XANTH is small Vyrican town lying about 60 miles southwest of Kissing Dragon Pass West on the Western Ocean. It is occupied primarily by tribal orcs and humans, thought it had a significant population of viking orcs in the not-too-distant past. Xanth received its name from the famous yellow xanthus clay found there and exploited in the ceramics of the First Orcish Empire and, later, by the Sudibin through the 7000s. The town was also home to a famous [10037 June] battle in the War of the Egyebrech.

XANTH, BATTLE OF was a key battle in the War of the Egyebrech; it lasted from from [11 June 10037] until [25 June 10037] and actually took place northeast of the city where the Grand Army of the Republic (with a few orcish auxillaries) had set up a defensive line against the advancing Egyebrech horde. The Egyebrech won the battle and routed the defenders who were forced to retreat via a flotilla of fishing boats which had sailed over from Kissing Dragon Pass West to watch the action. The defeat at Xanth led inexorably to the direct Egyebrech assault on Kissing Dragon Pass itself and their short-lived occupation of that city. Though faced with overwhelming odds, the Guardian-Generals Clay and Gore were imprisoned following the defeat.

XANTHUS CLAY is a famous yellow clay used for ceramics since the early 6300s when it was popularized during the Orcish Renaissance. It gave its name to the town of Xanth.

XING is a prominent clan of surface dwarf warriors who disdain promotion and administrative duties. They are happiest on the battlefield, facing an enemy with no fear in his eyes. They tend to have monosyllabic first.

XORNS are fascinating creatures that have been studied extensively in their natural habitat (caves) but very little in controlled scientific laboratories. They are able to merge their stone bodies with natural stone, camouflaging and protecting themselves at the same time. They are shaped like 5' diameter, 5' high cylinders with three ten-foot long (single-jointed) arms protuding symmetrically. Each arm has three slender fingers symmetrically arranged on it. Their mouth is on the top of their cylindrical torso. Xorns are apparently anti-magical in nature and tend to (often violently) destroy and dissipate magical energies that are found nearby; xorns are absent near mithritic strata. A long-standing question in the fields of lithomancy, sorcery and lithobiology is whether this is because xorns have their strength sapped by contact with magic as well and thus avoid it, or because whatever mithrites had been there were destroyed by the presence of xorns. They feed on hard metal and softer stone while excreting soft metals (lead, gold, etc.) and hard stone. Xorns are normally found by themselves slowly moving through the earth in search of a mineral meal. Xorns are not known to require liquid refreshment (mineral water?) and are not thought to have any social structure at all. Young xorns are born from (currently) female xorns (xorns' sex is variable and appears to depend on diet and temperature) at the rate of about two per decade. The lifespan of a xorn is estimated to be 800 years; for obvious reasons using the magical dating dweomer is pointless--and dangerous--on xorns.