Terms

Every entry currently tracked for this category.

Entry	Appears in	Notes
Acting-Sage-Inquirer	House of Open Wounds ch 48-51	a rank within the School of Correct Speech (Inquirers); Prassel now holds it, elevated from Fellow-Inquirer
Alkhand	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 7-10; Days of Shattered Fait ch 1-50	the Usmiat royal title; the "appropriate Usmiat title" for a ruling monarch
Almuer	Days of Shattered Fait ch 18-20	a sage or wise man; literally "one whose ghost is worthy of preserving"
Appointments Secretary to the Commission	Days of Shattered Fait ch 41	the Commission official who would name the next Perfector
Auntie	City of Last Chances ch 34
Awkward Questions	House of Open Wounds ch 17	a drinking game Banders mentions playing
Bashonin	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 7; Days of Shattered Fait ch 2	title held by Tarcomir as Lor's emissary
bell-making	House of Open Wounds ch 41	Cosserby's derisive term for his Sonori work; used by Banders as a dismissal
bird-badge insurgents	City of Last Chances ch 11	Shrievsby's dismissive term for the resistance cells operating in Ilmar
Blessed	House of Open Wounds ch 20	a term for openly-consecrated priests of foreign gods serving in the Pal military; Pirisytes recognizes them "wearing the uniform. Actual priests of actual gods"
Bride of the Sea	Pretenders to the Thro ch 9	a rank within the Fisher King cult; Vestry held this position before her defiance
chucker-outer	City of Last Chances ch 44	the Vultures' (or the underworld's) term for a bouncer; Hellgram's role at the Anchorage
Claw of Ffen	Pretenders to the Thro ch 7	the title held by the current champion of Eres Ffenegh, invoking the dead crab god Ffen; the Widow uses it mockingly to address Kiff
Cohort-Archivist	House of Open Wounds ch 11; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 1	a teaching/administrative role; the refectory teacher holds this title with two other full-time jobs
Cohort-Inquirer	House of Open Wounds ch 23
Cohort-Invigilator	House of Open Wounds ch 23; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 2-5; Days of Shattered Fait ch 1-43	sings a Pal marching song at a fire; Masty stops to listen and feels briefly better
Cohort-Monitor	House of Open Wounds ch 23-35; Days of Shattered Fait ch 42
Companion-Archivist	City of Last Chances ch 18	a rank within Correct Erudition held by Nasely
Companion-Invigilator	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 5-6; Days of Shattered Fait ch 42	rank; Benallers' rank; one below Fellow
Companion-Monitor	House of Open Wounds ch 48	rank Prassel offers Festle within The Deathless
Custodian	Days of Shattered Fait ch 4
drill statlos	Pretenders to the Thro ch 40	a military drill authority; the dead's stamping would make "a drill statlos weep"
Dusarch	Days of Shattered Fait ch 20-31	title of the ruler of Lucibi, who died without heir, prompting the throne's auction
factora	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 4	the Palleseen colonial term for a merchant's business premises or trading post in an occupied territory
Families	Pretenders to the Thro ch 5-17	the term used for members of a clan in Eres Ffenegh; the two attackers are called "the Families man" and "the junior Families man"
Fammi	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 10	a Palleseen term of familiar equals, equivalent to "mate"
Feggs	Pretenders to the Thro ch 41	pejorative used by Fowlett for the Os-Fferegh; "She wants the Feggs to remember today for ten generations"
Fellow rank	Pretenders to the Thro ch 40	the officer grade of the forward company officers Fowlett summons
Fellow-Archivist	House of Open Wounds ch 35; Days of Shattered Fait ch 7
Fellow-Broker	City of Last Chances ch 37; House of Open Wounds ch 50; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 7	unnamed officer on Scaffesty's staff; shoots at Lidlet in defiance; dies from the withdrawn blessing
Fellow-Inquirer	City of Last Chances ch 37-40; House of Open Wounds ch 23-51; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 1-6; Pretenders to the Thro ch 29	the rank Angilly holds at the chapter's start, before promotion
Fellow-Invigilator	House of Open Wounds ch 32-35; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 2-5; Days of Shattered Fait ch 42	a rank within the Invigilators; Ostrephy's rank; Angilly calls her "Magister"
Fellow-Lodge	Days of Shattered Fait ch 8
