Glossary

By Dolores J. Nurss

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Note: This glossary changes constantly, receiving new entries all the time. Most of these words will not crop up in all stories. I have not written down all of the unusual words and terms that I have buried in my notes, but have concentrated mainly on those most pertinent to finished novels (which is why you will at first see more notes on Til Territories and the Charadoc than any other cultures) though I am trying to include as much as I can on missions, cultures and lands not yet formally written about--hundreds of cultures exist in my notes, and they all have their peculiar terminology. Please notify me if you find anything unfamiliar in my tales that I haven't yet catalogued for this letter. Thank you.

Abdication Era:   In Mabhratha, 2442-2454, the period during which an ad hoc coalition of bureaucrats, generals, village elders, clerics, and local celebrities , and the occasional wise layperson who just showed up, held the country together while forging a new government based on community consensus to cast collective votes in the larger body politic, after Gerald IV abdicated the throne without an heir.

Abdication furniture:  A style of furniture fashionable during the Abdication Era of Mabhratha, and still having its aficionados today, in imitation of the handiwork of Gerald IV, former king, who set aside his crown to lead the life of a carpenter.  Characterized by simple structure, clean lines, and steam-bent curves, sturdily made and with good joinery, often of several different kinds of wood harmoniously put together.

Aborigine Canyon: A canyon in Misty Island, Til Territories, containing the ruins of one of the earliest colonies on Novatierre. At one time archaeologists believed this to be the first, or “aboriginal” colony, but older ruins have since been found on an island farther from the Mainland, and records buried deep in Archives have confirmed the primacy of the other ruins as the birthplace of Til. Still, the name for the canyon stuck. Legends of the remains dating back to before human arrival on Novatierre are entirely unfounded.
 
achkhan: A long jacket with an upright or Nehru collar, often quilted or brocaded for cooler weather, or made of thin cloth and worn without a shirt underneath in warmer weather. Common male garb in Samina-Ved.
 
accelerated intelligence: Neurological alteration designed to speed the reflexes, reception and processing of information. Illegal by Til law for reasons undisclosed except on a need-to-know basis.
 
Admiral’s Rock: A large, jutting rock formation on the western coast of the Coral gulf, between Brother Beach and Prudence Path. A good vantage point for assessing the changeable weather of the gulf.

adobe-assessor: The Diemtran Empire does not have property taxes in the same sense as most countries, measured by acreage, as they consider the land to belong to nobody and they farm collectively.  People do, however, own buildings, usually made of adobe, and upon the building, expansion, or reduction of every building, domestic or commercial, the adobe-assessor comes to call, to assess the square-footage of the usable space for purposes of taxation.

A Diemtranian does not have to pay a cent for the initial construction, and may have the building fashioned according to hir own liking, but must carefully estimate how many rooms e can pay for on a yearly basis, and the adobe-assessor can help hir calculate this.  People who prosper often add rooms, and people who have had a downturn of luck (or simply no longer need the space) will ask the local adobe-gang to sledgehammer rooms or whole floors off of their property, after which the materials become available to the general public.

The building-tax pays for the training, tools and salaries of adobe-assessors and adobe-gangs.  It cannot go to any other purpose.  Civic affairs take place in privately owned buildings--whoever can afford to pay taxes on a public building and wishes to do so.  Often coalitions take on this duty.  Critics of this system claim that it gives certain weathy individuals too much influence, and periodically people call for an increase in the adobe-tax to fund public buildings, but so far this movement has not gained enough momentum to succeed.

adobe-gang:  A team of workers in Diemtran who makes a circuit of a village or a city-neighborhood maintaining and repairing adobe structures, as well as building new ones, making additions, or demolishing unneeded rooms, floors or buildings.  They have enough members to make sure that every structure in the community gets refurbished at least every two years; if a community expands or the buildings become more elaborate than could fit in this schedule, it will split into two new neighborhoods, each with its own adobe-gang.

adobe-gangster:  Somebody who works in an adobe-gang, often a student paying for classes beyond the government-sponsored curriculum.  Adobe-gangsters work three days a week, divided between a Monday-Wednesday-Friday gang and a Tuesday-Thurday-Saturday gang.  The pay covers a modest lifestyle and rarely constitutes a career, although some have chosen to stay on well into middle-age, particularly artists, poets and philosophers who like the freedom to let their minds wander on the job.  Gangsters must first pass classes in construction/demolition safety, technique, and building codes before hiring.

Adobe-gangsters have their own subculture and customs, and give positive critiques of community members whenever so moved.  They will sculpt cob art into the walls of those they like, approve of, or admire, such as flowers, stars, bountiful harvests or abstract designs, or sometimes add sculptures depicting the trade or interests of the business or resident.  They especially love to decorate a home built for newlyweds, with hearts, flowers, scrollery, even bas-reliefs of angels kissing.  They feel an ecumenical commitment to sculpting art for churches, temples and mosques, each according to the preferences of the believers who worship within  They will adorn secular gathering-spaces just as cheerfully, if they think them worthwhile. 

