Glossary

The Alpha is a Ferwyn male who leads a local pack of wolf shifters. The packs are named after the ruling Alpha. Samuel Walker is the Alpha of the Walker Pack in Memphis, TN. The Alpha position can be challenged in battle, or they can choose to step down when faced with a more dominant wolf shifter.

An alpha is a male Ferwyn who does not lead a wolf shifter pack but has a high level of dominance. James Reed and Jacob Tucker are examples of alphas. Each pack is made up of alphas who are instinctually ranked in power from highest to lowest.

The Anwyll

The beloved. Witches. Initially human students of the Sídhe who were genetically altered by the use of ancient Fae spells and magical symbols tattooed into their skin. Witches move among Untouched society more freely than the other Fae Touched races and are well-known for their healing magic along with the ability to cast wards and speak minor prophecy. Powerful offensive and defensive spells are kept under wraps to maintain a non-threatening image to humanity. Healer Regan Chandler and Liaison Carter Jenkins are witches.

Father. A renegade group of Fae Touched who want to destroy the peace between humans and the magical community. The Athair works in conjunction with the hate group Knights of Humanity when it benefits their hidden agenda. There are unconfirmed rumors that a pure-blooded Sídhe lord is their leader.

A beta is an alpha male who is the second in command of a pack or a Clan of wolf shifters. Betas are often strong enough in their levels of dominance to lead their own packs. Beta to Samuel Walker‘s sire, Robert Warren, is now Alpha of Clan Walker’s Knoxville pack. Jacob Tucker is beta of Clan Walker and its Memphis pack.

Vampires who have partaken in the Calling and are magically bonded by a blood vow to a region’s Dádhe House. A blood-bound vampire’s welfare is the responsibility of the House Caraidh.

My soul. A female shifter, witch, or human who is magically bound to a Ferwyn male’s life-force. Male shifters complete the final bond with their potential truemate at the conclusion of the Mating Dance with the application of the third Mating Mark. Only Ca’anam couples can produce children, and the progeny of a soul bonded couple is always born Ferwyn, regardless of the mother’s race.

The solemn ritual whereby every Dádhe is magically tied to a higher ranking member of the region’s ruling Dádhe Housecementing the chain of command through a pyramidal succession. The binding allows the strongest of their kind to temper the weakest members of a predatory race whose primary food source is human blood. A completed rite also makes it physically impossible for a blood-bound vampire to participate in anything that would directly harm the current matriarch or patriarch of their House.

A Dádhe chosen to protect a region’s blood-bound; the third highest ranking vampire in a Dádhe House handpicked by the ruling Dàdhe matriarch or patriarch. Caraidh means “our shelter” in the Fae Language.

The Clan

A Clan is composed of every Ferwyn pack in a single Fae Touched region. Each Clan’s borders are fiercely guarded, male wolf shifters unable to enter into another príoh‘s territory without penalty. An unmated Ferwyn female looking for her Ca’anam is allowed to travel freely between Clan territories. Samuel Walker is the príoh of the East South Central Region‘s Walker Clan.

A Colony is the region’s community of witches led by an Anwyll grandmaster. The majority of the Anwyll in the Memphis area live in the magically warded neighborhood of High Point Terrace. The subdivision’s property was purchased and developed by the local witch population after WWII.

Head of a Fae Touched region’s Guard. The reigning monarch appoints the position of commander, elevating their status to the third most powerful individual in a territory, ranked just below the royal heir. Samuel Walker is the East South Central Regions Commander of the Guard.

A consul is a royally appointed Fae Touched representative in a designated state. There are fifty-two consuls in the US. Caraidh Caleb Monroe is the Alabama State representative.

The Ferwyn act of shifting from one form to another; the process painful but almost instantaneous. Males learn at a young age to conjure clothing with the shift to humanlike bodies and to leave them behind when converting to wolf form. Ferwyn females are only capable of converting their teeth and nails.

The cursed, commonly referred to as vampires. The race was first created from humans transformed by an infusion of Sídhe blood and magic. The Dádhe are immortal and do not physically age after a successful InfusionThey need human blood to survive but can ingest other bland foods and consume almost any liquid. Only adult humans are capable of being turned into vampires.

Every vampire is tied by the Calling to the ruling Dádhe matriarch’s or patriarch’s House in an individual Fae Touched region. In the East South Central Region,Rose Standish is the matriarch of Standish House with her chosen paters/maters governing individual pockets of vampires across the territory.

The Fae Touched region in the US whose territory includes the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, and Mississippi. Rose Standish is the reigning queen of the ESC and one of the Nine ruling monarchs.

Facility

The facility is a covert, human-run agency whose purpose is to locate and control Na’fhuil with active magic, utilizing their unique abilities for the benefit of the American government. The director heads the facility, overseeing the magical instruction and subsequent assignments of the Na’fhuil agents. Abigail MacCarthy spent years at the facility, her halfblood heritage discovered as a teenager.