Fellow-Monitor	City of Last Chances ch 37; House of Open Wounds ch 43; Days of Shattered Fait ch 42
Fellow-Trustie	City of Last Chances ch 49	a rank imposed by the Pals on Gownhall masters, making them simultaneously responsible to the Pals and to their colleagues; Vorkovin is the first mentioned holder
Fellows	House of Open Wounds ch 45	a rank; Maserley's and Thurrel's level
Flossy	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 6	the nickname used for Professor-Invigilator Flockersly outside his office; "It breeds complacence that he can use against his interdepartmental rivals"
Gabble	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 4	old soldier's slang for valuable-but-religious loot that might bring you before Correct Speech if found in your pack
Gak	Days of Shattered Fait ch 42	a contractual word/clause; Caecelian writes it into her binding, and speaking it after the transfer causes Wattery's head and one arm to fall from her body; it is the lethal clause of the contract
ghost work	House of Open Wounds ch 39	Prassel's term for the classified assignment "Higher Orders" have put her on; she "always wanted ghost work. Until now"
God the grudging healer	Days of Shattered Fait ch 40	the God Loret formerly followed; his followers "did not even defend themselves" against the Dead Companies; Loret "displeased God" and fled
God-fevers	Days of Shattered Fait ch 8	the Usmiat name for illnesses that strike foreigners in Usmai, blamed on local deities taking offence; Kilbery, as a Pal, rejects the explanation
god-smuggling	House of Open Wounds ch 24	Jack's former trade in Ilmar: spiriting deities out of the city to keep them from the Decanters; the charge for which he was imprisoned
gone native	City of Last Chances ch 11	the condition afflicting those trapped in the Reproach; they shed their former identities, adopt courtly titles and an antique Maric idiolect, and lose all reaction to the physical threats around them
Grand Moerend	Days of Shattered Fait ch 5-18
Heir	Days of Shattered Fait ch 18
Hellieur	City of Last Chances ch 16-43; Pretenders to the Thro ch 5	(not in this chapter text; listed in reference only)
hooley-hooley-hailey	House of Open Wounds ch 17	Palleseen imitation of Maric speech; used as a racial caricature in the authorised play; Jack asks if it is a thing
Hop to!	Pretenders to the Thro ch 12	the Loruthi command to activate batons fitted with Loruthi tablethi.
Hullseer	Days of Shattered Fait ch 50	title of the leader of the Cotto pirates; held by Orhuhst
Incorrect Exchange	City of Last Chances ch 1	the crime of begging or unlicensed trade; Yasnic risks it
Incorrect Speech	City of Last Chances ch 1; House of Open Wounds ch 45	the crime of speaking against Occupier orthodoxy; arrests made for it
Izzy	Pretenders to the Thro ch 35	familiar nickname for Istreddy used within the Heretics
Junior phal	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 1
Junior sympaticos	House of Open Wounds ch 3	a couple of Alv's students washing bloody clothes from the previous day
Kama	Days of Shattered Fait ch 28	a nickname Gorbudan used for Dekamran; Dekamran refuses to let anyone else use it
Keeper of the Fifth Key	Days of Shattered Fait ch 4	a title held by Coregan; "a very grand way of describing a relatively minor personality within the administrative hierarchy of the palace"
Kepishi	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 8-10; Days of Shattered Fait ch 4-40	a term for Palleseen people; Gorbudan calls them "killers of gods, devourers of ways"
know Gil	Days of Shattered Fait ch 4
Lemon blood fever	House of Open Wounds ch 19	a wasting disease with "a gauntness" and "yellowness to the skin"; Ollery carries a tonic that can stave it off
Louse Speaker	Days of Shattered Fait ch 8-33
Maestra	City of Last Chances ch 37
Maestro	City of Last Chances ch 35-37	Gownhall teachers Shantrov invokes as potential leaders; Vidsya dismisses them
Magister	House of Open Wounds ch 3-51; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 6-8; Days of Shattered Fait ch 2-38; Pretenders to the Thro ch 23-29	a form of address; calling Banders "Magister" would be a court-martial offence as "Disrespect to the uniform"
Man of peace	Pretenders to the Thro ch 5	term the demon uses for Jack, apparently a descriptor tied to his Maric identity
Mesne-Lord	City of Last Chances ch 5	a title from Allor's pre-Occupation social order; Blackmane would have held it had the Pals not conquered Allor.
