Foundling (42 page)

limn-thorn
bright-limn
fixed to a pole, or hanging from the same.

Liquor
common collective name for the vast expanse of deep ocean or gurgës to the east of the
Half-Continent
, beyond all the smaller pontis (seas) and mares (oceans).

Little Dog
quiet page boy in service to the
Harefoot Dig
. He is the bottom of the rung and it is his job to fetch and carry and run messages to wherever he is sent, even the dangerous countryside. Although Little Dog is well aware of the risks he endures and lives in constant dread of being sent out on wild nights, no one else seems to consider this, and he finds himself dashing about in the unfriendly dark bearing little more than an RSVP to a dinner. Poor little fellow—he has faced many terrors for a boy so young, and has survived each one so far . . .

long johns
outer underwear made from wool; leggings for warmth and protection, with reinforced knees. Some have socks sewn onto the ends and are referred to as sock-johns or smockjacks.

longshanks
shorts with legs reaching to the knees, often
proofed
and very hardwearing. Typically worn with
long johns
as is the fashion, longshanks are preferred to breeches, and are certainly more fashionable.
looby
fool, idiot, stupid person, ignoramus. A
lubber
.

Loquor
said “loh-kor”; a distant land far to the east, beyond
Wörms
and the mountains of the Tausengramdornin (“thorns of a thousand tears”). It is said to be deadly
threwdish
and filled with the most fearsome
utterworsts
.

lubber
or landlubber; a derogatory name given by
vinegaroons
to any landsman, or anyone clumsy or dangerously awkward.

Madam Felicitine
see
Felicitine, Madam
.

Madam Opera
see
Opera, Madam
.

Madam Opera’s Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls
marine society
run by
Madam Opera
. See
marine society
.

main-sovereign
largest of all the
rams
, with a minimum of one hundred
great-guns
running down one
broadside
(not including
lambasts
or
tormentums
); enormous and slow and needing
drudges
to help them maneuver. See
rams
and Appendix 6.

manifest
list of the cargoes carried by a vessel.

manse
fortress or large fortresslike house that serves as the headquarters for
lamplighters,
and a place of final refuge should it be needed.

marches
also called bounds, extents or parts (partitions), or the precincts of man. The division men have given to their domains, calling them rather grandly the Exculta Hominum Vita Partitio or “divisions of civilization.” They are based on the perceived safety of each region from
monsters
and the effects of
threwd
. There are five marches, starting with the safest or “quietest,” as it is commonly referred to: urbis (city) > paris (parish, canton or pagis) > scutis (soke or fenceland) > fossis (
ditchland
) > horridas terrestrum (the
wilds
).

 

The first four marches, from the city to the
ditchlands,
are known as the termina hominis, “the precincts of man,” and are seen as radiating out from each city in a series of expanding rings. The
wilds
remain the horridas terrestrum, “the rough (or frightening) lands,” and are all the wide, shapeless places beyond the four rings of the precincts, uncharted and untamed. Of them it can easily be said, “here be
monsters.
”

marine society
institution established to teach children the rudiments of naval life and so prepare them for the ever-needful
navy
. In a typical marine society, life is divided up into
watches,
just as it is on a
ram
or
cargo,
and for several years, until they reach the age of work, each child is taught ropes and knots;
watches
and routines; signal sending and reading; hoisting flags; scrubbing, swabbing, holy-stoning and mucking (that is, cleaning); climbing ratlines; recognizing ranks, types of vessels and their descriptions (tabulation);
letters
(making a marine society child highly prized); simple cosmology (the positions of stars); and reading charts. Extra subjects peculiar to different marine societies might include bastinade (stick-fighting, of which
harundo
is a part); stowing and setting hammocks; rowing;
matter
(history); and
generalities
(geography). Marine societies are run by an owner, or someone appointed by the naval board of that
realm
. Typically they are staffed with semiretired
vinegaroons
seeing out the last of their days in continued service to their regent. It is one of the few pension options offered to sailors past their prime, and to get a position at a marine society is considered a great stroke of fortune or Providence.

Marrow, the ~
also called the Würtem-way, among many other names. Just above
Clementine
is a massive man-made gorge, a huge moat to keep all the terrors of the foul lands beyond from invading
Clementine
land. It represents the northernmost extent of the
Empire,
and was started in a time before it even existed. In its early days the
Empire
took up the work of finishing the Marrow, taking another two hundred years to do so. This required vaults of
money
and several thousand lives, with laborers lost to accidents, brutal punishments and attacks from the ever-present
monsters
. The Marrow runs west to east for 1,200 miles from the Foeder Cidës to the Pontus Cadmia (“yellow sea”). At the bottom of this gorge is a clogged, trickling stream that started in a swamp and flowed to nowhere, cutting a groove in the granite plateau. It was along this eroded waterway that the moat was begun, and now the waters of that stream flow from the swamp to the Spout, a collection of pipes protruding from the cliffs along the Pontus Cadmia far away to the east. All along the Marrow are giant fortresses known together as the Ortygometra (“land-rail”) linked by a
conduit
called the Geometra. These fortresses keep watch on the
Empire’s
northernmost border, while its
pediteers
march patrols along the Geometra. Though not very beautiful, the Marrow is recognized as one of civilization’s great wonders, a testament to man’s determination against the
monsters
, and seeing it is a part of the Grand Tour.

matter
the subject in school we would call “history.”

Maudlin
said “moord-lin”; a planet and one of the brightest lights in the night sky, having a distinct greenish tinge. The largest planet, it can be seen as a tiny yet definite disk. Away from city lights, you might also spot Maudlin’s largest moon, Jekyll, circling the planet in retrograde orbit (opposite to the direction of orbit of almost all the other planets and moons). Maudlin rises late and so is a mark of the passing of midnight and the approach of morning. She is said to be fleeing
Faustus,
who chases her each night across the cosmic dome, and so is held as the
Signal Star
of the suffering, the desired and the desirable.

