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Glossary
Shalandra, City of the Dead
Gods of Einan
Kiro, the Master: God of virtue and nobility
Deralana, Lady of Vengeance: Goddess of warriors and vengeance
Garridos, the Apprentice: God of ventures and enterprise
The Maiden: Goddess of purity, devotion, and festivities
The Illusionist: God of coin, success, and madness
The Bright Lady: Goddess of healing
The Swordsman: God of war, heroism, and metal-smithing
The Mistress: Goddess of trysts, secrets, and whispered truths
The Bloody Minstrel: God of sickness, plague, and horrible music
The Watcher: God of the night, god of justice and vengeance. Thieves and criminals know him as “the Watcher in the Dark”.
The Lonely Goddess: Goddess of orphans and broken hearts
The Beggar God: God of outcasts, the destitute, and the needy
The Long Keeper: God of death.
Kharna – Serenii that sacrificed himself to feed Enarium and fight the Devourer to protect Einan
The Devourer of Worlds, the Great Destroyer – force of chaos seeking to unmake the world
Trial of Stone Characters
Listed according to appearance/mention
Killian: blacksmith, leader of the Mumblers, Issa’s trainer, surprisingly well-connected, cunning (mentioned in Chapter 1, first seen in Chapter 5)
Hallar: founder of Shalandra, dead for thousands of years (Chapter 1)
Aleema: Issa’s Savta (grandmother), maid in the house of a Dhukari (mentioned in Chapter 1, first seen in Chapter 5)
Nytano: Issa’s Saba (grandfather), laborer in the farmlands outside of Shalandra (mentioned in Chapter 1, first seen in Chapter 5)
Amhoset Nephelcheres: Pharus of Shalandra, Servant of the Long Keeper, Word of Justice and Death, a noble and honorable ruler hamstrung by the Keeper’s Council (Chapter 1)
Callista Vinaus: Lady of Blades, highest-ranked military official in Shalandra, rules the Keeper’s Blades and Indomitables, stern, proud, warrior (Chapter 1)
Tinush: oldest member of the Keeper’s Council, a priest of the Necroseti, servant to the god of death (Chapter 1)
Etai: Issa’s fellow Blade-in-training, born of the lowest-ranked Mahjuri caste, a proud warrior (Chapter 1)
Evren: 17 year-old former pickpocket and clever thief from Darkblade Slayer, former apprentice in the Master’s Temple in Vothmot, recruited to the Hunter’s mission of feeding Kharna (Chapter 2)
Father Reverentus: high priest of the Beggar God in Voramis, old, member of the Cambionari, not the Hunter’s biggest fan (Chapter 2—see Darkblade Assassin and Darkblade Slayer)
Hailen: child cared for by the Hunter and trained by the Cambionari, descendent of the ancient Serenii, the Hunter’s ward, possesses mysterious magical abilities (Chapter 2)
Lectern Uman: Lectern from Evren’s days in the Master’s Temple, abusive, vile scum of humanity, killed accidentally by Evren (Chapter 2—see The Renegade Apprentice)
Brother Mendicatus: portly priest of the Beggar God in Voramis, nervous, easily startled, attendant to Father Reverentus (Chapter 2)
The Hunter of Voramis: legendary assassin, half-demon, wielder of Soulhunger (Chapter 2— see Darkblade Assassin and the Hero of Darkness series)
Kiara/Celicia: enemy turned ally, surrogate mother to Hailen, helped the Hunter reach the city of Enarium, joined the Hunter’s crusade (Chapter 2—see Darkblade Assassin)
Graeme: alchemist, lover of erotic poems and romances, member of the information-collecting Hidden Circle, the Hunter’s only “friend” in Voramis (Chapter 2—see Darkblade Assassin)
Brother Modestus: grizzled Cambionari, veteran fighter, taciturn, slain by bandits (mentioned in Chapter 2, first appearance in Chapter 6)
Kodyn: 17 year-old apprentice to House Hawk, third-story thief of the Night Guild, son of Ilanna the Guild Master and Ria the Master of House Phoenix, protective (Chapter 3)
Aisha: 17 year-old former trafficking victim rescued by Ilanna and the Night Guild (see Traitors’ Fate), apprentice to House Phoenix, Kodyn’s best friend, child of a Spirit Whisperer (Chapter 3)
Briana: daughter of a high-ranked member of the Secret Keepers in Shalandra and Keeper’s Councilor, graceful, elegant, intelligent, studious, rescued by Kodyn and the Night Guild from kidnappers (Chapter 3—see Darkblade Justice)
Ria: Master of House Phoenix, Aisha’s mentor, Kodyn’s second mother, former trafficking victim (Chapter 3—see Thief of the Night Guild)
Ilanna: Master of the Night Guild, former Hawk, legendary thief, Kodyn’s protective mother, force of nature (Chapter 3—see Child of the Night Guild and the Queen of Thieves series)
