The Foundling's Tale, Part Three: Factotum

by D M Cornish

  bestill liquor basic draught from a set of restoratives called lenitives or slakes, made for calming nerves and settling overwrought humours. The crudeness of its parts, although making it easy and inexpensive to brew, causes some folk with delicate innards to feel a little nauseated.

  bettel what we would call red capsicum or bell pepper.

  billiard room the “tabled game” is steadily becoming so popular that fine houses set aside rooms for them and organize evenings about sets of games played on them.

  birchet foul-tasting draught useful for fortifying the constitution after an injury and helping to reduce any bruising or swellings of injured flesh. See Book One.

  black habilist(s) researchers in forbidden learnings who, despite their bad reputation, insist that the drive of their blasphemous and dangerous researches are in the service of humankind, especially in the search for perpetual life and a final solution for the problem of the monsters. See Book Two, and habilistics in Book One.

  Black Straps, the ~ a regiment of lesquins with noble bearing and a fearful reputation. They gain their name from the black cingulum all their number wear, a powerful show of loyalty, declaring in this way that their membership is of greater moment than any is to home or the land of an individual’s nativity.

  bom e’do Sipponese term meaning “spring silk-house”; the name given to one style of tall folding screen made in the Occidental lands of Nenin and Sippon, with frames of lacquered wood covered in artfully painted silk. They are collectables in the Haacobin Empire, eagerly sought yet hard to get from across the vast and dangerous gurgis that must be crossed to reach the Occident. Cheaper versions can be got from Ing, but these are considered inferior. There are also sum e’do or “winter silk-house” and do i’sen or “house of air,” each type varying in style of image, attachment of silk to frame, the number of frames and manner of hinges and other minute details so loved by collectors.

  Brandenbrass one of the largest cities of the Soutlands, situated at the top of the Pontus Canis on the northwestern shore of the Grume. It was established in the early eighth century HIR by Burgundian princes foiled by the might of the Skylds and their Gottish descendants to the east and expanding westward. Putting to flight the wild, monster-worshipping Pilts, the Burgund adventurers chose an advantageous harborage on the coast in the midst of wide fertile land and well-wooded forests to found the twin fortresses of the Low Brassard and Grimbasalt—which the locals called Branden Grim—about which settlements were established and spread, eventually joining into one, the city of Brandenbrass. During this time it was an independent princedom, until the arrival of the Tutins in the second Tutelarch invasion, when the old Burgundian lords of Brandenbrass managed to strike a bargain with the conquerors and so preserve their city from sacking. One of the leaders in Soutland commerce and politics, Brandenbrass is famous for its ram-building yards, arms mills and athenaeums, and is home to the Black Straps and to two of the known world’s leading banks.

  Brandenbrass, Archduke of ~ hereditary title of the ruler of that vaunted city, once the rank of prince when the great city was still a Burgundian province. Being unwed and childless, the Archduke of this tale is causing his ministers no end of distress; afraid that the Emperor will install his own man in the powerful seat should the current succession fail, they nag the Archduke endlessly about producing an heir. For his part, the Archduke is more interested in galas, the intrigues of court and summer campaigning against whoever presents the best target (at the time of this tale, this would be the sedorner-kings of the Lausid states).

  Brandentown local name given to the regions of Brandenbrass within the first two curtain walls—the Inner Ward and the Prim Ward—and most especially to the older sections about the Low Brassard. Beyond this region are the Second Ward, the Out Ward, and the Lists—being the outermost suburbs between the first and second curtain walls.

  brey murky or seething water, a name often given to the vinegar seas.

  bridleminders low-class folk who make their scant living holding the reins of the carriages of other folk for one every quarter-hour or part thereof.

  brinksmen properly called pathicords, these are sanguines who take the imbibing of various draughts to professional extremes, allowing them to run fast, ignore the need for sleep, think quickly and all the rest, then counter the effect of immunity over time by taking yet other draughts to still their overwrought humours and members and bring them promptly back to normal. Along with possible addiction, they risk the complete failure of their bodies’ usual function.

  brodchin most bestial-looking of the monsters, often moving in packs, perpetuating themselves by bizarre and unknown methods.

  bruemes bruises and swellings of the flesh.

  bruinins glamgorns, the mythic flitterwills, hollyhops and such related creatures of the woodland deeps and remote prairies.

