LEXICON

HEREIN IS APPENDED AN index of those terms appearing in this fourth volume of Lord Marlowe’s manuscript which are not easily translated into the Classical English, or which bear a specific technical or cultural definition requiring clarification in the opinion of the translator. For a more complete explanation of the methodology employed in devising these coinages for this translation, please refer to the appendices in volume one.

—Tor Paulos of Nov Belgaer

adamant: Any of the various long-chain carbon materials used for starship hulls and body armor.

adorator: A member of any antique religious cult maintained by the Empire and tolerated by the Chantry.

Aeta: A Cielcin prince-chieftain. Appears to have ownership rights over its subjects and their property.

alumglass: A transparent, ceramic form of aluminum, stronger than glass, which is commonly used in windows, particularly in ship design.

androgyn: A homunculus exhibiting either, neither, or both male and female sex characteristics.

apostol: An ambassador, usually one from the Sollan Empire, especially one sent for a limited time or to achieve a limited goal. An emissary.

aquilarius: A fighter pilot.

Archprior: Within the Chantry clergy, a senior prior, usually one entrenched in the Chantry bureaucracy.

armsman: Any individual—usually patrician—sworn to serve the person of a palatine lord or his/her house in perpetuity.

athenaeum: Any of the research compounds/monasteries of the scholiastic orders.

auctor: An office appointed by the Emperor to serve as his proxy, to speak with his voice and authority in matters where the Emperor cannot be present.

Azh-Hakkai: According to Lord Marlowe’s account, possibly a species of xenobite or faction of xenobite hunted to extinction by the Cielcin.

baetan: In Cielcin culture, a sort of priest-historian of the scianda.

bastille: Any Chantry judicial and penal center, usually attached to a temple sanctum.

Bench: The assembly of thirty-four grand ministers presiding over the Lothrian Grand Conclave. In charge of Lothrian governmental policy, especially revisions to the Lothriad.

beta: An extracellular matrix applied as a paste or foam to accelerate the healing process, especially following surgery or in the case of traumatic injury.

bromos: A protein-rich strain of engineered hyper-oat that serves as the basis for ration bars and as protein base for artificial meat production.

cathar: A surgeon-torturer employed by the Holy Terran Chantry.

Cavaraad: A species of giant xenobite native to the planet Sadal Suud. May grow up to forty feet tall and nominally immortal. Enslaved by the Sollan Empire.

centurion: A rank in the Imperial Legions, commands one hundred men.

Chair: Any of the thirty-four men and women seated on the Bench in the Lothrian Grand Conclave. Technically refers to the seat on the Conclave occupied by the person and not the person him or herself.

chariot: A flying personal vehicle in which the pilot stands vertical and changes directions by leaning and via the hand controls.

chiliarch: A rank in the Imperial Legions, commands one thousand men.

chimera: Any genetically altered or artificially created animal, usually by blending the genetic code of two or more animals.

Choir: The Chantry’s clandestine research and intelligence division.

Cid Arthurianism: A syncretic religion founded late in the fourth millennium as an offshoot of Buddhism recognizing the British King Arthur as a Buddha, emphasizing chivalric virtue as a means of pursuing enlightenment.

Cielcin: Spacefaring alien species. Humanoid and carnivorous.

coloni: Any intelligent, pre-industrial race of xenobites on a human-occupied world, particularly in the Sollan Empire.

commissar: A Party officer in the Lothrian Commonwealth, usually an officer of the Conclave Guard, considered equivalent to the rank of knight in the Sollan Empire.

Consortium: The Wong-Hopper Consortium. The largest of the Mandari interstellar corporations, specializing in terraforming technologies.

consul: A type of Imperial apostol formally installed in a consulate among foreign powers, a permanent ambassador.

cryoburn: Burns incurred as a side effect of improper cryonic freezing.

cubiculum: A chamber where persons are kept in cryonic fugue, usually aboard a starship.

daimon: An artificial intelligence. Sometimes erroneously applied to non-intelligent computer systems.

datanet: The loose association of all planetary dataspheres connected by quantum telegraphs and inter-space satellite relays.

datasphere: Any planetary data network. In the Empire, access is strictly restricted to the patrician and palatine caste.

