What's What....
The items below are mentioned in the stories found at Merlynn's Maze. Places, institutions, and other "things" which appeared *ONLY* in the series are not listed.
For an episode synopses see the LegacyWeb.com Episode Guide, which is a searchable database and contains links to photos and film clips.
For excellent "canon" biographies of the PTL characters please visit
The Desert House
Watch for this icon elsewhere.Ahl e Ketab
- The People of the Book. Those who adhere to the monotheistic religions of Islam, Christianity, Judaism, & Zoroastrianism.Al-Kufrah - Also known as Al-Kufar, Al-Kufra, or Kufra. A depression, oasis, and the town named for them in southeastern Libya. In our story line, set in the early 1980s when the US was having problems with Libya over issues such as the Gulf of Sidra, it is the site of a terrorist training camp and an ancient underground temple dedicated to Tanit. Derek's life is changed there. The site was suggested by Derek's lines near the end of the S2 episode, New Guard.
Angel Island - Angel Island is the largest island within San Francisco Bay. Situated in Marin County, it lies at the south end of the Tiburon Peninsula and due north of Alcatraz. It is a California State Park and wildlife refuge. In S4's episode, the Portents, it is revealed that Angel Island contains one of the Portals, whose instability may have caused the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. The island may or may not be owned by the Legacy. The arrangements are never really specified.
In the world of Merlynn's Maze, Angel Island is owned not by the Legacy, but by the Luna Foundation. Evan Rayne purchased it in 1850, when California gained statehood, and began building the house, which sits upon the foundations of an earlier fort.
For a more complete history see the Rayne Family History and for photos of the real Angel Island see the Legacy Photo Album.
Balliol College - Founded ca. 1263, Balliol is one of three oldest colleges that comprise Oxford University. Balliol is the alma mater of Derek Rayne & presumably of William Sloan, who was Derek's proctor there. Oddly enough, it is also the alma mater of the famous literary detective, Lord Peter Wimsey.
Black Cells - From the Bladed Cross in the Merlynn's Maze world... a rumored, secret place of lifetime solitary confinement for those Legacy members, or anyone else, who has become possessed by an infectious entity of evil. According to legend, they are to be used only to isolate those who became possessed & committed crimes through no fault of their own. The Legacy did not have the moral right to execute an "innocent". Therefore, if all other forms of treatment failed, a Black Cell was the only option.
In the Bladed Cross, Derek dreams of awakening in a small, totally silent, dark cell where he cannot stand or lie down to full length. He is nude & is told that he will never again have human contact. Food, water, & waste are passed in & out by way of a small door. If he fails to return his bowl, it will signify his death & the door will be permanently sealed. The Black Cell will be his tomb. In his dream, he lives out his life in the Black Cell, until he rejects food & water & starves himself to death.
It is uncertain whether such places exist or whether it is "Boogey Man" tale. However, both Derek, Sloan & Kincaid give it enough credence to be willing to kill Derek, if he is convicted at the Tribunal in the Bladed Cross & condemned to a Black Cell.
CalTrans - California Department of Transportation.
Chief Investigator - The official who is responsible for investigation of improprieties within the Legacy. It is a position akin to a police department�s Internal Affairs division. In the S4 episodes, Traitor and Double Cross, the position was occupied by Franklin Cross, who is killed by Horton. In Ruminations I, since Cross is dead, the position has been assumed by Fr. Joseph Thomas. In the Merlynn�s Maze world, however, which follows a time track in which Cross did not die, Cross remains Chief Investigator at least into 2001.
Chipote - The mining village in Peru where Winston Rayne found the Fifth Sepulchre in 1969 and was killed for his effort. It is, of course, the setting for Chipote, which details Winston's last days and Derek's struggle to survive in the aftermath.
CHP - California Highway Patrol.
Circle of the Phoenix - The secret twin of the Legacy, unknown to the Legacy. When Camelot fell, King Arthur died, and the Round Table was destroyed, Merlin was left to pick up the pieces. Because it had been greed and a thirst for power that had destroyed the Round Table, he sought to find a way to fund the Legacy without the Legacy having any real knowledge of how it was funded. Therefore, he created the Circle of the Phoenix, intended to rise from the ashes of the Round Table. It was to be a blind trust that acted as a balance of power.
Members of the Circle, called Companions, were also to remain relatively unknown to each other. Only a few Companions were to serve as the common link between all, and only Merlin's heirs were to serve as the liason between the the Companions and between the Circle and the Legacy. In our day and age, this person is Derek Rayne, Chairman of the Luna Foundation.
