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.
 

nargish:  A breed of woolly red and cream cattle, favored in the mountains of Duerlongh for their hardihood in cold winters.  The locals spin their thick fur into twine and coarse yarn used for outerwear, but it is too scratchy and stiff for commercial use.

narrow-V formation: An escape tactic where two parties feint as if to scatter and regroup, but never actually diverge very far from their intended destination.
 
nature�s privies: Cracks in the cliffs of the Great Gulf Road leading down into the ocean, generally used by pedestrian traffic for the discreet release of bodily wastes. As a result, oceanic plant life around these cracks grows particularly lush. In the Tili�n view, human animals are considered part of the ecology.
 
Naugren: One of the three major industrial nations of Novatierre, founded principally by a colony of Armenian Sufis, which grew far more conservative than their mother-culture over time, largely due to the hardships of early colonization. Known for their predominance in the harvesting of transfer-worlds, they also lead in the textile industry and in architecture. Their coffees are world famous and their tobacco (where it is legal) remain unsurpassed.
 
Naugren Shuttle: One of three airports in the world capable of transoceanic flight. Flights connect to Istislan and Novo Durango.
 
Naugren Station: The world's largest transfer-station. Owned by Til Institute, it was built in Naugren to lift them out of an economic slump with potential global repercussions. Naugren Station employs mostly Naugrenites and charges respectable import/export taxes to all produce of transfer-worlds not sold in Naugren itself, thereby causing Naugren to prosper by the presence of this station within her borders. However, the wealth produced or harvested on the transfer-worlds accessible through Naugren Station can easily withstand such levies. This is the economic foundation for the philanthropy of Til Institute.
 
needle-patch: A medicated patch with a small, hollow needle on the inside surface connected to the medicine contained within. Slapped onto the skin, it conveys a single dose of whatever drug it contains to the subcutaneous capillaries.
 
Neptune Theater: A renowned theater that always plays to rave reviews, incongruously located in Rhallunn, Til Territories.
 
New Java: A small island off the northeast coast of Altraus, site of the first colony on Novatierre, pioneered by Technological Laboratories, later to become Til. It was at this sight that T.L. attempted to raise child prodigies kidnaped from Earth in an environment safe from the upheavals of the Mother Planet. Unfortunately, most of them died or went mad from the unforeseen effects of Magentine on traumatized and unaccustomed minds.
 
New Creation: Term for Novatierre, most often used by theologians.
 
New Start: Another term for The Great Migration.
 
Neyth: A tiny northern kingdom, colonized by descendants of Scandinavian immigrants. It is landlocked, poor and isolated, without a surviving written language or any large-scale trade, though they do boast a lively and lyrical oral tradition.
 
The people, however, live comfortably on subsistence farming and produce beautiful embroidery-work during winter, which they will sometimes barter for aid from foreigners during rare emergencies such as famine or plague. Beyond this Neyth has no interest in joining the world community, singing many songs in praise of their simple lifestyle.
 
night-hunt kestrel: A coastal predatory bird, nocturnal, found on all the coasts and islands of the Greater Ocean. It can survive indefinitely on no land at all, having exceptionally strong flying abilities and an ability to sleep afloat even on rough waves, but it prefers coastal waters for the shoal-fish. A symbiotic bioluminescent organism grows on the perpetually moist throat and upper breast of the night-hunt kestrel, nourished by occasional dribbles of fish-blood when the bird feeds; when the kestrel skims close to the sea�s surface, the glow attracts fish upwards, so that after several passes over the same area, plucking fish from the water becomes easy.

Nimu Sea:  An inland sea in the center of the Northeasten Continent, bordered to the west and north by Duerlongh, then briefly touching Tremarnion, bordered to the east by Aistruli and Clomen and to the south by Mabhrathan and a small portion of Tsariosh.  Rich in fish and sea-vegetables, it also has wonderful beaches, particularly along the Clomen coast.

    Named for a legendary tragic heroine, Nimu of Mabhrathan, who drowned herself in the sea as a sacrifice to end a drought in the region.  They say that she cast a spell to exchange salt water for fresh for her people, but it required the sacrifice of a life.  Her teacher in dark mysteries told her that if she did not drown an animal, someone else would die, but she could leave it up to chance if she couldn't bear that step; people died every day.  However, rather than harm any creature, she offered herself.  Some mariners say that they have seen her ghost walking on the waves, but that it is best to avert your eyes immediately, for if your eyes meet hers, and see her weeping, it is a sign that you will drown soon and join her.

Nissenwaters, The: A long, narrow, curving bay fed by the Mirabecca River, between the DiMedici Forest and Storm Garden Peninsula. Century Point marks the tip of its southern shore. Bordering communities are Redlark, Our Home, the Forested Community of DiMedici, Beachblossom Village, Splendor, and Joy Regau. It is approached from the north by the Old Artist�s Road, and Castle Stark overlooks it. Early colonists tell some interesting legends about beautiful, water-breathing women dwelling in the waters, but inhabitants of that part of Til Territories are well-known for their imagination.

