Ighrind – Glossary

Ain: The former god of the sun, destroyed over 6,000 years ago.

Aon: The former goddess of the night, who died after she destroyed Ain.

Archar-Mountains: The only landmark to speak of on the Continent-of-Ice-Eternal.

Black War: A fiendish family or an individual can declare Black War against another bloodline or individual. This declaration must be witnessed by an Imperial official. Both parties send out their assassins to eliminate the other party. A Black War has a time limit to which the Imperial official must agree.

Bloodline: Another word for fiendish family.

Cold-Blooded: Before Lord K‘moi brought the knowledge of undead creation to Ighrind there was only one kind of undead, the cold-blooded. Usually a fiend prefers to die and return to the Utter Darkness when slain, but sometimes, a fiend‘s anger does not give the spirit leave. Often without realizing the final, fatal blow has fallen, a fiend continues fighting and leaves the battlefield as one of the cold-blooded. Cold-blooded retain all their powers and abilities but lose their fiendish ranks and can never improve mentally or physically. That is the reason, most fiends prefer oblivion to this pathetic state of existence.

Continent-of-Ice-Eternal, the: ‚Romantic‘ name given to the continent of Muata.

Cryossiarch: An immortal being of Ice and Darkness, ruler of the Empire in name. Being male as well as female, its ancestor is rumored to be Aon herself.

Dargan: A true fiend, the Scourge; destroyed.

Dargani: The Dargani were one of the oldest fiendish families. However, that could not prevent their fall after their progenitor Dargan was destroyed. Today the last remains of this deadly family is the undead stalkers‘ guild in Leith.

Dark Creators: Sentient malevolent spirits spawned by the Utter Darkness before creation. They cannot influence the mortal world but can manifest aspects on the Ethereal Plane, called true or elder fiends.

Dark Dreamers: see Dark Creators.

Death: Some say an old deity, others believe Death to be a kind of Dark Dreamer, or maybe the sentient mind of the Utter Darkness itself. No fiendish family traces its roots to Death. However, some females display a strange birthmark that gives them powers over death and sets them apart from the hierarchy of ichor.

Deathmark: The birthmark of Death‘s servants. See Death.

Deathmarked: The lowest hierarchical rank within the servants of Death. Equals the rank of ichored. There is no fiendish rank 0 for Death‘s Servants.

Death‘s Servants: A deathmarked female fiend. All fiends that have the birthmarks branding them Death‘s chosen creatures are loosely called death‘s servants. They have fiendish ranks as well, but their powers are totally different from the normal progression. The titles of the servants of Death are, from least to most powerful, deathmarked, maiden, mistress, and lady (of Death).

Elder Fiends: see True Fiends.

Fiend: A descendent of a true fiend. In game terms, there are fiends, half-fiends, quasi-fiends, and fiend-blooded. All fiends of the same bloodline share characteristics in outlook, personality, and powers.

Fiendish creature: Any creature with ichor.

Fiendish families: A bloodline whose members all share the fiendish blood of a true fiend. There are myriads of different bloodlines that never really match the number of true fiends existing on Ighrind. Even if a true fiend returns to the Utter Darkness its offspring remains in the world. All members of a fiendish family share some characteristics in appearance and have similar powers.

Fiendish Ichor: Another word for fiendish blood. It usually means the amount of fiendish heritage an individual possesses. The thicker the ichor the more powerful and the more inhumane in outlook is the fiend in question. Important for social order, see hierarchy of ichor.

Fiendish Rank: A game term to distinguish different levels of power of the fiends. Due to the long-term exposure to fiendish energies, the planar fabric of Ighrind has changed in a way that favors fiendish creatures and gives them additional powers. This is expressed in the game concept of fiendish ranks. The hierarchy of ichor is connected to these ranks. While rank 10 means true fiend, ranks 8-9 equals queens and overlords, ranks 6-7 encompass the high ladies and high lords. Ladies and lords have a rank of 3-5 and all ranks lower than that are just ichored.

Granddaughter, his: This nickname refers to a young undead stalker who happens to be of Lord K‘moi‘s bloodline. She was born to one of the nomadic tribes near
Leith and is a maiden of Death.

Guild, the: see undead stalkers.

Hierarchy of Ichor: The basic defining social order of all fiendish families. At the top of this hierarchy are the true fiends who actually are beyond this order of the ‚lesser‘ fiends. The de facto ‚rulers‘ of a family are the overlords and queens, followed by high lords and high ladies. While the numbers of these extreme powerful fiends are few, there are more lords and ladies. The lowest rank are the ichored. The thickness of an individual‘s fiendish ichor, meaning the strength of her heritage determines her rank in this hierarchy. A creature without fiendish blood in its veins is below this hierarchy and nothing but an animal.

High Lady: Second highest female social rank of the hierarchy of ichor. Fiendish ranks 6-7 in game terms.

High Lord: Second highest male social rank of the hierarchy of ichor. Fiendish ranks 6-7 in game terms.

Ichor: see fiendish ichor.

