hypogeum
The underground maintenance complex beneath a coliseum. More generally, any underground complex.
ice
In computing, software designed to monitor traffic in and out of a system and to prevent access based on perceived threat.
ichakta
A Cielcin title, referring to the captain of a ship.
Iedyr Yemani
The six vayadan-generals sworn in fanatic servitude to Syriani Dorayaica. The so-called White Hand.
ietumna
The submissive Cielcin sexual role.
Imperium
See SOLLAN EMPIRE.
indoctrination
The process by which a person is treated with specially tailored RNA packets to learn and absorb new information and skills quickly.
infestation
In Chantry religious law, the state in which a computer system may contain elements of artificial intelligence or the precursors to same, often leading to POSSESSION.
inmane
An offensive slur meaning that someone is less than human. Literally impure.
Inquisition
The judicial branch of the Imperial Chantry, primarily concerned with the use of illegal technologies.
Inquisitor
A Chantry official tasked with conducting judicial investigations and overseeing the torture of criminals.
intus
A palatine born outside the oversight of the High College, usually possessing several physical or psychological defects; a bastard.
Irchtani
Species of coloni xenobite native to the planet Judecca. Bird-like with massive wings. Considered an exemplar of coloni assimilation.
kaspum
Silver-plated coin used among the Imperial peasant classes. Twelve kaspums make one gold hurasam. Print notes for various denominations exist.
kithuun
In Irchtani culture, a tribal chieftain or military commander.
knife-missile
A kind of drone, little more than a remote-controlled flying knife. A favorite of assassins.
knight
Sollan military honor conferred by the nobility for services rendered; usually includes a small fief. May carry highmatter weapons.
legate
A rank in the Imperial Legions, commands an entire Legion.
Legions
The military branch of the Sollan Empire, loyal directly to the Emperor and Imperial house, comprising naval and ground forces.
Legion Intelligence Office
The Empire’s military intelligence, espionage, and foreign intervention agency.
legionnaire
Any soldier in the Imperial Legions, especially the common foot soldier.
lictor
A bodyguard for a nobile or other dignitary. Usually a knight.
light-probe
Any of a class of very small, ultralight reconnaissance devices propelled by shipboard laser to nearly the speed of light.
lighter
Any starship small enough to make landfall on a planet.
Lions
An unofficial political party in the Sollan Empire, comprising the more conservative royalist houses.
logothete
A minister in any of the governmental agencies of any palatine house, used colloquially of any civil servant.
Lothrian Commonwealth
The second largest human polity in the galaxy, a totalitarian collectivist state. Longtime antagonist of the Empire.
Maeskolos
One of the legendary Swordmasters of Jadd, drawn exclusively from the eali caste. Credited with superhuman speed and skill.
Magnarch
The chief Imperial Viceroy in each arm of the galaxy: Orion, Sagittarius, Perseus, and Centaurus. Essentially co-Emperors.
Makers
A pantheon of gods worshiped by the Cielcin, possibly the same as the WATCHERS.
mamluk
Any homunculus slave-soldier of the Jaddian Principalities.
Mandari
An ethnic group semi-detached from Imperial society, most commonly found staffing the massive interstellar trading corporations.
mandyas
Traditional garment of the Maeskoloi. Half a robe with one flowing sleeve worn over the left shoulder, cinched at the waist.
Martian Guard
The Emperor’s palace guard, an elite corp of soldiers raised from the population on Earth’s nearest neighbor, Mars.
medica
A hospital, typically aboard a starship.
megathere
A massive, three-eyed amphibious predator native to the planet Epidamnus.
Mericanii
The ancient first interstellar colonists. A hyper-advanced technologic civilization run by artificial intelligences. Destroyed by the Empire.
Messer/Madam
Polite address in the Empire, used of anyone without formal title.
Museum Catholic Church
An adorator cult centered on the planet Caritas, believed to have existed since the Golden Age of Earth and protected on reservations by Imperial decree.
myrmidon
In the Colosso, any contract or slave fighter not a professionally trained gladiator.
nahute
A Cielcin weapon. Resembles a flying metal snake. Seeks out targets and drills into them.
natalist
A specialist practiced in the art of growing and gene-crafting living organisms, human or otherwise.
nobile
Blanket term referring to any member of the palatine and patrician castes in the Sollan Empire.
Nordei
The principle language of the Demarchy. A patois of Nordic and Thai with some Slavic influences.
Norman Expanse
The frontier of human settlement in the Norma Arm of the Milky Way, near to the galactic core.
novice
A student initiated into the rites and curricula of the scholiasts with the intention of becoming one.
nuncius
In Imperial society, an announcer or herald.
Orbital Defense Force
The fleet maintained by any palatine lord for the defense of his or her planet or system.
outcas
te
In Imperial society, any former member of the palatine or patrician castes stripped of their station. May also refer to similar persons in Jadd.
palatine
The Imperial aristocracy, descended from those free humans who opposed the Mericanii. Genetically enhanced, they may live for several centuries.
Pale
The Cielcin. Slang, considered offensive by xenophiles.
panegyrist
A Chantry priest tasked with performing the call to prayer at sundown.