The Fae are the magical beings who reside in the land of Faery. The Fae, or Sídhe people, opened a pathway between the realms of Earth and Faery, the most powerful elven nobles crossing over to live for centuries among humankind as gods and goddesses, kings and queens. While ruling on Earth, the Fae created the Anwyll and Dádhe from the ranks of humanity. The Sídhe returned to their homeland of Faery a millennia ago, but the gift of magic remained within their creations, the exiled Ferwyn race, and their Na’fhuil children.

A complex peace treaty between humans and nonhumans signed in 1931 which designated those races touched by Fae magic as sovereign. The agreement divided the US into nine autonomous regions, marked by magical boundaries and ruled by an individual Fae Touched monarch. The Accord included restrictions regarding Infusion, regulations for carrying firearms on American soil and the formation of the Guard to name a few.

The species of nonhumans who possess a form of Fae magic, whether born with the ability or created by magical means. The known Fae Touched races include the Dádhe, Anwyll, Ferwyn, and Na’fhuil.

The fierce. The Ferwyn, or wolf shifters, originated in the Wilds of Faery. Enhanced by the magical realm and the Sídhe lords who held them in servitude, the Ferwyn race learned to convert from their natural wolf form into humanlike bodies. The males can shift between the two shapes easily whereas the female became incapable of more than a partial conversion after their ancestors’ original change.

Wild call. When a male Ferwyn chooses to live out the remainder of his life as a wolf due to the death of his Ca’anam or advanced age. Once a shifter succumbs to the call of the Glaofin, they never return to human form and die as a wolf.

An Anwyll in charge of every witch residing in a Fae Touched region. The highest-ranking member of the territory’s Colonyon political par with the heads of the region’s Dádhe House and Clan príohWyatt Lake is the grandmaster in the East South Central Region

The Guard

Fae Touched region’s policing force, formed by mandate of the Fae AccordThe Guard was established to control the more predatory nonhuman races for the protection of humanity after the surprising reveal of the Ferwyn race to the world in the late 1920’s. The organization maintains the law within the magical community and are led by a royally appointed commander. Samuel Walker is the East South Central RegionCommander of the Guard.

An Anwyll who leads their city’s or town’s witch population when a grandmaster or magister does not reside locally. Guardians are responsible for assigning apprenticeships to young witches and resolving a Colony‘s noncritical disputes.

A healer is an Anwyll who has chosen to gear their magical training toward the healing arts by the use of specific runes and spells. Witch healers apprentice for several years under an experienced Anwyll healer. They are considered doctors worldwide, treating both magical and nonmagical races while often working in human hospitals alongside traditional medical personnel. Regan Chandler is an Anwyll healer.

The process a Dádhe uses to turn a human into an immortal vampire through a transfusion of blood. Not all Infusions are successful and only adult humans can be transitioned. The first vampires were made by a combination of pure Sídhe blood and magic.

The inking of ancient Fae runes onto an Anwyll‘s skin which enhances spell casting. A witch receives their first tattoo at the onset of puberty, girls around the age of twelve and boys at thirteen. The magical symbols are white, made from the bones of long buried witches or the more potent shifters who died in wolf form.

Jumper

Na’fhuil, or Fae halfblood. Almost all Na’fhuil are Jumpers. Their magic allows them to rebound off the edges of the Rip and travel short distances in the blink of an eye, with or without a passenger. Although a closely held secret, Jumpers can transport through walls and other barriers, making them the perfect bodyguard or assassin; the ability is as coveted as it is feared. Conlan MacCarthy is a Jumper.

 

A single-edged, slightly curved Japanese sword traditionally carried by a Dádhe warrior. The two-handed blade is used in deadly combat to remove the head of a Fae Touched opponent which is the most expedient way to kill another immortal. Although the katana is customary in battle, the Dádhe also utilize modern day firearms and excel in hand to hand combat.

The human-run organization whose agenda is to repeal the sovereignty laws of the Fae Accord to force segregation of the magical community from the larger, nonmagical populace. The hate group has human and recently discovered Fae Touched members across the globe; their ranks filled with the rich and influential.

An Anwyll placed in charge of an American state’s territory per mandate of the Fae Accord and likened to a human governor. Witches are accepted among Untouched society more readily than the predatory Fae Touched races. The magister is the go-between a designated state’s human and nonhuman governments.

The instinctual acts performed by a Ferwyn male and a chosen female with the intent to find their Ca’anamThe Dance is the Ferwyn way of courting, and although it can begin before the first Mating Mark is made, it is customarily referenced when a couple wishes to progress to the crucial second Marking.

Mating Marks

Three Marks, or bites, that a Ferwyn male places on a female of any race except Dádhe to become magically bonded mates. The initial bite-mark is on the female’s shoulder and is temporary, disappearing by the next full moon. The second is positioned on the inner thigh and is key to discovering if the bitten female can become his Ca’anamThere may be as few as two or three potential truemates found over a Ferwyn male’s lifetime. The third mark goes over a compatible female’s heart and binds the couple’s souls together for life. Only a Ca’anam couple is capable of having children.