Errik: Master of House Scorpion, most skilled assassin in the Night Guild, Kodyn’s mentor and Aisha’s trainer (Chapter 3—see Thief of the Night Guild)
Rose: proprietor of the Rosecliff Inn, cheeks as red as her namesake flower, chatty (Chapter 4)
Nkanyezi: Aisha’s younger sister, safe back in Ghandia with her parents (Chapter 4)
Serias: one of Killian’s Mumblers, clever and street-savvy (Chapter 5)
Ormroth: high-ranked Ypertatos of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, experienced warrior, saved Kodyn, Aisha, and Briana from bandits, escorted them to Shalandra (Chapter 9)
Hykos: veteran Archateros of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, Issa’s trainer, friendly and welcoming, two years older than Issa, handsome (Chapter 10)
Kellas: arrogant Dhukari, chosen to serve in the Keeper’s Blades, disdainful of the lower castes, skilled warrior (first appearance in Chapter 1, first named in Chapter 10)
Byrach: veteran Archateros of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, Kellas’ trainer, hulking, powerful (Chapter 10)
Tannard: commanding Invictus of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, commandeered Issa’s training, cruel, ruthless, callous (Chapter 12)
Talla and Gerrad: fellow Keeper’s Blades serving under Tannard, set to teach Issa a lesson (Chapter 14)
Mahesh: mid-ranked Sentinel, officer in the Indomitables, guarding the East Gate into Shalandra, respectful (Chapter 16)
Nessa: Steward in Arch-Guardian Suroth’s household, Intaji caste, elderly, thrilled to find Issa alive and returned safely (Chapter 16)
Kytos: Necroset, priest of the Long Keeper, leader of the Gatherers in Praamis, madman, responsible for Briana’s kidnapping (Chapter 17—see Darkblade Justice)
Eldesse: Briana’s former maidservant and friend, believed to have aided in the Gatherers’ kidnapping attempt (Chapter 17)
Rothin: the captain of Suroth’s household guards (mentioned in Chapter 17, first appearance Chapter 40)
Nysin, Enyera, Rilith, and Viddan: Indomitable trainees assigned to fight with Issa, all from low castes, valiant despite impossible odds (Chapter 18)
Snarth: one of Killian’s Mumblers, older than most of the others, vicious, treacherous, secretly working for the Ybrazhe Syndicate, stabbed by Hailen (first appearance Chapter 15, named in Chapter 19)
Radiana: Briana’s mother, died in childbirth, spirit that speaks to Aisha and helps to save Briana from the Gatherer attack (Chapter 22)
Cavad: attendant in Arch-Guardian Suroth’s household (Chapter 23)
Samall: Evren’s superior and attendant in Arch-Guardian Suroth’s household, unfriendly, demanding, petty, treacherous, aiding the Gatherers in their attack on the mansion, captured by Evren and
delivered to Nessa for justice (Chapter 23)
Osirath: Eldesse’s husband, one of Arch-Guardian’s household guards, disappeared the night of Briana’s abduction, believed to be complicit in the kidnapping (Chapter 23)
The Black Widow: one part spymistress of Shalandra, one part information broker, and four parts deadly when crossed (Chapter 24)
Ennolar: Secret Keeper, member of the Venerated, lover of banquet delicacies, provides Kodyn and Aisha a map of the Serenii tunnels (mentioned in Chapter 24, first appearance in Chapter 27)
Kuhar: fellow attendant in Arch-Guardian Suroth’s household, treacherous, working with Samall and the Gatherers, mortally wounded by Evren (Chapter 26)
Madani: high-ranked priest of the Necroseti, most powerful member of the Keeper’s Council, cunning and deceitful, smug bastard (Chapter 27)
Chirak: veteran Archateros of the Keeper’s Blades of Shalandra, Etai’s trainer, woman of few words, inhumanly strong (first appearance in Chapter 12, first named in Chapter 28)
Annat: Crewman of the crime gang known as the Ybrazhe Syndicate, cruel, enticing Snarth to treachery by offering him a place in the gang (Chapter 34)
Military Ranks
Indomitables:
The ranks in the Indomitables are similar to the martial ranks of Praamis and Voramis:
Executors: Commanders
Sentinels: Captains
Protectors: Lieutenants
Dictators: Sergeants
Neophytes: Privates
Keeper’s Blades:
Prototopoi: trainees new to the Keeper’s Blades
Defteteros: Blades serving for fewer than six months after the Anointing of the Blades
Katoteros: two-year veterans of the Keeper’s Blades.
Archateros: four-year veterans of the Keeper’s Blades.
Ypertatos: ten-year veterans of the Keeper’s Blades.
Invictus: twenty-year veterans of the Keeper’s Blades. All of the Elders of the Blades are Invictus.
Proxenos: a rank reserved only for the Lord or Lady of Blades, equivalent to High Commander