Lamplighter (78 page)

tykehound(s)
• (noun) collective noun for a set of dog breeds raised to hunt and slay
monsters.
The collection of tykehounds includes tykehounds themselves (sometimes also called selthounds—see next point),
spangled whelp-hounds, Greater Derehunds,
garmirvithars and stafirhunds. Their counterparts are the slothounds, who are trained to track
monsters
from even the faintest trail and corner them, rather than come to grapple with them. A curregitor is the leading dog in a pack of tykehounds, what in our world might be termed an “alpha male”; it runs at the front and is first into the fight. A canignavor, from the
Tutin
word meaning “lazy dog” (also langsbain, a Gott word meaning “slow-leg”), is the second dog of a tykehound pack; it periodically runs back or lags behind the main chasers waiting for its
everyman
masters to tell it the path of the rest of the hunt. These animals are anything but lazy, as their title misnomically suggests, usually running twice or three times the distance any of its fellows covers in a
course.
• (noun) also selthounds, specific breed of hound, the largest of all the
monster-
hunting dogs: with long, heavy snouts; wide mouths and overlarge teeth for an irresistibly gripping bite; thickly gathered hide about the neck to prevent a
monster
throttling it; covered in thick, short, wiry black hair and with powerful hips and shoulders, large paws and great cunning. Some of the most famous dogs of matter—such as Garngagarr—are of this breed.

uhrsprechman
(Gott, literally “clock-speaking-man”) also called a
night-clerk,
found only in
cothouses
and other military outposts. Their main task is to complete any paperwork not finished by the
day-clerks,
sort mail as required and read the clock and tell the time for the unlettered soldiers about them—of which there are many.

umbergog
ettin-like
nicker,
but possessing an oversized head in deformed simulacrum of an animal’s
poll.
If it were possible, umbergogs are even more dim-witted than their more manikinlike (personlike) cousins, the ettins, more bestial—as their heads might imply. Typically they are a little smaller than ettins, but this does not mean that there are not examples of umbergogs of numbingly enormous size; rivaled only by the singular, portentous appearances of the mighty, mindless false-gods lumbering across the doomed land.

under-clerk
assistant to a
clerk,
a kind of corporal-clerk, put upon to do the most menial of clerical tasks, the dullest and most repetitive duties, the ones sent to the less friendly places to act as bureaucrat and - paper-shuffler.

under-sergeant
military rank used by landed armies but not navies, and the next in rank under a
sergeant
and above a
pediteer
or other 1st class of any type. The equivalent of corporal.

Under-Sergeant-of-Prentices Benedict
see
Benedict, Under-Sergeant-of-Prentices.

ungerhaur
one of many Gott names for monsters.

üntermen
Gott word for
monsters,
roughly translating to “undermen,” meaning that
monsters
are less than men. As a name for
monsters
it has gained some currency all over the Half-Continent.

venificant(s)
poison
-scripts,
also sometimes known as pestilents—these are particularly the more corrupting and wasting
potives.
Either way they are all very nasty.

Vey, the Lady ~
official title of
Syntychë,
the
august
of the
columbines
of
Herbroulesse.
Born to the role and following her mother through five generations of
augusts,
five generations of the Lady Vey. Her title comes from a local corruption of the word “fey,” thought to mean that she “convenes with
monsters
,” yet it actually comes from Feye, a tiny
Soutland
state that was absorbed by another larger state almost two centuries ago. Fleeing the subtle conquest, the Lady Vey’s ancestors made their way up to the
Idlewild
to seclude themselves in a small
sequestury
there, and, by ambition, rose to rule it and expand its work.
Syntychë
is profoundly aware of her proud heritage, of the aggressive nature of her family’s historied grasp on the control of the
Right of the Pacific Dove
and the dubious honor it is to be a
calendar.
Her zeal for her
calendars
and her heritage is almost consuming.

Vey, Threnody
See
Threnody of Herbroulesse.

vialimn
meaning “path-light,” the “correct” name for a
great-lamp.

vigil-day
what we would call a holiday.

Volitus
dispensurist
of
Winstermill,
originally simply a
confectioner
from High Vesting, he has managed to gain status as a true dispenser, though the quality of his work is not always guaranteed. It is fortunate for the others of the manse that his assistant has a better grasp of habilistics.

wandlimb
type of ash tree with a narrow trunk whose gracefully long, straight branches are a favorite for withies, cudgels and the basis for fulgaris.

watch(es)
among the
lamplighters
there are three main watches that do not revolve so much about four-hour intervals as in the navy, but rather on duties and whether it is day or night. During the day there is the
house-watch,
whose task it is to maintain the day-to-day running of their posting; the
day-watch,
who keep lookout during the sunny hours and rove out beyond their posting to accomplish the various tasks the day requires. At night while these two watches sleep it is time for the
lantern-
or
lamp-watch
to shine (ha! Get it?).Their duty starts with traveling from their place of day-rest, lighting
lamps
along the way to the next
cothouse
or other fortress, where they stay up all night to keep guard.

wayfood(s)
other favorites among
hucilluctors
are twice-pickled gherkins and evercap, a dainty mushroom that preserves well when dried and can last for many years still edible, though these too are preferred pickled—either with pepper or honey. See entry in Book One.

Wayward Chair, the ~
a hostelry of barely a dozen rooms found in the more down-at-heel suburb of Marlabone in the city of Compostor; run by a Mr. and Mrs. Phile, and not particularly well known for its appointments or refinements.Why Europe chooses to stay there is a bit of a mystery, for she usually prefers the finer establishments if she can have them, and there is certainly more than one of those in that city.

