Every scream cathartically released a bit of the pent-up grief and anger. Between Aida's strings and Ghillie's needles, anyone trying to stop them faced a fate on a spectrum between crippling paralysis and instant annihilation. After Aida had completely wrecked the mini-castle they'd built around the Thorn hurled a few squads of versal troops down the street, the survivors spread word quickly. They soon walked the blue-hued stone streets of whatever they called this pillar-top city in Stacks alone.

  They now stood just above what a terrified old man they'd nabbed had called "the linehouse". They stared out at the seemingly-endless tarnished copper wire stretching out to the next haze-misted column of stone rising straight up from the bright blue of this verses' endless oceans. A long rope affixed to and supported by... nothing. Some magic or technology or who-know-what held it up, but whatever it was Aida didn't trust it in the slightest.

  There's one there, going that way, Ghillie signed, then pointed to a dangling trolley car slowly making its way down the line away from them. It looked to be pulled by a group of men grabbing the rope then walking across the top of the trolley; a slow, endless trudge. She couldn't imagine the grip strength and thigh sizes of the dudes who probably did it for a living. If she ran this place, she'd have some Ink machine or Sect creature doing the job ASAP, but she supposed they probably had a union or something that would rise up against her to avoid getting fired.

  "I don't care if the trolley things work, I'm not going on one. What if one of those versal troopers who survived the Thorn castle leveling we did back there decides that they want revenge and cut the line while we're half-way across? Best case we fall to our death, worst we're stranded out there until we... well, until you starve to death and I die of boredom and decide I'd rather be fish food. No, let's go find a boat."

  Ghillie, as usual, didn't protest.

  When they got to the docks, they lucked out to find a small something-powered paddle wheel boat. As they arrived, a pair of sullen-looking, gray-skinned Inkies paused their unloading of a tied-down pile of weather-worn boxes and leather sacks. While they proved not even slightly inclined towards helping Aida and Ghillie in any way, the pair turned out not to be stupid or suicidal; when Aida blasted a box full of what turned out to be receipts or transcripts or something into tiny, drifting smithereens with a bark, they suddenly got helpful. Within a few minutes, they found themselves perched uncomfortably on the tiny boat and chugging off presumably towards the "Jaxestack" they'd pried out of the same old guy who had told them about the linehouse as the most likely place Jaxe would have fled.

  Even with the "super-advanced" Ink paddle-wheel technology propelling them, it took from just after dawn until almost dark for them to reach Jaxestack. Aida used the time to try to make some sort of plan for the future, but to little avail. Her brain never really liked the whole future-thinking or the planning things, seeming to always slip off into some sort of distraction whenever and however hard she tried to do it. Grief over Ryk's death, the Professor's death, and even Viviana's death threatened to rise up to smother her, but she channeled it all into a cold rage she could use to fuel her confrontation with Jaxe.

  Imagining the various ways she might try to kill him fulfilled the barest definitions of "future planning", but that proved all she could muster. It took them several minutes to float around the immense, bloating, floating corpse of what looked like the cross between a whale, a squid, and a blimp. Thousands of sea-birds, flying lizards, sharks, and other fish thrashed the water and air about it, feasting on the carcass in a cacophonous frenzy.

  "My god," Aida said as they steered past, the two silent, sullen Inkies giving the thing wide berth.

  Yes, Ghillie signed back. Aida thought she read sadness or sorrow in Ghillie's expression. Only one thing known that could possibly kill a god. The Aj.

  "Aj? Isn't that that think from the Kiss time? The demon or angel or whatever-the-hell that was killing stuff back then?"

  Ghillie nodded.

  "I thought it was sleeping or something?"

  Apparently not.

  The information was troubling and had Aida irrationally searching every horizon looking for some monster or titan or whatever else might be badass enough to slay a beast the size of a football stadium. When the beast fell out of sight on the horizon behind them and no horrible Aj demon appeared, her thoughts drifted.

  When they finally spotted the Jaxestack, Aida stared up at it and guffawed. Seeing Ghillie's curious look, she pointed towards the gleaming ivory dome dominating the thing's peak. "Looks like a giant cock thrusting up from the water. Totally fitting since this place is run by a huge dick."

