M

Find below an alphabetical list of all the character names, places and objects beginning with the letter M in the World of Astrom. I shall add to this list as more of my works are published. If an entry is missing, leave a comment below and I shall fill it when I can.

Malator

A city in Hendar, one of the greatest cities of that realm. Located in the western part of the country, it is hugely wealthy as the centre of regional power and industry. It is also the name of a dukedom centred around the city, one of five into which Hendar is divided. Despite Kalator being the royal dukedom and home to the capital city, Malator is easily the strongest dukedom, and its dukes have a long history of autonomy from the crown, acting at times as the pre-eminent advisors to the king and at others like viceroys in control of virtually an independent principality. This reputation was enhanced during the reign of the late King Idunar, who was dominated by his brothers, Duke Rumoril of Malator and Duke Dencaril of Nalator. See also Rumoril, Hendar & Kalator. 

Manrion

An armist and member of the Third Cohort of the Royal Guards of Mariston. Manrion is a member of the expedition that accompanies King Curillian to Oron Amular. See also Royal Guards and Curillian.

Marintor

Marintor was the first Sea-elf king and the peer of Avatar and Firnar. Married to Ithíriel, he was among the first six elves to awake, and established the Sea-elf realm of Marinia on the southern coast of Kalimar.

His name is also given to the people whom he and his descendants ruled, the Sea-elves. Dwelling by the coasts, they are enamoured of all water, but especially the sea. Dwelling in caves, grottoes and white-walled havens, they are the mariners, explorers and traders of the elves. Their realm once embraced all the coasts of Astrom, but whilst in latter days they may have relinquished much of it to armists and Mortals, they also have innumerable havens and colonies on the far-flung islands and continents of the planet. The Marintors are great singers and lovers of music, but they are also the most worldly of the elves, and the most ready to have dealings with Mortals. See also Avatar, Kalimar, Ithíriel & Marinia.

Mariston

The capital city of Maristonia. Built in the early days of the Second Chapter by the armist chieftain, Carinen, Mariston was planned on an epic scale and long before Maristonia as a territorial entity came into being. For a long time it was merely the chief habitation of the armists in the lowlands, lying not far from the elven capital of Alanton, but as time went by it grew in power and importance and eventually became the capital city when the elven crown passed to the armist Harolin dynasty. The whole kingdom changed in this upheaval, and took its new name from its namesake capital. Ever after, Mariston was one of the greatest cities of Astrom, both in size, wealth and political importance. The Harolins ruled their sophisticated kingdom from the Carimir Palace at the city’s heart, secure from all attack behind formidable fortifications. Mariston lies at the mouth of the River Ebinnon on Mariston Bay, where it is well-placed to control all the trade criss-crossing this inland sea between different parts of Maristonia. It also lies astride the east-west road which runs from Kalimar beyond the mountains to the southern and western provinces of the kingdom. See also Carimir, Maristonia & Harolin.

Mariston Bay

A great body of water in southern Astrom, enclosed by the arms of Carinen Peninsula and Mastred Peninsula. It is so closed off from the ocean, reached only by the narrow, tempestuous Watchful Straights, that it is virtually an inland sea. Yet while it is well-protected from outside attack, it is wide and deep enough to make it a formidable obstacle for seafarers, capable of throwing up terrifying storms. For centuries it has connected the heartlands of Maristonia to its outlying provinces and peninsulas, and as such trading ships busily traverse it in all directions. Watch-towers guard the narrow entrance and all routes across it lead to or from Mariston, the capital city lying at the top of the bay. See also Carinen Peninsula, Mariston & Maristonia.

Maristonia

One of the great realms of Astrom, dominating the southern half of the continent. Maristonia covers a huge area and a great variety of terrains, from alpine foothills to semi-arid plains. It runs from the River Vanri in the north, where it shares a border with Aranar, down to deserts of Lurallan in the south. It has long coastlines looking both east and west and a long, curving mountain-spine separating its inner territories from its outer provinces. Maristonia began its history with an elven expedition under Prince Arvarion of Kalimar, and for its first three millennia it was known as Alanmar, the south-country. Only after the Carthaki Wars and the demise of the elven monarchy did it become Maristonia, ruled from Mariston by the armist Harolin dynasty. Its subsequent history was one of the long slow quest of the Harolins to reconquer all the lands once ruled by Arvarion, and their eventual success led to Maristonia being one of the mightiest powers on the continent. Wealthy and stable at home, Maristonia was able to project immense power abroad, and was rightly feared by its enemies. Curillian is its current king, one of those invited by Kulothiel to the Tournament of Oron Amular. See also Mariston, Arvarion, Harolin, Carthaki Wars & Curillian.