Misericord	House of Open Wounds ch 11	a dagger; Prassel refused to use one to cull extra corpses from the convalescence wards
Necromantic Unnatural	House of Open Wounds ch 27	classification applied to a person who is a walking corpse animated by a bound ghost (applied to Festle in the reference list; the chapter shows the phenomenon directly)
No kings, no masters	Pretenders to the Thro ch 42	the motto of Hell's revolutionaries, spoken by Caeleen, echoed by Devil Jack and Niev
Old Cause	Pretenders to the Thro ch 35	regimental nickname for The Old Cause / Fowlett, short for "of Death"; used by her own people
Old Eyeball	House of Open Wounds ch 45	epithet for Scaffesty
Orcoba period	City of Last Chances ch 5	a historical/artistic period referenced in Ivarn's note describing a stolen desk.
Oslamn	Pretenders to the Thro ch 12
Pal company conjurer	Days of Shattered Fait ch 24	a type of practitioner who summons monsters for military use
Pel phrase	Pretenders to the Thro ch 27	the single-word command trigger for a Palleseen charged rod; "the first word of the language so many foreigners learned"
Peost	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 7-10; Days of Shattered Fait ch 5-48	a name used for the Palleseen state and its advisors; "Those men and women clustering about the Peost throne with their hand about that nation's throat, they were advisors"
Perfector	City of Last Chances ch 10-40; House of Open Wounds ch 7; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 3-10; Days of Shattered Fait ch 1-42; Pretenders to the Thro ch 7-40	the title and office held by Culvern over Ilmar as individual occupied territory; appointed by the Temporary Commission of Ends and Means
phantom velvet	City of Last Chances ch 12	a euphemism for death; "They will be wearing the phantom velvet already" means they are already dead
piutarma	House of Open Wounds ch 17	an Ilmari word meaning both "auntie" and "someone who runs a gang, a criminal boss"
plum post	Days of Shattered Fait ch 2	slang for a desirable, low-risk foreign posting
Political Oversight	House of Open Wounds ch 49	a function exercised by a Fellow-Inquirer who visits the camp; mentioned only by title
Pragmatic Flexibility	Days of Shattered Fait ch 7	"The term from Pal philosophy" for Drathel's quality of believing and disavowing things in the moment; "the scholars were still out on whether it was a good thing or not"
Priestess of the High Fane	House of Open Wounds ch 46	Tallifer's former religious title, restored when Mazdek chooses her
Probationary Citizen	City of Last Chances ch 5	a title the Palleseen occupation authorities apply to Blackmane, marking his legal precariousness.
Professor-Invigilator	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 6	the rank of Professor-Invigilator Flockersly
rasophore	City of Last Chances ch 1-19	a title used by Ruslav to address Yasnic as a priest; no further gloss given
Regulars	House of Open Wounds ch 1	native Palleseen soldiers; contrasted with Accessories.
Resident	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 5-10; Days of Shattered Fait ch 6	the Palleseen diplomatic/military representative posted in a foreign land; the position Angilly is being sent to fill
robe-bearer	City of Last Chances ch 1	term for a priest of the Mahanic Temple; Yasnic disclaims it
Sage-Archivist	City of Last Chances ch 6-40; House of Open Wounds ch 35-37	murdered by the Indwellers; Fleance says "They'd murdered the Sage-Archivist" and that the event broke his control over the Game
Sage-Inquirer	City of Last Chances ch 37; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 3; Pretenders to the Thro ch 20	the rank Meller holds; the highest Palleseen officer in the region
Sage-Monitor	House of Open Wounds ch 20; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 3	once complimented Pirisytes's positive attitude
Sand Life	Days of Shattered Fait ch 8	street slang among Sand Lanes kids for their knife-and-gang existence; "Half of them would be dead before they made two decades"
scar-mail	House of Open Wounds ch 23	slang for the accumulated flogging scars on a person's back ("Got room for more stripes or is it all scar-mail already?")
senior phal	Days of Shattered Fait ch 10	a level of schooling in Pallesand; Gil compares her breathlessness to "a girl in senior phal, sneaking out with a boy for the first time"
Serpent's Fang	Days of Shattered Fait ch 5-14
Sier	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 8-10	a Palleseen title of address for a respected superior; Angilly uses it to avoid committing to a Usmiri category of address
simulacratia	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 5	a class of demon Benallers considers for area surveillance; "a clutch of low-grade demons just released over a wide area with some basic pattern-recognition instructions"
Skystones	Pretenders to the Thro ch 12	local argot for the Palleseen artillery rounds, equated with shooting stars and meteorites.
