She was sitting on the ground with her bent back up against a boulder. Her helmeted head was hanging down over her slight chest, while her slender brown fingers rested on the hilt of a beat-up sword that was lying in her lap. The backs of her hands were littered with nasty cuts and bruises, and most of her fingernails were missing. The ones that remained were only ragged remnants of what they once were.

Time and turmoil had painted dark circles under his tired, chestnut eyes. Below them, his crooked nose bore obvious signs of having been broken on more than one occasion. Beside it, a long scar stretched from his left ear to the bottom of his right jaw bone, going through both his upper and lower lips to get there.

The man was spooky. First, his face was marred with horrible scars that filled every space on his face. Second, his skin was black. She saw people with dark skin every day, but she had never seen anyone with his kind of skin color before. It was as black as night. He was a nightman!

Crusty white paint was plastered over his wide, but unusually flat face and protruding brow, and each of his huge, tanned hands had seven long, heavily calloused fingers that were curled around the thick handle of an enormous war axe that had been molded from the thigh bone of some massive beast.

The man was so gaunt it seemed as if his pointed cheekbones were actually two embedded spearheads that had been rammed into the back of his head and abandoned there after having failed to pierce through the front of his face. His thin, yellow skin was so tightly drawn the mazework of thread-like veins pulsating just below the surface seemed to be branded onto the skin, instead of buried beneath it.

These giant brown bears are among the most feared animals in the wuld. They are incredibly intelligent and malevolent. Their hatred for humankind is legendary, and the beasts delight in killing people of all ages and races. Although the bears despise people, they never eat human flesh and prefer to torture their victims to death. In addition to their massive teeth and claws, these bears have icy blue eyes that cause paralyzing fear.

Tiny bugs that live in dead flesh but can be accidentally transferred to living flesh when contact is made with a corpse. When this happens, the bloodbug needs to be removed to avoid death from infection.

This diverse race of cannibals is divided into different clans that represent specific aspects and areas of the natural world. Their dead sometimes rise from the grave. These unalive beings are called Shepherds and they are revered and cared for by the clans.

A wicked spirit that infects and inhabits a mortal body.

These huge, lizard-like beings are believed to be entirely imaginary, or long extinct. According to myth, they spat fire, had horned wings, and lived only in the air, despite having two powerful legs that were primarily used for catching and killing prey. Some legends say that the strongest dragyns were able to travel through time and space when they flew through a cloud of their own fire breath fast enough.

One of the three major races of the known wuld. After losing a long war with their mortal enemies, the Ulkyech, their society descended into a protracted civil war that split their kingdom into five separate states that have formed a fragile peace. The average D'vorg is slightly shorter but much stronger, than the average human. They have fourteen dexterous fingers and toes and all of their weapons are fashioned from the bones of large beasts.

Refers to human spirits that are trapped in this wuld because it is unable or unwilling to enter and/or remain in the Other Wuld. Many of these spirits are able to communicate and interact with the living to some degree. Most of them are sad and confused and relatively harmless; however, legends and rumors exist of angry spirits that have caused great harm and destruction.

A shape-changing de-mon.

According to myth, this endless dungeon exists in the scorching center of the wuld. It is where the Sister Moons send the most wicked human spirits that have been denied entry into the Other Wuld.

A inhuman horde of savage and deformed assassins that is hunting down everyone who has been having a series of strange, shared dreams about the new seasky and the burning rain.

Many humans believe the Others are spirits that inhabit the Other Wuld. These spirits have limited knowledge of the future, but seem to have no interest and/or ability to affect actual world events.

Many humans believe the Other Wuld is a mysterious land that lies on the other side of the night sky and is where most human spirits travel to after the body dies. The three Sister Moons decide which spirits are worthy enough to remain there.

These mystical, moons-worshiping warriors helped humankind rise to power thousands of seasons ago. After they suddenly disappeared the kingdoms of men crumbled and subsequent generations of humans still blame the Sarace'yen Soldiers for the demise of humankind.

A derogatory term some humans use to refer to any race they deem to be uncivilized. It is often used as a reference to members of the clans and even some D'vorg.

Aggressive vultures that have an uncanny or supernatural ability to know when a person will die an untimely death. They will "shadow" a person for weeks leading up to that person's passing, and no one has ever been known to avoid the awful fate these vultures have foretold for them.

Unalive beings that have risen from the dead and are revered by members of all the clans. Clanspeople believe these shepherds are blessed and exist in two wulds (the one for the living, and the one for the dead) at once. The shepherds have a ravenous appetite for fresh flesh and the clans consider it their sacred duty to feed them.

According to legend, the Sister Moons that shine in the night sky are the right eyes of three sisters who are watching over everyone from the Other Wuld. The three sisters were the first humans who lived in our wuld, and when they died their spirits discovered the Other Wuld. The spirits of the sisters now reside there, and they determine which human spirits are allowed to stay in the Other Wuld with them.

These snakes are large enough to swallow an adult human whole. Their skin instinctively transforms itself into a mirror image of its surroundings, making it almost impossible to see in certain locations.

^ D'vorg use this term to describe the life force that inhabits them and all things in the natural wuld. D'vorg believe everything (dirt, rocks, water, trees, wind, fire etc.) in the natural wuld is alive and has some measure of awareness and intelligence.

^ Humans use the term "spirit" when referring to the souls of those who have died. They believe their souls continue to exist after physical death.

The disrespectful name the D'vorg have given their mortal enemies, whose empire encompasses more than half of the largest mountain range in the known wuld.

Any previously living being that defied death (mentally, emotionally and/or physically) and still inhabits the land of the living in some way, shape, or form.

A derogatory term used by some humans and D'vorg to describe anyone of either race that is suspected of wielding magic and/or spells for wicked purposes.