"You'd just casually murder an Inviolate?" Ghulen said, taking a tiny sip. He hated alcohol or any substance that interfered with his control. "I know things unravel quickly, but didn't think we'd fallen so far yet."

  "No thanks to Rega's coup."

  "Or your murder of the Inviolate arresting the Mother of Exiles and your brazen attack on Wake and Jaxe's troops that followed," Ghulen countered. "Rasofi was a good man."

  "Rasofi was a stiff, boring pain in my backside. And, to play the contrarian, those were my menials Wake and Jaxe conscripted and armed in my verse. With Rasofi dead and no Tribunal imminent, that wasn't the start of a civil war, it was just me putting down a couple armed menial mobs illegally roused by Dynasts outside their domains and therefore beyond their rights."

  Ghulen feigned another sip to avoid starting a debate. He needed to walk a fine line between showing some spine and poking back at a prickly Dynast. The incense drifted narrow strands of smoke their direction in a gentle breeze, the cloying sweetness of the smoke making him want to gag. He wondered if Ocyl did it on purpose knowing he was a Scentsor.

  "And it was Aida's Seneschal who murdered him anyway, not me. Wasn't he the son of Rega's Sensechal? Expelled him from the family for some dalliance with another man back on Monopolis?"

  "Some dalliance with his fiance's brother," Ghulen said, wincing at the memory. Festrin was a miserly, strict, and proud man at the best of times. After he'd kicked the son he'd spent a decade grooming to replace him to the street, he became utterly insufferable for months. "I took every little task or mission that might pull me away from Monopolis and each one was a blessing."

  "'Never get between an old man and the wedding he's arranged for you', that's what my father always said. If he hadn't died half-a-millennium ago, I'd tell him 'never get between a young man and his youthful dalliances'. Did he and the other fellow at least find some happiness, contentment, or at least continued sexual gratification together?"

  Ghulen grunted and shook his head. "Poor idiot was in love with Fallon, but I think Fallon only did it out of rebellion to shock his father. Get back at the old man for controlling everything about his life. Unfortunately, Fallon's fiance found out about it before his father did and Fallon ended up off to the Cerebrists in Berujat then to fetch the Mother of Exiles from whatever barbarian verse they spawned her in. Last I heard, the fellow was still trying to prove himself worthy of Fallon's love to Festrin and Fallon. Set off to kill some Paragon or something stupid last I heard. Likely dead now."

  "Ah, a tragedy all around then. Pity." Ocyl drained his drink and casually extended his cup out towards the freckled beauty holding a fresh glass decanter full of the water-clear liquid. Rather than refilling his goblet, she took it and handed him a new, full replacement. "But we've gotten distracted from our saint here."

  "Ah, yes, I can't wait to hear." Ghulen couldn't wait to leave and resume the hunt. Some part of him suspected Ocyl knew as much so he hid his impatience in admiring the goblet. If Ocyl knew he was inconveniencing Ghulen, he was likely to invite him to stay for a month just for the chance to annoy Rega and leave Ghulen collateral damage in petty Dynastic politicking.

  "Not so elaborate as you think. I gave in, as I said, to a particularly insistent Abbess or High Priestess or whatever they called themselves at the time. She proclaimed me a saint on the spot. Saint Ocyl, can you imagine?" He drew himself up dramatically, holding his goblet to the heavens and letting his mouth hang open as though in awe of some descending divinity. After holding the statuesque pose for a few seconds then shifted the pose so his other hand grabbed his crotch. "Patron of apathy, leisure, and debauchery."

  "Sounds like a most popular saint," Ghulen said, smiling in spite of himself at the ridiculous, almost absurd image before him. Wasn't every day you got to see one of the most powerful Dynast's in the book grope himself while miming being a statue. "Until recently, anyway. Can't imagine there's much apathy or leisure going around lately."

