Jane Yellowrock World Companion (jane yellowrock) Read online

  Jane Yellowrock World Companion

  ( Jane Yellowrock )

  Faith Hunter

  The Jane Yellowrock World Companion

  Faith Hunter with Carol Malcolm

  To all the fans who love Jane Yellowrock and Beast, and who give me a chance to tell Jane’s tale, with all her faults, her weaknesses to grow through, her mistakes (we all make them, so a good character has to make them, right?), her friends, her family, her loves, her Beast.

  YOU make this series possible. So this is for you.

  Enjoy,

  Faith

  A letter from Faith Hunter and Carol Malcolm

  From Faith—Dear Fans, a Companion guide, unlike a novel, has no particular format. There is no setting or tone or inciting event, no mystery to solve, and a nearly infinite way of gathering and looking at the information. It is a look back, and ahead, at a long-running series, usually written in the middle of a series, and often, as in my case, there is a wonderful helper to put things together. Some writers get other writers or editors to help them. I wanted a reader, someone who liked Jane and Beast and who had a strong appreciation of them as separate characters. Someone who could look at them with the eyes of a reader, of a fan, and who had a firm grasp of the genre. Just about the time I thought about putting together a Companion, Carol Malcolm, a longtime panel moderator at Cons, and a new (at the time) friend, was looking for some part-time work. It was a match made in heaven. Carol has an insightful eye, a broad knowledge of the Urban Fantasy field, and a true love of writers, readers, characters, and story line.

  From Carol—Much as I have always loved Jane and her world from the very beginning, rereading all of these stories and books in order has shown me how special this series really is. Our hope is that this guide will serve as a fun and helpful addition to readers as they navigate Jane’s intricate and fascinating world. Many thanks to Faith for taking a chance on me, and I hope I have done the series justice.

  From both of us—So, this is a collaborative process, one meant to explain and clarify Jane and her world. There is also fiction in it. Two new shorts and a longer novella.

  I—we—hope you all enjoy it.

  Faith and Carol

  JANE YELLOWROCK COMPANION GUIDE GLOSSARY LIST

  Faith’s disclaimer (to cover her backside): Hey, y’all. Cherokee is a very difficult language to pronounce, and as with any language there were and are regional differences. A Speaker of The People from the Eastern Band of Cherokee might pronounce a word one way, and a Speaker from the Western Band might pronounce it differently, much like the way a Southerner from Georgia might pronounce words differently from a Southerner in Louisiana or South Carolina. For that matter, even within Cherokee clans, there would be differences!

  The written language also has its own alphabet, with characters I can’t show here, sadly, but I’ve done the best I could. The language is spoken very softly and with a breathy sound. It is a gentle-sounding language, fluid and softly resonant.

  Aquetsi ageyutsa— (ah-que-et-see ah-ghee-ute-sa). As best I can say it. My daughter in Cherokee.

  Ani gilogi— (ah-nee ghee-lo-ghee. I’ve also heard it: an-ah gee-loh-gee). Panther Clan of the Cherokee.

  Ani sahoni— (ah-nee sah-hon-ee). Blue Holly Clan of the Cherokee.

  Anamchara—mind-bound Mithrans.

  Blood-challenge—the legally appropriate challenge of one Mithran to another for territory, power, and scions.

  Blood-family—a sire or dame and the children they made. They usually nest or lair together, along with the blood-servants and blood-slaves.

  Blood-feud—the warlike battles between vampire clans before the creation of the Vampira Carta and the laws Mithrans must live under.

  Blood-magic—Magic executed with the blood of a living creature. Often with its death. A black art.

  Blood-servants—the sworn human companions of Mithrans.

  Blood-slaves—the humans who are addicted to vampire blood and who are passed around as dinner and sex slaves.

  Bubo bubo—Asian eagle owl (species).

  Chelokay— (chee-lo-kay). Another word for the Cherokee people.

  Dalonige i digadoli— Third syllable is a long i (dal-ohn-i-gay ee dee-god-oh-lee). As well as I can represent what I hear. Yellow eyes Yellow rock, Jane’s Cherokee name.

  Devoveo—(du-vo-vee-oh). the madness all humans enter into for the first ten or twenty years after they are turned. If they survive and return to sanity, they are set free.

