. They are visible only by starlight when the moon is dark.

thirteen prophecies—A long-term prophetic cycle describing milestone events leading up to the apocalypse. The last of these mentions the Nightkeepers’ king making the ultimate sacrifice in the final four years before 2012.

tzomplanti —A ceremonial pile formed of stacked human skulls, used as a beacon or a warning sign.

writs—Written by the First Father, these delineate the duties and codes of the Nightkeepers. Not all of them translate well into modern times.