Deeps: A species of possibly artificial and intelligent microorganisms found on several worlds, capable of digesting and altering other living creatures.

Demarchy of Tavros: A small interstellar polity far from Imperial control. Radically open to technology, the people vote on all measures using neural lace implants.

dispholide: A rare hemotoxic poison, likely of Chantry design and manufacture, that disables the coagulation process and dissolves collagen and even bone at an astonishing rate, effectively liquefying the victim.

douleter: A slave overseer or trader.

Doxe: The supreme executive authority of the Durantine Republic, elected to a fifty-year term by the assembly per the Durantine constitution.

dryad: Any of a species of green-skinned homunculi capable of photosynthesis, designed for work in outer space.

duplication: One of the Twelve Abominations. The copying of an individual’s genetics, likeness, personality, or memories through cloning or related practices.

Durantine Republic: An interstellar republic of some three thousand worlds. Pays tribute to the Empire.

eali: The Jaddian ruling caste, product of intense eugenic development. Practically superhuman.

Elusha: The Cielcin word for “king,” a title granted to Syriani Dorayaica, previously held by the semi-mythical Cielcin ruler Elu, whence comes the word.

Emperor: The supreme ruler of the Sollan Empire, considered a god and the reincarnation of his/her predecessor. Holds absolute power.

Enar: An ancient and extinct species of xenobite who, according to Lord Marlowe’s account, ruled much of the galaxy and destroyed millions of planets and races several million years ago, and whose legacy explains the relative emptiness of the universe. Not attested to in the fossil record.

entoptics: Augmented reality device where images are projected directly onto the retina.

eolderman: The elected head of a plebeian community. Typically seen in more rural regions on Imperial planets.

Exalted: A faction among the Extrasolarians noted for their extreme cybernetic augmentations.

Excubitor: The innermost circle of the Emperor’s guard, comprising 108 of the finest knights and fighters in the Empire.

Extrasolarian: Any of the barbarians living outside Imperial control, often possessing illegal praxis.

extraterranic: In terraforming and ecology, refers to any organism not of Old Earth extraction. Extraterrestrial.

fravashi: In the Zoroastrian religion of Jadd, the spirit of a person, specifically the part of one’s spirit who remains with their God in the spirit world.

Galstani: The common language of the Sollan Empire, descended from Classical English, with heavy Hindi and Franco-Germanic influences.

Grand Conclave: The ruling bureaucratic organization of the Lothrian Commonwealth, led by the thirty-four members of the Bench, but containing several hundred functionaries and Party members.

Great Charters: Ancient collection of legal codes imposed on the Empire by a coalition of the houses palatine. Maintains the balance among the houses and between the houses and the Emperor.

groundcar: An automobile, usually powered by solar or by internal combustion.

Hakurani: According to Lord Marlowe’s account, an interstellar race or polity in the unexplored regions of the galaxy.

highmatter: A form of exotic matter produced by alchemists. Used to make the swords of Imperial knights, which can cut almost anything.

Holy Terran Chantry: State religion of the Empire. Functions as the judicial arm of the state, especially where the use of forbidden technology is involved.

homunculus: Any artificial human or near-human, especially those grown for a task, or for aesthetic purposes.

hoplite: A shielded foot soldier. Heavy infantry.

hurasam: Gold coin used among the Imperial peasant classes, worth its mark-weight in gold. Print notes for various denominations exist.

Iazyr Kulah: In the Cielcin religion, the universe of pure thought or spirit that existed before the Big Bang, and which is obscured by the material universe. Paradise.

ichakta: A Cielcin title, referring to the captain of a ship.

Iedyr Yemani: The six vayadan-generals sworn in fanatic servitude to Syriani Dorayaica. The so-called White Hand.