Eagle Society - This is a society which may be the Native American equavalent of the Legacy. In Interlude, we learn that Evan Rayne's mother, Adawehi, may have been a member and that at puberty, Winston may have seen to it that Derek was initiated as a member. One of its strongholds was Kwahu Canyon.
the Gabbatha Codex - This ancient Aramaic manuscript, believed to be a document related to the famous Dead Sea War Scroll, is the Merlynn's Maze counterpart to the Testament of Golgotha from PTL's finale The Beast Within. At the end of Death Watch Philip Callaghan is able to use the codex to dispel the forces of darkness within the House and to draw Derek's consciousness back into his own body.
"Gabbatha" denoted the paving stone upon which Pontius Pilate stood when he passed judgement on Christ. Thus it came to signify the "Place of Judgement."
Ghost Gulch - A haunted Gold Rush mining camp in the foothills of California's High Sierras that was the setting for A Killing Time.
Glastonbury Tor - A conical, terraced mound situated southwest England. In legend, it is reputed to have been the Isle of Avalon. Glastonbury Abbey, which lies below, is said to be the burial site of King Arthur and Guenivere. A far more ancient legend describes the tor as a "hollow hill", an entrance to the Celtic underworld. At the peak stands a tower, all that remains of a church dedicated to St. Michael, built there to weigh down the evil and seal the door to the underworld.
A major scene in Bladed Cross occurs on Glastonbury Tor.
Golgotha, the Testament of - In The Beast Within, Derek seemed obsessed with the translation of this ancient Aramaic text that detailed the end of time, which was to coincide with the Millennium. It stated that "Upon the eve of Apocalypse a 'Chosen One' shall come forward... dying that others might live." "Golgotha" signified the "Place of the Skull," the mound upon which Christ was crucified.
However, the Derek of the Merlynn's Maze world has memories of another Aramaic text, the Gabbatha Codex. This codex had many similarities, but many significant deviations from the Testament of Golgotha. Only the most ancient fragment of the "Golgotha" text, which Derek had studied for his doctoral dissertation, coincided with the Gabbatha Codex. In Death Watch, these discrepancies permitted both Dereks to realize that the "Golgotha" text was a demonic ploy, while the Gabbatha Codex gave the true antidote to the Portal.
Golem - A creature drawn from Jewish folklore, but also occuring in other cultures. It is generally made of mud and given life by a spell written on a piece of paper and placed in the mouth. It functions as an automoton and can be made in the image of either a living or a deceased person.
Hopi - A Pueblo Indian tribe whose reservation surrounds a group of mesas in the midst of the larger Navaho reservation in Arizona. For centuries they have been an agrarian society that dry farmed maize and lived in multi-storey dwellings.
Jihad - An Islamic holy war. However, in the West, it's meaning as a literal war has been overused. Jihad also means a continual striving for the path of Allah. It is akin to the Christian concept of "spreading the Gospel".
Jirga - An Afghan tribal council of elders. It is extremely similar to Athenian democracy, & may predate it. Jirgas were ancient when Alexander the Great invaded in the 4th century BC. It is also called a shura
Karakuli - A distinctive felt cap, native to Afghanistan, that looks something like a beret with a rolled brim. It is made from the wool of the Karakul sheep
Khan - A leader or the landed elite in Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, etc.
the K'om - A real tribe in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan.
Kwahu Canyon - "Eagle Canyon"... the setting for much of Interlude. It is somewhere in the Four Corners region of the US Southwest and may have been a stronghold of the Eagle Society. It contains the ruins of a cliff dwelling, originally found in 1821 by Evan Rayne. The kiva at the site contains wall paintings, which seem to portray Druids with the sepulchres and a possible foretelling of events on Angel Island. Winston Rayne bought the property and excavated the site with the help of Luke Grayfox's father.
LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department.
the Legacy - A secret society dedicated to the battle against the Powers of Darkness in all its disguises. Its membership is composed of scientists, psychics, military, academics, and clergy. There seem to be active, full-time member and part-time consultants who pursue separate careers in various fields. Legacy Houses are located throughout the world in major cities such as Paris, Cairo, Montreal, Boston, New York City, and San Francisco. Each house is under the administration of a Precept and all report directly to the Ruling House and Council, located in London. Its logo is the sword overlaying the red, Old English "L"
The series itself was rather ambivalent about the Legacy's origins, stating in one place that it was 3,000 years old, in another place that it was founded in fifth century Britain. It also never went into the details of the actual internal organization. Therefore, for the purposes of "our" world. The Legacy was founded in fifth century Britain by Merlin, as a spiritual adjunct to the Round Table's more worldly functions. An earlier version of the Legacy, the Legatus, had been founded ca. 1000 B.C. and had finally fallen to the Darkside under the Roman Empire, ca. 300 A.D.
