"Now, now, Kassenia," Ghulen said, inflecting his tone as though speaking to a disobedient child. He held his knife in two fingers as he splayed his hands wide. "Be a good little mercenary and do what you're paid to do."

  "Now, now, Ghulen," she replied, shaking her head. "Be a good little sicko and cut on yourself for a bit."

  "Hm... an unexpected layer of depth I'd never even thought to look for," he muttered to himself. As he spoke, the hired muscle inside slowly crept towards the door, hands twitching towards weapons. Ghulen wondered how many of them Kass could take down before they got to her.

  "Try me," Kassenia said, half-drawing her bow and swinging it about. "First person to move gets to do their best dying bird impersonation."

  "Bird?" Balmos said, brow furrowing.

  "Fletchings, you idiot," Ghulen said, not taking his eyes of Kass.

  "Whatings?"

  "Nothing, Balmos." Ghulen slowly set his knife on the ground and stood back up, casting a glance at Balmos. "You know he's a Venger; he'll sense and react to what you're doing faster than you can do it."

  "Lets see if he can sense an entire quiver as it flies his way," Kass said, the bow swinging towards the huge, skin-lifed warrior. She nudged Avani with her knee. "Run girl, run. Now."

  Avani stumbled and landed on her knees with her legs splayed out, still staring vaguely at Hassani. "Amma?"

  "No, Avani," Hassani said, tears streaming. Ghulen desperately wanted to lick those tears off her face and savor the taste, but didn't dare move less Kass fletch him. "Do what Kass says. Run now, amma will find you later."

  "Is amma!" Avani said, rising to her feet.

  "Damn you, girl, get out of here," Kass hissed, pulling her bow fully taut as the warriors inside fanned out and moved slowly towards her. Only Balmos moved away, but towards the hefty axe he'd laid against the overturned wardrobe.

  Kass's arm quickly began to shake against the pull of the bow and sweat beaded down her face.

  She backed towards the doorway, shooting Hassani a pained look. "Sorry, Hassani. Did what I could."

  "No, don't go," Hassani hissed, futilely plucking at the ropes binding her with her fingernails and rocking the heavy chair.

  Kass startled and almost fired as someone touched her arm from the hallway outside.

  "My pardon," a soft voice said from outside. "Perhaps I might be of assistance."

  "By the Ascen," Hassani mouthed as the speaker slipped into view. "Deia."

  Hassani's master looked especially frail standing in front of the lanky, scarred Kass, the fragility reinforced by paleness of skin and a slight tremble. Ghluen wasn't sure if this tiny person in their fading red-orange robes was male or female. A shaggy-haired Vale Legionnaire stood beside them, holding this Deia up as if they were too old or infirm to walk unassisted.

  "Who are you supposed to be?" Ghulen said, the first hint of annoyance tinging his tone.

  Deia pushed away from Johine, walked in, glanced around briefly, and drew a sword from a tall wicker basket half-hidden by an array of half-hung robes and coats. The Legionnaire and Kass exchanged a scanning look before apparently deciding they were on the same side and returning their vigilance to those in the apartment.

  "I am a sword with no past or future. I am the killer of the Unkillable Swordsman, Keeper of the Keeper, and teacher of the Pale." Deia glanced at Hassani and nodded, her voice barely audible as she finished. "Bury below my home."

  "Enough of this," Ghulen said, knees bending as he slowly dropped back down towards his knife. "Kill them both!"

  Roaring, Balmos and the thugs charged. Kass's bow twanged, dropping one of them, but the others had had time to gather chairs and end tables to use as shields. Her arrows thudded into the cover as Deia stepped out to meet them.

  In spite of illness and age, Deia's movements epitomized efficiency and deadliness. A man threw a chair at her. Deia sidestepped, lunged, and sliced the man's wrist open. Another man dropped his stool and immediately caught an arrow in the chest from Kass. A third kicked the stool towards Deia and swing his own sword. Deia neatly stepped over the tumbling stool, redirected the slashing blade with a tap, and drove a sword point into the attacker's eye in a single, subtle motion.

