evernight: Often a curse word, it refers to death and/or hell. A metaphysical or teleological reality, rather than a physical one, it represents that which will forever embrace and be embraced by void, full darkness, night in its purest and most evil form.
eye caps: A specialized kind of spectacles. These colored lenses fit directly over the eye sockets, glued to the skin. Like other spectacles, they enable a drafter to draft her color more easily.
False Prism’s War, the: A common term for the brief but violent war between Gavin and Dazen Guile. The ‘False Prism’ is a reference to Dazen, who claimed to be a Prism even after his older brother had already been chosen and installed.
Ferrilux: Pagan god of pride, associated with superviolet. See Appendix, ‘On the Old Gods.’
flashbomb: A weapon crafted by yellow drafters. It doesn’t harm so much as dazzle and distract its victims with the blinding light of suddenly evaporating yellow luxin.
flying pulpit: Skimmers used for scouting, designed by Ben-hadad. These boats dispense with the weight of a deck entirely. They are held from the waves by only a narrow horizontal foil giving lift and the drafter’s vertical reeds, which also provide propulsion. Though they require great muscular and magical strength and endurance, they are the lightest and fastest skimmers in existence.
Four Festivals, the: Seasonal celebrations in the Seven Satrapies.
Sun Day: Summer solstice, the longest day of the year; aka the Braxian Feast of Dying Light.
Feast of Light & Darkness, or Waning Light: Autumnal equinox.
Feast of the Longest Night: Winter solstice, the shortest day of the year; the Luxlord’s Ball is also on this night.
Feast of Waxing Light: Spring equinox.
Free, the (see disambiguation with ‘Freed, the’ below): Those drafters who reject the Pact of the Chromeria to join the White King’s army, choosing to intentionally break the halo to become wights. Also called the Unchained. (Similarities between ‘Free’ and ‘the Freed’ are deliberate; the White King’s pagans use it to appropriate the Chromeria term.)
Freed, the (see disambiguation with ‘Free, the’ above): Those drafters who accept the Pact of the Chromeria and chose to be ritually killed in the Freeing (see entry below).
Freeing: The ritual death of a drafter immediately before or after they break their halos. Performed by the Prism every year as the culmination of the Sun Day rituals. A sensitive and holy time, it is accompanied by both mourning and celebration. Each drafter meets personally with the Prism for their Freeing. Many refer to it as the holiest day of their lives; pagans take a different view.
frizzen: On a flintlock, the L-shaped piece of metal against which the flint scrapes. The metal is on a hinge that opens upon firing to allow the sparks to reach the black powder in the chamber.
galabaya: A robe-like dress, common in Paria.
galleass: Originally a large merchant ship powered by both oar and sail. Later, the term referred to ships with modifications for military purposes, which include castles at bow and stern and cannons that fire in all directions.
Gargantua, the: A veritable floating castle, it was Ilytian pirate king Pash Vecchio’s flagship, with one hundred and forty-one light guns and forty-three heavy cannons. Sunk by Kip and Gavin Guile.
Garriston: The former commercial capital of Tyrea, at the mouth of the Umber River on the Cerulean Sea. Prism Gavin Guile built Bright-water Wall in an attempt to defend the city from Koios White Oak, and very nearly completed it before the pagans took Garriston.
gciorcal: A traditional dance of the Blood Forest pygmies involving paired, spinning dancers.
ghotra: A Parian head scarf, used by many Parian men to demonstrate their reverence for Orholam. In Old Parian tradition, a man’s hair is a sign of his virility and dominance and thereby his glory. Most wear it only while the sun is up, but some sects wear it even at nighttime.
Golden Mean, the: The finest ship to ever sail the Cerulean Sea. An Ilytian galleass, white teak with a brightwater sheen to its hull; it has forty guns on tracks and a masterpiece culverin on the forecastle named The Compelling Argument.
Great Chain (of Being), the: A theological term for the order of creation. The first link is Orholam Himself, and all the other links below (creation) derive from Him.
great hall, the: Located under the Prism’s Tower, a revered space in the Chromeria that is converted once a week into a place of worship, at which time mirrors from the other towers are turned to shine light in. It includes pillars of white marble and the largest display of stained glass in the world. Most of the satrapies have a great hall in their respective capitols, but none parallel the hall beneath the Prism’s Tower.
Great Library of Azûlay: An ancient library in Paria, the building itself is more than eight hundred years old and is built on the foundations of another library at least two hundred years older.
Great Mirror(s): A set of enormous mirrors, spread out among the entire Seven Satrapies.
Great River, the: The river between Ruthgar and Blood Forest, the scene of many pitched battles between the two countries.
great yard, the: The training yard at the base of the towers of the
Chromeria, used primarily by the Blackguard.
green flash: A rare flash of color seen at the setting of the sun; its meaning is debated. Some believe it has theological significance, citing Karris Atiriel’s sighting of it the evening before the battle in Hass Valley. The previous White, Orea Pullawr, called it Orholam’s wink.
Green Forest: A collective term for Blood Forest and Ruthgar during the years of peace and unity between the two territories—in contrast to when the same territory was called the Blood Plains, after Vician’s Sin incited the Blood Wars.
Green Haven: The capital of Blood Forest, on the far side of Lach Lána.
Greenwall: The massive, living, defensive wall surrounding Dúnbheo, still known to outsiders as the Floating City, though it long ago adjoined the shores of Lach Lána.
grenado: An explosive clay flagon full of black powder with a piece of wood shoved into the top, with a rag and bit of black powder as a fuse. Can also be made with luxin and can be hurled at an enemy along an arc of luxin or in a cannon. Often filled with shot/shrapnel, depending on the type used.
Guile palace: Family palace on Big Jasper, distinct from their residence on Jaks Hill in Rath. The Guile palace was one of the few buildings allowed to be constructed without regard to the working of the Thousand Stars, its height cutting off some of the light paths.
Harbinger: Corvan Danavis’s sword, inherited when his elder brothers died.
haze: A narcotic. Often smoked with a pipe, it produces a sickly-sweet odor.
hellhounds: Dogs infused with red luxin and enough will to make them run at enemies while lit on fire.
Hellmount: A snow-capped peak far to the southwest, near the
Atashian border.
hellstone: A superstitious term for obsidian, which is rarer than diamonds or rubies, as few know where the extant obsidian in the world is created or mined. Obsidian is the only stone that can draw luxin out of a drafter if it touches her blood directly.
hippodrome: A large oval stadium, dedicated primarily to races among horses, chariots, or athletes. Often serves as a public gathering place for executions and other important state functions. They are most common in Ruthgar and Paria.
hullwrecker: A luxin disk filled with shrapnel, designed by Blackguard Nerra. It has a sticky side so that it will adhere to a ship’s hull and a fuse to allow the attackers to flee before it explodes, punching a hole in the ship’s hull and spraying shrapnel in toward the crew.