Imperial Council: The ruling and advisory board of the Sollan Empire, headed by the Chancellor and comprising the lords of the various ministries, the Synarch of the Chantry, various legionary strategoi, and certain special advisors. Advises the Emperor, but also runs the various executive offices of the Imperium.

Imperium: See SOLLAN EMPIRE.

Inquisition: The judicial branch of the Chantry, primarily concerned with the use of illegal technologies.

intus: A palatine born outside the oversight of the High College, usually possessing several physical or psychological defects; a bastard.

Irchtani: Species of coloni xenobite native to the planet Judecca. Bird-like with massive wings. Considered an exemplar of coloni assimilation.

irinyr: A silk-like fabric used by the Cielcin, the byproduct of a many-legged aquatic bottom-feeding worm.

Jaddian: The official language of the Principalities of Jadd, a patois of ancient Romance and Semitic languages with some Greek influences.

legate: A rank in the Imperial Legions, commands an entire Legion.

Legion Intelligence Office: The Empire’s military intelligence, espionage, and foreign intervention agency.

legionnaire: Any soldier in the Imperial Legions, especially the common foot soldier.

liberalist: Democratic insurgents in the Lothrian Commonwealth, possibly fictional.

lictor: A bodyguard for a nobile or other dignitary. Usually a knight.

lighter: Any starship small enough to make landfall on a planet.

logothete: A minister in any of the governmental agencies of any palatine house, used colloquially of any civil servant.

Lothriad: The legal text of the Lothrian Commonwealth, in two volumes: the first containing the laws of the Commonwealth, the second a dictionary of all approved words and phrases, constantly revised.

Lothrian Commonwealth: The second largest human polity in the galaxy, a totalitarian collectivist state. Longtime antagonist of the Empire.

Magnarch: The chief Imperial Viceroy in each arm of the galaxy: Orion, Sagittarius, Perseus, and Centaurus. Essentially co-Emperors.

Magnarchate: Region of the Empire ruled by a Magnarch, comprising several provinces.

magus: An intellectual, most especially a scientist or natural philosopher.

mamluk: Any homunculus slave-soldier of the Jaddian Principalities.

Mandari: An ethnic group semi-detached from Imperial society, most commonly found staffing the massive interstellar trading corporations.

Martian Guard: The Emperor’s palace guard, an elite corps of soldiers raised from the population on Earth’s nearest neighbor, Mars.

medica: A hospital, typically aboard a starship.

Mericanii: The ancient first interstellar colonists. A hyper-advanced technologic civilization run by artificial intelligences. Destroyed by the Empire.

MINOS: An Extrasolarian organization or order specializing in biomechanics and technological research and development, apparently aligned with the Cielcin Prophet.

nahute: A Cielcin weapon. Resembles a flying metal snake. Seeks out targets and drills into them.

Nipponese: The descendants of the Japanese colonists who fled Old Earth system in the Third Peregrination.

nobile: Blanket term referring to any member of the palatine and patrician castes in the Sollan Empire.

Norman: Anyone native to one of the planets of the Norman Expanse, particularly those not under Imperial control. A so-called Freeholder.

Norman Expanse: The frontier of human settlement in the Norma Arm of the Milky Way, near to the galactic core.

palatine: The Imperial aristocracy, descended from those free humans who opposed the Mericanii. Genetically enhanced, they may live for several centuries.

Pale: The Cielcin. Slang, considered offensive by xenophiles.

Panthai: A Tavrosi language descended from the Thai, Lao, and Khmer-speaking peoples who settled the Wisp alongside the Nordei.

Party: The government of the Lothrian Commonwealth, composed of adherents to the two books of the Lothriad, including the Grand Conclave on Padmurak, the lesser conclaves on the other planets of the Commonwealth, and the lesser government institutions.

patrician: Any plebeian or plutocrat awarded with genetic augmentations at the behest of the palatine caste as a reward for services rendered.

pentaquark: Refers to a class of particles composed of five quarks, as opposed to the more typical three-quark particles comprising most matter. Highmatter is a pentaquark material.

