data.base

       SCCS Id: @(#)data.base  3.4     2001/09/01
       Copyright (c) 1994, 1995, 1996 by the NetHack Development Team
       Copyright (c) 1994 by Boudewijn Wayers
       NetHack may be freely redistributed.  See license for details.

abbot
       For it had been long apparent to Count Landulf that nothing
       could be done with his seventh son Thomas, except to make him
       an Abbot or something of that kind.  Born in 1226, he had from
       childhood a mysterious objection to becoming a predatory eagle,
       or even to taking an ordinary interest in falconry or tilting
       or any other gentlemanly pursuits.  He was a large and heavy and
       quiet boy, and phenomenally silent, scarcely opening his mouth
       except to say suddenly to his schoolmaster in an explosive
       manner, "What is God?"  The answer is not recorded but it is
       probable that the asker went on worrying out answers for himself.
               The Runaway Abbot, by G. K. Chesterton

aclys, aklys
       A short studded or spiked club attached to a cord allowing
       it to be drawn back to the wielder after having been thrown.
       It should not be confused with the atlatl, which is a device
       used to throw spears for longer distances.

aleax
       Said to be a doppelganger sent to inflict divine punishment
       for alignment violations.

*altar
       Altars are of three types:
       1.  In Temples.  These are for Sacrifices [...].  The stone
       top will have grooves for blood, and the whole will be covered
       with dry brown stains of a troubling kind from former
       Sacrifices.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

       To every man upon this earth
       Death cometh soon or late;
       And how can man die better
       Than facing fearful odds
       For the ashes of his fathers
       And the temples of his gods?
               Lays of Ancient Rome, by Thomas B. Macaulay

amaterasu omikami
       The Shinto sun goddess, Amaterasu Omikami is the central
       figure of Shintoism and the ancestral deity of the imperial
       house.  One of the daughters of the primordial god Izanagi
       and said to be his favourite offspring, she was born from
       his left eye.
               Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan

amber*
       "Tree sap," Wu explained, "often flows over insects and traps
       them.  The insects are then perfectly preserved within the
       fossil.  One finds all kinds of insects in amber - including
       biting insects that have sucked blood from larger animals."
               Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton

*amnesia, maud
       Get thee hence, nor come again,
       Mix not memory with doubt,
       Pass, thou deathlike type of pain,
       Pass and cease to move about!
       'Tis the blot upon the brain
       That will show itself without.
               ...
       For, Maud, so tender and true,
       As long as my life endures
       I feel I shall owe you a debt,
       That I never can hope to pay;
       And if ever I should forget
       That I owe this debt to you
       And for your sweet sake to yours;
       O then, what then shall I say? -
       If ever I should forget,
       May God make me more wretched
       Than ever I have been yet!
               Maud, And Other Poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

*amulet, amulet of *
See also: amulet of yendor
       "The complete Amulet can keep off all the things that make
       people unhappy -- jealousy, bad temper, pride, disagreeableness,
       greediness, selfishness, laziness.  Evil spirits, people called
       them when the Amulet was made.  Don't you think it would be nice
       to have it?"
       "Very," said the children, quite without enthusiasm.
       "And it can give you strength and courage."
       "That's better," said Cyril.
       "And virtue."
       "I suppose it's nice to have that," said Jane, but not with much
       interest.
       "And it can give you your heart's desire."
       "Now you're talking," said Robert.
               The Story of the Amulet, by Edith Nesbit

amulet of yendor
       This mysterious talisman is the object of your quest.  It is
       said to possess powers which mere mortals can scarcely
       comprehend, let alone utilize.  The gods will grant the gift of
       immortality to the adventurer who can deliver it from the
       depths of Moloch's Sanctum and offer it on the appropriate high
       altar on the Astral Plane.

angel*
       He answered and said unto them, he that soweth the good seed
       is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed
       are the children of the kingdom; but the weeds are the
       children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the
       devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers
       are the angels.  As therefore the weeds are gathered and
       burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
       [...]  So shall it be at the end of the world; the angels
       shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
       and shall cast them into the furnace of fire; there shall be
       wailing and gnashing of teeth.
               The Gospel According to Matthew, 13:37-42, 49-50

anhur
       An Egyptian god of war and a great hunter, few gods can match
       his fury.  Unlike many gods of war, he is a force for good.
       The wrath of Anhur is slow to come, but it is inescapable
       once earned.  Anhur is a mighty figure with four arms.  He
       is often seen with a powerful lance that requires both of
       his right arms to wield and which is tipped with a fragment
       of the sun.  He is married to Mehut, a lion-headed goddess.

ankh-morpork
       The twin city of Ankh-Morpork, foremost of all the cities
       bounding the Circle Sea, was as a matter of course the home
       of a large number of gangs, thieves' guilds, syndicates and
       similar organisations.  This was one of the reasons for its
       wealth.  Most of the humbler folk on the widdershin side of
       the river, in Morpork's mazy alleys, supplemented their
       meagre incomes by filling some small role for one or other
       of the competing gangs.
           The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

anshar
       A primordial Babylonian-Akkadian deity, Anshar is mentioned
       in the Babylonian creation epic Enuma Elish as one of a
       pair of offspring (with Kishar) of Lahmu and Lahamu.  Anshar
       is linked with heaven while Kishar is identified with earth.
           Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan

ant, * ant
       This giant variety of the ordinary ant will fight just as
       fiercely as its small, distant cousin.  Various varieties
       exist, and they are known and feared for their relentless
       persecution of their victims.

anu
       Anu was the Babylonian god of the heavens, the monarch of
       the north star.  He was the oldest of the Babylonian gods,
       the father of all gods, and the ruler of heaven and destiny.
       Anu features strongly in the atiku festival in
       Babylon, Uruk and other cities.

*ape
       The most highly evolved of all the primates, as shown by
       all their anatomical characters and particularly the
       development of the brain.  Both arboreal and terrestrial,
       the apes have the forelimbs much better developed than
       the hind limbs.  Tail entirely absent.  Growth is slow
       and sexual maturity reached at quite an advanced age.
       A Field Guide to the Larger Mammals of Africa by Dorst

       Aldo the gorilla had a plan.  It was a good plan.  It was
       right.  He knew it.  He smacked his lips in anticipation as
       he thought of it.  Yes.  Apes should be strong.  Apes should
       be masters.  Apes should be proud.  Apes should make the
       Earth shake when they walked.  Apes should rule the Earth.
               Battle for the Planet of the Apes,
                       by David Gerrold

apple
       NEWTONIAN, adj.  Pertaining to a philosophy of the universe
       invented by Newton, who discovered that an apple will fall
       to the ground, but was unable to say why.  His successors
       and disciples have advanced so far as to be able to say
       when.
               The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce

archeologist
       Archeology is the search for fact, not truth. [...]
       So forget any ideas you've got about lost cities, exotic travel,
       and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried
       treasure, and X never, ever, marks the spot.
               Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

archon
       Archons are the predominant inhabitants of the heavens.
       However unusual their appearance, they are not generally
       evil.  They are beings at peace with themselves and their
       surroundings.

arioch
       Arioch, the patron demon of Elric's ancestors; one of the most
       powerful of all the Dukes of Hell, who was called Knight of
       the Swords, Lord of the Seven Darks, Lord of the Higher Hell
       and many more names besides.
               Elric of Melnibone, by Michael Moorcock

*arrow
       I shot an arrow into the air,
       It fell to earth, I knew not where;
       For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
       Could not follow it in its flight.

       I breathed a song into the air,
       It fell to earth, I knew not where;
       For who has sight so keen and strong
       That it can follow the flight of song?

       Long, long afterward, in an oak
       I found the arrow still unbroke;
       And the song, from beginning to end,
       I found again in the heart of a friend.
               The Arrow and the Song,
                 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

ashikaga takauji
       Ashikaga Takauji was a daimyo of the Minamoto clan who
       joined forces with the Go-Daigo to defeat the Hojo armies.
       Later when Go-Daigo attempted to reduce the powers of the
       samurai clans he rebelled against him.  He defeated Go-
       Daigo and established the emperor Komyo on the throne.
       Go-Daigo eventually escaped and established another
       government in the town of Yoshino.  This period of dual
       governments was known as the Nambokucho.
       Samurai - The Story of a Warrior Tradition, by Cook

asmodeus
       It is said that Asmodeus is the overlord over all of hell.
       His appearance, unlike many other demons and devils, is
       human apart from his horns and tail.  He can freeze flesh
       with a touch.

athame
       The consecrated ritual knife of a Wiccan initiate (one of
       four basic tools, together with the wand, chalice and
       pentacle).  Traditionally, the athame is a double-edged,
       black-handled, cross-hilted dagger of between six and
       eighteen inches length.

athen*
       Athene was the offspring of Zeus, and without a mother.  She
       sprang forth from his head completely armed.  Her favourite
       bird was the owl, and the plant sacred to her is the olive.
           Bulfinch's Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch

axolotl
       A mundane salamander, harmless.

bag, bag of *, sack
       "Now, this third handkerchief," Mein Herr proceeded, "has also
       four edges, which you can trace continuously round and round:
       all you need do is to join its four edges to the four edges of
       the opening.  The Purse is then complete, and its outer
       surface--"
       "I see!" Lady Muriel eagerly interrupted.  "Its outer surface
       will be continuous with its inner surface!  But it will take
       time. I'll sew it up after tea."  She laid aside the bag, and
       resumed her cup of tea.  "But why do you call it Fortunatus's
       Purse, Mein Herr?"
       The dear old man beamed upon her, with a jolly smile, looking
       more exactly like the Professor than ever.  "Don't you see,
       my child--I should say Miladi?  Whatever is inside that Purse,
       is outside it; and whatever is outside it, is inside it.  So
       you have all the wealth of the world in that leetle Purse!"
               Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, by Lewis Carroll

b*lzebub
       The "lord of the flies" is a translation of the Hebrew
       Ba'alzevuv (Beelzebub in Greek).  It has been suggested that
       it was a mistranslation of a mistransliterated word which
       gave us this pungent and suggestive name of the Devil, a
       devil whose name suggests that he is devoted to decay,
       destruction, demoralization, hysteria and panic...
               Notes on Lord of the Flies, by E. L. Epstein

balrog
       ...  It came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as
       if a cloud had bent over it.  Then with a rush it leaped
       the fissure.  The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed
       about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air.  Its streaming
       mane kindled, and blazed behind it.  In its right hand
       was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it
       held a whip of many thongs.
       'Ai, ai!' wailed Legolas.  'A Balrog!  A Balrog is come!'
                  The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

baluchitherium, titanothere
       Extinct rhinos include a variety of forms, the most
       spectacular being Baluchitherium from the Oligocene of
       Asia, which is the largest known land mammal.  Its body, 18
       feet high at the shoulder and carried on massive limbs,
       allowed the 4-foot-long head to browse on the higher branches
       of trees.  Though not as enormous, the titanotheres of the
       early Tertiary were also large perissodactyls, Brontotherium
       of the Oligocene being 8 feet high at the shoulder.
               Prehistoric Animals, by Barry Cox

banana
       He took another step and she cocked her right wrist in
       viciously.  She heard the spring click.  Weight slapped into
       her hand.
       "Here!" she shrieked hysterically, and brought her arm up in
       a hard sweep, meaning to gut him, leaving him to blunder
       around the room with his intestines hanging out in steaming
       loops.  Instead he roared laughter, hands on his hips,
       flaming face cocked back, squeezing and contorting with great
       good humor.
       "Oh, my dear!" he cried, and went off into another gale of
       laughter.
       She looked stupidly down at her hand.  It held a firm yellow
       banana with a blue and white Chiquita sticker on it.  She
       dropped it, horrified, to the carpet, where it became a
       sickly yellow grin, miming Flagg's own.
       "You'll tell," he whispered.  "Oh yes indeed you will."
       And Dayna knew he was right.
               The Stand, by Stephen King

barbarian, human barbarian
       They dressed alike -- in buckskin boots, leathern breeks and
       deerskin shirts, with broad girdles that held axes and short
       swords; and they were all gaunt and scarred and hard-eyed;
       sinewy and taciturn.
       They were wild men, of a sort, yet there was still a wide
       gulf between them and the Cimmerian.  They were sons of
       civilization, reverted to a semi-barbarism.  He was a
       barbarian of a thousand generations of barbarians.  They had
       acquired stealth and craft, but he had been born to these
       things.  He excelled them even in lithe economy of motion.
       They were wolves, but he was a tiger.
               Conan - The Warrior, by Robert E. Howard

barbed devil
       Barbed devils lack any real special abilities, though they
       are quite difficult to kill.

*bat
       A bat, flitting in the darkness outside, took the wrong turn
       as it made its nightly rounds and came in through the window
       which had been left healthfully open.  It then proceeded to
       circle the room in the aimless fat-headed fashion habitual
       with bats, who are notoriously among the less intellectually
       gifted of God's creatures.  Show me a bat, says the old
       proverb, and I will show you something that ought to be in
       some kind of a home.
               A Pelican at Blandings, by P. G. Wodehouse

*bee
       This giant variety of its useful normal cousin normally
       appears in small groups, looking for raw material to produce
       the royal jelly needed to feed their queen.  On rare
       occasions, one may stumble upon a bee-hive, in which the
       queen bee is being well provided for, and guarded against
       intruders.

*beetle
       [ The Creator ] has an inordinate fondness for beetles.
               attributed to biologist J.B.S. Haldane

       The common name for the insects with wings shaped like
       shields (Coleoptera), one of the ten sub-species into
       which the insects are divided.  They are characterized by
       the shields (the front pair of wings) under which the back
       wings are folded.
               Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal

bell of opening
       "A bell, book and candle job."
       The Bursar sighed.  "We tried that, Archchancellor."
       The Archchancellor leaned towards him.
       "Eh?" he said.
       "I said, we tried that Archchancellor," said the Bursar loudly,
       directing his voice at the old man's ear.  "After dinner, you
       remember?  We used Humptemper's Names of the Ants and rang Old
       Tom."*
       "Did we, indeed.  Worked, did it?"
       "No, Archchancellor."

       * Old Tom was the single cracked bronze bell in the University
       bell tower.
               Eric, by Terry Pratchett

blindfold
       The blindfolding was performed by binding a piece of the
       yellowish linen whereof those of the Amahagger who condescended
       to wear anything in particular made their dresses tightly round
       the eyes.  This linen I afterwards discovered was taken from the
       tombs, and was not, as I had first supposed, of native
       manufacture.  The bandage was then knotted at the back of the
       head, and finally brought down again and the ends bound under
       the chin to prevent its slipping.  Ustane was, by the way, also
       blindfolded, I do not know why, unless it was from fear that she
       should impart the secrets of the route to us.
               She, by H. Rider Haggard

blind io
       On this particular day Blind Io, by dint of constant vigilance
       the chief of the gods, sat with his chin on his hand
       and looked at the gaming board on the red marble table in
       front of him.  Blind Io had got his name because, where his
       eye sockets should have been, there were nothing but two
       areas of blank skin.  His eyes, of which he had an impressively
       large number, led a semi-independent life of their
       own.  Several were currently hovering above the table.
           The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett

* blob, gelatinous cube, ooze, * ooze, *pudding, * slime
       These giant amoeboid creatures look like nothing more than
       puddles of slime, but they both live and move, feeding on
       metal or wood as well as the occasional dungeon explorer to
       supplement their diet.

       But we were not on a station platform.  We were on the track ahead
       as the nightmare, plastic column of fetid black iridescence oozed
       tightly onward through its fifteen-foot sinus, gathering unholy
       speed and driving before it a spiral, re-thickening cloud of the
       pallid abyss vapor.  It was a terrible, indescribable thing vaster
       than any subway train -- a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic
       bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes
       forming and unforming as pustules of greenish light all over the
       tunnel-filling front that bore down upon us, crushing the frantic
       penguins and slithering over the glistening floor that it and its
       kind had swept so evilly free of all litter.
               At the Mountains of Madness, by H.P. Lovecraft

bone devil
       Bone devils attack with weapons and with a great hooked tail
       which causes a loss of strength to those they sting.

book of the dead, candelabrum*, *candle
       Faustus: Come on Mephistopheles.  What shall we do?
       Mephistopheles: Nay, I know not.  We shall be cursed with bell,
       book, and candle.
       Faustus: How?  Bell, book, and candle, candle, book, and bell,
       Forward and backward, to curse Faustus to hell.
       Anon you shall hear a hog grunt, a calf bleat, and an ass bray,
       Because it is Saint Peter's holy day.
       (Enter all the Friars to sing the dirge)
               Doctor Faustus and Other Plays, by Christopher Marlowe

*boot*
       In Fantasyland these are remarkable in that they seldom or
       never wear out and are suitable for riding or walking in
       without the need of Socks.  Boots never pinch, rub, or get
       stones in them; nor do nails stick upwards into the feet from
       the soles.  They are customarily mid-calf length or knee-high,
       slip on and off easily and never smell of feet.  Unfortunately,
       the formula for making this splendid footwear is a closely
       guarded secret, possibly derived from nonhumans (see Dwarfs,
       Elves, and Gnomes).
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

boulder
       I worked the lever well under, and stretched my back; the end
       of the stone rose up, and I kicked the fulcrum under.  Then,
       when I was going to bear down, I remembered there was
       something to get out from below; when I let go of the lever,
       the stone would fall again.  I sat down to think, on the root
       of the oak tree; and, seeing it stand about the ground, I saw
       my way.  It was lucky I had brought a longer lever.  It would
       just reach to wedge under the oak root.
       Bearing it down so far would have been easy for a heavy man,
       but was a hard fight for me.  But this time I meant to do it
       if it killed me, because I knew it could be done.  Twice I
       got it nearly there, and twice the weight bore it up again;
       but when I flung myself on it the third time, I heard in my
       ears the sea-sound of Poseidon.  Then I knew this time I
       would do it; and so I did.
               The King Must Die, by Mary Renault

bow, * bow
See also: *longbow of diana
       "Stand to it, my hearts of gold," said the old bowman as he
       passed from knot to knot.  "By my hilt! we are in luck this
       journey.  Bear in mind the old saying of the Company."
       "What is that, Aylward?" cried several, leaning on their bows
       and laughing at him.
       "'Tis the master-bowyer's rede: 'Every bow well bent.  Every
       shaft well sent.  Every stave well nocked.  Every string well
       locked.'  There, with that jingle in his head, a bracer on
       his left hand, a shooting glove on his right, and a
       farthing's-worth of wax in his girdle, what more doth a
       bowman need?"
       "It would not be amiss," said Hordle John, "if under his
       girdle he had four farthings'-worth of wine."
               The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

brigit
       Brigit (Brigid, Bride, Banfile), which means the Exalted One,
       was the Celtic (continental European and Irish) fertility
       goddess.  She was originally celebrated on February first in
       the festival of Imbolc, which coincided with the beginning
       of lactation in ewes and was regarded in Scotland as the date
       on which Brigit deposed the blue-faced hag of winter.  The
       Christian calendar adopted the same date for the Feast of St.
       Brigit.  There is no record that a Christian saint ever
       actually existed, but in Irish mythology she became the
       midwife to the Virgin Mary.
               Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan

*broadsword
See also: stormbringer
       Bring me my broadsword
       And clear understanding.
       Bring me my cross of gold,
       As a talisman.
               "Broadsword" (refrain) by Ian Anderson

bugbear
       Bugbears are relatives of goblins, although they tend to be
       larger and more hairy.  They are aggressive carnivores and
       sometimes kill just for the treasure their victims may be
       carrying.

bugle
       'I read you by your bugle horn
       And by your palfrey good,
       I read you for a Ranger sworn
       To keep the King's green-wood.'
       'A Ranger, Lady, winds his horn,
       And 'tis at peep of light;
       His blast is heard at merry morn,
       And mine at dead of night.'
               Brignall Banks, by Sir Walter Scott

*camaxtli
       A classical Mesoamerican Aztec god, also known as Mixcoatl-
       Camaxtli (the Cloud Serpent), Camaxtli is the god of war.  He
       is also a deity of hunting and fire who received human
       sacrifice of captured prisoners.  According to tradition, the
       sun god Tezcatlipoca transformed himself into Mixcoatl-Camaxtli
       to make fire by twirling the sacred fire sticks.
               Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan

candy bar
       Only once a year, on his birthday, did Charlie Bucket ever
       get to taste a bit of chocolate.  The whole family saved up
       their money for that special occasion, and when the great
       day arrived, Charlie was always presented with one small
       chocolate bar to eat all by himself.  And each time he
       received it, on those marvelous birthday mornings, he would
       place it carefully in a small wooden box that he owned, and
       treasure it as though it were a bar of solid gold; and for
       the next few days, he would allow himself only to look at it,
       but never to touch it.  Then at last, when he could stand it
       no longer, he would peel back a tiny bit of the paper
       wrapping at one corner to expose a tiny bit of chocolate, and
       then he would take a tiny nibble - just enough to allow the
       lovely sweet taste to spread out slowly over his tongue.  The
       next day, he would take another tiny nibble, and so on, and
       so on.  And in this way, Charlie would make his ten-cent bar
       of birthday chocolate last him for more than a month.
               Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, by Roald Dahl

s*d*g*r* cat
       Imagine a sealed container, so perfectly constructed that no
       physical influence can pass either inwards or outwards across its
       walls.  Imagine that inside the container is a cat, and also a
       device that can be triggered by some quantum event.  If that event
       takes place, then the device smashes a phial containing cyanide and
       the cat is killed.  If the event does not take place, the cat lives
       on.  In Schroedinger's original version, the quantum event was the
       decay of a radioactive atom.  ...  To the outside observer, the cat
       is indeed in a linear combination of being alive and dead, and only
       when the container is finally opened would the cat's state vector
       collapse into one or the other.  On the other hand, to a (suitably
       protected) observer inside the container, the cat's state-vector
       would have collapsed much earlier, and the outside observer's
       linear combination has no relevance.
               The Emperor's New Mind, by Roger Penrose

*cat, kitten
       Well-known quadruped domestic animal from the family of
       predatory felines (Felis ochreata domestica), with a thick,
       soft pelt; often kept as a pet.  Various folklores have the
       cat associated with magic and the gods of ancient Egypt.