Ichored: Lowest social rank of the hierarchy of ichor. Fiendish ranks 0-2 in game terms.

Imperial City: see Leith.

Imperial Council: The ruling body of the Empire. It consists of seventeen members, one from each of the seventeen Imperial Families. A fiend must at least hold the social rank of high lady or high lord to be a member.

Imperial Families: These are the seventeen fiendish families that rule the city of Leith and the Empire.

Ki-Shin: Creatures that do not hail from Ighrind, maybe even not from the same multiverse at all. They resemble something like beautiful tall and thin orcs and are master technicians and wizards. They are allied with Lord K‘moi.

Kaesh‘moaee: A true fiend called The Defiler who was believed being destroyed two thousand years ago, but who returned as Lord K‘moi. Progenitor of the Kaesh‘man.

Kaesh‘man: Before the year 5237 the most powerful Imperial Family, created by the true fiend Kaesh‘moaee. The whole bloodline was slaughtered during the Purge and it is told that none survived.

Lady (1): Second lowest female social rank of the hierarchy of ichor. Fiendish ranks 3-5 in game terms.

Lady (2): The highest hierarchical rank within the servants of Death. Equals the rank of overlord/queen. There is always only one Lady of Death.

Leith: A huge metropolis, mainly underground. This is the Imperial City with the Citadel at its center. It is ruled by the Imperial Council that consists of the most powerful fiendish families, the Imperial Families.

Lord: Second lowest male social rank of the hierarchy of ichor. Fiendish ranks 3-5 in game terms.

Lord K‘moi: The Lich-Fiend. An undead true fiend who threatens the Empire and started to conquer the whole wolrd. He is a kind of new manifestation of
Kaesh‘moaee, the Slaughterer. His title ‚Lord‘ does not mean the hierarchical rank, he is a true fiend if ichor is concerned.

Maiden: The second lowest hierarchical rank within the servants of Death. Equals the rank of lord/lady.

March of the Dead, the: The futile attack of the new Imperial Army against Lord K‘moi‘s fortress near the Archar-Mountains in 5237. Nobody‘s corpse was found after the battle.

Mistress: The second highest hierarchical rank within the servants of Death. Equals the rank of high lord/high lady.

Muata: The larger, northern continent of Ighrind, totally covered in ice and glaciers.

Overlord: Highest male social rank of the hierarchy of ichor. Fiendish ranks 8-9 in game terms.

Purge, the: The massacre at the end of 5237 in which all of the Kaesh‘man perished.

Queen: Highest female social rank of the hierarchy of ichor. Fiendish ranks 8-9 in game terms.

Red Cloaks: The red-cloaked wizards are the Cryossiarch personal guard and the only spellcasters allowed to work fire magic. Rumor has it, that the four (now three) highest ranked Red Cloaks are in truth red dragons.

Red War: Full out war declared by the Imperial Council or the Cryossiarch against a threat from outside the Empire. All families within Leith must distribute a number of warriors.

Shadow War: If the Imperial Council declares a fiendish family or an individual a threat to the Empire it will declare Shadow War. This is similar to the Black War with some exceptions. All Imperial Families must distribute a number of assassins to the „noble“ cause and there is no time limit. The shadow war ends when the target is terminated. The last shadow war in recent history was against the Kaes‘man, and was later called The Purge.

Shamasan: The second most powerful Imperial Family whose progenitor is Shamasu, the mad and all-seeing angel.

Shamasu: A true fiend, the Mad Eye.

Three Kinds of War: The Empire knows three types of war, the Red War, the Shadow War, and the Black War.

True Fiends: Powerful outsiders manifested by the Dark Creators. They are independent from their creators but can touch on their creator‘s mind to gain knowledge and powers no normal creature could possess. But this ability is a sword with two edges. While the true fiend might gain in power, the Dark Creator is able to gain more control over its creation. Many true fiends lose all their self-awareness in this way and become nothing more than a puppet which strings are held by its creator’s claws. Some, on the other hand, gain might without relying on their dark patrons.
The true fiends’ number is limited to that of the Dark Dreamers, because each cannot manifest more than one aspect at the same time. While immortal and not suffering from old age, true fiends can be slain. This hurts the Dark Creator in question and it will slumber for some time, aeons maybe. However, it will probably manifest a new aspect to regain what it has lost.
True fiends can procreate offspring with mortals which made them the progenitors of the myriads of fiendish families of Ighrind.

Undead Stalkers: Also known as the undead stalkers‘ guild, or just, the Guild. An organisation of assassins specialized in destroying undead creatures. They were founded by a group of Dargani around 5260 as an answer to the thread of Lord K‘moi.

University of Wind and Frost: The large and powerful university for mages in the Imperial City.

Utter Darkness: The darkness that was before and will be after creation. Creation‘s underbelly, its dark shadow. The birthplace of the Dark Dreamers. There is an impenetrable veil between the Utter Darkness and the mortal world which makes it impossible to go from the one to the other. Due to their fiendish heritage most cultures on Ighrind believe that their souls come from this dark place and will return there after death.