The Divine & the Cosmos
Olorun — The one God, the Source from whom all Ase flows. There are no other gods; the Orisha are expressions of Olorun’s power.
Obatala — Son of Olorun, the aspect of grace and free will. To chain his brother he sacrificed his own Ase, scattering it as twelve gifts to humankind.
Olokun — Son of Olorun, the aspect of judgement and discipline. Bound beneath Deep Megata after the great flood; his rising threatens the Awoken.
Orisha — The Twelve. Not independent gods but expressions of Olorun’s power — fragments of Obatala’s sacrificed Ase, gifted to the worthiest of mortals.
Ase (Asẹ́) — The divine creative life-force, gift of Olorun; awakened at the Rite Si’Ibi and magnified by the unity of the people.
The Hailing — The founding miracle: the fall of impossible, many-coloured light when Obatala gave up his Ase. Its return is read as an omen.
The Awoken — Mortals born across the generations carrying the spirit and abilities of one of the original twelve Orisha. Rarely do all twelve live at once; now they do.
Children of Olokun — Children whose eyes fail to shine at the Rite, showing no Ase; feared, persecuted and branded as cursed.
The Trials — Four titans — hunger, sickness, vanity and wrath — loosed from Deep Megata to destroy the Awoken.
The Twelve Orisha
Orunmila — Wisdom, divination and soundness of mind.
Eshu — The trickster; lord of crossroads, chance and mischief.
Ogun — Iron, the forge and war.
Sango — Thunder, lightning and fire from the sky.
Oshoshi — The hunt and the tracker’s unerring eye.
Oba — Devotion, sacrifice and loyalty.
Oshun — Love, beauty and the sweet rivers.
Ibeji — The divine twins; youth, joy and duality.
Yemoja — The great waters and motherhood.
Aganju — Fire, the volcano and the untamed earth.
Oko — The field, the harvest and the soil.
Oya — The winds, the storm and change.
Realms & Places
Afriganda — The realm: twelve tribes of one blood, gifted with Ase, along the western coast of the Great Continent.
Megata — The ancient capital of unity, abandoned for generations. Set apart from the twelve city-states; the seat of the first king.
Deep Megata — The hidden temple where the spirit and physical realms overlap; the prison of Olokun and the wellspring of the Trials.
The Twelve City-States — Koromantin, Ogun, Igbechi, Gao, Niani, Benasha, Yakanude, Kolo, North Oshahn, South Oshahn, Sosso and Konekri.
eranko — The wild bush beyond the settlements; the wilderness.
Peoples & Tongues
Fante — The people of North Oshahn.
Ijo — The people of South Oshahn.
Mande peoples — Related tribes of the interior — Mandinka, Soninke and Mende among them — known for the forge-cities, the smith-craft and the trade routes.
Roles, Ranks & Orders
Baale — The chief or ruler of a city-state.
Griot — A storyteller, oral historian and keeper of the old names; a revered elder.
Babalawo — A priest and diviner of the Orisha faith.
Iyalawo — A priestess and diviner; the female counterpart to the Babalawo.
Alaase — A trained wielder of Ase; a mage who channels it into light and power.
Jagunjagun — A fully-fledged warrior of a city-state’s army.
Onija — A warrior in training; a fighter of the cadet ranks.
Sentinel — An elite, battle-hardened Jagunjagun; the towering guardians who hold the trials and the gates.
Kintango — A master-instructor of warriors, charged with forging trainees into Jagunjagun.
Gold Seal (Seal of Excellence) — The mark of a graduated warrior; the prize of the trials.
Rites, Festivals & Lore
Rite Si'Ibi — The naming rite at which a child’s Ase is awakened and the eyes ’shine like flames of fire.’ Failure marks a Child of Olokun.
Afriganda Day — The annual festival when the twelve states gather to honour their shared origin.
Amee — The ritual affirmation — ’so be it,’ ’amen’ — called in response during the Rite.
Objects, Dress & Coin
Waterfruit — A fruit whose milk is used to cleanse the eyes during the Rite.
gele — A woman’s elaborately tied head-wrap, worn by elders and noblewomen.
agbada — A flowing, wide-sleeved formal robe.
cowries — Cowrie shells used as currency and as divination tokens.
The Reckoning of Time
Rain — A year. (’8th Rain’ marks the eighth year of an age, or a person eight rains old.)
Moon — A month.
The Tongue of the Streets
abeg — ’I beg’ — please; also a softener or a mild dismissal.
abro — Brother; a warm, familiar address between close friends.
oga — Boss, master, sir; a person of authority.
Chalé — Friend, mate; a coastal greeting between equals.
joh — An emphatic particle of urging or appeal (’leave me, joh!’).
na so — ’Is that so?’ / ’that’s just how it is.’
na wa — An exclamation of astonishment or dismay.
chai — An exclamation of dismay, awe or frustration.
shebi — ’Isn’t it?’ / ’right?’ — inviting agreement.
abi — A tag question: ’right?’ / ’or not?’
ehen / ehn — ’Aha’ / ’yes’ — a prompt to go on, or a challenge.
wetin — ’What’ — ’what is it?’
comot — ’Come out’ / ’get away.’
wahala — Trouble; problem; hassle.
sha — ’Anyway’ / ’regardless’ — an emphatic closer.
kai — An exclamation of surprise or alarm.
haba — ’Come on!’ — remonstration or disbelief.
mehn — ’Man’ — an emphatic, familiar address.
vex — To anger; to be annoyed.
omo — ’Child’ — also an exclamation.
dey — ’Is’ / ’are’; the continuous marker (’you dey craze’ = ’you are mad’).
craze (dey craze) — Madness; to be crazy or out of one’s mind.
chop (chop am) — To eat; ’eat it’; to take or to enjoy.
kampe — Firm, solid, unshakeable — a warrior’s cry of readiness.
ginger — Drive, fire, motivation.
se'f / sef — ’Even’ / ’self’ — an intensifier.
-o — An emphatic suffix (’Yes-o,’ ’focused-o’).
Tchww — The sound of teeth sucked in scorn or dismissal.
