Festival of Veiled Waters: A yearly festival occurring during the springtime in Nadežra, when fog covers the city for approximately a week.
Fulvet: One of the five seats in the Cinquerat, addressed as “Your Grace.” Fulvet oversees the civic affairs of the city, including land ownership, public works, and the judiciary.
The Great Dream: A sacred event for Vraszenians, during which the Wellspring of Ažerais manifests in the waking world. It occurs once every seven years, during the Festival of Veiled Waters.
Illi: The numen associated with both 0 and 10 in numinatria. It represents beginnings, endings, eternity, the soul, and the inscriptor’s self.
imbuing: A form of craft-based magic that has the effect of making objects function more effectively: an imbued blade cuts better and doesn’t dull or rust, while an imbued cloak may be warmer, more waterproof, or more concealing. It is also possible, though more difficult, to imbue a performance.
inscriptor: A practitioner of numinatria.
Iridet: One of the five seats in the Cinquerat, addressed as “Your Worship.” Iridet oversees the religious affairs of the city, including temples, numinatria, and the pilgrimage of the Great Dream.
Kaius Sifigno / Kaius Rex: See The Tyrant.
kanina: The “ancestor dance” of the Vraszenians, used on special occasions such as births, marriages, and deaths. When performed well enough, it has the power to call up the spirits of the dancers’ ancestors from Ažerais’s Dream.
knot: A term derived from Vraszenian custom for a street gang in Nadežra. Members mark their allegiance with a knotwork charm, though they are not required to wear or display it openly.
koszenie: A Vraszenian shawl that records an individual’s maternal and paternal ancestry in the pattern of its embroidery. It is usually worn only for special occasions, including when performing the kanina.
kretse: (sing. kureč) A Vraszenian lineage, a subdivision of a clan. The third part of a traditional Vraszenian name marks the kureč an individual belongs to.
lihoše: (sing. lihosz) The Vraszenian term for a person born female, but taking on a male role so as to be able to lead his people. Lihoše patronymics end in the plural and gender-neutral “-ske.” Their counterparts are the rimaše, born male but taking on a female role so as to become szorsas.
meda/mede: The titles used for members of delta houses.
The Night of Bells: A yearly festival commemorating the death of the Tyrant. It includes the Ceremony of the Accords.
Ninat: The numen associated with 9 in numinatria. It represents death, release, completion, apotheosis, and the boundary between the mundane and the infinite.
Noctat: The numen associated with 8 in numinatria. It represents sensation, sexuality, procreation, honesty, salvation, and repentance.
numina: (sing. numen) The numina are a series of numbers, 0–10, that are used in numinatria to channel magical power. They consist of Illi (which is both 0 and 10), Uniat, Tuat, Tricat, Quarat, Quinat, Sessat, Sebat, Noctat, and Ninat. Each numen has its own particular resonance with concepts such as family or death, as well as associated gods, colors, metals, geometric figures, and so forth.
numinatria: A form of magic based on sacred geometry. A work of numinatria is called a numinat (pl. numinata). Numinatria works by channeling power from the ultimate godhead, the Lumen, which manifests in the numina. In order to function, a numinat must have a focus, through which it draws on the power of the Lumen; most foci feature the name of a god, written in the ancient Enthaxn script.
pattern: In Vraszenian culture, “pattern” is a term for fate and the interconnectedness of things. It is seen as a gift from the ancestral goddess Ažerais, and can be understood through the interpretation of a pattern deck.
pattern deck: A deck currently consisting of sixty cards in three suits, called threads. The spinning thread represents the “inner self” (the mind and spirit), the woven thread represents the “outer self” (social relationships), and the cut thread represents the “physical self” (the body and the material world). Each thread contains both unaligned and aspect cards, the latter of which allude to the most important Faces and Masks in Vraszenian religion.
Prasinet: One of the five seats in the Cinquerat, addressed as “Your Charity.” Prasinet oversees the economic affairs of the city, including taxation, trade routes, and guilds.
prismatium: An iridescent metal created through the use of numinatria, and associated with Sebat.