Our Legacy is much the same as that of the series. It is composed of Legacy Houses scattered throughout the world, which exist under the cloak of various organizations: the Luna Foundation, the Phoenix Institute, and the London Club. In the series, its hierarchy consists of the Ruling Council, the Ruling Precept, the Chief Investigator, and house precepts. We expand on the bureaucracy and add to the familial and hereditary elements within the Legacy.
Our main variation is that our Legacy has a shadowy twin organization, which provides the funding for the Legacy. When the Round Table fell, Camelot was destroyed, King Arthur and many of the knights died. Merlin was left to pick up the pieces. To do so he created a new society called the Circle of the Phoenix, intended to rise from the ashes of Camelot and the Round Table. The Legacy would be the functional arm and would remain ignorant of its twin. The Circle, essentially a blind trust, would provide the funding and silent direction.
Through the ages, the Circle remained hidden beneath other organizations, the Wayfarers' Trust, the Luna Foundation, and others, which served as the liason between the two organizations. A descendant of Merlin is chosen by the Companions of the Circle to serve as the link between themselves and between the Legacy and the Circle. In our time, it is Derek Rayne, a Companion of the Circle, Chairman of the Luna Foundation, and a Legacy Precept.
the Legacy Gospel - The gospel, whose cover contains Merlin's document that details the end of the Round Table, the founding of the Circle of the Phoenix, and defines the relations between the two.
the Legatus - At one point in PTL's pilot episode, Philip Callaghan states that the Legacy was over three thousand years old. However, at another point, it is said that the Legacy was founded in fifth century Britain.
Therefore, as a solution in the Merlynn's Maze world, there was a prior Legacy, the Legatus (Latin for "legacy"), which was active in ancient Rome. As its stronghold, it had a bastion in the northern Aegean Sea. It ultimately fell to the Darkside, when its Ruling Precept, Julius Maximus was seduced by Isheth. In modern times, the Legatus became Legatus, Ltd., a multinational corporation. Its ancient and current symbol was a Roman "L" overlaid by a gladius, a short, Roman sword.
A century or more after the fall of the Legatus, Merlin revived the idea in Britain.
London House - The Legacy's Ruling House, seat of the Ruling Precept and Ruling Council. All other Legacy houses report to London House. In the series its precise location was never established, but for the Merlynn's Maze world, it exists under the guise of the London Club, one of the gentlemen's clubs located Pall Mall.
the Los Angeles Legacy House - An invention of the Merlynn's Maze world. It is located on the Northeast corner of Hollywood Blvd. & Highland Ave. in Hollywood. For photos, click here. The precept is Dr. Amanda Drake. Her security chief is former LAPD officer, Mark Taylor. The house figures in both Ma?i.coh: the Skinwalker & New Beginnings... Ancient Endings.
the Luna Foundation - In the series, the foundation, established by Winston Rayne, seems to be merely a cover for the Legacy. However, if this is the case, it creates confusion. Was Winston such an important Legacy figure that he created this organization to shield the whole Legacy, or did they just put his name on the paperwork? If this is the case, what existed before?
In "our" world the foundation is separate from the Legacy. Winston Rayne founded the Luna Foundation as a partial cover and revenue source for the Legacy, but it is entirely under the control of its Chairman, Derek Rayne, its Board of Trustees, who remain anonymous, and its CFO, Willem van der Linden, Derek's maternal cousin. "Our" Luna Foundation also serves as a buffer and bridge between the Legacy and its secret twin, the Circle of the Phoenix, about which the Legacy hierarchy knows nothing. Thus there is a tension between the Raynes, who have considerable financial power within the Legacy, and some members of the Legacy's bureaucracy.
The Raynes have their own personal fortune, while Foundation supports museums, charities, hospitals, research and educational facilities, and owns, amongst other things, Angel Island, the Winston Rayne Hall of Antiquities, and the Legacy Houses in Boston and Los Angeles.
The Man in the Iron Mask - A book by Alexandre Dumas, which has been repeatedly filmed. A sequel to the Three Musketeers, it tells the tale of Prince Philippe, the twin brother of Louis XIV of France. To secure his throne, Louis has his twin kidnapped and imprisonned, but to keep Philippe's identity a secret, he has his brother's head encased in an iron mask. Ultimately, with the help of D'Artangan and the other Musketeers, Philippe is rescued and replaces his brother as king. Philippe becomes Louis XIV and Louis becomes the Man in the Iron Mask.
