"We're with you!" a woman called. "Mother save us!"

  Similar cries rang out all among the prisoners, their tightly-bound hands raised high. Every warrior not on the ropes they used to haul Semon up formed a line to keep the menials at bay.

  "Hold his feet steady," Eudora said sternly as she took up a wooden mallet and clinked a bronze spike out of one of the baskets laden with them.

  The Commander wrestled Semon's feet across one another as Eudora held the mallet's head to the stake, ready to point its sharp point through flesh, tendon, sinew, and bone. Despite all his discipline, Semon couldn't hold his feet still and tried to fight. His eyes darted to the prisoners shoving at the line of guards below, then to the tree line. What was taking so long?

  "Strike! Do it! What are you waiting for?" the Commander shouted.

  "This," Eudora said, waiting until the Commander's hands crossed. With one hard, precise blow, she drove the spike through both his hands and into the palm tree. As he bellowed in surprise and pain, Strygen exploded from the undergrowth, silver hair arched up from his head like a nest of metallic snakes. Semon's disciples among the prisoners threw off the loosely-wrapped ropes about their hands, drawing long knives to slash apart the ropes binding the menials' hands or binding them all together.

  Eudora whistled and shouted, "to me!"

  A handful of the warriors among the versal troops drew short swords and slashed at their nearest fellows, striking for maximum affect while confusion reigned. After their initial violence, they drew back to form a knot around Eudora. The remaining warriors found themselves facing Eudora's disguised Legionnaires on one side and a mass of menials suddenly free and furious on the other.

  Most of the soldiers threw down their weapons. A few ran and were chased down by a howling, freshly-armed menials. The handful who fought were quickly overwhelmed by the enraged prisoners, given even more fervor by their sudden lifting of their horrible death sentences.

  "Leave them be!" Semon cried as Eudora and her troops lowered him down to the sands and cut the ropes free from his chafed-bloody wrists. The warriors who'd surrendered cowered amid a ring of shouting ex-prisoners who kicked, spat, and beat them. "They are forgiven!"

  It wasn't until Semon pushed through to stand amid the prostrate, terrified warriors with Eudora and her squad of veterans armed and ready by his side that the violence finally quieted and stilled. Anger still writ across the former-prisoners' faces.

  "What you feel is just and justified," Semon called, raising his hands. "But I gave my word and the Mother's word that they would not be harmed if they threw down their arms. Where you see oppressors, the Mother sees trained warriors choosing now to join our holy war to liberate us from the predations of the Black Court, the Dynasts who comprise it, and the Inviolates and Versers they appoint to do their dirty work. Every one of these soldiers you might kill here and now is one less to stand beside us when we face our oppressors again in the future."

  The prisoners looked mollified by his words if not entirely happy or certain with his pronouncements. Semon pulled a cowering warrior to his feet, held him by the shoulders, and looked him in the eyes. "Do you swear to stand beside the Mother and those who follow her? Will you promise to protect menials against the all those who would oppress us? Do you vow to spread her word and to stay true even in the face of Martyrdom?"

  "I... I do," the young man said, looking about warily. When the crowd cheered, he stood tall and spoke more strongly. "I serve the Mother. Let her will be done!"

  Semon pressed his hands against his chest, the motion quickly reproduced among everyone gathered, save Eudora's Legionnaires. Within seconds, Semon was mobbed by the remainder of the surrendered versal troops, literally falling over one another to pledge themselves to the Mother.

  He retained his dignity as best he could as they shoved and jostled, repeating the vows with them. As they finished, the former prisoners pressed in, wanting not only to likewise swear their faith, but also to receive his blessings. Demands upon him for such blessings was a recent occurrence, but fortunately he'd come up with a few simple, quick prayers. The fervor and hope shining back from their eyes made everything Semon had gone through to get to this moment worth it.

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  The exhilarated horde of the new-faithful hurried down the beach to begin rescuing as many of the tree-nailed Martyrs as they could under the direction of Semon's latest batch of disciples. Meanwhile, Eudora's unit checked themselves for wounds, cleaned and examined their equipment, and made rough jokes and boasts among themselves.

