Parathas followed Eth a few steps as she marched off, but paused beside Aida and touched her arm.

  Surprised, Aida turned and looked down at the short, wiry, balding man.

  “Whatever she says about you, all I have seen in the short time I have known you is a good woman working tirelessly for those she cares about. Which seems to encompass anyone and everyone who comes. It is an honor to serve you, Mother.” He bowed deeply and rose smiling.

  The man's words landed deeply. She touched her heart, tears streaming down the smooth skin of her once-wrinkled face.

  “Apologies, Mother, I did not mean to-”

  Wrapping him in a bear hug, she held him for several minutes. His initial stiff awkwardness relaxed as he patted and rubbed her back. When she finally pulled away, wiping tears on the sleeve of her fraying tunic, tears dampened his cheeks as well.

  “Well, don't have to wash the back of your shirt on that side now,” she said, smiling.

  A matching smile emerged and faded into quivering lips. “I have not held anyone like that since my family. Since they...”

  His strong fingers rubbed the braille dotting the backs of each finger of his left hand.

  “I'm so sorry,” Aida whispered, rubbing his arm and feeling selfish for crying on him over nothing when he'd clearly lost so much. “I didn't mean to bring them up. Are they... did they...”

  She bit back her question, realizing she blundered about a deep wound that, by his trembling, went to the core of this quiet, thoughtful man.

  He took a deep breath, hesitating before speaking. “I do not know. As a young man I spoke without thinking, acted impulsively.”

  As he spoke, the words gathered momentum, pouring out from some place he'd obviously locked them away. “I earned debts with the wrong people in striving to raise our lot from lives of endless toil in the Threadfields of Slik, gambled believing I would clear them but I doubled them instead. The last place I saw my family was the Canyon of Cages on Berujat where we were sold to the Small Masters to pay my debts.”

  “Sold?” Aida's breath caught in her throat, heart aching.

  “They placed us... they placed us all in sight of one another so we could see as each of us were bargained off. The men who sold me told Fatma, the Small Master who bought me, to sell me last. She took great pleasure in the task, selling each of my children first, then my wife. I hung there alone for months, maybe years after. I lost track of time. Asked about them during Calms but to no avail. I was a fighter when they put me there, but when the beauty in green bought me for use as a skinscribe I was a broken, blank canvas for them to braille across.”

  Though it pained her to ask, his words sparked a question she couldn't wait to ask. “Beauty in green? Dark skin, regal?”

  “Kind but firm, yes, pearls in her hair.”

  “Did they take you to Heaven's Tread, perhaps?”

  “No, I was taught braille in the Annalis of Libriam. The names of those I lost were the first I wrote into my flesh.” He rubbed the backs of his fingers again.

  She bit her lip, seeing how much he shook. “Sorry to ask, but it might be important: did you catch her name?”

  “Whatever you ask, Mother, I will do. My time alone here preparing for your coming was exactly what I needed. Hard, dangerous work, alone in the hot emptiness but maybe just what I needed. I may never forgive myself for my youthful idiocy, may never see my precious Hallai, Parathain, and the young one still before her Nameday, but at least here the wounds scabbed over.” He wiped his eyes with a patched, sun-faded sleeve. “I never caught her name directly, but she was a Seneschal by the strings in her throat.”

  “Ocyl then? Or the Imminents using him, maybe?” She watched Eth scrambling down the shell, thoughts tumbling over one another. Ghillie squatted nearby, threading bits of moss into her eponymous suit. “What do you think Ghillie?”

  The tiny blonde looked up, her blank-bone mask another story Aida'd not yet had the time or courage to delve. Ghillie's hands darted in Feral sign language Learning it had proved one of her few distractions from her endless daily responsibilities and problems. I follow to end. Even in face of Aj itself.

  “That's not what I...” Aida stepped back involuntarily, another wave of tears brimming. She slipped on the moss and fell on her butt. Parathas jumped towards her to help her up but she waved him off, laughing. “Even a Dynast can slip and land on her ass sometimes. But thank you, both of you.”

  She looked into the faint blue of Ghillie's eyes. “I promise I will strive always to earn such devotion.”