  Then Balmos was there, thundering towards Deia with his axe raised. Somehow, he twisted and ducked two rapidly-fired arrows, the projectiles passing so closely they trimmed a strand of hair and nicked his tunic. Deia stopped moving completely as he rushed towards her, as if accepting her fate and suddenly resigned to a beheading by Balmos.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  At the last possible second, Deia turned, the axe missing by a finger's breadth and scraping off the stone floor. Balmos staggered past, wheezing. When he turned, the axe fell and cracked a swath of white clay floor tiles. His fingers scraped at the sword hilt jutting from his sternum, his look puzzled. Then he looked up at Deia. The sword master bowed to him respectfully, and they both collapsed in unison.

  Kass had retreated through the doorway, shouts and grunts echoing down the stone. Ghulen crouched down beside Hassani the entire time, finally rushing forwards and scooping Avani up as he ran through the door. The nearly collided with him in the doorway, the man's spear bloody.

  Ghulen responded first, swinging Avani in the way as the man stabbed at him. Jerking his spear aside cost him his life as Ghluen drove his long knife up through the bottom of his chin, then ripped it out the side of his neck.

  The man fell in the doorway, clutching at the ruin of his throat.

  Hassani screamed and hurled herself sideways, something in the chair cracking as she hit the ground.

  Ghulen paused in the door and smiled. "Rega is at the One-Eighth finishing off the Mother and ending this pathetic war as we speak. We'll see you there. Say bye-bye to amma."

  Avani waved dreamily. "Bye amma. C'ya at da' on' ates."

  Screaming incoherently, Hassani thrashed and tossed, ripping and tearing a the ropes in the grip of sheer fury.

  Outside, Kass sat slumped against the hallway wall, spattered with blood. Her sundered bow littered the floor in several pieces. Two of the thugs thugs lay sprawled lifelessly about her while another crawled away clutching at a profusely-bleeding leg.

  Ghulen glanced down at her as he hustled down the hallway, hefting Avani over his shoulder.

  "Ghulen said. "I'd love to sit here and watch you die, but I must be off.

  "If that's foreplay, you've got a lot to learn," Kass said, grinning, then wincing.

  "I don't believe in foreplay. If even part of that blood all over your is yours, you're done for."

  "Not a large enough part, sorry to say," Kass said, tracing her fingers along several long scars. "Kass is an expert at almost dying."

  He reached for the Aze Blade still strapped to her back. Kass grabbed his wrist with surprising strength and clutched a long knife in her other hand. "I'd love to watch you die, but I'd hate to rob Hassani the satisfaction. Touch the sword and I'll settle for maiming you and waiting until she gets out here. By the sound in there, she just broke the chair and will be out here in a few seconds."

  Ghulen froze for a moment, then, as Avani began to squirm and whine, he twisted free and run down the hall.

  "I'll be back to settle this."

  "No need," Kass called, coughing. "I'll be gone by the time you get back."

  Ghulen wondered how she meant that as he raced up the stairs, fearing Hassani had indeed broken free and would come after him.

  He'd planned all of this out, complete with backup plans and escape routes. The streets still lay mostly empty, though he heard faint screaming from the docks. Rumors of demons assaulting the Thornspire filled every whisper he'd heard the last day or two; though the Ancients tried to suppress it, he'd seen some of the bodies in Annalis. Maybe the first wave had been the Rags attacking, but he doubted they'd stuck around to chew bodies down to bones.

  As he rushed down the stairs into the linehouse, he shouted to alert the crew of linemen he'd paid to hang out there for just this eventuality. They lurched into action as they saw him, rushing to the trolley and scrambling up its sides as he threw Avani aboard and jumped in after.

  Trolley travel had never been fast, but with Hassani likely hot on his heels, it barely seemed to creep into the overcast muted light. Ghulen noted with some annoyance the linemen had allowed a refugee or bum to sleep in his filthy robe on one of the trolley benches. The lean man looked dark and refined enough to be Kin, but his rough hair and general lack of cleanliness said otherwise.

  "No!" he heard shouted from back on the stack. He smiled, grabbed Avani's hand, and dragged her to the back railing.

  Hassani had found him - probably due to that traitor Kass telling her about his plans. The Aze Blade gleamed white in her hand and a single angry swing completely shattered a massive section of the linehouse's wall. "Not when I'm this close."

  Ghulen leaned against the railing and waved genially towards her. Avani plunked down beside him, her legs dangling through the bars as she peered down at the water far below.

  More screams rose on the wind from far below. Ghulen glanced down to see dark, asymmetric, slimy shapes slither from the waters onto the docks far below, their bodies rippling and undulating unnaturally. From his reserve, Ghulen just shrugged. So demons were real and present. He'd worry about it when he got to Broadcliff on the far side.

