Dacha, Dacho: slangy contractions of daocha and daocho.

Dae Lang Hills: in east-central Imperial Heart Province. They are moderately rough and rocky and overgrown with oak brush. Hornbuck, redhart, wild pigs, and wolves are hunted here from time to time. There is little pasturing in these hills and less farming.

Dahaba: a long hooded robe worn as an outer garment in Ratan.

Dakorin: a province in southern Lirith Kai.

Dalgur: the wargod of Drahnore, whose code is victory by any means; he is said to hate Mantor. The High Priest of Dalgur is called the Sword of Dalgur.

Dalkesani: a fruit wine for which Dal Shang is moderately well known; mentioned in the Handbook under Dal Shang. It is peachy in color and moderately sweet.

Dalkis: a very potent brandy made by distilling daleksani, for which Dal Shang is very well known; mentioned in the Handbook under Dal Shang. Peach-colored and sweet, which conceals its potency from the unwary.

Dal Shang: an Imperial Crown City, seat of a Lord Governor, having a population of about 25,000. Dal Shang is an arena city.

Danajo: a Lubanese tribe in the disputed area of western Dansho-Riba Province. They are extremely hostile to the Danshoka tribe of that province.

Danakar: one of the Ten Baronies, the first and highest of them, that formed the Kingdom of Danath. It occupied what is now the Plain of Danath, which was at that time a fertile farmland.

Danarvian Way: another name for the branch of the Warriors' Way that goes from Daiyla Kiv to Shang Sian. It is a class C provincial highway.

Danath: province in the lower An-Kiu Valley, once the heart and capital of the Empire. Danath Province more or less coincides with the boundaries of the ancient Ten Baronies which united to form the Kingdom of Danath, which, with the Sun Kingdom and three other groups formed the earliest Empire of Lirith Kai.

Danathan Road: a class C highway that runs from Leska north of Zur Danath to Linro Ti'San at the head of the Delta across from Tilal Ming. It is suitable for wagons, although it has no bridges--streams are forded, which, since they are often dry, is not usually a hardship--and gets heavy use.

Dancing Bull Society: a well-known teva society.

Dancing Ferret: a breed of mongoose developed by people who hunt mandrago lizards for their hide and their poison; they are intelligent, fast, and aggressive but can become very fond of their trainers; about the size of a very large house cat, with sleek black fur, long pointed snouts, and LOTS of VERY LONG SHARP piercing and slashing teeth. Some dancing ferrets have been trained to attack people and can do a considerable amount of damage, though they can't kill humans unless they can reach some area like the neck where major blood vessels lie close to the surface (though it is possible to bleed to death from multiple non-fatal bites).

Dancing Gull: a ship of the Crystal Sea Packet Group which sails from the Crystal Harbor Inn, Dal Shang.

Dancing Lady: a ship of the Sea Guard, Trier Coast Regiment, Border Legion.

Danshoka: a Lubanese tribe of Dansho District, Dansho-Riba Province.

Dansho-Riba: a province in the Naowei.

Daochan: a traditional symbol meaning long life and implying the good health and happiness necessary to enjoy it. The symbol is used on the tokolara coin.

Daocha, Daocho: a woman or man who has had a long and fruitful life. The term implies respect as well as recognition of age. In slangy speech may be shortened to dacha and dacho.

Dal Shang: province on the coast of the Trier Sea.

Darjina Highway: a class D road running from the West Delta Road at Viru Jina through Dan Hinlo to Kuran and thence to Kanarda and Darin Korang. Receives so much wagon traffic from the mines that it is in a constant state of bad repair. Although not paved, the stretch from Dan Hinlo through Kuran to Kanarda has been corduroyed; the part between Kanarda and Darin Korang has had numerous loads of waste rock pounded into it. This has had no apparent effect on the road, which is still muddy and badly rutted, but the local people will assure any doubting traveler that if this was NOT done, the road would be entirely impassable.

Darkuran Basin: in Dakorin Province, the land traversed by the Iron River; it lies to the immediate northwest of the An-Kiu Delta and is about 300 miles from east to west and 150 from north to south; it is swampy and heavily forested. The Darkuran Basin contains a famous example of the "tiered forest."

Darkwolf: a variety of wolf found around the edges of the Twisted Lands. Some specimens are said to stand four feet high at the shoulders, though most do not reach that size, and they are fierce and wily. Most darkwolves live and hunt in packs; the few individual or `lone' darkwolves are usually much more dangerous and frequently insane.

Daroja: a province between the Jade Panther Hills and the Han Torra Khang.

Dar-Shiu: the Adantri word for a member of an ecstatic sect or cult, a dervish.

Days of the Week: Luradi, Garendi, Semdi, Tirhadi, Komindi, Nilsardi, and Varnsadi. The days of the week are named after the first seven emperors of Lirith Kai, the emperors of the Harin Dynasty.

Delta Regiment: Border Legion regiment stationed in the An-Kiu Delta. They are marines.

Dervish: a member of an ecstatic religious cult or sect, in Adantri a dar-shiu.

Desert Regiment: Border Legion regiment stationed in Miroi Province. They are light cavalry.

Desert Wind Society: a regional warrior society of Harin-Tiran Province.

