Lexicon
A Note on Translation
HEREIN IS INCLUDED AN index of those terms appearing in this second volume of Lord Marlowe’s manuscript which are not easily translated into the Classical English or which bear a specific cultural or technical definition. For a more complete explanation of the methodology I employed in devising these coinages in translating from the Galstani in which the original was written, please refer to the appendices in volume one of this translation.
—Tor Paulos of Nov Belgaer
Glossary
abstraction: The process by which members of the Exalted remove themselves from humanity through technological modification.
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.
akaranta: The dominant Cielcin sexual role.
aljanhi: A human Jaddian soldier, distinguished from the clone mamluks.
anagnost: An initiate in the Chantry clergy.
androgyn: A homunculus exhibiting neither or both male and female sex characteristics.
aquilarii: In the Legions, the pilot of a lighter craft.
azhdarch: A xenobite predator common in the Colosso, like a lizard with a long neck open from top to bottom in a fanged mouth.
backspace: 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.
baron/baroness: Lowest rank of the Imperial palatine nobility. Rules a planetary demesne. Title may be passed on through inheritance.
bastille: Any Chantry judicial and penal center, usually attached to a temple sanctum.
biofacture: The manufacture of living beings, organs, or tissues.
bonecutter: A black market genetics surgeon, not sanctioned by the High College.
Book of the Mind: An anthology of several texts compiled or composed by the scholiast Imore. Forms the basis of their philosophy.
centurion: A rank in the Imperial Legions, commands a CENTURY.
Chalcenterite: A fraternal order of the scholiasts, noted for their asceticism.
Chantry: See HOLY TERRAN CHANTRY.
chimera: Any genetically altered or artificially created animal, usually by blending the genetic code of two or more animals.
chiromancer: See BONECUTTER.
Choir: An elite research and intelligence body operating under the command of the Chantry.
choregus: The leader of a chorus, as in a song.
Cielcin: Spacefaring alien species. Humanoid and carnivorous. The principle enemy of humankind during the CRUSADE.
Classical English: The ancient language of both the Mericanii and the early Imperial settlers on Avalon, still used by the scholiasts.
coloni: Any intelligent, pre-industrial race of xenobites on a human-occupied world, particularly in the Sollan Empire.
Colosso: A series of sporting events held in a coliseum involving professional gladiators, slave myrmidons, animals, races, and more.
commandant: The leader of a private mercenary company.
commodore: In the Legions, an officer above captain but below strategos, usually in command of a fleet.
cornicen: In the Legions, a soldier tasked with playing the horn or trumpet at parades.
coteliho: In Cielcin culture, roughly equivalent to a Lord’s herald or majordomo.
crèche: A cryonic storage pod for transporting people on long interstellar journeys.
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.
Dark Space: In the Chantry religion, a place of desolation and torment.
Deep: A species of possibly artificial and intelligent microorganisms found on several worlds, capable of digesting and altering other living creatures.
denwa: A highly addictive pseudoamphetamine of extraterrestrial origin and a popular drug. Made from fungal resin.
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.
Durantine Republic: An interstellar republic of some three thousand worlds. Pays tribute to the Empire.
Eali al’aqran: The Jaddian ruling caste, product of intense eugenic development. Practically superhuman.
Emperor: The supreme ruler of the Sollan Empire, considered a god and the reincarnation of his/her predecessor. Holds absolute power.
Eudoran: Any of the spacefaring bands claiming descent from the failed colony on Europa in Old Earth’s system. An ethnic group known for their interstellar wanderings.
Exalted: A faction among the Extrasolarians noted for their extreme cybernetic augmentations.
exsul: Any palatine lord not based on a habitable world. Can refer also to his/her entire household.
Extrasolarian: Any of the barbarians living outside Imperial control, often possessing illegal praxis.
factionarius: The chief officer of a trade guild.
foederatus: A mercenary.
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 Jaddian religion, the part of one’s spirit that remains in the spirit world when a person’s soul enters the material universe.