  Turning to Parathas, she rose and took him by the arms. “And I promise to you that I will go to Berujat and empty that Canyon of Cages. Whatever the Dynasts think of 'menials', where I come from a great named Abraham Lincoln once said 'whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong urge to see it tried on him personally.' Let these Small master people sit in the cages for a while after we empty them.”

  Parathas' eyes widened and his mouth hung open as he looked at her.

  "You're going to catch a bug if you keep it hanging open like that." She gently nudged his jaw to close his mouth.She raised her hand, turned the back towards him, pulled three fingers in, and mimed slicing them off. "Believe me, you don't want the sort of bugs we got here in your mouth."

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  He smiled dazedly and nodded. "I remember."

  "The good ol' days," she said, sighing and looking out over what could be called a jungle slum if one was being polite. "Should probably get back to it."

  Using the guideline, she began the slow descent back down the mossy shell.

  "You would truly face down the Small Masters of Berujat?" he said, sliding along behind her.

  She threw a hand in the air. "Got a stack of Dynasts already wanting me dead for liberating their menials and Wretches, what's a heap of slavers piled on too? Speaking of Dynasts, which one owns Berujat anyway?"

  "It's owned by 'fixed Feli', but he retreated to a remote fortress a century ago and never leaves. Most of the Fraction now call it home after giving up on their verses or selling them to the Directory. Now they run it for him for a share of the profits. Not only would you be facing dozens of Dynasts, but the densest concentration of Masters and mancers in The Book."

  "As long as we're on the subject, what the hell is a Master and a-" Aida's foot slipped completely and she lost the rope. Careening down the shell with gathering speed, she wondered for a moment if this was how it ended. What a ridiculous way to go after all she'd been through. That flicker of thought was all the time she had, then something in her body sensed the time to jump and she leapt from the shell at crazy speed, hurtled through the air, and hit the uppermost vertebrae of the neck. Tucking to a roll absorbed most of the impact, but she couldn't bleed enough speed and her momentum carried her off the far side.

  Catching a spine jutting from a vertebrae fin as she cleared the bone and net catapulted her back around like some Olympic gymnast going for the gold and she landed on the top vertebrae kneeling with one hand planted to stabilize herself. As a rush of adrenaline pounded in her temples and she realized she was alive, everything became etched in perfect detail. Every sense hummed at maximum intensity. Slowly she looked up to find, for once, no one on the upper part of the neck leading into the shell. Looking up, the cave-like neck opening blocked sight of Parathas.

  "Oh my god," she said to herself. "Did no one seriously see that?"

  She stood and struggled in vain to brush off the moss stain's she'd accumulated that soaked through the back of her pants. A deep, luxuriant laugh echoed from the opening of the turtle shell, joined immediately by a delightful high counterpart. Alerestro and Viviana emerged from the gloom him slow clapping as he laughed and strode forward like a man entering stage left on opening night while she glided forward with her unnerving, consuming focus locked on Aida.

  "Bravo, bravo!" he said, grinning.

  Viviana practically wrapped herself around Aida and set to 'helping' her pick moss from her backside. The woman wore some perfume that scented her faintly of spice and roses. Though Aida had been adventurous in her youth, trying and mostly enjoying almost everything - especially when her second uptight and straight-laced husband had suggested they try the 'swinger lifestyle' near the end before cancer took him - she'd mostly found herself attracted to men. That aside, staring down the front of Viviana's dress as the woman rubbed up against her amid still-pumping endorphins from her near-death experience, she found herself short of breath and unmistakably aroused.

  Alerestro quirked an eyebrow and grin turned to a knowing smile. "She has that effect on everyone. Trained as a pleasure slave now a slave to pleasure."

  Viviana stood up and leaned in to whisper in Aida's ear. "Join us?"

  She nibbled on Aida's ear then kissed her neck.

  The proper thing to do would have been to pry the woman off and politely comment on the busy schedule she must attend to. That or give a stern warning about making unwanted sexual advances on their Dynast. Problem was, by her body's reactions, the 'unwanted' bit would be a lie. How long had it been since she and Ryk last found some time to-

  "Ryk!" she shouted too loudly, peeling herself away from the woman and holding her at arm's length. Viviana took it in stride, lifted one of Aida's hands and began kissing it. Alerestro took the other.

