Glossary

If you disagree with anything that I say, or if you know more about one of the things below, please say what in the comment box at the bottom of the page. Oh, and if you find that you have personally experienced ANY of the things on this page PLEASE tell me. I will be very interested and maybe even believe that you aren't insane.

Please check back on things you've already read because I might change things.

Anamithim: Magical Being: The anamithim are not really evil, they just kill people and if they kill you you are gone for good. You pretty much disappear, except your body is still there. However, if they give you their word on something they will keep it, and they can be bargained with if you can keep them from killing you. They don't like salt or the color blue, and wearing your clothes inside out is also protection against them. They appear in Charles de Lint's The Blue Girl.
See also : faerie.

Death Omen: Magical Phenomenon: A death omen is pretty much self explanatory. Its anything that heralds your death. Crows, Grims, The Grim Reaper, Fetches, Banshees, anything. There is probably a complete list of all death omens somewhere, but that would be depressing. And long, considering they vary by culture.
See also: Fetch
Demon: Magical Being: Demons are very hard to summarize, because they are even more diverse than most magical beings. They may be evil. Then again they may be like humans, at least morally. They sometimes look human, but not always or even mostly. Much of the time they are from a parallel dimension. As always, what they are depend on what you are reading. Demons may be human-like characters with magical powers, or they may be beings from another dimension with varying power levels which can be summoned and bound with magic. If the demon you are dealing with is of the latter sort, be careful with your instructiond and bindings. Those kinds of demons just love to misinterpret your orders, or do EXACTLY what you said and no more or less, or follow you around trying to find out something about you they can use to make you THEIR servant, like your name. Basically, demon is kind of a catch-all phrase that can mean everything from little green things with big ears to huge red or black things bent on world destruction to a humanoid wierdo with bat wings.

Doppleganger: Magical Creature: A doppleganger is any magical duplicate of a person. The sort that are magical critters that duplicate people are generally malevolent. They like to cause trouble of varying intensities. The sort made my a spell or such thing can be either good or bad depending on who made it, but in general they are made for evil purposes. If you think there is a doppleganger hanging around, you are in serious trouble. They are extremely good mimics, so good luck figuring out if someone is one.
See also: Fetch

Faerie: Magical Creature: Faeries come in different sorts and what they are like depends on what you are reading. Different names for them are the fay, the Sidhe (pronounced SHEE, I think), the crow people, the Fair Folk or the Good People, all of which are somewhat similar. They are generally tall, beautiful, and fierce. The crow people have large, black, feathered wings. The others can also have wings but theirs are more of an accessory. Not really good or evil, faeries live forever unless killed. They sometimes steal babies, young women, and musicians. They enjoy games, parties, and fun. However, their version of fun can vary. Some faeries' definition of fun can mean that someone or something winds up in a lot of pain or dead, some like battles, some are thieves, some like to hunt, and some just want to hole up in their dimension and do who knows what. Will help people or hurt them, but are mostly amoral. They aren't necessarily very good with not hurting humans even if they like them. The anamithim are faeries. Faerie is also one of the names for the realm where the faeries live. Faeries may dislike iron, salt, bread, the colors red or blue, rowan, crosses, holy water, running water, or certain herbs. Wearing your clothes inside out is also protection. Not all of these work on all faeries, and some are also said to be unable to come into private dwellings without an invitation. Some types of faeries are attracted by saying the word fairy or its permutations. These sorts are generally referred to as the Good Neighbors, the Good People, the Little People, or other such titles. The titles are not necessarily descriptions. Faeries are very easy to research, as there are at least a hundred books on them. However, very few of the books say the same thing.
See also : anamithim

Fetch: Magical Creature: A Fetch is an omen of death. Everybody gets a Fetch, from what I can gather. They show up when you are about to die. They tend to be somewhat akin to a doppleganger. They pretty much show up, hang around 'till you kick the bucket, then take your soul wherever it's supposed to go. Alternately, they show up, you see them, they go away, you die pretty soon. My favorite Fetch is May from the Toby Daye series.
Se also: death omen, doppleganger
Gilda Joyce: Book Character: Gilda is thirteen, her main hobbies include solving mysteries, cultivating her skills as a psychic, people-watching, and writing stories, progress reports, and letters to her dead father. She is nutty and likes wearing funky outfits and knowing everything about someone, especially the parts they don't want her to know. She achieves this by asking sudden personal questions and spying on people. She doesn't usually lie, but when she does she tries to make whatever she said the truth. Her favorite food is a peanut-butter and banana sandwich with marshmallow and chocolate sauce. Gilda is the main character in Gilda Joyce, Psychic Investigator.

