NOON ONYX SERIES: WHAT’S WHERE
* In alphabetical order
** There are SPOILERS in the descriptions below
Alba’s Café: AKA “The Black Onion.” Small café on the corner of River Road and Widow’s Walk in New Babylon owned by a Hyrke named Alba. She is the third generation of women named Alba, who have served lunch to New Babylonians from the same street corner for decades. Noon and her classmates go to Alba’s for lunch when they want to get off campus.
Angel Street: One of the main streets on St. Luck’s campus. It runs north-south, in between Timothy’s Square and the Joshua School.
Black Onion: AKA “Alba’s Café.” People call Alba’s the Black Onion because she sells black onions. Black onions are like magic fortune cookies – the Haljan equivalent of a Magic 8 Ball.
Bradbury: A Hyrke neighborhood in southwest New Babylon. It sits on the edge of the Lethe and is home to dock workers, longshoremen, and stevedores. Ari Carmine was raised in Bradbury. Noon visited here during Beltane Break in Dark Light of Day. The neighborhood adores Estes, the Patron Demon of the Lethe.
Corpus Justica: St. Lucifer’s Law Library. Noon has a study carrel in the tax and tithing section, which is an unpopular, infrequently visited, part of the library on the second floor in a dark, dusty, remote corner. Ari is a frequent visitor to this part of the library… and therefore an academic distraction for Noon.
Ebony’s Elbow: The “sticky wicket” to avoid when traveling to the Shallows on the eastern Lethe. Legend says the Elbow “is full of rushing white water that runs black as a blank mind, rocks as sharp as a spinning propeller, and dozens of derelict ships.” It’s the place where Cnawlece sank and everyone nearly drowned in Fiery Edge of Steel. It’s also the place where “anchor memories” are lifted from one mind and grafted onto another.
Emmer: An outpost in southern Halja which is home to the Hawthorn Tribe.
Empyr: A restaurant on the 33rd story of the Joshua School building (one of the tallest buildings in New Babylon). Empyr is to the Joshua School students what Marduk’s is to the St. Luck’s students, but the two restaurants couldn’t be more different. It’s said the Angels “had Heaven in mind when they built Empyr.” It has floor-to-ceiling windows, which look out over New Babylon, St. Luck’s, the Lethe, and Etincelle. It’s all white and bright. Tables are topped with crystal, china, silver, and candlelight. The Joshua School Angels make and serve “Empyr Wine” (ensorcelled apple wine) there.
Etincelle: A small village across the Lethe from New Babylon. Etincelle is where people with money and magic live. It is full of Host (the descendants of Lucifer’s warlords) and Angels. Behind the Story: Etincelle means “spark” in French.
Farro: An outpost in southern Halja which is home to the Gaia Tribe.
Gaillard University: Noon’s undergraduate college.
Halja: The country where the stories take place. In its center is its only city, New Babylon. The Lethe runs west to east. At the mouth of the Lethe, far to the east, is an ocean. Directly to the south of New Babylon, on the other side of the river, is the village of Etincelle. South of Etincelle are the Mederi tribe outposts and even farther south is Halja’s southern Verge. There are other outposts scattered throughout Halja.
Hinterlands: A general term for any area outside of New Babylon, Etincelle, and the southern Mederi tribe outposts. Rogare demons live in the hinterlands.
Holly and Oak: The college that Noon’s parents, Waldron Seknecus, and Quintus Rochester attended.
House of Metatron: The name of the ceremonial courtroom at the Joshua School that was named after the Angel Metatron. The first “House of Metatron” was the oxcart that Metatron traveled the whole of Halja with looking for Justica.
Infernus: A dormitory at St. Luck’s. This is the dormitory where Maegesters-in-Training live. Ari’s room is here but Noon’s room is in Megiddo because, when she first arrived at St. Luck’s, she was still pretending to be a Hyrke.
Joshua School: The Angel School that St. Lucifer’s shares a campus with. The Joshua School is as prestigious a school for Angels as St. Luck’s is for Maegesters-in-Training.