       So Ulthar went to sleep in vain anger; and when the people
       awakened at dawn - behold!  Every cat was back at his
       accustomed hearth!  Large and small, black, grey, striped,
       yellow and white, none was missing.  Very sleek and fat did
       the cats appear, and sonorous with purring content.
               The Cats of Ulthar, by H.P. Lovecraft

*centaur
       Of all the monsters put together by the Greek imagination
       the Centaurs (Kentauroi) constituted a class in themselves.
       Despite a strong streak of sensuality, in their make-up,
       their normal behaviour was moral, and they took a kindly
       thought of man's welfare.  The attempted outrage of Nessos on
       Deianeira, and that of the whole tribe of Centaurs on the
       Lapith women, are more than offset by the hospitality of
       Pholos and by the wisdom of Cheiron, physician, prophet,
       lyrist, and the instructor of Achilles.  Further, the
       Centaurs were peculiar in that their nature, which united the
       body of a horse with the trunk and head of a man, involved
       an unthinkable duplication of vital organs and important
       members.  So grotesque a combination seems almost un-Greek.
       These strange creatures were said to live in the caves and
       clefts of the mountains, myths associating them especially
       with the hills of Thessaly and the range of Erymanthos.
                    Mythology of all races, Vol. 1, pp. 270-271

centipede
       I observed here, what I had often seen before, that certain
       districts abound in centipedes.  Here they have light
       reddish bodies and blue legs; great myriapedes are seen
       crawling every where.  Although they do no harm, they excite
       in man a feeling of loathing.  Perhaps our appearance
       produces a similar feeling in the elephant and other large
       animals.  Where they have been much disturbed, they
       certainly look upon us with great distrust, as the horrid
       biped that ruins their peace.
               Travels and Researches in South Africa,
                       by Dr. David Livingstone

cerberus, kerberos
       Cerberus, (or Kerberos in Greek), was the three-headed dog
       that guarded the Gates of Hell.  He allowed any dead to enter,
       and likewise prevented them all from ever leaving.  He was
       bested only twice:  once when Orpheus put him to sleep by
       playing bewitching music on his lyre, and the other time when
       Hercules confronted him and took him to the world of the
       living (as his twelfth and last labor).

chameleon
       Name of a family (Chameleonidae) and race (Chameleo) of
       scaly lizards, especially the Chameleo vulgaris species,
       with a short neck, claws, a grasping tail, a long, extendible
       tongue and mutually independent moving eyes.  When it is
       scared or angry, it inflates itself and its transparent skin
       shows its blood:  the skin first appears greenish, then
       gradually changes color until it is a spotted red.  The final
       color depends on the background color as well, hence the
       (figurative) implication of unreliability.  [Capitalized:]
       a constellation of the southern hemisphere (Chameleo).
           Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal

charo*n
       When an ancient Greek died, his soul went to the nether world:
       the Hades.  To reach the nether world, the souls had to cross
       the river Styx, the river that separated the living from the
       dead.  The Styx could be crossed by ferry, whose shabby ferry-
       man, advanced in age, was called Charon.  The deceased's next-
       of-kin would place a coin under his tongue, to pay the ferry-
       man.

chest, large box
       Dantes rapidly cleared away the earth around the chest.  Soon
       the center lock appeared, then the handles at each end, all
       delicately wrought in the manner of that period when art made
       precious even the basest of metals.  He took the chest by the
       two handles and tried to lift it, but it was impossible.  He
       tried to open it; it was locked.  He inserted the sharp end
       of his pickaxe between the chest and the lid and pushed down
       on the handle.  The lid creaked, then flew open.
       Dantes was seized with a sort of giddy fever.  He cocked his
       gun and placed it beside him.  The he closed his eyes like a
       child, opened them and stood dumbfounded.
       The chest was divided into three compartments.  In the first
       were shining gold coins.  In the second, unpolished gold
       ingots packed in orderly stacks.  From the third compartment,
       which was half full, Dantes picked up handfuls of diamonds,
       pearls and rubies.  As they fell through his fingers in a
       glittering cascade, they gave forth the sound of hail beating
       against the windowpanes.
               The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas

chih*sung*tzu
       A Chinese rain god.

chromatic dragon, tiamat
       Tiamat is said to be the mother of evil dragonkind.  She is
       extremely vain.

*cloak*
See also: elven cloak, oilskin cloak
       Cloaks are the universal outer garb of everyone who is not a
       Barbarian.  It is hard to see why.  They are open in front
       and require you at most times to use one hand to hold them
       shut.  On horseback they leave the shirt-sleeved arms and
       most of the torso exposed to wind and Weather.  The OMTs
       [ Official Management Terms ] for Cloaks well express their
       difficulties.  They are constantly swirling and dripping
       and becoming heavy with water in rainy Weather, entangling
       with trees or swords, or needing to be pulled close
       around her/his shivering body.  This seems to suggest they
       are less than practical for anyone on an arduous Tour.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

cloud*
       I wandered lonely as a cloud
       That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
       When all at once I saw a crowd,
       A host, of golden daffodils;
       Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
       Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
               I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud, by William Wordsworth

cobra
       Darzee and his wife only cowered down in the nest without
       answering, for from the thick grass at the foot of the bush
       there came a low hiss -- a horrid cold sound that made
       Rikki-tikki jump back two clear feet.  Then inch by inch out of
       the grass rose up the head and spread hood of Nag, the big
       black cobra, and he was five feet long from tongue to tail.
       When he had lifted one-third of himself clear of the ground,
       he stayed balancing to and fro exactly as a dandelion-tuft
       balances in the wind, and he looked at Rikki-tikki with the
       wicked snake's eyes that never change their expression,
       whatever the snake may be thinking of.
       'Who is Nag?' said he.  'I am Nag.  The great God Brahm put
       his mark upon all our people, when the first cobra spread his
       hood to keep the sun off Brahm as he slept.  Look, and be
       afraid!'
               Rikki-tikki-tavi, by Rudyard Kipling

c*ckatrice
       Once in a great while, when the positions of the stars are
       just right, a seven-year-old rooster will lay an egg.  Then,
       along will come a snake, to coil around the egg, or a toad,
       to squat upon the egg, keeping it warm and helping it to
       hatch.  When it hatches, out comes a creature called basilisk,
       or cockatrice, the most deadly of all creatures.  A single
       glance from its yellow, piercing toad's eyes will kill both
       man and beast.  Its power of destruction is said to be so
       great that sometimes simply to hear its hiss can prove fatal.
       Its breath is so venomous that it causes all vegetation
       to wither.

       There is, however, one creature which can withstand the
       basilisk's deadly gaze, and this is the weasel.  No one knows
       why this is so, but although the fierce weasel can slay the
       basilisk, it will itself be killed in the struggle.  Perhaps
       the weasel knows the basilisk's fatal weakness:  if it ever
       sees its own reflection in a mirror it will perish instantly.
       But even a dead basilisk is dangerous, for it is said that
       merely touching its lifeless body can cause a person to
       sicken and die.
       Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)
         and other sources

cornuthaum
       He was dressed in a flowing gown with fur tippets which had
       the signs of the zodiac embroidered over it, with various
       cabalistic signs, such as triangles with eyes in them, queer
       crosses, leaves of trees, bones of birds and animals, and a
       planetarium whose stars shone like bits of looking-glass with
       the sun on them.  He had a pointed hat like a dunce's cap, or
       like the headgear worn by ladies of that time, except that
       the ladies were accustomed to have a bit of veil floating
       from the top of it.
                       The Once and Future King, by T.H. White

               "A wizard!" Dooley exclaimed, astounded.
               "At your service, sirs," said the wizard.  "How
       perceptive of you to notice.  I suppose my hat rather gives me
       away.  Something of a beacon, I don't doubt."  His hat was
       pretty much that, tall and cone-shaped with stars and crescent
       moons all over it.  All in all, it couldn't have been more
       wizardish.
                       The Elfin Ship, James P. Blaylock

couatl
       A mythical feathered serpent.  The couatl are very rare.

coyote
       This carnivore is known for its voracious appetite and
       inflated view of its own intelligence.

cram*
       If you want to know what cram is, I can only say that I don't
       know the recipe; but it is biscuitish, keeps good indefinitely,
       is supposed to be sustaining, and is certainly not entertaining,
       being in fact very uninteresting except as a chewing
       exercise.  It was made by the Lake-men for long journeys.
               The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

*crocodile
       A big animal with the appearance of a lizard, constituting
       an order of the reptiles (Loricata or Crocodylia), the
       crocodile is a large, dangerous predator native to tropical
       and subtropical climes.  It spends most of its time in large
       bodies of water.

croesus, kroisos, creosote
       Croesus (in Greek: Kroisos), the wealthy last king of Lydia;
       his empire was destroyed when he attacked Cyrus in 549, after
       the Oracle of Delphi (q.v.) had told him:  "if you attack the
       Persians, you will destroy a mighty empire".  Herodotus
       relates of his legendary conversation with Solon of Athens,
       who impressed upon him that being rich does not imply being
       happy and that no one should be considered fortunate before
       his death.

crom
       Warily Conan scanned his surroundings, all of his senses alert
       for signs of possible danger.  Off in the distance, he could
       see the familiar shapes of the Camp of the Duali tribe.
       Suddenly, the hairs on his neck stand on end as he detects the
       aura of evil magic in the air.  Without thought, he readies
       his weapon, and mutters under his breath:
       "By Crom, there will be blood spilt today."

       Conan the Avenger by Robert E. Howard, Bjorn Nyberg, and
         L. Sprague de Camp

crossbow*
       "God save thee, ancient Mariner!
       From the fiends, that plague thee thus! -
       Why look'st thou so?" - With my cross-bow
       I shot the Albatross.
               The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor
                 Coleridge

crystal ball
       You look into one of these and see vapours swirling like
       clouds.  These shortly clear away to show a sort of video
       without sound of something that is going to happen to you
       soon.  It is seldom good news.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

curse*
       Curses are longstanding ill-wishings which, in Fantasyland,
       often manifest as semisentient.  They have to be broken or
       dispelled.  The method varies according to the type and
       origin of the Curse:
       [...]
       4.  Curses on Rings and Swords.  You have problems.  Rings
       have to be returned whence they came, preferably at over a
       thousand degrees Fahrenheit, and the Curse means you won't
       want to do this.  Swords usually resist all attempts to
       raise their Curses.  Your best source is to hide the Sword
       or give it to someone you dislike.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

cwn*n
       A pack of snow-white, red-eared spectral hounds which
       sometimes took part in the kidnappings and raids the
       inhabitants of the underworld sometimes make on this world
       (the Wild Hunt).  They are associated in Wales with the sounds
       of migrating wild geese, and are said to be leading the souls
       of the damned to hell.  The phantom chase is usually heard or
       seen in midwinter and is accompanied by a howling wind.
               Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans

cyclops
       And after he had milked his cattle swiftly,
       he again took hold of two of my men
       and had them as his supper.
       Then I went, with a tub of red wine,
       to stand before the Cyclops, saying:
       "A drop of wine after all this human meat,
       so you can taste the delicious wine
       that is stored in our ship, Cyclops."
       He took the tub and emptied it.
       He appreciated the priceless wine that much
       that he promptly asked me for a second tub.
       "Give it", he said, "and give me your name as well".
                       ...
       Thrice I filled the tub,
       and after the wine had clouded his mind,
       I said to him, in a tone as sweet as honey:
       "You have asked my name, Cyclops?  Well,
       my name is very well known.  I'll give it to you,
       if you give me the gift you promised me as a guest.
       My name is Nobody.  All call me thus:
       my father and my mother and my friends."
       Ruthlessly he answered to this:
       "Nobody, I will eat you last of all;
       your host of friends will completely precede you.
       That will be my present to you, my friend."
       And after these words he fell down backwards,
       restrained by the all-restrainer Hupnos.
       His monstrous neck slid into the dust;
       the red wine squirted from his throat;
       the drunk vomited lumps of human flesh.
               The Odyssey, (chapter Epsilon), by Homer

*dagger
See also: sting
       Is this a dagger which I see before me,
       The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
       I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.
       Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
       To feeling as to sight? or art thou but
       A dagger of the mind, a false creation,
       Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
       I see thee yet, in form as palpable
       As this which now I draw.
               Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

dark one
       ... But he ruled rather by force and fear, if they might
       avail; and those who perceived his shadow spreading over the
       world called him the Dark Lord and named him the Enemy; and
       he gathered again under his government all the evil things of
       the days of Morgoth that remained on earth or beneath it,
       and the Orcs were at his command and multiplied like flies.
       Thus the Black Years began ...
               The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

demogorgon
       Demogorgon, the prince of demons, wallows in filth and can
       spread a quickly fatal illness to his victims while rending
       them.  He is a mighty spellcaster, and he can drain the life
       of mortals with a touch of his tail.

demon
       It is often very hard to discover what any given Demon looks
       like, apart from a general impression of large size, huge
       fangs, staring eyes, many limbs, and an odd color; but all
       accounts agree that Demons are very powerful, very Magic (in
       a nonhuman manner), and made of some substance that can squeeze
       through a keyhole yet not be pierced with a Sword.  This makes
       them difficult to deal with, even on the rare occasions when
       they are friendly.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

dingo
       A wolflike wild dog, Canis dingo, of Australia, having a
       reddish- or yellowish-brown coat, believed to have been
       introduced by the aborigines.
       Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language

dispater
       Dispater is an arch-devil who rules the city of Dis.  He is
       a powerful mage.

djinn*
       The djinn are genies from the elemental plane of Air.  There,
       among their kind, they have their own societies.  They are
       sometimes encountered on earth and may even be summoned here
       to perform some service for powerful wizards.  The wizards
       often leave them about for later service, safely tucked away
       in a flask or lamp.  Once in a while, such a tool is found by
       a lucky rogue, and some djinn are known to be so grateful
       when released that they might grant their rescuer a wish.

*dog, pup*
See also: hachi, slasher, sirius
       A domestic animal, the tame dog (Canis familiaris), of
       which numerous breeds exist.  The male is called a dog,
       while the female is called a bitch.  Because of its known
       loyalty to man and gentleness with children, it is the
       world's most popular domestic animal.  It can easily be
       trained to perform various tasks.

*door, doorway
       Through me you pass into the city of woe:
       Through me you pass into eternal pain:
       Through me among the people lost for aye.
       Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:
       To rear me was the task of power divine,
       Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.
       Before me things create were none, save things
       Eternal, and eternal I endure.
       All hope abandon ye who enter here.
               The Inferno, from The Divine Comedy of Dante
                       Alighieri, translated by H.F. Cary

doppelganger
       Xander: Let go!  I have to kill the demon bot!
       Xander Double (grabbing the gun): Anya, get out of the way.
       Buffy: Xander!
       Xander Double: That's all right, Buffy.  I have him.
       Xander: No, Buffy, I'm me.  Help me!
       Anya: My gun, he's got my gun.
       Riley: You own a gun?
       Buffy: Xander, gun holding Xander, give it to me.
       Anya: Buffy, which one's real?
       Xander: I am.
       Xander Double: No, I am.
           Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Episode 5.03, "The Replacement"

*dragon, *xoth
       In the West the dragon was the natural enemy of man.  Although
       preferring to live in bleak and desolate regions, whenever it
       was seen among men it left in its wake a trail of destruction
       and disease.  Yet any attempt to slay this beast was a perilous
       undertaking.  For the dragon's assailant had to contend
       not only with clouds of sulphurous fumes pouring from its fire
       breathing nostrils, but also with the thrashings of its tail,
       the most deadly part of its serpent-like body.
       Mythical Beasts by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)

       "One whom the dragons will speak with," he said, "that is a
       dragonlord, or at least that is the center of the matter.  It's
       not a trick of mastering the dragons, as most people think.
       Dragons have no masters.  The question is always the same, with
       a dragon:  will he talk to you or will he eat you?  If you can
       count upon his doing the former, and not doing the latter, why
       then you're a dragonlord."
               The Tombs of Atuan, by Ursula K. Le Guin

*drum*
       Many travelers have seen the drums of the great apes, and
       some have heard the sounds of their beating and the noise of
       the wild, weird revelry of these first lords of the jungle,
       but Tarzan, Lord Greystoke, is, doubtless, the only human
       being who ever joined in the fierce, mad, intoxicating revel
       of the Dum-Dum.
               Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs

dwarf*
       Dwarfs have faces like men (ugly men, with wrinkled, leathery
       skins), but are generally either flat-footed, duck-footed, or
       have feet pointing backwards.  They are of the earth, earthy,
       living in the darkest of caverns and venturing forth only
       with the cloaks by which they can make themselves invisible,
       and others disguised as toads.  Miners often come across them,
       and sometimes establish reasonably close relations with them.
       ... The miners of Cornwall were always delighted to hear a
       bucca busily mining away, for all dwarfs have an infallible
       nose for precious metals.
       Among other things, dwarfs are rightly valued for their skill
       as blacksmiths and jewellers: they made Odin his famous spear
       Gungnir, and Thor his hammer; for Freya they designed a
       magnificent necklace, and for Frey a golden boar.  And in their
       spare time they are excellent bakers.  Ironically, despite
       their odd feet, they are particularly fond of dancing.  They
       can also see into the future, and consequently are excellent
       meteorologists.  They can be free with presents to people
       they like, and a dwarvish gift is likely to turn to gold in
       the hand.  But on the whole they are a snappish lot.
           The Immortals, by Derek and Julia Parker

earendil, elwing
       In after days, when because of the triumph of Morgoth Elves and
       Men became estranged, as he most wished, those of the Elven-race
       that lived still in Middle-earth waned and faded, and Men usurped
       the sunlight.  Then the Quendi wandered in the lonely places of the
       great lands and the isles, and took to the moonlight and the
       starlight, and to the woods and the caves, becoming as shadows
       and memories, save those who ever and anon set sail into the West
       and vanished from Middle-earth.  But in the dawn of years Elves
       and Men were allies and held themselves akin, and there were some
       among Men that learned the wisdom of the Eldar, and became great
       and valiant among the captains of the Noldor.  And in the glory
       and beauty of the Elves, and in their fate, full share had the
       offspring of elf and mortal, Earendil, and Elwing, and Elrond
       their child.
               The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien

eel, giant eel
       The behaviour of eels in fresh water extends the air of
       mystery surrounding them.  They move freely into muddy, silty
       bottoms of lakes, lying buried in the daylight hours in summer.
       [...]  Eels are voracious carnivores, feeding mainly at
       night and consuming a wide variety of fishes and invertebrate
       creatures.  Contrary to earlier thinking, eels seek living
       rather than dead creatures and are not habitual eaters of
       carrion.
           Freshwater Fishes of Canada, by Scott and Crossman

egg
       But I asked why not keep it and let the hen sit on it till it
       hatched, and then we could see what would come out of it.
       "Nothing good, I'm certain of that," Mom said.  "It would
       probably be something horrible.  But just remember, if it's a
       crocodile or a dragon or something like that, I won't have it
       in my house for one minute."
               The Enormous Egg, by Oliver Butterworth

elbereth
       ... Even as they stepped over the threshold a single clear
       voice rose in song.

               A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
               silivren penna miriel
               o menel aglar elenath!
               Na-chaered palan-diriel
               o galadhremmin ennorath,
               Fanuilos, le linnathon
               nef aear, si nef aearon!

       Frodo halted for a moment, looking back.  Elrond was in his
       chair and the fire was on his face like summer-light upon the
       trees.  Near him sat the Lady Arwen.  [...]
       He stood still enchanted, while the sweet syllables of the
       elvish song fell like clear jewels of blended word and melody.
       "It is a song to Elbereth," said Bilbo.  "They will sing that,
       and other songs of the Blessed Realm, many times tonight.
       Come on!"
          The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

electric eel
       South-American fish (Gymnotus electricus), living in fresh
       water.  Shaped like a serpent, it can grow up to 2 metres.
       This eel is known for its electrical organ which enables it
       to paralyse creatures up to the size of a horse.
          Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal

*elemental
       Elementals are manifestations of the basic nature of the
       universe.  There are four known forms of elementals:  air, fire,
       water, and earth.  Some mystics have postulated the necessity
       for a fifth type, the spirit elemental, but none have ever
       been encountered, at least on this plane of existence.