  Dolore—(doh-lor-eh). the madness vampires go into when someone they love dies, unless they have a misericord, or Mercy Blade, to feed upon.

  E doda (or edoda)— (ee-doh-da). My father in Cherokee.

  Egini Agayvlge i— Aggie One Feather (Too long to do justice here!).

  Elisi (or e lisi)— (ee-lee-see). My Grandmother, also Uni Elisi—grandmother of many children, below.

  Etsi (et-see or e tsi)—My mother.

  Fame Vexatum—(fa-may vex-a-tum). The life of starvation and control over appetite and hunting instincts led by Mithrans.

  Flehmen response—the way many cats scent, by pulling up the lips and lifting the tongue and sucking in air over the tongue and the roof of the mouth. It can make a schuuschuu or scree sound.

  Grindylow—(gren-dee-low). The supernatural creature who lives with were-clans, who is their pet unless the weres spread the were-taint, at which point the grindys become judge and executioner.

  Gvhe—(G with a breath followed a v/b sound. A bit like ghhh-vee-hee or ghhh-bee-hee). Wild cat.

  Gvli— (As above for gv. So, something like ghhh-vee-lee or ghhh-bee-lee). Raccoon.

  Long-chained—the vampires who are stuck in the insanity of the devoveo.

  Misericorde— (mee-ser-i-cord). Mercy Blades. In history, they gave the cut of mercy to fallen knights who were wounded unto death, but suffering. Also the name of the blade of mercy. In the series, they are also the beings who give the cut of mercy to any vampire who is stuck in the devoveo and will never reach sanity.

  Mithrans—the Latin name for vampires who follow the Fame Vexatum.

  Naturaleza—the life hunting and feeding freedom and lack of rules followed by vampires who do not follow Fame Vexatum.

  Onorio—(oh-nor-ree-oo). A human blood-servant who survived a near-death experience and was healed by a powerful vampire. The term means honored one. They cannot be bound to a vampire. They do not have to drink much vampire blood to retain their youth and vigor. They are honored and have special duties, though they are not bound.

  Outclan—vampires who do not swear blood fealty to a vampire master. Often they are priestesses. They are powerful vampires who do not wish to be part of a family or clan.

  Psy-LED—the Psychometry Law Enforcement Department of Homeland Security.

  Psy-meter—the device that measures ambient magical activity, much like the way a Geiger counter measures radiation.

  Scion—the blood-child or sworn Mithran to a master (sigh-on—which seems appropriate).

  Skinwalker—a tribal American shape-changer. Most often into predators, though Jane’s Edoda suggested she could turn into other animals too someday.

  tlvdatsi— (Tlv is almost a clicking sound with the tongue: Tlv-dat-see). Mountain lion in Cherokee.

  Trail of tears—( Nunahi-Duna-Dio-Hilu-I.) or Trail Where They Cried.There are a lot of Cherokee sites online now where you can hear this spoken by a speaker of The People. Please do a search and hear it spoken. It’s beautiful.

  Tsalagi— (Ts like in Tsunami: so like Ts-al-ah-ghee). The People, the Cherokee. Also Cheloka.

  Tsalagiyi— (as above but added yee
or yay at the end). Place of The People.

  Ugugu— (U like the oo in boo, with a breath in it. The g’s are said softly, like hg hg: so like hoo ghu ghu). Owl.

  Uni lisi— (U like in hoo: So like hoo-nee-lee-see). Grandmother of many children.

  Unodena— (hoo-noh-den-ah). Sheep.

  Usdia soquili— (hoo-ss-dee-ah soo-que-ili). Pony foal.

  U’tlun’ta— (hut-lune-ah). Liver-eater, the insane form of the aged skinwalker.

  Uwohali— (hoo-oh-ah-lee). Eagle.

  Vampira Carta—(vam-peer-ah car-ta). The law beneath which the Mithrans live.

  Wesa— (or wesa, I’ve seen both two-word and one-word spellings.)—(wee-sah). Bobcat or little cat.

  The World According to Jane:

  Note from Carol: Fans of the series know that Jane has her own unique perspective on the world around her. This section represents the gamut of her thoughts and feelings about her own experiences and state of mind, as well as the often puzzling world she now finds herself living and working in.

