Through Fiery Trials Read online

  Slabnut—a flat-sided, thick-hulled nut. Slabnut trees are deciduous, with large, four-lobed leaves and grow to about thirty feet. Black slabnuts are genetically engineered to be edible by humans; red slabnuts are mildly poisonous. The black slabnut is very high in protein.

  Slash lizard—a six-limbed, saurian-looking, furry oviparous mammal. One of the three top land predators of Safehold. Its mouth contains twin rows of fangs capable of punching through chain mail and its feet have four long toes, each tipped with claws up to five or six inches long. A fully mature slash lizard can reach fourteen feet in length, only four feet of it tail, and weigh up to 2,800 pounds.

  Sleep root—a Safeholdian tree from whose roots an entire family of opiates and painkillers are produced. The term “sleep root” is often used generically for any of those pharmaceutical products, but there are generally more specific names as well (see “pain root,” “Pasquale’s hand,” and “pain bane”).

  Slime toad—an amphibious Safeholdian carrion eater with a body length of approximately seven inches. It takes its name from the thick mucus which covers its skin. Its bite is poisonous but seldom results in death.

  Snapdragon—the Safeholdian snapdragon isn’t actually related to any of the other dragon species of the planet. It is actually a Safeholdian analog to the terrestrial giant sea turtle. Although it is warm-blooded, its body form is very similar to that of a terrestrial leatherback sea turtle, but it is half again the leatherback’s size, with fully mature male snapdragons running to body lengths of over nine feet. No living Safeholdian knows why the snapdragon was given its name.

  SNARC—Self-Navigating Autonomous Reconnaissance and Communications platform.

  Spider-crab—a native species of sea life, considerably larger than any terrestrial crab. The spider-crab is not a crustacean, but more of a segmented, tough-hided, many-legged seagoing slug. Despite that, its legs are considered a great delicacy and are actually very tasty.

  Spider-rat—a native species of vermin which fills roughly the ecological niche of a terrestrial rat. Like all Safeholdian mammals, it is six-limbed, but it looks like a cross between a hairy gila monster and an insect, with long, multi-jointed legs which actually arch higher than its spine. It is nasty-tempered but basically cowardly. Fully adult male specimens of the larger varieties run to about two feet in body length, with another two feet of tail, for a total length of four feet, but the more common varieties average only between two or three feet of combined body/tail length.

  Spike-thorn—a flowering shrub, various subspecies of which are found in most Safeholdian climate zones. Its blossoms come in many colors and hues, and the tropical versions tend to be taller-growing and to bear more delicate blossoms.

  Spine fever—a generic term for paralytic diseases, like polio, which affect the nervous system and cause paralysis.

  Spruce—a tree native to Safehold, found primarily in the cooler regions of the planet’s temperate zones. It has many of the qualities of the Old Terran tree of the same name, including light weight and strength. It is much more resistant to decay and insects, however, which makes it more durable for external construction uses. There are several varieties of Safeholdian spruce, but blue spruce (named for the color of its seed cones)—which grows to a mature height of around 120 feet—is the most commonly used for building. Yellow spruce is one of the trees more widely used by Safeholdian papermakers.

  “Stand at Kharmych”—a Siddarmarkian military march composed to commemorate the 37th Infantry Regiment’s epic stand against an invading Desnairian army in the Battle of Kharmych.

  Steam automotive—the Charisian term for a steam-powered locomotive.

  Steam carriage—the Charisian term for a steam-powered passenger vehicle.

  Steam dragon—the Charisian term for a steam-powered tractor.

  Steam wagon—the Charisian term for a steam-powered freight vehicle.

  Steel thistle—a native Safeholdian plant which looks very much like branching bamboo. The plant bears seed pods filled with small, spiny seeds embedded in fine, straight fibers. The seeds are extremely difficult to remove by hand, but the fiber can be woven into a fabric which is even stronger than cotton silk. It can also be twisted into extremely strong, stretch-resistant rope. Moreover, the plant grows almost as rapidly as actual bamboo, and the yield of raw fiber per acre is seventy percent higher than for terrestrial cotton.

  Stone of Schueler—a solar-powered verifier (truth detector) left with the Wylsynn family by the “Archangel Schueler.”