*elf*, elvenking, elven archeologist, elven cave*man, elven healer,
elven samurai, elven wizard
       The Elves sat round the fire upon the grass or upon the sawn
       rings of old trunks.  Some went to and fro bearing cups and
       pouring drinks; others brought food on heaped plates and
       dishes.
       "This is poor fare," they said to the hobbits; "for we are
       lodging in the greenwood far from our halls.  If ever you are
       our guests at home, we will treat you better."
       "It seems to me good enough for a birthday-party," said Frodo.
       Pippin afterwards recalled little of either food or drink, for
       his mind was filled with the light upon the elf-faces, and the
       sound of voices so various and so beautiful that he felt in a
       waking dream.  [...]
       Sam could never describe in words, nor picture clearly to
       himself, what he felt or thought that night, though it remained
       in his memory as one of the chief events of his life.  The
       nearest he ever got was to say: "Well, sir, if I could grow
       apples like that, I would call myself a gardener.  But it was
       the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean."
          The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

elven cloak
       The Elves next unwrapped and gave to each of the Company the
       clothes they had brought.  For each they had provided a hood
       and cloak, made according to his size, of the light but warm
       silken stuff that the Galadrim wove.  It was hard to say of
       what colour they were: grey with the hue of twilight under
       the trees they seemed to be; and yet if they were moved, or
       set in another light, they were green as shadowed leaves, or
       brown as fallow fields by night, dusk-silver as water under
       the stars.
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

emerald
       'Put off that mask of burning gold
       With emerald eyes.'
       'O no, my dear, you make so bold
       To find if hearts be wild and wise,
       And yet not cold.'

       'I would but find what's there to find,
       Love or deceit.'
       'It was the mask engaged your mind,
       And after set your heart to beat,
       Not what's behind.'

       'But lest you are my enemy,
       I must enquire.'
       'O no, my dear, let all that be;
       What matter, so there is but fire
       In you, in me?'
               The Mask, by W.B. Yeats

erinys, erinyes
       These female-seeming devils named after the Furies of mythology
       attack hand to hand and poison their unwary victims as well.

ettin
       The two-headed giant, or ettin, is a vicious and unpredictable
       hunter that stalks by night and eats any meat it can catch.

excalibur
       At first only its tip was visible, but then it rose, straight,
       proud, all that was noble and great and wondrous.  The tip of
       the blade pointed toward the moon, as if it would cleave it
       in two.  The blade itself gleamed like a beacon in the night.
       There was no light source for the sword to be reflecting
       from, for the moon had darted behind a cloud in fear.  The
       sword was glowing from the intensity of its strength and
       power and knowledge that it was justice incarnate, and that
       after a slumber of uncounted years its time had again come.
       After the blade broke the surface, the hilt was visible, and
       holding the sword was a single strong, yet feminine hand,
       wearing several rings that bore jewels sparkling with the
       blue-green color of the ocean.
               Knight Life, by Peter David

expensive camera
       There was a time when Rincewind had quite liked the iconoscope.
       He believed, against all experience, that the world was
       fundamentally understandable, and that if he could only equip
       himself with the right mental toolbox he could take the back off
       and see how it worked.  He was, of course, dead wrong.  The
       iconoscope didn't take pictures by letting light fall onto
       specially treated paper, as he had surmised, but by the far
       simpler method of imprisoning a small demon with a good eye for
       colour and a speedy hand with a paintbrush.  He had been very
       upset to find that out.
               The Light Fantastic, by Terry Pratchett

eye of the aethiopica
       This is a powerful amulet of ESP.  In addition to its standard
       powers, it regenerates the energy of anyone who carries
       it, allowing them to cast spells more often.  It also reduces
       any spell damage to the person who carries it by half, and
       protects from magic missiles.  Finally, when invoked it has
       the power to instantly open a portal to any other area of the
       dungeon, allowing its invoker to travel quickly between
       areas.

eyes of the overworld
       ... and finally there is "the Eyes of the Overworld".  This
       obscure artifact pushes the wearer's view sense into the
       "overworld" -- another name for a segment of the Astral Plane.
       Usually, there is nothing to be seen.  However, the wearer
       is also able to look back and see the area around herself,
       much like looking on a map.  Why anyone would want to ...

figurine*
       Then it appeared in Paris at just about the time that Paris
       was full of Carlists who had to get out of Spain.  One of
       them must have brought it with him, but, whoever he was, it's
       likely he knew nothing about its real value.  It had been --
       no doubt as a precaution during the Carlist trouble in Spain
       -- painted or enameled over to look like nothing more than a
       fairly interesting black statuette.  And in that disguise,
       sir, it was, you might say, kicked around Paris for seventy
       years by private owners and dealers too stupid to see what
       it was under the skin.
               The Maltese Falcon, by Dashiell Hammett

floating eye
       Floating eyes, not surprisingly, are large, floating eyeballs
       which drift about the dungeon.  Though not dangerous in and
       of themselves, their power to paralyse those who gaze at
       their large eye in combat is widely feared.  Many are the
       tales of those who struck a floating eye, were paralysed by
       its mystic powers, and then nibbled to death by some other
       creature that lurked around nearby.

flesh golem
       With an anxiety that almost amounted to agony, I collected
       the instruments of life around me, that I might infuse a spark
       of being into the lifeless thing that lay at my feet.  It was
       already one in the morning; the rain pattered dismally against
       the panes, and my candle was nearly burnt out, when, by the
       glimmer of the half-extinguished light, I saw the dull yellow
       eye of the creature open; it breathed hard, and a convulsive
       motion agitated its limbs.

       How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how
       delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I
       had endeavoured to form?  His limbs were in proportion, and I
       had selected his features as beautiful.  Beautiful!--Great God!
       His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and
       arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and
       flowing; his teeth of a pearly whiteness; but these luxuriances
       only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes, that
       seemed almost of the same colour as the dun white sockets in
       which they were set, his shrivelled complexion and straight
       black lips.
               Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

*flute
       With this thou canst do mighty deeds
       And change men's passions for thy needs:
       A man's despair with joy allay,
       Turn bachelors old to lovers gay.
               The Magic Flute, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

fog cloud
       The fog comes
       on little cat feet.

       It sits looking
       over harbor and city
       on silent haunches
       and then moves on.
            Fog, by Carl Sandburg

fountain
       Rest! This little Fountain runs
       Thus for aye: -- It never stays
       For the look of summer suns,
       Nor the cold of winter days.
       Whose'er shall wander near,
       When the Syrian heat is worst,
       Let him hither come, nor fear
       Lest he may not slake his thirst:
       He will find this little river
       Running still, as bright as ever.
       Let him drink, and onward hie,
       Bearing but in thought, that I,
       Erotas, bade the Naiad fall,
       And thank the great god Pan for all!
               For a Fountain, by Bryan Waller Procter

fox
       One hot summer's day a Fox was strolling through an orchard
       till he came to a bunch of Grapes just ripening on a vine
       which had been trained over a lofty branch. "Just the thing
       to quench my thirst," quoth he. Drawing back a few paces, he
       took a run and a jump, and just missed the bunch. Turning
       round again with a One, Two, Three, he jumped up, but with
       no greater success. Again and again he tried after the
       tempting morsel, but at last had to give it up, and walked
       away with his nose in the air, saying: "I am sure they are
       sour."
               Aesop's Fables

*fung*
       Fungi, division of simple plants that lack chlorophyll, true
       stems, roots, and leaves.  Unlike algae, fungi cannot
       photosynthesize, and live as parasites or saprophytes.  The
       division comprises the slime molds and true fungi.  True
       fungi are multicellular (with the exception of yeasts); the
       body of most true fungi consists of slender cottony
       filaments, or hyphae.  All fungi are capable of asexual
       reproduction by cell division, budding, fragmentation, or
       spores.  Those that reproduce sexually alternate a sexual
       generation (gametophyte) with a spore-producing one.  The
       four classes of true fungi are the algaelike fungi (e.g.,
       black bread mold and downy mildew), sac fungi (e.g., yeasts,
       powdery mildews, truffles, and blue and green molds such as
       Penicillium), basidium fungi (e.g., mushrooms and puffballs)
       and imperfect fungi (e.g., species that cause athlete's foot
       and ringworm).  Fungi help decompose organic matter (important
       in soil renewal); are valuable as a source of antibiotics,
       vitamins, and various chemicals; and for their role in
       fermentation, e.g., in bread and alcoholic beverage
       production.
               The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia

*gargoyle
       And so it came to pass that while Man ruled on Earth, the
       gargoyles waited, lurking, hidden from the light.  Reborn
       every 600 years in Man's reckoning of time, the gargoyles
       joined battle against Man to gain dominion over the Earth.

       In each coming, the gargoyles were nearly destroyed by Men
       who flourished in greater numbers.  Now it has been so many
       hundreds of years that it seems the ancient statues and
       paintings of gargoyles are just products of Man's
       imagination.  In this year, with Man's thoughts turned toward
       the many ills he has brought among himself, Man has forgotten
       his most ancient adversary, the gargoyles.
       Excerpt from the opening narration to the movie
               Gargoyles, written by Stephen and Elinor Karpf

*garlic
       1 November - All day long we have travelled, and at a good
       speed.  The horses seem to know that they are being kindly
       treated, for they go willingly their full stage at best
       speed.  We have now had so many changes and find the same
       thing so constantly that we are encouraged to think that the
       journey will be an easy one.  Dr. Van Helsing is laconic, he
       tells the farmers that he is hurrying to Bistritz, and pays
       them well to make the exchange of horses.  We get hot soup,
       or coffee, or tea, and off we go.  It is a lovely country.
       Full of beauties of all imaginable kinds, and the people are
       brave, and strong, and simple, and seem full of nice
       qualities.  They are very, very superstitious.  In the first
       house where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the
       scar on my forehead, she crossed herself and put out two
       fingers towards me, to keep off the evil eye.  I believe they
       went to the trouble of putting an extra amount of garlic into
       our food, and I can't abide garlic.  Ever since then I have
       taken care not to take off my hat or veil, and so have
       escaped their suspicions.
               Dracula, by Bram Stoker

geryon
       Geryon is an arch-devil sometimes called the Wild Beast,
       attacking with his claws and poison sting.  His ranking in
       Hell is rumored to be quite low.

*ghost
       And now the souls of the dead who had gone below came swarming
       up from Erebus -- fresh brides, unmarried youths, old men
       with life's long suffering behind them, tender young girls
       still nursing this first anguish in their hearts, and a great
       throng of warriors killed in battle, their spear-wounds gaping
       yet and all their armour stained with blood.  From this
       multitude of souls, as they fluttered to and fro by the
       trench, there came a moaning that was horrible to hear.
       Panic drained the blood from my cheeks.
            The Odyssey, (chapter Lambda), by Homer

ghoul
       The forces of the gloom know each other, and are strangely
       balanced by each other.  Teeth and claws fear what they cannot
       grasp.  Blood-drinking bestiality, voracious appetites, hunger
       in search of prey, the armed instincts of nails and jaws which
       have for source and aim the belly, glare and smell out
       uneasily the impassive spectral forms straying beneath a
       shroud, erect in its vague and shuddering robe, and which seem
       to them to live with a dead and terrible life.  These
       brutalities, which are only matter, entertain a confused fear
       of having to deal with the immense obscurity condensed into an
       unknown being.  A black figure barring the way stops the wild
       beast short.  That which emerges from the cemetery intimidates
       and disconcerts that which emerges from the cave; the
       ferocious fear the sinister; wolves recoil when they encounter
       a ghoul.
               Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo

*giant, giant humanoid
       Giants have always walked the earth, though they are rare in
       these times.  They range in size from little over nine feet
       to a towering twenty feet or more.  The larger ones use huge
       boulders as weapons, hurling them over large distances.  All
       types of giants share a love for men - roasted, boiled, or
       fried.  Their table manners are legendary.

gnome*, gnomish wizard
       ...  And then a gnome came by, carrying a bundle, an old
       fellow three times as large as an imp and wearing clothes of
       a sort, especially a hat.  And he was clearly just as frightened
       as the imps though he could not go so fast.  Ramon Alonzo
       saw that there must be some great trouble that was vexing
       magical things; and, since gnomes speak the language of men, and
       will answer if spoken to gently, he raised his hat, and asked
       of the gnome his name.  The gnome did not stop his hasty
       shuffle a moment as he answered 'Alaraba' and grabbed the rim
       of his hat but forgot to doff it.
       'What is the trouble, Alaraba?'  said Ramon Alonzo.
       'White magic.  Run!'  said the gnome ..
               The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany

       "Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Harry told Ron as
       they crossed the lawn.
       "Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron,
       bent double with his head in a peony bush, "like fat little
       Santa Clauses with fishing rods..."
       There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush shuddered,
       and Ron straightened up.  "This is a gnome," he said grimly.
       "Geroff me! Gerroff me!" squealed the gnome.
       It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus.  It was small and
       leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head exactly like
       a potato.  Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him
       with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles
       and turned it upside down.
         Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling

goblin
       Now goblins are cruel, wicked, and bad-hearted.  They make
       no beautiful things, but they make many clever ones.  They
       can tunnel and mine as well as any but the most skilled
       dwarves, when they take the trouble, though they are usually
       untidy and dirty.  Hammers, axes, swords, daggers, pickaxes,
       tongs, and also instruments of torture, they make very well,
       or get other people to make to their design, prisoners and
       slaves that have to work till they die for want of air and
       light.
            The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

god, goddess
       Goddesses and Gods operate in ones, threesomes, or whole
       pantheons of nine or more (see Religion).  Most of them claim
       to have made the world, and this is indeed a likely claim in
       the case of threesomes or pantheons:  Fantasyland does have
       the air of having been made by a committee.  But all Goddesses
       and Gods, whether they say they made the world or not, have
       very detailed short-term plans for it which they are determined
       to carry out.  Consequently they tend to push people into the
       required actions by the use of coincidence or Prophecy, or just
       by narrowing down your available choices of what to do next:
       if a deity is pushing you, things will go miserably badly until
       there is only one choice left to you.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

gold, gold piece, zorkmid
       A metal of characteristic yellow colour, the most precious
       metal used as a common commercial medium of exchange.  Symbol,
       Au; at. no. 79; at. wt. 197.2.  It is the most malleable
       and ductile of all metals, and very heavy (sp. gr., 19.3).
       It is quite unalterable by heat, moisture, and most
       corrosive agents, and therefore well suited for its use in
       coin and jewelry.
            Webster's New International Dictionary
                 of the English Language, Second Edition

gold golem
       The bellows he set away from the fire, and gathered all the tools
       wherewith he wrought into a silver chest; and with a sponge wiped
       he his face and his two hands withal, and his mighty neck and
       shaggy breast, and put upon him a tunic, and grasped a stout staff,
       and went forth halting; but there moved swiftly to support their
       lord handmaidens wrought of gold in the semblance of living maids.
       In them is understanding in their hearts, and in them speech and
       strength, and they know cunning handiwork by gift of the immortal
       gods.
               The Iliad, by Homer

*golem
See also: gold golem, flesh golem
       "The original story harks back, so they say, to the sixteenth
       century.  Using long-lost formulas from the Kabbala, a rabbi is
       said to have made an artificial man -- the so-called Golem -- to
       help ring the bells in the Synagogue and for all kinds of other
       menial work.
       "But he hadn't made a full man, and it was animated by some sort
       of vegetable half-life.  What life it had, too, so the story
       runs, was only derived from the magic charm placed behind its
       teeth each day, that drew down to itself what was known as the
       `free sidereal strength of the universe.'
       "One evening, before evening prayers, the rabbi forgot to take
       the charm out of the Golem's mouth, and it fell into a frenzy.
       It raged through the dark streets, smashing everything in its
       path, until the rabbi caught up with it, removed the charm, and
       destroyed it.  Then the Golem collapsed, lifeless.  All that was
       left of it was a small clay image, which you can still see in
       the Old Synagogue." ...
           The Golem, by Gustav Meyrink

grave
       "Who'd care to dig 'em," said the old, old man,
       "Those six feet marked in chalk?
       Much I talk, more I walk;
       Time I were buried," said the old, old man.
               Three Songs to the Same Tune, by W.B. Yeats

grayswandir
       Why had I been wearing Grayswandir?  Would another weapon have
       affected a Logrus-ghost as strongly?  Had it really been my
       father, then, who had brought me here?  And had he felt I might
       need the extra edge his weapon could provide?  I wanted to
       think so, to believe that he had been more than a Pattern-ghost.
               Knight of Shadows, by Roger Zelazny

*grease
       ANOINT, v.t.  To grease a king or other great functionary
       already sufficiently slippery.
               The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce

gremlin
       The gremlin is a highly intelligent and completely evil
       creature.  It lives to torment other creatures and will go
       to great lengths to inflict pain or cause injury.

       Suddenly, Wilson thought about war, about the newspaper
       stories which recounted the alleged existence of creatures in
       the sky who plagued the Allied pilots in their duties.  They
       called them gremlins, he remembered.  Were there, actually,
       such beings?  Did they, truly, exist up here, never falling,
       riding on the wind, apparently of bulk and weight, yet
       impervious to gravity?
       He was thinking that when the man appeared again.
               Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, by Richard Matheson

grid bug
       These electronically based creatures are not native to this
       universe.  They appear to come from a world whose laws of
       motion are radically different from ours.

       Tron looked to his mate and pilot.  "I'm going to check on
       the beam connection, Yori.  You two can keep a watch out for
       grid bugs."  Tron paced forward along the slender catwalk
       that still seemed awfully insubstantial to Flynn, though he
       knew it to be amazingly sturdy.  He gazed after Tron, asking
       himself what in the world a grid bug was, and hoping that the
       beam connection -- to which he'd given no thought whatsoever
       until this moment -- was healthy and sound."
           Tron, novel by Brian Daley, story by Steven Lisberger

gunyoki
       The samurai's last meal before battle.  It was usually made
       up of cooked chestnuts, dried seaweed, and sake.

hachi
       Hachi was a dog that went with his master, a professor, to
       the Shibuya train station every morning.  In the afternoon,
       when his master was to return from work Hachi would be there
       waiting.  One day his master died at the office, and did not
       return.  For over ten years Hachi returned to the station
       every afternoon to wait for his master.  When Hachi died a
       statue was erected on the station platform in his honor.  It
       is said to bring you luck if you touch his statue.

*harp
       A triangular stringed instrument, often Magic.  Even when not
       Magic, a Harp is surprisingly portable and tough and can be
       carried everywhere on the back of the Bard or Harper in all
       weathers.  A Harp seldom goes out of tune and never warps.
       Its strings break only in very rare instances, usually
       because the Harper is sulking or crossed in love.  This is
       just as well as no one seems to make or sell spare strings.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

       After breakfast was over, the ogre called out: "Wife, wife,
       bring me my golden harp."  So she brought it and put it on
       the table before him.  Then he said: "Sing!" and the golden
       harp sang most beautifully.  And it went on singing till the
       ogre fell asleep, and commenced to snore like thunder.
       Then Jack lifted up the copper-lid very quietly and got down
       like a mouse and crept on hands and knees till he came to the
       table, when up he crawled, caught hold of the golden harp and
       dashed with it towards the door.  But the harp called out
       quite loud: "Master!  Master!" and the ogre woke up just in
       time to see Jack running off with his harp.
               Jack and the Beanstalk, from English Fairy Tales,
                 by Joseph Jacobs

heart of ahriman
       The other three drew in their breath sharply, and the dark,
       powerful man who stood at the head of the sarcophagus whispered:
       "The Heart of Ahriman!"  The other lifted a quick hand
       for silence.  Somewhere a dog began howling dolefully, and a
       stealthy step padded outside the barred and bolted door. ...
       But none looked aside from the mummy case over which the man
       in the ermine-trimmed robe was now moving the great flaming
       jewel, while he muttered an incantation that was old when
       Atlantis sank.  The glare of the gem dazzled their eyes, so
       that they could not be sure what they saw; but with a
       splintering crash, the carven lid of the sarcophagus burst
       outward as if from some irresistible pressure applied from
       within and the four men, bending eagerly forward, saw the
       occupant -- a huddled, withered, wizened shape, with dried
       brown limbs like dead wood showing through moldering bandages.
       "Bring that thing back?" muttered the small dark man who
       stood on the right, with a short, sardonic laugh.  "It is
       ready to crumble at a touch.  We are fools ---"
               Conan The Conqueror, by Robert E. Howard

hell hound*
       Hell hounds are fire-breathing canines from another plane of
       existence brought here in the service of evil beings.  A hell
       hound resembles a large hound with rust-red or red-brown fur,
       and red, glowing eyes.  The markings, teeth, and tongue are
       soot black.  It stands two to three feet high at the shoulder
       and has a distinct odour of smoke and sulphur.  The baying
       sounds it makes have an eerie, hollow tone that sends a shiver
       through any who hear them.

hermes
       Messenger and herald of the Olympians.  Being required to do
       a great deal of travelling and speaking in public, he became
       the god of eloquence, travellers, merchants, and thieves.  He
       was one of the most energetic of the Greek gods, a
       Machiavellian character full of trickery and sexual vigour.
       Like other Greek gods, he is endowed with not-inconsiderable
       sexual prowess which he directs towards countryside nymphs.
       He is a god of boundaries, guardian of graves and patron deity
       of shepherds.  He is usually depicted as a handsome young
       man wearing winged golden sandals and holding a magical
       herald's staff consisting of intertwined serpents, the
       kerykeion.  He is reputedly the only being able to find his way
       to the underworld ferry of Charon and back again.  He is said
       to have invented, among other things, the lyre, Pan's Pipes,
       numbers, the alphabet, weights and measures, and sacrificing.

hezrou
       "Hezrou" is the common name for the type II demon.  It is
       among the weaker of demons, but still quite formidable.

hippocrates
       Greek physician, recognized as the father of medicine.  He
       is believed to have been born on the island of Cos, to have
       studied under his father, a physician, to have traveled for
       some time, perhaps studying in Athens, and to have then
       returned to practice, teach, and write at Cos.  The
       Hippocratic or Coan school that formed around him was of
       enormous importance in separating medicine from superstition
       and philosophic speculation, placing it on a strictly
       scientific plane based on objective observation and critical
       deductive reasoning.
               The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition

hobbit
       Hobbits are an unobtrusive but very ancient people, more
       numerous formerly than they are today; for they love peace
       and quiet and good tilled earth:  a well-ordered and well-
       farmed countryside was their favourite haunt.  They do not
       and did not understand or like machines more complicated
       than a forge-bellows, a water-mill, or a handloom, although
       they were skillful with tools.  Even in ancient days they
       were, as a rule, shy of "the Big Folk", as they call us, and
       now they avoid us with dismay and are becoming hard to find.
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

hobgoblin
       Hobgoblin.  Used by the Puritans and in later times for
       wicked goblin spirits, as in Bunyan's "Hobgoblin nor foul
       friend", but its more correct use is for the friendly spirits
       of the brownie type.  In "A midsummer night's dream" a
       fairy says to Shakespeare's Puck:
               Those that Hobgoblin call you, and sweet Puck,
               You do their work, and they shall have good luck:
               Are you not he?
       and obviously Puck would not wish to be called a hobgoblin
       if that was an ill-omened word.
       Hobgoblins are on the whole, good-humoured and ready to be
       helpful, but fond of practical joking, and like most of the
       fairies rather nasty people to annoy.  Boggarts hover on the
       verge of hobgoblindom.  Bogles are just over the edge.
       One Hob mentioned by Henderson, was Hob Headless who haunted
       the road between Hurworth and Neasham, but could not cross
       the little river Kent, which flowed into the Tess.  He was
       exorcised and laid under a large stone by the roadside for
       ninety-nine years and a day.  If anyone was so unwary as to
       sit on that stone, he would be unable to quit it for ever.
       The ninety-nine years is nearly up, so trouble may soon be
       heard of on the road between Hurworth and Neasham.
               A Dictionary of Fairies, by Katharine Briggs

hom*nculus
       A homunculus is a creature summoned by a mage to perform some
       particular task.  They are particularly good at spying.  They
       are smallish creatures, but very agile.  They can put their
       victims to sleep with a venomous bite, but due to their size,
       the effect does not last long on humans.

