Ancient Circle of the Kuhl-En Brotherhood:
See: Kuhl-En Brotherhood
First referenced in issue #4
Ancient Days:
A legendary historic age; the indeterminate period of time before mouse sentience and recorded history; when the Great Eye of Wotan split into two, followed by the rebellion of the Firstborn Nathair; initiated the Cycles of Chaos.
First referenced in issue #2
Bradán Feasa:
Also known as the Salmon of Knowledge; adapted from Celtic myth. A great fish that does the bidding of the spirit fish gods of the water, and also serves as a means of physical conveyance to and from the spirit realm. It appears as a glistening silver salmon, emanating its own light from within; its mouth is the portal between realms.
It also bequeaths mystical dreams and visions of the past, present and future upon those it contacts.
First appears in issue #1
Bright Realm:
The physical world of day beneath the sun; counter to the Dark Lands lit by the moon and stars.
First referenced in issue #1
Cycles of Chaos:
A legendary historic age; separate periods of history, distinct from one other, yet each connected by the lack of order, harmony, peace, prosperity and safety for most creatures; the age when most races were blessed with sentience.
First referenced in issue #2
Cycle:
The monthly waxing and waning cycles of the moon, purportedly the literal sight of the Great Dimmed Eye of Wotan.
First referenced in issue #1
Dark Lands:
The physical world of night beneath the moon and stars; counter to the Day World lit by the sun.
First referenced in issue #1
Day World:
See: Bright Realm
Note:
Druids:
Little is revealed thus far: only that the games of mice children acknowledge them as a fanciful enemy in league with a snake god; and the legendary Druid-witch, Black Anaius, is used to frighten them.
First referenced in issue #1
Death Magic:
A mystic practice used to divine information from deceased spirits. Traditionally considered evil and therefore forbidden. Pilot the Tall uses it to bargain with Black Anaius, as well as adds the blood of an innocent to another ritual to access safe passage through the perilous Fields of Gold. In every instance of usage, it seems to harness power through the spilling of blood or death itself.
First referenced in issue #2
Defiant:
See TERMS & TITLES: Dubhlan
Druid-Witch:
See CHARACTERS: Black Anaius
See TERMS & TITLES: Druids
Dubhlan:
The Great Catapult of Defiance built by the Firstborn Nathair under the leadership of Donas. Its purpose was to launch projectiles that would blot out the Great Eyes of Wotan and blind His Great Sight. It only fired once, merely dimming one of the Great Eyes, before Wotan banished the Nathair to the Outer Darkness.
First referenced in issue #2
Emissaries of Wotan:
See TERMS & TITLES: Great Death Owl
See RACES: Owls
Firstborn:
See RACES: Nathair
Fish Gods:
See TERMS & TITLES: Gods (2)
God above gods:
See See TERMS & TITLES: Wotan
Gods (1):
Any creature of the natural world that is substantially larger than the creature dubbing it so: the mice of Cricket's Glen are menaced by a spider god, and mice children playfully reference a snake god of the druids.
Gods (2):
Spirit beings that inhabit the natural world and can interact with its denizens-not to be confused with Wotan, God above gods, and creator of all. Fish gods appears as a trio of glowing goldfish that speak with but one voice, are said to serve Wotan, enlist the Salmon of Knowledge as their servant, and offer aid in the Calling of Karic. The nature of the druid snake god, referenced by mice children, is not yet determined.
Great Ash Tree:
Ancient tree; sanctuary home of the supernatural entities the Readers of the Wheat, as well as the surviving Templar Priesthood. From the height of its highest branches, the Readers discern the Will of Wotan through the patterns blown in the field of wheat below. Surrounded by the vast Fields of Gold, its entry is protected by owls. While the majority of the tree is vibrant and healthy, substantial portions are dead wood and have been hollowed out as vast living quarters for the priests and guards.
First appears in issue #4
Great Catapult of Defiance:
See TERMS & TITLES: Dubhlan
Great Death Owl:
Legendary; the Emissary of Wotan, said to usher living souls back to their creator. Kuhl-En is said to have wrestled it for forty days and nights upon the Peak of Armagh, until snapping one of its claws off to fashion his own weapon, the Mark of Kuhl-En. It is believed that the beating of its mighty wings creates the wind itself, that which blows patterns in the wheat of the Fields of Gold, where the Readers of the Wheat thereby interpret the Will of Wotan from the height of the Great Ash Tree. One of Karic’s mystic visions had him riding its back, where he was convinced that the Owl and Wotan were one and the same.