  Stone wool—Safeholdian term for chrysotile (white asbestos).

  Stork—a Safeholdian species of wyvern named for the Old Terran bird it resembles. A Safeholdian stork is about fifteen percent larger than its Old Terran counterpart, and its legs are proportionately a bit longer.

  Sugar apple—a tropical Safeholdian fruit tree. The sugar apple has a bright purple skin much like a terrestrial tangerine, but its fruit has much the same consistency of a terrestrial apple. It has a higher natural sugar content than an apple, however, hence the name.

  Surgoi kasai—“dreadful” or “great fire.” The true spirit of God. The touch of His divine fire, which only an angel or Archangel can endure.

  Swamp hopper—a moderate-sized (around fifty to sixty-five pounds) Safeholdian amphibian. It is carnivorous, subsisting primarily on fish and other small game and looks rather like a six-legged komodo dragon but has a fan-like crest which it extends and expands in response to a threat or in defense of territory. It is also equipped with air sacs on either side of its throat which swell and expand under those circumstances. It is ill tempered, territorial, and aggressive.

  Swivel wolf—a light, primarily anti-personnel artillery piece mounted on a swivel for easy traverse (see “wolf”).

  Sword of Schueler—the savage uprising, mutiny, and rebellion fomented by the Inquisition to topple Lord Protector Greyghor Stohnar and destroy the Republic of Siddarmark. It led directly to the deaths of several million Siddarmarkians, primarily in the Republic’s western provinces.

  Sword Rakurai—specially trained agents of the Inquisition sent into the enemy’s rear areas during the Jihad. They operated completely solo, as did the Inquisition’s regular Rakurai; they were not suicide attackers or simple terrorists. Instead, they were trained as spies and infiltrators, expected to do any damage they could but with the primary mission of information collection.

  Talon branch—an evergreen tree native to Safehold. It has fine, spiny needles and its branches are covered with half-inch thorns. It reaches a height of almost seventy feet, and at full maturity has no branches for the first twenty to twenty-five feet above the ground.

  Teak tree—a native Safeholdian tree whose wood contains concentrations of silica and other minerals. Although it grows to a greater height than the Old Earth teak wood tree and bears a needle-like foliage, its timber is very similar in grain and coloration to the terrestrial tree and, like Old Earth teak, it is extremely resistant to weather, rot, and insects.

  Tellesberg Krakens—the Tellesberg professional baseball club.

  Temple boy—Charisian/Siddarmarkian slang for someone serving in the Army of God. It is not a term of endearment.

  Temple Loyalist (1)—Safeholdians who remained loyal to the Church of God Awaiting and the leadership of the Temple, in Zion, before and during the Jihad.

  Temple Loyalist (2)—one who renounces the schism created by the Church of Charis’ defiance of the Grand Vicar and Council of Vicars of the Church of God Awaiting. Some Temple Loyalists are also Reformists (see above), but all are united in condemning the schism between Charis and the Temple.

  Temple, The—the complex built by “the Archangels” using Terran Federation technology to serve as the headquarters of the Church of God Awaiting. It contains many “mystic” capabilities which demonstrate the miraculous power of the Archangels to anyone who sees them.

  Testimonies, The—by far the most numerous of the Church of God Awaiting’s sacred wri
tings, these consist of the firsthand observations of the first few generations of humans on Safehold. They do not have the same status as the Christian gospels, because they do not reveal the central teachings and inspiration of God. Instead, collectively, they form an important substantiation of the Writ’s “historical accuracy” and conclusively attest to the fact that the events they describe did, in fact, transpire.

  Thanksgiving—a Safehold-wide religious holiday, mandated in The Book of Sondheim. It falls on October 24th in the northern hemisphere and on June 24th in the southern hemisphere. As the Old Terran holiday of the same name, it celebrates the gathering of yet another successful harvest.

  Titan oak—a very slow-growing, long-lived deciduous Safeholdian hardwood which grows to heights of as much as one hundred meters.

  Tomb of Saint Kohdy—the original Tomb of Saint Kohdy was destroyed by the same kinetic weapons which destroyed the Abbey of Saint Kohdy. Before that destruction, however, the Sisters of Saint Kohdy had secretly moved the saint’s body to a new, hidden tomb in the Mountains of Light, where it remains to this day.