Quarat: The numen associated with 4 in numinatria. It represents nature, nourishment, growth, wealth, and luck.
Quinat: The numen associated with 5 in numinatria. It represents power, excellence, leadership, healing, and renewal.
rimaše: (sing. rimasz) The Vraszenian term for a person born male, but taking on a female role to act as a szorsa. Rimaše patronymics end in the plural and gender-neutral “-ske.” Their counterparts are the lihoše, born female but taking on male roles to lead their people.
Sebat: The numen associated with 7 in numinatria. It represents craftsmanship, purity, seclusion, transformation, and perfection in imperfection.
Sessat: The numen associated with 6 in numinatria. It represents order, stasis, institutions, simplicity, and friendship.
soul: In Vraszenian cosmology, the soul has three parts: the dlakani or “personal” soul, the szekani or “knotted” soul, and the čekani or “bodily” soul. After death, the dlakani goes to paradise or hell, the szekani lives on in Ažerais’s Dream, and the čekani reincarnates. In Liganti cosmology, the soul ascends through the numina to the Lumen, then descends once more to reincarnate.
sun/earth: Contrasting terms used for many purposes in Liganti culture. The sun hours run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the earth hours run from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sun-handed is right-handed, and earth-handed is left-handed. Sunwise and earthwise mean clockwise and counterclockwise, or when referring to people, a man born female or a woman born male.
szorsa: A reader of a pattern deck.
Tricat: The numen associated with 3 in numinatria. It represents stability, family, community, completion, rigidity, and reconciliation.
Tuat: The numen associated with 2 in numinatria. It represents the other, duality, communication, connection, opposition, and the inscriptor’s edge.
The Tyrant: Kaius Sifigno, also called Kaius Rex. He was a Liganti commander who conquered all of Vraszan, but according to legend his further spread was stopped by him succumbing to his various desires. Reputed to be unkillable, the Tyrant was supposedly brought down by venereal disease. His death is celebrated on the Night of Bells.
Uniat: The numen associated with 1 in numinatria. It represents the body, self-awareness, enlightenment, containment, and the inscriptor’s chalk.
The Vigil: The primary force of law and order within Nadežra, nicknamed “hawks” after their emblem. Separate from the city-state’s army, the Vigil polices the city itself, under the leadership of a high commander who answers to Caerulet. Their headquarters is the Aerie.
Vraszan: The name of the region and loose confederation of city-states of which Nadežra was formerly a part.
Wellspring of Ažerais: The holy site around which the city of Nadežra was founded. The wellspring exists within Ažerais’s Dream, and only manifests in the waking world during the Great Dream. Drinking its waters grants a true understanding of pattern.
ziemetse: (sing. ziemič) The leaders of the Vraszenian clans, also referred to as “clan elders.” Each has a title taken from the name of their clan: the Anoškinič, Dvornič, Kiralič, Meszarič, Stretskojič, Varadič, and (formerly) Ižranjič.
extras
meet the author
Photo Credit: John Scalzi
M. A. CARRICK is the joint pen name of Marie Brennan (author of the Memoirs of Lady Trent) and Alyc Helms (author of the Adventures of Mr. Mystic). The two met in 2000 on an archaeological dig in Wales and Ireland—including a stint in the town of Carrickmacross—and have built their friendship through two decad
es of anthropology, writing, and gaming. They live in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Find out more about M. A. Carrick and other Orbit authors by registering for the free monthly newsletter at orbitbooks.net.
if you enjoyed
THE LIAR’S KNOT
look out for
BOOK THREE OF THE ROOK & ROSE TRILOGY
by
M. A. Carrick
Ossiter’s, Eastbridge
After so many years of desperation, misery, and loss, Donaia was hardly certain what to do with happiness.
Or, for that matter, with dancing. “Rusty” did not begin to describe her skills: In the middle of a set, she missed her cue to cast off and had to scramble out of the way of the pair of dancers hurtling up the set. Rather than try to find her place again, she ducked and dodged to the safety of the mingling crowd, chuckling at the thought of how Leato would tease her for abandoning her partner.