First referenced in issue #2
Great Dimmed Eye of Wotan:
See TERMS & TITLES: Wotan
Great Eye of Wotan:
See TERMS & TITLES: Wotan
Guardians of the Dusk & Dawn:
Also known as the Guardians of the Worlds. Unspecified sentinels that prevent any creatures from the Dark Lands or the Day World from crossing over and interacting for good or ill.
First referenced in issue #1
Guardians of the Worlds:
See TERMS & TITLES: Guardians of the Dusk & Dawn
Kros Cur Onnor Da:
Also called the Tree of Grace. The legendary significance of this tree is not yet revealed, although it is now called “desolate” because the final battle of the Templar civil war occurred beneath its empty branches upon the Field of Avalon.
First referenced in issue #1
Kuhl-En Brotherhood:
Also known as the Ancient Circle of the Kuhl-En Brotherhood; controversial counter to the established legends of Kuhl-En that suggest the ancient hero was not a single warrior, but a confederation of many that brought unity and peace to the Dark Lands.
First referenced in issue #4
Last Cycle of Chaos:
A legendary historic age; the last of the Cycles of Chaos before order was established; typified as the era when bats ruled the Shadow Time, and filled the sky with such sheer numbers that even the Great Dimmed Eye of Wotan was prevented from gazing upon the Dark Lands. An age of terror for most creatures preyed upon by the tyranny of bats, until the oppressors were driven from the sky by owls during the Nights of Shadow.
First referenced in issue #2
Lord Wotan:
See TERMS & TITLES: Wotan
Maeven:
Female mice warriors, an apparent sisterhood counterpart to the fraternal Templar Order, also seemingly in exile. Known for their deadly archery skill and the ability to harness birds for personal flight. Rats killed one unidentified Maeven when their raiding party attacked the town of Cricket's Glen.
First appearance in issue #1
Mark of Kuhl-En:
The symbolic weapon of Kuhl-En; legend states it was formed from the talon of a Great Death Owl wrestled into submission by Kuhl-En himself following a forty night battle atop the Peak of Armagh.
First referenced in issue #2
Nights of Shadow:
A legendary historic age that brought the Last Cycle of Chaos to an end, when owls fought bats for over one thousand nights for dominion of the Shadow Time skies.
First referenced in issue #2
Outer Darkness:
A legendary mystical realm purported to exist in the darkness beyond the stars; a region of nothingness to which Wotan banished the Nathair in punishment for their defiance.
First referenced in issue #2
Prophecy, The:
Legend; first espoused by Pilot the Tall, a Templar prophecy that Wotan will choose one small mouse to recreate the mythical exploits of Kuhl-En and thereby bring salvation to all mice from their oppressors.
First referenced in issue #1
Readers of the Wheat:
Described as supernatural spiritual entities that reside within the actual living wood of the Great Ash Tree. From there, they discern the Will of Wotan by interpreting the patterns that appear in the Fields of Gold, a vast expanse of wheat. It is believed that they pass their readings on to the Templar Priests who physically live within the tree with them; yet many believe their message is distorted and corrupted by the priests to serve their own agenda.
First referenced in issue #4
Rite of Kildre Hill:
Seemingly a test of inner strength that initiates must pass in order to be knighted as Templars, pitting them against the legendary Black Anaius. Karic’s success in the test leads to his formal knighting by Pilot the Tall.
Begun, unknowingly in issue #3.
First identified in issue #4
Salmon of Knowledge:
See TERMS & TITLES: Bradán Feasa
Shadow Time:
The conceptual realm of night, used more as a time reference than the physical place nature of the Dark Lands; although it can also be used as a term synonymous with the Dark Lands. It is the opposite of the Day World.
