Characters

Originally, my Chosen had Quyan names: Carnelian was Othránur, Osidian was Yahrátha, Aurum was Akriurós, Vennel was Erugutáya—but I decided that too much Quya in the books made the already strange border on the impenetrable

Each of the Chosen has two names: a House name and a personal name. The House names relate to their heraldic sigils and are perhaps more complex than many of the other names used in the books. Thus Suth is the Quyan for chameleon, but Imago is the term used for the adult stage of an insect—and thus only an oblique reference to the dragonfly sigil of that House. Cumulus is from the Latin. Vennel is a variation of venal—and thus an indication of character. As you can see it’s a mixed bag

Chosen personal names tend to be based on those of jewels and other precious stones or materials—either directly such as Carnelian, or as modified forms: jasper becoming Jaspar, obsidian turning into Osidian. This reflects my notion that such names are loose translations of Quyan forms that over time have slipped away from their original meaning. Aurum is a House name but related to the latin for gold, and is an exception to the rule—it just felt right. Kumatuya is Quyan and means Green Mountain… or perhaps, Towering Greenness. Ykoriana incorporates a modified form of ichor but also has an intended resonance with ‘Gloriana’, a name used to flatter Queen Elizabeth I of England

Akaisha – a Plainswoman and Elder of the Ochre, mother of Blue and Ravan

Amethus – a Lord from the third lineage of House Suth

Aurum – a Lord of the Great who comes across the sea to summon Suth Sardian back from exile

Azurea – Carnelian’s mother who died giving him birth

Berillus – a Lord from the third lineage of House Suth

Blood – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Blood, who manage the blood lines of the Chosen, keeping records of their blood-taints, overseeing the forbidden houses in which Chosen women are sequestered and certifying and validating births

Blue – the son of Akaisha

Bluedancing – a Plainsman tribe and neighbours to the Ochre

Blur – a female aquar

Brin – Suth Sardian’s marumaga half-sister and thus Carnelian’s aunt

Brotherhood of the Wheel – a criminal organization native to the City at the Gates and named after the great marketplace at the entrance to Osrakum

Carnie – a familiar nickname for Carnelian

Cities – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Cities, who oversee the cities of the Commonwealth, with particular focus on the City at the Gates. They manage the upkeep of city infrastructure and defences, the paying of tolls, the maintenance of order

Cloud – a Plainsman of the Twostone tribe, though orginally from the Ochre

Crail – a marumaga half-brother of Suth Sardian and thus Carnelian’s uncle

Crowrane – a Plainsman and Elder of the Ochre, husband to Harth and father of Ranegale and Loskai

Cumulus – a Lord of the Great

Darkcloud – a Plainsman tribe – neighbours of the Ochre

Earth-is-Strong – Carnelian’s ruhuimur

Ebeny – a Plainswoman brought to Osrakum as part of the flesh tithe and chosen for House Suth. She became Suth Sardian’s lover and wet-nurse to Carnelian

Emeral – a Lord of the second lineage of House Suth

Fey – a marumaga half-sister of Suth Sardian and thus Carnelian’s aunt

Flama Ykoria – a daughter of Ykoriana and Kumatuya

Gates – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Gates, who oversee the management of the Three Gates that control the entry into Osrakum, their maintenance, their systems—both military and ritual. They oversee all entries into and exits from Osrakum, and are responsible for the quarantine

Ginkga – Plainswoman and Elder of the Ochre

Grand Sapients – the heads of the twelve Domains of the Wise

Grane – a marumaga son of Suth Sardian and one of his household women

Hanuses – a pair of sybling Chosen

Harth – Plainswoman and Elder of the Ochre, mother of Ranegale and Loskai, wife to Crowrane

Heart-of-Thunder – Osidian’s ruhuimur

Hirane – Galewing’s son, married to Koney, thus a member of Akaisha’s hearth

Hookfork – the name the Plainsmen give to Aurum – from an interpretation of what the House Aurum sigil looks to them

Horned God – an avatar of the Black God—the God of War

The Ichorian – a retired guardsman of the Red Ichorians

Imago – the House of Jaspar – one of the Great

Immortality – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Immortality, who oversee all matters pertaining to medicine, death, embalming and entombment

Jaspar – a Lord of the Great, of House Imago – who accompanies Aurum to seek Suth Sardian’s return

Keal – a marumaga son of Suth Sardian and Ebeny and thus Carnelian’s half-brother

Khrusos – a Lord of House Imago, though not of its first lineage

Koney – a young woman of Akaisha’s hearth and daughter of Whin’s sister

Kor – a sartlar woman

Koril – a Lord of the third lineage of House Suth

Krib – a member of the House Suth tyadra on Suth’s island

Krow – Plainsman youth of the Twostone tribe

Kumatuya – God Emperor, brother and husband to Ykoriana, father of Nepheron and Molochite

Kyte – Plainsman and Elder of the Ochre

Labyrinth – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Labyrinth, who oversee the Labyrinth on the Isle but also the maintenance, functioning and enhancement of the Halls of Thunder, the Halls of Rebirth, the Rainbow Stair, the Forbidden Garden of the Yden

