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. Those interested in learning more about Sargava specifically should check out Pathfinder Player Companion: Sargava, The Lost Colony, or explore it themselves in the Serpent’s Skull Adventure Path.
Arcane: Magic that comes from mystical sources rather than the direct intervention of a god; secular magic.
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.
Avistani: Of or related to the continent of Avistan.
Bandu: Demon-worshiping tribe native to Sargava, focused on slave-taking and human sacrifice.
Bandu Hills: Mountain range in central Sargava.
Bas’o: Nomadic tribe native to Sargava, known for its skilled warriors and hunters.
Boggards: Froglike humanoids that live in swamps and often attack other sentient races.
Chelaxian: Someone from Cheliax, either ethnically or by legal citizenship.
Cheliax: A powerful devil-worshiping nation located in southwestern Avistan, of which Sargava was formerly a colony.
Chelish: Of or relating to the nation of Cheliax.
Colonial: Sargavan slang term for a Sargavan citizen of Chelish heritage, or anyone in Sargava’s primarily light-skinned ruling caste.
Crown’s End: Sargavan port city north of Eleder, known for its corruption and rampant smuggling activity.
Custodian: Alternative formal title of the Baron of Sargava, the nation’s ruler.
Desna: Good-natured goddess of dreams, stars, travelers, and luck.
Desperation Bay: Large bay around which Sargava wraps.
Devils: Fiendish occupants of Hell who seek to corrupt mortals in order to claim their souls.
Eleder: Capital of Sargava and thriving port city specializing in shipping raw resources north to more powerful nations.
Free Captains: The leaders of the Shackles’ legendary pirate bands, paid by Sargava’s government to keep Cheliax from retaking Sargava.
Freehold: Ranching town in central Sargava.
Garund: Continent south of the Inner Sea, renowned for its deserts and jungles, upon which Sargava lies.
Garundi: Human ethnic group consisting of dark-skinned people, mostly found in northern Garund.
Gillmen: Race of amphibious humanoids descended from the Azlanti after that empire sank into the sea in a bygone age.
Gozreh: God of nature, the sea, and weather. Depicted as a dual deity, with both male and female aspects.
Halflings: Race of humanoids known for their tiny stature, deft hands, and mischievous personalities.
Harpies: Predatory and intelligent race of human-headed bird women, who use their magical songs to lure intelligent creatures to their deaths.
Her Infernal Majestrix: Formal title of the ruler of Cheliax.
Ijo: Coastal tribe of native Sargavans known for their skill with boats and fishing.
Infernal Dukes: Greater devils who rule Hell beneath Asmodeus.
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, who in life helped lead the Shining Crusade before attaining godhood.
Kaava Lands: Jungle-covered peninsula north of Desperation Bay.
Kalabuto: Ancient Sargavan jungle city now inhabited primarily by native Sargavans and ruled by a small cadre of colonials.
Kelesh: Empire far to the east of the Inner Sea.
Keleshite: Of or related to the Empire of Kelesh; someone of that ethnicity.
Laughing Jungle: Jungle in southern Sargava.
Lizardfolk: Ancient and tribal race of intelligent reptilian humanoids; often viewed as backward by humans.
Mulaa: Prominent tribe of native Sargavans known for their farming and ranching.
Mwangi: Of or pertaining to the Mwangi Expanse; someone from that region. “Mwangi” as an ethnicity is a catch-all term created by northern humans to describe the wide variety of cultures found in central Garund.
Mwangi Expanse: A sweltering jungle region south of the Inner Sea and north of the Inner Sea.
Native: Sargavan slang term for the nation’s indigenous peoples.
Oubinga River: Major river in the Kaava Lands.
Pathfinder: A member of the Pathfinder Society.
Pathfinder Lodge: Meeting house where members of the Pathfinder Society can buy provisions and swap stories.
Pathfinder Society: Organization of traveling scholars and adventurers who seek to document the world’s wonders.
Pharasma: The goddess of birth, death, and prophecy, who judges mortal souls after their deaths and sends them on to the appropriate afterlife; also known as the Lady of Graves.
Sargava: Former Chelish colony which successfully won its independence, and maintains it through an expensive arrangement with the piratical Free Captains of the Shackles.
Sargavan: Of or related to Sargava, a citizen of Sargava.
Scrying: Using magic to view something from a distance.
Sea Devil: Intelligent and predatory aquatic race with a resemblance to the sharks they adore.
Sea Drake: Breed of lesser aquatic dragon capable of breathing devastating electrical attacks, but still less intelligent and powerful than a true dragon.
Senghor: Prominent port city northwest of Sargava.
Shackles: Chaotic pirate isles northwest of Sargava, ruled by the Free Captains.
Shelyn: The goddess of beauty, art, love, and music.
Smuggler’s Shiv: Dangerous island in Desperation Bay known for both its smuggling activity and the many monsters that inhabit its wilds.
Sorcerer: Someone who casts spells through natural ability rather than faith or study.
Taldane: The common trade language of the Inner Sea region.
Tines: Raised fork on which Chelish criminals are sometimes impaled. Also the name of a rude hand gesture from Cheliax, which suggests that the recipient should be impaled in such a manner.
Varisian: Of or relating to the region of the frontier region of Varisia, or a resident of that region. Ethnic Varisians tend to organize in clans and wander in caravans, acting as tinkers, musicians, dancers, or performers.
Venture-Captain: A rank in the Pathfinder Society above that of a standard field agent, in charge of organizing expeditions and directing and assisting lesser agents.
Wand: A sticklike magic item imbued with the ability to cast a specific spell repeatedly.
Wizard: Someone who casts spells through careful study and rigorous scientific methods rather than faith or innate talent, recording the necessary incantations in a spellbook.