Glossary

abstraction: The process by which members of the Exalted remove themselves from humanity through technological modification.

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.

Advent: The destruction of Old Earth by humanity at the end of the Foundation War.

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

aljanhi: A human Jaddian soldier, distinguished from the clone mamluks.

alkidar: In Jaddian culture, a woman—almost always of the eali caste—bound to a eali man in formal concubinage.

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

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

angu: A species of large, faintly sweet melon popular in the Iramnene desert region of the planet Delos.

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.

aryabite: Any member of the warrior middle class of the Jaddian principalities. Roughly equivalent to the role of patricians in Imperial society, comprising genetic uplifts and their offspring, but no pure-blood eali.

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

backspace: Any territory within Imperial space not formally colonized by the Empire. Often a refuge for the Extrasolarians.

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

bonecutter: Slang. Any black-market geneticist or surgeon not sanctioned by the High College.

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.

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

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.

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.

Colosso: A series of sporting events held in a coliseum involving professional gladiators, slave myrmidons, animals, races, and more.

colossus: Any huge mobile artillery unit, especially those designed to walk on legs. May be several hundred feet tall.

consortation: One of the Twelve Abominations. Conversing with or having similar contact with artificial intelligence, even unknowingly.

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.

cornicen: In the Legions, a soldier tasked with playing the horn or trumpet at parades.

cothon: A starport launch terminal, especially one of the toroidal sort with the launch pit in the center of the ring. Usually built just below ground level.

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

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.

davoi: The Jaddian word for the Cielcin, literally “demons.”: 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.

Domagavani: In Jadd, the legislative and elective body composed of all eighty-one Jaddian princes and the ranking religious clerics, especially those of the Zoroastrian faith.

douleter: A slave overseer or trader.

druaja: A board game, sometimes called labyrinth chess.

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.

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: The Cielcin name for the Vaiartu civilization. See VAIARTU.

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

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.

Feni: A fermented liquor made from cashew apples.

Firstborn: The label used by the Empire to refer to the civilization known colloquially as “the Quiet,” as a means of distinguishing them from other extinct galactic civilizations, namely the Vaiartu.

fordgron: In the Cid Arthurian religion, a temple or abbey, especially one focused on the training of warrior monks.

Foundation War: The war between the early Empire and the Mericanii, in which the Mericanii were destroyed and the Sollan Empire founded.

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.

fugue: The state of cryonic suspension induced to ensure humans and other living creatures survive the long journey between suns.

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

glowsphere: A spherical, bright light source floating on Royse repulsors, battery or chemically powered.

golem: A mechanical being fashioned in the shape of a man, containing no organic parts.

governor-general: The ruling executive officer of an Imperial planet or territory (as opposed to a palatine lord), appointed by the Emperor, may rule for a term or for life, but may not pass the title on to an heir.

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.

HAPSIS: The semi-independent, secret division of the Legion Intelligence Office tasked with managing contact scenarios with alien civilizations, especially first contacts, and most especially with regard to matters relating to the Firstborn, Stonebuilder, and Monumental species.

High College: Imperial political office tasked with reviewing palatine requests for children and with overseeing the pregnancies of same. Prevents mutations.

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

hightower: An elevator designed to lift cargo from the surface of a planet to orbit and vice versa.

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.

hypogeum: The underground maintenance complex beneath a coliseum. More generally, any underground complex.

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.

indoctrination: The process by which a person is treated with specially tailored RNA packets to learn and absorb new information and skills quickly.

infestation: In Chantry religious law, the state in which a computer system may contain elements of artificial intelligence or the precursors to same, often leading to possession.

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

Inquisitor: A Chantry official tasked with conducting judicial investigations and overseeing the torture of criminals.

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.

itani: Pl. itanimn. A Cielcin family unit, especially the extended clan.

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

jubala: A powerful and popular pseudonarcotic. Can be inhaled or ingested in a kind of tea.

knife-missile: A kind of drone, little more than a remote-controlled flying knife. A favorite of assassins.

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.

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

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

light-probe: Any of a class of very small, ultralight reconnaissance devices propelled by ship-board laser to nearly the speed of light.

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.

Maeskolos: Pl. Maeskoloi. Any of the legendary swordmasters of Jadd, drawn exclusively from the eali caste. Credited with superhuman speed and skill.

