Glossary

Faebell

A square steel plate mounted near a residence or business entrance for fae visitors to knock against safely.

Ge'ez script

The classical script and liturgical language of Ethiopia, originating around the 5th century B.C. It remains in religious use among Ethiopian Christians and the Beta Israel Jewish community.

Graftling

An engineered construct made from harvested symbiont matter and miscellus magic. Graftlings are unstable, ravenous, and lack true sapience. Fel coins the neutral term graftling after rejecting the more reverent word scion for creatures not born of love or devotion.

Hsigo beast

A monstrous creature resembling a seven-foot ape with batlike wings, a barbed tail, and a skeletal face. It is associated with extreme brutality and terror.

Isiephai'ete

The sentient symbiont carried by Isiepho fae. Its visual signatures are fluid, emotionally responsive, and often expressed through botanical, zoological, or mythic patterns.

Isiepho

A race of fae whose magic is derived from partnership with a sentient symbiote, the Isiephai'ete. Isiepho magic is significantly more powerful than that of Diastu fae.

Jack fly

A species created by an inexperienced spell cast by a RUFO soldier during the K'Davrah war. Originally colossal flies measuring eight to thirteen centimeters, jack flies later evolved into small bipedal creatures with humanlike features, swallowtail wings, and rows of needle-like teeth. Modern jack flies can bear up to fifty offspring at a time during the summer months, feed by vomiting digestive enzymes onto food, and live for roughly two weeks. Reports of sentient jack flies measuring up to 150 centimeters and living openly in Halo City remain unsubstantiated.