The story is based on fact. By all accounts, there really was a Man in the Iron Mask imprisonned in the Bastille in the 17th Century. His identity was never known.
In New Beginnings... Ancient Endings, James Darke had made a silent film version of the story and Carlton West, anxious to imitate his idol, planned to do the same.
Madrasah - An Islamic religious school. Northwest Pakistan is the home to several fundamentalist madrasahs who turn out students primed for jihad against the West.
Marston Moor - Located in England, in Northumberland, this setting for the Heavenly Choir is a bleak area that contains a dangerous, haunted peat bog.
Medicine Bundle - A bundle of items that are considered sacred to a Native American individual, family, or tribe. Amongst some groups, these items cannot be replaced and, if lost, it may mean that an important ceremony will also be lost.
Mission Dolores - The Mission of San Francisco de Asis, is considered the birthplace of San Francisco. In the world of Merlynn's Maze, this is the Catholic parish with which the Rayne family has been affiliated for more than 150 years and was the site of Derek's 1982 wedding. The saint that stands atop the chapel's altar screen is St. Michael slaying the dragon. The sword he swings bears an amazing resemblance to the Rayne Sword.
For further details on the connection of the Raynes to San Francisco Catholicism, see the Rayne Family History and for photos of the mission click here.
Muezzin - In Islam, one who calls the dutiful to prayer.
Mujahideen - "Holy Warriors".... It is the plural of mujahed, which means one who strives for God... a champion of liberty... one who fights for Islam in the jihad. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in the late 1970s, voluteers from many Islamic countries flooded into Afghanistan to join the local resistance. These volunteers & the locals formed a loose group that became known as the Mujahideen.
Mullah - An Islamic religious leader.
Munda - The ancient, aboriginal peoples of India, who had a closer affinity with the Negroids of Indo-China and Australia, than with the Dravidians or the Aryans, who invaded between 3000 and 1500 BCE. Munda religious practices involved Totemism, in which the life force of a particular plant or animal was believed to be the life of the tribe and of the individuals who made up the tribe. Sacrifice involved the immolation of a victim, usually an animal, in order to absorb its vital principle, which might be equated with its "id". The uniqueness of India is that everything endures while everything changes, so that elements of India's long, long past still exist side by side, at once distinct and yet intermingled in infinite variations.
Nagas - In Indian mythology, the Nagas are a fabulous race of snakes who live in spelendor in an underworld kingdom. They are renowned for their trickery and evil-doing, and can appear in human form. Certain royal families reckoned the Nagas amongst their ancestors. They are still worshiped in some parts of southern India. In New Beginnings... Ancient Endings, the first of the evil "ids" was a priest of a Naga cult, who called himself href="http://www.geocities.com/merlynsmaze/WW/whoswho.html#naga">"the Naga" in honor of his master.
Nairobi - The capital of Kenya; mentioned at the end of S2's New Guard. In 1979, the scene of one of Derek and Sloan's less successful and downright humiliating adventures, detailed in Nairobi.
Navaho or Navajo - One of the largest Native American tribes in the US. They are an Athabascan, semi-nomadic people who settled in the American Southwest in the 1400s. Today their reservation, which surrounds the Hopi lands, lies mostly in Arizona, with it's fringes in Utah and New Mexico.
New Beginnings - In New Beginnings... Ancient Endings Derek founds a hostel and charity called New Beginnings for the benefit of runaway, teenaged girls, who come to seek fame and fortune in Hollywood, but who have instead ended up on the streets enmeshed in drugs and prostitution. Its first residents are Christy Anderson, LaToya "Toya" Baker, Madonna (aka "Red"), Beth, Hope, Wai, Janey, and Nadine.
Old Oraibi - The setting of a portion of Ma?i.coh: the Skinwalker. It is a village on the Third Mesa of the Hopi Reservation in Arizona and is said by some to be the oldest continuously inhabited place in the US.
Parallel Universe - Perhaps this might better be called alternate dimensions. There are all sorts of theories from "bubble" universes that are a multitude of universes, one adjoining many others, like a mountain of bubble bath. Each bubble is its own universe. There is also the theory of "time streams" where each decision or even that occurs causes a branching, parallel stream. Most of these branches quickly die or merge with the original stream, but some events are so dramatic that they cause a time stream of their own.