Dharim: a shepherd god worshipped in the Emirate of Alhodhri and neighboring areas, son of the war god H'Doran and the earth goddess Imhavri.

Diamond Trail: a major international trade route that runs from the Karian Sea in the far north to Kala Jambu on the coast of the Southern Ocean.

Dijana: a goddess of the mountains honored in Daroja.

Dimbe: a crop grown in the southwestern part of the Empire and throughout the Naowei. It is a sweet potato-like root crop.

Dinalro Mountain: a mountain to the north of the town of Dinal Jiro in Daroja Province. It is the source of a very high quality of jade.

Dja-Gavena Hills: a range of moderate hills in eastern Danath. Copper is mined here, and sheep are raised on the hills. The area is also rich in the alkalais that are valued by potters and glassmakers.

Djal: an emirate in the Dja-Gavena Hills of Danath Province; it alternated with the Barony of Gavena for control of the area.

Djalgour: an emirate which was at other times known as the Barony of Kura, one of the Ten Baronies of the Kingdom of Danath.

Djandhar: emirate at the northwestern end of the Makar Hills.

Djanvarah: emirate in northern Ratan.

Djarno Valley: the long valley between the southern part of the Jade Panther Hills and the central Han Torra Khang; the upper valley of the White Jade River. The Djarno Valley is fertile and well-watered, but has a cold climate with late spring and early autumn frosts; it is patched with a mixed hardwood and evergreen forest, and the mountains that flank it are forested also. The valley is rather broad and its floor is hilly in spots; the mountains on either side rise steeply. It is farming and dairy country, mostly.

Djelmio: also called Djelmio the Shepherd, a god of flocks worshipped in Pelang.

Docomar: another term for the doncomar, which see.

Donal: the noble who ranks just above the comar, addressed as "lord." A donal may raise a hundred men for the Regular Provincial Army and is ranked as a major.

Doncomar: a lesser but important member of a donal family; a secondary rank of nobility. A docomar has the same military privileges as a comar.

Dontiral: a lesser but important member of a donal family; a secondary rank of nobility. As regards the raising of troops, a dotiral has the same privileges as a tiral.

Doomstone Hills: the badlands of the Great Bend of the Fatebringer, in Fan Zirlyn Province.

Dotiral: another term for the dontiral, which see.

Dragon Orchis: a carnivorous variety of Coastal Orchis, probably produced by the intervention of a breeder, possibly a mage or priest of some sort. It has a strong superficial resemblance to the Lyrma's Ruby-Throated Orchis but possesses a horny beak which is formed more or less like that of a snapdragon (except for the horn, of course). The plant actually uses this beak to tear off meat; the pieces must then be deposited in special leafy pockets where digestion takes place.

Dragons' Blood: a dark reddish incense resin gathered in the foothills of the Drakenfell Mountains.

Dragon's Horn Society: a well-known teva society.

Dragons of Danath: a regional warrior society found in Danath Province.

Dragon Throne: the throne of the Emperor of Lirith Kai, so called (presumably) because it is carved with dragons. The term is also used to indicate the position of rule and even the government as a whole (for example, in statements that "it is the will of the Dragon Throne that" something be done or not done).

Drahnore Pantheon: a group of eleven gods who were widely worshipped before Mantor became the Empire's primary deity. It has been suggested that the Drahnore once numbered twelve major deities, and that Mantor was one of them. It seems likely that the original number was much greater than twelve and that there were numerous minor gods and demigods who have now been forgotten. The worship of the Drahnore gods is still moderately active in the area around Miroi Chang and the southern part of the An-Kiu Valley. The current Gods of Drahnore are: Skoldra, Jolgera, Kudath, Vahar, Relson, Irila, Mintir, Torhol, Neskira, Chalhar, and Dalgur. Their worship is highly ritualized, and the priests and priestesses wear masks, concealing their mortal identities from the worshippers and from each other.

Du Dizar Hills: in Minho Province, on the east side of the An-Kiu River, paralleling the river and dividing the An-Kiu Valley from the Karndiz Steppe. The hills are stony and rather dry, patched with liveoak groves; their eastern slopes are gentle while the ones to the west are very abrupt. This is prime wine country, and they also support flocks of goats and half-wild pigs.

Dugambia: a tribe in the northern part of the Naowei, along the Lendo River. It has occasionally contested the location of the western border of the Empire in Hadarana and Lubana provinces.

Durstalen: a cult or unrecognized society making use of "black hiu," also known as the "Hungry Spirits" society. A follower of the cult who can make use of the hiu effects is called a durstalor and can drain the hiu from another to kill the victim and enhance his own power. It is believed that the durstalen form symbiotic relationships with `demons' which enables them to perform their dark feats.

Dzarin: an aromatic resin harvested from shrubs growing on the Karndiz Steppe. It is used in incense.

Dzarnarkol: one of the Ten Baronies of the Kingdom of Danath in pre-Imperial times. It occupied what is now the marshy Westlands District of Danath.

Dzo-Djadal Hills: a group of high hills or low mountains in Kiniar Province which separate the Kiniar Plain from the higher and drier Kanar Steppe. The western faces of these hills are quite steep and cliffy, the eastern one gentler and not so high. The hills have several cave systems, usually associated with good oases and palm groves.