Ever since the villa, she'd driven on relentlessly trying to make things right for these people, blundering ever onward trying to help them somehow find their way to the promises she'd made and the hopes they held. She felt constantly overwhelmed but kept pushing on anyway because she had to for them. And to prove to herself she wasn't still the irresponsible screw up who'd wrecked and wasted her life on Earth. Now, it was as though their anger snuffed that fire that had fueled her for so long to leave her empty, exhausted, numb.

  "And worst of all," the agitator shouted over the crowd. "Worst of all, she brings those who first bore the Plague, whose uncleanliness and unholiness she allowed to fester and spread among us. Who here hasn't lost someone to their second Kiss? Or two. Or everyone?" He wheeled on the Wretches and thrust the hand that had been tucked into his shirt at them. A hand scarred, mangled, and split almost to the wrist between the pointer and middle fingers.

  Ryk's warnings flooded into her: Cleft Hand. The one he'd told her to kill. A memory flashed further back, to the battle in the villa when Ryk faced off against a dozen ruffians. Cleft Hand had been there too with a silver knife. The one who started the ruckus, but crawled away after Ryk's spear took a chunk out of his hand. He'd followed her here after that and this was his revenge for his hand?

  "One dead Wretch is not enough. Never enough," he spat. The crowd grabbed rocks, broke branches, and beat their fists into their palms, their burning gazes slid from Aida towards the Wretches.

  "Dynast!" Alerestro said, shaking her. She knew she should do something, but she felt vacant. Disconnected. Like she was barely here. Watching from a kilometer away.

  "Pah!" He stepped away in disgust. Somewhere, he found a broad, confident smile. His arms raised high and wide as we walked between the advancing mob and their new targets. "Good people, I-"

  His voice cut off as a thrown rock caromed off his forehead. Staggering back, he clutched at his head. A bloody hand came away from his forehead and he swayed towards Aida, holding his a red hand towards her as he looked for her with unfocused eyes. "Aida, I..."

  When he collapsed, the crowd rushed. Rather than running and abandoning their dead leader, the Wretches turned and prostrated themselves before the furious crowd roaring towards them. Throwing themselves completely at their mercy.

  Between Alerestro going down and a vivid picture the Wretches' imminent gruesome demise flashing through her mind, something snapped inside her. With half-a-thought, the sound in her strings rapidly grew stronger.

  "No!" she shouted, her voice a whip-crack shearing through the air with the force of the resonance she'd never let die away. The force of the word plowed a furrow fifty meters long between the mob and the Wretches, then off into the Tangle a ways besides.

  "No," she said again softly, walking to Alerestro's side. He waved her on disjointedly as Ghillie knelt to examining the wound. Ghillie signed a quick he's okay and so Aida continued past him. She walked before the Wretches, standing on one side of the trench she'd just blasted to face down Cleft Hand and her angry, but stunned people.

  For the first time in as long as she could remember, she felt completely calm and certain. Something had shifted and, for the first time, she knew exactly what to say and do.

  "Cleft Hand, here, is right," she said, her admission seeming to shock those facing her as much as her shout had. "The only reason I'm in charge here is because someone in the Black Court - and I still don't even know who - decided I should be. I didn't even choose it, just had to pick between certain death as a dying old lady and uncertain life as a Dynast. I don't have any qualifications to rule. No special skills or training or anything. Heck, most of my life I never even had a career, just bounced around the USA and then the world doing odd jobs, slumming it in Third World countries with my last husband, and then scraping together a minimal living from what I could get from Social Security and his pension until I went into the nursing home."

  She realized as she spoke that these people didn't understand half of what she was saying, but the words were for her as much as for them so she didn't really care. Looking into Cleft Hand's hostile eyes as she spoke, she continued. "I don't know what all I did to you, but it doesn't matter. If someone drops truth, it's true no matter who they are. He's right: I'm not fit to rule."

  This brought a mix of angry shouts of agreement and anguished cries of those who still believed in her for some reason and had just been caught up in the emotions of the mob. Cleft Hand stared at her silently and smoldered.

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  She looked him in the eyes and accepted his hatred calmly as she continued. "I said it before to Ryk without realizing how true it was: I'm a better destroyer than a creator. My whole life I lived bucking trends and defying whatever was popular, ducking out on the roles family, friends, and society tried to slot me into. Whatever was expected me, I did the opposite. I knocked things down just for having the gall to stand, tore things apart just to see if they were strong enough to hold up. I tested everyone and everything around me, mocked, criticized, challenged. Everyone I didn't drive away I abandoned before they could."

  "Who will lead us if you leave?" someone shouted with others echoing the cry.

  Simultaneously relieved beyond measure and guilty as hell that she was abandoning these people too, just like she'd done everyone else in her life, she shrugged. "Choose your own leaders, as Cleft Hand here said. Invite the Mune people who just showed up to take over. They seem to know what they're doing. Hell, put Eth in charge. She's an Imminent and who better to lead you than someone who already knows what challenges we'll face. You'll face."

