World

verside is one side of a disk-shaped world on which the stories Rice Boy and Order of Tales take place. On its surface are three continents: Acirca, the largest; Wusterim, and Grenth, the Silent Continent. The Disk spins regularly on an axis from the North to South, so that the sun rises in the East and sets in the West.

The Overside Encyclopedia

RB: Appears in Rice Boy
OoT: Appears in the Order of Tales (so far).

Acirca: RB, OoT. The largest continent of Overside, which surrounds the Circle Sea and extends northward. It is where most of the events of Rice Boy and Order of Tales take place. Pronounced 'a SIR ka.'

Æthirus: OoT. A 'shadow with a single silver horn' who was in charge of an effort to take the Bottle Woman from Tenshells.

Angel-Eye: RB. A name that Golgo went by many years ago.

Arctaur: RB. A purple person who lives alone in the abandoned city of Whetton. He fancies himself a historian, and knows much of the history and lore of Overside. He is particularly fascinated by Whetton's dead Tree of Thought, and the magic it once possessed.

Avatar: RB. In the old stories, there are three massive pillars called 'Avatars' that were left to control and maintain the world once God departed after its creation. There is an Avatar of Time, a pillar of flesh, an Avatar of Space, a pillar of stone, and an Avatar of Mind, a pillar of lightning. They were hidden across the world, 'never to found, corrupted, or destroyed.' One of the Avatars has disappeared, and Ridrom's prophecy says that a Fulfiller will bring it back.

Bottle Woman: OoT. A being of glass, who contains a potion that sometimes glows. She is sought by Rog. There seems to have been another like her long ago.

Bird: RB. Spatch II's small pet, which says 'Fuh' over and over and isn't really good for anything.

Blackbirds: OoT. A people from the east. They are tall and feathered, and many of them appear to be in Rog's employ.

Black Spirit: RB. A black potion with strange properties. Anyone who drinks it is immortal for as long as he drinks it, but it isn't the same life as before. Extended use is thought to make the drinker increasingly warped and evil. Few know of the drink, and even fewer know how it is made, Olga among them.

Black Teeth: RB. A mountain range north of Skortch, and the hidden fortress home of the reclusive Machine-Men. The symbol of the Black Teeth is a circle over two isosceles triangles, and the colors of its military are dark purple and gold.

Bleach Beast: RB. A great big hairy gray monster that roams all over the world, apparently eating people left and right. A servant of the Heirs of Ridrom.

Book of Spatch: RB. A very large book bound in green. Its contents were dictated by an aging Spatch, a particularly self-confident King of Sunk, to lay down the laws for the continuation of his empire. The last page is marked with Spatch's handprint.

Bor the Very Large: RB. An appropriately named large, one-eyed citizen of the Dorlish Wood. He is not very helpful.

Brain Child: RB. A massive purple beast who lives in Lonely Land, and seems to be its de facto ruler. He has obsessively filled his land with lightbulbs, towers, and small clockwork machines. The Dimmons fear and respect him.

Calabash: RB. T-O-E's old friend and partner in a very difficult job. He was alive and drinking heavily for over 3,000 years, searching for the Fulfiller with T-O-E with varying degrees of conviction. He enjoys vodka, the Occasional Cigar, and in general being a bad role model. In The Book of Spatch, and by those who do not know him personally, he is referred to as the 'Round Brown One.'

Calendar: The calendar of Overside resembles our own. Days are roughly the same length, and are created by the world-disk spinning on a North/South axis. A year, made of five 25-day months, is about a third the length of our years (all times expressed in Rice Boy are in Overside Years). The history of Overside is divided into Ages of varying length. Each Age is named for a color, somewhat arbitrarily. Rice Boy takes place in the ninth century of the Red Age, and Order of Tales takes place in the third century of the Red Age. Lately, the population of Overside is so decentralized that few actually continue to follow this calendar.

Circle Sea: RB. A sea in the center of Overside, surrounded almost completely by the continent Acirca. It is circular in shape.

Dimmons: RB. Dark creatures with glowing white faces that live in Lonely Land. They feed on the misery and loneliness of those who travel through the land, and they bring donations of food to their old master, Father Dimmon.

Dolly: RB. Golgo's assistant; later a friend and compatriot of T-O-E and the Fulfiller's Army. She wears magic boots that talk to her when she is alone.

Dorl: OoT. The largest settlement in the Dorlish Wood. A few hundred buildings made from living trees, scattered loosely in the southwestern area of the Wood.

