Foundling (35 page)

brigands
also called bog-trotters, along with
smugglers
; robbers, highwaymen and ne’er-do-wells, desperate men living in the semi-
wilds
and rural lands, looking to waylay passers and rob them, beat them or even murder them. A brigand’s life is tough and usually short, contending with both the officers of Imperial Law (such as the
lamplighters
) and the
monsters
that lurk all about them. The best chance a brigand has of surviving is by gathering with others of his or her kind in a violent gang or band, the bigger the better. Such a gang is ruled by the most ruthless of them, and together they can cause a lot of anguish and trouble to both man and
monster
. If a band of brigands do not have a
skold
in their midst, they will commonly kidnap one and force him or her to work for them under threat of death—another risk the humble
skold
has to run. Brigands work hard to keep their dens secret, taking convoluted paths to and from their lairs. For, if a brigand’s den is discovered, or even a hint of it is known to the authorities, they descend upon the murderous band with merciless alacrity. Truly, only the most destitute and desperate would ever venture on a life like this. One of the favorite weapons of brigands for hand-to-hand fights and making threats is the carnarium or “flesh-hook,” such as that used by butchers. It is their distinctive item, almost a badge of the job.

bright-black
highly polished black leather; what we would call “patent” leather.

bright-limn
lanternlike device used to illuminate homes, streets and ships. Its glow comes from a certain species of phosphorescent algae known as glimbloom or just bloom, which glows very brightly when soaked in a certain soup of chemicals called seltzer. These chemicals cause the algae to glow strongly. When the algae are out of the seltzer, they cease to give off light. The glass panes of a bright-limn are always arranged hexagonally and the stem of bloom hangs off-center, which means that to “turn a bright-limn off,” you simply lay it on the side opposite the stem of bloom, which leaves it out of the seltzer. Gradually it will dim down as the algae dry and become dormant. To “turn” it back on, you stand the bright-limn upright or roll it to its opposite side and very soon it will begin to glow again. The great advantage of a bright-limn is that it has no flame, and so there is no chance of an accident causing some part of the very wooden cities of the
Half-Continent
to burn down—just a puddly mess and a funny smell. They are also low maintenance, in that there is no wick to trim or oil to change. In fact a bright-limn can be left to glow continuously day and night without any ill effect. The seltzer does, however, slowly go off, changing from a pale yellow to a deep orange; when it is completely bad, it becomes a dirty, toxic green and begins to be harmful to the algae. When the deep orange is turning filthy brown, it is time to change the seltzer.

Brindlestow Bridge, the ~
ancient bridge on the
Vestiweg
, which crosses a gorge at the bottom of which runs the Pill, a small stream that empties into the swampy lands at the mouth of the
Humour
. Originally built by the ancient
Tutins,
the Brindlestow Bridge has been refurbished several times and, as an obvious choke point, is a favorite ambush of the
monsters,
and even
brigands
. At least once a season some kind of
pugnator
has to be sent out to clear the bridge or the road of
bogles.

Brindlewood, the ~
or the Brindleshaws; a broad forest of pine and
turpentine
, beech and myrtle on the hilly southwestern tip of
Sulk End
(a region known as the
Sough
). The
Vestiweg
passes right through it, entering at the northwest corner and joining the
Gainway
in the forest’s sparse eastern fringes. Though regarded as
ditchlands
, and largely given over to the
monsters,
the Brindlewood is tame as
ditchlands
go and several brave folk still make homes there. These Shawsmen live in lonely manors or dwell in towns such as Herrod’s Hollow—a logging town—to work the nearby sawmill, or
Silvernook,
and are frequent patrons of the
Harefoot Dig
.

broadside
side of a
ram
or other vessel of war; also the name for the simultaneous firing of the guns on one side of a
ram
.

Bucket
kitchen boy employed at the
Harefoot Dig
.Whenever he has a free moment, he likes to play at cards with the other boys working at the
Dig
.

buff, buff-leather
soft, untanned leather, still strong and durable; the type of leather favored by
gaulders
, making very tough
proofing
indeed.