  "He can join us too. No reason we can't all enjoy each other." He tilted his head towards the darkness of the shell. "We've set up our small camp just inside. It's not much, but the blankets in our tent could certainly accommodate three or four."

  Aida groaned and let them lead her several steps, her restraint fading quickly. Why did she need restraint anyway? Not like she and Ryk were married. Barely even saw each other more than a couple times a week and then it was pretty much all physical. Besides, she ruled the goddamn verse and all she had to show for it was knots in her shoulders even her Dynastic regenerative qualities couldn't combat and a rock of tension in her gut. As the adrenaline began to subside and the shakes set in, the simple human comfort of their touch called to a primal part of her.

  "Dynast!" Parathas called, his head jutting over the shell's edge. He spotted her and sagged in relief, panting. "Thank the Ascen you're okay. I feared I'd find you dead."

  Aida jumped away from Alerestro and Viviana and crossed her arms, a flood of guilt washing through her as if she'd been caught doing something wrong. "Nope, all fine here Parathas. Just talking with my friends here."

  "Yes, just some friendly chatter," Viviana said, squinting up at the skinscribe. Her smooth slide close to slip an arm around Aida's waist didn't sell the lie very well.

  Parathas smiled uncertainly. "All is well then. I apologize, Mother, but I must find Eth and Rustrovan for he's not holding up to the Dynast Plague well. We can talk of Berujat another time."

  In the rush of the moment, she'd forgotten about the slaves entirely. Another wave of guilt washed over her and she squirmed from Viviana's touch. An internal battle raged as other parts of her craved that touch on its own and also what it promised to lead to. "Yes, I won't forget, Parathas. Maybe we can even find your family."

  His face fell at their mention though he tried to hide it behind a smile. "As you say Mother."

  A moment later he vanished behind the jutting upper lip of the opening and he left her alone again with the luscious pair. She turned to them, putting her palm out to stop Viviana. It stopped the woman for a moment, but pressed as it was against her chest, the woman put her own hands over it and began to glide Aida's hand down the top of her dress.

  Alerestro stepped beside her, his voice deep and low. "We will do nothing you do not wish, Dynast. Simply speak the word and we will find a better way to serve. As your advisor, however, I think your people could use their Dynast in peak form. Without pleasure and release to balance them, pain and pressure can distort the judgment of even the wisest ruler."

  "I don't... it's not that... I'm not sure..." She couldn't even come up with a coherent reason to say no, but the stubborn part of her held out anyway. "Ryk! I shouldn't because..."

  A familiar figure walked from the dark opening; Ryk, wearing only his sarong. His long braid swaying over tanned skin and layered muscle. He grinned. "I could use a break from training myself. You were saying?"

  "Oh, fuck it," Aida said, that last stubborn bit crumbling as she let them lead her into the shell's shadows to a small, surprisingly cozy tent lit from within by a warm yellow light.

  "Your wish is our command," Alerestro said, holding the tent flap open and gesturing within.

  Aida began to strip as she ducked within, feeling a thousand worries fall away in the folds of her clothing.

  Next chapter: Semon experiences (and supports) the revolt on Silk first-hand.

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

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

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

  Alerestro: a handsome, multi-talented man from Azure. Partner of Viviana

  Aliasara: servant at Ocyl's villa who befriends Aida

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

  Arca: chief of the tribe that "adopted" Inro

  Asta: Tertius Dynast of Silk.

  Avani: Hassani's daughter, an albino

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

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

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

  Cairin: Arca's sister, slinger

  Das: Rega's Immanent

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

  Denault: Hassani's husband. Shipwright, Kin.

  Eonora: a Legion officer in Ziggurat

  Eth: a young Imminent

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

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

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

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

  Fatma: slaver?

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

  Fetriene: Ocyl's soresearer

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

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

  Hue: Vibrant accompanying Simon

  Huspara: minor bureaucrat in Libriam

  Inro: Dynast formerly ruling Sunset

  Izbali: a silent tribal shaman

  Janali: Ocyl's elegant Seneschal

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

  Johine: crude slave

  Kass/Kassenia: mercenary attached to Adonissian. Died of Wretch Plague?