  Apparently, they'd been spotted on approach as a squad of versal troops with bows and crossbows greeted their arrival with sporadic volleys of arrows and bolts. At their present extreme range for the weapons, Aida had long enough to time their flight and greet the projectiles with deflecting or shattering bursts of sonic energy. As they chugged in towards closer range, the troopers seemed to decide they didn't want to find out how far her range was and so high-tailed it back into the tunnels or up the exposed, sketchy-looking switchback stairs they'd come down from.

  Aida smirked in spite of herself as they scuttled off.

  When the shuddering contraption they rode finally neared the docks, Aida leapt onto the rocky shore and raced for the exposed stairs the guards had fled.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  You know where to go? Ghillie signed as they paused for breath at the top of a particularly steep flight. Aida tried not to look down; she'd never had much of a fear of heights, but something about the wind, the narrowness of the stairs, and the lack of any sort of guard rail still made her a bit woozy just thinking about it.

  "Higher is probably... better," Aida said, between breaths.

  When the stairs ended at a tunnel entrance where they'd seen a few of the guards flee, they rushed into the darkness with reckless abandon. Where a skylight or chute or something leaked some light down, they stopped to look around at the empty hallway sprouted with regular doors like some sort of ancient, stone-carved apartment building. "No one's tried to stop us. I'm surprised."

  Not necessarily a good sign.

  "I'll take what I can get. Save up to blast Jaxe into next week." She gently brushed her fingers along the Strings. After Alerestro's tampering with her last set, a niggling worry constantly tickled the back of her brain that they might fail right when she needed them most.

  Seemed intact anyway.

  The place was strangely echoey and maybe abandoned; not a single sign of life after their reception party at the docks. When they found a balcony and looked out, she thought she saw a blond lady and some dude with a spear docking a little sailboat down below not far from their Ink paddler. A hint of some memory tugged at her, but she was too distracted with thoughts of creative new ways to avenge Ryk's death to dwell on it.

  Having regathered their breath at the balcony, she and Ghillie pushed on. Eventually, they found their way to a tunnel leading them inside the giant white dome. Aside from the odd pair seen from the balcony, they still hadn't seen another soul. Every tunnel, corridor, and courtyard lay silent and still.

  The dome turned out to be build from some sort of white quartz or the like; thick enough to prevent seeing out but thin enough to allow a milky white light to shine through it. Everything within lit up with a heaven-like, diffuse white glow. Within, a garden of sculpted crystal trees ringed the smaller dome planted at the heart of the open space. Bubbly streams that hissed and popped like the ocean traced artfully through it to offer the space a hint of life. She wondered about it idly for a moment: a world where all the water was tonic?

  "And me without my gin," Aida mumbled. She and Ghillie walked through the beautiful yet stark, exotic garden. They approached the smaller central dome with every sense on high alert. When they drew close, they faced a series of arched doorways leading into the circular structure. Pausing in hopes of spying any hint of life, they finally found more than they wanted.

  Aida's heart lurched as Jaxe marched out amid a retinue of Ferals and Versal guards all trimmed in purple. Each walked a Wretch on a leash or walked with their hand on the neck of an albino child to teenager.

  "Why, hello again," Jaxe said warmly, waving at her like a long-lost relative. His grin turned feral. "You like my friends? Searched all across the whole Book to find more of my kind and bring them all here to enjoy my home. They're so excited to meet you, aren't you my children?"

  "Yes, Uncle Jaxe," they all said in unison. Their expressions held no fear, but not curiosity or emotions of any kind. By their blank looks and stiff movements, Aida wondered if he'd drugged the poor things. The Wretches crawled along with looks containing more than enough terror to make up for its lack among the kids. The Wretches barely looked at their handlers, mostly shooting glances at Jaxe as if anticipating his next word would be an order to have them whipped. Knowing him, he just might be.

  "Let them go, Jaxe," she growled. "They have no part of this."

  "Why sure, Mother," he replied amiably. "Just as soon as you toss me back those strings."

  "No way in hell."

  He shrugged. "Well, 'no way in hell's all around then. I guess we're at an impasse. You try to use the strings, you kill them in the process. You sic that little Sliver of yours on us, we cut their throats. Only way all these Wretches and sad, Pale little boys and girls don't die here is if you surrender looks like."

  She ground her teeth and glared at him. He continued to smile back.

  "I'm feeling especially generous, so I'll give you a couple minutes to come to terms with the fact that you came all this way after me only to have to give up when you finally get here. Don't take too long though or I'll start to have to start killing them. We'll start with this one." He tilted a little girl's head up to look at him. The five or six year-old girl looking up at him dreamily. "Avani, wasn't that your name sweet one? Why don't you tell Dynast Aida here what you told me on the walk over?"