The tributes eventually melt in the monsoons unless maintained.  People have been known to knock tributes off of walls in the middle of the night if they believe them undeserved.  Others have been known to secretly slap together tributes of their making onto their own homes or businesses, but when caught out they become objects of ridicule, and the tributes popularly removed.

On rare occasions adobe-gangsters have been known to sculpt something insulting or rude, but it takes a great offense to inspire such a thing; in any case these seldom last past the time it takes to scrape them off.  According to legend one mayor knew that his political star had fallen when he came home to find his property studded with cob replicas of dog excrement, but historians have failed to find proof that this ever happened.  An adulteror married to an adobe-gangster's sister found female buttocks bulging over his highest window and had a difficult time reaching them to take them down.  Before he succeeded passers-by photographed the offending sculpture for posterity.

Adobe-gangsters feature prominently in popular Diemtran drama and literature, particularly as romantic figures or critiquers of society.  They often go on to become celebrated artists, writers, statesmen or clergy, but just as often remain humbly but happily employed.

Adulthood Day: The last day of February, in Til Institute. On this day all those who passed their adulthood tests since the last Adulthood Day sign their names in the open-air room towards the bottom of the Adulthood Pyramid, ascend to the top, and there receive a magentine-impregnated rubber stamp of the Til emblem. Then they descend again, holding the stamp in their hands and letting it absorb the unique flavor of their identities. Back again to the courtyard at the base, they stamp the Til emblem next to their own signatures, and depart as fully recognized adults (although legally they are adult as soon as they pass their tests.) They will keep the stamps for the rest of their lives (although agents do not usually carry them abroad on covert missions.) Upon death, the Psychometrist’s Museum will receive them and store them for possible future research.
 
Adulthood Pyramid: A somewhat steep, stepped-pyramidal spire in Til Institute, made of worn, mica-bearing dressed stone, much overgrown by moss and epiphytes. Stairs descend from the peak, sometimes in a deep groove, sometimes out into the open on broad landings, with various twists and turns. Close to the base it leads to a broad, roofless room, then a final flight of steps. Used in the traditional celebration of Adulthood Day.
 
adulthood tests: A rigorous series of tests, usually staged at an inopportune moment, to determine whether a minor qualifies for adult status due to psychological maturity, regardless of chronological age.
 
Aengris: In legend, a dangerous demigod indigenous to Novatierre who, on the arrival of Earthians, took on a humanesque form, the better to intimidate the unwelcome newcomers. But humanesque stretches the point; he is said to rise up at need from the waves in a semblance of a body shaped of sparkling sea-water, many times the height of a man. As guardian of the passage from the Hystredaimmian Sea into the Duerlongh Sea, he would dash ships to destruction if not placated by sacrifices. Finally, the hero Mabhrath did battle with him and slew him.
 
On the more scientific front, archaeologists have found the shattered remains of an inordinately large magentine crystal complex of blue and green on the east side of the strait, once remaining as a pillar after the sea had eroded away the matrix of an enormous “cathedral” type geode from around it. One cannot help but speculate if Aengris was in fact the product of the fearful minds of the early colonists, amplified into a gregor force sustained by this highly potent concentration of magentine, and reinforced by sacrifices, until somebody dispersed the crystals holding the force together.
 
Aengris, Straits of: The rocky and dangerous passage between the Hystredammian Sea and the Duerlongh Sea.
 
Afriqu�: Although plainly named by the original settlers for the African continent of their memory, the region of Afriqu� only constitutes a small portion of the Southeastern Continent, corresponding to that section of northern coast directly opposite the island chain Mediterrae, which divides the Sea of Holumbria from the Hystrediamma Sea. Colonized by Mediterrae, it lies loosely under Mediterraean jurisdiction.
 
Age of Migration: That period of history during which the Great Migration took place, believed to have begun in the late 21st century and covering roughly a century.
 
agency: (1) The career of being an agent of the Tili�n.
 
(2) The institution of training and utilizing agents of the Tili�n.
 
agency evaluation: A series of tests to determine whether a student has enough potential to train as an agent.
 
agent of the Tili�n: One sworn and trained to serve Lovequest by effecting changes within societies, in order to enhance their survival and the survival of humanity in general, usually through cultural immersion, often in secret.

Agent's Infirmary:  An isolated ward of the hospital at Carmina Island, for those agents whose ills have no prior precedent, are known to be contagious, and/or have an unknown origin or cause.  Occasionally non-agents, especially foreign, might find themselves quarantined here, if they suffer from similar conditions.

Aiam:  The Darvinian Goddess of Mercy.  The daughter of Yaio of Sand and Shi'h, (or of Consequences and Justice.) 

