Reference information for the Farseen Chronicles.

Ahool – the ahool is a Farseen bat.  Its wing span exceeds ten feet, with claws reaching one foot in length and is covered in gray fur. While it can drain a human of blood, the bat prefers flesh.

Alpha/Alffa – shifters with more magic than most, descended from the first alpha female

Animorph – a shifter who is able to change into more than one animal

Balite – a mineral found in the caves of the Southern Realm.  It emits a natural light – frequently called firelight – that allows the caves grow plants, even trees. The plant growth can make it hard to see the cave walls unless you looked closely.

Bond, Birthing – Alpha females can establish a bond with a preganant shifter or human female married to a shifter. This bond allows the human to carry a shifter child to term and prevents the shifter from shifting at the full moon in order carry their baby to term.

Book of Castings – a fae book handed down through the family to offspring that show magical tallent.

Brownie – a tiny, fanciful, good-natured lesser fae who secretly ‘helps’ at night.   While they don’t mean to cause damage they don’t always understand things.

Centaurs – lesser fae with a human torso/head. Centaurs are mostly wild, caring only for the land they roam.

Chimaera Farms – the shifter sovereign’s home territory; fifty acres east of Asheville, North Carolina.

Chrysocolla Falls – forms part the border between three fae realms: Central, Southern, Western.  Twice the size if Victoria Falls in the Seen. Its named for the blue green water that matches the color of the gem found in abundance in the rocks behind the falls.

Clan – any group of shape shifters who have chosen to come together as a group. Normally clans consist of a mixture of predators and prey. It’s the power of the prif that keeps the peace for the clan as a whole. Some clans contain just predators or just birds, but most tribes enjoy the benefits that all shifters bring. As the world has gotten smaller shifters have realized that taking a form that blends in is much easier. It’s hard to hide in plain site when you’re a grizzly bear.

Cold Iron – deadly to the fae and the Farseen environment. A baseball sized iron rock will create a pulsating wound in the Farseen.  The wound displays as a black lava like substance will bubble and the fumes kill everything it reaches. Fae shields cannot stand against the poison of cold iron as the iron will eventually eat the shield.

Colony – a Vampire ‘family’ of no more than 25 members. Leader reports to a region overseer.

Corentin – largest moon in the Farseen.  It fills up over half of the sky with it’s gray and dark blue swirls when it’s at its closest point to the Farseen.

Cova Sur – Cavern Lord of the Southern Realm’s residence

Cyngor (ken gahr) – Shifter Clan Council, top five of a clan; short form is cyn (ken).

Diamond Falls – the falls are fed from an underground river that pushes the water up and over the rock.   The Western Lord’s residence resides atop the falls.  The only access on foot is over stepping stones from the mainland to the residence.

Dominance Push – shifter clan rank is determined by dominance. This isn’t a display of physical strength. Dominance is displayed by the inner being; whatever makes a person a leader. A dominate eagle can be the prif of a clan of wolfs.

Doppelgängers – Mist in their true form, they pull a form from the mind they are attacking and duplicate it. It could be a person or creature but while they can take the form they cannot mimic speech or memories of the form they take. They live in herds.

Dragon – multiple colors and the color defines the powers of the dragon. Adult dragons are between 15-40 feet long.  All dragons can mind speak and they can speak outloud as well.  A flock is ruled by a matriarch.  A clutch refers to young dragons born at the same time.

Dryad – lesser fae of the woods; remove them by force results in a curse.  They are matriarchal and plants do their bidding.

Dual Full Moons – Results in an opening on ley lines that allows anyone or anything to travel between the Farseen and the Seen. The sync up is a result of all three moons in the Farseen and the moon in the Seen being full at the same time.  It lasts for one year. All shifters are able to sense the vibrations of a ley line intersect point, even without the dual full moon.  This last occurred before the Middle ages.

Effigy – small stone creatures that reside in the Farseen, They guard whatever building they consider home and announce loudly unwelcome visitors.