Persean Wars: A series of conflicts fought between the Sollan Empire and their Jaddian allies against the Lothrian Commonwealth in the thirteenth millennium.

phylactery: A device for storing the genetic and epigenetic information of an individual for the purposes of artificial reproduction.

pitrasnuk: Any member of the Lothrian Party, especially those involved directly in the government apparatus.

plebeian: The Imperial peasantry, descended from unaltered human stock seeded on the oldest colony ships. Forbidden to use high technology.

posthuman: A catch-all term referring to anyone so heavily augmented or modified—either genetically or through praxis—as to no longer be conventionally recognizable as human to the Imperial observer.

praetor: In the Chantry’s Inquisition, a judge, especially one actually presiding over a trial or sentencing.

prefecture: In the Empire, any administrative district ruled by an Archon.

primate: The highest administrative office of a scholiasts’ athenaeum, akin to a university chancellor.

Principalities of Jadd: Nation of eighty former Imperial provinces in Perseus that revolted over palatine reproductive rights. Heavily militaristic and caste-driven.

repulsor: A device which makes use of the Royse Effect to allow objects to float without disturbing the air or environment.

rugyeh: The Lothrian word for the Cielcin. Literally “the others.”

satrap: A planetary governor in the Principalities of Jadd, subordinate to one of the regional Princes.

scholiast: Any member of the monastic order of researchers, academics, and theoreticians tracing their origins to the Mericanii scientists captured at the end of the Foundation War.

Shiomu: The Cielcin word for Prophet, a title granted to Syriani Dorayaica.

Sojourner: Any of a class of massive Extrasolarian starship, often hundreds of miles long, especially those crewed by the Exalted.

Solar Throne: The Imperial throne. Sometimes used as a synonym for the Imperial Presence or Office.

Sollan Empire: The largest and oldest single polity in human-controlled space, comprising some half a billion habitable planets.

static field: A highly permeable variant of the Royse Field used in climate control to keep conditioned air inside buildings.

strategos: An admiral in the Imperial Legions, responsible for the command of an entire fleet, comprising several legions.

Stricture: The formal rules governing the lifestyle and behavior of those members of the scholiast order as outlined in The Book of the Mind and the rest of Imore’s writings.

sulan: An ancient predator native to the Cielcin homeworld.

Synarch: The highest ecclesiastic office of the Imperial Chantry. Their most important function is the coronation of new Emperors.

Synod: The ruling body of the Holy Terran Chantry, a college of Archpriors presided over by the Synarch.

Tavrosi: Any of the languages from the Demarchy of Tavros. Typically refers to Nordei.

Telegraph/QET: A device which uses entangled quantum particles to communicate instantly over vast distances.

terranic: In terraforming and ecology, refers to any organism of Old Earth extraction. Not extraterrestrial.

trias: A unit of three legionnaires, usually two peltasts and one hoplite.

tribune: A Legion officer in command of a cohort (four to a legion). Commands both ground forces and naval officers.

Twelve Abominations: The twelve most grievous sins according to the Chantry. Legal privileges do not apply in such cases.

Umandh: A coloni species native to the planet Emesh. Amphibious and tripedal, they have an intelligence comparable to that of dolphins.

vate: Any preacher or holy man not formally a part of the Chantry clergy.

vayadan: In Cielcin culture, the bound mates and bodyguards of an Aeta.

verrox: A powerful pseudoamphetamine derived from the leaves of the verroca plant. It is taken by ingesting the leaves, which are usually candied.

Watchers: According to this account, a species or collection of powerful xenobites, possibly worshiped as gods by the Cielcin and other alien races.

worldship: Any of the massive Cielcin vessels—some as large as moons—which make up the core of their fleets.

xenobite: Any life form not originating in terranic or human stock, especially those life forms which are considered intelligent; an alien.

xenologist: A scholiast or lay magus specializing in the study of inhuman beings, especially those rising to the level of sentience.

Yamato Interstellar: An interstellar manufacturing company owned by House Yamato and based out of Nichibotsu.

zuk: Any of the working class of the Lothrian Commonwealth.