  "More's the pity. I rather miss my apathy." Ocyl turned back to the statue looming over them. "She commissioned a massive statue of me holding a joyous infant in one arm and a holy book in the other. Its revelation was to be the centerpiece of the week of festivities held when the Shrineway finally opened. Attempting to keep it a secret to surprise me was among her many mistakes for I allow no secrets kept away from me in my verse."

  The last bit, too, could have been interpreted as threat. Ghulen was less sure now it wasn't. "So what happened to the statue? It seems like something like it would be famous."

  "I hired a stonemelder from Shale at no small expense and under great secrecy to reshape it. They hid it behind a canvas-draped scaffolding so I couldn't see it, but that cover also served to keep them from seeing its new form until the great unveiling ceremony. I'll never forget that moment of hushed silence after her interminable speech when they yanked the canvas clear to reveal... this."

  He gestured grandly towards the statue, sloshing his drink in the process.

  Ghulen saw the statue again for the first time. Indeed, it wore Ocyl's unusual visage plain as day despite centuries of weather's wear. So too did Ghulen see where the hawk's wing could have once been the pages of a book, the lizard's tail the curve of swaddling around the babe it once was.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  "If I could make that memory an object, it would sit proudly at the center of my Irreplaceables. The Blind Priestess, of course, couldn't see as she stood before it giving her long dedication speech. I almost came apart trying not to laugh and eventually failed. You've never seen a crowd more confused and awkward than the assembled throng listening to her prattle on in front of it. She nearly died of shock, confusion, and embarrassment after. Think she took a vow of silence and fled to a remote monastery in Azure afterwards to contemplate humility before the Ascen or something equally dramatic and pointless. Didn't have to listen to her nag at me ever again anyway."

  Ghulen tried to imagine Rega pulling a ruse so petty, amusing, or self-effacing. Rega possessed no capacity for any of those descriptors in the slightest and anyone pulling anything remotely like such a prank on her would wake up the next morning hanging in a cage in the canyons of Berujat.

  "They've studiously ignored it ever since," he said, chuckling and plucking a piece of rotting fruit from a wooden bowl placed at the statue's feet. "Menials still bring it offerings and pray at its feet on occasion asking for who-knows-what. Over the years, the occasional wandering monk, mad priest, or charlatan tries to scrap together a cult or build a following around the teachings of great saint whoever-the-hells. I secretly support them however I can whenever such arises because it amuses me."

  Ocyl dropped onto his stool and they sat in companionable silence for a while regarding the statue. While Ocyl seemed to have drifted into a nostalgic reverie, Ghulen ran possibilities through his mind for ways to bring the conversation back around and steer it in a useful direction.

  As they waited, a strange-looking child wandered through the Porcelain Guard. By his simple but fine clothing and the way the Ferals didn't look twice at him as he passed, the boy was some element of Ocyl's retinue. Not entirely surprising since the Dynast was a well-known collector of oddities of all types. The boy's head was shaved, his eyes drifted constantly without ever seeming to fix on anything, and he mumbled to himself endlessly. Like a mini-Valeer.

  "Hello Sadar, my young Twine. Come to admire my statue?" Ocyl said, glancing at the boy and gesturing expansively at said statue.

  The boy didn't even seem to notice him, instead pausing half-facing one of the saint-embossed walls along one side of the dead-end and talking to himself. Ghulen strained to hear him over the religious clamor flooding over from the Shrineway.

  "...and I ask you in return: how many people just died here? One boy, but how many children, grandchildren, and on? One arrow slays dozens spread across centuries. I've just come across Ocyl meeting with an Inviolate near the ugly woman statue. Ocyl is meeting with a who? An Inviolate, don't you listen?

  Ghulen glanced at Ocyl and quirked an eye. "A Twine you say? Where's his other half?"

  "She was here. Hassani, I mean" Ocyl said, his sudden shift back to Ghulen's purpose instead of answering throwing Ghulen off-kilter. "Looking for her daughter. Pale little thing. Like Jaxe whose blood-lineage she shares through her father."