Wellnigh House
the small
twin-keep cothouse
most immediately east of
Winstermill,
gaining its name because it is well-nigh to both
Winstermill
and the
Tumblesloe Heap.
It was once the tollhouse for those coming through or entering the
Roughmarch,
the toll helping to pay to keep the marche clear of the thick briars and thorns that ever seek to choke the path.

Wheede, Crofton
a somewhat clumsy and ineffectual boy of average build and average intelligence, and one of the other
prentices
at
Winstermill.
He is actually a native of the
Idlewild
itself, from a line of cobblers in
Hinkerseigh.
His mother was slain in a
theroscade
during a summertime Domesday stroll, his father killed by grief and the viscid humours (a terrible contagious disease said to be spread by
nickers
). Young Wheede has been shipped off by surviving uncles and aunts to serve with the
lighters.

“When falsemen disagree . . .”
comes from an aphorism, “When
falsemen
disagree, to whom then can the truth be known?”

Whympre, Podious
pronounced
“Po
’dee’us
Wim
’per”; see
Master-of-Clerks.

Wight, the ~
also known as Wightbury: Imperial designation of the Imperial fortress-city of
Wightfastseigh,
built to collect tolls on goods coming down from Sulk and eastern Catalain and the Undermeer states. It is a center of military might in the midst of the
Idlewild
and the pivot between two
themes
of the
Placidine
and the
Paucitine,
with each settlement of the
Idlewild
providing contingents of
pediteers
and even
swaggerers
to its guard. Yet despite its size and impressive fortifications, it has no direct jurisdiction over the
Wormway
or in political affairs in the
Idlewild
(though citizens of influence might have their say). Indeed the
cothouses
in the Wight are no larger than those along the lonely road; this city is all about taxation revenue and the protection of its collection and the trade route that most supplies it. The citizens of the Wight themselves are generally very concerned with the latest fashions, importing all the new fads and baubles they can from down south—where all the best people dwell.

Wightfastseigh
see
the Wight.

wine-of-Sellry
see
Sellry, wine-of-~.

Winstermill
great Imperial fortress of
Sulk End
and home to the
lamplighters
of the
Wormway.
Winstreslewe, the ancient, abandoned
Tutin
fortress upon whose foundations it was built, was itself constructed about and upon an even more ancient great hall and motte. This great hall was once a seat of power for the Burgundian kings before they were pushed aside by the greater might of the
Tutins
of old.Winstermill is the first port of call for anyone wishing to enter the
Idlewild.
It is the administrative center, whence are issued all Imperial writs and certificates that allow easier passage through the varied bureaucracies of the colonies along the
Wormway.
See Appendix 5 and entry in Book One.

Winstermill, serving staff of ~
an astounding collection of people somehow find their home in the fortress: metalsmiths, wheelwrights, coopers, gaulders, cobblers, tailors, house-tinkers, glaziers, armorers, ostlers, farriers,
feuterers
, storemen, stewards, cooks, menservants, parlor maids, bower maids, scullery maids, fullers, porters, lighter’s boys, pageboys and general hands.

wit(s)
lahzars
who are able to send out pulses of invisible “static” to afflict people’s minds. It is well known that wits lose their hair as they continue to use their potency, and a calvine or calvous wit is a wit completely without hair.There are those wits known as mesmerists, who are skilled in and prefer subtle and gentle techniques of
frission,
coercing and quietly manipulating their targets without giving themselves away, rather than blasting them with great feats of striving. To be a mesmerist takes great skill, but overspecializing makes one less able to put forth powerful yet well-controlled
frission
in singularly destructive striving. The opposite of mesmerists are striveners, who practice mighty yet tightly controlled assaults of
frission,
the perfecters of the nex aspectus—the killing look or “eye of death.” In a similar way coruscists are
fulgars
who do not thermistor, who do not wish to take the risk of blasting themselves apart if they botch the summoning of lightning. See entry in Book One.

Witherscrawl
trained as a
mathematician,
he is the indexer and stooge of the
Master-of-Clerks.
See
Witherscrawl, Mister
in Book One.

withy-wall(s)
usually naturally occurring barriers of sapling stems (withies).

works-general
properly called the General-Master-of-Labors, the highest ranked
peoneer
in
Winstermill.
His charge includes all of the maintenance and works about the fortress and on the road too; he also has charge over the
seltzermen
as well as the more common laborers. This is part of the reason why
lighters
do not truly consider
seltzermen
to be their equals—they belong to another corps.

Wormstool
very last
cothouse
on the eastern end of the
ConduitVermis
(from which it gets its name) with only the fortress of
Haltmire
between it and the untamed wilds. Built simultaneously with
Haltmire,
at the time when the Wormway was being forged through the
Ichormeer,
Wormstool is an octagonal tower rather than the usual fortress-house. It shares this trait with
Dovecote Bolt
and is reached by narrow steps wrapping about three of the structure’s sides. On every level, the windows are shuttered loopholes through which defenders can fire down upon attackers.There is provision for cannon on the third level and on the roof, yet pieces have never been supplied and Wormstool remains without great-guns, despite the presence of
umbergogs
and other
belugigs
on the
Frugelle.

Wormway, the ~
vernacular name for the
Conduit Vermis
(see both entries in Book One); also called the
Harrowmath Pike.
The Wormway is divided into named lengths: