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.

Daio:  Darvinian half-human God of Chance.  One of the Upovae, elder of the Sons of Melle, fathered by Theto, and one of the mates of Timora.  Portrayed as wiry and agile, with light brown, curly hair and an impish smile, garbed in white with black spots in some of his garments, and black with white spots in others.

Many Darvinians seek his favor, and fear his displeasure, as he is by nature completely unpredictable.  People build a shrine to him wherever building materials spill by accident, and if this happens in an inconvenient location, such as in the middle of the road, people will route around it.  The only offerings he will accept are whatever one comes across by chance upon one's travels.  Two cases of human sacrifice have occurred in Darvinia's history, with the court deciding that while they could not execute someone for doing the god's bidding, they could exile him.  Since few people ever want to leave Darvinia, devotees keep an eye out for some other thing to offer, even if it's only a flower or a handful of spilled corn.

Some tales call him an ordinary mortal so skilled in gambling that the Upovae had to embrace him as their own.  Historians in Darvinia claim to have uncovered controversial documentation that a leader of one of the colonies that established Darvinia was named Dave O'Malley, which skeptics consider the type from which the myth of Daio emerged.

But most Darvinians believe that Theto conceived him by accident.  According to this legend, Theto, God of Fate, knew in his soul, but refused to acknowledge in his head, that he needed someone to counterbalance him.  And so he sleepwalked among humankind and, still in his sleep, seduced and impregnated Melle, thereby begetting Daio.

Thereafter Daio grew up to become a famous gambler, who claimed that he could beat even Theto himself.  Theto heard about this, and accepted the challenge, asking what Daio would like him to wager against Daio's life.  The young man did not hesitate: he asked for a night with Timora.  This shocked Theto, but he could not conceive of anybody beating him, so he agreed.  To his amazement Daio's dice defeated his, and at that moment Melle entered the room and declared her memory of him as her first lover.  And then Theto knew the truth, and that he had fated this himself.

damper net: An area-effect created by shifts of teams of powerful telepaths to repress violent or dishonest impulses. The sheer volume of employees necessary makes it too expensive for widespread use.
 
Dancer River: A river of Alonzo Valley with many rapids, giving it a dancing appearance. It joins with the Cattlewade to become the Fertile River.
 
Dante Alleghiri Children's College: A children's college in Novo Durango, named by a sarcastic member of the board of education who swore that the parents would neither know nor care about the significance of the name.
 
dardie: A carrion-bird, most often gray, with some brown subspecies, about one meter tall on the average.  Widespread.
 
Darvinia: “The Land of Smiles”, a title that in part refers to its shape, like a shallow, upward-curving crescent, but also its reputation as a place of romance. Once feudal, it has long since embraced a parliamentary government, with a figurehead prince only too happy to preside over celebratory or symbolic occasions and leave the real work of politics to elected officials.
 
Darvinia has a temperate climate satisfying to all tastes. Their mild winters offer just enough snow for skiing and sledding, but do not last too long. They enjoy famously beautiful springs. Their summers warm up deliciously but not too hot. In autumn the beauty of their changing leaves has a worldwide reputation.
 
Largely agrarian and proud of it (“On a Darvinian, every thumb, finger, and toe is green!”) they have no mines nor industrial-scale manufacturing, though they import quite a bit and enjoy most of the comforts of modern living. Economically they rely heavily on the tourist trade, deliberately keeping their environment rustic and picturesque. And so they do not use tractors or other noisy farm machinery, but have enough population to farm adequately without them, and have not suffered famine for generations.
 
They mark each equinox or solstice with a competition: poetry for spring, song for summer, dance for autumn, and drama for winter. In addition they choose the best gardener each for spring, summer, and autumn, and from these three elect a Gardener Laureate in winter for the coming year.
 
The local nature-based religion emphasizes celebration and pleasure, holds a variety of celebratory dances for each phase of the moon, and imposes few sexual restrictions. The lifestyle of healthy food and hearty physical labor has created a robust and attractive people, well-suited to make the most of this.
 