  The girl looked vaguely in Aida's direction, her eyes unfocused. "Imma see my amma soon," the girl said, her voice slightly slurred. "And my adda. He got lost and she left, but Jaske p'omised we'd all be t'gether 'gain."

  "That's right, dear. Why, many people call this woman 'amma', maybe she'll take care of you," Jaxe said, squatting down and turning her back to face him with his hands on her shoulders. "Why don't you help me tell the Mother lady here to give me her strings so we can all live happily ever after together."

  She glanced back at Aida, the look of hope on her face like a slap in the face.

  "Goddam you, Jaxe," Aida hissed.

  "Isn't this fun?" Jaxe said, standing back up. "I'm touched that you come all the way to my home to play with us."

  They stared at each other for a minute. His smile slowly grew. As did her scowl. Ghillie stood alert and ready at Aida's side, hand inside her suit. Jaxe's guards and Ferals looked wound tightly enough to snap. Aida thought she might herself. Finally, Jaxe pulled out a knife and tapped the flat against his cheek. "I'm so bad with time. Was that a few minutes already?"

  "Stop, Jaxe!" she called, raising a hand as his knife drifted slowly down towards the little girl. She debated running away to find some way get back at him later, but she was half-certain he'd start slitting their throats the moment she turned to leave. Grinding her teeth so hard it hurt, she reached slowly towards the clasps for her strings on the back of her neck.

  "I thought I might come and play too," a smooth, silky voice said, resonating in the space. "Hope you don't mind."

  Next chapter: Time to end this squabble.

  Adonissian: a Phero who poses as a traveling musician. Died of the Wretch Plague in Heaven's Tread.

  Aida: MC. Mother of Exiles. "Ender of Verses?" "Savior of Dynasties?"

  Aj: a long-slumbering, powerful being which annihilated Inro's Sunset Legions. Also "almost destroyed the Dynasty single-handedly six-and-some centuries ago"

  Alerestro: a handsome, multi-talented man from Azure. Partner of Viviana. Accidentally killed by Jaxe in the One-Eighth.

  Aliasara: servant at Ocyl's villa who befriends Aida

  Anticores: a pair of Sect representatives, off-putting and strange

  Arca: chief of the tribe that "adopted" Inro

  Asta: Tertius Dynast of Silk. Assassinated by the Rags.

  Avani: Hassani's daughter, an albino

  Baka: Dynast of Ziggurat. Huge, massively strong. Tertius.

  Balmos: Venger working for Ghulen

  "Braid"; a thug who accosted Aida in Jadeye. His face gifted to Aida by Ocyl.

  Broadaxe: large, axe-and-shield-wielding Feral protecting Aida. Killed by Jaxe in Jadeye

  Cairin: Arca's sister, slinger

  Cleft Hand: malcontent in the One-Eighth, maimed hand due to Ryk. Impaled on a broken spear by Wretches in the One-Eighth.

  Das: Rega's Immanent

  Deai: Hassani's swordmaster, renowned for killing a Paragon

  Dels: Dynast of Azure

  Denault: Hassani's husband. Shipwright, Kin.

  Eonora: a Legion officer in Ziggurat who defected with the Rogue Legions Mother's Militant

  Eth: a young Imminent

  Ghillie: a 3rd Feral who wears a primitive Ghillie suit. Carries cross between kunai and acupuncture needles

  Ghulen: Rega's "pet monster", an Inviolate

  Goboro: a fat, amiable scribe friend of Hassani's in Libriam

  Godge and Ardina: Primary Small Masters in Berujat

  Fallon: Aida's Seneschal. Died killing the Inviolate Rasofi in Jadeye

  Fatma: weakest Small Master of Berujat

  Feral: a bone-masked woman of violence (Feral) in Aida's service. Knife wielder. Killed by Ghillie in Jadeye.

  Festrin: Seneschal of Monopollis, father of Fallon

  Fetriene: Ocyl's soresearer

  Goldilocks: twitchy, spear-and-javelin carrying Feral guarding Aida. Died burning a Wicker Way in Jadeye.

