Lamplighter (64 page)

billet
where
pediteers, lamplighters
or other military personnel sleep and live when not on duty.

Billeting Day
day when
prentice-lighters
are granted status as full
lampsmen,
having completed their training. In a solemn ceremony,
prentices
reswear their vow of service to the Emperor and are assigned to a
cothouse
where they will serve out what days are left to them lighting and dousing the lanterns on the appropriate stretches of road.

biologue(s)
any device or machine that uses actual living organs to provide its functions. See
sthenicon
in Book One.

Bitterbolt
cothouse
on the
Wormway
situated just beyond the eastern bank of the
Bittermere.

bitterbright
powerful and rare
potive,
a delicate
fulminant
that, by the cunning artifice of its chemistry, produces light to hurt the gaze of any who look at it. Unless it is actively replenished, bitterbright burns for a limited duration, its effect lessening dramatically as it burns low.Therefore you must be constantly working to keep it “burning” if you want its painful glow to remain.

Bittermere, the ~
small river running from high in the
Owlgrave
that swells greatly in size before joining the Migh on the northern edge of Needle Greening. Said to be threwdish, it derives its name from the sharp, foul taste of its tealike waters, sweetened only slightly by the joining of its flow with the swift-flowing
Mirthlbrook.

black habilist(s)
term most commonly used to refer to
massacars
or
transmogrifers;
those considered to be dabbling in the darker sides of learning; the great patrons of the
dark trades,
which would not exist without them. See
habilists
in Book One.

blaste
any fulminating
potive
or
script
that erupts or explodes,
loomblaze
being an excellent example.

Bleakhall
cothouse
at
Bleak Lynche,
upon which its inhabitants are greatly dependent for safety and the dispensing of justice. It is one of the more irregular duties of the
house-major
to preside over the smaller local civil disputes. Built before the town, as a position of retreat for those dwelling at
Haltmire,
Bleakhall is one of the larger
cothouses
on the way and is meant to be
billet
to an overstrength platoon of
lamplighters
and their
auxiliaries.

Bleak Lynche
last civil settlement in the eastern edges of the
Idlewild,
gaining its name from its remoteness and the poor prospects of the land about it, and from the bridges spanning between the high towerlike houses built there—otherwise called “linches.” Founded by the state of Doggenbrass, the settlement’s best source of corporate income is tending to the needs of the
lamplighters
and postmen posted there, and as a trading post and “stopover” for those few travelers coming up on the Wettin Lowroad from Burgundis and Hurdling Migh. This is still thin pickings, and the lords of Doggenbrass have found themselves paying frequently to prop up the ailing colony, many of whose citizens have moved to the more prosperous mining settlements in the region, the Louthe or Pot. One can find pathsmen here: private wayfarers who contract out their energies as guides and guards to those foolish few who wish to travel the
Wormway
into and through the
Ichormeer,
or take the Wettin Lowroad down to Hurdling Migh and beyond.

blighted
of or pertaining to
monsters
or
threwd,
especially the worst kinds of
threwd.
Used as an emphatic curse—with “twice” or “thrice” or some other preceding qualification for extra emphasis—to declare a person or thing bad or unworthy or worthless.

bloom
shortened form of “
glimbloom
,” also known as frons lumen or collucia, and sometimes referred to as
stuff
(though this is a catch-all term); the aquatic, weedlike plant possessed—in certain circumstances—of bioluminescence used to provide the source of illumination for
bright-limns
and the
great-lamps
of the highroads and cities. It is a wonderful, regenerating source of light, but there are those who hold that having it, and particularly growing it, is an enticement to
monsters,
who are said to like the taste of it. Others disagree, particularly
lampsmen
out on the roads working with bloom each day, who argue that the
monsters
tend to find them much more toothsome. Some
seltzermen,
on the other hand, might complain of a disproportionate incidence of
theroscades
when they are out replacing the worn-out bloom of a
great-lamp.

blunderer
offensive term for a nonmilitary person, used by
pediteers
and their like in the same way a vinegaroon might call a landsman a lubber. Very rude when said to another soldier.

boltarde
a
combinade
or weapon made of a combination of two or more other tools of violence. Essentially a boltarde is the bringing together of a helmbarde (what we would call a halberd) with two wheel-lock pistols formed as part of the shaft, one short barrel on either side of the ax-and-spike-head. The wheel locks are fired by means of triggers farther down, just above the rondel that protects the hand. Shallow grooves run down the middle of the blade to allow the ball to fly unhindered. An invention of the Sebastians, it is unwieldy but highly effective in the right circumstances, although boltardes have not gained much popularity in the
Haacobin Empire.

book(s)
in the Half-Continent there is a whole library of catalogs and matters on
monsters,
habilistics, necrology and more; among the more necessary (other than the
Vadé Chemica—
see Book One—and related texts) are
Ex Monsteria
(by Wytwornic) and
Phantasmagoria.
Also there is the
Nomenclator Animantium
(unknown author),
Historica Monstorum
(a modern publication by Pellwick),
De Dinpiscibus
(on sea
-nickers
and kraulschwimmen by Aldrovand),
Labyrinthion
(an ancient text on
teratology
by Stabius and translated by Wünderhuber) and the strange and antiquated
Historie of Fourfeeted Beastes
by Topsell—to name but a few.
Clysmosurgical Primer
is a learned and rare book on the actual techniques involved in transmogrification (surgery making a person into a
lahzar
) complete with diagrams. Its sources are the ancient and even rarer writings of the Phlegms and most particularly the Cathars, now extinct races known for their skills and learning in such things. This is not a proscribed book as such in the
Empire,
but owning one is a sign of dabbling in unusual, esoteric things. Because of what is deemed dangerous content or encouraging
outramour,
it is illegal to sell many of these within the
Empire,
though not necessarily to own them. The banning of books is an inconsistent practice, with each state interpreting the laws differently, and it tends to be the paleologues (the “ancient texts”) that suffer the most restrictions. People of yore often thought very differently of the race of
monster
than folk of the Half-Continent do now.

