Starblade (33 page)

11: The Falcanian Khanate reserves the right
to choose those who shall call themselves Falcanian.

Trials

1: It rests within the province of a
Darr-Varth of a Ruling Tharrin (Those Darr-Varth who sit or speak
in Jirga) to act as the supreme authority over his Aerie or
Sub-Aeries. A ruling Darr-Varth may appoint those whom he sees fit
to act as a judge or representative in his stead.

2: Any member of the Falcanian Khanate is
given the right of Sra Kreis, "The Circle" should he or she be
accused of a crime. It is only within that they can fight for their
honor and innocence.  A Circle is either a trial of facts or
of combat, but only to first drawn blood or surrender.

3: Three Vedik (hallowed judges) will judge
The Circle keeping with the three fold Vrasi balance of our society
which these appointed judges shall represent.

4: The accused may appoint for him or
herself a friend to act as a defender and advocate.

Inheritance

1: A Darr-Varth, including the Shotar, may
choose his heir to his power and acquired wealth provided that the
Jirga consents and affirms his choice.

2: All personal wealth will be passed onto a
Darr-Varth's chosen heirs, including land holdings and moneys.

3: Should a Darr-Varth lack an heir, all his
holdings will revert to Imperial control but this is an act of last
resort.

Tharrin Militias

1: Each Tharrin will build its own militia
to maintain and defend itself and the Falcanian Khanate. A Tharrin
militia is expected to take up the cause of the greater Khanate
should it be in need of defending.

2: The Claw Throne and Aerie Drakonis assert
the right to maintain the order of the Drakorian Guard. The
Drakorian Guard supersedes all other military within the Khanate
with the right to conscript those who they believe they might need
to better accomplish their job.

3: A Tharrin's militia shall become null and
void if it turns its weapons upon fellow Falcanians, thereby
abrogating its right to exist and shall be given a notice to
disband. If it does not, both its soldiers and its Darr-Varth shall
be judged to be in contempt and insurrection of this holy
Compact.

Amendments to follow as need be required by
those above stated rules by acclamation of the Shotar, his
Darr-Varth and fellow Falcanians assembled here in open
Jirga...

AI:
Artificial Intelligence. Any
computer program endowed with self-awareness. Falcania, the Telchar
Avatar at the center of The Heart of The Phoenix is an example of
such a being. Others include the thinking machines such as Dr.
Erasmus Chang’s companion Chronos.

Akjang-T'Shaak:
Sub-commander.

Aliran:
Wing; can also mean
“stratosphere”.

Aranskrai:
Ironsol.

Arblus:
That which recurs or loops
inward upon itself or “eternal recurrence”.

Arclayht Warlocks:
The most inner
circle of Tahru who utilized Druidic practices married with that of
scientific calculations to affect change in their environment.
Though they existed at the inception of the Falcanian’s Tahru caste
and that of the Tarik Way, Arclayht Warlocks did not rise to
prominence until the coming of The Arblus who seeded to them
various pieces of technology that strengthened their powers.
Arclayht’s were ranked in three colors: White First Order, Blue
Second Order, and Black Third Order.

Ardala:
Star-Wheel, Sun Angel,
corona.

Äri:
Star sometimes “- tar” when used
as a suffix such as in Shotar.

Arshira:
Falcanian, Skora
“Starblade.” Very often used as a female proper name. Later used as
a designation for a class of starship.

Arshruk:
“Star-Prow” sometimes
“Star-Plow”, an airship to be found in The Telchar Shanral. A
dirigible like craft that in function works along steampunk
mechanics created by the first Falcanians. Though mythical, it is
to be noted that real world Falcanians refer to some of their
spacecraft as “arshruk” and have even constructed dirigibles that
resemble their mythical counterparts.

Ashkaltai:
“The Sun Drama” by the
playwright Arduth Pol. Pol’s play traces the birth of Ashkaltai,
the sun through to her nova event. An artifice of the production is
that the sun exists with a dual identity as a young woman named
Aral Charen.

Atari:
Father. In Skora, the
diminutive Atar means “Brightest-Star" or "Point of Starlight".

Atlaar:
Lord of Technology. The
Primordial who brought “The Spark" to Char and founded a city of
technology called Skarasis [Skar’Rasis] that hovered in the sky of
Char.