Dorlish Wood: RB, OoT. A thick green forest downstream from the Matchwoods. The town Dorl is in this wood, in the time of Order of Tales. The Dorlish Wood is home to the Tree Keeper. It is also very large and strange, filled with many magic trees, fruits, and little animals. The fruits that grow in the Dorlish wood are poisonous to diurnal peoples after sunset.

Esterteng: The extremity of Acirca that borders the Circle Sea to the east.

Evan Dahm: Me.

Extranji: OoT. An apothecary from Tenshells. The Bottle Woman's original keeper.

Father Dimmon: RB. A massive, many-legged Dimmon. His hands are nailed into the earth of Lonely Land, so he depends on his smaller Dimmons to bring him food. He can only speak in one word phrases.

Frog-Men: RB, OoT. Native inhabitants of Sunk, and a significant portion of the population of Tenshells in Order of Tales. Every King of Sunk has been a Frog person, but until Spatch's coronation, the population of the Swamp has been very diverse. Frog-Men are green and three-fingered.

Fruit of Thought: RB. A fruit that grows on the Tree of Thought and is thought to cure all ills. They are purple and can be extremely addictive.

Fulfiller: RB. The person who Calabash and T-O-E have been searching for for quite a while; one who will fulfill Ridrom's Prophecy.

Gerrah: OoT. A Teller from the lineage of Serínger.

Gerund: RB. A Hornèd from the Stone Palm. Eating is definitely his favorite thing to do. Gerund is shy and pretty nervous, and has never fit in with other natives of the Stone Palm. He is traveling in search of the Bleach Beast.

God: Believed to be the employer of T-O-E and Calabash, and supplier of their immortality. T-O-E talks to God on a tiny island in the center of a glowing pink lake, somewhere. In old lore, God is the indifferent creator of the World and the Avatars, and is never referred to with pronouns.

Golgo: RB. An extremely nasty bounty hunter with a magic right eye that goes wherever he cannot. Golgo will kill or spy on anyone for the right price. His mount is a green thing with a large nose, and he was usually accompanied by Dolly, until the events in Rice Boy. He is drinking the Black Spirit more and more to keep himself alive, and once was an ally of T-O-E and Calabash.

Gortch: RB. Spatch's father and King of Sunk before him. Pretty much a nice guy and a good ruler with an asshole for a son. Also, a Frog-Man.

Grand Vizier: RB. A high-ranking egg-shaped official of Satuar and the Prince's traveling companion. On most matters, the Vizier is much more sensible than his counterpart.

Greeny Weens: RB. A relatively small grassy plain between Whetton (to the south) and the Mountain Ring (to the north). There is a massive stone in the Greeny Weens, in which lives a monstrous serpent.

Grenth: The continent of Overside southeast of Acirca. Called 'the Silent Continent.'

Heart of the Dorlish Wood: RB. The very center of the Tree Keeper's wood, where there is a massive tree named Daughter. Under this tree is a spherical chamber that houses the Tree Keeper's most important possession.

Heirs of Ridrom: RB. A lineage formed to preserve Ridrom's knowledge of the Prophecy.

Hideous Child Tavern: RB. A bar in Suntown, frequented by Calabash, owned and operated by Suzy. Its walls are a lovely shade of red.

Hornèds: RB, OoT. A clan of people who originate in the Stone Palm. They are commonly violent and xenophobic, and have maintained control of Hornspine for much of the time that they have occupied it. Pronounced 'HORN-eds;' the second syllable is pronounced but not stressed.

Horn-Plant: RB. Massive weird tree plants native to Sunk, and generally associated with the royalty thereof. Spatch's palace/fortress is made of the largest Horn-Plant in Sunk.

Hornspine: RB, OoT. A mountain range north of the Matchwoods. The Stone Palm is deep inside them.

Impera Spadewielder: OoT. Daughter of King Pronomb of Stonepalm.

Infin: RB. Gerund's younger brother, an apprentice of Parod and the last Heir of Ridrom.

Iron Tower: RB. A tower mentioned in Ridrom's prophecy, where the Fulfiller's quest is meant to end. On the island in the center of the Circle Sea, where the Fulfiller's Battle was fought.

Knosus: RB. A shaman who looks like a rabbit and lives on a beach. He is one of many old friends of T-O-E's.

Koark: OoT. A member of the Order of Tales, who wanders Acirca in search of stories. He carries the black book of Väine's lineage.

Korpum: RB. Maquín's mount, a bluish four-legged creature with a cube for a head. The entire body of Korpum can be contracted into its head, which can then shrink to be carried easily.