A powerful vampire who is the head of a region’s Dádhe House. Every vampire in a designated territory is blood-bound by the Calling to a single House. The reigning patriarch or matriarch elects the thlán, caraidh, and every pater/mater to help govern the region’s Dádhe population.

The island is the sovereign seat of the East South Central Region and the home base of its reigning queen. Mud Island is a small peninsula between the Mississippi River and Wolf River Harbor on the northern side Memphis, Tn. The island was given to the magical community by the US government in the early 1930s in keeping with the edicts of the recently signed Fae Accord. Rose Standish took the previously useless muddy sandbar and turned it into a self-sufficient district providing housing for thousands of nonhumans and their families. The locals refer to the Fae Touched provinces as Blood Island, the term more tongue in cheek than derogatory.

Of the blood. The Na’fhuil, or Fae halfbloods, are direct descendants of a Sídhe lord’s or lady’s human offspring. All Na’fhuil carry recessive Fae genes, but only a few are born with the mutated version and have the active magic of either a Jumper or WalkerHalfbloods were hunted throughout history for their unique abilities and forced into hiding to avoid capture, resulting in the belief by most of the world that they are now extinct. Abigail MacCarthy and Conlan MacCarthy are Na’fhuil.

The Nine is made up of individual monarchs who rule the sovereign Fae Touched regions negotiated in the Fae AccordThe nine territories reside within the borders of the US but are autonomous unto themselves. Two of the Nine include Rose Standish, who is the queen of the East South Central Regionand Nathan Sinclair, who is the king of the West South Central Region.

Ferwyn male that has broken ties with his wolf shifter ClanBreaking a Clan bond is virtually unheard of within Ferwyn society and most would choose death over exile. All outcast will eventually turn feral unless they bind with another region’s Alpha.

Dádhe who is the head of any vampire community outside a matriarch’s or patriarch’s resident city (e.g., Mud Island in Memphis, Tennessee is the seat of power for the Standish House matriarch, Rose Standish and has no pater/mater). The patriarch or matriarch of the territory’s ruling Dádhe House elects the female maters or male paters for each city or town in their region. Quinn Buchanan is the pater of Nashville, Tennessee’s local vampires.

An Alpha male who is the head of the region’s Ferwyn Clan, which includes every wolf shifter pack in the territory. A príoh can be chosen for his innate dominance over the other Alphas in a territory or win the position after a series of challenges. Although battles for dominance are always bloody, they are not usually to the death. Samuel Walker is the East South Central’s Clan príoh.

A pathway between the realms of Earth and Faery that was created by the Sídhe. Although the bridge between worlds was closed after the departure of the Fae, the Na’fhuil race has limited access to remnants of the magically blocked passage. Entering the Rip is extremely painful for a Walker, the atmosphere dense, airless, and bitterly cold. It is less damaging for a Jumper as they barely touch the edge of the Fae pathway when using their halfblood magic.

A vampire who isn’t blood-bound to a region’s sanctioned Dádhe House or has entered into another patriarch‘s or matriarchterritory without permission. Rogues are usually killed upon discovery unless their rival House claims responsibility and negotiates leniency.

The Sídhe

The magical races who inhabit the land of Faery, also known as the Fae or Fair Folk. Although Faery is populated by a myriad of magical creatures such as pixies, nymphs, gnomes, sprites, goblins, dryads, brownies and water fairies to name a few, it was the elegant Fae lords and ladies of the elven courts who opened the magical pathway between the two worlds.

Shield. A vampire charged with the protection of the patriarch or matriarch of their region’s Dádhe House. Second in power, the thlán position is sacred in Dádhe society and free from political machinations. Genuine affection ties them to their House ruler by either blood relation or long-time friendship. Myles Handley is the Standish House thlán.

A outer-edged, curved sword used in conjunction with a small round shield by Ferwyn warriors. A traditional Indian sword originating from Turkic Central Asia, the tulwar’s blade is shorter in length and wider in breadth than the katana. The sharpened, other curved edge is used for slicing, or draw cuts, and can sever heads and limbs with ease.

The majority of Earth’s inhabitants who cannot use magic, aka humans. Since the departure of the Fae a thousand years ago, the only way an Untouched can obtain magic is to be Infused by an elder Dádhe and turned into an immortal vampire. Infusions are rare, strictly regulated, and not always successful. Although humans outnumber the Fae Touched by a wide margin, the magical community is still feared by the nonmagical world.

A Na’fhuil or Fae halfblood. Unlike the more common Jumpers of the race, Walkers travel inside the Rip instead of pushing off its boundaries.  The Rip’s environment is crippling, the extreme pain and oppressive atmosphere debilitating. A Walker can make small changes that affect reality in the human world while within the Fae passage, long minutes spent inside the void pass in less than a second outside it. This type of Na’fhuil magic is often confused with an ability to manipulate time. Abigail MacCarthy is the only known living Walker.

The Fae Touched region in the US whose territory includes the states of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana. Nathan Sinclair is the reigning king of the WSC and one of the Nine ruling monarchs.