First referenced in issue #1
Snake God:
See TERMS & TITLES: Gods (1); see Gods (2)
Spawn of Nathair:
See RACES: Bats; see Nathair; see SLANG: Sons of Nathair
Spider God:
See TERMS & TITLES: Gods (1)
Templar:
Also known as the Templar Order, a brotherhood of mice united as protectors of the innocent and defenders of the weak. Legend says they were founded by the mythical Kuhl-En and patterned after his moral code of conduct that called them to safeguard all creatures, large and small, in need of their assistance. At the height of their reign, they drove threats like The Many from the Dark Lands and forced them deep into the Barren Lands. The Order existed in unified harmony for over ten thousand seasons until divided by an as yet unrevealed reason. The Order plunged itself into civil war, and its forces fought their final battle against each other upon the Field of Avalon, beneath the Tree of Grace. The outcome of that battle is unknown, but what is revealed thus far is only that the Order as a protective or governing power is no more, survivors live in exile despised by the common mice, in hiding, fearful for their lives and hunted by rat raiding parties under orders to execute them if found. Some Templar declared loyalty to the rats to save themselves, and are now considered dishonored and fallen, dubbed “Pale Bellied Grubs” for betraying their own race; Pale Bellies now help in the search for exiled Templar. Only known Templar identified thus far: Deishun (deceased), possibly Leito’s unnamed father (deceased), Pilot the Tall, and Cassius, the “Hooded One,” labeled as fallen.
First reference and appearance in issue #1
Templar Code:
The standard of conduct and ceremony associated with being a Templar Knight or in service at any level of the Templar Order, typified by loyalty, honor, self-sacrifice, and defenders of those in need. Knights who betray the Code are considered dishonored. Betraying a fellow knight to an enemy is considered worse—a “Pale Bellied Grub”—and punishable by death at the blade of another Templar.
First implied in issue #2
First invoked in issue #4
Templar Knight:
A warrior trained in the specific martial and survival skills of and formally initiated into the Templar Order. The knighting of an initiate into a true Templar Knight was once a grand yet somber ceremony, attended by hundreds of fellow knights and officiated by a Templar Priest, yet the broken nature of the Order has reduced the occasion to one Templar dubbing any initiate he has found worthy.
First referenced in issue #1
Pilot the Tall knights Karic in issue #4
Templar Order:
See TERMS & TITLES: Templar
Templar Priest:
See: Templar Preisthood
Templar Preisthood:
An offshoot of the Templar Order that survived the civil war that divided and destroyed the others, by not taking sides and remaining within their unassailable retreat, the Great Ash Tree. According to Pilot the Tall, the Priesthood have placed themselves between the Readers of the Wheat and the rest of mice culture, translating the spiritual interpretation of the Will of Wotan to fit their own agenda; he further claims they incited the division within the Order, only to then withdraw and accept no accountability for their role in the dissolution.
First referenced in issue #4
Tree of Grace:
See TERMS & TITLES: Kros Cur Onnor Da
Trial by Combat:
Part of the Templar Code, a declared duel between two opponents to determine truth through the discipline of a physical trial, or to avenge a wrongdoing. Such duels are considered to be fair, even if they are to the death, and unsportsmanlike conduct is considered cheating and risks nullifying the conclusions drawn from the outcome.
First referenced in issue #1
Widow of Hepas::
See CHARACTERS: Black Anaius; See REFERENCES: Hepas
Will of Wotan:
See TERMS & TITLES: Wotan
Wotan:
Also called Lord Wotan, God above gods, and the creator of all things. Seemingly aloof and distant, watching over all from his two great eyes in the heavens, yet legend says he still takes an active interest in the affairs of the world, calling others to act on his behalf for the betterment of all: Kuhl-En in the past, and possibly Karic in the present. His two great eyes appear as the sun and moon, each keeping watch over their respective halves of the entire day/night succession: the Great Eye of Wotan and the Great Dimmed Eye of Wotan that “blinks” once a month in its own cycle.
Ancient myth states that His Great Dimmed Eye is the result of a projectile launched from the Great Catapult of Dubhlan, built in defiance by the Firstborn Nathair, for which they were banished to the Outer Darkness.
Templar doctrine teaches that Wotan chose mice, instead of any other creatures, to be his mediators of order amidst the chaos of the world specifically because they were the smallest and weakest of the sentient races; by empowering the weakest, He reveals His strength, wisdom and compassion to all.
All that occurs in the world is deemed to transpire according to His Will, the Will of Wotan, for His purpose, which is the unity of all creatures beneath His sight for the ultimate benefit of each. It is believed that Will is conveyed by the legendary Great Death Owl as it creates all the winds of the world through the flapping of its mighty wings high above, beyond mortal sight; that wind blows the stalks of wheat in the Fields of Gold; the patterns in the wheat are discerned by the Readers of the Wheat that live within the Great Ash Tree, and are then interpreted by the Templar Priesthood for dissemination to all.
One of Karic’s visions implies that Wotan and the Great Death Owl are actually one and the same.
First introduced in issue #1
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