The Art of Stealing Time

GLOSSARY

Akashic League: The L’au-dela organization responsible for all things related to death, spirits, and connected beings.

Alien Hand Syndrome: A condition wherein a person feels a lack of control over a hand or arm (i.e., that the limb has a life of its own).

Amaethon ab Don: The traditional name of Ethan, a formerly mortal warrior who went to battle with Arawyn, king of the Underworld.

Anwyn: The Welsh version of the afterlife, ruled by Aaron (Arawn).

Arawn: The Welsh name for the king of the Underworld. He prefers Aaron, the modern version of the name.

Death (person): The title given to the current being in charge of handling the movement of souls after an individual (mortal or immortal) dies. The current holder of the title goes by the name De Ath.

Ethan: The contemporary name of Amaethon ab Don. Ethan was once a warrior, and is now an author who suffers from Alien Hand Syndrome.

L’au-dela: The formal name for the Otherworld, the society of people who live beyond mortal laws.

L’au-dela Watch: The police force of the Otherworld, the Watch is responsible for keeping the peace amongst mortals and immortal beings, as well as protecting the mortal world from abuses by members of the Otherworld.

lich: A person who was resurrected from the dead, a lich looks like a normal person, other than black irises. Most liches are bound to the individual who holds their soul.

Lichtenberg figure: The pattern made by an electrical discharge through a soft medium.

Lightning flower: The name for a Lichtenberg figure as made on a human being. The resulting pattern is of a delicate feathery nature, and thus often referred to as a lightning flower or tree. The pattern is most likely due to capillaries rupturing as the current passes through. Although lightning flowers are temporary effects on mortals, they are a permanent brand on Travellers.

mahrime: A Traveller (and Romany) word for those who are deemed unclean. For Travellers, this can mean one who has impure blood (i.e., one non-Traveller parent), or someone who has no Traveller blood whatsoever.

Piranha: A giant mechanical war machine known also as a Velociphant, created by the king of the Underworld.

porrav: A Traveller word with Indo-Aryan roots, it literally means “to open up” or “blossom.” In Traveller culture, it refers to the joining of a man and woman, and their shared abilities mingling to form something greater than the parts.

puridaj: A respectful way to refer to a Traveller grandmother.

Reclamation agent: One of the people who work for Death, fetching and escorting the souls of the recently departed to their next destination. Some of them can be quite tenacious in the pursuit of their duties.

Rehor: An Eastern European version of the name Gregory.

Rom, Roma, Romany: A word describing an ethnic group most commonly referred to as Gypsies. Travellers and the Roma may share a common ancestor since they share a few traits and words. Like the Travellers, the Romany were frequently persecuted for being outsiders.

shuvani: Spirits who hold Travellers accountable for their actions. There are four flavors of shuvani: Shuvanies talk with spirits: earth, water, air, and field. A shuvani can be friendly or unkind, depending on his or her nature, but all are charged with punishing Travellers who abuse their abilities.

Travellers: A group of immortal people who can steal time and have an affinity with lightning.

Vanellus vanellus: The northern lapwing, also known as a peewit or green plover.