       "Tothapis cut him off.  'Be still and hearken.  You will travel
       aboard the sacred wingboat.  Of it you may not have heard; but
       it will bear you thither in a night and a day and a night.
       With you will go a homunculus that can relay your words to me,
       and mine to you, across the leagues between at the speed of
       thought.'"
               Conan the Rebel, by Poul Anderson

*hook
       But as for Queequeg -- why, Queequeg sat there among them --
       at the head of the table, too, it so chanced; as cool as an
       icicle.  To be sure I cannot say much for his breeding.  His
       greatest admirer could not have cordially justified his
       bringing his harpoon into breakfast with him, and using it
       there without ceremony; reaching over the table with it, to
       the imminent jeopardy of many heads, and grappling the
       beefsteaks towards him.
               Moby Dick, by Herman Melville

*horn
See also: unicorn horn
       Roland hath set the Olifant to his mouth,
       He grasps it well, and with great virtue sounds.
       High are those peaks, afar it rings and loud,
       Thirty great leagues they hear its echoes mount.
       So Charles heard, and all his comrades round;
       Then said that King: "Battle they do, our counts!"
       And Guenelun answered, contrarious:
       "That were a lie, in any other mouth."
               The Song of Roland

horned devil
       Horned devils lack any real special abilities, though they
       are quite difficult to kill.

*horse
See also: horsem*
       King Richard III: A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
       Catesby: Withdraw, my lord; I'll help you to a horse.
       King Richard III: Slave, I have set my life upon a cast,
                         And I will stand the hazard of the die:
                         I think there be six Richmonds in the field;
                         Five have I slain to-day instead of him.
                         A horse! a horse! my kingdom for a horse!
               King Richard III, by William Shakespeare

*horsem*, rider*, death, famine, pestilence, war, hunger
       [Pestilence:] And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals,
       and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four
       beasts saying, Come and see.  And I saw, and behold a white
       horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given
       unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

       [War:] And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the
       second beast say, Come and see.  And there went out another
       horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon
       to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one
       another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

       [Famine:] And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the
       third beast say, Come and see.  And I beheld, and lo a black
       horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his
       hand.  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say,
       A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley
       for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

       [Death:] And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the
       voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.  And I looked, and
       behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death,
       and Hell followed with him.  And power was given unto them over
       the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with
       hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
            Revelations of John, 6:1-8

huan*ti
       The first of five mythical Chinese emperors, Huan Ti is known
       as the yellow emperor.  He rules the moving heavens, as
       opposed to the dark heavens.  He is an inventor, said to
       have given mankind among other things, the wheel, armour, and
       the compass.  He is the god of fortune telling and war.

hu*h*eto*l, minion of huhetotl
       Huehuetotl, or Huhetotl, which means Old God, was the Aztec
       (classical Mesoamerican) god of fire.  He is generally
       associated with paternalism and one of the group classed
       as the Xiuhtecuhtli complex.  He is known to send his
       minions to wreak havoc upon ordinary humans.
            after the Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan

humanoid
       Humanoids are all approximately the size of a human, and may
       be mistaken for one at a distance.  They are usually of a
       tribal nature, and will fiercely defend their lairs.  Usually
       hostile, they may even band together to raid and pillage
       human settlements.

human, human archeologist, human cave*man, human healer, human monk,
human samurai, human wizard, acolyte, apprentice, archeologist,
arch priest, attendant, cave*man, chieftain, guard, healer, grand master,
master kaen, monk, ninja, nurse, page, *priest*, ronin, samurai, shopkeeper,
student, thug, warrior, *watch*, wizard, player
       These strange creatures live mostly on the surface of the
       earth, gathering together in societies of various forms, but
       occasionally a stray will descend into the depths and commit
       mayhem among the dungeon residents who, naturally, often
       resent the intrusion of such beasts.  They are capable of
       using weapons and magic, and it is even rumored that the
       Wizard of Yendor is a member of this species.

hunter
       What of the hunting, hunter bold?
       Brother, the watch was long and cold.
       What of the quarry ye went to kill?
       Brother, he crops in the jungle still.
       Where is the power that made your pride?
       Brother, it ebbs from my flank and side.
       Where is the haste that ye hurry by?
       Brother, I go to my lair to die.
               The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling

ice devil
       Ice devils are large semi-insectoid creatures, who are
       equally at home in the fires of Hell and the cold of Limbo,
       and who can cause the traveller to feel the latter with just
       a touch of their tail.

imp
        ... imps ... little creatures of two feet high that could
       gambol and jump prodigiously; ...
               The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany

       An 'imp' is an off-shoot or cutting.  Thus an 'ymp tree' was
       a grafted tree, or one grown from a cutting, not from seed.
       'Imp' properly means a small devil, an off-shoot of Satan,
       but the distinction between goblins or bogles and imps from
       hell is hard to make, and many in the Celtic countries as
       well as the English Puritans regarded all fairies as devils.
       The fairies of tradition often hover uneasily between the
       ghostly and the diabolic state.
               A Dictionary of Fairies, by Katharine Briggs

incubus, succubus
       The incubus and succubus are male and female versions of the
       same demon, one who lies with a human for its own purposes,
       usually to the detriment of the mortals who are unwise in
       their dealings with them.

*iron ball, *iron chain
       "You are fettered, " said Scrooge, trembling.  "Tell me why?"
       "I wear the chain I forged in life," replied the Ghost.  "I
       made it link by link, and yard by yard; I girded it on of my
       own free will, and of my own free will I wore it.  Is its
       pattern strange to you?"
       Scrooge trembled more and more.
       "Or would you know," pursued the Ghost, "the weight and
       length of the strong coil you bear yourself?  It was full as
       heavy and as long as this, seven Christmas Eves ago.  You
       have laboured on it, since.  It is a ponderous chain!"
               A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

ishtar
       Ishtar (the star of heaven) is the Mesopotamian goddess of
       fertility and war.  She is usually depicted with wings and
       weapon cases at her shoulders, carrying a ceremonial double-
       headed mace-scimitar embellished with lion heads, frequently
       being accompanied by a lion.  She is symbolized by an eight-
       pointed star.
               Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan

issek
       Now Issek of the Jug, whom Fafhrd chose to serve, was once
       of the most lowly and unsuccessful of the gods, godlets
       rather, in Lankhmar.  He had dwelt there for about thirteen
       years, during which time he had traveled only two squares up
       the Street of the Gods and was now back again, ready for
       oblivion.  He is not to be confused with Issek the Armless,
       Issek of the Burnt Legs, Flayed Issek, or any other of the
       numerous and colorfully mutilated divinities of that name.
       Indeed, his unpopularity may have been due in part to the
       fact that the manner of his death -- racking -- was not
       deemed particularly spectacular. ... However, after Fafhrd
       became his acolyte, things somehow began to change.
               Swords In The Mist, by Fritz Leiber

izchak
       The shopkeeper of the lighting shop in the town level of the
       gnomish mines is a tribute to Izchak Miller, a founding member
       of the NetHack development team and a personal friend of a large
       number of us.  Izchak contributed greatly to the game, coding a
       large amount of the shopkeep logic (hence the nature of the tribute)
       as well as a good part of the alignment system, the prayer code and
       the rewrite of "hell" in the 3.1 release.  Izchak was a professor
       of Philosophy, who taught at many respected institutions, including
       MIT and Stanford, and who also worked, for a period of time, at
       Xerox PARC.  Izchak was the first "librarian" of the NetHack project,
       and was a founding member of the DevTeam, joining in 1986 while he
       was working at the University of Pennsylvania (hence our former
       mailing list address).  Until the 3.1.3 release, Izchak carefully
       kept all of the code synchronized and arbitrated disputes between
       members of the development teams.  Izchak Miller passed away at the
       age of 58, in the early morning hours of April 1, 1994 from
       complications due to cancer.  We then dedicated NetHack 3.2 in his
       memory.
                       Mike Stephenson, for the NetHack DevTeam

jabberwock, vorpal*
       "Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
         The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
       Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
         The frumious Bandersnatch!"

       He took his vorpal sword in hand;
         Long time the manxome foe he sought --
       So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
         And stood awhile in thought.

       And, as in uffish thought he stood,
         The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
       Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
         And burbled as it came!

       One, two! One, two! And through and through
         The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
       He left it dead, and with its head
         He went galumphing back.
                               Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll

jackal
       In Asiatic folktale, jackal provides for the lion; he scares
       up game, which the lion kills and eats, and receives what is
       left as reward.  In stories from northern India he is
       sometimes termed "minister to the king," i.e. to the lion.
       From the legend that he does not kill his own food has arisen
       the legend of his cowardice.  Jackal's heart must never be
       eaten, for instance, in the belief of peoples indigenous to
       the regions where the jackal abounds. ... In Hausa Negro
       folktale Jackal plays the role of sagacious judge and is
       called "O Learned One of the Forest."  The Bushmen say that
       Jackal goes around behaving the way he does "because he is
       Jackal".
               Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore

jade*
       Nothing grew among the ruins of the city.  The streets were
       broken and the walls of the houses had fallen, but there were
       no weeds flowering in the cracks and it seemed that the city
       had but recently been brought down by an earthquake.  Only
       one thing still stood intact, towering over the ruins.  It
       was a gigantic statue of white, gray and green jade - the
       statue of a naked youth with a face of almost feminine beauty
       that turned sightless eyes toward the north.
       "The eyes!" Duke Avan Astran said.  "They're gone!"
               The Jade Man's Eyes, by Michael Moorcock

jaguar
       Large, flesh-eating animal of the cat family, of Central and
       South America.  This feline predator (Panthera onca) is
       sometimes incorrectly called a panther.
        Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal

jellyfish
       I do not care to share the seas
       With jellyfishes such as these;
       Particularly Portuguese.
               Lines on Meeting a Portuguese Man-o'-war while
                       Bathing, by Michael Flanders

juiblex, jubilex
       Little is known about the Faceless Lord, even the correct
       spelling of his name.  He does not have a physical form as
       we know it, and those who have peered into his realm claim
       he is a slime-like creature who swallows other creatures
       alive, spits acidic secretions, and causes disease in his
       victims which can be almost instantly fatal.

kabuto
       The kabuto is the helmet worn by the samurai.  It was
       characterized by a prominent beaked front which jutted out over
       the brow to protect the wearer's face; a feature that gives
       rise to their modern Japanese name of 'shokaku tsuki kabuto'
       (battering-ram helmet).  Their main constructional element
       was an oval plate, the shokaku bo, slightly domed for the
       head with a narrow prolongation in front that curved forwards
       and downwards where it developed a pronounced central
       fold.  Two horizontal strips encircling the head were riveted
       to this frontal strip:  the lower one, the koshimaki (hip
       wrap), formed the lower edge of the helmet bowl; the other,
       the do maki (body wrap), was set at about the level of the
       temples.  Filling the gaps between these strips and the shokaku
       bo were small plates, sometimes triangular but more commonly
       rectangular in shape.  Because the front projected so
       far from the head, the triangular gap beneath was filled by
       a small plate, the shoshaku tei ita, whose rear edge bent
       downwards into a flange that rested against the forehead.
          Arms & Armour of the Samurai, by Bottomley & Hopson

katana
       The katana is a long, single-edged samurai sword with a
       slightly curved blade.  Its long handle is designed to allow
       it to be wielded with either one or two hands.

ki-rin
       The ki-rin is a strange-looking flying creature.  It has
       scales, a mane like a lion, a tail, hooves, and a horn.  It
       is brightly colored, and can usually be found flying in the
       sky looking for good deeds to reward.

king arthur, *arthur
       Ector took both his sons to the church before which the
       anvil had been placed.  There, standing before the anvil, he
       commanded Kay:  "Put the sword back into the steel if you
       really think the throne is yours!"  But the sword glanced
       off the steel.  "Now it is your turn", Ector said facing
       Arthur.
       The young man lifted the sword and thrust with both arms; the
       blade whizzed through the air with a flash and drilled the
       metal as if it were mere butter.  Ector and Kay dropped to
       their knees before Arthur.
       "Why, father and brother, do you bow before me?", Arthur asked
       with wonder in his voice.
       "Because now I know for sure that you are the king, not only
       by birth but also by law", Ector said.  "You are no son of
       mine nor are you Kay's brother.  Immediately after your birth,
       Merlin the Wise brought you to me to be raised safely.  And
       though it was me that named you Arthur when you were baptized,
       you are really the son of brave king Uther Pendragon and queen
       Igraine..."
       And after these words, the lord rose and went to see the arch-
       bishop to impart to him what had passed.
          Van Gouden Tijden Zingen de Harpen, by Vladimir Hulpach,
               Emanuel Frynta, and Vackav Cibula

knife, stiletto
       Possibly perceiving an expression of dubiosity on their
       faces, the globetrotter went on adhering to his adventures.

       -- And I seen a man killed in Trieste by an Italian chap.
       Knife in his back.  Knife like that.

       Whilst speaking he produced a dangerous looking clasp knife,
       quite in keeping with his character, and held it in the
       striking position.

       -- In a knockingshop it was count of a tryon between two
       smugglers.  Fellow hid behind a door, come up behind him.
       Like that.  Prepare to meet your God, says he.  Chuck!  It
       went into his back up to the butt.
               Ulysses, by James Joyce

knight, human knight
       Here lies the noble fearless knight,
       Whose valour rose to such a height;
       When Death at last had struck him down,
       His was the victory and renown.
       He reck'd the world of little prize,
       And was a bugbear in men's eyes;
       But had the fortune in his age
       To live a fool and die a sage.
               Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miquel de
                 Cervantes Saavedra

*kobold*
       The race of kobolds are reputed to be an artificial creation
       of a master wizard (demi-god?).  They are about 3' tall with
       a vaguely dog-like face.  They bear a violent dislike of the
       Elven race, and will go out of their way to cause trouble
       for Elves at any time.

*kop*
       The typical policeman of 1920's movies, the Keystone Kop was
       modeled like the English "bobby", with a long brass-buttoned
       overcoat, carrying long nightsticks that he (more often than
       not) whapped himself with, rather than anyone else.  The
       Keystone Kops were very slapstick-like, relying on speed and
       numbers to achieve their comedy, rather than sophisticated
       wit.

kos
       "I am not a coward!" he cried.  "I'll dare Thieves' House
       and fetch you Krovas' head and toss it with blood a-drip at
       Vlana's feet.  I swear that, witness me, Kos the god of
       dooms, by the brown bones of Nalgron my father and by his
       sword Graywand here at my side!"
          Swords and Deviltry, by Fritz Leiber

koto
       A Japanese harp.

kraken
       Out from the water a long sinuous tentacle had crawled; it
       was pale-green and luminous and wet.  Its fingered end had
       hold of Frodo's foot, and was dragging him into the water.
       Sam on his knees was now slashing at it with a knife.  The
       arm let go of Frodo, and Sam pulled him away, crying out
       for help.  Twenty other arms came rippling out.  The dark
       water boiled, and there was a hideous stench.
          The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

*lady, offler
       Blind Io took up the dice-box, which was a skull whose various
       orifices had been stoppered with rubies, and with several of
       his eyes on the Lady he rolled three fives.  She smiled.  This
       was the nature of the Lady's eyes:  they were bright green,
       lacking iris or pupil, and they glowed from within.

       The room was silent as she scrabbled in her box of pieces and,
       from the very bottom, produced a couple that she set down on
       the board with two decisive clicks.  The rest of the players,
       as one God, craned forward to peer at them.

       "A wenegade wiffard and fome fort of clerk," said Offler the
       Crocodile God, hindered as usual by his tusks.  "Well,
       weally!"  With one claw he pushed a pile of bone-white tokens
       into the centre of the table.

       The Lady nodded slightly.  She picked up the dice-cup and held
       it as steady as a rock, yet all the Gods could hear the three
       cubes rattling about inside.  And then she sent them bouncing
       across the table.

       A six.  A three.  A five.

       Something was happening to the five, however.  Battered by the
       chance collision of several billion molecules, the die flipped
       onto a point, spun gently and came down a seven.  Blind Io
       picked up the cube and counted the sides.

       "Come on," he said wearily, "Play fair."
               The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett

*lamp
       When he came to himself he told his mother what had passed,
       and showed her the lamp and the fruits he had gathered in the
       garden, which were in reality precious stones.  He then asked
       for some food.

       "Alas! child," she said, "I have nothing in the house, but I
       have spun a little cotton and will go and sell it."

