House of Jackals

by Todd M. Moreno

  BARRIER: Also Mental Barrier. Originally, a psychically generated energy field that repels and deflects physical contacts. Now often used interchangeably with Shield.

  CLOAK: The psychic masking or camouflaging of a person's awareness or aura from detection. A defense against a direct Mental Probe or Scan.

  CONSORT HOUSE: Term of derision for a ruling House with ties to the Consortium.

  COUSINÉ: Familial relation beyond the degree of first cousin.

  DARK WITCH: Formerly a member of the Akinser sect of witches, now loosely applied to any witch of malevolent practices.

  DEEPER MYSTERIES, The: Professed secret knowledge of the DuCideon Brotherhood.

  DEEPER TRAINING: Psychic instruction reserved for individuals bound under discipline to some religious order or similar organization.

  DROID: Generally, a self-propelled machine designed for advanced human interaction. Built in different styles and levels of program sophistication, under Imperial law, droids are forbidden to be made to impersonate humans. Based on a philosophical maxim that humans cannot be replaced, this prohibition aims to confine such machines to the role of tools, never masters. As a religious tenet, "artificial persons" given a human-like "consciousness" are an affront to human dignity, and technological perversions before the Divine. Culturally, androids fabricated to mimic human emotion and/or personality traits are considered declassee.

  EMOTIONAL PROJECTION: Technique by which feelings are communicated or instilled by psychic transference.

  FRATÉR: Religious title one step below a Patér in rank.

  GOVERNOR-MILITAIRE: Supreme Imperial commander over a planet or system placed under martial law.

  GRAND HOUSE: Family holding an entire planet in fief under the Emperor, its head allowed the augmentive title of "grandee" or "grandia." Many Grand Houses assume royal titles and designations, although the practice is not uniform.

  HIDDEN NDB: NDB of Hidden Rank. Secret agents of the NDB Church with dispensation to publicly deny their faith. Knowledge of their true religious affiliation is often restricted to leading NDB operatives on a need-to-know basis. Officially, such agents do not exist.

  HIDDEN WAR: A territorial dispute between criminal factions involving the Consortium, often resulting in significant civilian casualties. The name comes from the participants’ desire to avoid interference by local authority, and a common desire by local rulers to avoid intervention by an outside higher authority.

  IMPERIAL SPECIAL COMMANDER: Temporary commission within the Imperial Armed Forces. The office is usually vested with the dictatorial powers of a governor-militaire, although they are usually held in reserve until triggered by a violation of Pax Imperator.

  INITIATE: Originally a psychically trained member of Holy Orders, now loosely applied to anyone with training in the Mental Disciplines.

  JOINING: A complete Sharing. The psychic merging of memories and, to a varying extent, minds. Can be a part of a marriage ritual.

  LADY/LORD-EXPECTANT: The current living principal heir to a title, whether by designation or presumption. Sometimes applied to a successor before being officially crowned.

  LADY/LORD-PALATINE: Head of a Grand-House granted extraordinary rights for greater autonomy in fief administration and rule.

  LADY/LORD-PATENT: Holder of a landless nonhereditary title grant. In formal use, the base title precedes the patent qualification, although the principal title can be used alone.

  LADY/LORD-REGENT: Temporary title granted during the legal incapacity of a lord or lord-expectant. The holder is vested with the full authority of the title being represented.

  MATÉR: Religious title assumed by a priestess of the Holy Church.

  MENTAL BLAST: A specialized mental projection aimed at stunning or killing an opponent, or group of opponents.

  MENTAL DISCIPLINES: The Disciplines. General reference for a wide range of psychic abilities. Examples include telepathy and other forms of thought projection, clairvoyance, telekinesis, and mental exercises of enhanced physiological control.

  MENTAL PROBE: Psychic Probe. A specialized mental projection designed to gather and interpret perceptions from a distance. While the perceptions are often limited to those that would otherwise be available to a person physically present, the technique can also be used to employ psychic perceptions. Unlike a Mental Scan, this Discipline involves a projection of conscious awareness, though not necessarily precipitating a full out-of-body projection.

  MENTAL SCAN: Similar to a Mental Probe. Distances are usually shorter, and its use is limited to a search or detection of specific objects or phenomenon (including other psychic activity). This Discipline does not involve a projection of a person’s awareness.

  NDB: A member, members, or the membership of the Church of New Dawn Believers.

  NOBILE IMMUNITAS: General reference to certain legal entitlements afforded to members of Grand Houses in the areas of Imperial law enforcement and prosecution.

  OATH of RENUNCIATION: An oath taken by initiates leaving the Holy Orders against using certain Mental Disciplines absent express permission or life-threatening circumstances.

  PATÉR: Religious title assumed by a priest of the Holy Church.

  PAX IMPERATOR: The Emperor's Peace. A type of martial law invoked during an Imperial state or government occasion where the Emperor's Majesty is (or is deemed to be) in attendance.

  PROJECTION: Mental Discipline used to send thoughts or perceptions to other individuals. Often employed as a means of direct communication, the ability can also be used for manipulative purposes when done without the recipient's conscious knowledge. The term is sometimes loosely used to refer to a Mental Probe or any similar technique.

  ROGUE INITIATE: Originally, a former member of a religious order given the Deeper Training, and subsequently either cast out for acts of disobedience or heresy, or denounced for breaking an Oath of Renunciation. It is now applied to anyone marketing psychic services or practicing forbidden applications of the Disciplines.

  SHARING: Application of the Projection ability through which the sender's memories are given to a recipient who, after some subsequent period of internalization, has access to them as if they were his or her own. A sharing can be complete or selective. See Joining.

  SHIELD: Also Mental Shield. Originally, a defense technique against psychic, now used interchangeably with Mental Barrier. A low level of shielding can be maintained even when the conscious mind is "at rest." It can also hide the person being shielded from the vision of another, although usually only in a present sense, leaving a person subject to possible psychic observation during unshielded periods (such as from a lack of training). Certain individuals can also "shield" other people and objects, although physical proximity is often required. See Barrier.

  SLIG: A small gastropodal, land mollusk known for its highly acidic and poignant secretions. Although capable of digesting soft-tissued carrion, it normally feeds on fecal matter.

  SOROR: Religious title one step below a Matér in rank.

  SUBSIDER: Term of derision for a recipient of a government subsidy. When applied to a business (“corporate subsider” or “subsider-corporation”), government corruption is implied.

  TRAINING, The: See the Mental Disciplines.

  TRUTHSEER: A practitioner proficient in "Truth-Trance," a mental state that enables a person to recognize the truth in what they perceive, and to identify falsehood or deception. See Vision.

  VISION, The: A general reference to a group of differentiated psychic abilities involving clairvoyance, and similar extrasensory perceptions relating to the past, present and future.

 

 

 
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