  Hassani: Inviolate agent of the Black Court, sent by Fractious Fraction

  Hue: Vibrant accompanying Simon

  Huspara: minor bureaucrat in Libriam

  Ijran: Multi-minded wiz, Small Master of Berujat

  Inro: Dynast formerly ruling Sunset

  Izbali: a silent tribal shaman

  Janali: Ocyl's elegant Seneschal

  Jaxe: Dynast of Stacks. "Young" (Secounds), wealthy. Also has "the Pale" (an Albino). Ancient.

  Johine: crude slave

  Kass/Kassenia: mercenary attached to Adonissian.

  Maxem: High Parser from Ink, ambassador to Jadeye

  Ocyl: Dynast of Heaven's Tread, powerful and unpredictable

  Parathas: Aida's skinscribe. Also a mountaineer.

  "Professor, The": leader of Aida's Wretches, impaled on a tree in the One-Eighth

  Rasofi: Inviolate killed by Fallon in Jadeye

  Reck: Dynast of Chalk, "not witty enough to be clever and takes himself too seriously to be ironic". Paranoid, Fractious Fraction. Tertius. Died to a mob of menials in Jadeye.

  Rega: Inro's sister, Dynast of Monopolis. Septemius

  Riccaro: majordomo of Ocyl's estate. Hung by a looting mob in Heaven's Tread.

  Ruja: Dynast of Berujat. Killed by Cairin and company in Ziggurat.

  Rustrovan/"Rusty": Eth's old, gap-toothed skinscribe. Died of Wretch Plague.

  Ryk: "the most beautiful man Aida had ever seen", a Paragon

  Sadar: odd boy traveling with Semon, a Twine. Killed by Kass in Libriam.

  Sava: Dynast of Libriam

  Savalius: Grand Quartermaster of the Legions. Killed by Baka in Ziggurat.

  Semon "Goldtongue": white-haired, one-eyed master of cults. First Disciple of the Mother. Killed by Ghulen in Libriam.

  Sephily: diminutive Arborist from Groves

  Stiller: serving boy at Ocyl's estate. Rendered mute by psychological or head-trauma

  Strygen: a dusa traveling with Semon. Killed by Kass and Balmos in Libriam.

  Taesal: one of Rega's other Inviolates, axe scar to face

  Three Bracelets Left: "Leader" of the Mune collective

  "Toothy": leader of a group of thugs who accosted Aida in Heaven's Tread. Killed by Feral in Jadeye

  Tyrs: many-pierced Secundus Dynast of Forge. Fed into one of his own forges by the Rags.

  Valeer: a mentally challenged, unkempt individual able to manipulate Thorns. Died in Jadeye to "Braid".

  Vanyen: A crippled young woman who created the Cult of the Mother. Martyred Prophet of the Mother. Murdered by Semon Dynastic Assassins.

  Venner: Grandmaster of Optimimes in Jadeye, "best in the entire Book"

  Viviana: gorgeous, multi-talented ex-slave from Berujat. Partner of Alerestro. Killed by the Vale Legion in Berujat

  Wake: Dynast of Graves, marries even though they all die. Quintus. Isolate.

  White Spiral: an older Feral in Aida's service. Archer. Died protecting Aida in Jadeye

  36th Dynasty: A Dynasty the Anticores have met?.

  100th Dynasty: The Dynasty ruling the Book.

  Adventures of Bubo, The: popular kids story

  All, The: All the verses, even those beyond The Book.

  Ancients: a major Dynastic Chapter, an "elite number", "own Ziggurat" and "run the great bank that is Monopolis"

  Anchorites: individuals capable of creating anchor points affixed to nothing.

  Annalis compound: sprawling complex in Libriam, heart of The Book's bureaucracy. Arrivals 'Dirt' home to new dispatches, Archives 'Dust' storage for old material. Paths and Ways storage for 'nails. Burned to the ground by the Rags.

  Anticore: Sect creature which "wears convincing human skins" with "swarming insects... beneath the skin"

  Arborian: gardeners from Groves

  Arcers: a type of mancer able to summon blades of energy

  Ascen, The/The Ascendant: divinities "watching over every verse"?

  Assessor: census-taker

  Audits/"Diggers": Libriam internal affairs

  Autumn: verse rich in gold?

  Aze: swordmaker?

  Azure: An oceanic verse with blue beaches ruled by

  Berujat: "fleshmarkets"; primary seat of slave trade and home of most Lineage Masters, owned by Fraction.

  Black Court: a realm of pure darkness. Also, those who rule there. Where Partaking happens.