       Aladdin bade her keep her cotton, for he would sell the lamp
       instead.  As it was very dirty she began to rub it, that it
       might fetch a higher price.  Instantly a hideous genie
       appeared, and asked what she would have.  She fainted away,
       but Aladdin, snatching the lamp, said boldly:
       "Fetch me something to eat!"
               Aladdin, from The Arabian Nights, by Andrew Lang

lance
       With this the wind increased, and the mill sails began to turn
       about; which Don Quixote espying, said, 'Although thou movest
       more arms than the giant Briareus thou shalt stoop to me.'
       And, after saying this, and commending himself most devoutly to
       his Lady Dulcinea, desiring her to succor him in that trance,
       covering himself well with his buckler, and setting his lance
       on his rest, he spurred on Rozinante, and encountered with the
       first mill that was before him, and, striking his lance into
       the sail, the wind sung it about with such fury, that is broke
       his lance into shivers, carrying him and his horse after it,
       and finally tumbled him a good way off from it on the field in
       evil plight.
               Don Quixote of La Mancha by Miquel de
                 Cervantes Saavedra

leash
       They had splendid heads, fine shoulders, strong legs, and
       straight tails.  The spots on their bodies were jet-black and
       mostly the size of a two-shilling piece; they had smaller
       spots on their heads, legs, and tails.  Their noses and eye-
       rims were black.  Missis had a most winning expression.
       Pongo, though a dog born to command, had a twinkle in his
       eye.  They walked side by side with great dignity, only
       putting the Dearlys on the leash to lead them over crossings.
               The Hundred and One Dalmatians, by Dodie Smith

lembas*
       In the morning, as they were beginning to pack their slender
       goods, Elves that could speak their tongue came to them and
       brought them many gifts of food and clothing for their
       journey.  The food was mostly in the form of very thin cakes,
       made of a meal that was baked a light brown on the outside,
       and inside was the colour of cream.  Gimli took up one of the
       cakes and looked at it with a doubtful eye.
       'Cram,' he said under his breath, as he broke off a crisp
       corner and nibbled at it.  His expression quickly changed,
       and he ate all the rest of the cake with relish.
       'No more, no more!' cried the Elves laughing.  'You have
       eaten enough already for a long day's march.'
       'I thought it was only a kind of cram, such as the Dalemen
       make for journeys in the wild,' said the Dwarf.
       'So it is,' they answered.  'But we call it lembas or
       waybread, and it is more strengthening than any foods made by
       Men, and it is more pleasant than cram, by all accounts.'
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

lemure
       The lowliest of the inhabitants of hell.

leocrotta, leu*otta
       ... the leucrocotta, a wild beast of extraordinary swiftness,
       the size of the wild ass, with the legs of a Stag, the neck,
       tail, and breast of a lion, the head of a badger, a cloven
       hoof, the mouth slit up as far as the ears, and one continuous
       bone instead of teeth; it is said, too, that this animal can
       imitate the human voice.
               Curious Creatures in Zoology, by John Ashton

leprechaun
       The Irish Leprechaun is the Faeries' shoemaker and is known
       under various names in different parts of Ireland:
       Cluricaune in Cork, Lurican in Kerry, Lurikeen in Kildare
       and Lurigadaun in Tipperary.  Although he works for the
       Faeries, the Leprechaun is not of the same species.  He is
       small, has dark skin and wears strange clothes.  His nature
       has something of the manic-depressive about it:  first he
       is quite happy, whistling merrily as he nails a sole on to a
       shoe; a few minutes later, he is sullen and morose, drunk
       on his home-made heather ale.  The Leprechaun's two great
       loves are tobacco and whiskey, and he is a first-rate con-man,
       impossible to out-fox.  No one, no matter how clever, has ever
       managed to cheat him out of his hidden pot of gold or his
       magic shilling.  At the last minute he always thinks of some
       way to divert his captor's attention and vanishes in the
       twinkling of an eye.
               A Field Guide to the Little People
                              by Nancy Arrowsmith & George Moorse

*lich
       But on its heels ere the sunset faded, there came a second
       apparition, striding with incredible strides and halting when
       it loomed almost upon me in the red twilight-the monstrous mummy
       of some ancient king still crowned with untarnished gold but
       turning to my gaze a visage that more than time or the worm had
       wasted. Broken swathings flapped about the skeleton legs, and
       above the crown that was set with sapphires and orange rubies, a
       black something swayed and nodded horribly; but, for an instant,
       I did not dream what it was.  Then, in its middle, two oblique
       and scarlet eyes opened and glowed like hellish coals, and two
       ophidian fangs glittered in an ape-like mouth.  A squat, furless,
       shapeless head on a neck of disproportionate extent leaned
       unspeakably down and whispered in the mummy's ear. Then, with
       one stride, the titanic lich took half the distance between us,
       and from out the folds of the tattered sere-cloth a gaunt arm
       arose, and fleshless, taloned fingers laden with glowering gems,
       reached out and fumbled for my throat . . .
               The Abominations of Yondo, Clark Ashton Smith, 1926

lichen
       The chamber was of unhewn rock, round, as near as might
       be, eighteen or twenty feet across, and gay with rich
       variety of fern and moss and lichen.  The fern was in
       its winter still, or coiling for the spring-tide; but
       moss was in abundant life, some feathering, and some
       gobleted, and some with fringe of red to it.
               Lorna Doone, by R.D. Blackmore

* light
       Strange creatures formed from energy rather than matter,
       lights are given to self-destructive behavior when battling
       foes.

gecko, iguana, lizard
       Lizards, snakes and the burrowing amphisbaenids make up the
       order Squamata, meaning the scaly ones.  The elongate, slim,
       long-tailed bodies of lizards have become modified to enable
       them to live in a wide range of habitats.  Lizards can be
       expert burrowers, runners, swimmers and climbers, and a few
       can manage crude, short-distance gliding on rib-supported
       "wings".  Most are carnivores, feeding on invertebrate and
       small vertebrate prey, but others feed on vegetation.
               Macmillan Illustrated Animal Encyclopedia

loki
       Loki, or Lopt, is described in Snorri's Edda as being
       "pleasing and handsome in appearance, evil in character, and
       very capricious in behaviour".  He is the son of the giant
       Farbauti and of Laufey.
       Loki is the Norse god of cunning, evil, thieves, and fire.
       He hated the other gods and wanted to ruin them and overthrow
       the universe.  He committed many murders.  As a thief, he
       stole Freyja's necklace, Thor's belt and gauntlets of power,
       and the apples of youth.  Able to shapechange at will, he is
       said to have impersonated at various times a mare, flea, fly,
       falcon, seal, and an old crone.  As a mare he gave birth to
       Odin's horse Sleipnir.  He also allegedly sired the serpent
       Midgard, the mistress of the netherworld, Hel, and the wolf
       Fenrir, who will devour the sun at Ragnarok.

*longbow of diana
       This legendary bow grants ESP when carried and can reflect magical
       attacks when wielded.  When invoked it provides a supply of arrows.

looking glass, mirror
       But as Snow White grew, she became more and more beautiful,
       and by the time she was seven years old she was as beautiful
       as the day and more beautiful than the queen herself.  One
       day when the queen said to her mirror:

               "Mirror, Mirror, here I stand.
               Who is the fairest in the land?" -

       the mirror replied:

               "You, O Queen, are the fairest here,
               But Snow White is a thousand times more fair."
               Snow White, by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm

lord carnarvon
       Lord Carnarvon was a personality who could have been produced
       nowhere but in England, a mixture of sportsman and collector,
       gentleman and world traveler, a realist in action and a
       romantic in feeling.  ...  In 1903 he went for the first time
       to Egypt in search of a mild climate and while there visited
       the excavation sites of several archaeological expeditions.
       ...  In 1906 he began his own excavations.
               Gods, Graves, and Scholars, by C. W. Ceram

lord sato
       Lord Sato was the family head of the Taro Clan, and a mighty
       daimyo.  He is a loyal servant of the Emperor, and will do
       everything in his power to further the imperial cause.

lord surt*
       Yet first was the world in the southern region, which was
       named Muspell; it is light and hot; that region is glowing
       and burning, and impassable to such as are outlanders and
       have not their holdings there.  He who sits there at the
       land's-end, to defend the land, is called Surtr; he brandishes
       a flaming sword, and at the end of the world he shall go forth
       and harry, and overcome all the gods, and burn all the
       world with fire.
                       The Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson

lug*
       Lugh, or Lug, was the sun god of the Irish Celts.  One of his
       weapons was a rod-sling which worshippers sometimes saw in
       the sky as a rainbow.  As a tribal god, he was particularly
       skilled in the use of his massive, invincible spear, which
       fought on its own accord.  One of his epithets is lamfhada
       (of the long arm).  He was a young and apparently more
       attractive deity than Dagda, the father of the gods.  Being
       able to shapeshift, his name translates as lynx.

lurker*
       These dungeon scavengers are very adept at blending into the
       surrounding walls and ceilings of the dungeon due to the
       stone-like coloring of their skin.

lycanthrope, were*, human were*, *were
       In 1573, the Parliament of Dole published a decree, permitting
       the inhabitants of the Franche-Comte to pursue and kill a
       were-wolf or loup-garou, which infested that province,
       "notwithstanding the existing laws concerning the chase."
       The people were empowered to "assemble with javelins,
       halberds, pikes, arquebuses and clubs, to hunt and pursue the
       said were-wolf in all places where they could find it, and to
       take, burn, and kill it, without incurring any fine or other
       penalty."  The hunt seems to have been successful, if we may
       judge from the fact that the same tribunal in the following
       year condemned to be burned a man named Giles Garnier, who
       ran on all fours in the forest and fields and devoured little
       children, "even on Friday."  The poor lycanthrope, it appears,
       had as slight respect for ecclesiastical feasts as the French
       pig, which was not restrained by any feeling of piety from
       eating infants on a fast day.
               The History of Vampires, by Dudley Wright

lynx
       To dream of seeing a lynx, enemies are undermining your
       business and disrupting your home affairs.  For a woman,
       this dream indicates that she has a wary woman rivaling her
       in the affections of her lover. If she kills the lynx, she
       will overcome her rival.
               10,000 Dreams Interpreted, by Gustavus Hindman Miller

magic marker
       The pen is mightier than the sword.
               Richelieu, by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

magic mirror of merlin
       This powerful mirror was created by Merlin, the druid, in ages
       past, when trees sang and rocks danced.  It protects all who
       carry it from magic missiles, and gives them ESP.

mail d*emon
       It is rumoured that these strange creatures can be harmed by
       domesticated canines only.

ma*annan*
       Normally called Manannan, Ler's son was the patron of
       merchants and sailors.  Manannan had a sword which never
       failed to slay, a boat which propelled itself wherever its
       owner wished, a horse which was swifter than the wind, and
       magic armour which no sword could pierce.  He later became
       god of the sea, beneath which he lived in Tir na nOc, the
       underworld.

manes
       The gnats of the dungeon, these swarming monsters are rarely
       seen alone.

marduk
       First insisting on recognition as supreme commander, Marduk
       defeated the Dragon, cut her body in two, and from it created
       heaven and earth, peopling the world with human beings who not
       unnaturally showed intense gratitude for their lives.  The
       gods were also properly grateful, invested him with many
       titles, and eventually permitted themselves to be embodied in
       him, so that he became supreme god, plotting the whole course
       of known life from the paths of the planets to the daily
       events in the lives of men.
               The Immortals, by Derek and Julia Parker

marilith
       The marilith has a torso shaped like that of a human female,
       and the lower body of a great snake.  It has multiple arms,
       and can freely attack with all of them.  Since it is
       intelligent enough to use weapons, this means it can cause
       great damage.

mars
       The god of war, and one of the most prominent and worshipped
       gods.  In early Roman history he was a god of spring, growth in
       nature, and fertility, and the protector of cattle.  Mars is
       also mentioned as a chthonic god (earth-god) and this could
       explain why he became a god of death and finally a god of war.
       He is the son of Jupiter and Juno.
               Encyclopedia Mythica, ed. M.F. Lindemans

master assassin
       He strolled down the stairs, followed by a number of assassins.
       When he was directly in front of Ymor he said: "I've come for
       the tourist." ...
       "One step more and you'll leave here with fewer eyeballs than
       you came with," said the thiefmaster.  "So sit down and have
       a drink, Zlorf, and let's talk about this sensibly.  I
       thought we had an agreement.  You don't rob -- I don't kill.
       Not for payment, that is," he added after a pause.
       Zlorf took the proffered beer.
       "So?" he said.  "I'll kill him.  Then you rob him.  Is he that
       funny looking one over there?"
       "Yes."
       Zlorf stared at Twoflower, who grinned at him.  He shrugged.
       He seldom wasted time wondering why people wanted other people
       dead.  It was just a living.
       "Who is your client, may I ask?" said Ymor.
       Zlorf held up a hand.  "Please!" he protested.  "Professional
       etiquette."
               The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett

master key of thievery
       This skeleton key was fashioned in ages past and imbued with
       a powerful magic which allows it to open any lock.  When
       carried, it grants its owner warning, teleport control, and
       reduces all physical damage by half.  Finally, when invoked,
       it has the ability to disarm any trap.

master of thieves
       There was a flutter of wings at the window.  Ymor shifted his
       bulk out of the chair and crossed the room, coming back with
       a large raven.  After he'd unfastened the message capsule from
       its leg it flew up to join its fellows lurking among the
       rafters.  Withel regarded it without love.  Ymor's ravens were
       notoriously loyal to their master, to the extent that Withel's
       one attempt to promote himself to the rank of greatest thief
       in Ankh-Morpork had cost their master's right hand man his
       left eye.  But not his life, however.  Ymor never grudged a
       man his ambitions.
               The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett

mastodon
       Any large, elephantlike mammal of the genera Mammut, Mastodon,
       etc., from the Oligocene and Pleistocene epochs, having
       conical projections on the molar teeth.
               Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary
                       of the English Language

meat*, huge chunk of meat
       Some hae meat and canna eat,
       And some would eat that want it;
       But we hae meat, and we can eat,
       Sae let the Lord be thankit.
               Grace Before Meat, by Robert Burns

medusa
       Medusa, one of the three Gorgons or Graeae, is the only one
       of her sisters to have assumed mortal form and inhabited the
       dungeon world.

       When Perseus was grown up Polydectes sent him to attempt the
       conquest of Medusa, a terrible monster who had laid waste the
       country.  She was once a beautiful maiden whose hair was her
       chief glory, but as she dared to vie in beauty with Minerva,
       the goddess deprived her of her charms and changed her
       beautiful ringlets into hissing serpents.  She became a cruel
       monster of so frightful an aspect that no living thing could
       behold her without being turned into stone.  All around the
       cavern where she dwelt might be seen the stony figures of men
       and animals which had chanced to catch a glimpse of her and
       had been petrified with the sight.  Perseus, favoured by
       Minerva and Mercury, the former of whom lent him her shield
       and the latter his winged shoes, approached Medusa while she
       slept and taking care not to look directly at her, but guided
       by her image reflected in the bright shield which he bore, he
       cut off her head and gave it to Minerva, who fixed it in the
       middle of her Aegis.
               Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch

melon
       "What is it, Umbopa, son of a fool?" I shouted in Zulu.
       "It is food and water, Macumazahn," and again he waved the
       green thing.
       Then I saw what he had got.  It was a melon.  We had hit upon
       a patch of wild melons, thousands of them, and dead ripe.
       "Melons!" I yelled to Good, who was next me; and in another
       second he had his false teeth fixed in one.
       I think we ate about six each before we had done, and, poor
       fruit as they were, I doubt if I ever thought anything nicer.
               King Solomon's Mines, by H. Rider Haggard

mercury
       Roman god of commerce, trade and travellers.  He is commonly
       depicted carrying a caduceus (a staff with two snakes
       intertwining around it) and a purse.

*mimic
       The ancestors of the modern day chameleon, these creatures can
       assume the form of anything in their surroundings.  They may
       assume the shape of objects or dungeon features.  Unlike the
       chameleon though, which assumes the shape of another creature
       and goes in hunt of food, the mimic waits patiently for its
       meals to come in search of it.

*mind flayer
       This creature has a humanoid body, tentacles around its
       covered mouth, and three long fingers on each hand.  Mind
       flayers are telepathic, and love to devour intelligent beings,
       especially humans.  If they hit their victim with a tentacle,
       the mind flayer will slowly drain it of all intelligence,
       eventually killing its victim.

mine*
       Made by Dwarfs.  The Rule here is that the Mine is either long
       deserted or at most is inhabited by a few survivors who will
       make confused claims to have been driven out/decimated by humans/
       other Dwarfs/Minions of the Dark Lord.  Inhabited or not, this
       Mine will be very complex, with many levels of galleries,
       beautifully carved and engineered.  What was being mined here
       is not always evident, but at least some of the time it will
       appear to have been Jewels, since it is customary to find
       unwanted emeralds, etc., still embedded in the rock of the
       walls.  Metal will also be present, but only when made up into
       armor and weapons (wondrous).
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

minotaur
       The Minotaur was a monster, half bull, half human, the
       offspring of Minos' wife Pasiphae and a wonderfully beautiful
       bull. ...  When the Minotaur was born Minos did not kill him.
       He had Daedalus, a great architect and inventor, construct a
       place of confinement for him from which escape was impossible.
       Daedalus built the Labyrinth, famous throughout the world.
       Once inside, one would go endlessly along its twisting paths
       without ever finding the exit.
               Mythology, by Edith Hamilton

mit*ra*
       Originating in India (Mitra), Mithra is a god of light who
       was translated into the attendant of the god Ahura Mazda in
       the light religion of Persia; from this he was adopted as
       the Roman deity Mithras.  He is not generally regarded as a
       sky god but a personification of the fertilizing power of
       warm, light air.  According to the Avesta, he possesses
       10,000 eyes and ears and rides in a chariot drawn by white
       horses.  Mithra, according to Zarathustra, is concerned with
       the endless battle between light and dark forces:  he
       represents truth.  He is responsible for the keeping of oaths
       and contracts.  He is attributed with the creation of both
       plants and animals.  His chief adversary is Ahriman, the
       power of darkness.
               The Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends of All
                       Nations, by Herbert Spencer Robinson and
                       Knox Wilson

*mithril*
       Mithril!  All folk desired it.  It could be beaten like
       copper, and polished like glass; and the Dwarves could make
       of it a metal, light and yet harder than tempered steel.
       Its beauty was like to that of common silver, but the beauty
       of mithril did not tarnish or grow dim.
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

*mitre of holiness
       This helm of brilliance performs all of the normal functions
       of a helm of brilliance, but also has the ability to protect
       anyone who carries it from fire.  When invoked, it boosts
       the energy of the invoker, allowing them to cast more spells.

mjollnir
       Forged by the dwarves Eitri and Brokk, in response to Loki's
       challenge, Mjollnir is an indestructible war hammer.  It has
       two magical properties:  when thrown it always returned to
       Thor's hand; and it could be made to shrink in size until it
       could fit inside Thor's shirt.  Its only flaw is that it has
       a short handle.  The other gods judged Mjollnir the winner of
       the contest because, of all the treasures created, it alone had
       the power to protect them from the giants.  As the legends
       surrounding Mjollnir grew, it began to take on the quality of
       "vigja", or consecration.  Thor used it to consecrate births,
       weddings, and even to raise his goats from the dead.  In the
       Norse mythologies Mjollnir is considered to represent Thor's
       governance over the entire cycle of life - fertility, birth,
       destruction, and resurrection.

*mold
See also: slime mold
       Mold, multicellular organism of the division Fungi, typified
       by plant bodies composed of a network of cottony filaments.
       The colors of molds are due to spores borne on the filaments.
       Most molds are saprophytes.  Some species (e.g., penicillium)
       are used in making cheese and antibiotics.
               The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia

mol?ch
       And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
       Again, thou shalt say to the children of Israel, Whosoever
       he be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that
       sojourn in Israel, that giveth any of his seed unto Molech;
       he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall
       stone him with stones.
       And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off
       from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto
       Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name.
       And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes
       from the man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, and kill
       him not:
       Then I will set my face against that man, and against his
       family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after
       him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.
               Leviticus 20:1-5

monkey
       "Listen, man-cub," said the Bear, and his voice rumbled like
       thunder on a hot night.  "I have taught thee all the Law of
       the Jungle for all the peoples of the jungle--except the
       Monkey-Folk who live in the trees.  They have no law.  They
       are outcasts.  They have no speech of their own, but use the
       stolen words which they overhear when they listen, and peep,
       and wait up above in the branches.  Their way is not our way.
       They are without leaders.  They have no remembrance.  They
       boast and chatter and pretend that they are a great people
       about to do great affairs in the jungle, but the falling of
       a nut turns their minds to laughter and all is forgotten.
       We of the jungle have no dealings with them.  We do not drink
       where the monkeys drink; we do not go where the monkeys go;
       we do not hunt where they hunt; we do not die where they die...."
               The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling

mumak*
       ... the Mumak of Harad was indeed a beast of vast bulk, and
       the like of him does not walk now in Middle-Earth; his kin
       that live still in latter days are but memories of his girth
       and majesty.  On he came, ... his great legs like trees,
       enormous sail-like ears spread out, long snout upraised like
       a huge serpent about to strike, his small red eyes raging.
       His upturned hornlike tusks ... dripped with blood.
               The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien

*mummy
       But for an account of the manner in which the body was
       bandaged, and a list of the unguents and other materials
       employed in the process, and the words of power which were
       spoken as each bandage was laid in its place, we must have
       recourse to a very interesting papyrus which has been edited
       and translated by M. Maspero under the title of Le Rituel de
       l'Embaumement. ...
       Everything that could be done to preserve the body was now
       done, and every member of it was, by means of the words of
       power which changed perishable substances into imperishable,
       protected to all eternity; when the final covering of purple
       or white linen had been fastened upon it, the body was ready
       for the tomb.
               Egyptian Magic, by E.A. Wallis Budge

mummy wrapping
       He held a white cloth -- it was a serviette he had brought
       with him -- over the lower part of his face, so that his
       mouth and jaws were completely hidden, and that was the
       reason for his muffled voice.  But it was not that which
       startled Mrs. Hall.  It was the fact that all his forehead
       above his blue glasses was covered by a white bandage, and
       that another covered his ears, leaving not a scrap of his
       face exposed excepting only his pink, peaked nose.  It was
       bright, pink, and shiny just as it had been at first.  He
       wore a dark-brown velvet jacket with a high, black, linen-
       lined collar turned up about his neck.  The thick black
       hair, escaping as it could below and between the cross
       bandages, project in curious tails and horns, giving him
       the strangest appearance conceivable.
               The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells

*naga*, *naja*
       The naga is a mystical creature with the body of a snake and
       the head of a man or woman.  They will fiercely protect the
       territory they consider their own.  Some nagas can be forced
       to serve as guardians by a spellcaster of great power.

naginata
       A Japanese pole-arm, fitted with a curved single-edged blade.
       The blades ranged in length from two to four feet, mounted on
       shafts about four to five feet long.  The naginata were cut
       with a series of short grooves near to the tang, above which
       the back edge was thinned, but not sharpened, so that the
       greater part of the blade was a flattened diamond shape in
       section.  Seen in profile, the curve is slight or non-
       existent near the tang, becoming more pronounced towards the
       point.

       "With his naginata he killed five, but with the sixth it
       snapped asunder in the midst and, flinging it away, he drew
       his sword, wielding it in the zigzag style, the interlacing,
       cross, reversed dragonfly, waterwheel, and eight-sides-at-
       once styles of fencing and cutting down eight men; but as he
       brought down the ninth with a mighty blow on the helmet, the
       blade snapped at the hilt."
       Story of Tsutsui no Jomio Meishu from Tales of Heike

nalfeshnee
       Not only do these demons do physical damage with their claws
       and bite, but they are capable of using magic as well.

nalzok
       Nalzok is Moloch's cunning and unfailingly loyal battle
       lieutenant, to whom he trusts the command of warfare when he
       does not wish to exercise it himself.  Nalzok is a major
       demon, known to command the undead.  He is hungry for power,
       and secretly covets Moloch's position.  Moloch doesn't trust
       him, but, trusting his own power enough, chooses to allow
       Nalzok his position because he is useful.

neanderthal*
       1.  Valley between Duesseldorf and Elberfeld in Germany,
       where an ancient skull of a prehistoric ancestor to modern
       man was found.  2.  Human(oid) of the race mentioned above.

neferet, neferet the green
       Neferet the Green holds office in her hidden tower, only
       reachable by magical means, where she teaches her apprentices
       the enigmatic skills of occultism.  Despite her many years, she
       continues to investigate new spells, especially those involving
       translocation.  It is further rumored that when she was an
       apprentice herself, she accidentally turned her skin green, and
       has kept it that way ever since.

newt
       (kinds of) small animal, like a lizard, which spends most of
       its time in the water.
               Oxford's Student's Dictionary of Current English

       "Fillet of a fenny snake,
       In the cauldron boil and bake;
       Eye of newt and toe of frog,
       Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
       Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
       Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
       For a charm of powerful trouble,
       Like a hell-broth boil and bubble."
               Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

ninja-to
       A Japanese broadsword.