“by the precious here and vere”
exclamation of surprise, wonder, amazement or exasperation, meaning “by the precious west (here) and east (vere).” In the
Half-Continent,
although the usual north, south, east and west are more common terms, directions of the compass are given classical names used by great peoples of the past:

cannon
muzzle-loading guns charged with black powder wrapped in cloth or paper canisters and usually solid iron round-shot, fired by a match through a primed touchhole or by use of a flintlock mechanism. They come in a range of weights: the small-guns—3, 4, 6 and 9 pounders; the long-guns—12 and 18 pounders; the
great-guns
—24, 32, 42 pounders; and the siege-guns or cannon-royal—50 and 68 pounders. The numbers denote the approximate weight of the shot fired from the cannon. The guns themselves are much heavier (for example, a 32 pounder weighs between 2 tons and 2¾ tons and is roughly 9 feet 8 inches long). A typical cannon is also called a culverin, long-barreled with a decent range.There is also a stocky short-barreled cannon known as a lombarin or lombard, named after the Lombards of the island of Lombardy who invented it. Though their shorter barrels mean a significant reduction in accuracy, it means that they can fire a much bigger shot of metal than a culverin of the same weight. So, a lombard weighing about 2.8 tons, roughly the same weight of that 32 pounder culverin mentioned earlier, would be a 50 pounder, firing 50 pounder shot. Lombards are more popular on the cruiser class of
ram
—the frigates and the drag-maulers—where they allow these smaller vessels to blast out a considerably higher “weight of shot,” as it is called, than if they were armed with just culverins. The loss of range is compensated for by the superior agility of these lighter ironclads.

cargo(es)
boxlike
gastrine
vessels that carry goods and even passengers all about the
vinegar seas
. Cargoes sit much higher out of the water than the low and menacing
rams,
having two more decks above the water than a
ram
. All decks are used as hold space, although cargoes do carry a small battery of
cannon
on the topmost deck. Cargoes move appreciably slower than
rams
of the same tread of
gastrines
, which makes them easy prey for pirates and privateers. Consequently they usually travel in convoys with an escort of two or three
rams
—typically drag-maulers or heavy frigates. The largest cargo, the grand-cargo, is as big as the biggest
ram,
the
main-sovereign,
and dwarfs most other vessels, yet it is slow and will not leave a port without a strong escort. These vessels are costly to build in both money and time, and their owners are loath to lose them. Cargoes require about one tenth of the manpower required to work a
ram
. See
gastrines
.

carlin
coin
money
; a silver ten
sequin
piece or five eighths of a
sou
. See
money
.

Cathar’s Treacle
or
plaudamentum
;
draft
drunk by
lahzars
; its main function is to stop all the surgically introduced organs (mimetic organs) and connective tissues within a
lahzar’s
body from rejecting their host. The nature of the ingredients and the way in which they react means that Cathar’s Treacle does not keep for very long at all, a few hours at best, and has to be made afresh each time. It must be taken twice a day, or the
lahzar
risks
spasming
. If
lahzars
go more than a few days without the treacle, their organs start to rot within them, and after a week without it the
lahzar’s
doom is certain. The
parts,
or ingredients, for Cathar’s Treacle are as follows:

There are other
drafts
that a
lahzar
must take periodically, but Cathar’s Treacle is the most important. For
fulgars
the next most important is a daily dose of fulgura sagrada or saltegrade. For
wits
it is a daily drink of iambic ichor; Friscan’s wead every two days; and two tots of cordial of Sammany three times a week plus other traces throughout their lives. Such dependency is a trade-off for the immense power they possess. A
physician
would also recommend a dose of
evander
every so often to lift the
wind
and fortify the
pith
.

chain mail
despite the advent of
proofing
, chain mail is still made and worn. It might not be bulletproof like
gaulded
clothes, but it is effective against the raking claws and snapping teeth of
bogles,
and if some kind of
proofing
is worn beneath, then the protection is excellent—a kind of troubarding. See
harness
.