According to the Darvinians, Yaio and Shi'h ruled relentlessly, allowing no argument to sway their penalties for transgressions, until one day Shi'h collected some shells to grind into a calcium meal for her tomato plants.  In those days shells were only white, and sometimes, fossilized in rocks, you can find such shells even now, from the days before they changed.  Yet they still had lovely shapes, and little Aiam thought them beautiful.  So she stole them, and scattered them all along the rivers for everyone to enjoy.

Shi'h did not know who stole them, and sued her husband to ring consequences down upon the thief.  And they went looking for whoever was responsible.  But when they found their beautiful daughter, Aiam, playing on the river-beach with the shells, their hard hearts melted at the sight.  For the first time they could not punish a transgressor.  Indeed, they both conceded that the shells looked far more lovely on the beach than in the grindstone, and that it would be a shame to crush them.

"Perhaps we have made the world too strict, too practical," Yaio conceded.  And with those words colors flooded into the shells, and Aiam laughed with delight.

"Perhaps even I should have my limits," said Shi'h, "and that limit should be my heart."  And she reached a tender hand to Aiam's playthings and polished them, and they became shimmering, iridescent.  And Aiam danced for joy, and all creatures stopped to watch in wonder the beauty of Aiam's dance.  As she danced, she grew into a young woman of surpassing beauty.  She has held the power over the hearts of her parents ever since.

The Darvinians portray Aiam as a beautiful young woman, with masses of black curls like her father, but unlike him they tumble freely over her shoulders, untrammeled.  Her skin is the color of taupe sand, but her cheeks blush like shells.  She has a generous smile, full breasts, and outstretched arms.  Pale, iridescent robes veil her body.

Her devotees make her small shrines of shells glued or wired together, and shells or pearls she accepts as her offerings.  Darvinians will import shells from all over the world for her; foreigners who bring shells with them as gifts for Darvinian hosts receive an especially warm welcome.  One finds her shrines in homes and hospitals, and of course courtrooms.  However, few want to be seen openly laying an offering before her in a courtroom, lest people think them guilty as charged.

aid and trade pact:  A pact between clans in Clomen, governing commerce and pledging mutual aid in time of need, mutual defense, and sometimes extradition.  A network of these pacts holds Clomen together.  The education of children includes memorization, first, of all of their clan's aid and trade pacts, in all of the particulars.  Later, in higher education, they must memorize the particulars of every aid and trade pact in the country, if they want to engage in business on a professional level.  This has led to rumors of illiteracy in Clomen, but this has no basis; Clomen parents teach their children reading and arithmatic, the basics of clan history, and other matters of immediate use to the family, as well as the child's first forays into the arts and music, as a matter of course, before the young ones enter formal education at the age of eight.

Aistruli:  A nation on the Mighty Rail, bordered to the north by Tremarnion and Naugren, to the west by [not yet dreamed] to the south by Clomen and to the east by the Nimu Sea.  They share the Bay of Peace with Clomen.

    Culturally they divide between Highland, Lowland, and Coastal cultures, but custom dictates that teenagers of each spend at least forty days each (in a block or spread out over time) staying with families in the other two cultures.  All three, however, discourage intermarriage, though it happens.  Most commonly the intermarried move to the region around the Bay of Peace, known for its cosmopolitanism.

    The Lowland culture traces its origins to Lithuania.  They wandered for generations, looking for the ideal location.  For awhile they settled in a fertile valley of a northern mountain range (location now disputed) a place of intense, cold winters compensated for by hyperintense flowering in spring and an abundant summer and autumn.  They named the land "Aistru", or "Passion".  Eventually, however, "wild beasts" drove them from the land (most likely what is now known as the Great Mottled Wolf.) 

    Then they connected with a Filipino expedition (later to become the Coastal People) who had also wandered awhile, though not a full generation, seeking a seaside with good fishing, since they were fisherani by trade.  Together they found a stormy but beautiful land, with farmland enough for the Lithuanians and seafront for the Filipinos, backed by a steep, mineral-rich mountain range mined already by Mountainfolk, who welcomed them and shared the land readily.

    The Mountainfolk had not named the country, so the newcomers called it Auistruli (Filipino-influenced Lithuanian for "Aistru Again".)  The Mountainfolk had intermarried before with Koreans of a strict Buddhist sect, and led spartan lives, not attaching to the things of this world, but patient with those who still prized such attachments.

    Each group recognized value in the other cultures: the Filipino exuberant work ethic, the Lithuanian intensity and joie de vrie in the face of hardships, and the Mountainfolk asceticism and highmindedness.  So it became customary to visit each other occasionally to balance one's own virtues with those of the others, and to expect this of one's children.

    Aistruli exports fish meal, bentonite, iodine, epsom salts, gourmet table salts, bromine, and wheat.

Akhbar's Iodine Ox Ointment: Topical antibiotic ointment used in veterinary medicine, consisting of an iodine suspension in a polymer of carpaya sap. Closely related to the ointment used in human medical practice, Carpodine, but less refined, less strictly monitored in manufacture, and therefore much cheaper.
 
