All Pathfinder Tales novels are set in the rich and vibrant world of the Pathfinder campaign setting. Below are explanations of several key terms used in this book. For more information on the world of Golarion and the strange monsters, people, and deities that make it their home, see The Inner Sea World Guide, or dive into the game and begin playing your own adventures with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook or the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box, all available at paizo.com. For an entire campaign’s worth of adventures set in Westcrown, check out the Council of Thieves Adventure Path.
Abadar: Master of the First Vault and the god of cities, wealth, merchants, and law.
Alchemists: Spellcasters whose magic takes the form of potions, explosives, and strange mutagens that modify their own physiology.
Archfiend: Asmodeus.
Armiger: Hellknight in training; a squire.
Aroden: The god of humanity, who died mysteriously a hundred years ago.
Aroden’s Fall: The death of the god Aroden, which sparked massive natural disasters and societal changes on Golarion.
Asmodean Disciplines: Holy text containing Asmodeus’s doctrines for his worshipers.
Asmodean: Of or related to the worship of Asmodeus.
Asmodeus: Devil-god of tyranny, slavery, pride, and contracts; lord of Hell and current patron deity of Cheliax.
Avistan: The continent north of the Inner Sea, on which Cheliax and many other nations lie.
Casmaron: Continent far to the east of the Inner Sea.
Cassomir: Port city in Taldor.
Cheliax: Powerful nation located north of the Inner Sea, whose ruling family gained power by allying the nation with the forces of Hell.
Chelish: Of or relating to the nation of Cheliax.
Citadel Demain: Headquarters of the Hellknight Order of the Scourge, located near Egorian.
Citadel Gheisteno: Headquarters of the former Hellknight Order of the Crux, destroyed by other Hellknight orders only to rise again as a magical manifestation.
Citadel Rivad: Headquarters of the Hellknight Order of the Rack, located near Westcrown.
Clerics: Religious spellcasters whose magical powers are granted by their gods.
Condottari: Branch of the Westcrown guard that patrols canals.
Crown of the World: Frozen continent encompassing the northernmost points of Golarion.
Devil-Blooded: Someone whose ancestry includes a devil.
Devils: Fiendish occupants of Hell who seek to corrupt mortals in order to claim their souls.
Diabolist: A spellcaster who specializes in binding devils and making infernal pacts.
Dorjanala: Former palace now dedicated to Iomedae and Aroden.
Dospera: Ruined northern region of Westcrown, now abandoned save for criminals and monsters.
Dottari: Westcrown’s city guard.
Druids: Spellcasters who revere nature and draw magical power from the boundless energy of the natural world.
Durotas: A captain of the Westcrown city guard.
Dwarves: Short, stocky humanoids who excel at physical labor, mining, and craftsmanship.
Egorian: Current capital of Cheliax.
Extraplanar: Something from beyond the plane of reality experienced by most mortals.
Fiends: Creatures native to the evil planes of the multiverse, such as demons, devils, and daemons.
Galt: A nation locked in perpetual and bloody democratic revolution. Fond of beheadings.
Ghouls: Undead creatures that eat corpses and reproduce by infecting living creatures.
Gnomes: Small humanoids with strange mindsets, big eyes, and often wildly colored hair.
Golem: Constructed servitor creature given a semblance of life by magic.
Graveknight: Powerful undead creature whose unholy life force is bound to its armor, in such a fashion that even when destroyed, it reforms again within days.
Half-Elves: The offspring of unions between elves and humans. Taller, longer-lived, and generally more graceful and attractive than the average human, yet not so much so as their full elven kin. Often regarded as having the best qualities of both races, yet still see a certain amount of prejudice, particularly from their pure elven relations.
Halflings: Race of humanoids known for their tiny stature, deft hands, and mischievous personalities.
Hell: Plane of evil and tyrannical order ruled by devils, where many evil souls go after they die.
Hellknights: Organization of hardened law enforcers whose tactics are often seen as harsh and intimidating, and who bind devils to their will. Based in Cheliax.
Hellspawn: Someone with fiendish blood, such as from ancestral interbreeding with devils or demons. Often displayed by horns, hooves, or other devilish features. Rarely popular in civilized society.
House of Thrune: Often called the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune. Current ruling house of Cheliax, after taking power following Aroden’s death by making compacts with Hell.
Infernal: Of or related to Hell.
Inheritor: Iomedae.
Inner Sea: The vast inland sea whose northern continent, Avistan, and southern continent, Garund, as well as the seas and nearby lands, are the primary focus of the Pathfinder campaign setting.
Iomedae: Goddess of valor, rulership, justice, and honor. Former disciple of Aroden before attaining godhood herself.
Iomedaean: Of or related to Iomedae or her worship.
Jeggare: Chelish noble family known for its vinyards.
Keep Dotar: Headquarters of the dottari dedicated to patrolling the dangerous ruins of northern Westcrown.
Kellids: Human ethnicity from the northern reaches of the Inner Sea region, often viewed as primitive and violent by more southern peoples.
Lictor: A general of a Hellknight order.
Low Templar: Someone who fights in the crusade against the Worldwound’s demons for profit rather than the greater good.
Mendev: Cold, northern crusader nation that provides the primary force defending the rest of the Inner Sea region from the demonic infestation of the Worldwound.
Mendevian Crusades: International military efforts to eliminate—or at least stop the expansion of—the demonic Worldwound.
Midnight Guard: Nidalese spellcasters—primarily shadowcallers—loaned to the Chelish military.