Yet another theory is that all time exists at the same time, simply set off by the minutest nanosecond or a slight variation in dimensions. Thus each moment in time, maybe Heaven, Hell, and everything in between is a different dimension and all the creatures of myth and religion, angels, demons, etc. are the denizens of these different dimensions.
Some believe that precognition and psychic ability is the ability of the human mind to reach a level that it can span the dimensional barrier. Along the same lines a time slip would be the momentary ability to see or pass through a weakened barrier. Others belief that weak places, like the Bermuda Triangle, may exist between the various dimensions. Perhaps, some of these weaknesses could be called "Portals".
the Pashtuns - Variously spelled Pashtun/Pushtun/Pakhtun/Pathan/Paktun/etc. The dominant tribe of Eastern Afghanistan & Western Pakistan, where they are known as Paktuns... thus Pakistan. They are comprised of many subtribes and are a major political force straddling the border between the 2 countries. It was the Pashtun code of honor, called Pushtunwali, combined with a fundamentalist Islamic doctrine called Wahhabi, that became the foundation of Taliban law & government.
Phoenix Institute - The guise under which the Legacy House in Dublin operates in Bladed Cross. It is situated in Dublin's immense Phoenix Park.
PK - Also known as psychokenesis or telekenesis, the ability to move objects with the mind. In the Merlynn�s Maze world, Derek exhibits this �gift� under certain limited circumstances. It plays a significant role in Bladed Cross, Interlude, and Fortune�s Wheel.
the Portal - In S4's episode, the Portents, it is revealed that the San Francisco Legacy House sits atop a "Hell's Mouth," called a portal, whose instability may have caused the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.
Many such places exist in the world and have had consecrated Legacy Houses positioned above them to serve as a bastions against the evil of the Portal. It is akin to an old belief that churches dedicated to St. Michael could seal entrances to the Underworld. Glastonbury Tor in England was rumored to have been one such place.
The legend is that a Portal weakens each Millennium, and if it should erupt and not be sealed it will end Time as we know it, and so basically bring the end of the world. The one to weaken around the year 1,000 was beneath the Legacy House located in Constantinople. The one doomed to erupt in the Second Millennium AD, was San Francisco's. Legend also had it that a Portal may be sealed by "a Chosen One, who will die that others may live." In the series, the Chosen One is 1st believed to be Kristin, who sacrifices herself to defeat the wicked Fr. Elias, in the Portents. However, in the finale episode, The Beast Within, it is Derek who sacrifices himself to permanently seal the Portal and destroy the House.
In the Merlynn's Maze world, Derek Emrys Rayne lies in a coma in Death Watch, while his consciousness travels to merge with the Derek Rayne of PTL's Season 4. Together they bolster each other and manage to seal the Portal in The Beast Within. Derek Emrys Rayne then awakens in his own world to the realization that the Portal, which lies beneath his own San Francisco House may also be doomed to weaken. The theory behind the Portals in "our" world is that they function like "worm holes," as speculated in both science fiction and theoretical physics, to link the countless dimensions or parallel universes that may exist in the space/time continuum. These worm holes would thus create a spider's web of energies to connect many different places within each universe to its counter parts in the other universes.
Precept - The title of the person in charge of each Legacy House. Known precepts in the series have included Derek Rayne of San Francisco, his father, Winston Rayne, also presumably of San Francisco, Jane Witherspoon of Boston, Angeline d'Arcy of Montreal, Charles Banyon (ca. 1996) of New York, plus Ruling Precepts, Sir Edmund Tremayne and William Sloan. As a symbol of rank, each precept wears a ring with a lapis lazuli or blue enameled oval setting bearing a gold, snake entwined "L".
For "our" world we have added Dr. Amanda Drake of Los Angeles in Ma?i.coh: the Skinwalker and Bruce Gardner (ca. 1983) of New York in Al-Kufrah and Bladed Cross.
Precept-at-Large - In the Merlynn's Maze world, the title held by William Sloan during Al- Kufrah and Bladed Cross. The position acts as a liaison between the various Legacy Houses and the Ruling Council as, well as a general troubleshooter. He can also be assigned to take charge of a House temporarily for whatever reason the Council determines necessary.
Precept Emeritus - A position created for the Merlynn's Maze world. It is the position that a retired precept might assume. Still active in the Legacy, but not in the actual day to day functioning of the House. Arthur Middleton retired as Precept of the San Francisco House, but remained in San Francisco as Precept Emeritus, while William Sloan took over as the house's Precept until Derek Rayne was ready to take charge. Sloan then became Precept-at-Large.