Markest

A city in eastern Maristonia, nestled at the feet of the foothills of the Carthaki Mountains. Although Welton in the Phirmar is the capital of the East-fold, Markest is the largest settlement outside the Phirmar. Originally built by the armists to solidify their power in previously elven territory, Markest suffered from being so far from the main trade artery along the Armist Road and dwindled to little more than a regional hub. See also East-fold & Welton.

Mastred Peninsula

A great peninsula, forming the southern of Maristonia’s two great arms. Along with its brother peninsula, Carinen, it is named after one of the first armist chieftains and helps to enclose the inland sea of Mariston Bay. It stretches from the arid uplands of southern Maristonia to the Watchful Straights and guards Maristonia’s seaborne approaches from the south. It is famous for its vines and its many watch-towers and coves. See also Carinen Peninsula & Maristonia.

Melnova

A female armist poet who wrote during the second century of the Fourth Chapter. Based in the Central Lands, she wrote and sang about the restoration of the Harolin monarchy, among many other things. She was patronised by King Curillian and Queen Carmen and was well-respected at court, even if she struggled to get her due recognition from others in the artistic scene. See also Carmen, Curillian & Harolin.

Memitor

A river in eastern Maristonia. It is the first major waterway as you enter the Phirmar from the landward in the west, the first of many rivers in that land. It marks the western boundary of the Phirmar, beyond which is the East-fold proper. See also Phirmar & East-fold.

Mirkan

An armist and former King of Maristonia. A member of the ruling Harolin Dynasty, he was the son of Arimaya and the father of Curillian. He was exceedingly long-lived, but ill-fated to live during the rise of the Silver Empire, which gave him much trouble on his northern and western borders. Mirkan was ill-suited to the challenges of the time, being less energetic and assertive than his father. A rarity for the Harolins, he was not an enthusiastic warrior, and his passions and skills were rather in philosophy, star-gazing and the administration of his realm. This made him a good king domestically, but left Maristonia vulnerable in world affairs. In his later years Mirkan long out-lived his health and vitality and spent long in frail dotage, suffering with many symptoms of mental decline. He fell victim to the snares of unscrupulous counsellors, one of whom, Daulastir, went on to murder him, exile his son and assume the rulership in his place as Lord Protector. There followed a long, unhappy interregnum before Curillian reclaimed his throne and birth-right. See also Arimaya, Curillian, Harolin & Lord Protector.

Mortals

The elves are the only immortal race among the Free Peoples, and though the armists and dwarves are also mortal, the name Mortals is reserved for those elves who forfeited their immortality for rebellion against Prélan. Though by the time of Oron Amular they may resemble human beings, they are in fact the descendants of elves who fell from grace. In the second half of the Second Chapter, large swathes of the population of Elvendom fell away from the true faith and embraced manifold heresies and false religions. In a cataclysmic event known as the Great Betrayal, those who forsook Prélan were cursed with mortality, losing their deathlessness and many of the virtues of mind and body that went with it. The faithful elves remained in Kalimar and Ithrill, but the Mortals were to be found across much of the rest of Ciroken, in Aranar, Hendar and Ciricen. In all these countries there arose mortal nations and kingdoms which lived uneasily alongside their immortal neighbours. They were still related by blood, but utterly estranged in mindset and values. Mortals were subject to sickness and deformity, as well as ageing, but they made up for their limited years with a great zest for life that expressed itself in invention, literature, art and zealous politics. As such their realms were characterised by rapid change and frequent upheavals. Had they refrained from fighting each other and amongst themselves, mortal civilisation might have rivalled that of the elves, in accomplishment, if not in longevity. Opinion is divided among the loremasters of Astrom as to whether mortality was in fact a curse, denying Mortals the long bliss of the elves, or a blessing in disguise, speeding their way back to Prélan.