Panthai
A Tavrosi language descended from the Thai, Lao, and Khmer-speaking peoples who settled the Wisp alongside the Nordei.
patrician
Any plebeian or plutocrat awarded with genetic augmentations at the behest of the palatine caste as a reward for services rendered.
Peregrination
Any of the historical evacuations from Earth’s system for the extrasolar colonies.
phase disruptor
A sort of firearm that attacks the nervous system. Can stun on lower settings.
phylactery
A device for storing the genetic and epigenetic information of an individual for the purposes of artificial reproduction.
plasma burner
A firearm which uses a strong loop of magnetic force to project an arc of super-heated plasma across short to moderate distances.
plebeian
The Imperial peasantry, descended from unaltered human stock seeded on the oldest colony ships. Forbidden to use high technology.
poine
A structured, small-scale war carried out between imperial palatine houses. Subject to the scrutiny of the Inquisition.
possession
One of the TWELVE ABOMINATIONS. The state in which an individual or computer system is under the sway of an artificial intelligence.
praxis
High technology, usually of the sort forbidden by Chantry law.
primate
The highest administrative office of a scholiasts’ athenaeum, akin to a university chancellor.
profanation
One of the TWELVE ABOMINATIONS. The mingling of human flesh with machine implants or prostheses, especially in cases where such modifications transcend ordinary human function.
Protocols
The strict guidelines outlining the behaviors of the Chantry’s INQUISITION in carrying out an investigation.
Quiet
The hypothetical first civilization in the galaxy, allegedly responsible for several ancient sites, including those on Emesh, Judecca, Sadal Suud, and Ozymandias.
repulsor
A device which makes use of the Royse Effect to allow objects to float without disturbing the air or environment.
satrap
A planetary governor in the Principalities of Jadd, subordinate to one of the regional Princes.
scahari
In Cielcin culture, the warrior caste.
scholiast
Any member of the monastic order of researchers, academics, and theoreticians tracing their origins to the Mericanii scientists captured at the end of the Foundation War.
scianda
Pl. sciandane. A Cielcin migratory fleet, comprising several itanimn and presided over by a single Aeta.
sirrah
An honorific used to refer to one’s social inferiors, usually males.
Sojourner
Any of a class of massive Extrasolarian starship, often hundreds of miles long, especially those crewed by the EXALTED.
Sollan Empire
The largest and oldest single polity in human-controlled space, comprising some half a billion habitable planets
SOM
The lobotomized shell of a human being animated by machines, used for slave labor and as soldiers by the Extrasolarians.
strategos
An admiral in the Imperial Legions, responsible for the command of an entire fleet, comprising several legions.
Stricture
The formal rules governing the lifestyle and behavior of those members of the scholiast order as outlined in The Book of the Mind and the rest of Imore’s writings.
sulshawar
In Jaddian culture, a warrior who serves as bodyguard to a prince, satrap, or other important personage. May also represent that person in legal duels. Comparable to a lictor.
Summerfair
A common midsummer holiday celebrated throughout the Imperium. Its date varies from world to world, depending on the local calendar.
suppression field
A Royse Effect field designed to simulate gravity.
Synarch
The highest ecclesiastic office of the Imperial Chantry. Their most important function is the coronation of new Emperors.
Tavrosi
Any of the languages from the Demarchy of Tavros. Typically refers to Nordei.
terranic
In terraforming and ecology, refers to any organism of Old Earth extraction. Not extraterrestrial.
trias
A unit of three legionnaires, usually two peltasts and one hoplite.
triaster
The commander of a trias, usually a shielded hoplite.
Twelve Abominations
The twelve most grievous sins according to the Chantry. Legal privileges do not apply in such cases.
Udaritanu
A complex, non-linear writing system used by the Cielcin.
Umandh
A coloni species native to the planet Emesh. Amphibious and tripedal, they have an intelligence comparable to that of dolphins.
vayadan
In Cielcin culture, the bound mates and bodyguards of an Aeta.
verrox
A powerful pseudoamphetamine derived from the leaves of the verroca plant. It is taken by ingesting the leaves, which are usually candied.
Victorian Knights
An order of Imperial knights bound in service to the person of the Emperor and the Aventine House directly, not to the Imperial Office.
Watchers
According to this account, a species or collection of powerful xenobites, possibly worshiped as gods by the Cielcin and other alien races.
worldship
Any of the massive Cielcin vessels—some as large as moons—which make up the core of their fleets.
Writ of Nativity
A formal petition—or grant of said petition—enabling a palatine lord of the Sollan Empire to produce a child under the auspices of the High College.
xenobite
Any life form not originating in terranic or human stock, especially those life forms which are considered intelligent; an alien.
zitraa
The traditional weapon of an Irchtani warrior. A thin, curved cutlass approximately seven feet long.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christopher Ruocchio could read almost before he could speak, and so when he realized he would never be an astronaut, he decided to be a novelist. He began writing when he was eight years old, and sold his first novel at twenty-two. He is also the Assistant Editor at Baen Books and a graduate of North Carolina State University. He is the author of the Sun Eater series, beginning with Empire of Silence.
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