  A popping, rumbling sound echoed out as a huge crack marring the huge white dome topping the stack slowly grew; yet another reason to be leaving Jaxestack. Neither being an immediate threat - so long as the dome's collapse didn't sever the trolley line, anyway - he turned his attention back to Hassani.

  "Look forward to seeing you again in the One-Eighth," Ghulen called. "Wave to amma!"

  Avani looked her way and waved, smiling.

  Hassani fell to her knees, weeping.

  "I can't do it any more," she said, shaking. Straining, Ghulen could barely hear her over the wind and the dome's death rattle.

  "Don't be sad," Ghulen shouted. "We'll be together again sooner than you think."

  "Think again," a deep, melodious voice said from within the trolley.

  Ghulen turned in time to catch a punch to the face and a knee to the gut. Before he could reach his knife, the figure clutched him about the knees, hefted, and dumped Ghulen over the railing.

  As he fell, he laughed, surprising himself peals genuine laughter. The water rushed towards him and he grinned, delighted to experience that last, final rush. Dying.

  The crack as he hit the water drove the wind from his body, shattered bones, and laced his existence with pure pain. He embraced it, relishing each second of agony.

  Then a dark creature possessing a single vertical slit for an eye and too many mouths rose from the waters. A spiky tentacle wrapped about him and he screamed with terror as the thing pulled him close and began to devour him alive, bit by bit as though savoring him as long as possible before his wrecked body could hold on no longer.

  Next chapter: Union of the last Imminent.

  Adonissian: a Phero who poses as a traveling musician. Died of the Wretch Plague in Heaven's Tread.

  Aida: MC. Mother of Exiles. "Ender of Verses?" "Savior of Dynasties?"

  Aj: a long-slumbering, powerful being which annihilated Inro's Sunset Legions. Also "almost destroyed the Dynasty single-handedly six-and-some centuries ago"

  Alerestro: a handsome, multi-talented man from Azure. Partner of Viviana. Accidentally killed by Jaxe in the One-Eighth.

  Aliasara: servant at Ocyl's villa who befriends Aida

  Anticores: a pair of Sect representatives, off-putting and strange

  Arca: chief of the tribe that "adopted" Inro

  Asta: Tertius Dynast of Silk. Assassinated by the Rags.

  Avani: Hassani's daughter, an albino

  Baka: Dynast of Ziggurat. Huge, massively strong. Tertius.

  Balmos: Venger working for Ghulen. Killed be Deia in Stacks.

  "Braid"; a thug who accosted Aida in Jadeye. His face gifted to Aida by Ocyl.

  Broadaxe: large, axe-and-shield-wielding Feral protecting Aida. Killed by Jaxe in Jadeye

  Cairin: Arca's sister, slinger

  Cleft Hand: malcontent in the One-Eighth, maimed hand due to Ryk. Impaled on a broken spear by Wretches in the One-Eighth.

  Das: Rega's Immanent

  Deai: Hassani's swordmaster, renowned for killing a Paragon

  Dels: Dynast of Azure

  Denault: Hassani's husband. Shipwright, Kin.

  Eonora: a Legion officer in Ziggurat who defected with the Rogue Legions Mother's Militant

  Eth: a young Imminent

  Ghillie: a 3rd Feral who wears a primitive Ghillie suit. Carries cross between kunai and acupuncture needles

  Ghulen: Rega's "pet monster", an Inviolate. Eaten by a demon in Stacks.

  Goboro: a fat, amiable scribe friend of Hassani's in Libriam

  Godge and Ardina: Primary Small Masters in Berujat

  Fallon: Aida's Seneschal. Died killing the Inviolate Rasofi in Jadeye

  Fatma: weakest Small Master of Berujat

  Feral: a bone-masked woman of violence (Feral) in Aida's service. Knife wielder. Killed by Ghillie in Jadeye.

  Festrin: Seneschal of Monopollis, father of Fallon

  Fetriene: Ocyl's soresearer

  Goldilocks: twitchy, spear-and-javelin carrying Feral guarding Aida. Died burning a Wicker Way in Jadeye.