*norn
       The Norns were the three Norse Fates, or the goddesses of fate.
       Female giants, they brought the wonderful Golden Age to an end.
       They cast lots over the cradle of every child that was born,
       and placed gifts in the cradle.  Their names were Urda,
       Verdandi, and Skuld, representing the past, the present, and
       the future.  Urda and Verdandi were kindly disposed, but Skuld
       was cruel and savage.  Their tasks were to sew the web of
       fate, to water the sacred ash, Yggdrasil, and to keep it in
       good condition by placing fresh earth around it daily.  In her
       fury, Skuld often spoiled the work of her sisters by tearing
       the web to shreds.
               The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends of All
                       Nations by Herbert Spencer Robinson and Knox
                       Wilson

nunchaku
       A Japanese flail.

*nymph
       A female creature from Roman and Greek mythology, the nymph
       occupied rivers, forests, ponds, etc.  A nymph's beauty is
       beyond words:  an ever-young woman with sleek figure and
       long, thick hair, radiant skin and perfect teeth, full lips
       and gentle eyes.  A nymph's scent is delightful, and her
       long robe glows, hemmed with golden threads and embroidered
       with rainbow hues of unearthly magnificence.  A nymph's
       demeanour is graceful and charming, her mind quick and witty.

       "Theseus felt her voice pulling him down into fathoms of
       sleep.        The song was the skeleton of his dream, and the dream
       was full of terror.  Demon girls were after him, and a bull-
       man was goring him.  Everywhere there was blood.  There was
       pain.  There was fear.        But his head was in the nymph's lap
       and her musk was about him, her voice weaving the dream.  He
       knew then that she had been sent to tell him of something
       dreadful that was to happen to him later.  Her song was a
       warning.  But she had brought him a new kind of joy, one that
       made him see everything differently.  The boy, who was to
       become a hero, suddenly knew then what most heroes learn
       later -- and some too late -- that joy blots suffering and
       that the road to nymphs is beset by monsters."
           The Minotaur by Bernard Evslin

odin
       Also called Sigtyr (god of Victory), Val-father (father of
       the slain), One-Eyed, Hanga-god (god of the hanged), Farma-
       god (god of cargoes), Hapta-god (god of prisoners), and
       Othin.  He is the prime god of the Norsemen:  god of war and
       victory, wisdom and prophecy, poetry, the dead, air and wind,
       hospitality, and magic.
       As the god of war and victory, Odin is ruler of the Valkyries,
       warrior-maidens who lived in the halls of Valhalla in Asgard,
       the hall of dead heroes where he held his court.
       These chosen ones will defend the realm of the gods against
       the Frost Giants on the final day of reckoning, Ragnarok.
       As god of the wind, Odin rides through the air on his eight-
       footed horse, Sleipnir, wielding Gungner, his spear, normally
       accompanied by his ravens, Hugin and Munin, who he would also
       use as his spies.
       As a god of hospitality, he enjoys visiting the earth in
       disguise to see how people were behaving and to see how they
       would treat him, not knowing who he was.
       Odin is usually represented as a one-eyed wise old man with a
       long white beard and a wide-brimmed hat (he gave one of his
       eyes to Mimir, the guardian of the well of wisdom in Hel, in
       exchange for a draught of knowledge).

ogre*
       Anyone who has met a gluttonous, nude, angry ogre, will not
       easily forget this encounter -- if he survives it at all.
       Both male and female ogres can easily grow as tall as three
       metres.  Build and facial expressions would remind one of a
       Neanderthal.  Its small, pointy, keen teeth are striking.
       Since ogres avoid direct sunlight, their ragged, unfurry
       skin is as white as a sheet.  They enjoy coating their body
       with lard and usually wear nothing but a loin-cloth.  An elf
       would smell its rancid stench at ten metres distance.
       Ogres are solitary creatures:  very rarely one may encounter
       a female with two or three young.  They are the only real
       carnivores among the humanoids, and its favourite meal is --
       not surprisingly -- human flesh.  They sometimes ally with
       orcs or goblins, but only when they anticipate a good meaty
       meal.
               het Boek van de Regels; Het Oog des Meesters

oilskin cloak
       During our watches below we overhauled our clothes, and made
       and mended everything for bad weather.  Each of us had made
       for himself a suit of oil-cloth or tarpaulin, and these we
       got out, and gave thorough coatings of oil or tar, and hung
       upon the stays to dry.  Our stout boots, too, we covered
       over with a thick mixture of melted grease and tar.  Thus we
       took advantage of the warm sun and fine weather of the
       Pacific to prepare for its other face.
               Two Years Before the Mast, by Richard Henry Dana

oilskin sack
       Summer passed all too quickly.  On the last day of camp, Mr.
       Brickle called his counselors together and paid them what he
       owed them.  Louis received one hundred dollars - the first
       money he had ever earned.  He had no wallet and no pockets,
       so Mr. Brickle placed the money in a waterproof bag that had
       a drawstring.  He hung this moneybag around Louis' neck,
       along with the trumpet, the slate, the chalk pencil, and the
       lifesaving medal.
               The Trumpet of the Swan, by E.B. White

olog-hai
       But at the end of the Third Age a troll-race not before seen
       appeared in southern Mirkwood and in the mountain borders of
       Mordor.  Olog-hai they were called in the Black Speech.  That
       Sauron bred them none doubted, though from what stock was not
       known.  Some held that they were not Trolls but giant Orcs;
       but the Olog-hai were in fashion of body and mind quite unlike
       even the largest of Orc-kind, whom they far surpassed in size
       and power.  Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will
       of their master:  a fell race, strong, agile, fierce and
       cunning, but harder than stone.  Unlike the older race of the
       Twilight they could endure the Sun....  They spoke little,
       and the only tongue they knew was the Black Speech of Barad-dur.
               The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien

oracle, delphi, p*thia
       Delphi under towering Parnassus, where Apollo's oracle was,
       plays an important part in mythology.  Castalia was its
       sacred spring; Cephissus its river.  It was held to be the
       center of the world, so many pilgrims came to it, from
       foreign countries as well as Greece.  No other shrine rivaled
       it.  The answers to the questions asked by the anxious
       seekers for Truth were delivered by a priestess who went into
       a trance before she spoke.
               Mythology, by Edith Hamilton

orange, pear
       What was the fruit like?  Unfortunately, no one can describe
       a taste.  All I can say is that, compared with those fruits,
       the freshest grapefruit you've ever eaten was dull, and the
       juiciest orange was dry, and the most melting pear was hard
       and woody, and the sweetest wild strawberry was sour.  And
       there were no seeds or stones, and no wasps.  If you had once
       eaten that fruit, all the nicest things in this world would
       taste like medicines after it.  But I can't describe it.  You
       can't find out what it is like unless you can get to that
       country and taste it for yourself.
               The Last Battle, by C.S. Lewis

*orb of detection
       This Orb is a crystal ball of exceptional powers.  When
       carried, it grants ESP, limits damage done by spells, and
       protects the carrier from magic missiles.  When invoked it
       allows the carrier to become invisible.

orb of fate
       Some say that Odin himself created this ancient crystal ball,
       although others argue that Loki created it and forged Odin's
       signature on the bottom.  In any case, it is a powerful
       artifact.  Anyone who carries it is granted the gift of
       warning, and damage, both spell and physical, is partially
       absorbed by the orb itself.  When invoked it has the power
       to teleport the invoker between levels.

goblin king, orcrist
       The Great Goblin gave a truly awful howl of rage when he
       looked at it, and all his soldiers gnashed their teeth,
       clashed their shields, and stamped.  They knew the sword at
       once.  It had killed hundreds of goblins in its time, when
       the fair elves of Gondolin hunted them in the hills or did
       battle before their walls.  They had called it Orcrist,
       Goblin-cleaver, but the goblins called it simply Biter.
       They hated it and hated worse any one that carried it.
               The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

orcus
       Orcus, Prince of the Undead, has a ram's head and a poison
       stinger.  He is most feared, though, for his powerful magic
       abilities.  His wand causes death to those he chooses.

orc*, * orc, uruk*hai
       Orcs, bipeds with a humanoid appearance, are related to the
       goblins, but much bigger and more dangerous.  The average orc
       is only moderately intelligent, has broad, muscled shoulders,
       a short neck, a sloping forehead and a thick, dark fur.
       Their lower eye-teeth are pointing forward, like a boar's.
       Female orcs are more lightly built and bare-chested.  Not
       needing any clothing, they do like to dress in variegated
       apparels.  Suspicious by nature, orcs live in tribes or
       hordes.  They tend to live underground as well as above
       ground (but they dislike sunlight).  Orcs can use all weapons,
       tools and armours that are used by men.  Since they don't have
       the talent to fashion these themselves, they are constantly
       hunting for them.  There is nothing a horde of orcs cannot
       use.
               het Boek van de Regels; Het Oog des Meesters

orion, sirius
       Orion was the son of Neptune. He was a handsome giant and a
       mighty hunter. His father gave him the power of wading
       through the depths of the sea, or, as others say, of
       walking on its surface.

       He dwelt as a hunter with Diana (Artemis), with whom he
       was a favourite, and it is even said she was about to marry
       him. Her brother was highly displeased and often chid her,
       but to no purpose. One day, observing Orion wading through
       the sea with his head just above the water, Apollo pointed
       it out to his sister and maintained that she could not hit
       that black thing on the sea. The archer-goddess discharged
       a shaft with fatal aim. The waves rolled the dead body of
       Orion to the land, and bewailing her fatal error with many
       tears, Diana placed him among the stars, where he appears
       as a giant, with a girdle, sword, lion's skin, and
       club. Sirius, his dog, follows him, and the Pleiads fly
       before him.
               Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch

osaku
       The osaku is a small tool for picking locks.

owlbear
       Owlbears are probably the crossbreed creation of a demented
       wizard; given the lethal nature of this creation, it is quite
       likely the wizard who created them is no longer alive.  As
       the name might already suggest, owlbears are a cross between
       a giant owl and a bear.  They are covered with fur and
       feathers.

panther
       And lo! almost where the ascent began,
       A panther light and swift exceedingly,
       Which with a spotted skin was covered o'er!

       And never moved she from before my face,
       Nay, rather did impede so much my way,
       That many times I to return had turned.
               Dante's Inferno, as translated
                       by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

pelias
       Conan cried out sharply and recoiled, thrusting his companion
       back.  Before them rose the great shimmering white form of Satha,
       an ageless hate in its eyes.  Conan tensed himself for one mad
       berserker onslaught -- to thrust the glowing faggot into that
       fiendish countenance and throw his life into the ripping sword-
       stroke.  But the snake was not looking at him.  It was glaring
       over his shoulder at the man called Pelias, who stood with his
       arms folded, smiling.  And in the great, cold, yellow eyes
       slowly the hate died out in a glitter of pure fear -- the only
       time Conan ever saw such an expression in a reptile's eyes.
       With a swirling rush like the sweep of a strong wind, the great
       snake was gone.
       "What did he see to frighten him?" asked Conan, eyeing his
       companion uneasily.
       "The scaled people see what escapes the mortal eye," answered
       Pelias cryptically.  "You see my fleshy guise, he saw my naked
       soul."
           Conan the Usurper, by Robert E. Howard and L. Sprague de Camp

pick*ax*
       The mine is full of holes;
       With the wound of pickaxes.
       But look at the goldsmith's store.
       There, there is gold everywhere.
               Divan-i Kebir Meter 2, by Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi

*piercer
       Ye Piercer doth look like unto a stalactyte, and hangeth
       from the roofs of caves and caverns.  Unto the height of a
       man, and thicker than a man's thigh do they grow, and in
       groups do they hang.  If a creature doth pass beneath them,
       they will by its heat and noise perceive it, and fall upon
       it to kill and devour it, though in any other way they move
       but exceeding slow.
               the Bestiary of Xygag

piranha
       They live in "schools." Many times they will wait for prey
       to come to the shallow water of the river. Then the large
       group of piranhas will attack. These large groups are able
       to kill large animals... Their lower teeth fit perfectly
       into the spaces of their upper teeth, creating a tremendous
       vice-like bite... Piranhas are attracted to any disturbance
       in the water.
               http://www.animalsoftherainforest.com

pit, spiked pit
       Amid the thought of the fiery destruction that impended, the
       idea of the coolness of the well came over my soul like balm.
       I rushed to its deadly brink.  I threw my straining vision
       below.  The glare from the enkindled roof illumined its inmost
       recesses.  Yet, for a wild moment, did my spirit refuse to
       comprehend the meaning of what I saw.  At length it forced --
       it wrestled its way into my soul -- it burned itself in upon my
       shuddering reason.  Oh! for a voice to speak! -- oh! horror! --
       oh! any horror but this!
               The Pit and the Pendulum, by Edgar Allan Poe

pit fiend
       Pit fiends are among the more powerful of devils, capable of
       attacking twice with weapons as well as grabbing and crushing
       the life out of those unwary enough to enter their
       domains.

platinum yendorian express card
       This is an ancient artifact made of an unknown material.  It
       is rectangular in shape, very thin, and inscribed with
       unreadable ancient runes.  When carried, it grants the one
       who carries it ESP, and reduces all spell induced damage done to
       the carrier by half.  It also protects from magic missile
       attacks.  Finally, its power is such that when invoked, it
       can charge other objects.

pony
               Hey! now! Come hoy now! Whither do you wander?
               Up, down, near or far, here, there or yonder?
               Sharp-ears, Wise-nose, Swish-tail and Bumpkin,
               White-socks my little lad, and old Fatty Lumpkin!

       [...]
       Tom called them one by one and they climbed over the brow and
       stood in a line.  Then Tom bowed to the hobbits.

       "Here are your ponies, now!" he said.  "They've more sense (in some
       ways) than you wandering hobbits have -- more sense in their noses.
       For they sniff danger ahead which you walk right into; and if they
       run to save themselves, then they run the right way."
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

*portal
       Portals can be Mirrors, Pictures, Standing Stones, Stone
       Circles, Windows, and special gates set up for the purpose.
       You will travel through them both to distant parts of the
       continent and to and from our own world.  The precise manner
       of their working is a Management secret.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

poseido*n
       Poseido(o)n, lord of the seas and father of rivers and
       fountains, was the son of Chronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus,
       Hades, Hera, Hestia and Demeter.  His rank of ruler of the
       waves he received by lot at the Council Meeting of the Gods,
       at which Zeus took the upper world for himself and gave
       dominion over the lower world to Hades.
       Poseidon is associated in many ways with horses and thus is
       the god of horses.  He taught men how to ride and manage the
       animal he invented and is looked upon as the originator and
       guardian deity of horse races.
       His symbol is the familiar trident or three-pronged spear
       with which he can split rocks, cause or quell storms, and
       shake the earth, a power which makes him the god of
       earthquakes as well.  Physically, he is shown as a strong and
       powerful ruler, every inch a king.
               The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends of All
                 Nations, by Herbert Robinson and Knox Wilson

*potion*
       POTABLE, n.  Suitable for drinking.  Water is said to be
       potable; indeed, some declare it our natural beverage,
       although even they find it palatable only when suffering
       from the recurrent disorder known as thirst, for which it
       is a medicine.  Upon nothing has so great and diligent
       ingenuity been brought to bear in all ages and in all
       countries, except the most uncivilized, as upon the
       invention of substitutes for water.  To hold that this
       general aversion to that liquid has no basis in the
       preservative instinct of the race is to be unscientific --
       and without science we are as the snakes and toads.
               The Devil's Dictionary, by Ambrose Bierce

prisoner
       Where am I?
               In the Village.
       What do you want?
               Information.
       Whose side are you on?
               That would be telling.  We want information ...
               information ...
       You won't get it.
               By hook or by crook, we will.
       Who are you?
               The new Number 2.
       Who is Number 1?
               You are Number 6.
       I am not a number!  I am a free man!
               The Prisoner, by Patrick McGoohan

ptah
       Known under various names (Nu, Neph, Cenubis, Amen-Kneph,
       Khery-Bakef), Ptah is the creator god and god of craftsmen.
       He is usually depicted as wearing a closely fitting robe
       with only his hands free.  His most distinctive features are
       the invariable skull-cap exposing only his face and ears,
       and the was or rod of domination which he holds,
       consisting of a staff surmounted by the ankh symbol of
       life.  He is otherwise symbolized by his sacred animal, the
       bull.

*purple worm
       A gargantuan version of the harmless rain-worm, the purple
       worm poses a huge threat to the ordinary adventurer.  It is
       known to swallow whole and digest its victims within only a
       few minutes.  These worms are always on guard, sensitive
       to the most minute vibrations in the earth, but may also
       be awakened by a remote shriek.

quadruped
       The woodlands and other regions are inhabited by multitudes
       of four-legged creatures which cannot be simply classified.
       They might not have fiery breath or deadly stings, but
       adventurers have nevertheless met their end numerous times
       due to the claws, hooves, or bites of such animals.

quantum mechanic
       These creatures are not native to this universe; they seem
       to have strangely derived powers, and unknown motives.

quasit
       Quasits are small, evil creatures, related to imps.  Their
       talons release a very toxic poison when used in an attack.

quest
       Many, possibly most, Tours are organized as a Quest.  This
       is like a large-scale treasure hunt, with clues scattered
       all over the continent, a few false leads, Mystical Masters
       as game-show hosts, and the Dark Lord and the Terrain to
       make the Quest interestingly difficult.  [...]
       In order to be assured of your future custom, the Management
       has a further Rule:  Tourists, far from being rewarded for
       achieving their Quest Object, must then go on to conquer
       the Dark Lord or set about Saving the World, or both.  And
       why not?  By then you will have had a lot of practice in
       that sort of thing and, besides, the Quest Object is usually
       designed to help you do it.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

quetzalcoatl
       One of the principal Aztec-Toltec gods was the great and wise
       Quetzalcoatl, who was called Kukumatz in Guatemala, and
       Kukulcan in Yucatan.  His image, the plumed serpent, is found
       on both the oldest and the most recent Indian edifices. ...
       The legend tells how the Indian deity Quetzalcoatl came from
       the "Land of the Rising Sun".  He wore a long white robe and
       had a beard; he taught the people crafts and customs and laid
       down wise laws.  He created an empire in which the ears of
       corn were as long as men are tall, and caused bolls of colored
       cotton to grow on cotton plants.  But for some reason or other
       he had to leave his empire. ...  But all the legends of
       Quetzalcoatl unanimously agree that he promised to come again.
               Gods, Graves, and Scholars, by C. W. Ceram

quit*
       Maltar: [...]  I remembered a little saying I learned my first
       day at the academy.
       Natalie: Yeah, yeah, I know.  Winners never quit and quitters
       never win.
       Maltar: What?  No!  Winners never quit and quitters should be
       cast into the flaming pit of death.
               Snow Day, directed by Chris Koch,
                 written by Will McRobb and Chris Viscardi

raijin, raiden
       The god of thunder.

human ranger, ranger
       "Lonely men are we, Rangers of the wild, hunters -- but hunters
       ever of the servants of the Enemy; for they are found in many
       places, not in Mordor only.
       If Gondor, Boromir, has been a stalwart tower, we have played
       another part.  Many evil things there are that your strong walls
       and bright swords do not stay.  You know little of the lands
       beyond your bounds.  Peace and freedom, do you say?  The North
       would have known them little but for us.  Fear would have
       destroyed them.  But when dark things come from the houseless
       hills, or creep from sunless woods, they fly from us.  What
       roads would any dare to tread, what safety would there be in
       quiet lands, or in the homes of simple men at night, if the
       Dunedain were asleep, or were all gone into the grave?"
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

rat, * rat
       Rats are long-tailed rodents.  They are aggressive,
       omnivorous, and adaptable, often carrying diseases.