  Maxem: High Parser from Ink, ambassador to Jadeye

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

  Parathas: Aida's skinscribe. Also a mountaineer.

  "Professor, The": leader of Aida's Wretches

  Rasofi: Inviolate killed by Fallon in Jadeye

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

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

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

  Rustrovan/"Rusty": Eth's old, gap-toothed skinscribe

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

  Sava: Dynast of Libriam

  Savalius: Grand Quartermaster of the Legions

  Semon "Goldtongue": white-haired, one-eyed master of cults. First Disciple of the Mother.

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

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

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

  Tyrs: many-pierced Secundus Dynast of Forge

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

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

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

  Viviana: gorgeous, multi-talented ex-slave from Berujat. Partner of Alerestro.

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

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

  Adventures of Bubo, The: popular kids story

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

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

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

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

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

  Arborian: gardeners from Groves?

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

  Assessor: census-taker

  Audits/"Diggers": Libriam internal affairs

  Autumn: verse rich in gold?

  Aze: swordmaker?

  Azure: A verse?

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

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

  Black Court Tribunal: localized Black Court authority?

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

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

  Broadcliff, Tallmarket: cities in Stacks

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

  Canyon of Cages: cliff where slaves are held in Berujat

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

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

  Cerebrist: creator of slavants

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Commu: chewed drug/herb?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Dynasty: the Dynasts who rule the Book

  Ebon: founder of the Dynasty and Black Court

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

  Ebonese: the language of the Book

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

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

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

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

  Fetalist: Imminent faction who believe the future is unchangeable

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

  Forge: verse ruled by Tyrs with much metalworking

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Gonist: organ dealers and traders

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

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

  Groves: a forest verse

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

  High Parser: officials from Ink

  Imminent: seers advising Dynasts and shaping course of The Book

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

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

  Ink: home verse of the Skeinry, Keens, Directory, and "the Faded People"

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

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

  Inviolate Vial: carried by Inviolates as badge of office

  Iode: substance that ignites when crushed

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Jaxestack: a whitewashed stack on Stacks home to Jaxekin

  Jutland Reach: a verse with guns?

  Green People: tribes that live in the jungles of Origin

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

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

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

  Lambent ram: animal whose wool glows?

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

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

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

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

  Lineage: a line of mancers taught by a Master

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

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

  Logos: "the thought realm"

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

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

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

  Menial: common folk

  Molt: person able to shed skins (see skins)

  Mon, The: "the Outsiders". "exist only to destroy the Book" with their "demonic and monstrous children" from "the Hells beyond"

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

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

  Mune: someone from the Collective on Dost?

  Nameday: when children are named

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

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

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

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

  Optomime: gadgeteer

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

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

  Paragon: warrior who can see the future

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

  Phero: Lineage whose scent creates overwhelming attraction

  'pillar: fuzzy Sect-bred giant caterpillar pet

  Porcelain Guard: Ocyl's white-masked Ferals

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Seericide: seers capable of Knowing everything as they die

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

  Shale: a verse famous for its expensive stone

  Shore Striders: tribes that live along the oceans of Caves

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  Skinlife: living tattoos

  Skinscribe: individuals brailled with lore, walking libraries

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

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

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

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

  Strings: worn or implanted wire devices that translate speech

  Stone Walkers: tribes that live in the cold of Origin

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

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

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

  Surgon: person able to remove organs

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

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

  Tangle, The: the jungles of the One-Eighth

  Terminus: "Gates End", a verse?

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

  Thrum: guide in the Black Court

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

  Twine: "one soul threaded through two bodies"

  Unkillable Swordsman: a Paragon killed by Deia long ago

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

  Vale Walkers: discoverers of verses

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

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

  Venger: muscle man?

  Verse: a pocket universe or world

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

  Vibrant: color-changing individuals from Ink?

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

  Weeping Falls: Jadeye Iris flowing with waterfalls

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

  Wiz of Berujat: multi-minded?

  World Spear: an immense stack on Stacks

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

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

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