And she could laugh. Memories of her lost son were everywhere, always… but now she was trying to take joy in them instead of letting her heart remain mired in sorrow. Giuna had come of age; the guests had gathered at Ossiter’s for a belated celebration of her natal day and her elevation to the position of heir to House Traementis.
Donaia let her gaze sweep the atrium, marveling at the crowd. Only five months since Renata’s adoption, where the silence of the Tricatium had almost swallowed the bare scattering of people who attended; now that scattering had multiplied like silken scarves in the hands of a street performer. Even Octale Contorio, recently released from the Dockwall Prison, was there, regaling a small cluster of people with the poetry he’d written during his captivity. All the noble houses had sent guests, as had a triple handful of delta gentry families.
Almost all the noble houses, she amended. Not a single member of House Acrenix was present; Faella Coscanum had made it clear they were no longer welcome in polite society. Without a word of explanation as to why… But given that Ghiscolo Acrenix was dead, his putative heir Sibiliat was at the family’s bay villa “for her health,” and his adoptive mother Carinci had succeeded him as the head of their house, there was more than enough fodder for rumors. The most widespread one held that Sibiliat had murdered her father—but if that were true, wouldn’t the Cinquerat have put her on trial?
Scaperto Quientis appeared in her view, one fluted glass in each hand. “I wasn’t certain if you would need fortification or refreshment,” he said, holding them both out.
Brushing flyaway wisps of hair from her face, Donaia waved off the wine and reached for the chilled lemon water. “No drinking for me tonight; I wouldn’t want to put you through a repeat of our adoption ball. Nobody likes caring for a drunk.”
“I didn’t mind,” Scaperto said, sipping the wine she’d refused.
Despite the cool glass in her hand, warmth spread through Donaia. At first she hadn’t been sure how to interpret Scaperto’s kindness: whether it was merely friendship for a grieving woman, or something more. But the days she spent at his villa had not only lessened the weight on her heart, they had cleared the fog from her eyes, too. While she wasn’t quite ready yet for more than friendship, that shore was in sight. And she trusted that Scaperto would wait there until she arrived.
Renata swirled past in a rush of amethyst silk and embroidered cobalt dragonflies, light on her feet in the arms of Ucozzo Extaquium. Sureggio’s recent suicide might have sent Parma Extaquium into mourning seclusion, but the rest of their house was happy to go on enjoying themselves as usual. Another thing for the rumormongers to chew on, given the close timing of Sureggio’s death and Ghiscolo’s.
Donaia savored the lemon water and tried to banish those thoughts. You’re looking for trouble where there is none. Can’t you just be happy?
Scaperto said, “I’m sure Faella knows.”
To anyone else, it might have seemed like a non sequitur, but the two of them had been speculating for weeks. Despite Scaperto’s seat in the Cinquerat, he knew no more about Ghiscolo’s death than Donaia did. The lack galled him, and understandably so.
Sighing, Donaia said, “Of all the times for that gossiping old seagull to close her beak.”
“Era!” Scaperto feigned shock at her rudeness, but clinked his glass against hers. “Every time I try to draw her out, she just turns her attention to the question of who will fill the empty seat. I know you refused it, but might a member of your house be willing? Nothing in the law says Cinquerat members have to be the heads of their houses.”
As if he meant any old member, and not one in particular. A flash of amethyst caught her gaze; the dance was bringing her niece near again. Donaia could at least rescue the girl from Ucozzo’s wandering hands. “Renata!”
Too late, she realized the pairs had shifted and Renata’s partner was no longer Ucozzo. With a laugh and a courtly bow, Derossi Vargo led her off the floor. The two of them promenaded over to Donaia and Scaperto as if they were still dancing, and Renata dropped into a curtsy as she arrived. A year in Nadežra hadn’t softened her crisp Seterin accent, but her tone was playful as she said, “You called?”
Donaia gestured with her lemon water. “Scaperto is considering tossing you into Ninat’s maw. Do you want to refuse him yourself, or shall I do so for you?”
That set him sputtering. “I meant no such thing! I only thought—”
“That two Caerulets have died in the past year, so why not replace them with someone with incredible luck?”
