[Series Synopses] Dreamer #1: Call Down the Hawk

Worldbuilding & Vocab

Dreamers, Dreamkillers & Dreamthings

Dreamers / Zeds

includes Ronan, Hennessy, Bryde, Niall, and Nathan Farooq-Lane
can bring back objects from their dreams
are paralyzed, floating above their physical bodies, for a few minutes after manifesting a dream
if they resist dreaming for too long, nightwash oozes from their faces

Moderators

includes Farooq-Lane, Lock, Ramsay, Nikolenko, Bellos
a secret international, “intergovernmental entity”
believe that a Zed will end the world, so they find and kill Zeds

Visionaries

includes Parsifal and Liliana
have the same vision of the world ending in “starving, unquenchable fire. Dreamed unquenchable fire”
have individual shorter-term visions that lead to Zeds and other Visionaries
“jump” between their older and younger selves with each vision
visions are deadly to bystanders until/ unless the Visionary has been trained to “turn them inward”
Liliana implies that she (and perhaps her follow Visionaries) is not human
generally not sold on the Moderators’ MO of murdering Zeds

★

Dreams

animate dreams include Matthew, Chainsaw, Opal, Jordan & the other girls
retain their impossible, dream-logic properties in the waking world
if animate, they fall asleep when their dreamer dies

The Lace

a menacing presence in Hennessy’s dreams
wants Hennessy to bring it into the waking world
the reason Hennessy can only bring back copies of herself

The Dark Lady

a painting dreamt by Niall, featuring Mór Ó Corra (whom the Lynch brothers initially mistake for Aurora)
“Whoever sleeps in the same room as her will dream of the ocean.”
was previously part of Colin Greenmantle’s collection
a registered piece whose sales are tracked by Boudicca

VEXED TO NIGHTMARE

Ronan’s dreamt sword, initially manifested as a broken hilt
“complexly black” finish; shines with sunlight

FROM CHAOS

Hennessy’s dreamt sword
pure white; shines with moonlight

Murder Crabs

Ronan unintentionally dreams a bunch of them into Adam’s Harvard dorm
the ensuing damage gets him banned from campus

Sundogs

crafted by Lindenmere and Ronan to save Matthew from the Moderators
“Sundogs are as fast as sunbeams … They’re hungry. Quench them with water.“

Places

The Barns

the Lynch family farm, hidden from outsiders in rural Virginia
Niall left it to Ronan, his favorite son
Ronan uses it as a home base to safely dream and store dreams
populated by Niall’s comatose cattle and Ronan’s magical menagerie, and Ronan’s childhood memories
full of dreamt lights: fireflies, stars, hanging orbs, candles
protected by a dreamt security system that makes you relive awful memories and feelings

Jordan Hennessy’s Mansion

in McLean, Virginia
home to Hennessy, Jordan, June, Trinity, Brooklyn, and Madox
huge, messy, full of art and forgeries

Declan’s Town House

in Alexandria, Virginia
Niall left it to Declan, “the son left over”
decorated to match Declan’s “dull and forgettable” persona, except the art in the attic

The Fairy Market

a prestigious traveling black market, only open after dark
in CDTH, it is located at the Carter Hotel
Niall took Declan to the Fairy Market in Tokyo, LA, “maybe” Berlin
invites are linen handkerchiefs with “unusual marks” and the invite-holder’s name

Great Falls

a national park near Declan’s town house
Ronan’s dreamthings, including Matthew, are drawn here

Lindenmere

a more dangerous successor to Cabeswater, a forest dreamt into the waking world and shaped by Ronan
immediately manifests dreams and thoughts into the waking world
protects Ronan and is protected by Ronan; loves Ronan and is loved by Ronan
the trees speak Latin (like Cabeswater)

Cabeswater

(mentioned only)
a less dangerous predecessor to Lindenmere, a forest dreamt into the waking world and shaped by Ronan

Shenandoah Café

“a restaurant located the opposite direction of rush hour traffic” and “open twenty-four hours on weekends”
full of “knickknacks […] donated by customers from all over the world”
serves only breakfast food
the Lynches used to go as a family

Pfeiffer’s German Pastry Shoppe

their Bienenstich does not taste like Parsifal’s mother’s

St. Eithne

the Lynch brothers’ Catholic church

Senko’s

a garage and tattoo parlor
displays art by Jordan Hennessy & Co., minus Jordan (who doesn’t do originals)

Rider House

home to Mags and Olly Harmonhouse, Dabney Pitts, and (briefly) Liliana
not in a “nice white suburban [neighborhood] where [cops] didn’t expect bad things to happen”

Dumbarton Oaks

museum and gardens
where Declan and Jordan meet the new Fenian

Hart Senate Office Building

site of Declan’s political internship with Senator Jim Rankin

Miscellaneous

Boudicca

per Gansey: “All-lady group involved in the protection and organization of women in business. Henry says his mother thinks they’re pretty powerful.”
per Blue, of the historical figure: “Boudicca is the original goth. Ronan Lynch wishes he was that badass”
per Declan: “So that we’re on the same page, this is my understanding: Boudicca is the mob, right? They take a cut in exchange for protection?”
per Jordan: “I think so … There might be a bit of marketing to it, too. Access to their client base and all that.”
their calling card is a thick cardstock square showing a woman with a cross painted over her face; no contact information

Repo

“a confusing card game, with a lot of rules, an elaborate setup, and an unclear time frame for completing gameplay”
probably created by Harvard students, specifically the Crying Club

Geasa (Singular: Geis)

“All the heroes had them. Some were acquired along their journeys; some were given to them by other heroes; some were inherited. All were peculiar. Some heroes couldn’t refuse food from a woman, and others couldn’t be struck three times in a row without a word spoken in between; some couldn’t kill a boar, and others couldn’t pass an orphan without helping them. The penalty for defying one’s geis was deliciously terrible: death.”
imagining geasa used to be a road trip game for Ronan and Matthew
“Here was Ronan’s geis, he thought: Dream things into being, or dissolve into nothing.”
“Here was Declan’s geis [according to Ronan]: to never pull the stick out of his ass.”

Bienenstich

Parsifal Bauer’s dying wish is a slice of his mother’s Bienenstich
translates as Bee Sting Cake
“a kind of dull-looking German cake that did not seem to have found an audience in the DC area, nor among the kind of bakeries that would drop ship a cake to a hotel room. It didn’t seem to have an American counterpart, either”
involves almonds, pastry cream, yeast dough, and mettle according to Pfeiffer’s German Pastry Shoppe in Alexandria, VA

Each item number corresponds with that section’s page number.