Winds of Aerathiea

Epilogue

Leaning against the railing, Liam turned and looked back into the observation deck slash mess hall where they had all accumulated so many times over the last few weeks. Carol and Megan were stacking chairs and Aaron was learning to be more useful with the vacuum cleaner. Life would go on.

He thought back to their earlier decision to scuttle their only way home to save the crew and perhaps both worlds. It had been a mutual decision, but it had been his idea and he would carry the weight of that forever. He hardly thought he would be remembered for that, though. He could see Rebekah walking through the lounge, carrying a couple of mugs. She turned and pushed open the door to outside where he was standing and presented one of the mugs to him. He silently accepted. She pushed up to the railing and leaned next to him.

She broke the silence. “No one blames you, you know.”

Liam stared at his coffee. “Yeah, I know.” He took a sip. When did I start liking coffee? He thought to himself.

“We could have done a lot worse you know. Grumm was going to give this ship to the first organization we found. Now I know he had his illness on his mind the whole time. At least here, every day will be something new.”

“You think we will see Artemis again?”

“I’m pretty sure we can count on it. We most certainly have not seen the last of Artemis Grumm.”

They were interrupted by another person hurriedly pushing through the doors with some kind of machine tucked under his shoulder.

Jonathan said, “I hope I’m not interrupting you two love birds?”

Liam grinned. Yeah, he had a girlfriend. “We were just planning our day. What’s up?”

Jonathan excitedly pushed a button on the box and it started emitting a shrill sound. He grimaced and turned down the volume. Jonathan grinned.

Liam said, “Okay, you have a box that beeps...”

“No son, I have a box that was broken that now works. It’s the only thing I’ve been working on since we got stuck here.”

“Ok, I’ll ask. What does it do?” said Rebekah.

“It’s a locator tied to only one object in the whole world.”

“Ok, and I’m guessing it found this object?”

“Precisely!” Jonathan was grinning from ear to ear.

“Oh my God, Liam. Don’t you get it?” cried Rebekah. “I think he’s found your mother!”

Glossary

Arinok – A generalization for any form of carnivorous dinosaur.

Aerathiea – meaning All that there is. The generalized name for the entire world inside the Earth.

Aerolon – The invention of Doctor Jackson Peck. It is an amalgam of graphene and other elements that is 100x stronger than steel, can be made to be an electrical insulator or conductor. It can be constructed in any shape and has the added property that it can made lighter than air and still retain its incredible hardness.

Macronocs – A form of electronic binocular with many forms data capture and analyzation capabilities.

Bronis Yar – A jungle that borders the province of Debonak.

Caerns of Debonak – Traditional burial caverns of Debonak

Callia Varrom – One of the highest peaks in Aerathiea. Part of the Vallus Valor mountain range.

Callus – a Grommon word for “root” that can be synonymous with “butt” or “core of your being.” A common term is From the bottom of my callus.

Castalan – The province that was carved from many conquered territories that now encompasses the Empire of the same name.

Casteen – The strong arm of the Castalan Empire. Equivalent of the Knights Templar.

Chipagra – A small rodent-like creature that Grommon believe they are evolved from.

Colis Basilicim – The Mountain – The seat of the Castalan Empire and the religion Omnus Musteria.

Daran Davici Ni-torre – Fourth son of Domin-Tik Davici Ni-torre. Originally an Omnus priest, Daran betrayed and helped the Empire murder his father, aligning the province of Debonak with the Empire.

Dipsinok – A generalization for many forms of longneck, herbivorous dinosaurs.

Domin-Tik Davici Ni-torre – Father of Kyton Davis and deceased Lord of Debonak.

Drakkor – The Aerathiean term for Dragon. There are two major classes. The larger are the Emperor Drakkor and grow to 60 feet long with wingspans up to 100 feet. Scales harder than Aerolon plating and tempered with unquenchable fire from Aeternum. The smaller, Ryn-Drakkor are basically the wolves or coyotes of the air. They are no more than 10 feet long and hunt in packs.

Dranoki – One of the major races of Aerathiea. They are bipedal reptilians that stand about 8 feet tall with tails, spines and spikes. There are three sub species that tend to stick together in enclaves though they can interbreed.

Dria-monks – Magic-using monks from one of the ancient religions.

Duranae – A substance that is found predominantly in volcanic and mountainous areas of Aerathiea. It has many mysterious, magical properties that are still largely unexplained. Some small amounts can be found on Earth if you are looking in the right places and know what to look for.

Durm! – A Grommon swear word that means Damn!

Fantismish – A Nilori word for phantasm.

Gevosta ulimi Sir’ath – A Nilor common expression for when one passes away. Translated it means may he rest with the mother.