Elementals – beings made up of one of the elements, rather then flesh and bone.  The elementals of both the Farseen and the Seen reject dementional halfbreeds as unnatural in their environments. Conquerers make elementals nervous; they prefer compassionate and temperate beings.

Enchantment – any of a number of attractions that some beings have. The alpha female ability to enchant men is one of the best known, but there are others born with the ability to enchant others to them.

Fae – creatures of the Farseen. Two classes: ruling fae, lesser fae.

Fae, lesser – Sentient fae who are not of the rulling class. They are not bound by the five realms.

Fae, ruling – divided into five realms and must chose a realm aliance to have any rights or privileges.

Fae Camouflage – the ability of some fae to make their faces fuzzy so you can’t identify them.

Fae High Court – the high court is the administrative branch of the fae. There are five appointed members of the Fae High Court, appointed by the ruling lord of their realm.

Fae Law – possession is 100%. If you have it, it’s yours.

Fae Lords of the Realm – The lords are responsible for the armies, farmers, etc., in their realms. The realms are the five kingdoms of the Farseen.  Each lord is chosen by a to-the-death fight between three combatants.

Fae Outcast – Ruling fae who choses to live as an outcast.  He has no realm support, and no way to bring charges against another fae or to even be heard in their court system. He can be killed by any realm without the realm facing charges of any kind.

Farseen – fae dimension

First Shift – A shifter changes for the first time when they hit puberty, between the 12th and 13th birthday. Once a form is taken the shifter cannot change their mind, except for animorphs. Shifters must shift at the full moon, except for females who are not moon called. A non-moon called female shifter can have a child without a birthing bond.

Gargoyle – protective spirit that attaches itself to a building whose inhabitants have done something to earn it’s guardianship. Gargoyles take on the appearance of the building material (sand, rock, clay, leaves, twigs, shell) when at rest and are normally believe to a part of the building.

Ghost – human spirit that hasn’t moved on. Preternaturals never become ghosts.

Gnome – lesser fae.  One of a species of diminutive beings, usually described as shriveled little old men, that inhabit the interior of the earth and act as guardians of its treasures.  Hates lies and will show themselves to denounce the lie.

Goblin – lesser fae.  A creature between three and seven feet tall, who is mischievous and often malicious.  They are solitary creatures and don’t work well with anyone.

Gorkongs – lesser fae.  Gorilla-like large creatures that are highly aggressive and territorial. They are pale blue-gray in colour and about 10 feet in height. Gorkongs attack anything that enter their territory, they tend to live in small packs, with a dominant male as the family leader. Gorkongs are the source of the Big Foot legends.

Griffins – has the head, claws and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. They nest in high mountains.

Harpies – lesser fae.  Winged beautiful looking women with sharp talons who search for male prey to torture or punish, depending on your point of view. Once they have entrapped the male their true form emerges. They see through veils and invisibility spells. A group of harpies is called a bevy.

Hellhounds – the Farseen hellhound has red or black fur and red eyes, and are close in size to a werewolf, with a wolf pack structure.  Hellhounds shoot fire is short burst from their mouths. They are very aggressive and expert hunters.

Hippocampus – aquatic Farseen creature. Adults are fifteen-feet long; looks like a fish with the head and front feet of a horse

Kaveri River – feeds into the Koukakala Falls from the northern side and runs from the northern realm to the southern realm. Visible from Tempe’s Farseen treehouse and from the rooms Star grew up in in the central realm.

Killing Field – each Farseen realm has a killing field where fae duals are fought. Any fae duel is a fight to the death.

Koukakala Falls – small waterfall that defines the border between the northern and western realms.

Lagohair – a Farseen rabbit-looking creature the size of a North American pronghorn (around 4 feet tall, weighing between 60-90 pounds) with similar horns. The source of the jackalope myth.

Mermaids, Mermen, mere folk – primary rulers of the waterways of the Farseen. They rarely bow to the two-legged and when they do it’s a sign of great respect.  They fear vampires.