Al'Aalem, Abdul: Founder of the nation of Istislan, and of Istislan Capitol. Born a Berber in Morocco, Earth, he studied physics in Paris, France, after which he took up a position in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as a physics professor. But his liberal interpretation of Istislah, or “Right Living”, as superseding Sharia Law, won him persecution. After five years in prison, Amnesty International won him freedom, provided he immigrate to the United States of America under political refugee status, where he headed the science department at the University of Houston.
 
Later he received appointment to NASA, where he played a leading role in reconstructing the Transfer technology pioneered by Fobos and Consuelo Tercos. Some say that he stole much of this research from Gerald Robinson, father of our own Amy Robinson. His defenders say that Dr. Robinson had become unstable and dangerous around some of the more sensitive equipment, and that by then it didn't really matter who got credit for what, so long as humanity survived.
 
Dr. Al'Aalam organized the official United States government colony to Novatierre: a much larger and more organized effort than any attempted short of the effort of Technological Laboratories itself, but somewhat later in the game, after a computer virus destroyed large portions of the world's collective knowledge (In the last days of the USA, it is said, the largest employer still handing out money was NASA, hiring people to log book-contents by hand back into their master computer.)
 
Legend has it that he also did everything in his power to distribute information on transfer technology all over the world, when his fellow scientists proved to him that Earth headed rapidly into a decline that could no longer sustain the human race. It is said that Dr. Al'Aalem only killed one man in his life, despite having found himself menaced at gunpoint on numerous occasions in his career, and that was a CIA officer sent to silence him.
 
Abdul Al'Aalem led the colony to the place which he named Istislanistan (modern-day Istislan Capitol.) Again, he disobeyed his own government by admitting into the colony people of many different nations, as well as a number of those deemed “unfit” for the colony, whether due to disabilities, criminal records, or political difficulties. He in fact married a blind Israeli woman named Maryam (her maiden name has been lost to record) and his chief pilot allegedly had been a smuggler in his youth. Again, according to legend, Maryam later saved his life in the jungles of the new world, by hearing the prowling of a large predatory animal hidden in the foliage, seconds before it pounced.
 
He lived for twenty seven more years in Novatierre, five of which he spent as leader of the colony, stepping down after that to act as a technical coordinator and advisor. Eventually he died of an unknown pathogen, surrounded by his many children despite the danger. Some of them sickened afterwards, but none of them died. His tomb has become a popular tourist attraction in the heart of Istislan Capitol.

Al' Aalam Park:  A park of roughly seven square miles, underneath and around  downtown Istislan Capitol.  Notable for its collection of late 21st century abstract sculptures.  Bathing one's face, hands, and feet in a flat, raised fountain of square or diamond shape in one corner of the park is alleged to bring good luck, but you have to find it, yourself, and no map indicates its location.

Alcazar: A city in the Charadoc. No other major city rests at so high an altitude in the entire nation.
 
Built around a hot mineral spring, Alcazar owes its initial fame as a resort town, and a popular summer destination. The presence of rich patrons has attracted masters of every art, so that now Alcazar also has one of the finest reputations in the world for high culture.
 
Yet, additionally, it also excels in sports, and has won Olympic medals in every branch of track and field, plus speed skating, skiing, toboggen, and soccer. It has won more marathons than any other nation. When athletes train in the thin atmosphere, they become virtually inexhaustible at lower altitudes.
 
Alien: Colloquial name for a sentient resembling a giant stingray, with a body-length braincase and a pouch in the chest where e tucks in hir fine and coarse tentacles, six of the former in various sizes, four of the latter. Aliens are hermaphroditic in gender.
 
The Aliens took generations to travel from another galaxy in response to a human space-probe. In following records left behind by humanity, they, too, transferred over to Novatierre.
 
They have legal claim to most of the world's oceans below a certain measure of the surface, as well as some important fishing-lanes, but they have proven generous in leasing rights or waiving them outright, especially since their population has dwindled steadily for generations, now, and they have no present use for much that they once required. They hve become indispensable to Tili�n Initiation ceremonies, which require seven seconds of contact with their telepathic minds. The Tili�n intend this to purge human beings of the notion that any fellow human being can ever truly be "alien".
 
Alien Reefs: Coral reefs blocking the western portion of the mouth of the Coral Gulf, inhabited by a large colony of Aliens.

all-weather tent:  A tent of latex or rubberized material whose main feature is inflatability of both floors and sides, although particularly strong anchoring pegs must of necessity also go with this design.  It usually has vents with canvas on each side of the opening rather than windows.

Alonzan: A native or inhabitant of Alonzo Valley.
 