  Trap lizard—a medium-sized (for Safehold) predator. Trap lizards run to an adult body length of approximately four feet. They have outsized jaws and are ambush hunters who normally dig themselves into dens near game trails and then pounce on prong bucks and other herbivores using those trails.

  Waffle bark—a deciduous, nut-bearing native Safeholdian tree with an extremely rough, shaggy bark.

  War Against the Fallen—the portion of Shan-wei’s War (see above) falling between the destruction of the Alexandria Enclave and the final reconsolidation of the Church’s authority.

  Western Syndicate—the label assigned to a cabal of land speculators and corrupt politicians in the western provinces of the Republic of Siddarmark. The speculators, who took advantage of the distressed state of those provinces after the Jihad, now control the majority of all farmland and have established enormous commercial farming operations, reducing many once-independent farmers to little more than sharecroppers and gradually squeezing out the remaining small farmers who were the backbone of the provinces’ agricultural sector before the Jihad. Through their financial clout with the provincial political machines, they effectively control local policy and the election of delegates to the national Chamber of Delegates.

  Wind dance—a traditional Harchongese dance. A variation on the square dance, it is an endurance competition between the dancers and the caller.

  Wind hummer—a small, delicate wyvern very similar to a terrestrial hummingbird. There are many species of wind hummer and they are found in almost every region of Safehold.

  Wing warrior—the traditional title of a blooded warrior of one of the Raven Lords clans. It is normally shortened to “wing” when used as a title or honorific.

  Wire vine—a kudzu-like vine native to Safehold. Wire vine isn’t as fast growing as kudzu, but it’s equally tenacious, and unlike kudzu, several of its varieties have long, sharp thorns. Unlike many native Safeholdian plant species, it does quite well intermingled with terrestrial imports. It is often used as a sort of combination hedgerow and barbed-wire fence by Safehold farmers.

  Wolf (1)—a Safeholdian predator which lives and hunts in packs and has many of the same social characteristics as the terrestrial species of the same name. It is warm-blooded but oviparous and larger than an Old Earth wolf, with adult males averaging around two hundred to two hundred and twenty-five pounds.

  Wolf (2)—a generic term for shipboard artillery pieces with a bore of less than two inches and a shot weighing one pound or less. They are primarily antipersonnel weapons but can also be effective against boats and small craft.

  Wyvern—the Safeholdian ecological analogue of terrestrial birds. There are as many varieties of wyverns as there are birds, including (but not limited to) the homing/messenger wyvern, hunting wyverns suitable for the equivalent of hawking for small prey, the crag wyvern (a small—wingspan ten feet—flying predator), various species of sea wyverns, and the king wyvern (a very large flying predator with a wingspan of up to twenty-five feet). All wyverns have two pairs of wings, and one pair of powerful, clawed legs. The king wyvern has been known to take children as prey when desperate or when the opportunity presents, but they are quite intelligent. They know that man is a prey best left alone and generally avoid areas of human habitation.

  Wyvernry—a nesting place and/or breeding hatchery for domesticated wyverns.

  Zhyahngdu Academy—perhaps the most renowned school for sculptors in all of Safehold, located at the port city of Zhyahngdu in the Tiegelkamp Province of North Harchong. It dates back to the days of the War Against the Fallen and has trained and produced the Church of God Awaiting’s finest sculptors for almost nine hundred Safeholdian years.

  TOR BOOKS BY DAVID WEBER

  The Safehold Series

  Off Armageddon Reef

  By Schism Rent Asunder

  By Heresies Distressed

  A Mighty Fortress

  How Firm a Foundation

  Midst Toil and Tribulation

  Like a Mighty Army

  Hell’s Foundations Quiver

  At the Sign of Triumph

  Through Fiery Trials

  Out of the Dark

  About the Author

  DAVID WEBER’s New York Times bestselling Safehold series began in 2007 with Off Armageddon Reef; Through Fiery Trials is the tenth volume in that sequence. Among his many other novels are Out of the Dark (2010) and the Honor Harrington series, beginning with On Basilisk Station (1993). He lives in South Carolina. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Maps

  An Introduction to the History of Safehold

  November Year of God 890

  I. Nimue’s Cave, The Mountains of Light, Episcopate of St. Ehrnesteen, The Temple Lands.

  March Year of God 901

  I. Tellesberg Palace, City of Tellesberg, Kingdom of Old Charis, Empire of Charis.

  II. Tellesberg Cathedral, City of Tellesberg, Kingdom of Old Charis, Empire of Charis, and Nimue’s Cave, The Mountains of Light, Episcopate of St. Ehrnesteen, The Temple Lands.