  Hassani: Inviolate agent of the Black Court, sent by Fractious Fraction

  Hue: Vibrant accompanying Simon

  Huspara: minor bureaucrat in Libriam

  Ijran: Multi-minded wiz, Small Master of Berujat

  Inro: Dynast formerly ruling Sunset

  Izbali: a silent tribal shaman

  Janali: Ocyl's elegant Seneschal

  Jaxe: Dynast of Stacks. "Young" (Secounds), wealthy. Also has "the Pale" (an Albino). Ancient. Blasted by Aida on Stacks.

  Johine: crude slave. Killed by Ghulen in Stacks.

  Kass/Kassenia: mercenary attached to Adonissian.

  Maxem: High Parser from Ink, ambassador to Jadeye

  Ocyl: Dynast of Heaven's Tread, powerful and unpredictable

  Parathas: Aida's skinscribe. Also a mountaineer.

  "Professor, The": leader of Aida's Wretches, impaled on a tree in the One-Eighth

  Rasofi: Inviolate killed by Fallon in Jadeye

  Reck: Dynast of Chalk, "not witty enough to be clever and takes himself too seriously to be ironic". Paranoid, Fractious Fraction. Tertius. Died to a mob of menials in Jadeye.

  Rega: Inro's sister, Dynast of Monopolis. Septemius

  Riccaro: majordomo of Ocyl's estate. Hung by a looting mob in Heaven's Tread.

  Ruja: Dynast of Berujat. Killed by Cairin and company in Ziggurat.

  Rustrovan/"Rusty": Eth's old, gap-toothed skinscribe. Died of Wretch Plague.

  Ryk: "the most beautiful man Aida had ever seen", a Paragon

  Sadar: odd boy traveling with Semon, a Twine. Killed by Kass in Libriam.

  Sava: Dynast of Libriam

  Savalius: Grand Quartermaster of the Legions. Killed by Baka in Ziggurat.

  Semon "Goldtongue": white-haired, one-eyed master of cults. First Disciple of the Mother. Killed by Ghulen in Libriam.

  Sephily: diminutive Arborist from Groves

  Stiller: serving boy at Ocyl's estate. Rendered mute by psychological or head-trauma

  Strygen: a dusa traveling with Semon. Killed by Kass and Balmos in Libriam.

  Taesal: one of Rega's other Inviolates, axe scar to face

  Three Bracelets Left: "Leader" of the Mune collective

  "Toothy": leader of a group of thugs who accosted Aida in Heaven's Tread. Killed by Feral in Jadeye

  Tyrs: many-pierced Secundus Dynast of Forge. Fed into one of his own forges by the Rags.

  Valeer: a mentally challenged, unkempt individual able to manipulate Thorns. Died in Jadeye to "Braid".

  Vanyen: A crippled young woman who created the Cult of the Mother. Martyred Prophet of the Mother. Murdered by Semon Dynastic Assassins.

  Venner: Grandmaster of Optimimes in Jadeye, "best in the entire Book"

  Viviana: gorgeous, multi-talented ex-slave from Berujat. Partner of Alerestro. Killed by the Vale Legion in Berujat

  Wake: Dynast of Graves, marries even though they all die. Quintus. Isolate.

  White Spiral: an older Feral in Aida's service. Archer. Died protecting Aida in Jadeye

  36th Dynasty: A Dynasty the Anticores have met?.

  100th Dynasty: The Dynasty ruling the Book.

  Adventures of Bubo, The: popular kids story

  All, The: All the verses, even those beyond The Book.

  Ancients: a major Dynastic Chapter, an "elite number", "own Ziggurat" and "run the great bank that is Monopolis"

  Anchorites: individuals capable of creating anchor points affixed to nothing.

  Annalis compound: sprawling complex in Libriam, heart of The Book's bureaucracy. Arrivals 'Dirt' home to new dispatches, Archives 'Dust' storage for old material. Paths and Ways storage for 'nails. Burned to the ground by the Rags.

  Anticore: Sect creature which "wears convincing human skins" with "swarming insects... beneath the skin"

  Arborian: gardeners from Groves

  Arcers: a type of mancer able to summon blades of energy

  Ascen, The/The Ascendant: divinities "watching over every verse"?

  Assessor: census-taker

  Audits/"Diggers": Libriam internal affairs

  Autumn: verse rich in gold?

  Aze: swordmaker?

  Azure: An oceanic verse with blue beaches ruled by

  Berujat: "fleshmarkets"; primary seat of slave trade and home of most Lineage Masters, owned by Fraction.

  Black Court: a realm of pure darkness. Also, those who rule there. Where Partaking happens.