Gortawurm – A large worm grows to over 60 feet long that lives predominantly in a desert climate in the province of Gorta. It is unique since the Gortawurm, filters a lot of duranae through its system that builds up in the hide over time, this gives the wurm body parts some unique magical abilities. When the gortawurm dies, the organs decay into hydrogen gas that is trapped inside the very lightweight, but almost impenetrable hide. They make excellent airship bladders.

grackle bean farming

Grommon – One of the primary races of Aerathiea. They are small, only about 3 feet tall and are similar to goblins from Harry Potter or Leprechauns. They are very gregarious, living either in farming communities or within Nilori towns, throughout Aerathiea.

Harnor-Everoth – One of the major houses of the Castalan Empire.

Holy Navy of Darnik – The official, commissioned Navy of the Castalan Empire.

Hrok – A omnivorous dinosaur, similar to a triceratops. Many attempts have been made to domesticate over the centuries.

Incarnate Daughter – Chief magical priestess for the old religion before Omnus.

Kinari – A magical light made from crystals and duranae that can stay lit for generations, without generating any heat.

Largelings – The Grommon term for any of the larger races in Aerathiea.

Moko – A Grommon term for the life force energy in everyone. Equivalent to chi.

Morae – The Aerathiean equivalent of a year. There are 13 Remot or months in one Morae.

Moloth – Moloth is the name the people of Aerathiea give to the very prominent moon in their sky. It as been discovered by Jonathan Waite that Moloth is in a locked synchronous orbit with the outer moon, though no one knows why. Moloth is now feared by the general population of Aerathiea but in ancient days, was worshiped as the consort of the Central Sun, Sirath.

Mox – A Mox is a derogatory term for a donkey like beast of burden. Used generally in slang like Son of a Mox.

Na Kie – One of the primary races of Aerathiea. They are bipedal and about 8 feet tall and covered in fur. They are the source of all the bigfoot, Yeti and Sasquatch sightings on Earth. They live in mountainous regions, are very territorial and have an instinctual rivalry with the Drakkor as they are both at the top of their food chains. Very docile except when angered, the NaKie make excellent guardians.

Ni’Aerathiea – literally means Outside Aerathiea.

Nilori – One of the primary races of Aerathiea. Essentially the same as Humans. It is rumored they first came to Aerathiea at the fall of Atlantis.

Noket – One of the principled Grommon cities.

Noldari Accords – The signed agreements between Nilori and Dranoki that ended centuries of bloody conflict between the two races. It is deeply respected and almost revered in religious overtones.

Omnus Exothesia – The enforcement branch of the Church of Omnus Musteria. They are equivalent of the Catholic Inquisition. They are primarily hunting for witches, but also serve as a deterrent to any that cross paths with Omnus or the Empire.

Omnus Musteria – The Omnus Musteria or Omnus for short is the Universal Mystery. It is the writings and ancient teachings that claims to instruct Nilori in the Ways of the Sisters, the predominate pantheon of deities in Aerathiea.

Palla Moret – Capital city of the Castalan Empire. Equivalent to Rome on Earth.

Pope Clemonte – Current sitting leader of the Omnus Musteria. A Pope is elected by the ten major Houses that make up the Castalan Empire. This means the Pope is more of a figurehead and the Houses make up the true power of the empire.

Remot – The equivalent of Month in Aerathiea. There are 13 Remot in one Morae, or year.

Rinewood – A very special, lightweight wood in Aerathiea. It is also an extremely hard wood due to amount of duranae leeched into its fibers. Rinewood trees grow hundreds of feet tall and are similar to the Madagascar Baobab tree, in that it stores thousands of gallons of water in its trunk through hydraulic, capillary action. When a Rinewood tree dies, the roots begin to decay first from insects and the water will at one point, go rushing out all at once. Walking through a Rinewood forest can sound like a bubbling brook. When this happens, cells within the tree will close off with a vacuum. Many of these trees will break off in high winds and get carried away, sometimes forming lighter than air islands in the sky.

Ryn-Drakkor – The smaller variety of Dragon. They are no more than 10 feet long and hunt in packs. They do breathe fire and can cause serious damage but can be hunted successfully with arrow or firearm.

Toranth Kaneesa of Debonak – The hereditary title given to the leader of the province of Debonak.

Sepae – The equivalent of Day in Aerathiea. There are 28, 12 hour days

Sirath

Toriki Plain – The general area where the city of Yar Imprezza once stood.

Yar Imprella – Once a magnificent city, known for its cultural and trade value. One day, now referred to as the day of sorrows, the entire city was vaporized and all area around it was punched up into the sky like an enormous volcano.

Yeren – Once a prosperous province adjacent to Castalan. It was razed to the ground about 500 years ago when the betrothed Incarnate Daughter was promised in marriage to the son of the prefect elect of Castalan. She disappeared, sparking a bitter reprisal against Yeren which left the province completely destroyed and barren.

Vallus Imorezza – Mountain range to the North of Castalan where Jonathan Waite had kept a research station that was destroyed by the Empire.

Vallus Valor – Mountain range to the South of Castalan.