Little Blue: RB. T-O-E's little brother, who was taken by the Bleach Beast when they were both very young.

Lonely Land: RB. A hilly area south of the Dorlish Wood. People who enter are immediately separated from their companions, and the water there contains a powerful curse: whoever drinks it turns blue and can only talk unintelligibly. Lonely Land is the home of the Brain Child, the Dimmons, and the Brain Child's mechanical creations.

Machine-Men: RB. A species of metal men of which T-O-E is a part. They live for a very long time (though none as long as T-O-E), and there are not very many of them. For the most part, the Machine-Men stay in their homeland, and even those that wander the World avoid most civilization when they do.

Maquín: RB. A young Machine-Man, and a scout of the military of the Black Teeth. He adheres to the traditional morals and ways of thought of the Machine-Men, and is somewhat quick to anger. Pronounced Mah-KEEN.

Mark of Seen: RB. The symbol of the legendary kingdom of Seen: a vertical eye with a black and red pupil. It is thought that anyone who visits Seen is marked by it. T-O-E has the Mark on his chest.

Matchwoods: RB. Largish forested area filled with tall trees with bulbous tips, and what Rice Boy calls 'orange popping plants.' The Matchwoods are the home of Rice Boy and Rosemary.

Memoar: RB. A legendary garden of Memoryflowers inside a massive white dome, guarded by a man of white stone hundreds of feet tall. Only those bearing the Mark of Seen may enter Memoar.

Memoryflower: RB. Glowing white flowers that cover the white-enamel ground of Memoar. Each takes a different shape, and corresponds to a particular inhabitant of Overside. When someone smells a Memoryflower, they can see into the memories of its owner.

Nom Armforger: OoT. The warrior who moved the Hornèds to the mountains, and was the first king of Stonepalm.

Oire: RB. A large magic monster who can see clearly into the future. Pons' brother.

Olga: RB. Golgo's sister, and one of the most knowledgeable apothecaries of Overside.

Orange Popping Plants: RB. Plants native to the Matchwoods. They are orange balls on short stalks, and float into the air, glowing, at night. They grow most densely near areas of great heat.

Order of Tales: OoT. A society of story-collectors, called Tellers. It was started by Väine, Serínger, and Tout, and has consisted of their three lineages.

Overside: The side of the World on which these stories take place.

Parod: RB. A very wise man who lives in the red mountains of the desert Skortch.

Pons: RB. A large magic monster who can see clearly into the past. Oire's brother.

Potok: OoT. The only surviving mount from Themb's stables. She travels with Koark, and eats bugs.

Prince Yureg: RB. A zealous prince of Satuar, who is going on a quest to glorify his homeland and gain his father's respect.

Pronomb Wallbuilder: OoT. The king of Stonepalm and of the Hornèds at the time of Order of Tales.

Prophecy: RB. A text written by the prophet Ridrom, millenia ago. It was written in a tongue that Ridrom alone understood, and is thus not well understood by many people. It foretells the coming of someone who will call forth the missing third Avatar. This fulfiller will be thrice transfigured, and his task will end on the Iron Tower, which no one really knows anything about.

Ragged Lands: RB. A small land on the edge of the Matchwoods, lined with many cracks in the earth, which glow orange with lava. Orange Popping Plants were cultivated by a civilation here many years ago. Columns that serve as channels to bring the lava's heat to the surface still exist.

Red Mountains: RB. A mountain range inside the desert of Skortch.

Rhed: OoT. A people native to the swamplands of eastern Acirca. They are mute and strong, and notoriously hired as mercenaries. They are in the employ of Gerrah in the first chapter of Order of Tales.

Rice Boy: RB. A little fellow with no arms or legs who lives in the Matchwoods. All he can do is grow plants and watch sunsets and listen to stories, but he's gone on his way to maybe repair the world.

Ridrom: RB. The person who wrote the Prophecy many hundreds of years ago.

Rog: OoT. A warlord who lived at the end of the Age of Machines and ruled much of Acirca brutally. It also seems to be the name of some ruler in the east who lives at the time of Order of Tales.

Rosemary: RB. A large blue nocturnal female person who lives in the Matchwoods. She enjoys eating things that produce light. A few years ago, the White Formless came and gave her Rice Boy, and she has done her best to care for him since.

Satuar: RB. A small kingdom in the Mountain Ring. It is barely large enough to be shown on most maps, and its population is barely greater than its own royal family. Pronounced 'SATCH uar.'

Seen: RB. A legendary kingdom far underground. Most doubt its existence.

Serínger: One of the founding members of the Order of Tales. The ancestor of Gerrah.