Bastiya:
Pigeon Pie, served in a
flaky crust with many aromatic herbs. Rather than almonds the
Falcanian recipe calls for walnuts.

Brakcha:
Thank.

Caliphate Of Aslan:
Also called, the
Kingdom of Lions designates Darius Noorani's Islamic empire which
extends from Iran to Greece.

Calviiri (Kal-Veer-I):
A cognac
distilled from Johjalic fruit.

Ch'Kran:
A Tivar, Irkrath's brother,
ruler of the “Seven Hells”. He is Keeper of the dead.

Chaikhana:
Tea house, a place for
social gathering amongst Falcanians.

Char:
Falcanian cybernetic heaven. It
exists within the “Heart of the Phoenix” which is entrusted to the
Shotar. One should be cautious and not confuse Char with Paradise
even though a certain amount of bliss is to be had within The Heart
of The Phoenix. Char means “to ascend” or rise up. In many ways,
the cybernetic world was setup to be similar to a multi-player
game.

Charis:
The idealized Ascended
Falcanian, what both Nadia and the Tahru seek.

Chitraka:
Cheetah, “the spotted one”
– this ‘cat’ would come to have special meaning to the Falcanians,
as it would become the basis for the “Chitraka” guardians. A
species of cat people designed to the serve the Falcanians.

Choli:
Traditional Indian blouse,
worn with sari. Very short and closely fitted, it usually ties at
the back with single ties or a criss-cross shoe-lace style
drawstring, or it ties into a knot at the front in the middle of
the chest.

Craadok:
Vegetarian/Vegan. Used as an
insult among Falcanians, wherein it means anemic or weak.

D’Har Tarik:
“The Road of Tarik”,
what Falcanians call their religion. A splinter faith known as
D’Har-Ziral later arose.

D’Har:
Road, from Hindu dharma.

Darr-Varth:
“Aerie-Watcher” the title
given to the head of a Falcanian Clan.

Darr:
Falcanian Cliff dwelling.

DataStream:
Sometimes meant instead
of “soul” or spark, the collective dynamic data or programming
recorded by a trikir device which composes a sapient being such as
a person or an AI.

Drak:
Lord.

Draklin:
Lady.

Drakonis:
Tharrin name of the ruling
Falcanian family. The root of the name comes from the Falcanian
arch hero Arntiraas who slew the head Drak (The word itself means
‘Lord’ in Skora) and came to rule over the demon birds. Literally,
Drakonis means “Ruling Drak”, it bears a strong resemblance to
Pendragon, pen-dragon = “head of the dragons".

Dreikatha:
“Three Halls” the
Falcanian legislative body. Three representatives from each caste,
nine in total sit on the Dreikatha.

El-Vod-Yad:
Golden Equation, path of
light is a formula discovered by the Kri-Skar scientist Jaksa which
is thought to give those who are able to conceptualize it material
control over the Universe and the will of those within it. Legend
claims Jaksa broke the formula into parts and hid them for fear
that it would be abused.

Falcania:
Also called The Narshin. A
Rai, forger of the Kraris she guides Arntiraas in his ascendancy as
Telchar.

Falcania’s Riddle:
For their part and
with their sacred honor the Tahru continue to guard the secret,
asking the riddle but never speaking aloud the true answer. “From
the tallest peaks men seek to learn what they think they do not
know, it lays at their heart and cries in their blood. Sometimes
the Wise-Ones are lead astray by it while the Middle-Wise grasp it
and are put on the long road. It has no frontiers but the one's man
places for himself. Of what do I speak?” Hrasi, Valka, Shira, auk
Halri “Wine, women, blade and song” it is theorized that this is
the correct answer to Falcania’s riddle, yet there is some debate
concerning it. An equal and valid explanation is that the answer is
simply: “Nothing”, that there is no true solution to the riddle and
is intended to invoke in the new Falcanian that “Life is what you
make of it”.

Ganesha (Lord):
The elephant headed
god appears in the Telchar Shanral, albeit with a slightly
different origin then in Hindu text. He is noted for not being
counted amongst the Telchar, as he’s called the “ambassador from
beyond the rim”. Ganesha still maintains his place as a remover of
obstacles. Known to be venerated by the hero Arntiraas and Queen
T'Kara.