  Black Court Tribunal: localized Black Court authority?

  Blood, The: imbibed at Partaking, transforms one into a Dynast if they survive

  Book of Verses, The: the 1,000 verses ruled by the Dynasty. "The Kiloverse"

  Broadcliff, Tallmarket: cities in Stacks

  Bubo's Tale: Story of an ancient dyast who explored a mythical land called "Christendom" with his rats

  Calms: periods when ever-blowing winds die down in Berujat

  Canyon of Cages: cliff where slaves are held in Berujat

  Cave Dwellers: tribes that live in the underground in Origin, keep others out until "the Return"

  Century Thread: additional threads appearing elsewhere on the body every century a Dynast lives

  Cerebrist: creator of slavants

  Chalk/"Vistas": verse entirely made of chalky cliff, belongs to Reck

  Chant, The/Sacrosanct Chant: some sort of law in the Dynasty?

  Chant of Inoculation: chant supposed to protect against disease, "Mudra of Cleansing"

  Chapters: power groupings among the Dynasts of the Book: predominantly The Ancients, the Fractious Fraction, and Isolates.

  Circular Sea: an ocean abutting the Jadeye segment of Heaven's Tread

  Clock Priest: priests from Gears who track and tell time religiously

  Commu: chewed drug/herb?

  ConMach: convoy? courier? "ConMach drains the very life from the Directory's verses". Supply "ConMach machines"

  Construct: some great machine draining reality via black holes to create the All.

  Crowmen: buy corpses to return them to life and service as rotters

  Cupola Thorn: the main Thorn in the city Jadeye in Heaven's Tread, a stone dome built over it

  Currence: something valuable inside old coins? "harder than currence"? "Solid current forms currence." Currence melts to watter.

  Currency: money, gold coins once held currence inside to give value, now debased

  Current: some form of energy that powers "artifices"? "Solid current forms currence."

  Directory: "the Directory to Ink is like the Dynasty to the Book", dominating rulers of Ink

  Donative, The: Black Court taxes, taken by Legion if not offered. Don't pay, no Partaking every century.

  Dusa: people with manipulable hair of silver wire, from Gears

  Dynast: individual given rule of a verse if they survive Partaking. Ageless and hard to kill. Regenerative. Sustained by "the Blood"; no food or water necessary.

  Dynast's Tower: a massive tower at the peak of Ziggurat.

  Dynasty: the Dynasts who rule the Book

  Ebon: founder of the Dynasty and Black Court

  Ebon Saga: the tale of Ebon's foundation of The Book and Dynasty

  Ebonese: the language of the Book

  Echoseer shells: devices to allow one to "see" in the Black Court

  El: semi-insubstantial snake/remora-like creatures that follow gods (and sometimes Dynasts) around

  "Emperor of Everything": popular kids story about Inro turning down becoming emperor, then crushing those who elevated a different Dynast

  Feral: bone-masked bodyguards who require the essence of their master to survive. "Damned to Ferals" as a form of capital punishment. "the damned", "damned to a Feral"

  Fetalist: Imminent faction who believe the future is unchangeable

  First Thread/Primus: a fresh Dynast/the first luminescent silver thread etched into their foreheads.

  Forge: verse ruled by Tyrs with much metalworking

  Fractious Fraction/"DissatisFaction"/"The Renewal": a major Dynastic Chapter who "hate everyone including each other", "entice every freemancer and Lineage Master" ... "to Berujat". For those with "verses deficient in maor ways."

  Gates, The: Inter-verse travel method created by Ebon. Opened with Limn

  God, A: unique, "undying" creatures of immense size, The First Ones

  God's Rote: child's first memorization, what gods are

  God-dwellers: "monks" who live on a god

  God-touched: those who have physically touched a god (and lived)

  Gonist: organ dealers and traders

  Gons: self-sustaining organs capable of living outside a host

  Graves: a verse "Made of the dead by the dead for the dead".

  Green People: A tribe of jungle dwellers from Origin

  Groves: a forest verse, home to Arborists

  Heaven's Tread: a verse "inside a hollow rolling pin", host to Jadeye, the largest city in the Book

  High Parser: officials from Ink

  Imminent: seers advising Dynasts and shaping course of The Book

  Imminent Prophecy: something about a barbarian Dynast, Ender of Verses and/or Savior of Dynasties?