Mind Speak – the ability to send a focused message to another. Most fae and alpha shifters have the ability.

Nymph – lesser fae. They inhabit the sea, rivers, woods, trees, mountains, meadows, etc., and are one of the few lesser fae who may align with a realm.   A gathering of nymphs is called a coterie.

Oath – to the fae an oath is binding so they don’t give one very often. They are bound by the exact wording of the oath.

Odol – medium sized red moon in the Farseen

Pixie – less fae.  4-5 inches tall, they like to tidy up, but don’t like the Seen.

Prif (preev)-chief of a shifter clan

Protectorate – vampire.  The most powerful vampire on the panet. The only way to replace the protectorate is to kill the protectorate.

Province Overseer – vampire.  Province (continent) overseer reports to protectorate

Pyry – smallest moon in the Farseen. It’s a blue ice moon

Region Overseer – vampire.  Regional (usually country) overseer. Reports to territory overseer

Sea Snakes – sea serpents from the Farseen that get up to 75 feet long.

Seen – human dimension.

Selkie – lesser fae.  Seal like fae who can take humanoid form. They live in pods.

Shetaffire Treaty – the treaty brought about 3,000 years of relative peace between the fae and the shifters. Penned by Rayna (shape shifter sovereign) and Temperance, Terra, Cloud, Lake, and Stone (the Fae High Court envoys).

Shifter Bloodlust – untrained shifters fall into bloodlust and killed with no remorse. Most preternaturals fear untrained or unstable shifters more than werewolves.

Shifter Home Territory – the physical property owned by a shifter that he or she pays human government taxes on.

Shifter Territory – each prif is responsible for an extended area. Shifters who chose not to be in a clan will still talk to a tribe leader before moving into his or her territory.

Siren – someone who can control another with the force of their mind. No words needed, but most sirens use hand movements to focus their power.

Sorcerer/Sorceress – magic weilders outside of wizards/witches. Includes alchemist, conjurer, necromancer and seer.

Spell Caster – able to cast spells. Ability ranges from having to say spells aloud to being able to think the spell into being.

Teleport or fade – fae/shifters/witches call it teleportation; vampires call it fading. In all cases the being moves from one location to another.  The distance moved is different from person to person.

Tempest Stone – Tempe wears a stone, called a tempest stone, that is spelled to call forth a light when needed. The stone is actually pietersite.

Territory Overseer – vampire.  Territory (group of countries) overseer who reports to a province overseer.

Treaty of Harmony – ancient treaty between all preternatural beings. The original is written in the blood of the four rulers at the time.

Troll – lesser fae.  Human like, anywhere from 10-50 feet tall, depending on sub-species.

Unicorns – horse-like creature with a horn in the center of it’s head.  As a rule unicorns dislike humanoids; but they dislike dragons more and can shoot lightening through their horn that will drop a dragon from the sky. Dance of greeting required by humanoids. Speak softly, show respect or be prepared to fight.

Vampire – an exchange of blood is required to turn someone into a vampire.  Some prefer animal, but most find humaniod blood preferable. They can eat and drink if they wish but usually only do so to make others more comfortable.

Vitvarg Farm – Eli’s land.

Way – portal between the Seen and Farseen that some preternaturals are able to create; normally displays as a swirl where the air molecules from the Seen and the Farseen meet when a way is opened. Few can open a way that no one can see.

Werewolf – cursed ruling fae. In the Farseen they remain in wolf form until killed. In the Seen they maintain their normal fae looks and abilities except at the full moon. Silver or iron will kill a werewolf. In wolf form they are around 300 pounds, but their coloring is consistant with normal wolf variations.

Witch – some magical power. Average life span is around 100 years.

Wizard – massive magical powerful. Average life span is around 2,000 years.

Zorlan Sea – the Farseen sea that is connected to the Atlantic Ocean via a way that opens at odd intervials. The Seen calls this way the Bermuda Triangle.