  Everything broke down for a while. Some people crossed her ditch to plead her to stay while others argued about who might lead while yet others ran off to tell everyone in the Shanties what had just transpired. The Wretches quietly set to retrieving a precious bronze axe and began chopping down the tree-stake impaling the Professor so they could remove his body.

  It all washed over her like she was a solid rock swirled by a roiling ocean. Her mind felt clearer than it had in months. Maybe since she'd left the nuring home. Maybe ever.

  After trying futilely a few times to silence the clamor, she hummed her strings to life, thrumming the sound in gradually-crescendoing waves of white noise that eventually silenced everyone. When they all quieted and looked at her again, she smiled.

  "I am a breaker, not a maker. I tear things down not build them up. That's my nature, the one I've been fighting it all my time here. There's plenty of others to fight out there in The Book, I'm done fighting myself."

  "Where will you go?" someone shouted.

  "What will you do?" cried another.

  "Take us with you," another pleaded.

  Aida raised her hands again. "Any who wish to come may come. Any who wish to stay, may stay. I'm not in charge of anyone but me now. You all do whatever you think is best for you. I won't force you to do anything."

  She looked to Cleft Hand again and extended a hand. "I offer my apologies for whatever I might have done. Or what people close to me did. If you can't find it in your heart to forgive me and want a place for your anger, come with me. We'll find plenty of places to vent it on people who really deserve it. Maybe help some people who don't deserve the punishment they're taking in the process."

  After staring at her hand for a moment, he slapped it away and stormed off. A few thuggish-looking individuals scattered amid the crowd jostled their way out and peeled off to follow him.

  A young woman walked up to her, fear written across her face as she swayed a toddler swathed in dirty rags. "You're abandoning us? After all we went through to come here?"

  "No, no, dear," she said, wrapping the surprised mother in a hug. "This is still my home. I'll be back if Eth is right and I don't manage to get myself killed. You're still welcome here. You, your kiddo, anyone and everyone. It still can be a refuge and fresh start for those needing such, just not with stumbling around trying to make things work. I promise to do everything in my power to protect it from those who would break it and support those who would build it. I'm just not your woman. Never was."

  "There'll be chaos if you leave now," an older man called, pointing his walking stick towards the Thorn. "I was in Swirl when they rose up and burned the Dynast alive on his pleasure barge. Thought we'd have peace after, but we got looting, burning, rape, and murder instead. No one in charge is even worse than a Dynast in charge."

  He caught some grumbles, outcries, and dark looks for the last statement, but he stuck his chin out. "It's true. Saw it with my own eyes. Barely lived to tell of it."

  Despite really not wanting to agree with him, Aida saw his point. She'd seen marches turn to riots back on Earth, saw the mobs go on rampages in Jadeye, heard of law breaking down after hurricanes and earthquakes back on Earth. Lost in thought, she skimmed the mob, spotting Aliasara arriving at the back of it. A solution to her dilemma sprung from thought to lips in an instant, before she had time to think how her friend would take it.

  "Aliasara there, she's the one."

  Aliasara froze, eyes wide as everyone looked her way. "She's wise, kind, smart, and a better human than I'll ever be. Until you all decide who you want in charge long-term, she's your woman. As my last act as Dynast of the One-Eighth, I appoint her Verser Queen and ruler until she and you convince someone else to take the job."

  While her friend stood in shocked stillness like a deer in headlights, Aida moved through the crowd to stand before her. Aida hugged her tightly and whispered, "you've got this, girl."

  Before Alisara could argue or Aida could feel any more doubt or remorse about her decision, she strode off, Alerestro and Ghillie flanking her.

  "Where will you go and what will you do now?" Alerestro said, his tone and demeanor as nonchalant as if she'd just declared soccer the new versal sport.

  "I've got a few places in mind, but wherever I pick I'm off to do the same thing." She grinned and slapped him on the back. "If I'm a personified wrecking ball, fine, let's go wreck some things that need wrecking. I'm not a Dynast anymore, you still coming?"

  He grinned and slapped her on the back. "Wouldn't miss it for anything."

  Next chapter: An ally Hassani had forgotten about entirely returns with a hint of hope

  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

  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.

  Avani: Hassani's daughter, an albino

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

  "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

  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

  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.

  Johine: crude slave

  Kass/Kassenia: mercenary attached to Adonissian. Died of Wretch Plague?

  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

  Rustrovan/"Rusty": Eth's old, gap-toothed skinscribe

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

  Sadar: odd boy traveling with Semon, a Twine

  Sava: Dynast of Libriam

  Savalius: Grand Quartermaster of the Legions

  Semon "Goldtongue": white-haired, one-eyed master of cults. First Disciple of the Mother.

  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

  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

  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.

  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.

  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

  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"

  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 verse of the Skeinry, Keens, Directory, and "the Faded People"

  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?

  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"

  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: "Gates End", a verse?

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

  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