  Inevitables; faction of Imminent who believe it is their sacred duty to ensure the future comes to pass as seen

  Ink: home verses of the Skeinry, Keens, Directory, and "the Faded People". Drained of color and drained.

  Innoculist: doctors who teach chants "brought from Logos" to cure disease

  Inviolate: agents of the black court who "serve the Black Court, protect the Dynasty, uphold the Chant, root out corruption" with "unlimited, undisclosed, and untraceable budgets"

  Inviolate Vial: carried by Inviolates as badge of office

  Iode: substance that ignites when crushed

  Iris: the giant portals leading between one cylinder of Heaven's Tread to the next

  Isolates: a major Dynastic Chapter with a "unified stand for independence", "cheat the Donative, stockpil[e] currence and watter" "hire Keen mercenaries" "raise own private Legions in secret"

  Jade Eye, The: the "giant emerald" at the middle of Ocyl's Spire in Jadeye

  Jadeye: the largest city in the Book and major trade hub, in Heaven's Trade

  Jar: Name of a "gold" coin now made of brass. Once held currence within.

  Jaxeday: holiday in Stacks with boat carvings, feasts, games of Fishhead, dances, and storytelling

  Jaxestack: a whitewashed stack on Stacks home to Jaxekin

  Jutland Reach: a verse with guns?

  Gates: previous travel method before Thorns and the Kiss, opened by painting Limn on an arch in one verse and another in Terminus

  Green People: tribes that live in the jungles of Origin

  Keen: Ink warriors wearing impossibly-heavy iron armor whose power source drains color from the area about it. "Tank knights"

  Kin: descendants of a Dynast, most desperately trying to reach 100 so they can Partake

  Kiss, The: disease that wiped out "hundreds of verses", also name for the time period when Aj became active last and destroyed 100s of verses before halting in Sunset

  Lambent ram: animal whose wool glows?

  Letch: sect bred leech-like creature designed to stop bleeding on wounds

  Libriam: a swampy verse home to the Annalis, heart of The Book's bureaucracy

  Libwe: tribe possessing the "holy" Limn clay bed.

  Limn: "infused clay" bearing some sort of internal power, used by Ebon to found the Dynasty

  Lineage: a line of mancers taught by a Master

  Linemen: workers on the Stacks trolleys who pull the cars along the lines

  Lizard Hunters: Arca's people, walkers of the wastes of Origin

  Logos: "the thought realm"

  Machine Curse: something that stops machines from working between verses?

  Mancers: "no mancers arc (could) affect it", people with abilities beyond human normal, usually trained/implanted by a Master.

  Master's Markets: primary slave market in the Book in Berujat

  Menial: common folk

  Molt: person able to shed skins (see skins)

  Mon, The: "the Outsiders". "exist only to destroy the Book" with their "demonic and monstrous children" from "the Hells beyond". The same race as the Ascen but objectors to the creation of the All.

  Monopolis: the "City of Currency", bank verse ruled by Rega

  Mourne, The: something dangerous that lurks in the Vale, "the why we do not tarry"

  Mother's Faith: the relgion based on Aida created by Semon

  Mother's Militant: Formerly the Rogue Legions led by Eonora, now pledged to protect the people of the Book

  Mune: a utopist collective from Dost who mask their identities and share everything communally

  Nameday: when children are named

  Ocyl's Preserve: a garden "beyond the Circular Sea" in Heaven's Tread?

  Ocyl's Spire: the tower home to the court of Ocyl, Dyanst of Heaven's Tread

  One Tribe, The: Arca's new tribe incorporating the Libwe and whomever else is conquered or enticed to join.

  One-Eighth Shithole: Aida's verse. Unfortunately. A desolate place home to volcanoes and a giant dead turtle

  Optomime: gadgeteer

  Origin: the First Verse, from which Ebon originated, containing the "Cities Below". The "first page of The Book"

  Pale, The: light-skinned people, conquered by Ebon during the founding of the Dynasty. Alternately, albinism

  Paragon: warrior who can see the future

  Partaking: the ritual that creates Dynasts (or kills those who try). Performed by some unknown, large creature in the Black Court.

  Phero: Lineage whose scent creates overwhelming attraction

  'pillar: fuzzy Sect-bred giant caterpillar pet

  Porcelain Guard: Ocyl's white-masked Ferals

  Pure Priest of the Ascen/Blind Priests: priests praising the Ascen and back the Black Court

  Rags: derogatory name for alliance of Isolates and Fractious Fraction. Call themselves "Resistance Against the Grevious Ancient Coup."