The accusation carried an edge Donaia hadn’t intended. But after losing so much to the curse on House Traementis, it didn’t take much to make her worry. Renata was responsible for so much of the house’s recovery; Donaia only wished she could repay her niece somehow.
But that would require her to know what Renata wanted. And that, in turn, might require Renata to know. For all her unshakable facade of confidence, sometimes it felt like the girl clung to her Traementis duties to give her purpose. She’d resisted Giuna’s repeated suggestion that she could remain heir for a while longer, but in the absence of that guiding rudder, Donaia worried her niece might simply… drift away.
Renata’s laugh carried an edge of its own. “I’m afraid I’d be very ill-suited for the Caerulet seat. I know nothing of military matters.”
“Very few of us do,” Donaia said. “Indestor had that seat for generations, and they granted very few charters outside their own control.”
“House Coscanum holds one,” Vargo mused.
Scaperto cleared his throat. “Yes, well. Naldebris doesn’t want the seat. And I hope you won’t take offense, Eret Vargo, that the Cinquerat is not considering you for it, either.”
Donaia expected a sharp reply, but was surprised when Vargo looked like he was suppressing a full-body shudder. “That saves me having to find a polite way to say no.”
Renata touched the watered silk of his sleeve, and Vargo flashed her a brief expression that was more grimace than smile. It seemed the cursed reputation that seat had acquired was enough to dampen even his ambition.
A small commotion at the door pulled Donaia’s attention away from the conversation. She’d rented the entirety of Ossiter’s for tonight—only her guests were permitted in—and one of the footmen was blocking a pair of people from entering.
“Excuse me,” Donaia said, and hurried across the atrium.
Grey Serrado snapped her a very correct bow when she approached, as crisp as if he were still a captain of the Vigil. His sister-in-law, Alinka, stood in his shadow, half ready to retreat back out the door.
Donaia stepped around the footman and took Alinka’s arm in her own. To the footman she said, “What do you think you’re doing, interfering with my invited guests?”
The footman’s bow was every bit as correct as Serrado’s. “My apologies, era. It was a misunderstanding.”
He wasn’t bold enough to say to her face that he assumed any Vraszenians ought to be using the servants’ door—even though Grey wore a fine coat of heather-grey wool, with a sword belted
to his hip, and Alinka was in the pale blue surcoat and cream underdress Donaia had gifted to her. “Come with me,” Donaia said, dismissing the footman with a pointed sniff, and led the pair into the atrium.
Fortunately she spotted Renata’s maid Tess, helping to re-pin Giuna’s hair. Donaia had hardly seen her daughter all evening: With Sibiliat Acrenix and her dubious attentions removed from the field, quite a few prospective suitors were eager to parade themselves before the new heir.
But at heart, Giuna was still the girl who had spent most of her childhood mewed up in the manor of a dwindling family, with very few people to call friend. She had no compunctions about hugging Grey, exclaiming, “You came!”
He returned the hug, but then stepped back and bowed. “Of course, alta. We couldn’t miss your celebration.”
She swatted his arm. “Why so formal? If anybody takes offense at you skipping the courtesies, I’ll just have you duel them.”
Giving him a long-term contract as their house duelist had been Renata’s idea. They didn’t need one nearly as badly as they had in past years, when they couldn’t afford to hire one in the first place, but it was a kindness after he quit the Vigil. Donaia only wished she’d thought of it first. She still remembered the starveling boy who’d shown up on her doorstep with his older brother, begging for work. A nearly familial friendship had grown between him and Leato, despite the differences in their stations, and she felt more than a little affection for him herself.
Grey said mildly, “I’d prefer not to mar the night with swords. Alta Renata.”
Donaia hadn’t noticed her niece approaching. Renata nodded to Grey, then turned and said, “Giuna, Orrucio Amananto was looking for you.”
“Oh, please no,” Giuna moaned. “Nothing against Orrucio—but if I don’t rest, I’ll collapse!”
“If the alta would like to sit,” Tess said, gesturing at an empty chair set in front of one of the atrium’s planters, “I could pretend there’s something wrong with your hem. That should give you a moment to breathe.”
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