  Feeling exhaustion striating him in layers physical, emotional, and spiritual all, Semon turned back towards the tree he'd almost been affixed to. The Commander knelt before it with his blood-soaked arms held high as though worshiping the bronze hammered through his hands.

  "It's not quite the same on the other side of the spike, is it?" Semon said softly, knees cracking as he lowered himself to the sand.

  "Release me you blasphemous bastard," the Commander gasped. "I'll have you flogged until your skin peels from your bones."

  Semon sighed and fussed with his bloody wrists. "The quality of your incentivizing is a large part of why you are the one attached to that tree and not me."

  "Please, the pain!" the man whimpered.

  "Now you've suddenly shifted to begging? Consistency, or at least the appearance of it, is one of the most important qualities in a leader. Or a liar, I suppose."

  "I'm Kin to Dars, Dynast of Azure! He'll track you down wherever you may try to hide in his verse and put ten spikes through each of you for the one you've put through me." The Commander tried to glare and snarl at him, but the twisting motion must have tugged at his hands for he fell against the trunk again gasping.

  Wearily, Simon rose. "Tell him to bring twenty spikes then, for I believe you shall soon be receiving a taste of the dish you've been serving here."

  "You damned, blasphemous, ungodly..."

  Semon moved away to avoid the Commander's futile outburst.

  As Semon walked the dark sands, rolling his grumpy shoulders, a tall woman broke away from among the departing prisoners and stopped before him.

  "Can I help you, my dear?" he said. "I apologize if I don't stand, but my old bones sag inside my aged meat and worn flesh."

  "My dear?" the woman said, with a man's voice. "Oh, yes."

  The transformation that followed looked as though a bucket of water dumped on the woman's head to cascade her hair, skin, features, and clothing down her body in rippling washes until she was entirely cleaned away. Hue stood in her place, again wearing his ever-shifting, now-ragged robe. "That went well. Hiding our brothers and sisters among the condemned worked perfectly. Guards were so busy watching for people fleeing, they never saw people volunteering."

  "Worked well aside from almost being Martyred, yes. You!" Semon shouted at Strygen. The dusa rose from examining a broken crossbow and walked over.

  "What took you an age to get here? If Eudora there hadn't been among them, it'd be me whimpering in pain at the base of that tree there or hanging upon it."

  "Found a grave." Strygan said, hunched over and looking anywhere but at Semon. If he hadn't been traveling with the man these last few months, he'd have judged the dusa was lying or making something up judging by his terseness and body language, but now he knew the man simply felt uncomfortable talking. To anyone about anything, so far as Semon could tell.

  "A grave. You almost got me killed to look at a grave?"

  "Yes." Strygen almost made eye-contact. "Mausoleum. Large. Ruins. Ancient. Curious."

  "Oh, well if it was ancient and curious, that's okay then," Semon said dryly.

  "Good," Strygen said, straightening from his half-cower like a dog given a reprieve from beating. "Worked okay."

  "Barely," Semon said. "Where is Sadar?"

  Strygen glanced at the jungle. "Around. Somewhere. With Valeer."

  "Ah good. You found a ruined grave but lost our bizarre lad and the most expensive specimen of slavanting in the process." Semon glanced at Eudora and saw them organizing and repacking their packs.

  "A Twine."

  "What?" Semon said, his head whipping back.

  "The lad is a Twine. One soul in-"

  "I know what a Twine is. Where is the our half of him? Or the other half for that matter." Semon glanced around for a moment before feeling foolish. If the boy's other body was around, they would have seen it verses ago.

  Strygen shrugged, wandering off to look at a swarm of crabs already churning over a dead body lying on the beach. "He talks to him. Must be alive somewhere."

  "Heaven's Tread," Semon muttered, thinking all the way back to their journey's beginning and the odd lad who'd followed them into the Vale. "Ocyl. A spy?"

  If he was, then Ocyl must be supportive or at least not openly hostile to Semon's mission otherwise they never would have made it this far. That would also explain the dusa's inexplicable desire to accompany him. Semon was instantly suspicious and wondered what larger Dynastic game board he'd become a piece on. Not that he could do much about it now.

  Next chapter: Same chapter. The Mother's Faith expands in a new direction.

  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

  Dels: Dynast of Azure

  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, 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"

  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