Meesius
said “mee-see-us”; one of
Gauldsman Five
’s many fitters and a retired
vinegaroon
who once fell foul of
Fransitart
and
Craumpalin
. In the solution of his predicament, Meesius found himself owing them a great debt they have never previously claimed.

mess-kid
small wooden pail with high sides for eating food out of.

Messrs. Idby & Adby, Mercantile & Supercargo
mercantile company which, having lost one too many oxcarts of goods on the
Vestiweg,
hired
Europe
to do her deadly work for it in the
Brindleshaws
.

Midwich
the “middle watch.” See
days of the week.

milt
the depth of one’s self; the core of one’s soul and convictions, deeper even than the heart.

Misbegotten Schrewd, the ~
average-sized
ettin
said to
haunt
the
Brindleshaws
.

Mole, Battle of the ~
great naval battle near a small navigation island call the Mole. It was fought over thirty years ago between a collection of states including
Brandenbrass
called the Solemn League and the islands of the Wretchwater and their supporters, the mercenary state of Lombardy and a third mysterious ally. The conflict was one of many over the long-contested rights of use and passage of two bodies of water: the Gullet, the narrow strait between Coursing and the mainland; and the Quimpermeer, that part of
the Grume
northeast of the Gullet. Strangely, Quimperpund, the state these rights worked against most, though part of the Solemn League, did not send
rams
to the conflict. This was a profound betrayal, and though the Solemn League won the battle, it resented Quimperpund’s treachery and, so many years later, still do.
Fransitart
and
Craumpalin
were both present at the battle, serving on board the eighty-eight
guns-broad
main-
ram,
the NB (“Naufustica Branden”)
Venerable,
with
Fransitart
directing the fire from the first gun deck, while
Craumpalin
served at one of the guns and handed out
restoratives
when there was a lull or a desperate need. That was back in the time before they joined the
Boschenberg navy
. See the
Surprise
.

money
most currencies of the
Empire
have three denominations: the billion—the biggest coin, representing the most amount of money; the dollion or dollar—the middle or secondary coin; and finally the common or comma, which is the smallest coin in size and worth. For example, the most used currency is that of the
Soutlands,
used in almost all interrealm and international transactions. It is divided into:

With the Imperial
oscadril
it works like this:

There are many, many more currencies around the
Half-Continent
, some left over from pre-Imperial times and still used among locals, especially in more remote or rustic places. It can be very complicated, and money changers have made a
very
profitable industry out of unraveling the mysteries of currency exchange.

monitor(s)
twenty-four to thirty-two
guns-broad
rivergoing vessels of war, similar to
rams
in that they have an enclosed gun deck, yet sitting lower in the water. They are
ironclad
and powered by
gastrines
. The heavy keel is much reduced in size and the vessels have a much shallower
draft
to allow for the shallower depths of rivers and shoreline waters. They handle poorly in stormy seas, although this does not prevent them being taken on patrols close to shore. With their shallow
draft
they can bring their guns to bear alarmingly close to land.

monster(s)
also called üntermen,
nickers
, bogles, beasties, bugaboos,
baskets
,
sprigs
,
kraulschwimmen
, nadderers, nasties and many other names; any creature not considered human or a dumb animal. The most basic division is into two:

What distinguishes a monster from a person is that it is often more grotesque, bent, disproportioned (this is a human perspective, of course), possessing claws and fangs and spines and a murderous intent to kill people. What makes monsters different from the dumb animals that walk the earth is harder to define, although it is agreed by most scholars of the
Half-Continent
that clear rational intelligence and the capacity to speak (even the rudimentary gruntings of the dumbest
ettin)
are the most important difference. For
nickers
(land monsters) it is also agreed that a common difference is that many
nickers
walk about on two legs and have two (or more) arms. This is not absolute, however. For nadderers (or sea-monsters) it is generally their cleverness and cunning and their enormous size that distinguish them from the fishes, the sharks and the whales. No one knows where the monsters came from, but for as long as history records, humankind has been locked in a war with them—the Hyadthningarvig or Luctamens Immensum or the Immerwar—the Everlasting Struggle, not just in the
Half-Continent
but all the world over. As humans seek to expand their empire, their grip and control of the land, so the monsters resist them, plaguing and spoiling. Yet monsters find it hard to live where men have gained control, and the more people living in one place the fewer monsters there will be, although there are always some. This makes the cities the safest places for people to dwell, and from them
everymen
wage their side of the war. There are rumors of some
realms
that live in understanding or even cooperation with the monsters, but this is unthinkable for those dwelling in the
Half-Continent
; such a thing would be the act of vile
sedorners
(
monster-lovers
) and a crime against humankind. No one knows absolutely where monsters come from. Old histories say that there have been many—
urchins
, the
false-gods
, many
nuglungs
and
kraulschwimmen
—who have been in existence since before humankind. These they call the primmlings (“the first”). However, it is known too that new monsters keep appearing, made after this prehistoric time. Theories abound as to where they come from. Probably the most unusual is found in the
Vadè Chemica
, which suggests that they are knit together in mud and slime made fertile by
threwd
and the sun’s warmth.
Habilists
name this hot
threwdish
mud “gravidia lutumi” (“pregnant slime”) and theorize that the stronger the
threwd
is in a place and the muddier it is, the more likely that place is to spawn monsters. This whole process is known as spontaneous self-generation, and monsters who are born in such a way are called sprosslings (“born ones”). See
nuglung, glamgorn, nicker, kraulschwimmen, bogle
and
gudgeon
.