Skortch: RB. A massive, dangerous desert. A single path goes through it, from Backtown to the Red Mountains.

Skystem: OoT. An area along the edge of the lake Stareun, where Duke Teller Themb's castle stands. Skystem is famous for its flowers.

Spatch: RB. Recently deceased King and self-assured Savior of the Frog-Men of the great swamp called Sunk. Though selected by Calabash and T-O-E to be Fulfiller, he did nothing to that end. Spatch exiled every non-Frog-Person from Sunk and assembled a massive army to defend his empire. By the time of his death, every Frog-Person strongly believed in his divinity, and was ready to follow his words to the end of the world. This is possibly bad news.

Spatch II: RB. Son of Spatch, who, according to the Book of Spatch, holds all of his father's power and divinity. Spatch II has black eyes, a black robe, and a strange hat. He is trying to initiate a Holy War against the latest Candidate chosen by T-O-E and Calabash.

Stone Palm: RB, OoT. A city in the Northern Mountains, located in the palm of a great naturally-formed stone hand. The village is populated Hornèds. Founded by the warlord Nom Armforger at the beginning of the Red Age. Called either 'The Stone Palm' or 'Stonepalm.'

Strael: OoT. Mother of Koark and wife of Duke Teller Themb. Pronounced to rhyme with 'ale.'

Sunk: RB. A great Swamp far south of the Matchwoods. More specifically, Sunk is the name of Spatch's kingdom within this swamp, now full of malignant and zealous Frog-Men. The flag of Sunk is an image of three gold droplets on a blue field. After Spatch's death, a flag with a black frog's hand on a red field has become associated with Sunk.

Suntown: RB. The city where Calabash lives, and where the Hideous Child is. Suntown is characterized by stucco and topiary. It is on a plateau in the mountains, surrounded by a circular wall. Suntown is one of the largest and most prosperous cities on Overside. It was once home to one of Overside's last Trees of Thought, which was burned down in a war with Whetton.

Suzy: RB. The bartendress at the Hideous Child Tavern. She is friendly and almost completely blind. Fella named a boat after her, once. She has known Calabash all her life.

Tenshells: OoT. A city made of giant seashells, on a bay in western Acirca. Its government is realized entirely by the sea serpent Slent, called Oceanqueen.

Themb: OoT. A Duke who lived in Skystem. Also a Teller from the lineage of Väine. Father of Koark. His name is pronounced as 'them,' with an unvoiced 'th' as in 'thin.'

Thorka: OoT. A high-ranking Blackbird involved in the effort to take the Bottle Woman from Tenshells.

T-O-E (The One Electronic): RB, OoT. Machine-Man prophet, ceaseless chain-smoking wanderer with a monitor for a face. He is very serious about the job he has to do with Calabash, his only friend: locate the Fulfiller and assign him to his task. By the time of Rice Boy, he has lived for nearly 3,000 years, and has had profound effects on Overside's history. Pronounced Tee-Oh-EE, or teeyoWEE.

Tout: One of the founding members of the Order of Tales. The ancestor of Mour. Pronounced to rhyme with 'doubt.'

Tree Keeper: RB. Protector of the Dorlish Wood. The Tree Keeper has control over all the plants of the Wood, and can communicate with them. He travels in a massive carriage made of an animated tree stump, and smokes a pipe.

Tree of Thought: RB. A mythical plant with fruit that can heal almost all ills. Many years ago, several existed across the world. Now only one is known of, and only by few, in the Black Teeth.

Trench: Also called 'The Great Trench.' A deep, wide, regular trench that extends across Acirca in a wide arc, dividing its northeast and southwest sections.

Underside: RB. The other side of the disk-shaped world, long isolated from Overside.

Väine: OoT. One of the founding members of the Order of Tales, and the ancestor of Tellers Themb and Koark. Pronounced 'VIE-nay.'

Whetton: RB. A city, now abandoned, near Lonely Land. Whetton is in a large grassy field, and its streets are trenches dug into the earth. Three watchtowers are the only parts of Whetton that stick above the ground's surface.

White Formless: RB. Strange white creatures from far away. They cannot speak without cutting off their own heads, and for this reason they sometimes carry ceremonial glowing knives. A White Formless brought Rice Boy to Rosemary.

World: The World of Rice Boy and Order of Tales is huge and disk-shaped. The side on which Rice Boy lives is called the Overside. Once, Ages ago, the Overside and Underside were united, and people traveled between them frequently. Now, both are completely isolated.

Wusterim: A continent of Overside southwest of Acirca.