Garuda:
Cyber-organic jet pack and
wings. This unit composed of mammalian style wings and a plaited
tail does a number of wondrous things for a Falcanian. The airfoil
is solar sensitive, which helps to charge and power the air jets
that aid in a Falcanians launch. Also it is from the solar
collection membrane of the wings that a Falcanian is able to power
up the Q-X deposits in their bones and produce magnetic and
gravitic fields.

Gesa:
Yes.

Gravitic Fold-Engine:
bends
space-time to achieve the effect of faster than light travel [FTL].
The GFE was first constructed by TransCorp International under the
direction of Dr. Erasmus Chang following the discovery of Q-X.
Using the theories of DR. Miguel Alcubierre, who proposed the first
workable theory of FTL.

H’kilos:
“Seven Hells”. An actual
realm of Char, it is also an expletive.

Hasha:
Rabbit, hare.

Holographic Universe:
Theory that the
Universe is a super-hologram, which posits that each part of the
whole is connected. For the Tarik practitioner, this idea allows
for the deliberate shaping of the Universe to his or her own ends.
Coupled with the concept of Maya (or illusion), this forms the
basis of the Falcanian “Will to Power”. “Though all I behold is
Maya, this illusion is mine to live.” – Telchar Shanral.

Hraic:
A tribe of Māori kidnapped
from Earth (Easter Island) by the Annunaki and altered to serve
them as bodyguards and bounty hunters. Though human, the Hraic at
first glance appear not to be so with their ear knobs, pointed
teeth, red eyes, green hair and blue skin. The Hraic’s name for
themselves is believed to have evolved from the Māori word Havaiki
for “underworld”.

Hrasi:
Wine.

Hrisanar:
An organic mineral, also
known as Quantum-X and a form of exotic matter which occurs in the
Falcanian bone structure. It is possessed of gravity-manipulative
properties which allow for the bending of space-time. Important to
the construction of Gravitic Fold-Drives.

Icharin:
In the Telchar Shanral, the
Icharin are the true children/creations of the Tivar Elf like
beings with vague cat-like features.

Irajik-Dei:
Pincer at the end of a
Falcanian’s tail.

Irajik:
An eating utensil, similar to
chopsticks.

Irkrath:
“Primal-Rage”. Nearest being
to The Demiurge, whom many claim he is the manifestation of. Both
of the Falcanian's great Rais, Falcania & Serinda arose from
his mating with Skrai - The Sun given flesh.

Ishallrav:
“The Destroyer of Worlds”,
known also as the star killer. Ishallrav’s myth did not become a
part of Falcanian theology until Princess Kheira recounted her
prophecy that it would be the Falcanians who were to become the
last defense against this cosmic being. Ishallrav is at the core of
why Tarik Falcanians reject the D’Har-Ziral faith for they see such
a prophecy (dependent upon accepting Kheira’s salvation) as a
distraction from the long road Arntiraas walked to his own
ascension as a higher being.

Ishballa:
The “Eye of Heaven”, the
tower where the Blue Guardian (called Ishbol) watches the gate of
Char.

Ishraik:
The Valküri battle-cry –
“She who kills with a word”.

Istolji:
a type of unleavened
Falcanian flatbread made in a number of ways. The most common
recipe calls for potato, flour, butter and honey. Once the dough
has been mixed and allowed to rest, it is either baked in a clay
oven or fried on a griddle. Similar to the Norwegian Lefse bread
but much smaller and thicker.

Jah:
Teacher. Used by both Falcanian
faiths and that of the Budjah Monks.

Jai:
Victory.

Jentar:
Throne, “Seat of the
Star”.

Jihan:
The Universe

Jirga:
Assembly.

Jodtok:
Male Falcanian armor which is
often worn as daily wear. The outfit is made up of jodhpurs and an
armored vest usually with additional decorations. Traditionally the
vest has upswept-reinforced shoulders.

Johjalic:
A tiny genetically
engineered apple-like fruit known for its sweetness.

Kajra Re:
“Laden with Kohl”.
Kohl-lined eyes, though in Falcanian culture it has come to refer
to a special woman considered to be less than a wife (T’Krin), but
more than a concubine. The intricacies of Falcanian sexual politics
have assigned an important standing to such non-wives who usually
are in line to become T’Krin themselves. The expression may have
taken on its meaning among Falcanians due to the popularity of an
early 21st Century Bollywood song.