Precept's Ring - As a symbol of rank, each precept wears a ring with a lapis lazuli or blue enameled oval setting bearing a gold, snake entwined "L".
Each ring seems numbered or marked to indicated its house or current owner. It is unknown whether the ring is the property of the precept or of the Legacy. However, Winston Rayne passed it on to his son, Derek, with the admonition, "The burden is yours, now." Derek did not assume the position until many years later. In the hours before the destruction of the San Francisco House in The Beast Within Derek then passed the ring on to Nick Boyle. Therefore, it seems that each precept's ring may belong to him alone, or perhaps a person is allowed to keep a ring as a memento at the discretion of the Ruling Council.
Precept Titularis - A position created for the Merlynn's Maze world. A person bearing this title would have the status of a precept, but not the responsibilities of presiding over a Legacy House. Instead, such a person might have charge of some other Legacy facility or department. Dr. Angus McLean who has charge of Wells Ward and the Hospital of St. Michael & St. George is a Precept Titularis, for the hospital is the equivalent of his House.
President of the Ruling Council - A Merlynn�s Maze position in the Legacy hierarchy. The President of the Ruling Council is superior to the Ruling Precept, since the Ruling Precept serves at the Ruling Council�s pleasure.
Proctor - In the US this is often a person who oversees the adminstration of a test. However, in the British collegiate system a proctor has much broader duties.
Often he is an upperclassman, graduate student, or tutor, who, in return for special allowances on room and board, will act in a position of "house mother" to the younger, undergraduate students of his dormitory building. In the S2 episode, Someone to Watch over Me, it was revealed that William Sloan was the proctor of Derek Rayne's "house" at Balliol College at Oxford.
the Rayne Sword - In the series a Medieval sword with lion-headed, ruby eyed quillons seems to be the symbol of the Legacy. We see it overlaying an Old English style, red "L" as the symbol of the Legacy, the Luna Foundation, and the series itself.
This sword is kept on the mantle in the library at the San Francisco House. Derek uses it in the pilot episode against the demon of the sepulchres and in the S2 episode, the Reckoning, against the resurrected warlock, Joshua Cantwell. It is never revealed why the symbol of the Legacy should be in the San Francisco House rather than London.
Thus, for Merlynn's Maze purposes, it became one of several swords, all identical save for the color of the gemstones that make the lions' eyes. These swords were made in Germany in the Middle Ages and were presented to worthy Legacy precepts and champions. Therefore, they are the possession of the family, not the of Legacy nor the House in which they resides. The ruby-eyed sword belongs to Derek Rayne and is a symbol of the Rayne family, the Luna Foundation and the San Francisco House. It is also possible that these swords have a meaning yet to be revealed.
the R'om - A fictional tribe that lives in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan. They are led by the Rumi-Khan. Derek's past with them is revealed in 911. Their history is based upon the Kalasha people of Pakistan, who are said to be descended of the soldiers of Alexander the Great.
Other tribes named in the story, the K'om, the Kât'a, Vâs'i, the Kalasha, the Mum'o, the Pashtuns are real tribes.
Ruhani - A spiritual man. A used to describe some Moslem clergy.
Rumi - An Afghan term meaning a person from the West... Greek, Roman, Byzantine.
Rumi-khan - A fictional title. The leader of the R'om people
the Ruling Council - The chief governing body of the Legacy, which is situated at the Legacy's Ruling House in London. In our world it led by a President and is composed of such officers as the Ruling Precept of London House, the Auditor General (finances), the Surgeon General (medical), the Advocate General (legal & judicial). It is their responsibility to ensure propriety, adherence to the rules, and to set policy.
the Ruling Precept - The Precept of London House and the chief executive of the Legacy. He is responsible for the Legacy's bureaucracy and day to day activities, but is accountable to the Ruling Council. In the concluding episode of S1, A Traitor Among Us, we discover that Sir Edmund Tremayne occupies this office. In New Guard, the premier episode of S2 and throughout the season, William Sloan has assumed the position. Thereafter, no one is mentioned by name.
St. Sepulchre-Without-Newgate - In Bladed Cross, Derek accidentally finds himself at this London Church, an event that will be crucial.
The church is real and is properly called Church of the Holy Sepulchre Without Newgate, so named because it was the departure point for Crusaders leaving for the Holy Land. It is located in London on Holborn Viaduct across from the Criminal Courts Building, which sits upon the site of old Newgate Prison. It is called the Musicians' Church and is the headquarters of the Royal School of Church Music. In 1955 the north chapel, originally dedicated to St. Stephen, became the Musician's chapel. The stained glass memorial windows, which include St. Cecilia, were dedicated in 1963.