Alonzo City: Capitol of the Alonzo Valley district of Til Territories. Economic hub of the area, its main industries involve the processing and packing of farm-produce, manufacture of soy or lactose-based plastics, and distribution of feed, farming-tools and other mainstays of agribusiness. Its community-colors are purple and silver. Named for Alonzo Hernandez
 
Alonzo Harbor: The most important harbor of Novo Durango in Til Territories, it consists of a bay opening at the mouth of the Fertile River, protected by Hernandez Island. It hosts harborage for the Tili�n Navy and the Istislan Commercial Fleet, as well as numerous smaller piers for various seacraft, both private and public. Tower Island lies in the center of it, featuring a restored Early Migration fortress and other points of historical interest in Wilbourne Prado and other parks. It also holds a scattering of other, lesser islands of little human use, though rich in wildlife. Named for Alonzo Hernandez.
 
Alonzo Valley: A huge, tilted valley east of the Coral Gulf, the main breadbasket of Til Territories. Named for Alonzo Hernandez, who led the Farmer's Revolt resulting in the present balance of power and interdependence between Til institute and the Valley. Alonzo Valley practices family-dominated capitalism and has many cultural differences from the Tili�n.
 
Alonzo Valley Christmas Fair: Alonzo Valley’s first colonists arrived on December 25, 2174. While reserving the date for Christmas nine years out of ten, on every tenth year the denizens of Alonzo Valley celebrate their founding with an all-valley fair and fireworks display on Fireworks Hill.
 
Alroy Peak: The highest peak on Smuggler’s Island. Long believed to have simply been named for some forgotten discoverer or inhabitant of the island, events in 2705 revealed that it was probably named by members of the Outlaw Cult that worshiped Alroy the Ever-Young.
 
Alter-Australia: Original name for Altraus.
 
Alterlli: A thick, hairy vine that grows in vast loops through the eucalyptine forests of Altraus, peculiarly adapted to the chemically hostile environment of eucalyptine humus. A single vine can stretch for a mile or more if pulled out straight.
 
Altraus: The continental land-mass roughly equivalent to Australia in this parallel planet. It differs mainly from Earth's Australia by the height of its mountain-range and a deep gulf amounting to an inland sea, both due to a crack in the tectonic plate upon which it rests.
 
Altraus Coastal Range: Those mountains that rim the northern coast of Altraus. (We advise readers from north of the equstor to please take note, when studying maps of the region, that Tili�n mapmakers customarily place south at the top and orient all else from that.)
 
Altraus Mountains: The chief range of the continent of Altraus, arcing around the Coral gulf and bifurcating around Alonzo Valley, with a high spur up south into the badlands.
 
Altraus Pinniped: A large, seal-like creature with prominent tusks, common to the coasts and islands around Altraus.
 
Altraus Rail: A narrow-gauge railway system linking the Altraus mountain communities with the coastal towns and Alonzo Valley. Originally steam-powered, it now runs on bioconversion engines.
 
Altraus Tram: A suspended tramway linking Carmina Island (at Cliffside Laboratories) with the town of Domestica near the border of Til Institute. Domestica is the only community other than Til Institute to make use of Carmina Island Hospital, thanks to the convenience of this tram.
 
amatahten: A large, oily fish, of great commercial value, of many different breeds and appearances yet all having the same general lemon-shaped outline, found in all oceans. The oxygen-binding properties of myoglobin in its bloodstream (which gives the flesh its pinkish appearance) and a complex vascular system enables this fish to swim in a much wider range of temperatures than most can endure, but it spawns primarily in warm waters, most notably the Gulf of Istislan and the Han-Burongi Sea.
 
Amazee: A farming community and tourist attraction in the midlands of Istislan, to which Abdul Al'Aalem retired for many years, before spending his final days back in Istislan City. His mansion and grounds have become popular as a hotel and national park, especially as a place to hold weddings and honeymoons.
 
ambassador: A native of one country who serves the political function of representing the interests of that country in another nation. While most nations send out their own citizens, an ambassador of the Tili�n is considered a form of agent, and so abides by the laws governing agents, which include temporarily transferring his citizenship to that of the country in question for the duration of his mission.
 
Ambrey Botanical Laboratories: A scientific complex built just upslope of Canyon Beach in Til Territories, for the examination of the unique life forms evolved for the canyon complex in Cracked Mesa. Originally devoted to botany, it has expanded to include zoology and mycology as well.
 
Ambrey Canyon: Original and official name for the most prominent canyon in Cracked Mesa, which holds Ambrey Botanical Laboratories, colloquially now called Dustrat Canyon. It connects to all the other canyons in the Cracked Mesa complex. Named by St. Amelia of Altraus for a vision that she had of the canyon containing the Body of Christ. According to legend, those guided by her vision found the remains of murdered children at the head of the canyon and gave them proper burial.
 
Ambrey Island: Island across from Canyon Beach, which Ambrey Canyon spills into. Named for Ambrey Canyon.
 