Jacky Faber: Book Character: Ah, Jacky, what a trouble magnet. So far she has been nearly hung at least twice, has left several towns in flames behind her, is a lieutenant in the British navy, a spy, an officer in the French army, has been kidnapped at least five times -- once by a slaver, three times by the British government and once by a Chinese pirate queen--been press ganged, tarred and feathered, and at one point wanted as a pirate. Almost everyone she meets either hates her or loves her fr some reason. I love Jacky, but I'm not sure why none of her friends is dead or seriously hurt. She is a HUGE trouble magnet, though I know she doesn't want to be. Her life goal is to marry Jaimy Fletcher, who she met as a ships boy on the HMS Dolphin (they were both ships boys- she was in disguise,) and to have her own shipping company. Jaimy has nearly been killed several times while trying to catch up to her. He always seems to be far away from her or trailing around behind her, witnessing the chaos sh eleaves in her wake. When he's not, half the time she's a prisoner, he's a prisoner, one or both of them are injured, or a combination of the above. She spends a lot of time at sea, and is usually in some kind of trouble. There are an unusual number of people who want her dead. Her friend Amy has written several books about her exploits. Jacky is the main character in the Bloody Jack series.

Jess Jordan: Book Character: Jess is fifteen, wants to be a stand up comedian and has a very amusing life. I'm not sure how amusing her life is to her but it is very funny to read about. She tends to make smallish problems sound like life-changing catastrophes, and then mentally goes on with an imaginary scenario or rewrites the scene into one from a nineteenth-century novel. Her best friends are Flora and Fred. Flora is blond and perfect and as Jess says "so relentlessly delightful that she simply must be her best friend, even though it would be far more stylish to hate her from afar." I think I have that right, but if I don't could someone please tell me what the correct quote is? Fred has long hair, is usually wearing a gray hoodie, and loves violent movies. Jess once compared him to an owl.
Jess is the main character in Girl, fifteen, Charming but insane and Girl, sixteen, absolute torture.

Kate Daniels: Main Character: Formerly a mercenary, Kate now works for the Order of Merciful Aid. She is grumpy, particularly at whatever unearthly hour of the morning she gets home covered in mud, blood, and who knows what else, loves chocolate, and is a lot more powerful than she wants anyone to know. She is sort of friends with Curran, the lord of the local pack of weres, despite the fact that they get on each others nerves, attempt to kill or seriously injure each other on a regular basis, are obviously in love, and only really spend extensive time together when something is attempting to destroy the Pack, the city, or just kill a lot of people. She uses metal plates since the last time demonic mermaids broke in and wrecked her kitchen. Kate takes her sword everywhere with her, paints her daggers black so they don't shine when she throws them, and really hates being unarmed. She is probably a bit paranoid, but it's kind of understandable when something attempts to annihilate her every month or so. She is one of those people who attract humongous trouble like a magnet and is attempting to keep a low profile until either she is powerful enough to kill her dad, or her dad finds out she exists and tries to kill her. She is failing miserably due to her unnering instinct for finding the most powerful bad guy in like a three hundred mile radius, and winding up in a fight to the death with them. It is a good thing that she has friends who are really good in a fight, since they usually wind up fighting the bad guy, too.

Magic: Magic: Magic is called different things depending on what you are reading: magic, the Gift, maejic, magick, magyk, wizardry, but it is generally very similar. OK, now I'll give you the "magic is fluid" speech. Pretty much every book with magic in it will have this speech, it isn't always the same, and sometimes it's spread throughout the book, but it's there. Here goes. Magic is fluid, it changes depending on the user's perceptions, power, and specialty. It also changes depending on which book you are reading, and what sort of creature is using it. Elf magic is not going to be the same as human magic. Magic isn't always flashy either. It can be as simple as the fall of a maple leaf, or the glint of a coin, or it can be sparks and lightning. Don't take magic for  granted, it often saps your strength and energy to use it, and it can kill you if you mess up. DON'T get cocky, you could die if you do. Magic can be used for either good or evil, but can also be used for more normal things. Magic in of itself is rarely good or evil, but is occasionally sentient. Magic by nature doesn't fit preconceived ideas, and it always does something new. Seriously, don't get cocky. I mean it. Bad guys always get cocky and then end up turned into trees or cockroaches or something, or trapped in parallel dimensions, or eaten by demons, or any one of a hundred other unappealing options. Do you want that to happen to you? I thought not.
See also: Necromancy

Necromancy: Magic: Necromancy is death magic. Necromancers are not always evil but I wouldn't trust one unless you have to. Even the nice ones tend to attract trouble, but a lot of them tend to either lose their scruples, go insane, or get possessed by some demon or other. Before I continue I'm going to say that I just don't like necromancy, so if anyone reading this does, is a necromancer, or knows a necromancer, I apologize in advance, because I consider it to be very basic black magic and don't like it. Because of this I don't know much about it. Necromancers may raise the dead, summon powerful creatures or spirits, raise ghosts, or pilot vampires. Necromantic rituals often involve blood, sometimes that of the practitioner, sometimes that of another person or that of an animal, or a sacrifice, either a human or an animal. Chickens or goats are the most common. Any magic to do with death, dead people or animals, or the undead can be considered necromancy. As always with magic, don't get cocky, or else, but this is one of the bigger or elses.
See also: Magic

