The Thousandfold Thought (The Prince of Nothing, Book 3) (80 page)

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Authors: R. Scott Bakker

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Architect
—An epithet used by skin-spies to describe their Consult makers.
 
Arithmeas
—The Prime Augur to Ikurei Xerius III.
 
Ark-of-the-Skies
—See
Incû-Holoinas
.
 
Arweal
(4077-4111)—One of the Nascenti, formerly a client thane of Earl Werijen, claimed by disease at Caraskand.
 
Ascension
—The direct passage of Inri Sejenus to the Outside as described in “The Book of Days” in
The Tractate
. According to Inrithi tradition, Sejenus ascended from the Juterum, or the Sacred Heights, in Shimeh, though
The Tractate
seems to suggest that Kyudea and not Shimeh was the location. The First Temple was purportedly raised on the very location.
 
Asgilioch
—“The Gate of Asga” (Kyranean from Kemkaric
geloch
) The great Nansur fortress, dating back to Far Antiquity, guarding the so-called Southron Gates in the Unaras Spur. Perhaps no Three Seas fortress can claim such a storied past (which includes, most recently, stopping no fewer than three Fanim invasions). Over the years the Nansur have coined many epithets for the famed stronghold, among them Hubara, or “the Breakers.”
 
Aspect-Emperor
—The title taken by Triamis the Great in the twenty-third year of his rule (when the Shriah, Ekyannus III, formally institutionalized the so-called Emperor Cult) and adopted by all his successors.
 
Athjeäri, Coithus
(4089- )—The Earl of the Galeoth region of Gaenri, and nephew to Coithus Saubon.
 
Atkondo-Atyoi
—The language group of the Satyothi pastoralists of the Atkondras Mountains and surrounding regions.
 
Atkondras Mountains
—Perhaps the greatest range west of the Kayarsus, running from the Sea of Jorua to the Great Ocean, and effectively sealing Zeüm from the rest of Eärwa.
 
Atrithau
—The ancient administrative and commercial capital of what was once Eämnor, and one of two Norsirai cities to have survived the Apocalypse. Atrithau is peculiar in that it is built upon what is called “anarcane ground,” which is to say, ground that renders sorcery impotent, found at the foot of Mount Ankulakai. It was originally founded
c.
570 as the fortress Ara-Etrith (“New Etrith”) by the famed Umeri God-King Carû-Ongonean.
 
Atrithi
—The language of Atrithau, derived from Eämnoric.
 
Atsushan Highlands
—The arid hill country of the Gedean interior.
 
Attong Plateau
—“Missing Tower” (from Kyranean
att anoch
) Also known as the Attong Gap. The famous opening in the Hethanta Mountains, and the traditional invasion route of the Scylvendi.
 
Attrempus
—“Tower of Respite” (Kyranean) The sister fortress of Atyersus, founded in 2158 by Seswatha and the nascent School of Mandate, and held in trust by House Nersei of Conriya since 3921.
 
Atyersus
—“Tower of Warning” (Kyranean) The sister fortress of Attrempus, founded in 2157 by Seswatha and other Gnostic survivors of the Apocalypse. Atyersus is the primary stronghold of the Mandate.
 
Auja-Gilcûnni
—The lost “ground tongue” of the Nonmen. See
Languages of Nonmen
.
 
Aujic
—The lost tongue of the Nonmen Aujan Mansions.
 
Aumri-Saugla
—The language group of the ancient Norsirai peoples of the Aumris Valley.
 
Aumris River
—The primary river system of northwest Eärwa, draining the greater Istyuli basin and emptying into the Neleöst Sea. The River Aumris is also the cradle of Norsirai civilization. Over a relatively brief period of time, the High Norsirai tribes that settled the rich alluvial plains along the lower Aumris founded the first cities of Men, including Trysë, Sauglish, Etrith, and Ûmerau. As the result of trade with the Nonmen of Injor-Niyas, the power and sophistication of the Aumris River civilization grew quickly, culminating in the Trysean Empire under the God-King Cûnwerishau in the fourth century.
 