  Burgundian(s) of the race of princely historied Burgundy, who, between the arrival then inevitable lapse of the Tutelarchs (Dido’s descendants) and the return of the Tutins, expanded west (for east were the implacable Gotts and the wild originine races), becoming settlers and founders of Fayelillian, Brandenbrass, Doggenbrass and many towns between, slowly conquering the Pilts in a protracted campaign of subjugation and integration whose hurts still linger today.

  C

  cabinet pictures among those of disposable means and dark tastes there is a fashion for depictions of the foulest violence and horror, showing the spoiling of monsters by despicable acts.There is a vigorous clandestine trade in such images, and those who produce them are greatly esteemed by graphnolagnian connoisseurs and make good money from the trade. Many struggling fabulists have been forced by poverty to try their hand at such depravity, and though never signing such pieces, some who have gone on to more legitimate fame have an anonymous catague of cabinet pictures ready to bring them to ruin.

  cacoglumbs ancient collective name for what everymen know as ettins and umbergogs.

  cadging, to cadge to hitch or sneak a ride upon a carriage or other conveyance; to be carried along by the endeavors of another; from the frame, or cadge, for carrying the hunting birds—hawks and kites and the like—once popular among the lofty set.

  caffene what we would call coffee. Some varietides are N’gobi, Cassim, Engabine, Kasongo nd, Mong.

  calipace bony plates of “armor” that cover many kraulschwimmen and watery beasts.

  calling games games in which chancers shout their guess for the fall of a lot, the turn of a card or the toss of a coin, wagering on the outcome and putting their path in the trust of the Signal of Lots.

  callow-jack sleek fish of moderate size and fair taste that do not need to be dulcified to be eaten, which means they can be caught, cooked and consumed straight from the main.

  cankour-headed cankours or cankers are tumorous growths or malformations, and the term “cankour-headed” is used against sciomanes as a derogatory reference to the louthy gudgeon flesh they have inserted into their heads to gain control of that gudgeon.

  Cannelle old and traditional name for Cinnamon, who was known to the ancient Tutelarchs, to the Attics before them, to the Phlegms, even to the near-forgotten Oghs and Urghs. As such he has been known and named by nearly all the races of the Altgird, the continental mass of which the Half-Continent is a part.

  cap-a-pie • “from head to toe,” as in completely. • to have your hind end higher than your head; to be upside down, to have everything contrary to how it should be.

  capstan songs lively tunes—what we would call “shanties”—a product of the harshness of sea-board life, at times bawdy but always very sing-able, sung by vinegaroons in any grouped labor such as hauling up the anchor or winding the capstan of a ram or other vessel. A new tune might make its way into common society and flourish there for a brief moment in pantos and tavern rounds, eventually returning to the obscurity of naval culture.

  carboy(s) large cylindrical glass receptacles housed inside wooden cases for durability, the top o
f the cylinder sharply tapering to a narrow spout that protrudes from the top of the case for pouring. Mostly used to store acids and bases and other dangerous fluid.

  Carp, Pragmathës man-of-business with the usual grand design to be a magnate. A true calculator trained at the Trigonon—the rhombus of Brandenbrass named after the great seat of mathematical learning in Clementine—he is correctly parsimonious, thorough, bureaucratic and honest in appropriate ways without possessing an overly weak conscience, and holds excellent standing with the bankers and brokers of Brandenbrass. Such a perfect combination of traits has secured him the patronage of both the Branden Rose and the Marchess of the Pike, and in not too many more years he will surely find himself achieving the wealth and consequence he desires.

  casque • square boards of hardwood that are clamped about neck and wrist, functioning in much the same way as handcuffs do in our society. • another name for the proof-steel helms worn by troubardiers.

  Casque Rogine, the ~ also known as the Rotkappchen—both names meaning “red cap” or “red hood,” a fulgar from Gottingenin, so named for the scarlet cowl she wears wrapped about her head. She is one of the more (in)famous beldames—or “fighting women” and sometimes mispronounced “bedlams”—of current times, those that you will find most frequently in the scandals and obsequine pamphlets. Some others include Julliette Season, Rupunzelle, Serenissimë, Catharine Bonniface and, of course, the Branden Rose; indeed, there are a whole lot more.

  catarrh what we would call a common cold.

  caudial, caudial hem, caudial honor also just caude, caudia, limbus or caudilimb; attachable piece of cloth typically worn tied about the waist and hanging to the knees (sometimes possessing tails and tassels and ribbons that drape even lower). Generally distinctly patterned, embroidered with the figure of a heldin of old and edged with thread-of-silver and/or gold, a caudial is one of the manner of distinctions or credentials known as a garland, that is, an award of merit and honor, usually given for courage and sacrifice in the stouche or for some great deed of benefit to a peer, the ministers or plenipotentiary of a state, or the Emperor himself. In battle or on duty, caudials are worn over harness, but in civilian dress they are fixed under your coat, protruding from your weskit.

  chancery gambling house. By law they are illegal in the Haacobin Empire, yet in practice they are found in almost every major city of the Soutlands.

  chaste scripts that are still potent and usable, which have not sophisticated, that is, soured and lost their usefulness or become dangerously unstable.

  Chïves, Pauper ~ obscure script-grinder of great and subtle skill and old friend to Craumpalin. His famillinom (see family name in Book One) is said “Cheevs.”

  choke kind of vent made of a high collar covering both neck and shoulders, loosely gathered about the throat, to be easily pulled up over the lower face to ward against choking gases and toxic fumes. Favored mostly by sabrine adepts, being a part of their professional costume.

  Cinnamon mighty nuglung servant of the Duke of Sparrows, almost as old as the land itself. An expression of the sparrow-duke’s will and character, he ranges wide and far to do good for the needy of all Providence’s creatures: üntermen, everymen and simple beasts. Master of the tongues of birds, he sends out many wing-ed messengers to watch, to protect, to return and report, as do many lords of monsters and other mighty nickers. See Cannelle.

  circuit meeting of many ways (not necessarily circular), especially in a city, and as convergences of city life often the busiest places there.

  cleat(s), cleate slits in the skirt of a frock coat or other kind of coat to allow scabbards, holsters, stoups and other such accoutrements to protrude from under the coat.

  clericy (ies) what we would call an office space.

  cleveland land for common uses typically protected as such by some law or local ban.

  Cloche Arde said “KLOASH Ard,” being Etaine for “tower of flint.” Built more than a hundred years before the time of this tale, it was located, inspected and bought near a dozen years ago by Pragmathës Carp on behalf of Europe, one of his first assignments as her man-of-business.

  clumsy what we would call a sandwich, so called because it is an easy way to eat for the busy or the moving (“clumsy” once meaning “fast moving, running”).

  cob(s) • dull-coated horses preferred for transport out beyond the safety of a city, so employed because losing a lesser-quality beast to the hunger of a monster is far better than the slaughter of your best high-stepping trotter with its glossy coat and proud, pleasing form. • two-guise piece—one 240th of a sou.

  cofferdam chamber or channel used for repairing vessels below the waterline.

  cognizance facility of a wit to be able to “see” by witting.

  cold beef clumsy sandwich of “yesterday’s” beef.

  coldbeam collective vernacular for a Catharine wheel, gibbet or gallows, coming from an old Pilt word meaning “death wood.”

  colonel civilian “contractor” for a lesquin regiment, organizing the provision of supplies (weapons, harness, provender), billeting and work to his regiment. They do not fight or serve on the field of war; rather they do battle with the various suppliers ever looking to diddle a customer and with the secretaries and lawyers of the various states and realms ever seeking to gain the most for the least.

  colonial quarries mines and quarries of the Verid Litus sponsored under Imperial license by the states of the Soutlands and worked largely by those convicted by law or, paradoxically, fleeing such conviction.

  come-as-you-fancy fancy dress; elaborate fantastical costume.

  compleat skold’s “recipe book” full of lists of draughts and potives. These are either compiled and bound by the skold or purchased printed, with blank sections allowing for the reader’s own additions. The lost or hidden compleats of the greatest skolds of yore are rumored to hold some forgotten and mighty scripts, and are sought by collectors, ambitious individuals and ruthless governments alike.

  compounded ash of Mehette slow-burning repellent, excellent to place about a camp at night and burn to keep monsters at bay while you sleep.

