"Untuchable" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cole Kresley)

GLOSSARY OF TERMS FROM The Living Book of Lore

THE LORE

“… and those sentient creatures that are not human shall be united in one stratum, coexisting with, yet secret from, man’s.”

• Most are immortal and can regenerate from injuries. The stronger breeds can only be killed by mystical fire or beheading.

• Their eyes change to a breed-specific color with intense emotion.

THE VALKYRIE

“When a maiden warrior screams for courage as she dies in battle, W#243;den and Freya heed her call. The two gods give up lightning to strike her, rescuing her to their hall, and preserving her courage forever in the form of the maiden’s immortal Valkyrie daughter.”

• Take sustenance from the electrical energy of the earth, sharing it in one collective power, and give it back with their emotions in the form of lightning.

• Possess preternatural strength and speed.

• Without training, most can be mesmerized by shining objects and jewels.

THE VAMPIRES

• Two warring factions, the Horde and the Forbearer Army.

• Each vampire seeks his Bride, his eternal wife, and walks as the living dead until he finds her.

• A Bride will render his body fully alive, giving him breath and making his heart beat, a process known as blooding.

Tracing is teleporting, the vampires’ means of travel. A vampire can only trace to destinations he’s previously been or to those he can see.

The Fallen are vampires who have killed by drinking a victim to death. Distinguished by their red eyes.

THE HORDE

“In the first chaos of the Lore, a brotherhood of vampires dominated by relying on their cold nature, worship of logic, and absence of mercy. They sprang from the harsh steppes of Dacia and migrated to Russia, though some say a secret enclave, the Daci, live in Dacia still.”

• The Fallen comprise their ranks.

THE FORBEARERS

“… his crown stolen, Kristoff, the rightful Horde king, stalked the battlefields of antiquity seeking the strongest, most valiant human warriors as they died, earning him the name of Gravewalker. He offered eternal life in exchange for eternal fealty to him and his growing army.”

• An army of vampires consisting of turned humans, who do not drink blood directly from the flesh.

• Kristoff was raised as a human and then lived among them. He and his army know little of the Lore.

THE NOBLE FEY OF DRAISKULIA

“A warrior nobility class who ruled over all the demon serfs in their realm.”

• Were F#233;odals, an ancient term for feudal overlords, which became shortened to Fey.

• Masters in the art of poisons.

• Males prefer to be called Drais.

• Over time, divided into numerous subsets, including fire, ice, and forest fey.

THE TURNING

“Only through death can one become an ‘other.’”

• Some beings, such as the Lykae, vampires, and demons, can turn a human or even other Lore creatures into their kind through differing means, but the catalyst for change is always death, and success is not guaranteed.

THE ACCESSION

“And a time shall come to pass that all immortal beings in the Lore, from the Valkyrie, vampire, Lykae, and demon factions to the phantoms, shifters, fey, and sirens… must fight and destroy each other.”

• A kind of mystical checks-and-balances system for an evergrowing population of immortals.

• Occurs every five hundred years. Or right now…

“They say I’m as fickle as winter, as shy as frost, and as indifferent as a blizzard. It’s rumored my body is pure as driven snow. Nobody imagines that I might be full of fire.”

— DANIELA THE ICE MAIDEN, VALKYRIE AND RIGHTFUL QUEEN OF THE ICERE, THE FEY OF THE FROZEN NORTH

“Women are like bottles of liquor. They should be sampled, savored, then discarded. Matrimony is for men who can’t handle their liquor.”

— MURDOCH WROTH, EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY WARLORD, MODERN VAMPIRE SOLDIER