  Black Court Tribunal: localized Black Court authority?

  Blood, The: imbibed at Partaking, transforms one into a Dynast if they survive

  Book of Verses, The: the 1,000 verses ruled by the Dynasty. "The Kiloverse"

  Broadcliff, Tallmarket: cities in Stacks

  Bubo's Tale: Story of an ancient dyast who explored a mythical land called "Christendom" with his rats

  Calms: periods when ever-blowing winds die down in Berujat

  Canyon of Cages: cliff where slaves are held in Berujat

  Cave Dwellers: tribes that live in the underground in Origin, keep others out until "the Return"

  Century Thread: additional threads appearing elsewhere on the body every century a Dynast lives

  Cerebrist: creator of slavants

  Chalk/"Vistas": verse entirely made of chalky cliff, belongs to Reck

  Chant, The/Sacrosanct Chant: some sort of law in the Dynasty?

  Chant of Inoculation: chant supposed to protect against disease, "Mudra of Cleansing"

  Chapters: power groupings among the Dynasts of the Book: predominantly The Ancients, the Fractious Fraction, and Isolates.

  Circular Sea: an ocean abutting the Jadeye segment of Heaven's Tread

  Clock Priest: priests from Gears who track and tell time religiously

  Commu: chewed drug/herb?

  ConMach: convoy? courier? "ConMach drains the very life from the Directory's verses". Supply "ConMach machines"

  Construct: some great machine draining reality via black holes to create the All.

  Crowmen: buy corpses to return them to life and service as rotters

  Cupola Thorn: the main Thorn in the city Jadeye in Heaven's Tread, a stone dome built over it

  Currence: something valuable inside old coins? "harder than currence"? "Solid current forms currence." Currence melts to watter.

  Currency: money, gold coins once held currence inside to give value, now debased

  Current: some form of energy that powers "artifices"? "Solid current forms currence."

  Directory: "the Directory to Ink is like the Dynasty to the Book", dominating rulers of Ink

  Donative, The: Black Court taxes, taken by Legion if not offered. Don't pay, no Partaking every century.

  Dusa: people with manipulable hair of silver wire, from Gears

  Dynast: individual given rule of a verse if they survive Partaking. Ageless and hard to kill. Regenerative. Sustained by "the Blood"; no food or water necessary.

  Dynast's Tower: a massive tower at the peak of Ziggurat.

  Dynasty: the Dynasts who rule the Book

  Ebon: founder of the Dynasty and Black Court

  Ebon Saga: the tale of Ebon's foundation of The Book and Dynasty

  Ebonese: the language of the Book

  Echoseer shells: devices to allow one to "see" in the Black Court

  El: semi-insubstantial snake/remora-like creatures that follow gods (and sometimes Dynasts) around

  "Emperor of Everything": popular kids story about Inro turning down becoming emperor, then crushing those who elevated a different Dynast

  Feral: bone-masked bodyguards who require the essence of their master to survive. "Damned to Ferals" as a form of capital punishment. "the damned", "damned to a Feral"

  Fetalist: Imminent faction who believe the future is unchangeable

  First Thread/Primus: a fresh Dynast/the first luminescent silver thread etched into their foreheads.

  Forge: verse ruled by Tyrs with much metalworking

  Fractious Fraction/"DissatisFaction"/"The Renewal": a major Dynastic Chapter who "hate everyone including each other", "entice every freemancer and Lineage Master" ... "to Berujat". For those with "verses deficient in maor ways."

  Gates, The: Inter-verse travel method created by Ebon. Opened with Limn

  God, A: unique, "undying" creatures of immense size, The First Ones

  God's Rote: child's first memorization, what gods are

  God-dwellers: "monks" who live on a god

  God-touched: those who have physically touched a god (and lived)

  Gonist: organ dealers and traders

  Gons: self-sustaining organs capable of living outside a host

  Graves: a verse "Made of the dead by the dead for the dead".

  Green People: A tribe of jungle dwellers from Origin

  Groves: a forest verse, home to Arborists

  Heaven's Tread: a verse "inside a hollow rolling pin", host to Jadeye, the largest city in the Book

  High Parser: officials from Ink

  Imminent: seers advising Dynasts and shaping course of The Book

  Imminent Prophecy: something about a barbarian Dynast, Ender of Verses and/or Savior of Dynasties?