  “I’d never understand the rich and dead or their servants.” (Skinwalker, 101)

  “Cradling my injured arm at my waist, I was out of the hood pretty quickly, but I stuck to the shadows, dangling the head. I figured even the most jaded and cynical inhabitant might report a bloody girl in a party dress carrying a severed head by its hair.” (Skinwalker, 125)

  “I had never been to a party as froufrou as this, and I already hated it—designer party clothes, party social manners, and party people milling around chatting. Give me a beer keg, a radio blasting country music, and a bunch of security experts discussing guns, edged weapons, and Harleys and I was fine. This was agony.” (Skinwalker, 159)

  “The man was too good-looking for my own good.” (Blood Cross, 73)

  “I’d rather be shot, stabbed, or chewed on by a rogue vamp . . . than go through being fitted for a formal gown again.” (Blood Cross, 78)

  “I held my two selves still and fought down anger and insult.” (Blood Cross, 94)

  “Thinking about men was frustrating and tied up my mind in barbed wire.” (Blood Cross, 156)

  “Angie curled into my side, yawned again, and promptly fell asleep. Happy was far too mundane a term to describe my feelings. There had to be another word better suited to this sappy, sentimental, fiercely protective sensation that thumped through my chest with my lifeblood. Had to be. And it was followed by a jolt of fear, intense and icy. I knew it couldn’t last. Nothing this good ever could, which terrified me down to my toes.” (Blood Cross, 167)

  “Great. Small talk in a hospital. Two things I hated at one time.” (Blood Cross, 179)

  “Lonely wasn’t something I ever felt—not ever—but the black hole inside me was so empty, so deep, it was a caving in of my soul, imploding like a mountain falling in on itself. A separateness that might be loneliness.” (Blood Cross, 183)

  “Summer in New Orleans is not for the fainthearted.” (Mercy Blade, 18)

  “I was about to play a hunch, go with my gut, and unlike in TV-land, guts were notoriously unreliable.” (Mercy Blade, 205)

  “It was vengeance never satisfied, the empty place in my soul that justice should have filled was still dark and cold.” (Mercy Blade, 259)

  “Weres had human feelings, thoughts, hopes, and dreams. And it was likely I was going to kill some, deliberately, with malice and intent. Vengeance wasn’t Christian. Vengeance was something darker. Older. Vengeance was blood-sworn. Blood promising blood.” (Mercy Blade, 259)

  “I wished I had a body for each soul, so I could be in two places at once.” (Mercy Blade, 281)

  “My occupation has a definite ick factor.” (Raven Cursed, 2)

  “Harleys weren’t built for stealth.” (Raven Cursed, 23)

  “It was Sunday morning; I should be getting ready for church instead of lying to cops. Yeah, I was going to hell.” (Raven Cursed, 54)

  “I’d rather fight an old rogue-vamp in my underwear, with my bare hands, than deal with relationship problems.” (Raven Cursed, 77)

  “I wiped my eyes. I never used to cry. Never. But then, I never used to have friends. I never used to put them in danger. I never used to kill humans. My life was changing and it was all pretty much sucky.” (Raven Cursed, 95)

  “I had tried to find that ancient, human, Cherokee part of myself, to wake it up and merge it with who I was now, creating one cohesive self. I felt that if I did, if I could find my ancient self, I might find something important, might finally feel whole. But I was fractured, broken, and I didn’t have the time, not now, for self-analysis and soul-searching. Someday. Someday.” (Raven Cursed, 103)

  “Cats didn’t care who liked them, as long as everyone else knew their place—at the cat’s feet, under the cat’s claws.” (Raven Cursed, 143)

  “I was getting complacent in the world of vamps, weres, humans, and tech. I needed to take better care.” (Raven Cursed, 206)

  “Though I had been raised nondenominational Protestant, not Catholic, guilt is something all Christians understand.” (Raven Cursed, 242)

  “I’d never had a family, but as an investigator, I knew that family secrets were the very worst. They destroyed so much. Sometimes they destroyed everything, as if, after decades in the grave, the dead reached out to shatter the living.” (Raven Cursed, 261)