  Reachers: massive, Sect-bred creatures that direct traffic and rescue unfortunates in the Sighted Path in Jadeye

  Reconquest: time four-hundred years ago when Inro "drove [tribals] back into civilization's fold at spear point"

  Rotters: sack-clothed, crudely-masked 'zombies' uses as pack-beasts and simple laborers. Created/sold by Crowmen.

  Royal Strider: giant striders which carry carriages of the wealthy slung underneath them

  Sect, The: breeders of useful insectoid- and/or sauroid-like creatures

  Seericide: seers capable of Knowing everything as they die

  Seneschal: chief servant of a Dynast, bear permanent strings allowing them to speak and understand any language

  Shale: a verse famous for its expensive stone

  Shore Striders: tribes that live along the oceans of Caves

  Shackle Pens: slave pens near Master's Market in Berujat?

  Shrineway: religious section of Jadeye "brailled prayers along the walls ... [and] cobblestones"

  Sighted Path: the zero-g road down the center of Heaven's Tread

  Silk: verse owned by Asta where all of verse's silk originates

  Sixth Tier Rebellion: last major uprising, in Ziggurat a century ago when "half the legions rose up". Put down by Baka

  Skeinry: iron-plated communication centers where Skeiners translate vibrations sent by wyre from other verses

  Skin/Hollow: animate skin of a molt able to move, talk, and share snatches of its experience with its molt

  Skinlife: living tattoos

  Skinscribe: individuals brailled with lore, walking libraries

  Slavant: an individual who "loses much" to be implanted with an ability

  Soresearer: individuals capable of "healing" by cauterizing wounds with their hands

  Stacks: An ocean verse comprised of tall pillars jutting up from the seas. Trolleys run on long ropes between them "affixed by Anchorites to airy nothing"

  Striders: "stilt-legged gray-skinned insect-lizard"s used as fast mounts, large enough to carry several riders

  Strings: worn or implanted wire devices that translate speech

  Stone Walkers: tribes that live in the cold of Origin

  Subterrane, The: inter-verse travel route accessed by Ebon via Limn

  Sunset: the verse where Aj was 'contained', formerly protected by Dynast Inro. The "Prison of Prisons" holds mad Dynasts, monsters and demons... vaults of dangerous relics.

  Sunset Legions/Vault Legions: Inro's Legions, wiped out by Aj in Sunset

  Surgon: person able to remove organs

  Swirl: A verse. "The pleasure barges of Swirl"

  Syphon: machine ConMach uses to "drain the very life" and color from a verse to "fuel... machinery"

  Tangle, The: the jungles of the One-Eighth

  Terminus: the verse from which the Gates all opened, hub of the Book before The Kiss and now mostly abandoned.

  Thorn: huge, curling thorns which Valeers can use as gateways to the Vale, doorways between verses. Grow into verses over centuries. The 2√3 Dynasty.

  Thrum: guide in the Black Court

  Tribunal: group of three Dynasts coming together to make ruling or pass judgment

  Twine: "one soul threaded through two bodies"

  Unkillable Swordsman: a Paragon killed by Deia long ago

  Vale: "The Place Between". A realm of high-contrast black and white full of thorns and Thorns.

  Vale Walkers: discoverers of verses

  Valeer: people capable of activating Thorns, barely functional of anything else

  Valeer's 'nail: crystals containing wafers that allow travel within the Vale to specific verses without a Valeer

  Venger: muscle man?

  Verse: a pocket universe or world

  Verser Lord/Lady: agents of an individual Dynast who rule part of a verse at the whim of their Dynast

  Vibrant: color-changing individuals from Ink?

  Watter: an energetic liquid. "Currence melts to watter. Watter's current dissipates over time, leaving water."

  Weeping Falls: Jadeye Iris flowing with waterfalls

  Wicker Way: towers of stone, wood, and rope that connect opposite far sides of Jadeye

  Wiz of Berujat: multi-minded, capable of performing multiple tasks simultaneously

  World Spear: an immense stack on Stacks

  Wretch: untouchables forced to walk on all fours, "the human refuse that cleans up the literal waste piles"

  Wretch Plague/Dynast's Plague: the flu. A horrific disease spread by Wretches.

  Wyres: lines run through the Vale between verses that allow communication between. A giant Ziggurat