In consequence to all of these factors, Darvinia has become the premier destination for romantic getaways. People travel from all over the world to marry there, or at least arrive for their honeymoons. And the film industry of several different countries will go through great expense to film on location there. (One out of every three Darvinians finds employment with the film industry in some capacity.)
 
Some tourists arrive with no romantic partner, but eager to find one, at least for the duration of a memorable vacation. Nevertheless, the traveler should remember that it seriously breeches custom to assume that anyone is theirs for the asking, or (still worse!) for sale. One indicates availability for romance by wearing red flowers, leaves, or sprays of berries about one’s person (sold in the ubiquitous flower stands wherever one goes, if one cannot find them wild) but one still has to go through preliminaries of flirtation and courtship, and take special care to put forward one’s best appearance, with liberal applications of courtesy and gallantry. Having a wide variety of options can make the locals choosy.
 
As for the rest of the spectrum of relational signs, pink flowers or berries say, “Be gentle–this would be my first time,” orange flowers, leaves or berries indicate “I’m questioning my current relationship,” yellow says, “Utmost discretion required”, green says, “Sacred Maenid, available only for ritual encounters”, blue or violet says, “I am joyfully committed and unavailable–be happy for me!” white says, “I am celibate,” black says, “My tastes aren’t for everyone, but you can ask,” and brown says, “Badly burnt on romance–don’t approach unless you’re willing to work through issues.” These colors only matter in vegetative matter, whether natural or artificial; the colors of regular clothing or jewelry have nothing to do with any of this. A bracelet on the left wrist indicates homesexuality, on the right wrist heterosexuality, and on both wrists it indicates an openness to all options (Those missing the necessary hand will wear a bracelet pinned to the shoulder.) People wearing no vegetative material or bracelets have other things on their minds and would rather be left alone by the tourists. This includes more of the population than popular imagination might make it out to be.
 
Though they do not make their own beads, they have developed a worldwide reputation for beadwork, both in embroidery and jewelry. On “moon days” (almost everyone gets a break from non-essential chores on the first day of every new moon, full moon, or quarter) men and women alike wear elaborately beaded clothing and jewelry, from hats to boots. Men tend to wear less jewelry but with larger beads. Then the villages scintillate! On these days vendors, entertainers, and innkeepers work, taking their own days off on the midpoints between moon phases.
 
Darvinians will accept all currencies from anywhere in the world. But be forewarned: whatsoever you buy with foreign currency costs twice as much!
 
From Tlangit-Toh, cupped in Darvinia’s curve to the north, and going clockwise from there, Darvinia’s neighbors are Neyth (sharing just a few miles of border) Lludlowe, Suetenlynd, Mabhratha, _____, Llangdan, and Santezavel.

dashi:  A female eunuch of Tremarnion, legally permitted to live and work with men in a guild.  A  six -month course of an herb-concoction known only to the Harems of Tremarnion will change the balance of hormones in a woman to end her menses, render her sterile, low or absent in sex drive, and cause her to grow a thin beard.   A dashi traditionally wears men's clothes, sometimes with feminine embellishments such as lace or ribbon.  She does not pluck or shave any part of her body.  Although retaining the female pronouns and her original name, for all legal purposes she has the same status as a male.

date cookies: A cookie sweetened by dates rather than refined sugar.
 
Daweijia: The most fashionable district of Sargeddohl, in the Charadoc. Originally a Chinese colony-village, before its inhabitants joined up with colonists of other ethnicities.

Debriefer's Guild:  A union of Tili�n debriefers, permitted to discuss among themselves their confidential discoveries among the agents whose memories they record.  They may only speak of such matters within their own, hypersecure lounge, and they may not hold office, for the duration of their lives.  Their confidential journals, however, add their own nuances to Archives.

debriefing music: A pleasant but monotonous series of electronic chimes, ever-repeating, designed to trigger a hypnotic trance in which the preconditioned subject releases the compressed memories of hir last mission performed for the Tili�n.
 