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.

malaros: In the Cid Arthurian religion, a necklace of prayer beads—usually 108—with a medallion of one of the Holy Knights and a tassel at the end.

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.

mandyas: Traditional garment of the Maeskoloi. Half a robe with one flowing sleeve worn over the left shoulder, cinched at the waist.

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.

Monumentals: Another name for the Watchers, used by human scholars prior to first contact with the Cielcin.

Museum Catholic Church: An adorator cult centered on the planet Caritas, believed to have existed since the Golden Age of Earth and protected on reservations by Imperial decree.

myrmidon: In the Colosso, any contract or slave fighter not a professionally trained gladiator.

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

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

Nordei: The principle language of the Demarchy. A patois of Nordic and Thai with some Slavic influences.

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.

nowoyuk: In Lothrian society, any hermaphroditic homunculus grown by the state, or the hermaphroditic offspring of one such homunculus and a natural-born human. All nowoyuk children are genetic hermaphrodites as well. Part of a mostly failed attempt by the Lothrian government to abolish the natural sexes.

nuncius: In Imperial society, an announcer or herald.

Old Lions: A coterie of traditionalist, hyper-monarchist lords in the Sollan Empire close to the throne. Nominally supporters of the Emperor against the bureaucracy.

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.

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

phase disruptor: A sort of firearm that attacks the nervous system. Can stun on lower settings.

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

plagiarius: A smuggler, fence, or other black-market salesman.

plasma burner: A firearm which uses a strong loop of magnetic force to project an arc of super-heated plasma across short to moderate distances.

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

poine: A structured, small-scale war carried out between Imperial palatine houses. Subject to the scrutiny of the Inquisition.

porphyrogeneticist: A geneticist employed in the creation of palatine or eali children, usually by the Imperial High College or by one of the great houses of Jadd.

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.

Quiet: The hypothetical first civilization in the galaxy, allegedly responsible for several ancient sites, including those on Emesh, Judecca, Sadal Suud, and Ozymandias.

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

Rothsbank: An ancient, privately owned banking house tracing its roots back to the Golden Age of Earth.

Royse shield: Any force field making use of the Royse Effect to stop high-velocity objects from penetrating its energy curtain, especially those worn at the belt for personal use.

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

saylash: Among the Tavrosi clansmen, a fractal tattoo covering large portions of the body, containing the history of the clan back several generations.

scahari: Pl. scaharimn. In Cielcin culture, any member of the warrior caste.

scarab: A small colossus used for urban combat, a six-legged mobile artillery platform crewed by half a dozen men.

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.

scianda: Pl. sciandane. A Cielcin migratory fleet, comprising several itanimn and presided over by a single aeta.

Septembrine Revolt: A poine civil war fought in the sixteenth millennium between two factions of House Bourbon of Verehaut, started by Prince Philippe Bourbon, who attempted to claim the title of prince, but was blocked by his brother, Prince Charles. Ended with Philippe’s exile to Belusha.

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.

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

SOM: The lobotomized shell of a human being animated by machines, used for slave labor and as soldiers by the Extrasolarians.

Special Security: A division of Legion Intelligence interested in matters of high Imperial security; that is, in situations and persons affecting the integrity and security of the Empire as a whole.

spydust: Any microscopic surveillance device, be it a camera, microphone, or other sensor. May be airborne.

Stonebuilders: An earlier name for the Vaiartu civilization used by human scholars. See VAIARTU.

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.

sulshawar: In Jaddian culture, a warrior who serves as bodyguard to a prince, satrap, or other important personage. May also represent that person in legal duels. Comparable to a lictor.

swordmaster: See MAESKOLOS.

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.

triaster: The commander of a trias, usually a shielded hoplite.

Udaritanu: A complex, nonlinear writing system used by the Cielcin. Pl. udaritani, referring to the individual glyphs used in same.

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

Vaiartu: 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.

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.

Vigran Huaxia: A Mandari banking house with deep ties to the Extrasolarians.

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

watch-eye: Any flying camera drone.

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

xanarth: A massive land predator native to the planet Athyras.

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.

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

zvanya: A cinnamon-flavored distilled alcohol popular in Jadd.