Free Traders Union: A coalition of smaller trading companies and independent merchanter vessels that lobbies for shipping privileges and dock space on planets.
freehold: Any planet or moon that rules itself, not subject to an interstellar polity.
fugue: The state of cryonic suspension induced to ensure that 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.
gene tonic: A medicament designed to alter the genetic code of an organism to fit a desired plan. Used to raise plebeians to the patrician class.
glowsphere: A spherical, bright light source floating on Royse repulsors, battery- or chemically powered.
God of Fire: In the Jaddian religion, the principle creator deity, known sometimes by his ancient name Ahura Mazda.
golem: A mechanical being fashioned in the shape of a man, containing no organic parts.
Great Charters: Ancient collection of legal codes imposed on the Empire by a coalition of the houses palatine. Maintains the balance between the houses and between the houses and the Emperor.
groundcar: An automobile, usually powered by solar or by internal combustion.
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.
hilatar: A popular non-addictive hallucinogen made from the leaves of an alien plant. The leaves are dried and steeped like tea.
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: Gilded coin used amongst the Imperial peasant classes, worth their mark-weight in gold. Print notes for various denominations exist.
huratimn: A prey animal native to the Cielcin homeworld.
ichakta: A Cielcin title, referring to the captain of a ship.
ietumna: The submissive Cielcin sexual role.
imaginifer: In the Legions, a herald tasked with carrying a holograph image of the Emperor upon a staff.
immunis: In the Legions, a soldier exempt from usual duties.
inmane: An offensive slur meaning that someone is less than human. Literally impure.
intus: A palatine born outside the oversight of the High College, usually possessing several physical or psychological defects; a bastard.
itani: Pl. Itanimn. A Cielcin family unit.
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 offworld narcotic. Can be inhaled or ingested in a kind of tea.
kaspum: Silver-plated coin used among the Imperial peasant classes. Twelve kaspums make one gold hurasam. Print notes for various denominations exist.
Knights Excubitor: The innermost circle of the Emperor’s guard, comprising 108 of the finest knights and fighters in the Empire.
Legions: The military branch of the Sollan Empire, loyal directly to the Emperor and Imperial house, comprising naval and ground forces.
lictor: A bodyguard for a nobile or other dignitary. Usually a knight.
logothete: A minister in any of the governmental agencies of any palatine house, used colloquially of any civil servant.
magus: An intellectual, most especially a scientist or natural philosopher.
Mandari: An ethnic group semi-detached from Imperial society, most commonly found staffing the massive interstellar trading corporations.
mark: The primary trade currency of the Sollan Empire, not backed by specie.
Martian Guard: The Emperor’s palace guard, an elite corp of soldiers raised from the population on Earth’s nearest neighbor, Mars.
medica: A hospital, typically aboard a starship.
megathere: A massive, three-eyed amphibious predator native to the planet Epidamnus.
Mericanii: The ancient first interstellar colonists. A hyper-advanced technologic civilization run by artificial intelligences. Destroyed by the Empire.
mnunatari: In Cielcin culture, the merchant caste. Considered pariahs.
myrmidon: In the Colosso, any contract or slave fighter not a professionally trained gladiator.
myste: An intellectual.
nahute: A Cielcin weapon. Resembles a flying metal snake. Seeks out targets and drills into them.
natalist: A specialist practiced in the art of growing and gene-crafting living organisms, human or otherwise.
neural lace: A semi-organic computer implanted in a host’s brain. Very illegal in the Empire.
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.
Nordei: The principal language of the Demarchy. A patois of Nordic and Thai with some Slavic influences.
Norman Expanse: The frontier of human settlement in the Norma Arm of the Milky Way.
nuncius: An announcer, town crier, or herald.
Old Solstice: A traditional holiday commemorating the Winter Solstice of Old Earth.
optio: The second-in-command of a century in the Imperial Legions after the Centurion.
Order of Merit: The highest honor an Imperial soldier may be given for service to the Empire.
Outer Perseus: The expansion region out along the end of the Perseus Arm; a colonial frontier.
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.
pankration: A martial art harking all the way back to ancient Greece and Macedonia.
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.
peltast: An unshielded foot soldier. Light infantry.