  August Year of God 903

  I. Show-wan Hills, Tiegelkamp Province, North Harchong.

  II. Imperial Palace, City of Shang-mi, Tiegelkamp Province, North Harchong.

  III. Shang-mi–Jai-hu High Road, Mai-sun Forest, Tiegelkamp Province, North Harchong.

  IV. Zhynkau–Ti-Shan High Road, Boisseau Province, North Harchong.

  V. The Temple, City of Zion, The Temple Lands.

  VI. Imperial Palace, City of Cherayth, Empire of Charis, North Harchong.

  VII. Manchyr Palace, City of Manchyr, Princedom of Corisande, Empire of Charis.

  VIII. Protector’s Palace, Siddar City, Republic of Siddarmark.

  IX. City of Yu-kwau, Kyznetzov Province, South Harchong.

  X. Imperial Palace, Desnair the City, The Crown Lands, Desnairian Empire.

  March Year of God 904

  I. Shan-Zhi Forest and Pauton Cathedral, City of Pauton, Boisseau Province, Harchong Empire.

  II. Sai-kau–Jai-hu High Road, Tiegelkamp Province, and Emperor Zhyou-Zhwo’s Palace, City of Yu-kwau, and St. Lerys Foundry, Kyznetzov Province, Empire of Harchong.

  III. Selyk, Westmarch Province, Republic of Siddarmark.

  IV. Siddar City, Old Province, Republic of Siddarmark.

  V. Tellesberg Palace, City of Tellesberg, Kingdom of Old Charis, Empire of Charis.

  April Year of Go
d 904

  I. Nimue’s Cave, The Mountains of Light, Episcopate of St. Ehrnesteen, The Temple Lands.

  II. Imperial Court, City of Yu-kwau, Kyznetzov Province, Empire of Harchong.

  III. Protector’s Palace, Siddar City, Old Province, Republic of Siddarmark.

  IV. Desnair the City, Empire of Desnair.

  May Year of God 905

  I. Boisseau Province, United Provinces, West Harchong.

  II. Southland Drilling Well No. 1, Sairahston, Oil Springs Valley, Barony of Southland, Princedom of Emerald, Empire of Charis.

  August Year of God 905

  I. Lake City, Tarikah Province, Republic of Siddarmark.

  II. Grand Vicar Rhobair’s Office, The Temple, City of Zion, The Temple Lands.

  III. Vicar Tymythy Symkyn’s Office, The Temple, City of Zion, The Temple Lands.

  October Year of God 905

  I. CMS Sea Wyvern, Temple Wharf, and The Temple, City of Zion, The Temple Lands.

  II. Grand Vicar’s Apartment, The Temple, City of Zion, The Temple Lands.

  III. Sochal, Tiegelkamp Province, North Harchong.

  IV. Zhutiyan, Chynduk Valley, Tiegelkamp Province, North Harchong.

  V. Ranlai, Duchy of Spring Flower, Tiegelcamp Province, North Harchong.

  November Year of God 905

  I. The Delthak Works, Barony of High Rock, Kingdom of Old Charis, Empire of Charis.

  February Year of God 906

  I. Tellesberg Palace, City of Tellesberg, Kingdom of Old Charis, Empire of Charis.

  II. Tellesberg Palace, City of Tellesberg, Kingdom of Old Charis, and The Delthak Works, Barony of High Rock, Empire of Charis.

  May Year of God 906

  I. Nimue’s Cave, The Mountains of Light, Episcopate of St. Ehrnesteen, The Temple Lands.

  II. Protector’s Palace, Siddar City, Republic of Siddarmark, and Tellesberg Palace, City of Tellesberg, Kingdom of Old Charis, Empire of Charis.