Aurang
(?- )—A surviving Prince of the Inchoroi and Horde-General to the No-God during the Apocalypse. Very little is known of Aurang, save that he is a ranking member of the Consult and the twin brother of Aurax.
 
Aurax
—(?- )—A surviving Prince of the Inchoroi. Very little is known of Aurax, save that he is a ranking member of the Consult and the twin brother of Aurang. Mandate scholars speculate that it was he who first taught the Tekne to the Mangaecca.
 
Auvangshei
—Famed Ceneian fortress on the extreme western frontier of Nilnamesh, often symbolically invoked as the limit of the known world, which is to say, the Three Seas.
 
Avowels
—The classic text by Olekaros, which poses as a “spiritual exploration” but is in actual fact little more than a collection of wise sayings from various thinkers in various nations. Its Sheyic translation enjoys widespread popularity among caste-noble lay readers in the Three Seas.
B
bagaratta
—The “sweeping way” of Scylvendi sword fighting.
 
Bajeda, Straits of
—The straits separating the southwestern tip of Nron from the southeastern extremities of Cironj.
 
Balait urs Kututha
(4072-4110)—A Scylvendi warrior of the Utemot tribe, and Cnaiür urs Skiötha’s brother-in-law.
 
Bannut urs Hannut
(4059-4110)—A Scylvendi warrior of the Utemot tribe, and Cnaiür urs Skiötha’s uncle.
 
Bardic Priest
—In the traditional folk religions of the Ancient North, a type of wandering priest who earned his living reciting scriptural lays and performing priestly functions for various gods.
 
Barisullas, Nrezza
(4053- ) The King of Cironj, at once admired and maligned throughout the Three Seas for his mercantile ingenuity. He is notorious for surviving and managing to reverse Shrial Censure not once but three times.
 
Batathent
—A ruined fortress-temple dating back to pre-classical Kyraneas, and destroyed by the Scylvendi shortly after the fall of Cenei in 3351.
 
Battle-Celebrant
—An honour bestowed by the Gilgallic Priesthood on those most responsible for victory in battle.
 
Battlemaster
—Among the Inrithi, the traditional rank assigned to those commanding coalitions.
 
Battle of Anwurat
—A pivotal battle of the First Holy War, fought in the summer of 4111 about the fortress of Anwurat south of the Sempis Delta. Despite early setbacks, the Inrithi under Cnaiür urs Skiötha managed to rout the Kianene host of Skauras ab Nalajan, allowing the subsequent conquest of southern Shigek and opening the road to Caraskand.
 
Battle of Caraskand
—Sometimes called the Battle of Tertae Fields. The desperate and pivotal battle in 4112 between the host of Kascamandri ab Tepherokar, the Padirajah of Kian, and the First Holy War under Anasûrimbor Kellhus, where the Fanim, despite outnumbering the diseased and starved Inrithi, found themselves incapable of slowing or stopping the First Holy War’s general advance. Many attribute the Inrithi victory to the intercession of the God, though a more likely explanation is to be found in the revelatory events immediately preceding the battle. Nersei Proyas is particularly effective in his descriptions of the maniacal morale enjoyed by the Inrithi as a result of the Warrior-Prophet’s Circumfixion and subsequent vindication. That the Kianene were overconfident is amply demonstrated by the Padirajah’s decision to allow the First Holy War to assemble its ranks unmolested.
 
Battle of Eleneöt Fields
—The great battle between the Horde of the No-God and the Second Ordeal on Kûniüri’s northeastern frontier in 2146. Despite having assembled the greatest host of their age, Anasûrimbor Celmomas and his allies were unprepared for the vast numbers of Sranc, Bashrag, and Wracu gathered by the No-God and his Consult slaves. The battle was an unmitigated catastrophe, and signalled the eventual destruction of Norsirai civilization.
 
