| And finally, here is part 4...
Shard Lord: The holder of a shard-key. The Shard Lord, quite often, is the ruler of a shard. Shard Lords are immune to spells which affect the shard for which they hold the key, (Hide Shard, Obscure Shard and Close Borders), and can break such spells (as well as Bind Shards and Move Shard) if they did not cast them. Typically, a Shard Lord cannot leave his shard. However should the need to leave ever arise, he may appoint a proxy who will serve as temporary Shard Lord in his absence, and will assume the role of Shard Lord should something happen to him while he is gone. A proxy must be approved by both the Shard Lord and the Shard Key. Sometimes referred to as a Key-Holder or Governor. (See also: Proxy; Shard; Shard-key.)
Shard-Root: The underside of a shard which hangs down much like the root of a tooth. Shard-roots are popular nesting spots for dragons. (See also: Dragon; Shard.)
Shattered World, The: See Oramis.
Shattering, The: The event which shattered the world of Oramis into one thousand pieces called shards. (See also: Oramis; Shard.)
Ship Builders’ Guild: The group which is now responsible for the creation and sale of windriggers. This Guild is rumored to be a branch of RASAMA. The Guild is completely neutral, and will sell windriggers to most anyone who has enough money to buy one. (See also: RASAMA; Windrigger.)
Shipkey: See Shipstone.
Shipstone: A shipstone is a smaller, much less powerful version of a shard-key. It is this object which provides a windrigger with gravity. Navigators recognize the holder of a shipstone as captain and will obey only the holder's commands. Also called "shipkeys." (See also: Navigator; Shard-Key; Windrigger.)
Siesta: See Slumber.
Sky Merchants' Guild: Guild of merchants responsible for most inter-shard commerce. (See also: Shard.)
Sky-Pirates of Gao-Den: Plague of the Wind Ways, they are known to harry caravans of the Sky Merchant’s Guild. It is believed that one of the Guild mages who first learned how to create windriggers has gone rogue, and is now helping the sky-pirates to create an armada of pirate windriggers. (See The Gazeteer of Shards: Gao-Den. See also: Guild Mages; Rogue Mage; Sky Merchants’ Guild; Wind Ways, The; Windrigger.)
Sky Sphere: The large air envelope which the True Gods erected to surround the Shattered World and keep its atmosphere intact. Shards cannot run into or pass through the sky sphere, as the sphere gently repels errant shards, nudging them away from its borders. (See also: Shard)
Skyship: Alternate name for a windrigger. (See also: Windrigger.)
Skywyrm: Oramian term for a dragon. (See also: Dragon.)
Slumber: Oramian term for the periods in which the peoples of Oramis simultaneously begin to feel the need to rest. Slumber is universally agreed upon as the dividing period between Oramian days. The slumber period lasts eight hours of each 24 hour day, and is regulated by the shard-keys. Sometimes referred to as siesta. (See also: Oramis; Shard-Key)
Stars: A pre-Shattering myth. Supposedly, when the world was still sold, the sky would periodically go completey dark, a condition the ancients referred to as night. During these periods of night, it is said that one could small sparkling objects in the sky which were referred to as stars. (See also Ancients; Night; Shattering, The)
Topside: The upper portion of a shard. (See also: Shard.)
University on Tartassos: Home of RASAMA. (See The Gazeteer of Shards: Tartassos. See also: RASAMA.)
Voice: See Voice of the Lady.
Voice of the Lady: Leader of the Church of Selene. Sometimes referred to simply as Voice. The current Voice is Serena Tarsellis. (See Who's Who in the Shattered World: Serena Tarsellis. See also Deities and Myths of Oramis: Selene.)
Ways, The: See Wind Ways, The.
Wind Ways, The: The space that exists between the shards. A chaotic, wind-filled area dominated by strong air currents and buffeting winds. Sometimes referred to as simply as "the ‘Ways." There is no gravity in the ‘Ways, so anything which falls into the ‘Ways without some means of self-propulsion will be buffeted haphazardly by the winds. It is nearly impossible to determine direction in the ‘Ways unaided. (See also: Shard.)
Wind Wraith: It IS possible to fall off the edge of a shard. Doing this is a terrible way to die. Unless one is rescued by a windrigger or other benevolent inhabitant of the Wind Ways, crash-lands on a shard, is devoured by dragons, or meets his demise in some other way, one drifts aimlessly about the ‘Ways with no control over direction or speed. One simply floats about until one dies of thirst or starvation. Many of those who die in this fashion become Wind Wraiths. These horrid undead creatures have no fear of the sun. Being formless entities like ghosts or common wraiths, they are immaterial, and can pass through the walls of an windrigger. They are most often identified by their terrible moaning which is often mistaken for the sound of the wind blowing. Sometimes called "Lost Ones." (See also: Dragon; Shard; Wind Ways, The; Windrigger.)
Windrigger: Magical conveyances which resemble normal ships but have the ability to fly, allowing travel from shard to shard. Most windriggers may also land on water. All windriggers have a mysterious figure known simply as the Navigator onboard. Creation and sale of windriggers are controlled and regulated by the Ship Builders’ Guild. Rumor has it, however, that one of the mages who first learned how to create windriggers has gone rogue, and is helping the Sky Pirates of Gao-Den to create an armada of pirate windriggers.
(DM'S NOTE: The following information is NOT considered general knowledge and as such should not be made available to the players unless and until they discover it on their own. Windriggers are magically constructed from the living bodies of young dragons called Grays.)
(See also: Dragon; Navigator; Rogue Mage; Shard; Ship Builders’ Guild Shipstone; Sky Pirates of Gao-Den; Wind Ways, The.)
Windsailor: Sailors who are trained in the operation of windriggers.(See also: Windrigger.)
Windship: See Windrigger.
Windskiff: A windskiff is a small flying boat designed to accommodate no more than six people. Unlike windriggers, a windskiff is a man-made vessel. Because of this, it has no navigator, and therefore the pilot is on his own when determining direction, routes, etc. (See also: Navigator; Windrigger.)
Windtamer: Windtamers are a special type of mage which can often be found on Windriggers. They have focused their abilities into harnessing and taming the Wind Ways, making travel therein much easier. (See also: Wind Ways; Windrigger.)
Witch Hunters: Because of the fear the general public has of wizards, Witch Hunters have become very popular. These men and women seek out and slay known mages, even Guild mages if they can do so without getting caught. Witch Hunters have an innate magic sense which they use to track down and slay wizards. It is known that the Wizards’ Guild often sells information about known rogue wizards to Witch Hunters. It is rumored that the Witch Hunters are a branch of the Children of the Light. Also referred to as Mageslayers. (See also: Children of the Light; Guild Mages; Rogue Wizard; Wizards’ Guild.)
Wizards’ Guild: Unlike the guilds of most worlds, the Wizards’ Guild is a secret organization. Because of the effect the Wizard War had on the world of Oramis, the general public is frightened of wizards. Because of this, all wizards MUST be Guild mages. Those who are not are branded rogues and are hunted down by Guild mages. The primary goal of the Guild is to find a way to reunite the shards back into a solid, whole world again, and thus regain the confidence of the general public (referred to as "the Restoration"). The term "Wizards’ Guild" is misleading. The Wizards’ Guilds are actually local branches of RASAMA, a magical university based on the shard Tartassos, a member-shard of the Kusaran Alliance. (See also: Guild Mages; Kusaran Alliance; Oramis; RASAMA; Restoration, The; Rogue Mage; Shard; University on Tartassos; Wizard War.)
Wyrm: See Dragon.  |