       "The rat," said O'Brien, still addressing his invisible
       audience, "although a rodent, is carnivorous.  You are aware
       of that.  You will have heard of the things that happen in
       the poor quarters of this town.  In some streets a woman dare
       not leave her baby alone in the house, even for five minutes.
       The rats are certain to attack it.  Within quite a small time
       they will strip it to the bones.  They also attack sick or
       dying people.  They show astonishing intelligence in knowing
       when a human being is helpless."
               1984, by George Orwell

raven
       But the raven, sitting lonely on the placid bust, spoke only
       That one word, as if his soul in that one word he did outpour.
       Nothing further then he uttered -- not a feather then he fluttered--
       Till I scarcely more than muttered, 'other friends have flown before--
       On the morrow *he* will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'
               Then the bird said, 'Nevermore.'
                               The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe

*ring, ring of *
       Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
       Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
       Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
       One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
       In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
       One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
       One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them
       In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

robe
       Robes are the only garments, apart from Shirts, ever to have
       sleeves.  They have three uses:
       1.  As the official uniform of Priests, Priestesses, Monks,
       Nuns (see Nunnery), and Wizards.  The OMT [ Official Management
       Term ] prescribed for the Robes of Priests and Nuns is that
       they fall in severe folds; of Priestesses that they float;
       and of Wizards that they swirl.  You can thus see who you
       are dealing with.
       2.  For Kings.  The OMT here is falling in stately folds.
       3.  As the garb of Desert Nomads.  [...]
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

rock
       Bilbo saw that the moment had come when he must do something.
       He could not get up at the brutes and he had nothing to shoot
       with; but looking about he saw that in this place there were
       many stones lying in what appeared to be a now dry little
       watercourse.  Bilbo was a pretty fair shot with a stone, and
       it did not take him long to find a nice smooth egg-shaped one
       that fitted his hand cosily.  As a boy he used to practise
       throwing stones at things, until rabbits and squirrels, and
       even birds, got out of his way as quick as lightning if they
       saw him stoop; and even grownup he had still spent a deal of
       his time at quoits, dart-throwing, shooting at the wand,
       bowls, ninepins and other quiet games of the aiming and
       throwing sort - indeed he could do lots of things, besides
       blowing smoke-rings, asking riddles and cooking, that I
       haven't time to tell you about.  There is no time now.  While
       he was picking up stones, the spider had reached Bombur, and
       soon he would have been dead.  At that moment Bilbo threw.
       The stone struck the spider plunk on the head, and it dropped
       senseless off the tree, flop to the ground, with all its legs
       curled up.
               The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

rock mole
       A rock mole is a member of the rodent family.  They get their
       name from their ability to tunnel through rock in the same
       fashion that a mole tunnels through earth.  They are known to
       eat anything they come across in their diggings, although it
       is still unknown how they convert some of these things into
       something of nutritional value.

rogue, human rogue
       I understand the business, I hear it: to have an open ear, a
       quick eye, and a nimble hand, is necessary for a cut-purse; a
       good nose is requisite also, to smell out work for the other
       senses.  I see this is the time that the unjust man doth
       thrive. <...> The prince himself is about a piece of iniquity,
       stealing away from his father with his clog at his heels:  if
       I thought it were a piece of honesty to acquaint the king
       withal, I would not do't:  I hold it the more knavery to
       conceal it; and therein am I constant to my profession.
               Autolycus the Rogue, from The Winter's Tale by
                       William Shakespeare

rothe
       The rothe (pronounced roth-AY) is a musk ox-like creature with
       an aversion to light.  It prefers to live underground near
       lichen and moss.

*royal jelly
       "'Royal Jelly,'" he read aloud, "'must be a substance of
       tremendous nourishing power, for on this diet alone, the
       honey-bee larva increases in weight fifteen hundred times in
       five days!'"

       "How much?"

       "Fifteen hundred times, Mabel.  And you know what that means
       if you put it in terms of a human being?  It means," he said,
       lowering his voice, leaning forward, fixing her with those
       small pale eyes, "it means that in five days a baby weighing
       seven and a half pounds to start off with would increase in
       weight to five tons!"
               Royal Jelly, by Roald Dahl

rust monster
       These strange creatures live on a diet of metals.  They can
       turn a suit of armour into so much useless rusted scrap in no
       time at all.

*saber, *sabre
       Flashed all their sabres bare,
       Flashed as they turned in air,
       Sab'ring the gunners there,
       Charging an army, while
       All the world wondered:
       Plunged in the battery smoke,
       Right through the line they broke;
       Cossack and Russian
       Reeled from the sabre-stroke
       Shattered and sundered.
       Then they rode back, but not--
       Not the six hundred.
               The Charge of the Light Brigade,
                 by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

saddle
       The horseman serves the horse,
       The neat-herd serves the neat,
       The merchant serves the purse,
       The eater serves his meat;
       'Tis the day of the chattel,
       Web to weave, and corn to grind,
       Things are in the saddle,
       And ride mankind.
               Ode, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

sake
       Japanese rice wine.

salamander
       For hundreds of years, many people believed that salamanders
       were magical.  In England in the Middle Ages, people thought
       that fire created salamanders.  When they set fire to damp
       logs, dozens of the slimy creatures scurried out.  The word
       salamander, in fact, comes from a Greek word meaning "fire
       animal".
               Salamanders, by Cherie Winner

sandestin
       Ildefonse left the terrace and almost immediately sounds
       of contention came from the direction of the work-room.
       Ildefonse presently returned to the terrace, followed by
       Osherl and a second sandestin using the guise of a gaunt blue
       bird-like creature, some six feet in height.

       Ildefonse spoke in scathing tones:  "Behold these two
       creatures!  They can roam the chronoplex as easily as you
       or I can walk around the table; yet neither has the wit to
       announce his presence upon arrival.  I found Osherl asleep
       in his fulgurite and Sarsem perched in the rafters."
               [...]
       "No matter," said Rhialto.  "He has brought Sarsem, and this
       was his requirement.  In the main, Osherl, you have done well!"

       "And my indenture point?"

       "Much depends upon Sarsem's testimony.  Sarsem, will you sit?"

       "In this guise, I find it more convenient to stand."

       "Then why not alter to human form and join us in comfort at
       the table?"

       "That is a good idea."  Sarsem became a naked young epicene
       in an integument of lavender scales with puffs of purple hair
       like pom-poms growing down his back.  He seated himself at
       the table but declined refreshment.  "This human semblance,
       though typical, is after all, only a guise.  If I were to put
       such things inside myself, I might well become uneasy."
               Rhialto the Marvellous, by Jack Vance

sasquatch
       The name Sasquatch doesn't really become important in Canada
       until the 1930s, when it appeared in the works of J. W. Burns,
       a British Columbian writer who used a great deal of Indian
       lore in his stories.  Burn's Sasquatch was a giant Indian who
       lived in the wilderness.  He was hairy only in the sense that
       he had long hair on his head, and while this Sasquatch lived a
       wild and primitive life, he was fully human.
       Burns's character proved to be quite popular.  There was a
       Sasquatch Inn near the town of Harrison, British Columbia, and
       Harrison even had a local celebration called "Sasquatch Days."
       The celebration which had been dormant for years was revived
       as part of British Columbia's centennial, and one of the
       events was to be a Sasquatch hunt.  The hunt never took place,
       perhaps it was never supposed to, but the publicity about it
       did bring out a number of people who said they had encountered
       a Sasquatch -- not Burns's giant Indian, but the hairy apelike
       creature that we have all come to know.
               The Encyclopedia of Monsters, by Daniel Cohen

*sceptre of might
       This mace was created aeons ago in some unknown cave,
       and has been passed down from generation to generation of
       cave dwellers.  It is a very mighty mace indeed, and in
       addition will protect anyone who carries it from magic
       missile attacks.  When invoked, it causes conflict in the
       area around it.

scorpio*
       A sub-species of the spider (Scorpionidae), the scorpion
       distinguishes itself from them by having a lower body that
       ends in a long, jointed tail tapering to a poisonous stinger.
       They have eight legs and pincers.
               Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal

scorpius
       Since early times, the Scorpion has represented death, darkness,
       and evil.  Scorpius is the reputed slayer of Orion the Hunter.
       [...]  The gods put both scorpion and hunter among the stars, but
       on opposite sides of the sky so they would never fight again.
       As Scorpius rises in the east, Orion sets in the west.
               365 Starry Nights, by Chet Raymo

*scroll, scroll *
       And I was gazing on the surges prone,
       With many a scalding tear and many a groan,
       When at my feet emerg'd an old man's hand,
       Grasping this scroll, and this same slender wand.
       I knelt with pain--reached out my hand--had grasp'd
       Those treasures--touch'd the knuckles--they unclasp'd--
       I caught a finger: but the downward weight
       O'erpowered me--it sank. Then 'gan abate
       The storm, and through chill aguish gloom outburst
       The comfortable sun. I was athirst
       To search the book, and in the warming air
       Parted its dripping leaves with eager care.
       Strange matters did it treat of, and drew on
       My soul page after page, till well-nigh won
       Into forgetfulness; when, stupefied,
       I read these words, and read again, and tried
       My eyes against the heavens, and read again.
               Endymion, by John Keats

shad*
       Shades are undead creatures.  They differ from zombies in
       that a zombie is an undead animation of a corpse, while a
       shade is an undead creature magically created by the use
       of black magic.

shaman karnov
       Making his quarters in the Caves of the Ancestors, Shaman
       Karnov unceasingly tries to shield his neanderthal people
       from Tiamat's minions' harassments.

shan*lai*ching
       The Chinese god of Mountains and Seas, also the name of an
       old book (also Shan Hai Tjing), the book of mountains and
       seas - which deals with the monster Kung Kung trying to
       seize power from Yao, the fourth emperor.
               Spectrum Atlas van de Mythologie

shark
       As the shark moved, its dark top reflected virtually no
       light.  The denticles on its skin muted the whoosh of its
       movements as the shark rose, driven by the power of the
       great tail sweeping from side to side, like a scythe.
       The fish exploded upward.
       Charles Bruder felt a slight vacuum tug in the motion of
       the sea, noted it as a passing current, the pull of a wave,
       the tickle of undertow.  He could not have heard the faint
       sucking rush of water not far beneath him.  He couldn't
       have seen or heard what was hurtling from the murk at
       astonishing speed, jaws unhinging, widening, for the
       enormous first bite.  It was the classic attack
       that no other creature in nature could make -- a bomb from
       the depths.
               Close to Shore, by Michael Capuzzo

shito
       A Japanese stabbing knife.

shrieker
       With a single, savage thrust of her spear, the warrior-woman
       impaled the fungus, silencing it.  However, it was too late:
       the alarm had been raised[...]
       Suddenly, a large, dark shape rose from the abyss before them,
       its fetid bulk looming overhead...The monster was some kind of
       great dark worm, but that was about all they were sure of.
               The Adventurers, Epic IV, by Thomas A. Miller

skeleton
       A skeleton is a magically animated undead creature.  Unlike
       shades, only a humanoid creature can be used to create a
       skeleton.  No one knows why this is true, but it has become
       an accepted fact amongst the practitioners of the black arts.

slasher
       "That dog belonged to a settler who tried to build his cabin
       on the bank of the river a few miles south of the fort,"
       grunted Conan. ...  "We took him to the fort and dressed his
       wounds, but after he recovered he took to the woods and turned
       wild.  -- What now, Slasher, are you hunting the men who
       killed your master?" ...  "Let him come," muttered Conan.
       "He can smell the devils before we can see them." ...
       Slasher cleared the timbers with a bound and leaped into the
       bushes.  They were violently shaken and then the dog slunk
       back to Balthus' side, his jaws crimson. ...  "He was a man,"
       said Conan.  "I drink to his shade, and to the shade of the
       dog, who knew no fear."  He quaffed part of the wine, then
       emptied the rest upon the floor, with a curious heathen
       gesture, and smashed the goblet.  "The heads of ten Picts
       shall pay for this, and seven heads for the dog, who was a
       better warrior than many a man."
               Conan The Warrior, by Robert E Howard

slime mold
       Slime mold or slime fungus, organism usually classified with
       the fungi, but showing equal affinity to the protozoa.  Slime
       molds have complex life cycles with an animal-like motile
       phase, in which feeding and growth occur, and a plant-like
       immotile reproductive phase.  The motile phase, commonly
       found under rotting logs and damp leaves, consists of either
       solitary amoebalike cells or a brightly colored multinucleate
       mass of protoplasm called a plasmodium, which creeps about
       and feeds by amoeboid movement.
               The Concise Columbia Encyclopedia

sling
       And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and
       drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward
       the army to meet the Philistine.
       And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone,
       and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that
       the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face
       to the earth.
       So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with
       a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there
       was no sword in the hand of David.
               1 Samuel 17:48-50

*snake, serpent, water moccasin, python, pit viper
       Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field
       which the Lord God had made.  And he said unto the woman, Yea,
       hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
       And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of
       the trees of the garden:  but of the fruit of the tree which is
       in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of
       it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  And the serpent
       said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  for God doth
       know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
       opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  And
       when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it
       was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
       wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also
       unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

       And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou
       hast done?  And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I
       did eat.  And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou
       hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above
       every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and
       dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:  And I will put
       enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her
       seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
               Genesis 3:1-6,13-15

snickersnee
       Ah, never shall I forget the cry,
           or the shriek that shrieked he,
       As I gnashed my teeth, and from my sheath
           I drew my Snickersnee!
       --Koko, Lord high executioner of Titipu
               The Mikado, by Sir W.S. Gilbert

sokoban
       Sokoban (Japanese for "warehouse person") is a puzzle-type
       game where the player must push around treasure to a goal
       area.  It apparently won first prize in a Japanese programming
       contest.
               Xsokoban web site

*soldier, sergeant, lieutenant, captain
       The soldiers of Yendor are well-trained in the art of war,
       many trained by the Wizard himself.  Some say the soldiers
       are explorers who were unfortunate enough to be captured,
       and put under the Wizard's spell.  Those who have survived
       encounters with soldiers say they travel together in platoons,
       and are fierce fighters.  Because of the load of their combat
       gear, however, one can usually run away from them, and doing
       so is considered a wise thing.

*spear, javelin
       - they come together with great random, and a spear is brast,
       and one party brake his shield and the other one goes down,
       horse and man, over his horse-tail and brake his neck, and
       then the next candidate comes randoming in, and brast his
       spear, and the other man brast his shield, and down he goes,
       horse and man, over his horse-tail, and brake his neck, and
       then there's another elected, and another and another and
       still another, till the material is all used up; and when you
       come to figure up results, you can't tell one fight from
       another, nor who whipped; and as a picture of living, raging,
       roaring battle, sho! why it's pale and noiseless - just
       ghosts scuffling in a fog.  Dear me, what would this barren
       vocabulary get out of the mightiest spectacle? - the burning
       of Rome in Nero's time, for instance?  Why, it would merely
       say 'Town burned down; no insurance; boy brast a window,
       fireman brake his neck!'  Why, that ain't a picture!
               A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, by Mark
                 Twain

*spellbook*
       The Book of Three lay closed on the table.  Taran had never
       been allowed to read the volume for himself; now he was sure
       it held more than Dallben chose to tell him.  In the sun-
       filled room, with Dallben still meditating and showing no
       sign of stopping, Taran rose and moved through the shimmering
       beams.  From the forest came the monotonous tick of a beetle.
       His hands reached for the cover.  Taran gasped in pain and
       snatched them away.  They smarted as if each of his fingers
       had been stung by hornets.  He jumped back, stumbled against
       the bench, and dropped to the floor, where he put his fingers
       woefully into his mouth.
       Dallben's eyes blinked open.  He peered at Taran and yawned
       slowly.  "You had better see Coll about a lotion for those
       hands," he advised.  "Otherwise, I shouldn't be surprised if
       they blistered."
               The Book of Three, by Lloyd Alexander

*spider
       Eight legged creature capable of spinning webs to trap prey.

       "You mean you eat flies?" gasped Wilbur.
       "Certainly.  Flies, bugs, grasshoppers, choice beetles,
       moths, butterflies, tasty cockroaches, gnats, midges, daddy
       longlegs, centipedes, mosquitoes, crickets - anything that is
       careless enough to get caught in my web.  I have to live,
       don't I?"
       "Why, yes, of course," said Wilbur.
               Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White

*spore, *sphere
       The attack by those who want to die -- this is the attack
       against which you cannot prepare a perfect defense.
                                       --Human aphorism
               The Dosadi Experiment, by Frank Herbert

*staff
See also: *aesculapius
       So they stood, each in his place, neither moving a finger's
       breadth back, for one good hour, and many blows were given
       and received by each in that time, till here and there were
       sore bones and bumps, yet neither thought of crying "Enough,"
       or seemed likely to fall from off the bridge.  Now and then
       they stopped to rest, and each thought that he never had seen
       in all his life before such a hand at quarterstaff.  At last
       Robin gave the stranger a blow upon the ribs that made his
       jacket smoke like a damp straw thatch in the sun.  So shrewd
       was the stroke that the stranger came within a hair's breadth
       of falling off the bridge; but he regained himself right
       quickly, and, by a dexterous blow, gave Robin a crack on the
       crown that caused the blood to flow.  Then Robin grew mad
       with anger, and smote with all his might at the other; but
       the stranger warded the blow, and once again thwacked Robin,
       and this time so fairly that he fell heels over head into the
       water, as the queen pin falls in a game of bowls.
               The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle

*staff of aesculapius
       This staff is considered sacred to all healers, as it truly
       holds the powers of life and death.  When wielded, it
       protects its user from all life draining attacks, and
       additionally gives the wielder the power of regeneration.
       When invoked it performs healing magic.

staircase*
       Up he went -- very quickly at first -- then more slowly -- then
       in a little while even more slowly than that -- and finally,
       after many minutes of climbing up the endless stairway, one
       weary foot was barely able to follow the other.  Milo suddenly
       realized that with all his effort he was no closer to the top
       than when he began, and not a great deal further from the
       bottom.  But he struggled on for a while longer, until at last,
       completely exhausted, he collapsed onto one of the steps.
       "I should have known it," he mumbled, resting his tired legs
       and filling his lungs with air.  "This is just like the line
       that goes on forever, and I'll never get there."
       "You wouldn't like it much anyway," someone replied gently.
       "Infinity is a dreadfully poor place.  They can never manage to
       make ends meet."
               The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster

statue*
       Then at last he began to wonder why the lion was standing so
       still - for it hadn't moved one inch since he first set eyes
       on it.  Edmund now ventured a little nearer, still keeping in
       the shadow of the arch as much as he could.  He now saw from
       the way the lion was standing that it couldn't have been
       looking at him at all.  ("But supposing it turns its head?"
       thought Edmund.)  In fact it was staring at something else -
       namely a little dwarf who stood with his back to it about
       four feet away.  "Aha!" thought Edmund.  "When it springs at
       the dwarf then will be my chance to escape."  But still the
       lion never moved, nor did the dwarf.  And now at last Edmund
       remembered what the others had said about the White Witch
       turning people into stone.  Perhaps this was only a stone
       lion.  And as soon as he had thought of that he noticed that
       the lion's back and the top of its head were covered with
       snow.  Of course it must be only a statue!
               The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

sting
       There was the usual dim grey light of the forest-day about
       him when he came to his senses.  The spider lay dead beside
       him, and his sword-blade was stained black.  Somehow the
       killing of the giant spider, all alone and by himself in the
       dark without the help of the wizard or the dwarves or of
       anyone else, made a great difference to Mr. Baggins.  He felt
       a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of
       an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put
       it back into its sheath.
       "I will give you a name," he said to it, "and I shall call
       you Sting."
               The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien

stormbringer
       There were sounds in the distance, incongruent with the
       sounds of even this nameless, timeless sea: thin sounds,
       agonized and terrible, for all that they remained remote -
       yet the ship followed them, as if drawn by them; they grew
       louder - pain and despair were there, but terror was
       predominant.
       Elric had heard such sounds echoing from his cousin Yyrkoon's
       sardonically named 'Pleasure Chambers' in the days before he
       had fled the responsibilities of ruling all that remained of
       the old Melnibonean Empire.  These were the voices of men
       whose very souls were under siege; men to whom death meant
       not mere extinction, but a continuation of existence, forever
       in thrall to some cruel and supernatural master.  He had
       heard men cry so when his salvation and his nemesis, his
       great black battle-blade Stormbringer, drank their souls.
               The Lands Beyond the World, by Michael Moorcock

susano*o
       The Shinto chthonic and weather god and brother of the sun
       goddess Amaterasu, he was born from the nose of the
       primordial creator god Izanagi and represents the physical,
       material world.  He has been expelled from heaven and taken
       up residence on earth.
               Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan

tanko
       Samurai plate armor of the Yamato period (AD 300 - 710).

tengu
       The tengu was the most troublesome creature of Japanese
       legend.  Part bird and part man, with red beak for a nose
       and flashing eyes, the tengu was notorious for stirring up
       feuds and prolonging enmity between families.  Indeed, the
       belligerent tengus were supposed to have been man's first
       instructors in the use of arms.
       Mythical Beasts, by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)

thoth
       The Egyptian god of the moon and wisdom, Thoth is the patron
       deity of scribes and of knowledge, including scientific,
       medical and mathematical writing, and is said to have given
       mankind the art of hieroglyphic writing.  He is important as
       a mediator and counsellor amongst the gods and is the scribe
       of the Heliopolis Ennead pantheon.  According to mythology,
       he was born from the head of the god Seth.  He may be
       depicted in human form with the head of an ibis, wholly as an
       ibis, or as a seated baboon sometimes with its torso covered
       in feathers.  His attributes include a crown which consists
       of a crescent moon surmounted by a moon disc.
       Thoth is generally regarded as a benign deity.  He is also
       scrupulously fair and is responsible not only for entering
       in the record the souls who pass to afterlife, but of
       adjudicating in the Hall of the Two Truths.  The Pyramid
       Texts reveal a violent side of his nature by which he
       decapitates the adversaries of truth and wrenches out their
       hearts.
               Encyclopedia of Gods, by Michael Jordan

thoth*amon
       Men say that he [Thutothmes] has opposed Thoth-Amon, who is
       master of all priests of Set, and dwells in Luxor, and that
       Thutothmes seeks hidden power [The Heart of Ahriman] to
       overthrow the Great One.
               Conan the Conqueror, by Robert E. Howard