Bookday
Rossamünd’s birthday, as it is for every ward of Madam Opera’s Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls. See entry in Book One.

bossetation
making gardens (what we would call landscaping). Though the making and planting of gardens might seem a worthy and peaceful pastime, its main purpose is to expunge the
threwd,
to keep the land tame.

bossock
also known as a mayotte, the basic well-fitting proofed-silk
(soe)
harness of the
calendars
and one of their most distinctive items of apparel. It is made close to allow free movement and, while it prevents moderate lacerations, thicker items of proofing must be worn over it to give better protection.

Brandenard
language of the Brandenards, the race who populate much of the northern
Soutlands
and even beyond and have contributed much to the exploration and expansion of the
Empire’s
mercantile and geographical interests; the Half-Continent equivalent of English. In HIR 1311 the Imperial declaration on the languages of its subjects, “The Correct Sounds to Instruct the People,” officially recognized Brandenard as the vulga lingua—the common language among peoples of differing states and even countries, the tongue of trade.
Tutin,
however, was declared—and is still regarded—as the language of education and politics.

Brandenbrass
major city of the Grume. See entry in Book One.

bravo(es)
generally any hired killer, but also used specifically to describe what we would call assassins; also known as pnictors or pnictardos (“stranglers”).

Briary, the ~; Briarywood
small thorny woodland that stubbornly grows about the eastern end of the
Pettiwiggin.
It has been allowed to remain, as a source of firewood and small timber for the needs of both
Winstermill
and
Wellnigh House.

bright-limn(s)
small portable
seltzer
lights. See Book One.

Brisking Cat, the ~
wayhouse on the highroad of the
Conduit Vermis,
and one of the longest established in the
Idlewild.
Situated near the confluence of the
Mirthlbrook
and the
Bittermere,
it was founded three generations ago by the father of the current enrica d’ama, Madam Oubliette. The family of Parleferte (said “
Par
’leh’fert”), her steward, has served there for as long as the “Cat” has been open. A popular
billet
for many
teratologists.
Ever prone to grumbling, local townsfolk will complain bitterly of the coxcombry and inconvenience of
knaves
when they are bunked in the townships. It’s all very tedious. They want the work but not the persons who do it, so most pugnators prefer to stay in knaveries, cot-rents or wayhouses and avoid the nonsense.

brocander(s)
sellers of secondhand clothing, particularly proofing.

bruicle
tool of
physics
used for holding blood, made usually of glass or porcelain.
Teratologists
and
punctographists
use them too for storing
cruor.
The arrangement of one bowl inside another within a bruicle insulates the stored blood, keeping it viable for longer and making it ideal for carrying
cruor
back to your friendly neighborhood
punctographist.
See
graille(s).

bully-dicey
what we would call a meat pie.

burge(s)
small flags for signaling, made in sets of distinct patterns for the representation of letters, numbers, cardinal points, titles of rank or social elevation, even whole words.The color of a burge is first and foremost for distinction, though the meaning of the colors can be inferred if a small multistripe, multicolored flag—known as the parti-jack—is flown with them. Burges are used for both civil and military purposes on land and the vinegar seas.

caladine
also aleteins, solitarines or just solitaires;
calendars
who travel long and far from their
clave
spreading the work of good-doing and protection for the undermonied. The most fanatical of their sisters, caladines are typically the most colorfully mottled and strangely clothed of the
calendars,
wearing elaborate
dandicombs
of horns or hevenhulls (inordinately tall thrice-highs) or henins and so on.They too will mark themselves with outlandish spoors, often imitating the patterns of the more unusual creatures that their wide-faring ways may have brought onto their path.
Claves
tend to confine their actions to a defined jurisdiction known as a
diet,
and customarily seek permission to enter another
clave’s diet.
However, caladines have a unilaterally agreed right to travel freely from one
diet
to the next, though it is considered polite and proper to visit with the
august
while you are there. Sometimes a caladine is called by the local
laude
to produce credentials before getting an affirming nod.

calanserie, calanserai, calansery
headquarters and home of a
calendar clave
, and therefore also called a clariary. Usually situated well away from urban buildup, out in more rural places where there is a greater need for the
calendars’
work, though there are a few notable exceptions: the oldest
clave-
homes are found near cities and there are even calanseries in Catalaine, Millaine, Ives and Chastony. Calanseries are typically fortified against assault from both
monster
and man, especially given that several are home to
sequesturies
as well.

calendar(s)
sometimes called
strigaturpis
or just
strig
—a general term for any combative woman; the
Gotts
call them mynchen—after the do-gooding heldin-women of old. Calendars gather themselves into secretive societies called
claves
(its members known as claviards), constituted almost entirely of women, organized about ideals of social justice and philanthropy, particularly providing teratological protection for the needy and the poor. They usually live in somewhat isolated strongholds—manorburghs and basterseighs—known as
calanseries.
Some
claves
hide people—typically women—in trouble, protecting them in secluded fortlets known as
sequesturies.
Other
claves
offer to teach young girls their graces and fitness of limb in places known as mulierbriums. Calendars, however, are probably best known for the odd and eccentric clothing they don to advertise themselves. Over the years a distinct nomenclature has emerged for the various “trades” within a calendar
clave,
for example: