Dying of the Light

GLOSSARY

ai. After interregnum.

ai-Emerel. Human world on the Fringe, settled shortly after the interregnum (hence, ai-) by arcologites from Daronne. Emereli civilization is technologically advanced, cultured, pacifist, but static and somewhat regimented. Citizens live in kilometer-high tower-cities (arcologies) surrounded by farmland and wilderness, but most never leave the buildings they are born in. The discontented are allowed to serve in ai-Emerel's merchant starfleet, but may not return to their home towers.

Altered Men. Genetically altered humans of the world Prometheus. The Promethean surgeons experiment constantly; thus there are many varieties of Altered Men. In common parlance the term is often used to denote all Prometheans.

Avalon. Human world in the jambles, colonized by

Newholme during the first century of the Federal Empire. A sector capital during the Double War, Avalon never lost starflight and played a large role in ending the interregnum through its vigorous program of exploration, trade, and re-education. Afterwards it became a center of learning. The Academy of Human Knowledge and its many associated institutes are located on Avalon. Avalon is also an important commercial center, with the largest trading fleet in the jambles. Ships from Avalon often trade for knowledge as well as goods.

Bakkalon. Deity worshiped by the Steel Angels, often depicted as a naked human infant holding a black sword; also called the pale child.

Baldur. First-generation human colony settled directly from Earth in the earliest years of starflight. A sector capital during the Double War, now an important center of trade.

banshee. Also known as black banshee; an aerial predator native to High Kavalaan.

Bastion. Human world in the jambles, details of settlement unknown. Bastion was once a human colony, then taken by the Hrangans during the Double War, finally retaken by humans, and today ruled by the Steel Angels, who have made it their capital.

betheyn. Kavalar term for a woman bonded to a man and under his protection; literally, heldwife.

Blackwiner. Native of the World of the Blackwine Ocean.

Braith. One of the four modern holdfast-coalitions of of High Kavalaan. Braith is generally conceded to be the most traditional of the four. Also, any member of holdfast Braith.

Braque. Human world near the Tempter's Veil, on the the outermost edge of the jambles. Braque is primitive and superstitious, ruled by a priesthood that strictly controls technology.

Bronzefist. Extinct holdfast-coalition of High Kavalaan.

Challenge. Festival city built on Worlorn by ai-Emerel. Challenge is an automated computer-operated self-contained arcology.

chokers. Common species of Toberian tree.

City in the Starless Pool. Festival city built on Worlorn, beneath the waters of an artificial lake, by the World of the Blackwine Ocean.

collapse. The period in which the Federal Empire of Old Earth disintegrated and fell. Dates for the collapse are difficult to fix; war had made communications between worlds even more chaotic than usual, and each planet experienced the collapse in its own ways and in its own time. Most historians cite the revolt on Thor and the destruction of Wellington as the key events in the Federal Empire's fall, but point out that the Empire had been a thin fiction for centuries before that as far as the more distant colonies were concerned.

cro-betheyn. Kavalar term for a betheyn's bond to her highbond's teyn; literally, shared heldwife.

dactyloids. Human term for a winged Hrangan slave-race employed as shock troops during the Double

War, given to the creatures because of their vague likeness to pterodactyls of Old Earth pre-history. Dactyloids were savage, but small-brained and only semi-sentient.

Darkdawn. Human world in the Fringe, close to the edge of intergalactic space. After Darkdawn there is nothing; winter skies are empty but for the light of the distant galaxies. Darkdawn is thinly populated, solitary, and haven to a number of strange religious cults. Weather control has been perfected to a fine art, but otherwise technology is de-emphasized.

Darklings. Residents of Darkdawn.

Daronne. Human world of the jambles, close to the Tempter's Veil. Colonized at least three times by aliens and twice by humans, Daronne is a patchwork of esoteric cultures.

Deep Coal Dwellings. Mythological holdfast-coalition of High Kavalaan, said to exist in ancient times. The folk of the Deep Coal Dwellings were cannibals who preyed on the other holdfasts until destroyed in war. They were alleged to be half human, half demon.

Doable War. Centuries-long conflict between the Federal Empire and two alien races, the Fyndii and the Hrangans. Also known as the Great War, the Fyndiin War, the Hrangan Conflict, the Thousand-Years War, or simply as the War. In many ways the Double War was in reality two conflicts; the enemies never had any contact with each other and were in no sense allies, though both were engaged in warfare against humanity. The Federal Empire occupied the space between the two enemies, and thus fought on two fronts; the Fyndii hordes were inward toward the Core, the so-called Hrangan Empire outward toward the galactic fringe. The war against the Fyndii began first, and was generally a shorter and cleaner conflict, finally resolved through negotiations and the intervention of a third alien race, the Damoosh. The Hrangans were considerably less understandable and much more inimicable to humanity. Hostilities never officially ended between Hranga and Earth; both civilizations collapsed. Humanity underwent the interregnum and recovered, although never again as a single political unit. The Hrangans suffered virtual genocide at the hands of their own slaveraces and human colonials.

Earth Imperials. Originally, administrators sent out from Earth during the heyday of the Federal Empire. After the interregnum, commonly used to refer to any human who lived during the Empire period.

Emereli. Natives of ai-Emerel.

Erikan. Human world named after the religious leader Erika Stormjones, settled by her followers and dedicated to the precepts she espoused, notably immortality through cloning.

Eshellin. Human world on the Fringe, settled by a migration from Daronne. Relatively primitive and sparsely populated.

Esvoch. Festival city built by Eshellin.

eyn-kethi. Kavalar term for the breeding women of a holdfast, who are sexually available to all men; literally, bonded-to-the-holdfast-brothers.

Fat Satan. Red supergiant located beyond the Tempter's Veil, notable for the six yellow suns that circle it in a Trojan relationship to each other; the entire system is called the Wheel of Fire. Some speculate that the Wheel was created by a race of vanished superbeings capable of moving suns. Fat Satan is also known as the Helleye and the Hub.

Federal Empire. Political unit that ruled human space during the early centuries of starflight, colonized most of the first– and second-generation worlds and some of the third, and conducted the Double War, during the course of which it finally collapsed. The term itself was a convenient misnomer; the so-called empire was more correctly a democratic-socialist-cybernetic bureaucracy. The ultimate decision maker was the Chief Administrator, who was elected by and responsible to a tricameral legislature meeting in Geneva, Old Earth, but most of the day-to-day administration on Earth itself was conducted by the Artificial Intelligences, vast computer constructs. In the waning years of the Double War, the Federal Empire grew increasingly repressive and lost touch with its own colonies and even with its military arms.

FTL. Faster than light.

Fyndii. Alien race, and the first star-traveling sentients to make contact with humanity. The Fyndii were one of the enemies the Federal Empire faced in the Double War. Fyndii seem to feel almost no race loyalty; their societies are made up of empathically linked "hordes," and each horde is a bitter rival of all the others. Mind-mutes, incapable of linking, are friendless outcasts. The Fyndii rule approximately ninety worlds, generally inward from the worlds colonized by men.

githyanki. Hrangan slaverace, often termed soulsucks by humans. Barely sentient, malevolent, and potent telepaths, the githyanki were capable of bending and twisting human minds, sending false visions, hallucinations, and dreams, strengthening the animal side of man and warping judgment and reason, all for the end of turning brother against sister.

glowstone. Stone native to High Kavalaan, capable of storing light and emitting it in darkness. Glowstone is used for both building and jewelry, and is an important Kavalar export.

Glowstone Mountain. One of the greatest holdfast-coalitions in Kavalar history, finally defeated and destroyed by its enemies, now abandoned.

Great Black Sea. Outworld term for the space between the galaxies, where there are no stars.

Haapala's City. Festival city built by Wolfheim and named after Ingo Haapala, the Wolfman astronomer who first discovered that Worlorn would pass through the Wheel of Fire.

Hellcrown. One name of the six yellow stars (collectively) that circle the red supergiant sometimes called the Helleye, and together with it form the Wheel of Fire. Also known as Satan's Children, and the Trojan Suns. The six stars are virtually identical, and orbit in a Trojan relationship to each other.

Helleye. See Fat Satan.

High Kavalaan. Human world on the Fringe, colonized during the Double War by refugees and miners from Tara. Hrangan raids destroyed most of the original colony; survivors evolved modem Kavalar holdfast civilization. Kavalar society is regimented and individualistic at the same time; the culture places strong emphasis on both loyalty and personal honor. Close to barbaric when rediscovered by traders, the Kavalars are now industrializing rapidly, educating their young, and acquiring their own fleet of starships. High Kavalaan, which claims legal jurisdiction over the rogue planet Worlorn, was one of the driving forces in the Festival of the Fringe.

holdfast. Basic social unit of High Kavalaan; an underground chamber or series of chambers, easily defensible from attack, that provides shelter for anywhere from six to one hundred people. In ancient times each holdfast was an independent entity, a combination of family and nation. Soon, however, holdfasts began to make alliances and merge with other holdfasts, and even connect up underground; these were called holdfast-coalitions. In modern times the term holdfast is often used loosely to signify what might more properly be called a holdfast-coalition.

Hrangans. Humanity's great enemy during the Double War, the Hrangans were perhaps the most alien sentients ever encountered. Their social system was structured on the basis of a number of biological castes, most of whom seemed to belong to different species, so different were they. Of the Hrangan millions, only the so-called Minds were truly intelligent, and mankind never communicated successfully even with them. The Hrangans were bitterly xenophobic; prior to the Double War, they had enslaved a dozen less-advanced races, and there is evidence that they had exterminated others entirely. The war effectively destroyed the Hrangans, except on Old Hranga itself and a handful of their oldest colonies.

Hruun. Hrangan slaverace often used in combat during the Double War. The Hruun were more intelligent than most other Hrangan slaves. Their homeworld was a heavy-gravity planet by human standards, so the Hruun were warriors of immense strength. Among their other attributes was an ability to see well into the infrared that made them especially suited for nocturnal combat.

Hub. See Fat Satan.

interregnum. Historical period between the collapse and the resumption of starflight. By its very nature, the interregnum is difficult to date precisely. Some worlds experienced the collapse early, some late; some lost starflight for five years, some for fifty, some for five hundred; some-like Avalon, Baldur, Newholme, and Old Earth-were never really isolated from the rest of mankind, while others perhaps have still not been rediscovered. It is commonly said that the interregnum lasted a "generation"; this is workable enough as a rough approximation, if only the major human worlds are considered.

Ironjade Gathering. One of the four modern holdfast-coalitions of High Kavalaan. The Ironjade Gathering is one of the two most progressive Kavalar holdfasts.

jambles. Wolfman slang, now common parlance in the outworlds, for the area of space between the Fringe and the highly civilized worlds around Old Earth. The Hrangan Empire occupied a large portion of what is now called the jambles, and it was there that the most terrible actions of the Double War took place, leaving many planets ruined and many civilizations broken and "jumbled," from which word the term derived. Notable human worlds in the jambles include Avalon, Bastion, Prometheus, and Jamison's World.

Jamison's World. Human world in the jambles, settled chiefly from Old Poseidon. Jamies live on the planet's lush islands and archipelagoes; the one large continent is largely unexplored. Jamison's World is a regional center for industry and trade, and is a commercial rival of Avalon.

Kavalar. Native of High Kavalaan. Kenn. Extinct Kavalar holdfast-coalition.

keth, kethi. Kavalar term for the males of any holdfast or holdfast coalition; literally, holdfast-brother(s).

Kimdiss. Human world of the Fringe, settled by a group of religious pacifists, now the major outworld commercial power. Kimdissi are traditionally nonviolent, and consequently hostile to the code duello of High Kavalaan.

Kimdissi. Natives of Kimdiss.

korariel. Kavalar term, literally protected property. Originally used by individuals and holdfasts to designate certain mockmen or groups of mockmen as private game; poachers were subject to challenge and duel. Later used by the more progressive holdfasts to protect primitives from extermination at the hands of traditional Kavalar hunters. Properly, the term cannot be applied to a real human, only to a mockman or animal.

KryneLamiya. Festival city built on Worlorn by Dark-dawn. Often called the Siren City, Kryne Lamiya was designed so that its towers made music of the controlled mountain winds, thus playing over and over a symphony by Darkdawn's leading composer, the nihilist Lamiya-Bailis.

Larteyn. Festival city built into the mountainwall of Worlorn by High Kavalaan. Larteyn, literally, means bonded-to-the-sky, or sky-teyn. The city was fashioned to a great extent of glowstone, and thus was often called the Firefort.

Letheland. One common name for a primitive human colony in the Fringe. Also known as the Forgotten Colony, or the Lost Colony. All of these terms are offworld in origin; the Lostfolk themselves call their planet

Earth. Letheland is the oldest human world beyond the Tempter's Veil, so old that all details of its settlement have been lost, and only conjecture remains. Its people are largely fisherfolk, with no interest in any way of life besides their own.

Musquel-by-the-Sea. Festival city patterned on those of Letheland, erected on Worlorn by a coalition of outworlders for the Forgotten Colony, which did not have the technology to build it so quickly. A weathered port of multicolored brick and wood, Musquel proved one of the Festival's most popular attractions.

Newholme. First interstellar human colony; an urbanized, overcrowded, highly technological world only 4.3 light-years from Old Earth. Since the interregnum and the isolation of Old Earth, Newholme is commonly regarded as the most advanced human world, and the center of commercial traffic between the stars. New-holme is also the nominal capital of the so-called Union of Humanity, a political unit that claims jurisdiction over mankind everywhere. Only three worlds beyond Newholme acknowledge this authority, however, so the Union is essentially a fiction.

not-men. Human beings who have evolved or mutated so far that they are no longer interfertile with the rest of the race.

Old Earth. Homeworld of the human race, formerly the capital of the Federal Empire. During the interregnum, and after the revolt of sizable portions of its armed forces, Old Earth recalled the remainder of its military and sealed itself off from the rest of humanity. The embargo remains in effect, with only a few exceptions. There are many legends and much conjecture about life on Old Earth today, but few facts. Also known as Earth, Terra, Home.

Old Hranga. Homeworld of the Hrangan race, and one of the few places where Hrangan Minds survive in numbers.

Old Poseidon. Third-generation human world settled early in the Federal period. A planet of turbulent seas and untold riches, Old Poseidon soon became an important trading center and a sector capital. After less than a century, the Poseidonites themselves were building starships and exporting colonists; they settled more than twenty other planets, including Jamison's World.

outworlds. Collective term for all the worlds of the Fringe; i.e., those fourteen human colonies between the Tempter's Veil and the Great Black Sea. Natives of any of these planets were commonly called outworlders by humans within the Veil.

Prometheus. Human world in the jambles, colonized by a military arm of the Federal Empire called the Ecological Warfare Corps during the Double War. Located deep within the war zone and the Hrangan sphere of influence, Prometheus was the headquarters for the biowar ships that spread disease, insects, and plant and animal pests among the Hrangans. After the collapse, Prometheus recovered starflight quickly, and also retained and developed techniques of cloning and genetic manipulation that had been closely guarded secrets of the Federal Empire. One of the most powerful human worlds of the jambles, Prometheus is de facto ruler of its closest neighbors, Rhiannon and Thisrock, and strongly influential on a number of other planets. See also Altered Men.

Redsteel. One of the four modern holdfast-coalitions of High Kavalaan. Redsteel is considered one of the two most progressive of the four. Also, any member of holdfast Redsteel.

Rhiannon. Human world in the jambles, colonized by Deirdre during the middle period of the Federal Empire. A rich pastoral world, Rhiannon today is ruled by Prometheus in all but name, and has no starships of its own.

Rogue's Hope. Human world in the Celian cluster, formerly a sector capital.

Rommel. Gold heavy-gravity planet colonized directly from Earth very early in the Federal period. Rommel and Wellington, its sister planet in the same system, began as unpleasant prison planets for incorrigibles from Earth, but during the Double War the two became the so-called War Worlds from which the Earth Imperials drew most of their assault squads. War Worlders, as troopers from Rommel and Wellington were called collectively, lived all their lives under a rigid military discipline, and were given drugs and special reaction training to enhance their fighting prowess. Ultimately, genetic alterations turned the War Worlders into not-men, unable to interbreed with other humans. Rommel lost starflight during the collapse and has never regained it. Traders avoid the world; Rommelans are considered inhuman and dangerous.

Satan's Children. See Hellcrown.

Shanagate Holding. One of the four modern holdfast-coalitions of High Kavalaan.

Son of the Dreamer. Religious leader who lived on Deirdre in the middle Federal period. The Son of the Dreamer preached a creed of physical pacifism and psychological aggression, and told his followers to resist their enemies with wit instead of force. Today his teachings are influential on Kimdiss, Kayan, Tamber, and several other worlds.

soulsuck. See githyanki.

standard. Monetary unit widely used in interstellar commerce, and on almost all of the most important human worlds. Also the language of such commerce and most star-traveling humans, also called Terran, Standard Terran, Earthic, Common. Also used as an adjective to denote units of time corresponding with

those of Old Earth. Thus, standard hour, standard day, standard year, etc.