Parallel Dimensions: Place: A parallel dimension is any other world, universe, or dimension that is not part of our universe but can be reached, usually by magic. The intrusion of parallel dimensions is sometimes a byproduct of either magic or the pressure of many minds in places with a high population density, causing a thinning of worldwalls. I admit that I read part of that sentence somewhere and have been dying to use it. The world of Faerie, some demons' home worlds, pretty much all paradises and lands of the dead, and almost all the gods' homes that I know of, are parallel universes. They almost always have sentient inhabitants. Most demons and faeries come from a parallel dimension. Depending on what you are reading the cause and effect of these worlds and their inhabitants intruding onto our world varies.
Shapeshifters: Magical Being: A shapeshifter is any being that can naturally transform into a different shape, such as a were. Some shifters can change into more than one shape. Not all shifters are human as their base state. A being transformed by another being's spell or curse into another shape is not a shapeshifter unless the spell permanently causes the person to be able to change from human to animal and back at will. A mage or witch may be able to take on other shapes at will, and while these are shapeshifters, they are not the same as weres.
See also: Weres
Undead: Magical Being: Undead is technically a state of being. Zombies, ghouls, ghosts, vampires, and any creature that used to be alive and either died and was reanimated by necromancy or was changed into something else as in the case of vampires, would be considered undead. The undead live forever unless destroyed. I use destroyed instead of killed because the undead are not really alive, and therefore cannot be killed. Do not use this as an excuse to kill undead. Not alive is not the same as not a person. Some undead are controlled by necromancers, while others are sentient. Not all undead are evil. Despite movie cliches, most of them don't lurch.

Vampires: Magical Being: Possibly the most popular mythological creature, there are hundreds of different books on vampires, and very few of the ones I've read agree about them. Vampires may be evil or have different personalities. Not all vampires are evil or need to drink human blood, but all drink some sort of blood. Not all vampires that drink human blood are evil. Almost all vampires become a vampire by being bitten by one. This transformation is almost always fairly painful. Being bitten by a vampire can be painful or pleasant depending on the sort of vampire. Some vampire bites hurt only if you try to struggle. Being bitten doesn't always mean you turn into a vampire. How a human becomes a vampire varies depending on what you are reading. Some vampires are mindless beasts with the mental capacity of insects, but can be controlled by a necromantic Master of the Dead. In this situation, the Master of the Dead is inside the vampires mind. If the vampire is killed the Master of the Dead will think that they are also being killed. They may lose control of the vampire if they are trying to pilot too many vampires at once,  but usually have complete control of the vampire. Vampires usually turn to dust when killed. Most vampires can be killed by exposure to sunlight, beheading, burning, holy water,or a wooden stake through the heart. However some can also be killed by shooting or regular knives, some need to be torn to pieces and then burned, and some can regenerate if blood is dropped in their dust, or by the Master of the Dead piloting them. If a vampire is not killed, it will live forever. The older a vampire gets, the more powerful and smart they get, until they hit some kind of threshhold and go completely bonkers. When exactly they hit this threshold really depends on the vampire and book. Unfortunatly, the going bonkers doesn't always interfere with the power thing, so they can be a lot of trouble. Some vampires, as in The Reformed Vampire Support group, are fairly harmless and are ill most of the time. Very little of this information is true of all vampires.

Weres: Magical Being: Weres are humans who can change into an animal of some sort.They can only change into one sort of animal. Wolves are the most well known, but there are many different sorts of were. Some weres can only change during full moon, others can change at any time. For most of the weres that change only at the full moon, the change is involuntary. As with most sorts of magical creatures, what sort they are and the different facts about them depends on what you are reading. Weres are created either by inheriting it, by being bitten or scratched by a were, or by a virus. Each type of were can be created by only one of these options, except for possibly the virus. I'm not sure how that one is passed on exactly, so it may be spread by biting. In general, though, weres are only created by one method and what it is depends on what you are reading. Werewolves may dislike silver, wolfsbane, or strong smells or flavors, and can be aggressive, possessive, and/or territorial. These characteristics may not be true of all weres: again, it depends on what you are reading. Weres are dangerous, but most are not evil and are generally not dangerous to most people. I say most people because weres are generally very good fighters, and so are dangerous if you are fighting one, but won't normally attack a human. Most heal much faster than humans. Some types of weres dislike vampires as a race, and some vampires may also dislike weres. Weres are very easy to research as there are many books about them, however, this means that there is a lot of conflicting information.
See also: Shapeshifters