  "Did she locate the daughter?" Ghulen said, speaking carefully lest he accidentally launch Ocyl off on some other story.

  "Slavers," Ocyl said, finishing his drink again. He stood, held the many-faceted crystal cup to the light of a sun plaza for a moment, then dropped it. The expensive goblet shattered on the prayer-brailled cobblestones. "Hassani raced off after trying to find her. Probably too late as Jaxe probably already bought her. Likes all his servants Pale like himself, especially when residing in his palace in Stacks. Reminds him of himself and there's nothing Jaxe loves more than Jaxe."

  "Ah," Ghulen said, standing slowly and setting his own mostly-full goblet carefully on his stool. The Dynast might be willing to break things just because he could, but the man was volatile enough Ghulen didn't want to risk finding out what happened if Ghulen duplicated his action. "And the Phero, Adonissian, did she find him?"

  "Yes."

  "Killed him, I'd expect."

  "No. Wretch Plague took him or maybe creeping sickness from the shattered arm he had when he arrived here got him first. Found his body bereft of stabs or slicings. Dead whatever way and good riddance. Never could stand that Lineage: lust should be lust for lust's sake."

  Ghulen felt similarly, but for different reasons. With his sense of smell, he might become enamored of a Phero from half-a-city away. "Thank you, Dyanst. I'm grateful for the information. And the companionship."

  It surprised him that the last wasn't just a politeness. Despite the subtle hints of edge and iron beneath the bored, fluffy exterior Ocyl presented, the Ghulen sensed surprising layers of depth in the man he'd only barely begun to peel through. It would never happen, but Ghulen could spend a decade interrogating and carefully torturing truths from him the Dyanst himself might not even know himself.

  "Information is cheap as wind and often just as useful," Ocyl said, tossing the rotten fruit over his shoulder to splatter amid the crystal shards on the street. "I do ask a favor, though."

  Of course. Ghulen froze. "Anything, Dynast."

  "Take Ado's bodyguard or minder or whatever she was with you. Kass. She's fallen in with a Venger who was vainly seeking employment in my court before everything fell apart. The two of them are causing just enough havoc to be a thorn in my side without becoming worth the hassle and expense of having them tracked down and killed. Maybe you can find use for them in your hunt."

  "I'm sure they could. I'll find them and take them with me." Ghulen turned to go, walking as quickly as politely possible before Ocyl could dredge up any other favors he might decide to need.

  "Oh, and Ghulen," Ocyl said as Ghulen reached the line of white-gleaming Ferals at the dead-end's mouth. "I know of you and what Rega uses you for. If you work your ways on anyone in my verse, I'll have Fetriene pry all your methods from you, then use them on you while she also ensures you stay alive long enough to rue the day you ever set foot in Heaven's Tread."

  "Fetriene?" Ghulen said blandly.

  "My soresearer. She's as useful an interrogator as she is a healer."

  "As you say, Dynast." Ghulen bowed and ducked through the Porcelain Guard and back into the street.

  Ghulen preferred working alone, but between Rega's directive to hire some muscle, Ocyl's command that he take Kass and the Venger, and the danger that came from trying to capture a highly-trained Inviolate carrying a legendary Aze Blade, circumstances definitely necessitated he not go this one alone. In his ability to track Hassani down, he was certain. Containing, controlling, and capturing her when he caught up to her, however, was another matter.

  Next chapter: A new set of arrivals at the One-Eighth that may finally be able to start turning things around?

  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

  Das: Rega's Immanent

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

  Denault: Hassani's husband. Shipwright, Kin.

  Eonora: a Legion officer in Ziggurat

  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

  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

  Sava: Dynast of Libriam

  Savalius: Grand Quartermaster of the Legions

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

  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

  "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: A verse?

  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

  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"

  Mune: someone from the Collective on Dost?

  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