Seeing Eudora's Legionnaire's hefting their packs onto their backs, Semon shelved such thoughts and made his way over to her.

  "Never had a chance to thank you for saving my life," Semon said, bowing his head to her.

  "You'd still be alive if I hadn't," she said, jutting her chin towards the pathetic sight of the Commander still nailed to the tree.

  "You know what I mean." He looked among her small band. "Is this all that's left of your Rogue Legions?"

  Eudora shook her head. "No. They weren't legions for long. People don't think about how much goes into maintaining a standing army. Food, clothing, shelter, pay, discipline, morale, sandals, forges, cooks, skinscribes, family, whores, leather workers, tailors, cobblers, engineers, soresearers and other assorted mancers plus the watter to fuel their arts, and on and on and on. Without the Donative backing us, couldn't keep that up for long."

  "So... the Rogue Legions are gone?" Semon said, feeling as though a weight landed on his shoulders. He hadn't heard much about them beyond rumor, but anyone fighting back against the Dynasty he'd held as an ally whatever their means and motivation. Just knowing they were out there fighting had given him a vague sense of reassurance. Hope was such a fragile thing.

  "As Legions, as coherent fighting forces, yes."

  "So you're the last?" Semon fell in on himself further.

  "No. I split up the 'nails we swiped on the way out and broke everyone up into smaller units." She held her fists together then splayed her fingers wide and pulled her hands apart. "Units were given orders to hit other verses, steal more 'nails, and disperse further."

  "Disperse to hide?"

  "Disperse to fight as small units. Strike where and when we could, run and hide when we couldn't. Live off the land. Ambushes and raids." She ticked off fingers as she enumerated further. "Hit Donative collectors. Assassinate Versers or even Dynasts if they think they can pull it off. Incite revolts and convince other Legionnaires to defect. Ambush patrols. Raid granaries. Anything we can do."

  Semon nodded as she talked, admiring her strategy. "Against who? Are you fighting for or against?"

  "Against the Ancients." Eudora tightened a leather strap on her pack. "They took command of the Legions to use as their own personal force, instead of the shield to protect the Book as they were meant to be. Exactly as Hassani said they would there in Ziggurat and worse."

  And there, Simon saw his angle. "You say you're fighting against the Ancients, but it sounds like you're really fighting for the people of the Book. Why do what you did here today if you weren't? Rescuing all these people. Rescuing me?"

  "Incidental." Eudora nodded towards the Commander. "We found out he's a tool of the Ancients. Seems they've been bribing minor officials and officers all across The Book to relay them information. Also probably a bit of incentives in there for them to create trouble when the Ancients finally get past the Wretch Plague, regain unit cohesion, and begin invading Rag verses. Which should already be happening by my estimates. Surprised it hasn't been happening already."

  "So you didn't care if another hundred menials were left to suffer and die for the crime of raiding a grain warehouse because they were starving to death?" Semon pointed down the beach.

  Eudora followed his gesture, glancing at the sobbing woman being helped down from a tree and quickly looked away. "A side benefit, then. Can't waste men on trying to help every hungry mouth the Dynasts want to kick the teeth out of. We can do more by going after the Dynasts doing the kicking than trying to pull every menial they step on out from under their hobnailed sandals."

  "Ah, but you're not thinking big enough," Semon said, swinging an arm high and wide to encompass the bright, cloud-skudded horizons. "Right now your troops are on their own, depending on stealth and subterfuge to avoid being caught. They're relying on what they can forage or steal to stay provisions. Sounds like they're probably spending as much or more time just trying to keep fed and out of sight as they are actually fighting."

  The rogue Legion officer pursed her lips but didn't reply. Semon took that as a form of reply in itself.

  "What if your soldiers found themselves given refuge in every village they entered. Fed and clothed with whatever can be spared, given reports, entries, layouts, and patrol plans by ever farmer and laborer? And finding fresh recruits swelling your ranks at every city and farm you visit?"

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Eudora glanced at the new faithful moving down the beach. "I could see the benefits."

  She looked back at him with a level gaze. "And we become, what, protectors of the people? Some sort of outlaw rebels like the Sixth Tier Rebellion? I've heard Baka's stories of how he put that down in great length and gruesome detail."

  "Not outlaws. Better," Semon said, bringing back his beatific smile. "Holy warriors. The Mother's Militant. You don't merely fight against the Dynasty for the people, but for the people's future, their hopes, their dreams."

  "I don't know much about this Mother except the entirety of her fighting force seems to be a Paragon and a few Ferals, at most." Eudora shook her head. "Doesn't seem like a position of strength to be aligning with."

