An Underbelly orphan boy who gives Jetsam cooking gear as a gift.

Aht-ir Aht-ir

An ancient ebony dragon who attacked and routed the Dwarves of Asigonn. It is rumored that after defeating the Dwarves, the great wyrm made his lair in Asigonn’s Great Hall.

Asigonn

Asigonn is an ancient Dwarven city, long abandoned. Legends tell of an evil dragon routing the Dwarves and chasing them from their subterranean home.

Biter

An Underbelly orphan boy who gives Jetsam bread and dried meat.

Blister

An Underbelly orphan boy, Blister is one of the three youths who get lost in Gwae Gierameth. He also gives Jetsam a cape and hood as a gift.

Calderi

Calderi is the next large city on the Serpentine Pass south of Dwim-Halloe.

Citadel, The

The Citadel is the central castle of Dwim-Halloe, which houses the Granite Palace; the residence of the Oxbow King. The Citadel proper consists of a moated, double-walled castle, with north and south gate houses. The Jade River has been routed to encircle the Citadel, serving as its moat as it flows southward. The castle sits atop a revetted motte, to withstand the eroding surges of the Jade.

The circular outer castle wall contains 12 towers, spaced like numbers on a clock. The outer curtain has a barbican with a drawbridged gate house on both its north and south sides. These defensive structures provide the only entrances across the Jade into the castle. Within the outer curtain lies the rectangular inner curtain. The higher inner wall surrounds the Oxbow King’s Granite Palace and has four prominent guard towers at each corner, with gate houses on the east and west walls. If one were to look down from the Mirrored Peaks, the Citadel’s curtains would appear as a small rectangle inside a circle.

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Cricket

An Underbelly orphan boy who gives Jetsam a large sack as a gift.

Drahkang-roth

The rumored name of an emerald dragon.

Dwim-Dwaeroch [dwɪm dˈwā-räk]

A famous Oxbow Mountain landmark in the Kierawaith, west of the Dwarven ruins of Asigonn. Dwim-Dwaeroch is the Dwarven name of a double-edged mountain peak that juts like a knife with a broken tip.

Dwim-Halloe [dwɪm hal-oh]

The capital city of the Oxbow Kingdom, located midway along the Serpentine Pass through the Oxbow Mountains, near the Jade River. Named in the days when a Dwarven king ruled beneath the city while a human king ruled above, Dwim-Halloe was Old Tongue for City of Two Kings, although it had long been misinterpreted as Vale of the Twins, in reference to the Mirrored Peaks.

Dwim-Halloe is protected by the Mirrored Peaks to the east and west, and massive stone ramparts which extended completely across the pass north and south of town, intersecting the steep mountain faces rising on each side of the valley. At its lofty elevation, Dwim-Halloe sits near the top of the Oxbow Mountain timberline, at an elevation of approximately 6,000 feet. North of the city, the terrain rises above the evergreens, providing an unobstructed view for leagues. To the south, the Serpentine Pass winds lower into the green foothills. These natural features make Dwim-Halloe a crucial military defense point for the southern Freelords in protecting their border from any northern threat.

Major buildings in Dwim-Halloe include The Citadel, the city's royal fortification, and The Granite Palace, a double-walled castle that resides inside The Citadel. Dwim-Halloe's general populace lives outside The Citadel's outer curtain, but are still protected by Dwim-Halloe's boundary ramparts.

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Eadriel Lothyrn

The birth name of Flotsam’s brother, Jetsam.

Elvar Lothyrn

The birth name of Jetsam’s brother, Flotsam.

Enthran Ashvar

A clean-shaven, surly wizard, typically seen wearing a hooded cloak and holding a hardwood staff.

Fathom

A distance of 6 feet or approximately 1.8 meters, predominantly used to measure the depth of water.

Flotsam

The Underbelly Orphans’ nickname for Elvar Lothyrn.

Furlong

A distance equal to 220 yards or approximately 604 meters.

Gaalf River [gahf riv-er]

The meandering waterway bleeds the Kierawaith of meltwater as it snakes northward. Cutting a turbulent path through the rocky foothills, the river runs all the way to the Badlands, draining into the vast desolate swampland north of the Oxbow Mountains.

Giselle

A green-eyed, blond-haired girl who lives in The Citadel. Click for portrait

Granite Palace, The

The palace of the Oxbow King sits in The Citadel in Dwim-Halloe. The Granite Palace consists of several buildings; The Grand Hall, Lesser Hall, the Keep, chapel, royal storehouse, and the now-vacant wizard’s tower. In the center of the royal grounds sits the royal inner bailey.

Guran Gwehaar

The name of the late Dwarven King whose clan once resided in Asigonn, but was ousted from their subterranean home by an evil dragon, after the wyrm felled their king in battle.

Gwae Gierameth [gwey geer ah meth]

The ruins of the Dwarven mountain stronghold beneath Dwim-Halloe. The underground Dwarven city was built hundreds of years ago, before mankind inhabited in the Serpentine Pass. The Dwarves mined the Oxbow mountains for precious metal and stone.

In the year 899, an earthquake devastated Gwae Gierameth and caused innumerable fatalities. Although the quake caused severe damage to Dwim-Halloe, the destruction paled in comparison to the havoc wreaked in the Dwarven stronghold. As the mountains heaved and shook, even the exceptional subterranean architecture crumbled and collapsed, killing thousands of unsuspecting Dwarves, thus ending the reign of Gwae Gierameth.

Rather than attempt the impossible task of rebuilding their ravaged city, the surviving Dwarves moved on. Further west they migrated, deeper into the Oxbow range, away from the painful memories etched inside the mountain's core.

