Glossary of Terms

*Rage* I just had something like 25 terms written down (not to mention the thread description) when my browser randomly went one page back. I'll just get straight to the terms (please mention unmentioned ones, ask about new ones and give any potentially better suggestions. Also, I'm randomly writing these down as they come to mind. Alphabeticalness and sections come later). Term descriptions will come later.


Zen'ji (Formerly Xen'vi)


Eol


Jaylen


Shjerr'dûll (Aka The Shadow; Formerly Shon'jah)


Brotherhood of Shjerr'dûll (Aka The Brotherhood of Shadow, Dark Brotherhood, Dark Knights; Formerly The Hunters)


Order of Acanthos (Formerly The Order of the Arcane)


Valiero'ji


Svia'ji


Qui'a'ji


Aari'ji


Jay'ji


Col'tun'ji


Iga'ji


Tita'ji


Oijah'ji


Aylii'ji


Éill'ji


Vallë'ji


Khell'ji


Aka'ji


Cyrill'ji


Dwarr'ji


Shjerr'ji


Amar'ji


Hann'ji


Lock'tar'ji


Harra'ji

That's a lot of 'ji.

Lemme explain (those are only a few):

Zen'ji civilisation started out as an almost Elder Scrolls Bosmer-type civilisation called the Aylii'ji. This civilisation was made up of three major clans, which eventually split into three separate nations: the Éill'ji, the Vallë'ji and the Khell'ji. Every Zen'ji nation since (with a few exceptions) is and has been associated with either of these three clans, though when spoken of as clans instead of nations, they start with "Jia" instead of ending with "ji".

The Jia'éill generally have a style like that of Lord of the Rings High Elves and/or Earth Romans and Greeks (they also generally follow the styles of Jaylen cities). The also have yellow-ish skin and and slightly taller that the rest and known colloquially as "gold skins". The Jia'vallë have a style that's pretty much Oriental and Islamic, but also slightly Elven (and they also have pyramids). Their skin-tones range between brown and reddish-orange and they are colloquially known as as "brown skins". Finally, the Jia'khell have a style like that of the LotR Dwarves and/or the Earth Celts, Nords and - in simpler nations - Inuits. They are slightly shorter than the other clans and generally have pale to almost black skins and are colloquially known as "grey skins".

Each of the clans had two prominent/epic nations in their history, which are today extinct, but still provide interesting ruins all over the planet. The Éill had the Aka'ji and later the Amar'ji. The Aka'ji is the one I'm sure you're most familiar with. They had an empire spread over most of Cyro'bar, Zena and Thera'nal at their peak. Now, though they are considered Éill, they also contained peoples (due to their size) of other clans. This is why, when the capitol was destroyed and Aka'virr left uninhabitable, they split into two separate nations: the largely Éill (though their northwest is more Khell) Valiero'ji and the Vallë Aari'ji (which later branched into the Svia'ji).

Before this, however, another nation branched off (gained independence?) from the Aka'ji in what would become Amar'kash (the part of Gharo'zaghira south of the Valiero'ji across the Sea of El'jok) to become the Amar'ji. I'd call the Amar'ji's style Atlantian, as it's sorta a combination of Greek, Egyptian and Mayan architecture and the Amar'ji adopted pyramid-building from the Vallë nations. The Amar'ji had a pretty well of nation going up until they got conquered by and completely assimilated into the Iga'ji.

Then there was the very Chinese Dynasty / Japanese Empire -like Cyrill'ji of Thera'nal, southeast of the Aka'ji. They had quite the empire going until the Aka'ji showed them a thing or two after they tried invading them. Long story short, the Cyrill were assimilated into what would become the Aari'ji and the Jay'ji. Cyrill ruins similar to Skyrim's Sky Haven Temple's exterior/back door (the Asian-looking Akaviri ruin that becomes the Blade's new headquarters if you do that quest (you do have Skyrim, right?)) can now be found all over Thera'nal.

The second historically prominent Vallë nation is the Hann'ji, which would later become the Jay'ji. Their style was pretty much Persian. Not much to say about them, really, other than that they developed the first fire-arms and discovered firestone (a mineral found mainly in western Gharo'zaghira that can be used to create fire in their atmosphere. In the time, it's exploited by the Iga'ji like crazy). The Hann'ji fell when they were, as with the Amar'ji, conquered and assimilated into the Iga'ji. Unlike the Amar'ji, however, the people fought for their independence and eventually took their land back in the form of the Jay'ji.

Then there's the Khell. The Dwarr'ji existed in the Black Mountains (the border between the modern-day Qui'a'ji and Svia'ji. The eastern point of this mountain range / plateau holds Blackfrost Peak (which used to be Red Mountain (but maybe we shouldn't copy from Elder Scrolls that much) and will get a proper Zen'ji translation later)), and I mean in the black mountains. They were miners and exploited the many caverns and passages beneath the Black Mountains to create massive mines and great stone cities. In short, they are my direct equivalent of the LotR Dwarves or Elder Scrolls Dwemer (minus the Falmer and astrology). They fell when, well, I'll get to that in a moment.

Then there's the Lock'tar'ji which, while the Dwarr'ji took to the mountains, took to the sea and became a large empire in much of the northern sea, especially in what is now Tita'ji territory. They are most comparable to Earth's Viking empires and and early Norse civilizations. Though were just as ruthless as their Earthly comparisons and often staged seemingly anonymous raids on other nations. Then a small ice age occurred and, because of the fact that their whole nation was basically in or on the edge of Novusvita's Arctic Circle, they largely died out. Those that didn't become part of the Aari'ji to the south, formed a simple Inuit society and, when the ice receded, reformed the nation as the Tita'ji. Interestingly, Lock'tar'ji settlers in northern Gharo'zaghira (in what is now the north-most tip of mainland Iga) would become independent after the fall of their mother-nation and become the first incarnation of the Iga'ji.