*throne
       Methought I saw the footsteps of a throne
       Which mists and vapours from mine eyes did shroud--
       Nor view of who might sit thereon allowed;
       But all the steps and ground about were strown
       With sights the ruefullest that flesh and bone
       Ever put on; a miserable crowd,
       Sick, hale, old, young, who cried before that cloud,
       "Thou art our king,
       O Death! to thee we groan."
       Those steps I clomb; the mists before me gave
       Smooth way; and I beheld the face of one
       Sleeping alone within a mossy cave,
       With her face up to heaven; that seemed to have
       Pleasing remembrance of a thought foregone;
       A lovely Beauty in a summer grave!
               Sonnet, by William Wordsworth

tiger
       1.  A well-known tropical predator (Felis tigris): a
       feline.  It has a yellowish skin with darker spots or
       stripes.  2.  Figurative: a paper tiger, something that is
       meant to scare, but has no really scaring effect whatsoever,
       (after a statement by Mao Ze Dong, August 1946).
               Van Dale's Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal

       Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
       In the forests of the night,
       What immortal hand or eye
       Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
               The Tyger, by William Blake

tin, tin of *, tinning kit
       "You know salmon, Sarge," said Nobby.
       "It is a fish of which I am aware, yes."
       "You know they sell kind of slices of it in tins..."
       "So I am given to understand, yes."
       "Weell...how come all the tins are the same size?  Salmon
       gets thinner at both ends."
       "Interesting point, Nobby.  I think-"
               Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett

tin opener
       Less than thirty Cat tribes now survived, roaming the cargo
       decks on their hind legs in a desperate search for food.
       But the food had gone.
       The supplies were finished.
       Weak and ailing, they prayed at the supply hold's silver
       mountains: huge towering acres of metal rocks which, in their
       pagan way, the mutant Cats believed watched over them.
       Amid the wailing and the screeching one Cat stood up and held
       aloft the sacred icon.  The icon which had been passed down
       as holy, and one day would make its use known.
       It was a piece of V-shaped metal with a revolving handle on
       its head.
       He took down a silver rock from the silver mountain, while
       the other Cats cowered and screamed at the blasphemy.
       He placed the icon on the rim of the rock, and turned the
       handle.
       And the handle turned.
       And the rock opened.
       And inside the rock was Alphabetti spaghetti in tomato sauce.
               Red Dwarf, by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor

titan
       Gaea, mother earth, arose from the Chaos and gave birth to
       Uranus, heaven, who became her consort.  Uranus hated all
       their children, because he feared they might challenge his
       own authority.  Those children, the Titans, the Gigantes,
       and the Cyclops, were banished to the nether world.  Their
       enraged mother eventually released the youngest titan,
       Chronos (time), and encouraged him to castrate his father and
       rule in his place.  Later, he too was challenged by his own
       son, Zeus, and he and his fellow titans were ousted from
       Mount Olympus.
               Greek Mythology, by Richard Patrick

tourist, elven tourist, human tourist
       The road from Ankh-Morpork to Chrim is high, white and
       winding, a thirty-league stretch of potholes and half-buried
       rocks that spirals around mountains and dips into cool green
       valleys of citrus trees, crosses liana-webbed gorges on
       creaking rope bridges and is generally more picturesque than
       useful.
       Picturesque.  That was a new word to Rincewind the wizard
       (BMgc, Unseen University [failed]).  It was one of a number
       he had picked up since leaving the charred ruins of
       Ankh-Morpork.  Quaint was another one.  Picturesque meant --
       he decided after careful observation of the scenery that
       inspired Twoflower to use the word -- that the landscape was
       horribly precipitous.  Quaint, when used to describe the
       occasional village through which they passed, meant fever-
       ridden and tumbledown.
       Twoflower was a tourist, the first ever seen on the discworld.
       Tourist, Rincewind had decided, meant "idiot".
               The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett

towel
       The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say
       on the subject of towels.
       A towel, it says, is about the most massively useful thing
       an interstellar hitchhiker can have.  Partly it has great
       practical value.  You can wrap it around you for warmth as
       you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie
       on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus
       V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it
       beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of
       Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down down the slow heavy
       River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand combat; wrap it
       round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze
       of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mind-bogglingly
       stupid animal, it assumes that if you can't see it, it can't
       see you - daft as a brush, but very very ravenous); you can
       wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of
       course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean
       enough.
               The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,
                 by Douglas Adams

*tower
       Towers (brooding, dark) stand alone in Waste Areas and
       almost always belong to Wizards.  All are several stories high,
       round, doorless, virtually windowless, and composed of smooth
       blocks of masonry that make them very hard to climb. [...]
       You will have to go to a Tower and then break into it at some
       point towards the end of your Tour.
       The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones

trap*door
       I knew my Erik too well to feel at all comfortable on jumping
       into his house.  I knew what he had made of a certain palace at
       Mazenderan.  From being the most honest building conceivable, he
       soon turned it into a house of the very devil, where you could
       not utter a word but it was overheard or repeated by an echo.
       With his trap-doors the monster was responsible for endless
       tragedies of all kinds.
               The Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux

trapper
       The trapper is a creature which has evolved a chameleon-like
       ability to blend into the dungeon surroundings.  It captures
       its prey by remaining very still and blending into the
       surrounding dungeon features, until an unsuspecting creature
       passes by.  It wraps itself around its prey and digests it.

tree
       I think that I shall never see
       A poem lovely as a tree.
       A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
       Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;
       A tree that looks at God all day,
       And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
       A tree that may in Summer wear
       A nest of robins in her hair;
       Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
       Who intimately lives with rain.
       Poems are made by fools like me,
       But only God can make a tree.
               Trees - Joyce Kilmer

tripe, tripe ration
       If you start from scratch, cooking tripe is a long-drawn-out
       affair.  Fresh whole tripe calls for a minimum of 12 hours of
       cooking, some time-honored recipes demanding as much as 24.
       To prepare fresh tripe, trim if necessary.  Wash it thoroughly,
       soaking overnight, and blanch, for 1/2 hour in salted water.
       Wash well again, drain and cut for cooking.  When cooked, the
       texture of tripe should be like that of soft gristle.  More
       often, alas, because the heat has not been kept low enough,
       it has the consistency of wet shoe leather.
               Joy of Cooking, by I Rombauer and M Becker

*troll
       The troll shambled closer.  He was perhaps eight feet tall,
       perhaps more.  His forward stoop, with arms dangling past
       thick claw-footed legs to the ground, made it hard to tell.
       The hairless green skin moved upon his body.  His head was a
       gash of a mouth, a yard-long nose, and two eyes which drank
       the feeble torchlight and never gave back a gleam.
       [...]
       Like a huge green spider, the troll's severed hand ran on its
       fingers.  Across the mounded floor, up onto a log with one
       taloned forefinger to hook it over the bark, down again it
       scrambled, until it found the cut wrist.  And there it grew
       fast.  The troll's smashed head seethed and knit together.
       He clambered back on his feet and grinned at them.  The
       waning faggot cast red light over his fangs.
               Three Hearts and Three Lions, by Poul Anderson

*tsurugi of muramasa
       This most ancient of swords has been passed down through the
       leadership of the Samurai legions for hundreds of years.  It
       is said to grant luck to its wielder, but its main power is
       terrible to behold.  It has the capability to cut in half any
       creature it is wielded against, instantly killing them.

tsurugi
See also: *muramasa
       The tsurugi, also known as the long samurai sword, is an
       extremely sharp, two-handed blade favored by the samurai.
       It is made of hardened steel, and is manufactured using a
       special process, causing it to never rust.  The tsurugi is
       rumored to be so sharp that it can occasionally cut
       opponents in half!

twoflower, guide
       "Rincewind!"
       Twoflower sprang off the bed.  The wizard jumped back,
       wrenching his features into a smile.
       "My dear chap, right on time!  We'll just have lunch, and
       then I'm sure you've got a wonderful programme lined up for
       this afternoon!"
       "Er --"
       "That's great!"
       Rincewind took a deep breath.  "Look," he said desperately,
       "let's eat somewhere else.  There's been a bit of a fight
       down below."
       "A tavern brawl?  Why didn't you wake me up?"
       "Well, you see, I - what?"
       "I thought I made myself clear this morning, Rincewind.  I
       want to see genuine Morporkian life - the slave market, the
       Whore Pits, the Temple of Small Gods, the Beggar's Guild...
       and a genuine tavern brawl."  A faint note of suspicion
       entered Twoflower's voice.  "You do have them, don't you?
       You know, people swinging on chandeliers, swordfights over
       the table, the sort of thing Hrun the Barbarian and the
       Weasel are always getting involved in.  You know --
       excitement."
               The Colour of Magic, by Terry Pratchett

tyr
       Yet remains that one of the Aesir who is called Tyr:
       he is most daring, and best in stoutness of heart, and he
       has much authority over victory in battle; it is good for
       men of valor to invoke him.  It is a proverb, that he is
       Tyr-valiant, who surpasses other men and does not waver.
       He is wise, so that it is also said, that he that is wisest
       is Tyr-prudent.  This is one token of his daring:  when the
       Aesir enticed Fenris-Wolf to take upon him the fetter Gleipnir,
       the wolf did not believe them, that they would loose him,
       until they laid Tyr's hand into his mouth as a pledge.  But
       when the Aesir would not loose him, then he bit off the hand
       at the place now called 'the wolf's joint;' and Tyr is one-
       handed, and is not called a reconciler of men.
                       The Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson

*hulk
       Umber hulks are powerful subterranean predators whose
       iron-like claws allow them to burrow through solid stone in
       search of prey.  They are tremendously strong; muscles bulge
       beneath their thick, scaly hides and their powerful arms and
       legs all end in great claws.

*unicorn, unicorn horn
       Men have always sought the elusive unicorn, for the single
       twisted horn which projected from its forehead was thought to
       be a powerful talisman.  It was said that the unicorn had
       simply to dip the tip of its horn in a muddy pool for the water
       to become pure.  Men also believed that to drink from this horn
       was a protection against all sickness, and that if the horn was
       ground to a powder it would act as an antidote to all poisons.
       Less than 200 years ago in France, the horn of a unicorn was
       used in a ceremony to test the royal food for poison.

       Although only the size of a small horse, the unicorn is a very
       fierce beast, capable of killing an elephant with a single
       thrust from its horn.  Its fleetness of foot also makes this
       solitary creature difficult to capture.  However, it can be
       tamed and captured by a maiden.  Made gentle by the sight of a
       virgin, the unicorn can be lured to lay its head in her lap, and
       in this docile mood, the maiden may secure it with a golden rope.
       Mythical Beasts, by Deirdre Headon (The Leprechaun Library)

       Martin took a small sip of beer.  "Almost ready," he said.
       "You hold your beer awfully well."
       Tlingel laughed.  "A unicorn's horn is a detoxicant.  Its
       possession is a universal remedy.  I wait until I reach the
       warm glow stage, then I use my horn to burn off any excess and
       keep me right there."
               Unicorn Variations, by Roger Zelazny

valkyrie, human valkyrie
       The Valkyries were the thirteen choosers of the slain, the
       beautiful warrior-maids of Odin who rode through the air and
       over the sea.  They watched the progress of the battle and
       selected the heroes who were to fall fighting.  After they
       were dead, the maidens rewarded the heroes by kissing them
       and then led their souls to Valhalla, where the warriors
       lived happily in an ideal existence, drinking and eating
       without restraint and fighting over again the battles in
       which they died and in which they had won their deathless
       fame.
               The Encyclopaedia of Myths and Legends of All
                       Nations, by Herbert Robinson and Knox
                       Wilson

vampire, vampire bat, vampire lord
       The Oxford English Dictionary is quite unequivocal:
       vampire - "a preternatural being of a malignant nature (in
       the original and usual form of the belief, a reanimated
       corpse), supposed to seek nourishment, or do harm, by sucking
       the blood of sleeping persons. ..."

venus
       Venus, the goddess of love and beauty, was the daughter of
       Jupiter and Dione.  Others say that Venus sprang from the
       foam of the sea.  The zephyr wafted her along the waves to
       the Isle of Cyprus, where she was received and attired by
       the Seasons, and then led to the assembly of the gods.  All
       were charmed with her beauty, and each one demanded her
       for his wife.  Jupiter gave her to Vulcan, in gratitude for
       the service he had rendered in forging thunderbolts.  So
       the most beautiful of the goddesses became the wife of the
       most ill-favoured of gods.
               Bulfinch's Mythology, by Thomas Bulfinch

vlad*
       Vlad Dracula the Impaler was a 15th-Century monarch of the
       Birgau region of the Carpathian Mountains, in what is now
       Romania.  In Romanian history he is best known for two things.
       One was his skilled handling of the Ottoman Turks, which kept
       them from making further inroads into Christian Europe.  The
       other was the ruthless manner in which he ran his fiefdom.
       He dealt with perceived challengers to his rule by impaling
       them upright on wooden stakes.  Visiting dignitaries who
       failed to doff their hats had them nailed to their head.

*vortex, vortices
       Swirling clouds of pure elemental energies, the vortices are
       thought to be related to the larger elementals.  Though the
       vortices do no damage when touched, they are noted for being
       able to envelop unwary travellers.  The hapless fool thus
       swallowed by a vortex will soon perish from exposure to the
       element the vortex is composed of.

vrock
       The vrock is one of the weaker forms of demon.  It resembles
       a cross between a human being and a vulture and does physical
       damage by biting and by using the claws on both its arms and
       feet.

wakizashi
       The samurai warrior traditionally wears two swords; the
       wakizashi is the shorter of the two.  See also katana.

wand of *, *wand
       'Saruman!' he cried, and his voice grew in power and authority.
       'Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed.  I am
       Gandalf the White, who has returned from death.  You have no
       colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.'
       He raised his hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice.
       'Saruman, your staff is broken.'  There was a crack, and the
       staff split asunder in Saruman's hand, and the head of it
       fell down at Gandalf's feet.  'Go!' said Gandalf.  With a cry
       Saruman fell back and crawled away.
               The Two Towers, by J.R.R. Tolkien

warg
       Suddenly Aragorn leapt to his feet.  "How the wind howls!"
       he cried.  "It is howling with wolf-voices.  The Wargs have
       come west of the Mountains!"
       "Need we wait until morning then?" said Gandalf.  "It is as I
       said.  The hunt is up!  Even if we live to see the dawn, who
       now will wish to journey south by night with the wild wolves
       on his trail?"
       "How far is Moria?" asked Boromir.
       "There was a door south-west of Caradhras, some fifteen miles
       as the crow flies, and maybe twenty as the wolf runs,"
       answered Gandalf grimly.
       "Then let us start as soon as it is light tomorrow, if we can,"
       said Boromir.  "The wolf that one hears is worse then the orc
       that one fears."
       "True!" said Aragorn, loosening his sword in its sheath.  "But
       where the warg howls, there also the orc prowls."
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

war*hammer
See also: mjollnir
       They had come together at the ford of the Trident while the
       battle crashed around them, Robert with his warhammer and his
       great antlered helm, the Targaryen prince armored all in
       black.  On his breastplate was the three-headed dragon of his
       House, wrought all in rubies that flashed like fire in the
       sunlight.  The waters of the Trident ran red around the
       hooves of their destriers as they circled and clashed, again
       and again, until at last a crushing blow from Robert's hammer
       stove in the dragon and the chest behind it.  When Ned had
       finally come on the scene, Rhaegar lay dead in the stream,
       while men of both armies scrambled in the swirling waters for
       rubies knocked free of his armor.
               A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin

water
       Day after day, day after day,
       We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
       As idle as a painted ship
       Upon a painted ocean.

       Water, water, everywhere,
       And all the boards did shrink;
       Water, water, everywhere
       Nor any drop to drink.
               The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor
                 Coleridge

web
       Oh what a tangled web we weave,
       When first we practise to deceive!
               Marmion, by Sir Walter Scott

*wight
       When he came to himself again, for a moment he could recall
       nothing except a sense of dread.  Then suddenly he knew that
       he was imprisoned, caught hopelessly; he was in a barrow.  A
       Barrow-wight had taken him, and he was probably already under
       the dreadful spells of the Barrow-wights about which whispered
       tales spoke.  He dared not move, but lay as he found himself:
       flat on his back upon a cold stone with his hands on his
       breast.
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

wizard of yendor
       No one knows how old this mighty wizard is, or from whence he
       came.  It is known that, having lived a span far greater than
       any normal man's, he grew weary of lesser mortals; and so,
       spurning all human company, he forsook the dwellings of men
       and went to live in the depths of the Earth.  He took with
       him a dreadful artifact, the Book of the Dead, which is said
       to hold great power indeed.  Many have sought to find the
       wizard and his treasure, but none have found him and lived to
       tell the tale.  Woe be to the incautious adventurer who
       disturbs this mighty sorcerer!

wolf, *wolf, *wolf cub
       The ancestors of the modern day domestic dog, wolves are
       powerful muscular animals with bushy tails.  Intelligent,
       social animals, wolves live in family groups or packs made
       up of multiple family units.  These packs cooperate in hunting
       down prey.

woodchuck
       The Usenet Oracle requires an answer to this question!

       > How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could
       > chuck wood?

       "Oh, heck!  I'll handle *this* one!"  The Oracle spun the terminal
       back toward himself, unlocked the ZOT-guard lock, and slid the
       glass guard away from the ZOT key.  "Ummmm....could you turn around
       for a minute?  ZOTs are too graphic for the uninitiated.  Even *I*
       get a little squeamish sometimes..."  The neophyte turned around,
       and heard the Oracle slam his finger on a computer key, followed
       by a loud ZZZZOTTTTT and the smell of ozone.
               Excerpted from Internet Oracularity 576.6

*worm, long worm tail, worm tooth, crysknife
       [The crysknife] is manufactured in two forms from teeth taken
       from dead sandworms.  The two forms are "fixed" and "unfixed".
       An unfixed knife requires proximity to a human body's
       electrical field to prevent disintegration.  Fixed knives
       are treated for storage.  All are about 20 centimeters long.
               Dune, by Frank Herbert

wraith, nazgul
       Immediately, though everything else remained as before, dim
       and dark, the shapes became terribly clear.  He was able to
       see beneath their black wrappings.  There were five tall
       figures:  two standing on the lip of the dell, three advancing.
       In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under
       their mantles were long grey robes; upon their grey hairs
       were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of
       steel.  Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they
       rushed towards him.  Desperate, he drew his own sword, and
       it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a
       firebrand.  Two of the figures halted.  The third was taller
       than the others:  his hair was long and gleaming and on his
       helm was a crown.  In one hand he held a long sword, and in
       the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it
       glowed with a pale light.  He sprang forward and bore down
       on Frodo.
               The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien

wumpus
       The Wumpus, by the way, is not bothered by the hazards since
       he has sucker feet and is too big for a bat to lift.  If you
       try to shoot him and miss, there's also a chance that he'll
       up and move himself into another cave, though by nature the
       Wumpus is a sedentary creature.
               wump (6) -- "Hunt the Wumpus"

xan
       They sent their friend the mosquito [xan] ahead of them to
       find out what lay ahead.  "Since you are the one who sucks
       the blood of men walking along paths," they told the mosquito,
       "go and sting the men of Xibalba."  The mosquito flew
       down the dark road to the Underworld.  Entering the house of
       the Lords of Death, he stung the first person that he saw...

       The mosquito stung this man as well, and when he yelled, the
       man next to him asked, "Gathered Blood, what's wrong?"  So
       he flew along the row stinging all the seated men until he
       knew the names of all twelve.
                       Popul Vuh, as translated by Ralph Nelson

xorn
       A distant cousin of the earth elemental, the xorn has the
       ability to shift the cells of its body around in such a way
       that it becomes porous to inert material.  This gives it the
       ability to pass through any obstacle that might be between it
       and its next meal.

ya
       The arrow of choice of the samurai, ya are made of very
       straight bamboo, and are tipped with hardened steel.

yeenoghu
       Yeenoghu, the demon lord of gnolls, still exists although
       all his followers have been wiped off the face of the earth.
       He casts magic projectiles at those close to him, and a mere
       gaze into his piercing eyes may hopelessly confuse the
       battle-weary adventurer.

yeti
       The Abominable Snowman, or yeti, is one of the truly great
       unknown animals of the twentieth century.  It is a large hairy
       biped that lives in the Himalayan region of Asia ... The story
       of the Abominable Snowman is filled with mysteries great and
       small, and one of the most difficult of all is how it got that
       awful name.  The creature is neither particularly abominable,
       nor does it necessarily live in the snows.  Yeti is a Tibetan
       word which may apply either to a real, but unknown animal of
       the Himalayas, or to a mountain spirit or demon -- no one is
       quite sure which.  And after nearly half a century in which
       Westerners have trampled around looking for the yeti, and
       asking all sorts of questions, the original native traditions
       concerning the creature have become even more muddled and
       confused.
               The Encyclopedia of Monsters, by Daniel Cohen

*yugake
       Japanese leather archery gloves.  Gloves made for use while
       practicing had thumbs reinforced with horn.  Those worn into
       battle had thumbs reinforced with a double layer of leather.

yumi
       The samurai is highly trained with a special type of bow,
       the yumi.  Like the ya, the yumi is made of bamboo.  With
       the yumi-ya, the bow and arrow, the samurai is an extremely
       accurate and deadly warrior.

*zombie
       The zombi... is a soulless human corpse, still dead, but
       taken from the grave and endowed by sorcery with a
       mechanical semblance of life, -- it is a dead body which is
       made to walk and act and move as if it were alive.
               W. B. Seabrook

zruty
       The zruty are wild and gigantic beings, living in the
       wildernesses of the Tatra mountains.

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