Ambrey Research Center: a larger and more comfortable facility at the disposal of the scientists of Ambrey Botanical Laboratories, located on an island across from Canyon Beach. While not as specifically equipped as Ambrey Botanical, it affords better housing and easier access to the rest of the world. This is where researchers, especially visitors, usually stay, commuting by boat to the laboratory proper.
 
Ambrey Village: A small community on the seaward side of Ambrey Island, populated by an affable mix of biologists and fisherani.
 
Amelia of Altraus, St.: See Mendoza, Amelia Edelson
 
Amelia’s Cabin: Log and adobe ruins between Barrier Mountain and Mountain of Memories are alleged to have once belonged to Amelia Edelson Mendoza, AKA St. Amelia of Altraus, one of the founding mothers of Til Territories. Here she is believed to have written her prose masterpiece, “Meditations on a New World,” a cornerstone of Tili�n culture and philosophy.
 
Amereng: A family of languages all sprung from dialects of English as once spoken in the United States of America, principally characterized by absorbency, flexibility, and maddening irregularity.
 
Amereng Prime: The ancestor of all the Amereng family of languages. Once thought a dead language, rediscovery of The Tribe and several other isolated cultures have revealed that isolated communities still fluently speak something strikingly close to the original.
 
Many schools insist on students learning Amereng Prime, due to its widespread use in the last centuries of Earth, and therefore having impact on literature, theater, historical documents, and philosophy. The fact that it might also be the most difficult language ever invented is not lost on either students or teachers.
 
Amsi'en Amusement Park: A famous theme-park in Til Territories with rides, play-houses, theaters and bazaars, most with an educational effect.
 
Amy-May Island: Smallest of the Hermit-Daughter islands, named after the youngest daughter of the controversial cult leader, Wayne Moranesco, known as The Hermit. Uninhabited.
 
-an: A suffix for “person”, male, female or hermaphrodite. As in Policean, Mailan, Councilan, Firean, Fisheran, etc. The plural is "-ani", as in "The fisheran did not sail with the other fisherani." Putting the "i" first (as in Tili�n) is an archaicism surviving in some words. The accent on "an" in "Tili�n" is a later addition to emphasize the individual within the group, counterpointing the internalized “i” emphasizing the group connection within the individual.
 
The Ancients: Human beings of the high-tech civilization that preceded the collapse of Earth. Some of their technical feats have never been duplicated, but not nearly as many as popular imagination suggests. Their capacity for rampant destruction, accidental and deliberate, has also never been matched, but again this comes more often from lack of opportunity than people would like to admit. People may regard them with anything from reverence to despisal (sometimes both simultaneously) but rarely ever with neutrality.

The Andemonetas:  Three tropical islands off the coast of Chamree, in the Sea of Chamree. Named because of their proximation to the Adamon Islands on Old Earth, except somewhat smaller.  Colonized successively by Spaniards, Koreans, and Asian Indians.

The chief exports are spices, dried tropical fruits, dried fish, rubber, biodiesel, ointments, toiletries, and cosmetics.  They grow many varieties of rice and vegetables, as well as coconuts, and have access to rich fishing-lanes.  Andemonetan cuisine has a worldwide following.  However, the mountainous nature of the islands has restricted arable land, and competition for it has sometimes gotten bloody.

Roughly three-eighths of the populace are Christian, most of them belonging to the Korean Rite.  Roughly three-eigths are Hindu, of various traditions.  One quarter belong to other religions.  In recent years a preacher named Joawa Khalq has revived a long-extinct Hindu spin-off, Poleitestas, which has seen considerable new membership.

Andra the Wanderer, Saint: According to the legend, a little girl of Sandurste who felt called to leave her home and just start walking, all over the continent of Altraus, preaching of the love of God, and performing healings and miracles wherever she went, until she died of old age in Puerto Sal. Credited with bringing many isolated and marginal communities into contact with the outside world and thereby improving their chances of survival. Patron of travelers and runaways. Her alleged grave in Puerto Sal turned out to contain no remains, which the Puerto Saleans attribute to a miracle, but which none of the three popes have authenticated. Researchers have, however, authenticated the historical existence of Andra herself, though without as yet pinpointing her family of origin.

The Angel Faith:  The religion of Kalorcabori, which seems to be a mixture of Christianity, Asian religions, Wicca, and New Age philosophy.  According to their folklore, the Apocalypse happened on old Earth, and those who escaped to Novatierre chose a path between Heaven and Hell for all eternity, in the promised New Earth.  No one needs saved any longer, as the judgment has already taken place; everyone in Novatierre is fated forevermore to reincarnation.  The degree of one's ethical behavior determines one's fate in the next life, for better or for worse, but they do not hope in escape from the wheel of Karma, nor fear any hell.

Although believing themselves fled beyond the jurisdiction of the Deity of Earth, they trust that, in His pity for the Folk of the In-Between, He sent angels to minister to the colonists, to guide them and protect them, and to introduce them to the angels of Novatierre, which they teach are the spiritual aspects of every living thing on Novatierre, as well as the minerals, geographic features, bodies of water, and weather patterns.  Humankind can deal with these angels to better their lot from lifetime to lifetime, and can learn from what each kind has to teach about life on Novatierre.