Midnight Lord: Zon-Kuthon.
Midnight Temple: Major temple to Asmodeus, located in Egorian.
Molthune: Expansionist military nation northeast of Cheliax.
Nerosyan: Fortress city and capital of Mendev.
Nidal: Evil nation in southern Avistan, devoted to the worship of the dark god Zon-Kuthon after he saved its people from extinction in the distant past. Closely allied with Cheliax.
Nidalese: Of or pertaining to Nidal; someone from Nidal.
Ninshabur: Legendary ruined empire in distant Casmaron.
Obrigan Gate: Massive gate in the wall separating Westcrown’s ruined section from its inhabited regions.
Orcs: Race of formerly subterranean humanoids with green or gray skin, protruding tusks, and warlike tendencies. Almost universally hated by civilized races.
Order of the Chain: Hellknight order devoted to preserving and protecting the existing social and governmental structure. Based near Corentyn.
Order of the Crux: Rebellious Hellknight order destroyed by the other orders long ago for failing to properly respect the law. Originally situated on the border between Nidal and Molthune.
Order of the Gate: Hellknight order devoted to expanding law and order primarily through magic. Based near Pezzack.
Order of the Rack: Hellknight order devoted to restricting dangerous information and protecting society from violent rebellion, cults, and other such threats. Based near Westcrown.
Order of the Scar: Tiny Hellknight order dedicated to hunting down assassins. Based in Cassomir, in the nation of Taldor.
Order of the Scourge: Hellknight order devoted to punishing lawbreakers and oathbreakers, based near Egorian.
Paladins: Holy warriors in the service of good and lawful gods. Ruled by a strict code of conduct and granted special magical powers by their deities.
Pangolais: Capital city of Nidal.
Paralictor: A high-level Hellknight officer.
Paravicar: A leader of a Hellknight order’s signifers, equal in rank to a Master of Blades.
Parego: One of the three major regions of Westcrown.
Parego Spera: All still-occupied districts of Westcrown, save for those on Westcrown Island (also called Regicona).
Pathfinder Society: Organization of traveling scholars and adventurers who seek to document the world’s wonders.
Plane of Shadow: A dimension of muted colors and strange beasts that acts as a shadowy reflection of the “real” world.
Pleatra: Westcrown’s primary slave market.
Prince of Lies: Asmodeus.
Pyrahjes: Giant torches lit by the city guard in Westcrown to help defend against nightly shadowbeast attacks.
Qadira: Desert nation on the eastern side of the Inner Sea.
Regicona: Collective term for all of the districts on Westcrown Island, generally inhabited by the wealthy and powerful.
Rego: A neighborhood of Westcrown.
Rego Cader: Ruined northern portion of Westcrown, inhabited only by outlaws, monsters, and the truly desperate. Also called the Dead Sector
Rego Crua: Slum neighborhood close to Westcrown’s ruined sections, but still within the current city limits.
Rego Sacero: Neighborhood of Westcown most devoted to temples and shrines.
River Kingdoms: A region of small, feuding fiefdoms and bandit strongholds far north of the Inner Sea, where borders change frequently.
Rundottari: Westcrown city guard division devoted to patrolling the city’s ruined section.
Sarenrae: Goddess of the sun, honesty, and redemption. Often seen as a fiery crusader and redeemer.
Scroll: Magical document in which a spell is recorded so that it can be released when read, even if the reader doesn’t know how to cast that spell. Destroyed as part of the casting process.
Shackles: Pirate nation southwest of the Inner Sea.
Shadowcallers: Nidalese spellcasters trained in both arcane and divine magic, blending studious wizardry with religious power granted directly by Zon-Kuthon.
Shadowgarm: Ravenous monster from the Plane of Shadow.
Shadowlands: Plane of Shadow.
Signifers: Hellknight spellcasters who specialize in fighting with magic rather than physical weapons.
Taldan: Of or pertaining to Taldor; a citizen of Taldor.
Taldor: A formerly glorious nation that has lost many of its holdings in recent years to neglect and decadence. Ruled by immature aristocrats and overly complicated bureaucracy.
Taranik House: The Hellknight Order of the Rack’s headquarters in Westcrown.
Thrune Ascendancy: Formal name for House Thrune’s historical rise to power in Cheliax.
Thrune: See House of Thrune.
Undeath: False life granted through unholy necromantic energies.
Urgathoa: Evil goddess of gluttony, disease, and undeath.
Vaneo: Wiscrani term for a noble’s manor house.
Vira: Wiscrani term for a noble’s estate.
Wardstone: Magically imbued obelisks that line the Worldwound’s border and help hold back the tide of demons.
Westcrown Island: Island where Westcrown’s elite reside. Also called Regicona.
Westcrown: Former capital of Cheliax, now overrun with shadow beasts and despair.
Wight: An undead humanoid creature brought back to a semblance of life either spontaneously through a terrible death or malicious personality, or deliberately through necromancy.
Wiscrani: Of or related to Westcrown; someone from Westcrown.
Wizards: Magic users who cast spells through careful study and rigorous scientific methods rather than faith or innate talent, recording the necessary incantations in spellbooks.
Worldwound: Constantly expanding region overrun by demons a century ago. Held at bay by the efforts of the Mendevian crusaders.
Zon-Kuthon: The twisted god of envy, pain, darkness, and loss. Was once a good god, along with his sister Shelyn, before unknown forces turned him to evil.