Deer Canyon: An extremely steep and narrow canyon off of Ambrey Canyon in Cracked Mesa. Known for several tiers of microclimactic growth and life-forms unique to the vicinity, including an evolved form of trilobite. Named for a species of lithe, pseudohoofed, quadrupedal marsupials with slender, agile legs well-adapted to climbing, which (at least to the eyes of the early colonists) resemble fawns or small deer. Difficult to research due to a brook-loving species of thorns with half-meter long spikes, growing at the base of the canyon and also unique to the vicinity.
 
Deeroo A species of lithe, pseudohoofed, quadrupedal marsupials with slender, agile legs, well-adapted to climbing trees. Some say they resemble fawns or small deer.
 
deflecter: A magentine device, about the size of a pack of cards, that neutralizes any other magentine energy within the space of a few feet. Guards and other personnel working inside the field of a damper-net wear them around their necks or inside hats to keep themselves unaffected.
 
Defy Ridge: A bent cliff that separates Mt. Seascarp and the Silver Slopes from Rhallunn March. According to legend, a boy lost his family to the marsh due to some accident while they gathered wild rice there. Every year, on the anniversary of their deaths, he would come to the ridge and shout down at the marsh, taunting it, announcing that he still lived and he’d be confounded if he’d let any stinking mud suck him down. Reputedly he became quite a successful businessman, and performed this ritual until his death at a quite advanced age. However, the legend never names him, or gives any hint as to when these events occurred, so no one can verify whether or not this ever happened. Some claim to have seen his ghost, but that, too, lacks verification.
 
Delstri: A high-latitude agrarian nation in the central portion of the Northeastern Continent. It exports grain, mainly barley, but keeps most of its crops for itself.
 
denar: Basic unit of currency throughout much of Novatierre, though often with different value and appearance in different countries.
 
Department of Rehabilitation: The government institution which tries criminal cases and takes charge of deterring future crimes. Simple punishment suffices as a deterrent for minor crimes, but more complex situations require formal rehabilitation.
 
desalinator: An appliance, common to boats and ships, which makes sea-water potable. The accumulated sludge is later brought ashore and sold to sea-mineral refineries that crop up alongside most of the harbors of the world.
 
Devil‘s Valley: A rocky valley in the mountains of the Charadoc, once a prehistoric lake, long since evaporated, leaving behind too much salt to allow any plant to grow there. In recent years, however, the mineral-rich salt has become much coveted for bath products.

Dhalzinje:  A diagonal-shaped nation of the southern horn of the Northwestern Continent, bordered by (clockwise from the north) Sananda, Zeteca, Firenja, Olovrmn, and a tiny bit of the Greater Ocean through an access-corridor.  An arid land of mountains, deserts, and thin fertile valleys with seasonal rivers, it depends largely on the mining of magentine, silver, copper, and gold for export and revenue, though they also breed tough, swift horses and racing-goats.

Dharminabad: A Pagan theocracy in the southern horn of the Southeastern continent, known for its horses, mineral wealth and crusades.
 
Dhurbah: That nation occupying the bulbous tip of the Spine of Byssinia, the country closest to Antarctica. A very cold and poor land, it has no notable exports.
 
Dhurbar: Of, from, or pertaining to Dhurbah.
 
Diana Lake: A community southwest of Amsi'en, situated on the shore of the lake of the same name, fed by the Snake River. Relies heavily on the tourist trade, provided as it is with the perfect venue for freshwater fishing, and calm-water boating, not to mention the proximity of the Snake River's whitewater rafting opportunities and favorable hunting grounds. Also deals in lumber, sustainably logging the fast-growing red eucalyptine, plus bamboo and some limited rice-farming. Their colors are red and blue.
 