The once-popular Conradin of the Angels is now considered a false prophet, leading, in effect, a cult as close as the Angel Faith can come to an antichrist or satanic movement.  Nobody ever names their children Conradin anymore.

Angelic Priesthood:  Ministers of the Angelic Faith of Kalorcabori.  Their duty is to listen to the Angels, educate and counsel the people, find newborn reincarnated monarchs to raise, witness contracts and vows, and conduct rituals, on schedule or as needed, to stay in the good grace of the angels, both those who came along with the original colonists, and those indigenous to Novatierre.

Anicana’a: The evil twin of the sea-goddess Cana’a, according to an isolated community of Mediterrae. A bringer of storms and destruction, and a seducer of men, whom she occasionally devours, occasionally rewards with treasure, and occasionally both.
 
Anne Island: Farthest of the Hermit-Daughter Islands, named after Anne Moranesco, fourth daughter of The Hermit. The island hosts a major breeding-ground for the Altraus Pinniped and several kinds of gulls.
 
Annie River: A west-side river in Alonzo Valley, one of the tributaries of the Fertile River, originating from Annie’s Spring. Some say that the river didn’t flow until Annie Moraga cleaned and developed the spring.
 
Annie‘s Spring: A spring discovered and developed by an early colonist named Annie Moraga, which originates out from under shale at the foot of the juncture between Mt. Scarsteep and Blessingview cliff. Annie Moraga was one of the founders of Pixie.
 
Anomalies of Visionary Science: A pseudoscientific and probably mythical text, utterly unfounded in reality, purportedly setting forth all manner of absurd, impossible, and immoral applications of magentine technology.
 
Anonymous Tavern: A room in the Silverfoam Inn, set up in all ways like a traditional tavern except that it only serves nonalcoholic beverages, provided for the comfort of agents recovering from chemical dependencies. The preferred site for AA and NA meetings among agents of the Tili�n.
 
Antarctica: The same iced-over land mass in Novatierre as in Earth. No one has ever lived there, no one has ever mapped it, and no one has ever developed an indigenous name for it. It is entirely possible that some colony might have landed there during the Migration, but if so, it could not have survived very long.
 
anthelma: A spice indigenous to the west coast of the Southeastern Continent. It has a pleasant, sweet yet aromatic taste, nutty with faint overtones of licorice.
 
The anthelma bush is almost tree-tall, and wide, with dense, dark, glossy leaves. It has shaggy bark and thin, twisted trunk and branches. Some say that if you find anthelma growing in spirals, all turned the same way, that this marks a psychic vortex. The spice resides in the nutlike seed of the small, brown, nubby fruit. The pulp has a strong, raisin-like flavor and also sees much use in cooking locally, but it does not travel well.
 
Anthelma Festival: The Samina-Veddites hold a festival every February 12, in honor of Kali but also to keep her in check. According to legend, Kali once went on a rampage over an insult to her cult, striking the populace with a plague. All would have died, except that one wise girl named Dinka had discovered the spice-bush anthelma. She baked cakes flavored by its nut and diced bits of the fruit, and offered these in Kali's shrine. The goddess became distracted from her wrath, and the plague began to subside. So Dinka recruited all of the women to keep on making anthelma cakes. Kali could not seem to stop eating them; she had never tasted anything so delicious! She had always been lean, always hungry, devouring all things without satiation, but these satisfied her, and she became overcome with pleasure in their taste. When her skirt split from all of the weight that she had gained, she became embarrassed and withdrew, and the plague stopped completely. In any case, she had no more cause to complain, for the people had feasted her more than well enough.
 
Tradition maintainst that Dinka baked the first anthelma cakes on February 12, and so ever since the people celebrate this day by baking such cakes and carrying them in a parade to the shrine of Kali, where they burn some of the cakes before a happy-looking, obese statue of Kali, and share the rest among themselves. They say that if they keep Kali thus well-fed, she will only nibble at the world dutifully, no longer as ravenous as before, bringing only as much death and destruction as necessary to keep the world from becoming too crowded.

Anthro College: A Til-affiliated educational institution on Misty Island, Til Territories, specializing in the human sciences.
 
antivolitional drug: A drug which blocks the imaginative faculty to render a subject incapable of independent plans of action. The subject then becomes highly susceptible to the suggestions of others, just to be able to do anything.
 
antilovequest: Epithet used by the Full Moon rebels for anything contrary to their interpretation of Tili�n ethical principles.
 
Archives: An elaborate computer-net which encompasses all public and private storage, retrieval and computation in Til Territories, including all known knowledge of both Earth and Novatierre and the private journals of all sworn Tili�n. All transactions (monetary, evaluatory, diagnostic and communicatory) pass through Archives, as well as all personal and public records. Journals and private information cannot be disclosed without the individual's permission until twenty-five years after the individual's death.
 
