GLOSSARY OF CHARACTERS AND TERMINOLOGY
adar—highest military rank in Ildiran Solar Navy.
Aguerra, Raymond—streetwise young man from Earth, former identity of King Peter.
Alexa, Mother—ruler of Theroc, wife of Father Idriss.
Aladdia—transportal technician on Rheindic Co.
Andez, Shelia—EDF soldier, held captive by Roamers at Osquivel shipyards.
Aquarius—wental-distribution ship flown by Nikko Chan Tylar.
Arcas—green priest, part of Colicos team on Rheindic Co, murdered by Klikiss robots.
Archfather—symbolic head of Unison religion on Earth.
attenders—diminutive personal assistants to the Mage-Imperator.
Avi’h—Maratha Designate, youngest son of Mage-Imperator Cyroc’h.
BeBob—Rlinda Kett’s pet name for Branson Roberts.
bekh!—Ildiran curse, “damn!”
Beneto—green priest, second son of Father Idriss and Mother Alexa, killed by hydrogues on Corvus Landing.
Bhali’v—bureaucrat kithman, assistant to Maratha Designate Avi’h.
Big Goose—derogatory Roamer term for Terran Hanseatic League.
blazer—Ildiran illumination source.
Blind Faith—Branson Roberts’s ship.
Blue Sky Mine—skymine facility at Golgen, operated by Ross Tamblyn, destroyed by hydrogues.
Boone’s Crossing—Hansa colony world, known for its black pine forests, now devastated by hydrogues.
Brindle, Robb—young EDF recruit, comrade of Tasia Tamblyn, vanished after attempting to contact hydrogues on Osquivel.
Bron’n—bodyguard of Mage-Imperator Cyroc’h, committed suicide after his leader poisoned himself.
Burton—One of the eleven generation ships from Earth, fourth to depart. Lost en route, captured by Ildirans for Dobro breeding experiments.
Caillié—One of the eleven generation ships from Earth, fifth to depart and first to be encountered by the Ildirans. Colonists from the Caillié were taken to settle Theroc.
Cain, Eldred—deputy and heir apparent of Basil Wenceslas, pale-skinned and hairless, an art collector.
Cannons of Darkness—geysers on Maratha, active during the cooling-off weeks of the long twilight.
carbon slammer—new-design EDF weapon, effective at breaking carbon-carbon bonds.
cargo escort—Roamer vessel used to deliver ekti shipments from skymines.
Celli—youngest daughter of Father Idriss and Mother Alexa.
Chen—Roamer clan.
chrysalis chair—reclining throne of the Mage-Imperator.
cityship—giant hydrogue metropolis.
Clarin, Eldon—Roamer inventor, brother of Roberto, killed when hydrogues destroyed the skymine at Erphano.
Clarin, Roberto—administrator of Hurricane Depot, brother of Eldon.
cloud harvester—ekti-gathering facility designed by the Hansa; also called a cloud mine.
cohort—battle group of Ildiran Solar Navy consisting of seven maniples, or 343 ships.
Colicos, Anton—the son of Margaret and Louis Colicos, translator and student of epic stories, sent to Ildiran Empire to study the Saga of Seven Suns.
Colicos, Louis—xeno-archaeologist, husband of Margaret Colicos, specializing in ancient Klikiss artifacts, killed by Klikiss robots at Rheindic Co.
Colicos, Margaret—xeno-archaeologist, wife of Louis Colicos, specializing in ancient Klikiss artifacts, vanished through transportal during Klikiss robot attack on Rheindic Co.
competent computerized companion—intelligent servant robot, called compy, available in Friendly, Teacher, Governess, Listener, and other models.
compy—shortened term for “competent computerized companion.”
condorfly—colorful flying insect on Theroc, like a giant butterfly, sometimes kept as a pet.
Corribus—ancient Klikiss world where Margaret and Louis Colicos discovered the Klikiss Torch technology, site of one of the first new Hansa colonies.
Corvus Landing—Hansa colony world, mainly agricultural, some mining, obliterated by hydrogues.
Couarnir—star system, location of Hurricane Depot.
Covitz, Jan—Dremen mushroom farmer, participant in transportal colonization initiative, father of Orli.