St. Theodore - The resort island setting of Fortune's Wheel.
San Francisco Legacy House - A castle-like structure located on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay. It is headquarters for the Luna Foundation and home to Dr. Derek Rayne, as well as to Nick Boyle and Alex Moreau. In the series it is never precisely stated who owns the house, or who built it. It sits atop an extensive basement and substructure that contains vaults, which house Derek's collection of dangerous artifacts, the sepulchres, and the Portal The building either destroyed or badly damaged in the 1906 earthquake and at the end of PTL's finale episode, Derek and Nick set explosives, which Derek sets off destroying the Portal and most likely himself, along with the house.
In the Merlynn's Maze world, we discover that a Portal also exists beneath the San Francisco Legacy House of this universe. However, it seems for the moment to be stable.
For a more complete history see the Rayne Family History and for photos of the real Legacy House, aka Hatley Castle, see the Legacy Photo Album.
San Miguel Hotel - This Mission District flop house is the primary setting of Ruminations II: Requiescat in Pace, Derek Rayne. A week following the destruction of the San Francisco Legacy House at the end of The Beast Within, Derek awakens in Room 666 with no memory of the final events, nor of the intervening days.
SEAL - SEAL is an acronym for SEa, Air and Land. They may be members of either the US Navy or the US Marine Corps and are the counterpart of the US Army Rangers. In essence they are commandos, who, due to their rigorous training, are often regarded as their services� most elite.
SEALs are qualified in diving, parachuting, and are experts at combat swimming, navigation, demolitions, weapons, and many other skills. SEALs operate in small units called platoons. In addition to the maritime environment, SEALs also train in the desert, the jungle, in cold weather, and in urban surroundings. For more information click here.
the Sepulchres - Five small caskets in which the Druids imprisoned the fallen Watchers. If all five of these boxes are brought together and unlocked with their keys in the proper ceremony, a Hell's Mouth will open and the Anti-Christ will rise.
In a flashback within PTL's pilot episode, the Fifth Sepuchre, Winston Rayne, with young Derek in tow, finds the 1st Sepulchre in Peru in 1969 and is killed by the abomination within. Through the years, Derek evidently continues to secretly search for and collect three others. Then in 1996, Derek receives visions of the Fifth Sepulchre, which he and his team trace to Ireland.
Derek and his team ultimately defeat Azazel, the fallen angel of the Fifth Sepulchre. However, that is not the end of the troublesome boxes. In the final episode of S2, Trapped, Derek is possessed by a demon, who seems to be Winston Rayne, and performs the ceremony to open the Sepulchres. To save Derek and the world, William Sloan invites the Winston-demon into himself, steps into the circle of Sepulchres, turns the keys, a presumably vanishes into Hell.
Later, in the series finale, the Beast Within, the idea is introduced that if the Sepulchres are brought together and opened at the same instant that the Portal gives way, then the Apocalypse will occur. It will be the end of time and the Anti-Christ will arise to rule whatever follows.
In the Merlynn's Maze world we operate under a slightly different premise. Because it is impossible to accept that Derek Rayne, knowing the possible results of combining the Sepulchres with the Portal, would be so foolish and arrogant as to keep all five Sepulchres, with their keys, in such close proximity to even the strongest Portal, it must be surmised that he had a "good" reason to do so... a reason he alone knew. He may, of course, have been a willing agent or an innocent victim of Darkside manipulation ever since his father's death, but that is a rather distasteful thought. He might also have retained the Sepulchres in order to one day attempt a rescue of Sloan, but that would not explain their nearness to the Portal both before and after Sloan�s disappearance.
Therefore, despite the accepted theory that the Sepulchres plus the Portal equals the Apocalyptic rise of the Anti-Christ, Derek must have believed that the power of the Sepulchres might be used as a weapon against the power of the Portal. This is the tale told in Death Watch.
SFPD - San Francisco Police Department.
Sharia - Islamic law. Depending on the court, the sentences can be very harsh. A woman can be beheaded having a child outside of wedlock, a hand can be cut off for thievery, women can be whipped for immodesty, such as showing their face in public, being in the company of a male who is not a relative, or allowing too much of their ankles to be seen. In countries ruled by Sharia, there are often "religious police", who enforce behavioral codes.
