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. Fans of Kagur and Holg’s subterranean adventures may particularly want to check out the Pathfinder campaign setting book Into the Darklands.
Absalom: Largest city in the Inner Sea region, far to the south of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords.
Blacklions: Small tribe of Kellids on the Ginji Mesa.
Cytillesh: Also called brain mold—a subterranean fungus with strange mind-affecting properties.
Darklands: Extensive series of subterranean caverns crisscrossing much of the Inner Sea region, known to be inhabited by monsters.
Deep Tolguth: One of the Vaults of Orv—a strangely tropical subterranean cavern populated by uncivilized humanoid tribes, demon-worshiping Xulgaths, and prehistoric beasts.
Demons: Evil denizens of the plane of the afterlife called the Abyss, who seek only to maim, ruin, and feed on mortal souls.
Demon Lord: A particularly powerful demon capable of granting magical powers to its followers. One of the rulers of the Abyss.
Desna: Good-natured goddess of dreams, stars, travelers, and luck.
Earthnavel: Legendary tiered pit in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords, leading down into the Darklands.
Following: Term for the collected tribes that follow a specific Mammoth Lord.
Frost Giant: Fifteen-foot-tall humanoids native to cold regions, with white or blue skin and a famous propensity for battle.
Ghouls: Undead creatures that eat corpses and reproduce by infecting living creatures.
Giants: Race of exceptionally tall and brawny humanoids.
Ginji Mesa: Massive expanse of frigid tundra in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords.
Gorum: God of battle, strength, and weapons. Also known as Our Lord in Iron.
Gug: Bizarre, four-armed humanoid monster with a vertical mouth splitting its head.
Hold of Belkzen: A region populated primarily by savage orc tribes.
Inner Sea Region: The heart of the Pathfinder campaign setting, centered around the eponymous inland sea.
Kellid: Traditionally uncivilized and violent human ethnicity from the northern reaches of the Inner Sea region.
Lands of the Linnorm Kings: Northern kingdoms ruled by the Linnorm Kings, warriors who have managed to slay draconic linnorms single-handed. Sometimes called the Linnorm Kingdoms.
Lord in Iron: Gorum.
Mammoth Lord: The ruler of a following of Kellid tribes in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords.
Muster: Ceremonial meeting of the tribes making up a Mammoth Lord’s following.
Mwangi Expanse: Massive jungle region at the southern end of the Inner Sea region.
Nar-Voth: Level of the Darklands closest to the surface.
Orcs: A bestial, warlike race of humanoids originally hailing from deep underground, who now roam the surface in barbaric bands. Universally hated by more civilized races.
Orv: Deepest level of the Darklands, characterized by enormous caverns called Vaults.
Realm of the Mammoth Lords: Cold and relatively uncivilized land at the far northern end of the Inner Sea region, inhabited by loosely confederated tribes of Kellids.
Redcap: Fey creatures that look like tiny, angry old men with bloodstained, pointed caps and metal boots.
Rough Beast: Rovagug
Rovagug: The Rough Beast; the evil god of wrath, disaster, and destruction. Imprisoned deep beneath the earth by the other deities.
Sekamina: Middle level of the Darklands, characterized by seemingly unending caverns and tunnels that can span continents.
Serpentfolk: Ancient race of reptilian humanoids with heads and tails like snakes, which once claimed a vast empire but is currently in decline, with most of the individuals left slumbering in underground chambers.
Seugathi: Subterranean race of intelligent, tentacle worms with magical powers.
Song of the Spheres: Desna
Sorcerer: Someone who casts spells through natural ability rather than faith or study.
Tian: Someone or something from the Dragon Empires of the distant east.
Tolguth: Settlement in a region where the cold tundra of the Realm of the Mammoth Lords is warmed by geothermal activity, resulting in strangely lush valleys filled with prehistoric beasts.
Tusk Mountains: Mountain range that acts as the northern border for the Realm of the Mammoth Lords.
Varisia: Frontier region at the northwestern edge of the Inner Sea region.
Vaults of Orv: Enormous and ancient subterranean caverns, often with their own unique ecosystems, found in the deepest reaches of the Darklands.
Witch: Spellcaster who draws magic from a pact made with an otherworldly power, using a familiar as a conduit.
Wizard: Someone who casts magical spells through research of arcane secrets and the constant study of spells, which he or she records in a spellbook.
Worldwound: Constantly expanding region overrun by demons a century ago.
Wraith: Formless undead creature born of evil and darkness, which hates light and living things.
Xulgaths: Intelligent and evil reptilian humanoids that dwell in caves. One of the oldest intelligent races, long since outstripped by other races, and now viewed as feral savages.
Zevgavizeb: Demon lord worshiped by xulgaths. Also the patron of reptiles and caverns in general.