INTRODUCTION
This is my first story, and it is developing in ways I had not anticipated.
My starting idea would have resulted in a little piece of fluff no longer than ten-page story. As you may have noticed, it has since grown in scope and size, and it is now a sprawling fantasy story that keeps growing with every development.
I hope you enjoy the story anyway, and I am very grateful for any criticism that will help me make the story better in the next re-write.
I don't own Jareth or Sarah, they are not my invention, but the rest is all mine.
In the following is a list of names of some of the acting characters, kindreds and places (in alphabetical order) in the story to help you keep up with what is going on:
Some Kindreds of the Underground
Audreys: A kindred created from the queen's mind, they are vicious hunting plants. The queen saw the "Little Shop of Horrors" in the Above and was unduly impressed.
Dwarf: A very long-lived kindred. The are short and powerful. Their eyes can see in the dark and their minds are deep and inquisitive. They excel in all trades and create beauty with their hands and minds.
Fae: An immortal kindred. They are tall, slender and beautiful and possess magic as their birthright. They are also conniving and arrogant.
Falin: An immortal sadistic kindred universally hated and loathed in the underground. They have powerful magic and can wipe out the existence of their victims.
Haltija: Also called brownies, a near-immortal kindred with strong innate magic. They are short and stocky.
Maighdean-mhara: The people of the sea. A sub-type of the fae, they live in the sea and are ruled by the Sao Llyr, the sea king.
Odei: An near-immortal kindred of wild beauty, they turn into wind at will. When they tire of life, they turn into storm and merge with the winds of the underground. Many of them are wanderers, and healers of renown.
Orc: A mercenary kindred, ugly, vicious and excellent fighters. They tend to die young.
Shedim: A long-lived kindred, gentle and without guile. They are hated in the underground because their voices cause madness. They posses the magic of creation which they cast in songs of power.
Some of the People in the Story
Arrawn: A fae, King of Annwyn, a friend of Jareth
Aylmer: A fae, lover to king Lleu in Ardar Iforas.
Ankimo: A Hundun, the shedim Nehorai's alter ego when he travels with the queen through the goblin kingdom in disguise.
Babdh: A demon haunting the borderlands of the goblin kingdom. She hunts with a flock of blood-beaked crows who join her in killing her hapless victims.
Bergljot: A dwarf, previously of Ardar Iforas, later a refugee to the goblin kingdom. A cook in the king's kitchen.
Cethur Mc Greine: A fae, Ard Ri (High King) of Danu over Falias, Gorias, and Murias, Jareth's father
Cuchulain: A direwolf, companion to Toby
Eek: The goblin queen's goblin, friend and bodyguard (as best he can)
Eir: A dwarf trader, the queen's alter ego when she travels the goblin kingdom in disguise
Eirlys: A fae, a fianna from Annwyn, a warrior mage. Friend to Heulwen.
Eriu: A fae, Queen of Danu over Falias, Gorias, and Murias, Jareth's mother
Etain of the White Wind: A Cwn Annwyn, the only hound of Annwyn outside of Annwyn, a present from Arrawn of Annwyn to Jareth
Féilim Ó Súilleabháin: A fae, ambassador of Ardar Iforas at the goblin king's court.
Hina'ea: An oathbound odei, sister to 'Lo lani, healer
Heulwen: A fae, a fianna from Annwyn, a warrior mage sent to aid the goblin kingdom. Wife to Toby.
Hurin: A fae, a delegate of Matagamon, a neighbouring country of the goblin kingdom
Ikiaq: An oathbound haltija. Jareth's milk-mother, she is the castellaine of the castle in the city in the goblin kingdom.
Jareth ap Cethur Mc Greine: A fae, the goblin king and chosen of the labyrinth
Jódís: A dwarf child, daughter of Bergljot.
The Labyrinth: An immortal creature whose physical being is the goblin kingdom itself and who has powerful magic. The labyrinth chooses a king and a queen as its companions. Its existence is only known to those in the goblin kingdom who have sworn a blood-oath of fealty to the king and queen.
Lleu: A fae, king of Ardar Iforas, the kingdom at the winter border of the goblin kingdom. He is ambitious and ruthless.
'Lo lani: An oathbound Odei and councilor of the king
The man without a name: The unknown enemy of the goblin kingdom, he is trying to take the power from the king and began the war.
Morveren: A Maighdean-mhara, ambassador to the goblin king's court from the sea, daughter of the sea-king Llyr. She is the king's lover and companion for many years.
Nehorai: An oathbound shedim, friend and bodyguard of the queen
Nerromiktok: An oathbound haltija, Jareth's milk-sister and the mistress of the king's stable of great-horses.
Ningyo: An oathbound Maighdean-mhara and councilor of the king
Porr: An oathbound dwarf, chancellor and friend of the king
Sarah Williams: A human, the goblin queen, chosen of the labyrinth
Sed: The king's goblin, friend and bodyguard
Shuck and Three: Sarah's dogs. Shuck is a sweet and dumb retriever, Three is an English sheep dog. His real name is Merlin, but he is called Three as he is Sarah's third sheepdog.
Siobhán: An oathbound Fae, the clerk of the privy council
Sindri: An oathbound dwarf, advisor and friend of the king.
Tadgh o Conghaile: A fae, commander in Lleu's army
Tiernan ap Cethur Mc Greine: A fae, the brother of Jareth, commander of the goblin king's army
Tobias O hEachtianna: An oathbound fae, councilor and friend of the king
Urit: An oathbound shedim
Some of the Countries and Places in the Story:
Countries:
Annwyn
Ardar Iforas
Danu
Khôràsan
Makgadikigadi
Matagamon
The Plains of Ashes
The Goblin Kingdom
Rivers:
Haliakmon
Naryn
Tanais
Mountains:
Queen's Palisades
Simien Mountains
Kular Range
Others:
Ikh Bogd Uul: Canyon land of the western reaches
The Central Plains: fertile farmland in the middle of the kingdom
The Mists: The borderland of reality in the heart of the goblin kingdom
The Leaping Waters: A huge waterfall which is the source of the Tanais
Kemerovo: Forest land which holds the Kular range, home to the Huldra
Quaraghandy: The border province to Makgadikigadi in the Naryn delta
The Winter Border: borderlands to the various countries in the North of the kingdom