Bright Bay: Political center of the Northern Kingdom. Contains the palace of King Oruen, the now-defunct Northern Church Tower, and two major ports, one of which is under the effective control of a southern Family.
Darden Family: One of the southern desert Families; unpleasant reputation involving drug smuggling and development, cruelty, and plots to gain political and geographic power. Ongoing feud with neighbor F’Heing Family.
Desert Families: Located to the south of the Horn, which connects the south to Bright Bay, the desert Families are effectively feudal city-states established over the nest of a ha’rethe, who protects them in exchange for servitude. Current Families at the time of Lies of Stone: Darden, F’Heing, Toscin, Tereph, Peysimun, Aerthraim.
Desert Lords: Intermediary between humanity as a whole and ha’reye; swear to lifelong service in exchange for psychic powers and a position of unquestioned power among humans.
F’Heing Family: One of the southern desert Families; particularly nasty reputation involving drug smuggling, treachery, and cruelty in service of gaining political and geographic power. More direct than manipulative. Ongoing feud with neighboring Darden Family.
Ha’rethe/Ha’reye: An ancient race that predates humanity; immense psychic powers, can control nearby land as well as creatures on that land. Longstanding Agreement with humanity for protection/servitude was shattered in the Children of the Desert series.
King Oruen: Took the throne in the wake of the previous king’s demise; only viable candidate after the Purge took out large swathes of nobility. Has made a number of critical errors, including focusing on rebuilding relations with the southern Families rather than his own kingdom.
Northern Church: A religion based around four gods: Syrta (earth), Wae (water), Eki (wind) and Payti (Fire). Each of the gods have a good face and a cruel face, and a complicated set of Creeds lays out how to behave to stay under the good faces of the gods. During the Purge, the Northern Church leadership was hijacked by a psychopath, who used the power of the position to twist the already unstable king further.
Northern Church Tower: Originally the central authority for the Northern Church. Emptied after Oruen took the throne; most of the priests moved north, spreading across several cities. The remaining priests moved into a walled enclave where they now tend to the insane — largely political prisoners — as a self assigned penance for what the Church did during the Purge.
Purge, The: A time of extreme chaos involving insane kings, evil advisors, and brutal “law” enforcement; literal witch hunts, severe oppression, and abuse of power largely driven by the resident Northern Church priests, who were expelled from Bright Bay once Oruen took the throne.