  “Weird, the things you notice when you were nearly killed while killing and beheading a vampire, and now were trying to make logical decisions while bleeding to death.” (Raven Cursed, 310)

  “I’d rather face a pack of wolves than try to comfort someone.” (Raven Cursed, 341)

  “There wasn’t much I liked better than yanking a vamp’s chain.” (“Cajun With Fangs”)

  “I’m not a public speaker. Not at all. It’s easier to shoot first and divide up the dead later, but maybe I was growing up.” (“Cajun With Fangs”)

  “Though he had attacked me, I offered up a prayer for the spirit of my enemy, Cherokee-style, to the Christian God I had worshipped for all the life I remembered. Wondering if there would come a time when God no longer heard me, or worse, when I no longer prayed. That happened sometimes when one wandered into unfamiliar spiritual areas.” (Death’s Rival, 18)

  “No one would stop for a bloody, Amazon-sized woman on the side of the road, so I had to get moving before the sun rose.” (Death’s Rival, 42)

  “Not sure where the calm actions were coming from. Training or instinct. Maybe both, taking over when my mind went on hiatus and my soul was aching.” (Death’s Rival, 55)

  “I was, for the first time in my adult life, essentially homeless, friendless, empty, and alone.” (Death’s Rival, 58)

  “I didn’t recognize myself anymore in the killing machine I was becoming.” (Death’s Rival, 59)

  “He had no security consciousness about him at all. We could have been two ninja attackers or even a couple of Angus steers, and I didn’t think he’d have noticed us enter.” (Death’s Rival, 134)

  “Having men in the house was going to seriously impact my comfort clothes.” (Death’s Rival, 141)

  “Even here, out of the city, miles away, I could feel him inside me like a ghost crouching in the corner of my brain, like a demon’s dark shadow, waiting to command me.” (Death’s Rival, 153)

  “Being normal was no proof against horror.” (Death’s Rival, 197)

  “My job was hard on friends. Or I was.” (Death’s Rival, 208)

  “I had no training for paramilitary raids. My combat style was more along the lines of stake ’em and run.” (Death’s Rival, 233)

  “If I thought it was weird to have so many men I was interested in all in one place, my inner cat was just happy about it.” (Death’s Rival, 234)

  “Jealousy skulked through me on pointy little claws.” (Death’s Rival, 247)

  “I was part of the world of vamps whether I liked it or not, and that meant being part of vamp politics. I hate politics.” (Death’s Rival, 258)

  “But nothing in life is set in stone a
nd nothing in life is promised us. Not happiness, not joy, not love. Everything was variable and mutable and inconstant.” (Death’s Rival, 300)

  “There was something about this town. Every time I came here, things got so freaking complicated.” (Blood Trade, 55)

  “I’d rather fight a score of rogue vamps than face a difficult social situation—and this was going to be bad. I just knew it.” (Blood Trade, 155)

  “After a time, old pain became like a living being, with breath and self-determination.” (Blood Trade, 231)

  “This was a rescue job, not a pole dance.” (Blood Trade, 273)

  “People of all faiths are responsible to help the weak, the downtrodden, the sick, and the helpless, especially children. And of all the religions in the world, Christians are the only ones commanded not to judge, yet we do every day—gay people, ethnicities different from our own, people in mixed relationships, people with gifts they were born with, power they were born with, genetic mutations they were born with, illnesses of brain and body. I’ve got a little girl’s mother to save, and yes, she’s a witch. Are you gonna make it possible for me to save her?” (Blood Trade, 302)

  “I was getting pretty good. I had astounded Evan several times today and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.” (Blood Trade, 334)

  A Partial Listing of Jane’s Weapons

  Silver-plated main gauche (knife)

  Walther PK 380

  Benelli M4 Super 90 (Can use regular ammo, but Jane uses hand-packed silver fléchette rounds when hunting silver-sensitive bad guys like vamps and weres)

  M32, six-shot launcher

  Heckler & Koch (nine-millimeter handgun)

  .32 six-shooter

  Kahr P380

  Colloidal silver spray in canisters

  Vamp-killers (steel-edged knives plated with silver)

  Stakes (ash and sterling silver some with small knobs on the ends so she has something smooth to shove forward)