Steel Angels. Popular nickname for members of a powerful and widespread military-religious movement that developed among Federal Empire soldiers during the Double War, and has persisted and grown since. The Steel Angels believe that only humans (the seed of Earth) have souls, that race survival is the ultimate imperative, that strength is the only true virtue. Today, from their capital on Bastion, the Angels rule a dozen planets and have colonies, missions, and footholds on hundreds more. The members of the cult call themselves the Children of Bakkalon. Exact origins of the movement are in dispute. The Angels have had two major schisms and have conducted numerous wars, chiefly against non-human sentients.

Stormjones. Primitive planet in the Celian cluster named after the religious leader Erika Stormjones. See also Erikan.

Taal. Extinct holdfast-coalition of High Kavalaan.

Tara. Human world near the Tempter's Veil, on the outermost edge of the jambles. Tara was colonized at least five times by migrations from quite disparate worlds, and was also raided repeatedly during the Double War, so today it is home to many strange splinter cultures. The dominant influences, however, are both rooted in the first settlement: the Irish-Roman Reformed Catholic Church, and the hereditary warrior-ruler called the Cuchulainn.

Tempter's Veil. Cloud of interstellar dust and gas near the top of the galactic lens that blocks the Wheel of Fire and other outworld stars from view; the boundary between the Fringe and the jambles.

teyn. Kavalar term for a man bonded to another man, usually for life, in a co-equal relationship; the closest possible relationship between Kavalars; literally, mybond or close-bond or holdclose.

Thisrock. Artificial world between Prometheus and Rhiannon created by the Federal Empire for use as a naval strikebase during the Double War. Thisrock is located in deep space, orbits no star, and is quite small, in some ways more like a large stationary star-ship than a real world. Today dominated by Prometheus.

Tober-in-the-Veil. Human world on the outer edge of the Tempter's Veil, generally considered to be part of the Fringe. Tober was discovered and settled during the Collapse by the Avalon-based 17th Human Fleet, in rebellion against the Federal Empire. The Toberians are the most technologically advanced of the outworld cultures, and have developed energy shielding and pseudomatter past even Federal levels. Tober maintains a strong military arm, and is influential on several of the more primitive Fringe planets.

tree-spook. A small predatory rodent native to Kimdiss, so called because it sheds its skin several times before maturity, and leaves the transparent husk around its nest to frighten away enemies.

Trojan Suns. See Hellcrown.

Twelfth Dream. Festival city built on Worlorn by Kimdiss. Twelfth Dream was considered by sophisticates to be the most aesthetic of the fourteen cities erected for the Festival of the Fringe. Its name derives from Kimdissi religion; the universe and all that is in it is believed to have been created by the Dreamer, whose twelfth dream was Beauty Unsurpassed.

Wellington. Warm heavy-gravity world colonized directly from Earth early in the Federal period as a penal colony. Wellington and its sister planet, Rommel, later became the War Worlds that supplied the fierce assault squad troopers of the Federal Empire. See also Rommel. All life on Wellington was destroyed late in the Double War, when the 13th Human Fleet under Stephen Cobalt Northstar rebelled against

the Federal Empire. The event is often cited as the beginning of the collapse.

Wheel of Fire. Collective name for the seven-sun multiple-star system located in the Fringe, behind the Tempter's Veil. The Wheel is considered by some to be an artificial monument to a vanished race of super-beings. See also Fat Satan, Hellcrown.

whisperjewel. A crystal that has been psionically "etched" to retain certain emotions or thoughts, which are thereafter perceptible when the crystal is held by "resonant" or sympathetic minds. Any type of crystal may be fashioned into a whisperjewel, but certain kinds of gemstones retain the patterns far better than others. The strength and clarity of a whisperjewel may also vary with time, and with the degree of skill of the etching esper. The whisperjewels of Avalon are highly esteemed; Avalon has both a suitable base-crystal and a number of potent Talents. Some less developed worlds are reputed to produce even finer whisper-jewels, but their products seldom find their way onto the interstellar market.

Wolfheim. Human world in the Fringe, settled during the collapse by refugees from Fenris. Wolfheim culture is considered dynamic and volatile; the planet is a strong economic rival to Kimdiss, and militarily second only to Tober among the outworlds.

Wolfman. A native of Wolfheim.

World of the Blackwine Ocean. Human world on the Fringe, settled in ai-137 from Old Poseidon.

Worlorn. Rogue planet first discovered by Celia Mar-cyan; site of the Festival of the Fringe, ai-589 to ai-599, while passing near to the Wheel of Fire.