Covitz, Orli—Dremen colonist, joined transportal colonization initiative with her father, Jan.
Crenna—former Ildiran splinter colony, evacuated because of plague, and resettled by humans. Home of Davlin Lotze and Branson Roberts.
Cyroc’h—former Mage-Imperator, father of Jora’h.
Dame Battleaxe—nickname for former Hansa Chairman Maureen Fitzpatrick.
Daniel—new Prince candidate selected by the Hansa as a potential replacement for Peter.
Daro’h—the Dobro Designate-in-waiting after the death of Mage-Imperator Cyroc’h.
DD—compy servant assigned to Rheindic Co xeno-archaeology dig, captured by Klikiss robots.
Dekyk—Klikiss robot at Rheindic Co xeno-archaeology dig.
Designate—any purebred noble son of the Mage-Imperator; ruler of an Ildiran world.
Designate-in-waiting—one of the next group of Designates, sons of the Prime Designate who will replace their uncles, the sons of the previous Mage-Imperator.
diamondfilm—crystalline parchment used for Ildiran documents.
Dobro—Ildiran colony world, site of human-Ildiran breeding camps.
Dremen—Terran colony world, dim and cloudy; chief products are saltpond caviar and some genetically enhanced mushrooms.
drogues—deprecatory term for hydrogues.
Dularix—uninhabited world in Ildiran space, site of inexplicable hydrogue attack.
EA—Tasia Tamblyn’s personal compy; her memory was wiped when she was interrogated by Basil Wenceslas.
Earth Defense Forces—Terran space military, headquartered on Mars but with jurisdiction throughout the Terran Hanseatic League.
EDF—Earth Defense Forces.
Eddies—slang term for soldiers in EDF.
ekti—exotic allotrope of hydrogen used to fuel Ildiran stardrives.
Elwich, Private—EDF cadet, one of Tasia Tamblyn’s trainees on Mars.
Erphano—gas-giant planet, site of Berndt Okiah’s skymine.
Estarra—second daughter, fourth child of Father Idriss and Mother Alexa. Current Queen of Terran Hanseatic League, married to King Peter.
faeros—sentient fire entities dwelling within stars.
Fan’nh—qul in Ildiran Solar Navy, in charge of the maniple facing hydrogues at Hrel-oro.
featherhum—Ildiran flying creature, similar to an Earth hummingbird.
Fitzpatrick, Maureen—former Chairman of the Terran Hanseatic League, grandmother of Patrick Fitzpatrick III.
Fitzpatrick, Patrick, III—spoiled cadet in the Earth Defense Forces, General Lanyan’s protégé, presumed dead after Osquivel but captured by Roamers in Del Kellum’s shipyards.
flutewood trees—multibranched growths on Crenna with hard bark and holes that make whistling sounds in the wind.
fracture-pulse drone—new-design EDF weapon, also called a “frak.”
frak—slang term for fracture-pulse drone.
Frederick, King—previous figurehead ruler of the Terran Hanseatic League, assassinated by hydrogue emissary.
fungus reef—giant worldtree growth on Theroc, carved into a habitation by the Therons.
furry cricket—innocuous furry rodent found on Corribus.
Gale’nh—experimental half-breed son of Nira Khali and Adar Kori’nh, third oldest of her children.
gliderbikes—flying contraptions assembled from scavenged engines and framework materials, augmented by colorful condorfly wings.
Gold, Sullivan—administrator of the Hansa’s new modular cloud harvester installed at Qronha 3.
Golgen—gas giant where Ross Tamblyn’s Blue Sky Mine was destroyed; also bombarded by comets targeted by Jess Tamblyn.
Gomez, Charles—human prisoner of the hydrogues, seized at Boone’s Crossing.
Goose—derogatory Roamer term for Terran Hanseatic League.
Goswell, Bertram—early Chairman of the Terran Hanseatic League, originally tried to force Roamers to sign Hansa Charter.
grappler pod—small work vehicle used in shipyards of Osquivel.
Great King—figurehead leader of Terran Hanseatic League.
green priest—servant of the worldforest, able to use worldtrees for instantaneous communication.
GU—Analytical compy assigned to work with Kotto Okiah.
Guiding Star—Roamer philosophy and religion, a guiding force in a person’s life.
handlers—Ildiran kith, handlers of the dead.
Hansa—Terran Hanseatic League.
Hansa Headquarters—pyramidal building near the Whisper Palace on Earth.
Heald—star system in the Ildiran Empire, site of a famous “ghost story” in the Saga of Seven Suns; two inhabited planets consolidated into a single splinter colony for defense against the hydrogues.
Horizon Cluster—large star cluster near Ildira, location of Hyrillka and many other splinter colonies.
Hosaki—Roamer clan.
Hosaki, Alfred—Roamer clan leader.
Hrel-oro—arid Ildiran mining colony, inhabited primarily by scaly kithmen.
Hroa’x—chief skymining engineer of Ildiran skyfactory on Qronha 3.
Huck, Tabitha—engineer aboard Sullivan Gold’s cloud harvester at Qronha 3.
Hurricane Depot—Roamer commercial center and fuel-transfer station, located in a gravitationally stable point between two close-orbiting asteroids.
hydrogues—alien race living at cores of gas-giant planets.
Hyrillka—Ildiran colony in Horizon Cluster, original discovery site of Klikiss robots, main source of the drug shiing.
Idriss, Father—ruler of Theroc, husband of Mother Alexa.
Ildira—home planet of the Ildiran Empire, under the light of seven suns.
Ildiran Empire—large alien empire, the only other major civilization in the Spiral Arm.
Ildiran Solar Navy—space military fleet of the Ildiran Empire.
Ildirans—humanoid alien race with many different breeds, or kiths.
Ilure’l—Ildiran lens kithman, part of the skeleton crew remaining in Maratha Prime.
Isix cats—sleek feline predators native to Ildira; Jora’h’s daughter Yazra’h keeps three of them.
Isperos—hot planet, site of Kotto Okiah’s failed test colony.
jazer—energy weapon used by Earth Defense Forces.
Jora’h—new Mage-Imperator of the Ildiran Empire.
Jorax—Klikiss robot dismantled by Hansa scientists to study its programming and systems.
Juggernaut—large battleship class in Earth Defense Forces.
Jupiter—enhanced Juggernaut battleship in EDF, flagship of Admiral Willis’s Grid 7 battle group.
Kamarov, Raven—Roamer cargo ship captain, destroyed with his cargo ship on secret EDF raid.
Kanaka—One of the eleven generation ships from Earth, last to depart. These colonists became the Roamers.
Kari—young friend of Celli’s, killed during hydrogue attack on Theroc.
Kellum, Del—Roamer clan leader, in charge of Osquivel shipyards.
Kellum, Zhett—eighteen-year-old daughter of Del Kellum.
Kett, Rlinda—merchant woman, captain of the Voracious Curiosity.
Khali—Nira’s family name.
Khali, Nira—green priest female, Prime Designate Jora’h’s lover and mother of his half-breed daughter Osira’h. Held captive in breeding camps on Dobro.
kith—a breed of Ildiran.
kleeb—derogatory term for an EDF cadet.
Klikiss—ancient insectlike race, long vanished from the Spiral Arm, leaving only their empty cities.
Klikiss robots—intelligent beetlelike robots built by the Klikiss race.
Klikiss Torch—a weapon/mechanism developed by the ancient Klikiss race to implode gas-giant planets and create new stars.
Kolker—green priest, friend of Yarrod, stationed on Sullivan Gold’s modular cloud harvester at Qronha 3.
Kori’nh, Adar—leader of the Ildiran Solar Navy, killed in suicidal assault against hydrogues on Qronha 3.
KR—Analytical compy assigned to work with Kotto Okiah.
Lanyan, General Kurt—commander of Earth Defense Forces.
lens kithmen—philosopher priests who help to guide troubled Ildirans, interpreting faint guidance from the thism.
Lia—former ruler of Theroc, Estarra’s grandmother.
Lica—young friend of Celli’s, killed during hydrogue attack on Theroc.
lifetube—small emergency evacuation device stored aboard EDF battleships.
Lightsource—the Ildiran version of Heaven, a realm on a higher plane composed entirely of light. Ildirans believe that faint trickles of this light break through into our universe and are channeled through the Mage-Imperator and distributed across their race through the thism.
Liloa’h—Ildiran noble female, Jora’h’s first lover.
Looking Glass Lakes—group of deep, round lakes on Theroc, site of a tree village obliterated in hydrogue attack.
Lotze, Davlin—Hansa exosociologist and spy on Crenna, sent to Rheindic Co where he discovered how to use the Klikiss transportal system.
Lucy—young girl, friend of Orli Covitz on Corribus.
Mae, Terene—EDF ensign, assigned to Tasia Tamblyn’s Manta cruiser.
Mage-Imperator—the god-emperor of the Ildiran Empire.
maniple—battle group of Ildiran Solar Navy consisting of seven septas, or 49 ships.
Manta—midsize cruiser class in EDF.
Maratha—Ildiran resort world with extremely long day and night cycle.
Maratha Prime—primary domed city on one continent of Maratha.
Maratha Secda—sister city on opposite side of Maratha from Prime, currently under construction by Klikiss robots.
Maylor, Fred—Roamer clan leader.
Mhas’k—male Ildiran agricultural kithman, part of the skeleton crew on Maratha, mated to Syl’k.
Mijistra—glorious capital city of the Ildiran Empire.
Mouth of Space—dark nebula, inhabited by Shana Rei, according to the Saga of Seven Suns.
Muree’n—experimental half-breed daughter of Nira Khali and a guard kithman, youngest of her children.
Nahton—court green priest on Earth, serves King Peter.
nebula skimmers—giant sails used to scoop hydrogen from nebula clouds.
New Portugal—Hansa outpost with EDF facilities, colony known for distilleries and wineries.
nialia—plantmoth grown on Hyrillka, source of shiing.
Nira—Nira Khali.
Nur’of—lead engineer, part of the skeleton crew remaining in Maratha Prime.
Oncier—gas-giant planet, original test site of the Klikiss Torch.
Okiah, Berndt—Jhy Okiah’s grandson, chief of Erphano skymine, killed by hydrogues.
Okiah, Jhy—Roamer woman, very old, former Speaker of the clans.
Okiah, Kotto—Jhy Okiah’s youngest son, a brash and eccentric inventor who designed Isperos colony.
Orange Spot—plague affecting human colonists on Crenna.
Osira’h—daughter of Nira Khali and Jora’h, has unusual telepathic abilities because of her breeding.
Osquivel—ringed gas planet, site of secret Roamer shipyards.
ossuarium—storage chamber in the Prism Palace for the glowing skulls of former Mage-Imperators.
Otema—old green priest, former ambassador from Theroc to Earth, sent to Ildira where she was murdered by the Mage-Imperator.
OX—Teacher compy, one of the oldest Earth robots. Served aboard Peary, now instructor and adviser to King Peter.
Palace District—governmental zone around Whisper Palace on Earth.
Palawu, Howard—Chief Science Adviser to King Peter, one of the dissectors of the Klikiss robot Jorax.
Pasternak, Anna—Roamer clan leader, ship captain.
Pekar, Jane—governor of Relleker.
Pellidor, Franz—assistant to Basil Wenceslas, an “expediter.”
Peroni, Denn—Cesca’s father, a Roamer merchant.
Peroni, Cesca—Roamer Speaker of all clans, trained by Jhy Okiah. Cesca was betrothed to Ross Tamblyn, then Reynald of Theroc, but has always loved Ross’s brother Jess.
Pery’h—the Hyrillka Designate-in-waiting after the death of Mage-Imperator Cyroc’h.
Peter, King—successor to King Frederick.
plantmoth—nialias of Hyrillka, source of the drug shiing.
Platcom—Platform Commander, chief officer’s rank aboard Thunderhead weapons platform in EDF.
Plumas—frozen moon with deep liquid oceans, site of Tamblyn clan water industry.
poletrees—tall plants growing in the plains on Corribus.
Prime Designate—eldest son and heir apparent of the Ildiran Mage-Imperator.
Prism Palace—dwelling of the Ildiran Mage-Imperator.
Ptoro—gas-giant planet, site of clan Tylar’s “boondoggle” skymine.
Qronha—a close binary system, two of the Ildiran “seven suns.” Contains two habitable planets and one gas giant, Qronha 3.
qul—Ildiran military rank, commander of a maniple, or forty-nine ships.