Shuravi - The Afghan term for the Soviet forces that invaded Afghanistan in the late 1970s.
the Sight - Synonymous with ESP, extrasensory perception... generally used to embrace empathy, precognition, clairvoyance, prophesy, etc. It is apparently a �gift� strongly exhibited by the Rayne family and the Moreaus, as well as by "Kat" Corrigan. It is a talent separate from PK.
Skinwalker - A Navaho practitioner of witchcraft. They are shape-shifters who are said to "wear the skin" of an animal, most commonly the wolf.
Sufism - Islamic mysticism.
Taliban - A talib is an Islamic religious student or seeker of knowledge. After the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, the country was in chaos with multiple warlords fighting each other for territory & predominance. To put a stop to this a group rose that called itself the Taliban. Theu seized control of the country & imposed a strict fundamentalist Islamic government under the control of the mullahs & law that was based upon a merging of Wahhabi interpretations of Islam & from Pustunwali, the Pashtun's rigorous code of honor.
Time Slip - In theoretical physics, it is a momentary weakness in the fabric of the space/time continuum, perhaps to an alternate dimension or time stream, which can allow one to witness events of the past, or in extreme cases physically pass through to another era.
Tribunal - A judicial hearing, akin to a military court, conducted by the Legacy to investigate any suspected malfeasance by a member. When Derek faced a Tribunal the S1 episode, A Traitor Among Us, we learned that the Tribunal may call as evidence the contents of any member's Legacy Journal.
In Bladed Cross, Derek faces a much larger Tribunal that can rule on capital charges and is conducted in the civil court method of judge, defense, prosecution, and jury.
Wahhabi - An extremely fundamentalist sect of Islam that originated in Saudi Arabia in the 18th century & is the foundation of Saudi law & custom. It was carried to Afghanistan by Mujahideen volunteers, where it merged with the Pashtun code of honor, Pashtunwali, & became the foundations of Taliban government.
Wayfarers' Trust - An organization that preceded the Luna Foundation as a link between the Legacy and the Circle of the Phoenix.
Wells Ward - A Legacy mental facility housed within the Luna Foundation supported Hospital of St. Michael and St. George in Dorset, England. In Death Watch, it is revealed to be the final home of the victims of Dr. Ernst Reston's time slip experiments, and of the obsessed scientist himself. In New Beginnings... Ancient Endings, we discover that it was the final home of Ruling Precept, Dr. Sir John Kincaid ("Jack the Ripper"), though it was not yet then known as Wells Ward.
Westgate Studios - A small, Hollywood studio, owned by Carlton West, where a portion of New Beginnings... Ancient Endings is set.
White Magic - The cable soap opera, produced by Carlton West, which is the focal point of Derek's investigations in New Beginnings... Ancient Endings. Following the exploits of a young white witch, it is a cross between Passions and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Plotlines tend to be confused "take-offs" of other works. Derek Rayne goes undercover in the role of Professor Van Helsing of Dracula , in a mixed up version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Winston Rayne Hall of Antiquities - A museum and research center founded by Derek Rayne in honor of his father, Winston Rayne. For the Merlynn's Maze world, Derek founded it in the late 1970s, after assuming full charge of the Luna Foundation, under whose auspices the museum functions. It is located in the City of San Francisco.
Yaqin - Direct, intuitive knowledge, central to the Sufi philosophy.
Yunnani - Greek herbal medicine as practiced some tribes in the Hindu Kush.
Zoroastrianism - One of the first of the monotheistic religions. It was founded by the prophet Zoroaster or Zarathustra in ancient Persia (modern Iran), probably ca. 1200 BCE. The theology has had a great impact on Judaism, Christianity and other later religions, in the beliefs surrounding God and Satan, the soul, heaven and hell, savior, resurrection, final judgment, etc. In the 7th Century CE, when Persia was invaded by the Arabs, Zoroastrian were persecuted and the religion replaced by Islam. Today, Zoroastrianism survives in India amongst the Parsees.
| Autobiographical Notes by Derek Emrys Rayne, Ph.D. |
| An Alternative Birth Date
for Derek Rayne:
16 November 1953 by Dubricus & Jilly Paddock |
| The San Francisco Legacy Team:
Past, Present, and Future |
| Who's Who |
| A Brief History of the Rayne Family of San Francisco by Derek Emrys Rayne, Ph.D., with Dubricus, C.G. |
| Pedigree Charts:
the Ancestry of Derek Emrys Rayne by Dubricus, C.G. |
| Legacy Photo Album |
| Lexicon, or He said what?
Warning: NC-17 |
| Home | E-mail: Dubricus |