Diemtran Bay: That long bay at the foot of the Diemtran Canal that forms one of the world’s most important economic ports.
 
Diemtran Canal: A canal that connects a series of salt lakes that prehistorically had been a single sea, with the Hystradiamman Sea to the North and the Oceana Equitorus (by way of the Diemtran Bay) to the south. It also forms the Eastern border of the Diemtran Empire, beyond which lies The Wild Sands.
 
Diemtran Empire: A nation forged of a coalition of ten cultures from ten Earth colonies who wound up in the same arid landscape. At first they fought fiercely over the limited resources. Then the strongest and wisest of the warlords, Chou Tzi, first by force and later by persuasion, gradually pulled them all together to see that they could survive better by working together than at odds. The ten colonies were, in origin, Chinese, Romany, Moroccan, Puerto Rican, Argentinan, Alsace-Lorrainan, Cambodian, Arab, Ethiopian, and a coalition of Southwestern United States Indian tribes. The five tribes of the American Indian coalition were Pueblo, Hopi, Zuni, Navajo, and Apache, and founded the capitol city, Pentapolita. The name “Diemtran” means “Ten of us”, and “Pentapolita” means “City of Five.”
 
Although maintenance of the canal that connects two ocean provides their economic foundation, the Diemtran people also deal in indigenous medicinal resins and mineral wealth. Goat herding, and the resultant meat, cheese, yogurt, wool, and leather contributes to their native trade goods as well.
 
A small northern coast of this country, shaped as it is sort of like an upside-down comma, borders the Hystrademmian Sea. To the west they share a border with Kottira and to the east the canal separates them from The Wild Sands. To the south lies the Oceana Equitorus.
 
DiMedici: (Officially known as The Forested Community of DiMedici, but hardly anybody ever says that except in speeches.) An art colony. A Til community in the southeastern corner of Storm Garden Peninsula, between the Nissenwaters and the broad pass between Mt. Patriarch and Dobson’s Crag. The community colors of DiMedici are burnt sienna and pthalocyanine green.
 
Although eclectic in their architecture, the original artists showed a marked preference for treehouses, but these burned down in the Great Fiddler’s Fire, and much rebuilding went on afterwards via cob construction. Recent generations have begun to rebuild the complex net of treehouses and suspension walkways among the trees that have grown back, however, so DiMedici is a truly a three dimensional town.
 
Artists from all over the world apply for residency. The civic calender schedules contests year-round for every kind of art, fine or lively, in order to distribute the few dwelling-permits available. Natives, of course, get top priority over immigrant artists, but many of these natives are top-flight artists, themselves, having been raised to creativity. The remainder run shops and other support infrastructure. Artists who get turned away often settle in other parts of Til Territories or in Til itself, to try again another day. Many of the younger ones, curiously, have colonized a corner of Rhallunn.
 
DiMedici Forest: Often mistakenly identified as that forest which intertweaves with the Forested Community of DiMedici. However, the name in fact refers to the forest across the Nissenwaters, and also to the Peninsula upon which the forest grows.
 
Dinka: A legendary woman of Samina-Ved, wise in indigenous herblore since early girlhood, when she baked anthelma cakes for Kali to avert a plague. Since then, according to legend, the goddess rewarded her with a talent for discovering herbs, spices, food crops, and timber of many beneficial properties in the new world, enabling the colonists to survive and thrive.

dinyee:  A large, long, edible vine-fruit, with a fluted, graygreen exterior and juicy, pale green flesh, proliferating in the English Mountains and other high regions of the eastern end of the Northeastern Continent, which grows off of the hisvin vine.  It tastes bland when fresh, although one can press from it a refreshing and pleasant drink.  However, drying sweetens it and concentrates the flavor.  Many countries prize candied dinyee and some dice it into fruit cakes.