Njeri Summer:  In the Charadoc, an extension of warm weather into north-facing deep valleys, canyons or gorges with sun-reflective rock walls and heat-conserving water at the base, sometimes for months.  According to legend, a rebel leader named Njeri hid out from soldiers in such a place (different communities point out different valleys, etc., as the original) and used magic to extend the warm weather, thus enabling her band to outlast the government soldiers struggling with the snow.

The name has long puzzled historians--how did a Kenyan-origin name wind up in the Charadoc?  But recent discoveries have revealed an Africa colony landing in the Charadoc in the early migration days, too small in number to survive by themselves, so they sought out and intermarried with other colonies till little remained but some names and a handful of genetic markers.

Noran: A beautiful nation of the Northeastern Continent�s High Country, known for its wide range of microclimates and ecologies. Not known, however, for a stable government. Travelers are advised to watch out for highwaymen.
 
Noor Mosque: The predominant Mosque of Naugren Station, famous for its pervasive, intricate, and varied mosaics, depicting abstract patterns in a full spectrum of pastels. It features many onion-domes of varying design, and colonnades of twisting pillars in marble. The grounds, landscaping, towers, colonnades, and walls, form an eight-way symmetrical knotwork design visible from the air.
 
Northeastern Continent: The land-mass equivalent to Earth's Europe and Asia combined, excluding the equivalent of Greenland, which Novatierrans reckon as part of the Northwestern Continent. The largest continent in the world.
 
North Station of Policia: That police-station primarily concerned with covert operations.
 
North Stovak: Sometimes a separate nation, sometimes part of the larger nation of Stovak. Rich farmland, for the most part, it tends to dominate politically whenever the two segments of Stovak unite. Since the original colonists came from the former United States of America, they are ethnically diverse with a slight predominance of more-or-less caucasian. Known to glorify warriors and majority rule.
 
Northwestern Continent: The land-mass equivalent to Earth's North America. Unlike North America, however, it does not connect to the Southwestern Continent, "Central America" in part being replaced by a chain of islands. One must remember, in geography and all other sciences, that parallel worlds only begin identically. Novatierre is the one that closely paralleled Earth's evolution for the longest time of any discovered, but it will never make a perfect match.
 
Novatierre: "New Earth", the name of the most habitable of the Earth-parallel planets found by transfer-technology. Colonized during the Great Migration, it resembles Earth so strikingly in so many ways that it often lulled colonists into a dangerous sense of complacency. Problems remain to this day due to the high level of poisons caused by almost-compatible proteins, diseases similar enough to Earth-varieties to infect human beings and Earth livestock but different enough to elude our immune-systems, previously undiscovered predators, and the perils and unforseen complications of magentine effect.
 
The student of Earthian literature should not assume that every creature or feature of Earth referred to by a recognizable Novatierran name is in fact identical to its Novatierran counterpart. The colonists frequently gave the names they knew to the seemingly closest equivalent flora and fauna, without real biological justification and sometimes with a considerable leap of the imagination.
 
Noveskey Village: A small mining-town in the Charadocian lowlands, settled around the Noveskey Brothers Lead Mine.
 
Novo Durango: (Sometimes also spelled Nwvo Durango in imperfectly transliterated texts) A world-class Til Territories city on the delta that opens up at the foot of Alonzo Valley, together with surrounding cliffs, canyons, mesas, beaches and harbors. The financial hub of Til Territories, it manages complex transactions between Alonzo Valley's capitalistic system and Til Institute's communal credit, together with currencies worldwide. An important port and trade-center, with one of the most ancient histories on Novatierre.
 
novorodent: A class of Novatierran mammal that fills the same ecological niche as rodentia did on Earth, known particularly for their sharp, flat incisors, adapted to chewing through wood and tough vegetable fiber.

nuliyakui:  A Charadocian emotion sort of meaning a cross between despair and resignation, but more than that.  It is the emotion that comes with accepting, without questioning, one�s own inferiority, and indeed fearing that questioning it would make one evil, though of course one cannot be happy with it.  It feels familiar and right, and at the same time wrong, a habitual clench in the chest that one must live with.

nutbutter burrito: A convenient food for hikes and excursions. To make one, spread a thick streak of the butter of any nut onto a whole-wheat tortilla, sort of in the middle but a bit towards one side. Then fold in the top and bottom over the nut-butter, and roll.

Nuvelle Parie:  A major metropolis of Vanikke, founded by a French colony, of whom we know little, because their books quickly decayed within a couple of generations and they went through a period of illiteracy, before contact with other colonies restored to them the written word (especially restoring to them a trove of French literature, albeit in translation) as well as a wealth of technology lost to most of humanity.  Regaining this marvelous power of education nspired them to build a famous center of learning, The Universetei de Chanson et Roman, and to  invite scholars from all over Vanikke, Istislan, and surrounding nations. 

Originally located in the middle of a fertile plain watered by many small streams, Nuvelle Parie relocated westward to the banks of the Rivesinuesa River, making the trade of goods and ideas increasingly possible.  It also enabled them to perfect their most notable product, Roseau, a reed-based paper.
 
nyctophile: Literally, "night-lover"--one who suffers from oversensitivity to light and who therefore tends to lead a nocturnal existence. A number of Novatierran diseases cause this condition; it has become so widespread in some parts of the world that whole tribes have incorporated the nyctophile lifestyle into their cultures.