  Inevitables; faction of Imminent who believe it is their sacred duty to ensure the future comes to pass as seen

  Ink: home verses of the Skeinry, Keens, Directory, and "the Faded People". Drained of color and drained.

  Innoculist: doctors who teach chants "brought from Logos" to cure disease

  Inviolate: agents of the black court who "serve the Black Court, protect the Dynasty, uphold the Chant, root out corruption" with "unlimited, undisclosed, and untraceable budgets"

  Inviolate Vial: carried by Inviolates as badge of office

  Iode: substance that ignites when crushed

  Iris: the giant portals leading between one cylinder of Heaven's Tread to the next

  Isolates: a major Dynastic Chapter with a "unified stand for independence", "cheat the Donative, stockpil[e] currence and watter" "hire Keen mercenaries" "raise own private Legions in secret"

  Jade Eye, The: the "giant emerald" at the middle of Ocyl's Spire in Jadeye

  Jadeye: the largest city in the Book and major trade hub, in Heaven's Trade

  Jar: Name of a "gold" coin now made of brass. Once held currence within.

  Jaxeday: holiday in Stacks with boat carvings, feasts, games of Fishhead, dances, and storytelling

  Jaxestack: a whitewashed stack on Stacks home to Jaxekin

  Jutland Reach: a verse with guns?

  Gates: previous travel method before Thorns and the Kiss, opened by painting Limn on an arch in one verse and another in Terminus

  Green People: tribes that live in the jungles of Origin

  Keen: Ink warriors wearing impossibly-heavy iron armor whose power source drains color from the area about it. "Tank knights"

  Kin: descendants of a Dynast, most desperately trying to reach 100 so they can Partake

  Kiss, The: disease that wiped out "hundreds of verses", also name for the time period when Aj became active last and destroyed 100s of verses before halting in Sunset

  Lambent ram: animal whose wool glows?

  Letch: sect bred leech-like creature designed to stop bleeding on wounds

  Libriam: a swampy verse home to the Annalis, heart of The Book's bureaucracy

  Libwe: tribe possessing the "holy" Limn clay bed.

  Limn: "infused clay" bearing some sort of internal power, used by Ebon to found the Dynasty

  Lineage: a line of mancers taught by a Master

  Linemen: workers on the Stacks trolleys who pull the cars along the lines

  Lizard Hunters: Arca's people, walkers of the wastes of Origin

  Logos: "the thought realm"

  Machine Curse: something that stops machines from working between verses?

  Mancers: "no mancers arc (could) affect it", people with abilities beyond human normal, usually trained/implanted by a Master.

  Master's Markets: primary slave market in the Book in Berujat

  Menial: common folk

  Molt: person able to shed skins (see skins)

  Mon, The: "the Outsiders". "exist only to destroy the Book" with their "demonic and monstrous children" from "the Hells beyond". The same race as the Ascen but objectors to the creation of the All.

  Monopolis: the "City of Currency", bank verse ruled by Rega

  Mourne, The: something dangerous that lurks in the Vale, "the why we do not tarry"

  Mother's Faith: the relgion based on Aida created by Semon

  Mother's Militant: Formerly the Rogue Legions led by Eonora, now pledged to protect the people of the Book

  Mune: a utopist collective from Dost who mask their identities and share everything communally

  Nameday: when children are named

  Ocyl's Preserve: a garden "beyond the Circular Sea" in Heaven's Tread?

  Ocyl's Spire: the tower home to the court of Ocyl, Dyanst of Heaven's Tread

  One Tribe, The: Arca's new tribe incorporating the Libwe and whomever else is conquered or enticed to join.

  One-Eighth Shithole: Aida's verse. Unfortunately. A desolate place home to volcanoes and a giant dead turtle

  Optomime: gadgeteer

  Origin: the First Verse, from which Ebon originated, containing the "Cities Below". The "first page of The Book"

  Pale, The: light-skinned people, conquered by Ebon during the founding of the Dynasty. Alternately, albinism

  Paragon: warrior who can see the future

  Partaking: the ritual that creates Dynasts (or kills those who try). Performed by some unknown, large creature in the Black Court.

  Phero: Lineage whose scent creates overwhelming attraction

  'pillar: fuzzy Sect-bred giant caterpillar pet

  Porcelain Guard: Ocyl's white-masked Ferals

  Pure Priest of the Ascen/Blind Priests: priests praising the Ascen and back the Black Court

  Rags: derogatory name for alliance of Isolates and Fractious Fraction. Call themselves "Resistance Against the Grevious Ancient Coup."