Disciples of the Hermit: A grim Gnostic cult, founded by Wayne Moranesco, AKA The Hermit. It spun off in rebellion against a still ghastlier cult. The Disciples despise all corporeal matter. They isolate themselves from the rest of the human community in villages built directly onto and into sea-cliffs, connected by bridges and suspended walkways. They live by fishing, but send only seasoned old men of unshakable faith to do trade with The Heathen. Under extreme circumstances they have been known to resort to human sacrifice, but not nearly as often as rumor would have it.

divorce wake:  A tradition in Arundel observed whenever somebody gets divorced.  It is held either in two rooms of the same building, or in two buildings near to each other, so that guests can go back and forth between the two locations.  On rare occasions, in unavoidable need, it has been held in one large room with a black curtain drawn between them, but this is not ideal. 

All wear black.  Friends of the couple back blessing bread in a third location, and the senior person present slices the loaf in half.  Guests then take the bread to the separate rooms to feed half to the divorced couple to strengthen them on their journey apart.  They then hold a wake for the marriage, along with raising toasts to positive future possibilities.  One also gives gifts to help the person through the transition, such as stationary modified to reflect their changed status, or the tools to do what one previously relied on the spouse to do.  Good etiquette recommends that friends move back and forth between both locations, reassuring both ex-spouses that friendship to one does not mean an end of friendship to the other, but in a particularly bitter divorce some have been known to refuse to do this.

Dixie: A hot and humid nation, much of it covered by wetlands, in the Southeastern Continent, colonized by a coalition of churches (Catholic and Protestant) from the southeastern corner of Earth’s United States of America. It has divided into states: Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, and Florida. Interestingly, South Carolina is actually north of North Carolina, the states being named for the natal homelands of whichever colonists occupied a given parcel of land, regardless of actual geographic location.
 
The chief staples of their diet are rice, taro root, swamp corn and swamp beans, but they also grow enough sugar cane to export. They bring in additional income by panning for gold. They also eat a variety of waterfowl, fish, crustaceans, and indigenous fruits and greens.
 
The local variant of Catholicism does not fall under the jurisdiction of any of the three popes, and follows atypical practices such as serving breakfast with communion. But they observe all holidays with gusto. Protestant communities often visit Catholic communities to share in these holidays, and in return hold seasonal picnics, fireworks, and revival-fairs which the Catholics just as eagerly attend. While much jesting rivalry occurs between the two communities, and no little serious effort to convert each other (with a good deal of switching back and forth over the generations) it is all good-hearted, and they would defend each other with their lives.
 
For they have a precarious hold on survival in these swamplands, not helped by almost universal parasitic infections that drain their energy chronically. (They crack jokes about their own laziness, which has become proverbial in some other lands, but in fact they face real challenges to accomplish much of anything.) Without a strong sense of community and mutual aid they would have perished long ago.
 
Dobson's Crag: A tall, craggy hill to the northwest of DiMedici, purported to have been the home of a hermit violinist who died saving DiMedici residents from a firestorm by the mysterious power of his music.
 
doctor, junior class: A medical professional with skills roughly equivalent to the 20th Century American Nurse Practitioner. Most Junior Class Doctors are very young in their practices, working their way up.

dold:  In  _____, a segment underneath a railway bridge, delineated by arches.  Often used for commerce, workshops, and/or sleeping-quarters, usually by entrepeneurs who cannot yet afford to rent a shop.

Domestica: Chief bedroom-community suburb for Carmina Island. Although on the inner (western) coast of Carmina Island, it belongs to Til Territories rather than Til Institute itself. It derives its name from the inhabitants’ enthusiasm for the simple pleasures of family life. Each neighborhood governs itself by consensus between heads of households, and each neighborhood council elects one of their number to a larger council to govern the town.  Their colors are yellow and beige.
 
Dominique Mountain: The mountain behind Root Gypsy Village, on the East side of southern Alonzo Valley, notable mainly for having featured in a famous encaustic painting, “Dawn over Dominique Mountain”, by Leonine Yu. Its name comes from an orchard on its slopes, of multiple varieties of fruit trees, long owned by the Dominique family for generations.
 