Battle of Kiyuth
—An important battle between the Imperial Army of Nansur and the Scylvendi, fought in 4110 on the banks of the River Kiyuth, a tributary of the Sempis river system. The overconfident Scylvendi King-of-Tribes led his people into a trap laid by Ikurei Conphas, the Nansur Exalt-General. The resulting defeat was unprecedented, given that it occurred on the Jiünati Steppe.
 
Battle of Maän
—A minor battle fought between Conriya and Ce Tydonn in 4092.
 
Battle of Mehsarunath
—The first great battle fought between the gathered might of Kyraneas and the host of the No-God on the Attong Plateau in 2154. Though Aurang, the No-God’s Horde-General, won the battle, the Kyranean High King, Anaxophus V, was able to escape with much of his host intact, setting the stage for the far more decisive Battle of Mengedda the following year.
 
Battle of Mengedda, the Second
—The desperate battle where Anaxophus V and his southern tributaries and allies made their victorious stand against the Horde of the No-God in 2155. Thought by many to be the most important battle in history.
 
Battle of Mengedda, the Fourth
—The battle where the so-called Vulgar Holy War under Nersei Calmemunis suffered utter destruction at the hands of the Kianene under Skauras ab Nalajan in 4110.
 
Battle of Mengedda, the Fifth
—The first decisive battle fought between the First Holy War and the Kianene, in 4111. Plagued with organizational problems and dissension among its commanders, the First Holy War, under the nominal command of Prince Coithus Saubon, was caught by Skauras ab Nalajan and his Kianene host on the Plains of Mengedda with only half of its available strength. From morning to late afternoon, the Inrithi managed to beat back innumerable Kianene charges. When the remainder of the First Holy War arrived on the Fanim flank, the will of the Kianene broke and they were routed.
 
Battle of Paremti
—A minor battle fought between Conriya and Ce Tydonn in 4109, and the first military victory of Prince Nersei Proyas. Historically significant because Proyas had his cousin, Calmemunis, whipped for impiety, an act that many historians claim precipitated Calmemunis’s decision to prematurely march with the so-called Vulgar Holy War.
 
Battle of the Slops
—Name given to the prolonged contest between the Kianene and the Ainoni at the Battle of Anwurat.
 
Battle of Trantis Bay
—The decisive sea battle where the Kianene fleet, using Cishaurim, was able to annihilate the Imperial Nansur fleet under General Sassotian in 4111, thereby denying the First Holy War its primary source of water for its march across Khemema.
 
Battle of Tywanrae Fords
—One of three disastrous defeats suffered by Akksersia and its allies at the hands of the Horde of the No-God. Tywanrae is often evoked by Mandate scholars as an example of the limitations of using Chorae alone to cope with enemy sorcerers in battle.
 
Battle of Zirkirta
—A major battle fought between the Kianene host of Hasjinnet ab Skauras and the Scylvendi under Yursut urs Muknai on the Jiünati Steppe in 4103. Though their cavalry proved no match for the Scylvendi, and Hasjinnet himself was slain, the Kianene were quick in recovering, and most of the ill-fated expedition survived.
 
Battleplain
—See
Mengedda Plains
.
 
Battles of Agongorea
—See
Apocalypse
.
 
Bengulla
(4103-12)—Son of Aëngelas and Valrissa.
 
benjuka
—A subtle and ancient game of strategy played by caste-nobility throughout the Three Seas. A derivative of the more esoteric
mirqu
played by Nonmen, the first extant references to benjuka date back to the so-called Nonmen Tutelage (555-825).
 
Betmulla Mountains
—A minor mountain range forming the southwestern frontier of both Xerash and Amoteu.
 
Biaxi, House
—One of the Houses of the Congregate, and traditional rival to House Ikurei.
 
blood-of-the-onta
—A common term for what Zarathinius called the “ink” of the Mark.
 
Bogras, Praxum
(4059-4111)—The general of the Selial Column, slain at Anwurat.

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