The Awakeners: Northshore & Southshore Read online

  Sorting Out: Theologically, that process by which the dead are sorted into categories of worthy and unworthy.

  Southshore: The land to the south of the World River, considered almost mythical.

  Split River; Split River Pass: A river originating in a mountain lake in the Teeth of the North, running both north and south from that point. The pass cut by that river. The shortest route from the Chancery to Northshore, ending in the town of Vobil-dil-go.

  Stilt-lizard: A lizard with very long rear legs that stalks the shallow waters of the River or swamps, snapping up small fish or aquatic bugs.

  Strangeys, the: Creatures of vast size and unknown habits living in the World River.

  Strinder’s Isle: An island not far from Northshore that is occupied by a tribe of Treeci and a few surviving members of the Strinder family.

  Talkers, the: Infrequently hatched members of the Thraish who have the talent of articulate speech over and above that found in ordinary Thraish.

  Tears of Viranel: A fungus that reanimates recently dead bodies or takes over live ones, changing the composition of the flesh.

  Teeth of the North: The mountain range separating Chancery lands from the moors of the Noor and Northshore.

  Thou-ne: Township. Birthplace of Peasimy Flot. Site of the origin of the crusade.

  Thraish, the: Race of large, carnivorous fliers in the world north of the World River. A flier can lift a small person easily. Two or more of them can carry a large adult human. While light-boned, their talons and beaks are formidable weapons.

  Towers, the: One in each township, residences of the Awakeners.

  Towns, the: Areas along Northshore, each approximately thirty miles wide, largely agricultural, usually centered on a village or urban area, extending northward into unsettled or Noor country. Typical towns are Thou-ne, Baris, Cheeping Wells, Xoxxy-Do, and so forth. There are 2,400 towns on Northshore.

  Treeci: A race of ground-dwelling Thraish whose wings have atrophied because of their diet. Their wings, however, are still large and their wing-fingers are capable of adroit manipulation.

  Viranel: Third, female, deity in the Thraish trinity. Also the third moon.

  Vobil-dil-go: Township. Some distance west of Thou-ne. Historically called the site of the embarkation of the Noor.

  Xoxxy-Do: Township. Birthplace of Thrasne.

  Sheri S. Tepper (1929 – )

  Sheri Stewart Tepper was born in Colorado in 1929 and is the author of a larger number of novels in the areas of science fiction, fantasy, horror and mystery, and is particularly respected for her works of feminist science fiction. Her many acclaimed novels include The Margarets and Gibbon's Decline And Fall, both shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, A Plague Of Angels, Sideshow and Beauty, which was voted Best Fantasy Novel Of The Year by readers of Locus magazine. Her versatility is illustrated by the fact that she is one of very few writers to have titles in both the Gollancz SF and Fantasy Masterworks lists. Sheri S. Tepper lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

  Copyright

  A Gollancz eBook

  Copyright © Sheri S Tepper 1987

  All rights reserved.

  The right of Sheri S Tepper to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This eBook first published in Great Britain in 2011 by

  Gollancz

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book

  is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 978 0 575 11618 4

  All characters and events in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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