  "If you want military strength or discipline, I agree we're lacking. But in numbers, in courage, in a cause worth fighting for, we have enough to equal ten Legions. Besides, menials work every farm and forge, work as guard and gardener, and serve as every servant who isn't a slave or slavant."

  The rebel Legionary snorted. "Too bad Rega and Baka command more than thirty Legions. Or did before the Wretch Plague anyway. Probably less than twenty they could field now if our losses are anything to go by."

  "Dynasts Plague." Semon corrected without thinking. "And what matter if they have twenty Legions still? They'll be spread all across the entire Book: fighting the Rags, putting down rebellions across all the Ancient verses, guarding a few hundred Thorns, and protecting the Donative convoys, to name a few of their many troubles and concerns. Spread pretty thin, I'd say. Declare yourselves the Mother's Militant and you'll have every last slave, Wretch, and menial backing you wherever you go."

  This made Eudora think. Her battle-scarred Legionnaires stood watching and waiting, fatigue and weariness written in every step and stance. No matter how loyal and disciplined, months on the run fighting hit-and-run raids against a more powerful force had to take its toll, not even accounting for the Dynasts Plague that they'd probably watched friends and fellows die of while they lay too sick to even help.

  Her voice was so quiet he barely heard it. "I don't believe in the Mother. Wouldn't that make me a... I don't know. An instant blasphemer or pretender or heretic or something?"

  "No, no, no," Semon said, waving his hands and shaking his head. "You need not proclaim your devotion to the Mother, simply align your intent with hers. So long as we act in concert and common cause against our common foes, I see no issue with any present lack of faith. It only makes sense as you've been busy off fighting for our freedom, not sitting in a village hall or back room learning the ways of the Mother's faith."

  "Need my soldiers swear their devotion or allegiance to the Mother?" Eudora said, glancing at them. "That may be a bit much to ask, even if some likely already hold the faith."

  "Not at all. If you and I both set to using our networks and resources to spread the news that we are in alignment and are sure to let all our followers know, you'll likely need but mention that you are the Mother's Militant." Semon's imagination soared as he pictured the transformation they were about to enact across The Book. "Those two words will soon open every menial door, find you a seat at every table, and a bed by every hearth."

  "And you have means to spread this news to your people?" Eudora said. She gestured the direction of Port Villach. "Ink has proclaimed their neutrality in the many-sided civil war that begins to engulf us. I send ciphered relays by wyre. Most of my soldiers will know of this in a few weeks."

  "I have some means," Semon said, preferring to maintain not only an air of mystery and power, but also conceal the valeer Rega had sent them. Telling Eudora about that little detail seemed imprudent at best. "But even if I merely mentioned it to those who just earned a second chance at life down the beach thanks to you and those who they are likewise rescuing, it will spread from verse to verse faster than you would believe. The Mother's hope is like wildfire: not only does it burn down the old, suffocating growth, but it races faster than the longest-legged Legionary strider can outrun. And the Dynasty has as much chance of victory sending the Legions to attack a forest fire as it does to try to fight the Faith."

  Eudora nodded thoughtfully, then turned and extended her bandaged hand to Semon. "The Mother's Militant."

  "The Mother's Militant. Quickly may the Dynasty learn that name and long may they fear it."

  "As you say," Eudora said, releasing and turning to her troops. She gestured to the collapsed Commander and his tree. "Unpin him. We'll take him with us. We need to be gone from here before they dispatch a patrol boat or send a unit of versal troops to find out why their execution detail never returned."

  They set to it with crisp salutes, but without question or comment.

  "I'll tell you everything," the Commander cried as they pried his hands free. "The Ancients are sending a Legion now, as we speak, to enter all the Thorns near here and take Port Villach. I've heard they'll be launching similar attacks against every verse the Rags rely on for food! Not only that but before long they'll strike the heart of the Rag's power in Berujat and-"

  As they dragged him off into the woods, still wailing and blubbering, Eudora paused at the edge of the jungle and glanced back. Semon placed both hands on his chest and bowed.

  "The sign of the Mother's Faith." He slowly turned the hands to fists. "And by this shall the Mother's Militant be known."

  Eudora nodded and, after a breath's pause, placed her fists against her leather breastplate and returned the bow.

  Semon bowed again, even more deeply. When he looked up, Eudora was departed and the Mother's Militant arrived at the same moment.

  Next chapter: One dead Wretch steers Aida's fate - and with it the future of the Book - on a drastically different course.

  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 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

  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