Don: 1) A title of respect in numerous nations. 2) the title of a prince in the kingdom of Neyth. 3) Nickname for a person named Donald, Donal, Donovan, Donegal, or Donnel. 4) The Don: a legendary religious leader in the Charadoc who trained disciples in pacifism and equal love for all.
 
Donafloreta: The chief city of Paradisio, divided into districts by a variety of rivers and creeks. Prone to earthquakes, local superstition forbids rebuilding collapsed structures on the same site within a century, lest the new building take on the bad luck of the old. They therefore leave the ruins to the encroachment of the surrounding jungle, to “cleanse” it. Where the ruins lie too deeply within the city for that, they plant unstructured gardens in and around the rubble, sometimes of flowers, sometimes of food-crops. They will even open up fallen buildings for this purpose, creating sheltered gardens within. As striking as this can appear for the villages in the rest of the nation, when applied to the much larger buildings of a metropolis, it creates a strange and beautiful urban landscape, unique in all the world. (As a matter of fact, they grow a world-class wine-grape in Donafloreta, fed on the limestone-dust.) You cannot grasp the philosophy and culture of Donafloreta without understanding this approach to tragedy.
 
Dougalsenne: Sometimes called Douglasville on a few old maps. A small coastal community of Til Territories, known mainly for Amsi’en Amusement Park. Its community colors are sky blue and pink.  Dougalsenne and Amsi'en, at various points in their history, have united into one city or separated into two, depending on elections.
 
dragging fever: A tropical parasitic disease, or possibly several with similar symptoms, spread through impure water, cow manure, or unpasteurized milk. It causes chronic weariness and recurrent, unpredictable fever-spikes, that bring with them aches, stupor, loss of appetite, and delirium.

The Drunken Monkey:  A ship of Rakashko, filled with peasant-caste families from Corriebhai, in search of a seafood-rich shore to colonize to satisfy the appetites of their nobles.  After a long and perilous journey, they reached the Northwestern Continent and settled in what is now Skarfangers and Corriebhai Colony.

As comical as the name might sound, it has a secret meaning. In Casedocant, "Drunken Monkey" derives from "Tarank Mangee" a translation of "Scuabtuinne", Gaelic for "Wave Sweeper": the mythic ship of Earth-legendary Manaan Mac Lyr, with an added connotation, through translation, of being a vessel especially for and protective of the lower classes.

The Dry Eighties: A devastating drought that swept much of the continent of Altraus, including all of the agriculturally important Alonzo Valley, from 2685 to 2689. The Winterwash and Cattlewade Rivers went completely dry, and the Dancer River slowed to a trickle. The spring-fed Annie’s river stayed strong, sheltering the village of Pixie and keeping the Fertile River into which it flowed from petering out completely. All other villages and cities in Alonzo Valley suffered terribly, and for a brief period Til Territories had to practice food rationing. The Til Institute Engineering Corps has since set up a chain of wells and mini-reservoirs, and local communities have established strict water conservation laws.
 
Duerlongh Empire: A nation in the central part of the Northeastern Continent (the equivalent of our Eurasia), rich in magentine and arable land. It has imperialistic aspirations. It operates on a caste system ruled by an aristocracy, the result of overlapping colonizations by different cultures. Archaeologists have discovered that the first colonists were Armenians, soon overrun by later and better-armed colonies. Research on subsequent waves of colonization is still pending.
 
Duerlongh Sea: That sea bounded throughout most of its northeastern coast by Duerlongh, but also to the northwest by Lludlow, Suetenlynd, and Gazelistan, and to the south by Molchis. (In Molchis people call it the Molchian Sea.) It also hosts the island nation of Danjo. It connects with the Hystrediamma Sea by way of the Straits of Aengris.
 
dulcina: A tropical fruit of the Southwestern continent, about the size of a large orange, but slightly ovoid. It has a thin indigo skin, sometimes with a bronzy caste in its most sunward area, smooth under a soft "bloom", with very juicy, sweet, wine-red pulp inside, laced with small, dark reddish-brown seeds. The pulp tastes somewhat like currants, while the seeds have a strong, nutmeg/clove/pepper taste and are commonly used for seasonings.
 
