Glossary

A quick alphabetical list of places and people along with pronunciations. Click here for more information about the world and here for more information about the characters.

BOOK ONE

  • ALRONELIN (al-ROWN-eh-lin): The largest country in the Peninsula. The city of Bermeia is its capital. Current sovereign: King Romero Sangor. 
  • ALYSIA (uh-LEE-see-ah): one of the orphans. After being kicked by a horse, she barely remembers anything, so she’s not sure that’s really her name, but it sounds right. Ish. 
  • ANAPOLINE (ann-APP-oh-leen): an Unconquerable City in Courma, on the Isles of Myvanwy. A couple of centuries ago, during the Plague, the people rebelled and French Revolution’d their king, then roasted and ate him. Allegedly.
  • ANGELA (AHN-ghell-uh, but it’s a Savillan GH, so you just barely pronounce the G and hit the H really hard): captain of the Illuminatori, the ship that Auna Allesino hired to bring her to Bermeia. 
  • ARTEMIS D’LAURENT (ARR-teh-miss de-lorr-ENT): one of the orphans. Raised by a wealthy single dad, she was sent to the orphanage when he was arrested at the age of nine.
  • AUNA ALLESINO (AWN-uh owl-eh-SEEN-oh): only daughter of King Eduardo Allesino, princess of Savilla, and Romero Sangor’s fiancée (and To Catch a Predator episode).
  • BERMEIA (BURR-may-uh): the capital city of Alronelin, and once the seat of the Conqueror’s empire. It was a city-state for hundreds of years and still retains a lot of political independence as well as unique cultural traits. 
  • CONQUEROR: Jon the Conqueror is a historical figure who lived roughly 800 years before the current era. He and his army conquered the entire Peninsula, ending with Bermeia, and forever changed the cultural dynamic. It’s rumored that a full quarter of the current population are his descendants. 
  • CORRINE (core-INN): the wife of King Romero Sangor’s second marriage, which is concurrent with the first. Royalty can do whatever they want.  
  • COURMA (CORE-ma): A country known for being the birthplace of the Conqueror. It is comprised mostly of islands and sits at the northernmost tip of the Peninsula. Current sovereign: King Romero Sangor, with Queen Marisa Eorhan Sangor as his proxy. 
  • DIVINA (dih-VEEN-ah): a member of a religious order of women who are healers, scholars, and prophetesses. They are currently exiled from Alronelin and discriminated against heavily in Courma and Lyrma, but hold high esteem in Savilla, Kedarth, and Kypris. Plural: Divinae (dih-VIN-yay or dih-vin-YAY). 
  • DOMINIC (DOM-in-ick): One of the orphans. The son of a prostitute, he once had a mother and a brother that he loved dearly, but then he was sent to the orphanage at the age of eight.
  • EDUARDO ALLESINO (ed-ooh-ARR-do owl-eh-SEEN-oh): The current king of Savilla.
  • KAYO (KAY-oh or KAI-oh, depending on who you ask): one of the orphans. Alysia was in charge of naming him and she’s only about 80% sure that she got it right. 
  • KEDARTH (KEH-darth): A country in the northern Peninsula next to Kypris and stuck between Courma and Alronelin, who have fought over it for centuries. 
  • KHAL ALEEN (CALL uh-LEEN): an island nation between the Peninsula and Riazli, known for its active volcano. 
  • KYPRIS (KAI-priss): A country in the northern Peninsula next to Kedarth and stuck between Savilla and Alronelin, who have fought over it for centuries. 
  • LIAM ADENEY (LEE-um ADD-uh-nee): the real name of the Beggar’s King, the vigilante who has been terrorizing Bermeia. Also the real name of the Butcher of Fishgut Alley, or simply the Fishgut Butcher. He’s been busy. 
  • LUCY (LOO-see): A Divina who ran away only to be captured by Auna Allesino and, ultimately, Romero Sangor. 
  • LYRMA (LEER-ma): A country between Alronelin and Courma that historically both countries have had trouble sharing. Current sovereign: King Romero Sangor, with Queen Marisa Eorhan Sangor as his proxy, treating it as an extension of Courma. 
  • MARISA (muh-RISS-uh): Marisa Saoirse Éorahn Sangor, the wife of King Romero Sangor’s first marriage, which did not in fact end when he married for the second time. She was the princess of Courma before Romero killed the men in her family and took power. 
  • MYVANWY (MIV-ann-wee), ISLES OF: a chain of islands off the coast of Courma, said to be the homeland of the Conqueror.
  • RIAZLI (ree-AZ-lee): The continent south of the Peninsula. The Riazli Empire has controlled a large portion of it for several hundred years.
  • RAFAEL SANGOR (rah-fai-ELL SAYN-gore): the former king of Alronelin and Romero Sangor’s foster brother. 
  • ROMERO SANGOR (row-MARE-oh SAYN-gore): the current king of Alronelin and ruler of Courma, Lyrma, and the “Greater Peninsula”, which is what he calls his empire. Rumored to have joined the royal family as a bastard or fosterling and to have gained the crown under suspicious circumstances. 
  • ROSE (ROWS): the name given quite late in life to a street urchin with a rose necklace and a bad attitude. 
  • SAVILLA (suh-VEE-ya): The second-largest country in the Peninsula. The Conqueror’s rule over it was not as solid as other nations, so there’s a powerful cultural divide between Savilla and the rest of the Peninsula to this day, and a historic clash between the Conqueror’s cultural influence and the indigenous culture. They’re known for being progressive, liberal, and hot-blooded. Current sovereign: King Eduardo Allesino. 
  • SERENA SANGOR DI COLLINE (suh-REEN-uh SAYN-gore dee call-EEN-ay): wife of the former king, Rafael, and mother to the current heir to the throne. Both she and her son are missing. 
  • SERGIO (SEHR-gee-oh): Somebody at the edge of Romero Sangor’s memories, someone he hates and fears and doesn’t want to think about.
  • YAZMIN: a small country nestled in the mountains between Savilla and Alronelin. It’s only easily accessible from one small port, so it’s been taken over by the Riazli Empire until recently. Current sovereign: Marchesa Lorelai Fubali.