Ramah—Terran colony world, settled mainly by Islamic pilgrims, site of a former uprising against the Hansa, which was quelled by Lev Stromo.
Ramirez, Elly—navigator aboard Tasia Tamblyn’s Manta.
rammer—kamikaze EDF ship designed to be crewed by Soldier compies.
Refo, Jenna—transportal explorer, lost in one of her searches.
Relleker—Terran colony world, popular as a resort.
rememberer—member of the Ildiran storyteller kith.
Remora—small EDF attack ship.
Ren—young friend of Celli’s, killed during hydrogue attack on Theroc.
Rendezvous—inhabited asteroid cluster, hidden center of Roamer government.
Reynald—eldest son of Father Idriss and Mother Alexa, killed in hydrogue attack on Theroc.
Rheindic Co—abandoned Klikiss world, site of major excavation by the Colicos team.
Rhe’nh—septar in the Ildiran Solar Navy.
Roachers—derogatory term for Roamers.
Roamers—loose confederation of independent humans, primary producers of ekti stardrive fuel.
Roberts, Branson—former husband and business partner of Rlinda Kett, also called BeBob.
Rod’h—experimental half-breed son of Nira Khali and the Dobro Designate, second oldest of her children.
Rossia—eccentric green priest serving in the EDF, survivor of a wyvern attack.
Royal Canal—ornamental canal surrounding Whisper Palace.
Ruis, Lupe—mayor of Crenna colony settlement.
Rusa’h—Hyrillka Designate, third noble-born son of the former Mage-Imperator.
Saga of Seven Suns—historical and legendary epic of the Ildiran civilization.
saltpond caviar—luxury food from Dremen.
Sarein—eldest daughter of Father Idriss and Mother Alexa, Theron ambassador to Earth, also Basil Wenceslas’s lover.
scaly—Ildiran kith, desert dwellers.
septa—small battle group of seven ships in the Ildiran Solar Navy.
septar—commander of a septa.
Shana Rei—legendary “creatures of darkness” in the Saga of Seven Suns.
shiing—stimulant drug made from nialia plantmoths on Hyrillka, dulls Ildiran receptivity to the thism.
shizz—Roamer expletive.
silver berets—sophisticated special forces trained by EDF.
Sirix—Klikiss robot at Rheindic Co xeno-archaeology dig, leader of robotic revolt against humans, captor of DD.
skyfactory—very large ekti-harvesting facility run by Ildirans.
skymine—ekti-harvesting facility in gas-giant clouds, usually operated by Roamers.
skysphere—main dome of the Ildiran Prism Palace. The skysphere holds exotic plants, insects, and birds, all suspended over the Mage-Imperator’s throne room.
Solimar—young green priest, treedancer, and mechanic; he rescued Celli from a burning tree during the hydrogue attack on Theroc.
Sorengaard, Rand—renegade Roamer pirate, executed by General Lanyan.
soul-threads—connections of thism that trickle through from the Lightsource. The Mage-Imperator and lens kithmen are able to see them.
spampax—processed meat rations, designed to last for centuries.
Speaker—political leader of the Roamers.
Spiral Arm—the section of the Milky Way Galaxy settled by the Ildiran Empire and Terran colonies.
splinter colony—an Ildiran colony that meets minimum population requirements.
Stanna, Bill—EDF soldier, held captive by Roamers at Osquivel shipyards.
Stannis, Malcolm—early Chairman of the Terran Hanseatic League, served in the reigns of King Ben and King George, during Earth’s first contact with the Ildiran Empire.
Steinman, Hud—old transportal explorer, discovered Corribus on transportal network and decided to settle there.
Stoner, Benn—male prisoner on Dobro.
Stromo, Admiral Lev—Admiral in Earth Defense Forces, derisively called “Stay-at-home Stromo” after he was defeated by hydrogues at Jupiter.
sub-thism sleep—Ildiran coma.
Sweeney, Dahlia—DD’s first owner, a young girl.
Swendsen, Lars Rurik—engineering specialist, adviser to King Peter, one of the dissectors of the Klikiss robot Jorax.
swimmer—Ildiran kith, water dwellers.