Now I'll get back to the fall of the Dwarr'ji. In end of the Second Age was marked by the defeat of the Shadow, according their "mythology", but more directly (and as the humans below clearance would interpret it) by the end of the First Great War (one of three, the third being the one in Book II/III. It's Also the First War of the Shadow, while the one in the books is the second), which was in turn marked by the Aka'ji victory over the Shjerr'ji. Right, now when the Shadow was expelled from Jaylen society after he started the rebellion, he was imprisoned in the bowels of Blackfrost Peak. A group of Dwarr'ji accidentally came upon this a few decades/centuries later and was psychically influenced by the Shadow into his converts, the Shjerr'ji (the Shadow = Shjerr'dûll). The Shjerr'ji first "brought their message" / attacked tribes and sub-clans around the base of Blackfrost and forced them to convert, while those who refused were either killed or enslaved (depending on their usefulness). Eventually the Shjerr'ji invaded the rest of the Dwarr'ji and converted, enslaved, massacred or drove out (though escape is a better term for the latter's fate) all of them. They then lay the foundations for what would become the Dark Empire of the Shjerr'ji which spread through Zena and the surrounding areas. During this time they create an architectural style - based on that of the Shadow's prison (which was quite spiky) - would would in modern times be copied by the Iga'ji to create their characteristic Mordor-esque style. Eventually the Shadow was freed by the efforts of his followers and the rebellion among the Jaylen continued, become a full war in the Algol solar system and elsewhere in Jaylen territory. In an epic story that will take too long to tell here, the Shjerr'ji and the Shadow were defeated and the Shadow's remains dropped into the crater of Bara'cûll, where an Iga'ji prince would later find it and become the incarnation of the Shadow and the emperor of the Iga'ji in modern times. A tiny pocket of Shjerr'ji survivors would become the Brotherhood of Shjerr'dûll (which only just occurred to me. It's possible that the Brotherhood isn't really that secret, just considered myth).

Okay, now I'll get to those exceptions I mentioned:

-The Shjerr'ji are considered an exception because they included converts/slaves from multiple nations around the Black Mountains.

-The Valiero'ji, though generally considered Jia'éill, have much Jia'khell influence in their north-western territories, east of the Tita'ji. This is both because of the proximity of the Tita'ji and their history (the said territories were once part of the Lock'tar'ji). There is occasionally still some tension between the two Valieren clans and I'm even considering making a Stormcloak-like rebellion (as in Skyrim) among the Jia'khell Valierens sparked by circumstances subtly created by the Iga'ji / Brotherhood of Shjerr'dûll. I'll mention the whole clan thing and hint at the tension in my next edit-wave of the first book.

-The Iga'ji are also pretty much a combination of the three clans. The original Iga'ji settlers were Jia'khell, but the majority of their current territory belonged to the other two clans (but since Vallë territories were conquered much earlier than Éill territories - and that a considerable amount of rape occured with Iga'ji conquering - Iga'ji blood (out side of Amar'kash)is generally Khell and Vallë). Their mixed clan has dark red skin and is sometimes called the Jia'iga or "red skins", though which clan they belong to is still disputed by many, given the traditional sorting of nations into one of the three clans.

-Then of course there's the Harra'ji (the only of the Ji's in the OP I haven't yet talked about). I haven't explained them above because they're not part of Novusvita's history, but rather it's future. They will represent a totally unified Novusvita (Novusvita's version of the United Earth Federation (I removed those other Earth nations, by the way, so Earth is now fully unified)) and will form at the end of the third book and will later merge with the UEF into the United Federation of Races.

Oh, and here are the modern clan divisions:

Jia'éill:
-Valiero'ji
-Amar'kash Iga'ji

Jia'vallë:
-Qui'a'ji
-Svia'ji
-Aari'ji
-Jay'ji
-Col'tun'ji

Jia'khell:
-Tita'ji
-Northwest Veliera'ji

Jia'iga:
-Iga'ji
-Oijah'ji


Righto, any questions? ^^

Um... Questions... Um...

I'm a bit lost, admittedly, but it all sounded rather good. And yes, I have Skyrim.

Explain where you got lost, and I can clarify.

Oh, it's just that my brain is kind of overloaded with how much stuff that was. I'll read through it a few more times and it'll be fine, me thinks.

Yay. oh, and coming up with that is the main reason for not getting to the book / -_-.

Heh. Well, it sure will add a lot towards making the book more interesting, I must say.

I would hope so. It also makes it easier to maintain my ideas for each nation given their history. For example, I remember having an argument long ago with Aletrius or LichenDragon (don't remember which) about the Aari'ji and Jay'ji having shared territories and even cities that belong to both. I can now explain their extreme closeness by them being of the same clan and the Aari'ji having helped the Jay'ji get independence from the Iga'ji.

Aha. Well then, that'd make a lot of sense.

Anyway, we should gather a whole bunch more terms and plop them into the OP so that I can get to explaining / defining each later on.

Well, um, there's that Jaylen thing. The magical prophecy whats-it-called that does the whole vision-y thing and such...

Basically, um, getting a bunch of mythological terms would be good, 'specially seeing as I've forgotten them.

Yes it would. As I've forgotten most of them as well... -.- I'll write down terms as I find them in the book. ^^

Heh, alright.