Peregrination: Any of the historical evacuations from Earth’s system for the extrasolar colonies.
Petersonian: A fraternal order of the scholiasts.
phase disruptor: A sort of firearm that attacks the nervous system. Can stun on lower settings.
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.
plutocrat: Any plebeian who has earned enough money to buy expensive genetic augmentations. Effectively patrician.
Principalities of Jadd: Nation of eighty former Imperial provinces in Perseus that revolted over palatine reproductive rights. Heavily militaristic and caste-driven.
qiati: In Cielcin culture, an individual’s usefulness or worth to its owner.
Quiet: The hypothetical first civilization in the galaxy, allegedly responsible for several ancient sites, including those on Emesh, Judecca, Sadal Suud, and Ozymandias.
Rothsbank: An ancient, privately owned banking house tracing its roots back to the Golden Age of Earth.
Royal Victorian Knights: A fraternal order of knights owing allegiance to the Imperial House Avent.
satrap: A planetary governor in the Principalities of Jadd, subordinate to one of the regional princes.
scahari In Cielcin culture, the warrior caste.
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.
sign of the sun disc: A gesture of benediction made by circling thumb and forefinger and touching forehead and lips before holding the hand up to the sky.
signifer: In the Legions, a soldier tasked with carrying the banner bearing the symbols of the individual legion or subgroup.
Solar Throne: The Imperial throne. Carved from a single piece of citrine quartz. Sometimes used as a synonym for the Imperial Presence or Office.
solifer: In the Legions, a soldier tasked with carrying the banner bearing the symbol of the Imperial sunburst on its flag.
Sollan Empire: The largest and oldest single polity in human-controlled space, comprising some half a billion habitable planets.
SOM: Surrogate Operating Medium. The lobotomized shell of a human being animated by machines, used for slave labor and as soldiers by the Extrasolarians.
Sparrowhawk: A lighter craft commonly used by the Legions, a one-manned rapid attack ship used in ship-to-ship fighting.
strategos: An admiral in the Imperial Legions, responsible for the command of an entire fleet, comprising several legions.
strojeva: A golem, specifically a golem of Durantine manufacture. Typically designed to closely mimic a human being in appearance.
sulan: An ancient predator native to the Cielcin homeworld.
suppression field: A Royse Effect field designed to simulate gravity.
Tanager: A lighter craft commonly used by the Legions, a heavier, two-man fighter.
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.
theologi: A priest or theologian.
tiatari: In Cielcin culture, the worker caste.
tokolosh: A species of flesh-eating microorganism that, when swarming, appears as a mass of darkness.
Travatsk: A Tavrosi language named for the Travatskr ethnic group, recognizable by its lack of vowel reduction.
trias: A unit of three legionnaires, usually two peltasts and one hoplite.
triaster: The commander of a trias, usually a shielded 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’s Index. Legal privileges do not apply in such cases.
TX9: A chemical compound pumped into the body when the blood is drained in preparation for cryonic fugue.
Udaritanu: A complex, non-linear writing system used by the Cielcin.
Umandh A coloni species native to the planet Emesh. Amphibious and tripedal, they have an intelligence comparable to that of dolphins.
uncreated gods: In philosophy, refers to the gods of ancient religions which emerged as byproducts of organic cultural evolution.
Upper Centaurus: Region of the Centaurus Arm of the galaxy nearer the core. Location of the Principalities of Jadd and many Imperial provinces.
vampyromorph: A species of winged, blood-drinking creatures commonly used in baiting shows during the Colosso.
Veil of Marinus: Territory contested between the Empire and Norman Freeholds. Comprises most of the front in the Crusade against the Cielcin.
viceroy/vicereine: The ruler of an Imperial Province appointed by the Emperor. The title is typically heritable, but is not always so.
White Sword: A ceramic greatsword used by Chantry cathars for formal executions, especially of the nobility. Writ The Chantry’s legal and moral code, enforced by the Inquisition and the Index.
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.
Zenoan: A fraternal order of the scholiasts with an emphasis on introspection and emotional regulation.