The operation or ownership of private computers not connected to Archives is illegal in Til Territories.  Portables are designed to require periodic log-ins to the net.
 
Archives differs significantly from twentieth-century computers in that it processes information through cells of red and blue magentine crystal in a holographic memory. These psychically-charged cells store psychic impressions of emotions, intuitions, inferences and connotations, along with bare facts. Archives may be unconsciously sentient.

Ario:  Darvinian half-human God of Choice, Free Will, and Freedom.  Youngest of the Upovae, Son of Horo and Melle, and one of the Mates of Timora.  Portrayed with unruly blonde hair, garbed in red, blue, and gold, ever-restless in pose.  His worship might happen anytime, anywhere, and he will accept any sort of offering. 

His priests have a reputation for being impulsive, disruptive, and possibly slightly mad, but often serve a social function in disrupting things precisely the right way to make a point about whatever needs changed.  Actually, though, most of them have shown strong self-control, discipline, and determination.  Be that as it may, no one in the government or any other organization dares to interfere with a priest of Ario, but the priesthood itself will sometimes slay a brother who gets out of hand, threatening the welfare of the community, particularly where the tourist trade is concerned.

After Theto (Fate) had unconsciously begotten Daio (Chance) upon Melle while sleepwalking, Horo (Time) gave thought to his strict brother, Theto, and felt that he needed some more controlled counterpoint than Chance.  He felt that he had created humanity with enough wisdom to handle making decisions for themselves.  And so he, too, went to Mette, himself, yet consciously and with great love, and begat upon her the strongest of the Upovae, Ario.  He visited often in secret and had a hand in Ario's rearing, and then brought young godling home upon maturity, to become one of the mates of Timora.

More than any of the Upova, Ario loves humanity.  He will do anything to further the human race.  His judgment, however, sometimes shows flaws.

Arundel: A country on the western coast of the Northwestern Continent, bordered to the south by Raigboth, to the east by ______, to the north by Brieuer, and to the west by the Greater Ocean. The first colony to settle there, being from the old UK, named the region after their own village in southern England. However, successive waves of immigrants from Scotland, Sweden, Oman, Thailand, and ultimately the largest and most well-equipped from Japan, blended and reconfigured into a whole new culture retaining little more from the original beyond the name.
 
Arundel exports glasswares, ceramics, wine, timber, preserves, magentine, cork, and gold. They also prosper by the tourist trade in the summer. They are polytheists, with remnants of Christian, Muslim, and Shinto rituals in their practice.
 
Ash Wednesday: Moveable Fast observed by all Catholic rites and some Protestant sects of Christianity, as well as one Moslem subsect of the Sufi and one nature-religion (who modifies the dates to coincide with the nesting/gestation cycles of local game animals.)  Practitioners observe it by fasting and vegetarianism (some communities permitting seafood) sometimes also by a mark of ash upon the forehead to signify penitence for sins and a humbling of one's condition.
 
assassin's weed: A plant native to the Molchian peninsula, containing a powerful alkaloid with both poisonous and medicinal properties, much used for assassinations until rendered extinct by law enforcement. Once valued in the treatment of tachycardia.
 
Assyrian Catholicism: 1)A sect of sacramental Christianity, it is one of the ten rites under the Orthodox patriarchy.
 
2) A sacramental Christian religion practiced in The Charadoc, originally established by monks of the Assyrian Catholic Church, later modified by Roman Catholic missionaries, filling in the gap when the Assyrian Catholic Church did not have enough priests to send any more to the Southwestern Continent, later modified still more by influences of other religions, both Christian and non-Christian. Though still calling themselves Assyrian Catholics, the congregation by now practices a notably different religion under no patriarch.
 
Athenian Brotherhood: A conservative, male, homosexual, social club, devoted to promoting dignity, philosophy and intelligent conversation within the Gay Community.

Atmos, Crystalia:  The uniter and first president of the Charadoc, a politician known  for her charm, intelligence, beauty and unfailing political cunning.  Called the Mother of her Country.

Autonomous Mountainfolk Region:  A vaguely-defined region in the mountains south of Til Territories, consisting of a series of Mountainfolk villages usually organized into communal households of three to six families apiece, sometimes going as high as twelve.  They have agreements with Til Territories to conduct duty-free trade, extradite criminals, and receive emergency disaster aid, as well as mutually maintained connection with the Altraus Rail, but each village makes its own laws, and representatives gather yearly, at the Mdzes Yanapacuna, to decide issues of importance to the larger community.  In addition to the railroad, infrastructure consists mainly of footpaths and suspension bridges.  Only a few major villages at rail stations have access to Archives.

Avalon:  One of a number of small principalities in the English Mountains, colonized by British monarchists.  Largely self-sufficient, trading only with related neighboring countries, who value the straightness and comparative tallness of their conifers for lumber.