  Reachers: massive, Sect-bred creatures that direct traffic and rescue unfortunates in the Sighted Path in Jadeye

  Reconquest: time four-hundred years ago when Inro "drove [tribals] back into civilization's fold at spear point"

  Rotters: sack-clothed, crudely-masked 'zombies' uses as pack-beasts and simple laborers. Created/sold by Crowmen.

  Royal Strider: giant striders which carry carriages of the wealthy slung underneath them

  Sect, The: breeders of useful insectoid- and/or sauroid-like creatures

  Seericide: seers capable of Knowing everything as they die

  Seneschal: chief servant of a Dynast, bear permanent strings allowing them to speak and understand any language

  Shale: a verse famous for its expensive stone

  Shore Striders: tribes that live along the oceans of Caves

  Shackle Pens: slave pens near Master's Market in Berujat?

  Shrineway: religious section of Jadeye "brailled prayers along the walls ... [and] cobblestones"

  Sighted Path: the zero-g road down the center of Heaven's Tread

  Silk: verse owned by Asta where all of verse's silk originates

  Sixth Tier Rebellion: last major uprising, in Ziggurat a century ago when "half the legions rose up". Put down by Baka

  Skeinry: iron-plated communication centers where Skeiners translate vibrations sent by wyre from other verses

  Skin/Hollow: animate skin of a molt able to move, talk, and share snatches of its experience with its molt

  Skinlife: living tattoos

  Skinscribe: individuals brailled with lore, walking libraries

  Slavant: an individual who "loses much" to be implanted with an ability

  Soresearer: individuals capable of "healing" by cauterizing wounds with their hands

  Stacks: An ocean verse comprised of tall pillars jutting up from the seas. Trolleys run on long ropes between them "affixed by Anchorites to airy nothing"

  Striders: "stilt-legged gray-skinned insect-lizard"s used as fast mounts, large enough to carry several riders

  Strings: worn or implanted wire devices that translate speech

  Stone Walkers: tribes that live in the cold of Origin

  Subterrane, The: inter-verse travel route accessed by Ebon via Limn

  Sunset: the verse where Aj was 'contained', formerly protected by Dynast Inro. The "Prison of Prisons" holds mad Dynasts, monsters and demons... vaults of dangerous relics.

  Sunset Legions/Vault Legions: Inro's Legions, wiped out by Aj in Sunset

  Surgon: person able to remove organs

  Swirl: A verse. "The pleasure barges of Swirl"

  Syphon: machine ConMach uses to "drain the very life" and color from a verse to "fuel... machinery"

  Tangle, The: the jungles of the One-Eighth

  Terminus: the verse from which the Gates all opened, hub of the Book before The Kiss and now mostly abandoned.

  Thorn: huge, curling thorns which Valeers can use as gateways to the Vale, doorways between verses. Grow into verses over centuries. The 2√3 Dynasty.

  Thrum: guide in the Black Court

  Tribunal: group of three Dynasts coming together to make ruling or pass judgment

  Twine: "one soul threaded through two bodies"

  Unkillable Swordsman: a Paragon killed by Deia long ago

  Vale: "The Place Between". A realm of high-contrast black and white full of thorns and Thorns.

  Vale Walkers: discoverers of verses

  Valeer: people capable of activating Thorns, barely functional of anything else

  Valeer's 'nail: crystals containing wafers that allow travel within the Vale to specific verses without a Valeer

  Venger: muscle man?

  Verse: a pocket universe or world

  Verser Lord/Lady: agents of an individual Dynast who rule part of a verse at the whim of their Dynast

  Vibrant: color-changing individuals from Ink?

  Watter: an energetic liquid. "Currence melts to watter. Watter's current dissipates over time, leaving water."

  Weeping Falls: Jadeye Iris flowing with waterfalls

  Wicker Way: towers of stone, wood, and rope that connect opposite far sides of Jadeye

  Wiz of Berujat: multi-minded, capable of performing multiple tasks simultaneously

  World Spear: an immense stack on Stacks

  Wretch: untouchables forced to walk on all fours, "the human refuse that cleans up the literal waste piles"

  Wretch Plague/Dynast's Plague: the flu. A horrific disease spread by Wretches.

  Wyres: lines run through the Vale between verses that allow communication between. A giant Ziggurat