The dulcina tree is broad and twisting in limb and root, both tending towards a somewhat triangular cross-section, with grayish-peach bark, five-lobed bluish-green leaves (yellowish-green when budding and darkening with growth), and a fine-grained, yellowish burl wood used in all manner of carpentry, but particularly prized for cabinetry.
 
Durmarya: A Molchian term of endearment for a female. Literally translated, it means "Little Mother of Delight", or "Handmaiden of Delight."
 
Durstan, St.: A folk saint of Til Territories of dubious historical authenticity. Patron saint of the town of Sandurste in Til Territories. Archaeologists have found the ruins of his chapel in Sandurste, but cannot conclusively determine whether his name is a variant of Earth’s St. Dunstan, or that of some early colonist considered a saint by his peers. Folklore has little to say about him, except to put faith in his eternal commitment to protect the community.
 
dustrat: A midsized rodent native to the canyons of Altraus, named for its habit of rolling in dust to rid itself of vermin.
 
Dustrat Canyon: Colloquial name for Ambrey Canyon, due to the abundance of dustrats there. Some maps list one name, some the other, some both, but officially it’s Ambrey Canyon.
 
Duyve Club, The: A Molchis-theme night-club on Carmina Island. "Duyve!" is a Molchian toast, meaning "Drink boldness!"
 
Dweomer River: A river of Til Peninsula, flowing steeply towards the eastern coast from the more mountainous regions, often swollen with snow-melt, until it broadens out into the Dwimmormarshes. The abrupt transition in temperature causes it to frequently generate a good deal of mist. Folklore alleges that strange things happen along its banks. Prospectors often pan the waters for magentine crystals.
 
Dwimmormarsh Cliffs: A neighborhood of Til Institute on the cliffs above the Dwimmormarshes, where one can usually find available housing due to the unpleasant smell that the marshes give off. The architecture here is idiosyncratic even by Tili�n standards. Apartments and cottages are unusually large and well-appointed, though many have fallen into disrepair. Agents sometimes lodge here to insure that their dwellings will stay uninhabited in their absence.
 
Dwimmormarshes, The: Wetlands on the eastern coast of Til Institute, spreading out from the Dweomer River and preceding Ghost Bay, beneath the Dwimmormarsh Cliffs. Habitat to a rich variety of life forms, it is a popular destination for science classes, and also sports a well-made replica of an Oolang-Gyorny village.
 
dyslectic telepathy: A flawed form of telepathy in which the telepath unconsciously absorbs the thoughts and feelings of others without actually being able to "read" or process them. They surface only in dreams, trance states, delirium, or other altered states of consciousness. Occasionally they do, however, produce intuitive hunches that at their best can rival oraclism. Statistically, most dyslectic telepaths have a physically manifesting psychic ability, such as combustion or levitation, which is believed to interfere with the conscious employment of the telepathic faculties in some way. This might be culturally psychosomatic.

Dysmorality:  Distinguished from  immorality, which is the choice to do what one knows is wrong or not socially condoned, and amorality, which is the inability to distinguish right from wrong, dysmorality means to do what is wrong or harmful because one believes or has been taught that it is the right thing to do, and in fact mandatory.  It may or may not involve the suppression of one's natural conscience in order to conform to the malformed conscience of a larger group.

Dzini: A ship-dwelling people who have rarely touched land since their ancestors first crashed into the ocean and managed to survive at sea. The Dzini still float a fragment of the first emergency-fashioned raft on holidays. They practice eugenics by drowning and a primitive leadership-by-ordeal form of government.