Syl’k—female Ildiran agricultural kithman, part of the skeleton crew on Maratha, mated to Mhas’k.
tal—military rank in Ildiran Solar Navy, cohort commander.
Tamblyn, Andrew—one of Jess’s uncles, brother to Bram.
Tamblyn, Bram—former scion of Tamblyn clan, father of Ross, Jess, and Tasia, died after his son Ross perished on the Blue Sky Mine.
Tamblyn, Jess—Roamer, second son of Bram Tamblyn, in love with Cesca Peroni, infused with wental energy.
Tamblyn, Karla—Jess’s mother, frozen to death in ice accident on Plumas.
Tamblyn, Ross—estranged eldest son of Bram Tamblyn, chief of Blue Sky Mine at Golgen, killed in first hydrogue attack.
Tamblyn, Tasia—Jess Tamblyn’s sister, currently serving in the EDF.
Tamblyn, Torin—one of Jess’s uncles, brother to Bram.
Tamblyn, Wynn—one of Jess’s uncles, brother to Bram.
Tamo’l—experimental half-breed daughter of Nira Khali and a lens kithman, second youngest of her children.
Tela—young girl, friend of Orli Covitz on Corribus.
telink—instantaneous communication used by green priests.
Telton, Anjea—human prisoner of the hydrogues.
Terran Hanseatic League—commerce-based government of Earth and Terran colonies.
Theroc—forested planet, home of the sentient worldtrees.
Theron—a native of Theroc.
thism—faint racial telepathic link from the Mage-Imperator to the Ildiran people.
Thor’h—eldest noble-born son of Mage-Imperator Jora’h, the current Prime Designate.
Throne Hall—the King’s main receiving room in the Whisper Palace on Earth.
Thunderhead—mobile EDF weapons platform.
transgate—hydrogue point-to-point transportation system.
transportal—Klikiss instantaneous transportation system.
treedancers—acrobatic performers in the Theron forests.
treeling—a small worldtree sapling, often transported in an ornate pot.
Tylar, Crim—Roamer skyminer on Ptoro, father of Nikko.
Tylar, Marla Chan—Roamer greenhouse engineer, mother of Nikko.
Tylar, Nikko Chan—young Roamer pilot, son of Crim and Marla.
Udru’h—Dobro Designate, second-born noble son of the Mage-Imperator Cyroc’h.
Unison—standardized government-sponsored religion for official activities on Earth.
UR—Roamer compy, Governess model at Rendezvous.
Vao’sh—Ildiran rememberer, patron and friend of Anton Colicos, part of the skeleton crew remaining in Maratha Prime.
verdani—organic-based sentience, manifested as the Theron worldforest.
Vik’k—Ildiran digger, part of the skeleton crew remaining in Maratha Prime.
Voracious Curiosity—Rlinda Kett’s merchant ship.
warglobe—hydrogue spherical attack vessel.
warliner—largest class of Ildiran battleship.
Wenceslas, Basil—Chairman of the Terran Hanseatic League.
wentals—sentient water-based creatures.
Whisper Palace—magnificent seat of the Hansa government.
Willis, Admiral Sheila—commander of Grid 7 EDF battle group, Tasia Tamblyn’s commanding officer.
worldforest—the interconnected, semisentient forest based on Theroc.
worldtree—a separate tree in the interconnected, semisentient forest based on Theroc.
worm hive—large nest built by hive worms on Theroc, spacious enough to be used for human habitation.
wyvern—large flying predator on Theroc.
Yamane, Kiro—cybernetic specialist held captive by Roamers at Osquivel shipyards.
Yarrod—green priest, younger brother of Mother Alexa.
Yazra’h—oldest daughter of Mage-Imperator Jora’h, keeps three Isix cats.
Yreka—fringe Hansa colony world; the EDF cracked down on the Yreka colonists for hoarding ekti.
Yura’h—former Mage-Imperator, grandfather of Jora’h, ruled at the time of first encounter with human generation ships.
Zan’nh—Ildiran military officer, eldest son of Mage-Imperator Jora’h, new Adar of the Ildiran Solar Navy.
Zizu, Anwar—EDF sergeant, security chief on Tasia Tamblyn’s Manta.