  “Coneys in their covets . . .” little pap-nanny rhyme; among the silly songs of unknown origin sung to children to set them at ease—usually . . .

  Coneys in their covets,

  Bunnies in their holes,

  But who shall ferret my meal?

  A fig and a date,

  A fig and a date,

  Quince paste and orange peel.

  congress • (verb) to meet or have dealings with another. • (noun) a “weekender,” an extended “vacation,” usually only the privilege of the monied and high stationed. Increasingly, however, the merchant classes are gaining enough affluence to partake in such a custom. Currently a popular congress is a summerscale outing to fortified, naturally sweet-watered beaches or a tour of the often empty country manors of the city landowners and title holders.

  consumptive palsies of ’85, the ~ in 1585 HIR, much of the northern Soutlands and spreading as far east as Flint were afflicted with a plague of consumptive palsy, a wasting and crippling disease said to be spread by small infiltrating monsters and any of their outramorine adherents (in truth spread by lice and rats). Lasting three years, it weakened the resources of the states enough to make their enemies bold, leading to such things as the Gotts’ suppression of the Flints, the increase in piracy of the Lombards and a relaxing of colonizing pressure upon the monsters dwelling at the fringes of human settlement. Although cases of the consumptive palsies are now few, the recovery from the thinning is steady but slow.

  copstain(s) tall cylindrical hat with a thin brim, what we would call a top hat.

  coston(s) gaol guard; typically pensioned and often maimed pediteers, who can make income on top of their meager pay through bribes and extorting money from the supporters of the imprisoned, giving promises in exchange to deliver messages, letters, food and even clothes to the incarcerated.

  court-plast
er what we might call masking tape, a tough paper strip clean on one side and smeared with a firmly adhesive glue upon the other.

  crawdod(s) what we would call crayfish or lobster.

  cresset(s) iron bowl fixed to a post or directly to a wall and used to burn oil as a torch.

  crimp(s) privately operating impress contractor, that is, a group or individual licensed to press people into naval or military service. They are usually given a quota by a ram’s captain or a regimental colonel and with this authority trawl the streets of less well-heeled districts, seizing anyone appearing at that moment not to be engaged in gainful activity, regardless of the poor soul’s true employment status. Drunkards are a common target, as are those living rough or without proper documentation (such as someone who has just been thoroughly turned over by a grabcleat or the like); if a gang of crimps is desperate, they may well have an arrangement with a local gaoler to fill their quota with a number of criminal sorts. The contractor is paid head money for each person he brings back and a bonus for making quota. A current work docket or a Presage Exemption is the best defense against such artless thuggery.

  crocidole what we would call a crocodile. In the Half-Continent such creatures are little known except as the Figure 5 Brutes card in the traditional deck or as a delicacy among the rich.

  crossing sweeps people who use besoms (brooms rough-made from twigs bundled about a long branch for a handle) to sweep away the ubiquitous animal dung that smears a city’s streets. A very necessary though largely unrecognized role performed for a half-goose piece per crossing by old folks, children of destitute families, released prisoners of war with no possible way to get home or rural refugees of battle or theroscades—any of those one step away from vagrancy.

  crownstones also known as mourndials; tall hand-carved blocks set in memorial above the head of a person, dead and buried.

  cunctus orbis Tutin term meaning “the entire sphere,” that is, the whole world; being the old Attic and Phlegmish maps of the known world at the time of the Phlegms, cherished by the Tutins and their descendants as a connection to that great, annihilated race.