Lemiscus: The oldest lane in Etincelle. It runs parallel to the Lethe. The Lemiscus runs between Peter Aster’s estate and Noon’s family’s estate.
Lethe: The Lethe is the biggest river in Halja. A real world counterpart might be the Mississippi or Nile River. New Babylon was built on its banks, as well as Etincelle and a number of outposts. Haljans use it for transportation and food. It has many tributaries and rivulets and its waters are often treacherous and full of rogare demons.
Maize: An outpost in southern Halja which is home to the Demeter Tribe. Maize is the southernmost Mederi outpost. It’s where Noon’s brother, Nightshade, lives and trains.
“Manipulation Dungeon”: Noon’s informal name for the deep underground area beneath Rickard Building where MIT’s learn how to shape their waning magic into weapons and spar with each other.
Marduk’s: St. Lucifer’s eatery. It’s an underground pub. It’s rough and worn, but comfortable. Full of dirt and fire (as opposed to Empyr, which is pristinely clean and candlelit).
Meadow, The: A tar pit with a huge weartree in its middle near the Shallows. It’s possible that the Meadow is the famed Asphodel Meadow of pre-Apocalyptic fame. Also possibly referred to in the story “The Grim Mask of Grimasca” in Fiery Edge of Steel.
Megiddo: A dormitory at St. Lucifer’s. Noon and Ivy live in Room 112.
New Babylon: The only city in Halja. It was built on top of the ancient battlefield of Armageddon. It is home to almost a million Hyrkes. The city has a circa 1900s technology level.
Rabbit Warren, The: The Warenne Tiberius Rhaetia Administration Building. It’s a building that has had several ill thought out expansions so that nearly all of its corridors have no external light. They are long, dark passages with numerous, illogical turns. Waldron Seknecus and Quintus Rochester have their offices here.
Rickard Building: The building where the Maegesters-in-Training and the Barristers-in-Training have class.
Rockthorn Gorge: An outpost to the north of New Babylon. Karanos tried to persuade Ari to go there for Beltane Break in Dark Light of Day to help him with some “incidences” that had occurred there.
Seknecai Estate: One of the only Host estates in New Babylon. Fitz’s mother is Waldron Seknecus’ housekeeper. He was raised there and he and Ivy often go there on breaks from school. Pronunciation Tip: the “k” is silent. “Se-ne-CAI” rhymes with WHY.
Sheol: A neighborhood to the far east of New Babylon. Past Sheol is only farmer’s fields… and eventually, past fallow fields and a forest, is Lucifer’s Tomb.
Shallows, The: A poor outpost with only a few hundred people in eastern Halja. It sits in the Lethe river delta, specifically between two smaller rivers: the Blandjan and the Secernere. This is the outpost Noon is sent to in Fiery Edge of Steel for her first field assignment. Vodnik is its patron demon.
St. Lucifer’s Law School: The demon law school that Noon is sent to at the beginning of Dark Light of Day. Students refer to it as “St. Luck’s.” Both Host students (those with waning magic who train to become Maegesters) and Hyrke students (those with no magic who train to become Barristers) attend the school. There are hundreds of Hyrkes and only a handful of Host though.
Stirling, The: A high-class Hyrke hotel in New Babylon. Ari booked a room for him and Noon there for the night after the Barrister’s Ball.
Stone Pointe: An ancient, pre-apocalyptic structure in the heart of the Shallows. At one time, it had been a giant’s fortress. But with time, its floors gave way and it started sinking into the muddy ground of the Shallows. When Noon arrives in Fiery Edge of Steel, Vodnik has claimed it as his home and the people of the Shallows gather there every night for dinner.
Timothy’s Square: The square in between St. Lucifer’s and the Joshua School. A lot of festivals and events are held in Timothy’s Square. Jezebeth was executed there in the beginning of Fiery Edge of Steel.
Victory Street: One of the main streets on St. Luck’s campus. It runs east-west, in between Timothy’s Square and Lekai Auditorium.
JILL ARCHER 