Jade River

This large river is formed north of Dwim-Halloe, at the confluence of three mountain streams fed by the meltwaters of the Mirrored Peaks. Near the Dwim-Halloe, the Jade is still small, but expands in width and depth as the Oxbow watershed feeds it on its southward journey to the Horned Sea. The Jade River runs through barred cutholes at the base of the north and south outer walls of Dwim-Halloe, flowing southward around The Citadel.

Jetsam

The Underbelly Orphans' nickname for Eadriel Lothyrn. Click for portrait

Kandris Bayen

The squire of Sir Prentice Imoor of Calderi.

Kierawaith [kɪər ah weyth]

The region of the Oxbow Mountain foothills on the northern face of the mountain range, located northwest of Dwim-Halloe and the Serpentine Pass. The Kierawaith is noted for its rough terrain and harsh environment, especially in comparison to the foothills on the southern face of the Oxbows. The Gaalf River runs through the middle of the the Kierawaith and drains the region's meltwaters into the fetid marshes of the Badlands.

League

A distance equal to three miles or approximately 4.8 kilometers.

Lohon Threll

A quiet, grizzled red-headed man with a suit of dark leather armor.

Mirrored Peaks

The near-identical mountain summits sit on each side of the Serpentine Pass, near the midpoint of the Oxbow Mountains. The snow-capped peaks rise sharply above the timberline near the city of Dwim-Halloe. The peaks are similar in shape, size, and height, rising nearly 12,000 feet above sea level.

Mole

A skinny, squeaky-voiced Underbelly orphan boy who gives Jetsam a blanket. The long-haired Mole is 14 years old.

Oxbow Mountains

This mountain range crosses the continent of Tythania, separating the northern part of the continent from the larger southern portion. From the northwestern coast of Tythania, the Oxbow rises out of the sea from a series of jutting islands and curves southeast to its southernmost point, mid-continent, near the Serpentine Pass. From there, the Oxbow begins to curve northeast, eventually disappearing into the ocean on the northeast edge of Tythania. From end to end, the Oxbow roams nearly 2,000 miles, spanning the entire width of the continent. The mountains can be divided into three principal sections; the Northwestern Oxbow, the Southern oxbow, and the Northeastern Oxbow. The Northeastern Oxbow contains the range's highest point, Devil's Peak, rising 15,000 feet above sea level. The Oxbow is widest in the Northwest, stretching nearly 160 miles, and ranges to about 90 miles at its narrowest region near the Mirrored Peaks.

Pike

An Underbelly orphan boy, Pike is one of the three youths who get lost in Gwae Gierameth. He also gives Jetsam a tunic as a gift.

Ratboy

A brown-eyed Underbelly orphan boy, Ratboy has tangled, end-curled, sandy hair. Ratboy unofficially founded the Underbelly Orphans and is its senior member and father-figure to the younger orphan boys.

Rooster

An Underbelly orphan boy, Rooster is one of the three youths who get lost in Gwae Gierameth. He also gives Jetsam a paring knife as a gift.

Serpentine Pass

The snaking mountain path cuts a curving, 100-mile, north-south swath through the midpoint of the Oxbow Mountains. The pass is the major route between the northern and southern portions of the Tythania, being the only horse-accessible crossing near Dwim-Halloe for hundreds of miles.

At Dwim-Halloe, the Serpentine Pass spans nearly two miles at its widest part. At its northern and southern narrow points, walls span east to west, connecting to the rocky slopes of the Mirrored Peaks. Each wall has a large, two-towered gatehouse, providing entrance to the northern and southern portions of the town. Bastions are set near each end of each wall, alongside the peak slopes. These walls provide Dwim-Halloe’s first line of defense.

Sir Prentice Imoor

A Calderian Knight who wears full armor, a visored burgonet and an arming sword, dirk, and kite shield at his side.

Squirrel

One of the older Underbelly orphans, Squirrel is a tall blond who fled Dwim-Halloe with Weasel.

Stinger

An Underbelly orphan boy who gives Jetsam a flask as a gift.

Sylallian

The region of the Oxbow Mountain foothills on the southern face of the mountain range, located west of Dwim-Halloe and the Serpentine Pass. The Sylallian is noted for its green, alpine environment, especially in comparison to the foothills on the northern face of the Oxbows. The Sylallian has long been rumored to be an enchanted forest.

Tythania

The name of the continent where Dwim-Halloe and the Oxbow Mountains are located. The events of Crimson & Cream take place entirely within Tythania.

Ulodonn Tygan

The previous Oxbow King, who was assassinated in the year 1004. King Ulodonn Tygan was followed by the current King; Valin Vardan.

Underbelly

The storm sewers of Dwim-Halloe serve as a makeshift home for the orphan clans, and are nicknamed the “Underbelly.” Hewn by the Dwarves centuries ago, the subterranean conduits were cut to harness the fury of the Oxbow Mountain thaws. Humans expanded these sewers in later times to channel storm waters away from the walled town and Citadel. Connected to the surface throughout Dwim-Halloe, the sewer drains provide the orphans access into town.

Unnatural

A term used to describe otherworldly or magically-influenced creatures, such as spirits, undead, and ghosts, as well as trolls, orcs, goblins and the like. It is also a slang derogatory term for one who uses magic, such as wizards, mages, and spellcasters.

Weasel

An Underbelly orphan boy who fled Dwim Halloe. Rail-thin with long black hair, Weasel also sports an adolescent beard.

Yduk Thiern

A bounty hunter from the southern part of Tythania.