Chassart
also Chastony or Chassault; one of the southernmost
city-states
of the Frestonian League, famous for its soaps and perfumes.

chemicals
the main way people have used to confront the threat of
monsters
of the millennia. These chemicals come in all manner of exotic concoctions and brews. See
scripts, potives
and
drafts
.

Chief Harbor Governor
the most senior pilot of a port and harbor, in charge of all the other pilots and of the movements of shipping into and out of his jurisdiction; they have a universal reputation for being irascible and rude, which probably comes from dealing with egocentric captains and masters all day.

“chiff-chaffing lobcock”
talkative fool, someone who says or talks too much, a “flabbermouth.”

city-state(s)
the lands of the
Empire
are divided into distinct domains, each dominated by a city and ruled by a regent in the
Emperor’s
stead. These regents are all dukes, duchesses or earls, as the
Empire
will not allow anyone to hold the title of “king” or “queen” and so get lofty ideas (the only exception to this is the
Gightland Queen
).

claret
a usually cheap red wine mixed with apple or pear pulp. It has become fashionable for the more jauntily rich to drink it, part of a whole adventure of slumming it with the lesser folk.

Clementine
capital city of the whole
Empire,
where the
Emperor
has his three palaces, each housing one of the Three Seats (Imperial thrones). Situated in an ancient region called Benevenetium, upon the edge of the
Marrow
—a great gorgelike trench or drain dug a millennium ago from the capital to the sea, 2,300 miles to the east. A massive city, it is home to two million souls and the Imperial Parliament, where representatives of all the member states and realms and conclaves bicker for a bigger share. It was built aeons ago on an even more ancient granite plateau; a massive citadel of marble and granite with ponderous fortifications and fourteen huge gates and equally huge drawbridges, famous and named with appropriately lofty names: the Immutable Port, the Port Aeternus, the Immortal Gate, the Undying Door, the Sempiternal Gates, the Amaranthine Gate, the Port of the Elect, the Perdurable Door, the Doors Inviolable, the Stout Gate (Door), the Port Indomitable, the Impenetrable Gates, the Doors of the Potential, the Sthenic Gate. It has been described as “. . . a heap; a rambling urban palace of tall marble and spired granite, its towers sharing spaces with the clouds. It has become a place of corrupt opulence and epitomizes all that is broken in its far-spread kingdom . . .”

clerk’s sergeant
noncommissioned officer in charge of military clerks; a common rank among
revenue officers
, where they are often far more active than their title of “clerk” might suggest.

Closet
head cook of the
Harefoot Dig,
with only a modicum of ability as a cook. If he was not an old chum of
Billetus,
he would probably have been replaced by
Uda
a long time ago. As one of the live-in staff, part of his pay is given as accommodation in the staff quarters.

Clunes
one of the southernmost realms of the
Empire
, famous for the skill and sweetness of its singers; they are said to have gained such talent from their contact with the reclusive and musical folk of Hamlin and Cloudeslee.

Cockeril,
the ~
privately owned thirty-two-
guns-broad heavy-frigate
in harbor at
High Vesting
.

concometrist
also metrician; one of a highly trained group of fastidious researchers and soldier-scholars whose sworn charter is to measure and record the length and breadth of all things. Trained for five years in colleges known as athenaeums, they are released on the world bearing two precious gifts awarded to them upon graduation. The first is a calibrator, a yard-long ruler of hardened wood marked with feet and inches, either end being capped with brass ferules. The calibrator is both a tool of the trade and a trusty weapon. Concometrists can be recognized by the calibrators they carry. The second award is the mysterious numrelogue, a large book two to three inches thick, to be filled with the cryptic formulas and strings of ciphers that only their kind know, recordings of all a concometrist has seen, investigated and measured. When a numrelogue is full, it is handed back to the concometrist’s governing athenaeum and he or she is handed a new one to fill. Navigators, surveyors and metricians (measurers) are all types of concometrist. They also make good clerks because of their attention to written detail. See Appendix 4.