Paradox

A realm that exists alongside the mortal world, governed by rules that are older than anyone currently alive, or formerly alive, can fully account for. It is not the only realm, but it’s one of the higher realms, that is home to the Sworn Exarchs of the Vanguard.

The Paradox Accords

The governing framework for the realm of Paradox. Each realm has their own set of Accords, that is a cosmic legal system. The Accords are not about peace. They’re rules that any good lawyer should be able to test… If they can survive the Paradox legal system.

The Mortal Realm

Home. Where I have a bookshop, an aunt, outstanding parking fines, my favorite Chinese restaurant on speed-dial, and a life that was perfectly normally until a man with sea-glass eyes decided otherwise.

The Veyll

You may know of it like I did as the thin Veil between the worlds especially around Halloween. It exists, but not like we thought. The Veyll is the boundary between the various realms. Only those with certain magickal abilities can skip though it at will. Otherwise you’ll need a Veyllgate, and permission to pass through that may be scarier than any Customs checkpoint I’ve ever encountered. Zarek calls it a door he unlocks and uses like a fire escape to other realms.

Magick

Innate power. It’s the kind you’re born with, spelled with a K. For some Paradox natives it doesn’t show until their late teens. For others, the day they’re born, or it skips a generation even among those carefully chosen for their magickal bloodlines.

Magic

Wards, spells, the stuff witches study and practice. My Aunt Claudine will tell you all about it in our bookstore. Be sure to visit and find what suits your needs. The dreamcatchers are worth taking a look at.

The Claiming

An ancient magic that Zarek says “… it is magick recognizing magick before the heart catches up.” It is not by choice. And it is nothing more than a hijacker of emotions! There I said it.

It is dangerous as it is territorial before and—I have been told, repeatedly, by multiple people in increasingly urgent tones—it is not romantic.

I have noted this.

I am noting it here, without stabbing at the page with a spiky quill so hard I’ve bent the nib’s tip and have ink on my fingers. (Which is what happened on the first, second–fourth draft of this text.)

Let me be clear…

Nobody romanticizes the Claiming. It is feared so much so, that it is the only reason I am in Paradox at all, because of what the Claiming is doing to Zarek!

And me…

And this page. While I live in hope of finding a box of ballpoint pens instead of dealing with feathery quills. And a good wine bar.

The Vanguard of the Veyll (commonly known as the Vanguard)

Guardians and warriors of the realms. They won’t tell me what their oath is, but I know firsthand that when any member of the Vanguard arrives, reality thins and the air shimmers like it’s distorted. Think of them like Police without the need for passports or warrants, as they’re an army accountable only to the Accords.

The Sworn Exarchs

The inner council of the Vanguard, the elite bosses. Except they are not chosen by rank or years of service, but by the ancestors. Age and political alliances do not matter, as it’s all based on skill. What is worth noting is that it is one of the few governing bodies that is impenetrable to corruption. To them they work for the good of the realm first and always, and as they have a sovereignty they do not get involved in politics. It has been fleetingly explained to me that apparently, somehow, the dead get a vote?! Yeah, right.

The Ancestors

Also known to some as the Fallen, they are members of the Sworn Exarchs who remain bound to the Oaths Chamber by some blood oath until the war against Katarra is finished. They are not ghosts. I think? Apparently, they’re voting members among the Sworn Exarchs. How they communicate? Well, it’s just something else to file under Things That Happened That I Cannot Explain and have to see it to believe it.

The Veyllward Sisterhood

The order of women who wear sage and look at me the way I used to look at witnesses who are about to lie under oath. They do lots of charity work, run hostels and offer aid to many during times of hardship, making them well loved among the outer community. They also manage the Hearthbound within the Keep and answer to the Continuum Council.

The Continuum Council

The governing body of the Veyllward Sisterhood, who are the Custodians of Magick for the purity of magick. They are the keepers of magickal bloodline who test the population for their magick. They also oversee lineage, and allow marriage unions based purely on power matches and bloodlines.

The Hearthbound

Voluntary custodians of magickally tested females within the Keep. Let me be clear, they choose to be a Hearthbound bride, and can leave at any time. They are well-respected and treated like royalty, as they are the future wives and mothers for the Vanguard. I have yet to fully comprehend this, as I have more questions to make a fully unbiased explanation, as yet. So, raincheck?

Wards

A defensive shield placed over a specific area, object, or person. Like creating a ward against the ex entering your house again, or that bill in the letterbox, or those neighbors who like to peer over the back fence. Wards can absorb, deflect, or neutralize incoming physical or magical attacks on whatever they’re protecting.

Sigils

Unique geometric symbols, an emblem, or a painted mark created for a specific purpose. Think of the weird brands that blend their letters together for a logo. If you want that free parking space in front of the store every single time, or a Birkin bag for Christmas, or the wire from your bra to stay where it belongs for life, create a sigil. They can be anything you want, since they’re made by combining letters or concepts into a single design built for that specific goal.

Staves

They look like individual Nordic snowflakes that can be both a ward and a sigil. They’re condensed, highly specific symbolic formulas that combine runic lines into a single visual glyph to trigger a specific magical outcome. Perfect for putting fear into an enemy, or never getting lost in a storm at sea. Good to remember next time on a boat.

Cloaking

Cloaking is supposed to hide a person, object, or location from plain sight, including  tracking spells, and supernatural senses. It’s done by a spell, or putting on a ring, or—dare I say it—throwing a cloak over the person themselves. Apparently, it’s one of the Accords’ golden rules that anyone from the other realms must be cloaked while in the mortal realm. Pfft. I’ve never seen it work.

Glamour

Basically, it’s an optical illusion, like a form of magical photoshopping. A glamour dresses something up the way I use color-correcting contacts to avoid double-takes and questions over my eyes. It doesn’t actually hide the thing. It just lies about it, convincingly, until someone looks too close. Or the spell expires.