Lands – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Lands, who oversee the cultivation of the Guarded Land, managing its irrigation; they are in charge of the sartlar and their overseers—and supply the other Domains with sartlar labourers

Law – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Law, who oversee and enforce the Law-that-must-be-obeyed

Leef – the daughter of Blue and Sil

Left-Hanus – the individual who brain occupies the left half of the joint head of the sybling Hanuses

Left-Quentha – the woman who forms the left part of the sybling Quenthas

Legions – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Legions, who oversee the legions of the Chosen in their barracks and cothon across the Commonwealth. They oversee the Legates appointed by the God Emperor, the arming and provisioning of the legions and their auxiliaries, maintenance and supplying of legionary weapon systems

Lily – a Leper

Loskai – Plainsman son of Harth and Crowrane and brother to Ranegale

Mari – a woman of the household of House Suth on the island

Marula – a black-skinned people who come from the far south

Mentor – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Mentoring, who are responsible for the education and training of the ammonites and the examination system by which candidates rise to become Sapients of the Wise. Their’s also is the responsibility for the education of the children of the Chosen

Moal – a man of the Suth household left behind in Coomb Suth when Suth Sardian went into exile with Carnelian

Molochite – son of Ykoriana and brother to Nepheron and who contends with him to be elected to succeed their father Kumatuya as God Emperor

Morunasa – a Maruli and Oracle of the Darkness-under-the-Trees

Mossie – Plainswoman of the Ochre

Naith – a guardsman from House Suth on the island

Nale – Jaspar’s young body slave on the journey to Osrakum

Nar – a member of the Brotherhood of the Wheel

Nayakarade – a Dowager Empress and mother of Ykoriana

Nepheron – son of Ykoriana and brother to Molochite who contends with him to be elected to succeed their father Kumatuya as God Emperor

Nuhqanya – a God Emperor from antiquity

Nuhuron – a God Emperor and father of Kumatuya and Ykoriana

Nurpayahras – a consort of the God Emperor Nuhuron and mother to Kumatuya

Ochre – a Plainsman tribe

Onyxor – a Lord from the third lineage of House Suth

Opalid – a Lord of the second lineage of House Suth and son to Spinel

Plainsmen – people of the tribes indigeneous to the Great Southern Plain – or, as they call it: the Earthsky

Pleyr – a member of the Brotherhood of the Wheel

Poal – a guardsman of House Suth on the island

Poppy – an orphan from the Twostone tribe

Quenthas – a pair of syblings of the Sinistral Ichorians

Qusata – a God Emperor and Molochite and Nepheron’s great-grandfather

Rain – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Rain, who oversee the predictions of the arrival of the Rains, their quantity and trends

Rale – a man of the Suth household

Ranegale – a Plainsman of the Ochre tribe, brother to Loskai, son of Harth and Crowrane

Ravan – a Plainsman youth, son of Akaisha and Stormrane and half-brother to Blue

Ravenseye – Whin’s husband, thus a member of Akaisha’s hearth

Right-Hanus – the individual whose brain occupies the right half of the head of the sybling Hanuses

Right-Quentha – the woman who forms the right half of the sybling Quenthas

Roads – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Roads, who oversee and maintain the raised roads and their watchtowers that criss cross the Guarded Land. Their ammonites garrison the watchtowers and manage the courier systems along the leftways and the heliographic communication system. They are responsible for maintaining the barriers that the roads form around the provinces of the Guarded Land, and of the Ringwall that is its ultimate defence

Rud – a member of the Brotherhood of the Wheel

Sapient – one of the Wise

Sardian – the personal name of Carnelian’s father – the Ruling Lord of House Suth

Sil – Plainswoman of the Ochre, daughter to Whin and Blue’s wife

Skai – a boy of Akaisha’s hearth

Spinel – the head of the second lineage of House Suth

Sthax – a Marula warrior

Stormrane – Plainsman of the Ochre, husband to Akaisha and father to Ravan

Suth – the name of Carnelian’s House, or how Sardian is referred to because he is that House’s Ruling Lord

Tain – a marumaga son of Sardian and Ebeny and thus Carnelian’s half-brother

Tapaz – a Lord of the second lineage of House Suth

Thander – a boy of Akaisha’s hearth

Tiye – a consort of the God Emperor Nuhuron and mother of Azurea and, thus, Carnelian’s maternal grandmother

Tribute – the Grand Sapient of the Domain of Tribute, who oversee the taxation of the cities of the Commonwealth and the flesh tithe levied on the children of the barbarians. The childgatherers are agents of this Domain

Twostone – a Plainsman tribe

Urquentha – Suth Sardian’s mother and, thus, Carnelian’s paternal grandmother

Vennel – a House of the Great. Vennel accompanies Aurum and Jaspar to Suth Sardian’s island

Veridian – a lord from the third lineage of House Suth

Whin – Plainswoman of the Ochre and from the same hearth as Akaisha and mother to Sil

the Wise – one of the Three Powers of the Chosen

Ykoriana – Empress, wife and sister to Kumatuya, mother of Molochite and Nepheron