Welcome to my first glossary entry, you filthy animals.
The Blackstone
Sometimes called Foed’s Keep, the Blackstone is a stout fortress set somewhere in the no-man’s land of Gault, in Crown’s Reach, Caelarn. Ruled ostensibly by the lickspittle Lord Furmian Foed, the Blackstone’s daily operations are in fact directed by the mysterious Master, who has gathered a number of children—some willing, others not—to live and train in the bowels of the fortress. What, precisely, he intends with them is anyone’s guess, but the Blackstone’s guards can be occasionally heard to whisper nervously about “the Master’s little daggers.”
Bai Lin Jin’su (“Winter”)
Bai is a 15-year old student at the Blackstone. Born in Palang-Goljai (Blue Valley), in Hojin, Ishum-Shen, Bai is categorized as Ushinas Sanguinarius, a “lineal” who draws her cold-based magic from her family’s ancient bloodline (fae/silvie). Bai is white-haired and white-skinned, though she’s not a true albino; her eyes are brown, but glow a soft ice-blue color whenever she uses her gift. When we first meet her, Bai is in trauma, having just regained consciousness following a harrying event she cannot quite recall; her head is bleeding, her tugo is torn, and her shoulder is burned.
Duris Gelver (“Gangly Shanks”)
“Gangly Shanks” is a middle-aged guard at the Blackstone. He is tall and thin, with a large hooked nose and a protruding throat-knot. He wears iron-studded leather armor, and carries a cudgel. Gangly Shanks once befriended young Bai (Winter), occasionally favoring her with secreted treats through the three years of her internment, but ultimately turns on her once the students revolt on 10 Triany, 1474. Gangly Shanks is killed by Bai’s wintry magic that same day; she blinds him by freezing his eyes, then chokes him to death by expanding and freezing the saliva in his throat.
Ashmei
Ashmei is a mysterious masked woman who had in years past inhabited Bai’s dreams. She wears a mask of polished ivory etched with delicate runes that seem to draw the eye, blurring all else. Ashmei saves Bai from dying after her chamber ceiling collapses on her, cryptically saying, “We three are at war,” though she does not mentioning who the other two are. The prologue ends with Ashmei telling Bai, “You are my dagger now.”
Sometimes called Foed’s Keep, the Blackstone is a stout fortress set somewhere in the no-man’s land of Gault, in Crown’s Reach, Caelarn. Ruled ostensibly by the lickspittle Lord Furmian Foed, the Blackstone’s daily operations are in fact directed by the mysterious Master, who has gathered a number of children—some willing, others not—to live and train in the bowels of the fortress. What, precisely, he intends with them is anyone’s guess, but the Blackstone’s guards can be occasionally heard to whisper nervously about “the Master’s little daggers.”
Bai is a 15-year old student at the Blackstone. Born in Palang-Goljai (Blue Valley), in Hojin, Ishum-Shen, Bai is categorized as Ushinas Sanguinarius, a “lineal” who draws her cold-based magic from her family’s ancient bloodline (fae/silvie). Bai is white-haired and white-skinned, though she’s not a true albino; her eyes are brown, but glow a soft ice-blue color whenever she uses her gift. When we first meet her, Bai is in trauma, having just regained consciousness following a harrying event she cannot quite recall; her head is bleeding, her tugo is torn, and her shoulder is burned.
“Gangly Shanks” is a middle-aged guard at the Blackstone. He is tall and thin, with a large hooked nose and a protruding throat-knot. He wears iron-studded leather armor, and carries a cudgel. Gangly Shanks once befriended young Bai (Winter), occasionally favoring her with secreted treats through the three years of her internment, but ultimately turns on her once the students revolt on 10 Triany, 1474. Gangly Shanks is killed by Bai’s wintry magic that same day; she blinds him by freezing his eyes, then chokes him to death by expanding and freezing the saliva in his throat.
Ashmei is a mysterious masked woman who had in years past inhabited Bai’s dreams. She wears a mask of polished ivory etched with delicate runes that seem to draw the eye, blurring all else. Ashmei saves Bai from dying after her chamber ceiling collapses on her, cryptically saying, “We three are at war,” though she does not mentioning who the other two are. The prologue ends with Ashmei telling Bai, “You are my dagger now.”