Sonorist	House of Open Wounds ch 8-34	Cosserby's profession; a maker and maintainer of Sonori (and, in practice, prosthetics); the name derives from the Sonori's bell-like sound
Specialist	Pretenders to the Thro ch 16-40
Standard bottle procedures	City of Last Chances ch 37	Nisbet's euphemism for Palleseen crowd-control measures; "may not suffice" against the labourers march
strategic withdrawal	House of Open Wounds ch 14	the euphemism used in dispatches for what is plainly a retreat; Prassel uses the phrase acidly
sympaticos	House of Open Wounds ch 3	students of sympathetic magic; Alv's students are washing bloody clothes
tab	Days of Shattered Fait ch 37	slang shorthand for tablethi as a unit of value; "over a hundred thousand tab, all in"
the Alkhani	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 9	title of the Alkhand's wife/wife-in-title
the demonist	House of Open Wounds ch 11	epithet Maric Jack uses for the conjurer who saved him; Prassel hated this person; likely refers to Maserley
the Difficult Wives Club	Days of Shattered Fait ch 32-49	humorous self-designation for Happy Jack (lover of Caecelian, "the Viper") and the Under-warden (husband of the centipede monster): "Jack the Viper's beloved and the Under-warden. The founder members of the Difficult Wives Club."
the duty Companion	House of Open Wounds ch 22	a rank/role; Spinnerly holds it; Banders curries favour with him
the echo	House of Open Wounds ch 10	Cosserby's word for the thing present but unacknowledged: the coming major battle
the falling priest	Pretenders to the Thro ch 34	the demon assassin's epithet for Jack, referencing his former priesthood and current strait
the gap	Pretenders to the Thro ch 1	what remains when a demon dies: not a body but "an absence made tangible," a hole where the demon "fell out of the world and back Below"
the Hammer	City of Last Chances ch 28-48	the workers' action of abandoning the mills to confront the Duke and Armigers; "Wielding the Hammer was always just abandoning the mills to go remind the Duke and the Armigers who it was put money in their posh velvet purses"
the killing word	Days of Shattered Fait ch 47	the activation word for a tableth weapon, spoken in Pel; firing a baton or rod requires speaking it.
The Knife Witch of Jarokir	Days of Shattered Fait ch 8	Kilbery's invented nickname for Tally, the surgeon who runs the Fever Lodge; he fabricates a backstory of a king, a queen, and a slit throat
the Loopholes	House of Open Wounds ch 40-51	shorthand for The Ninety-Seven Loopholes, the binding legal text of the poison-condiction scheme
the Louseocracy	Days of Shattered Fait ch 33	Flint's derisive name for what the Tesemer would have made of Usmai had they succeeded in conquest five hundred years ago
The Old Knife	Pretenders to the Thro ch 2-34	the fierce winter wind off the sea at Eres Ffenegh, named by poets; arrives as the siege stalls; "As much a part of the city as her sainted ancestor, and not banished so easily"
the option	House of Open Wounds ch 43	the act of accepting God's healing, which renders a soldier unable to fight without dying; the prisoners in the barracks are those who took it
the Rain Life	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 2-9; Days of Shattered Fait ch 2-50	a label for the Diplomatic Office's work, coined by a poet since excised from the approved canon; "what passes over a nation before the storm comes, putting out fires"
the ribbons	City of Last Chances ch 6	powder-blue strips students must wear at their belts by Pal statute; a political signal, worn or removed by conviction
the ship of suspicion	House of Open Wounds ch 45	Tallifer's metaphor for the point at which one is irrevocably marked by the Correct Speech crowd
the Tally officer	House of Open Wounds ch 6; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 2	referenced as a figure of strict Palleseen bureaucratic accountability
the Tally's script	House of Open Wounds ch 6	the soldiers' name for the marking system on a whipped man's back, in reference to the Tally Officer ensuring "every bad student completed their lines"
the Unclean	House of Open Wounds ch 45	epithet applied to Lochiver
Third Degree Cap	City of Last Chances ch 15	a Divinati hat, "the folded-over kind with a tassel"; locals call it "a sock"
Tiger-Crab	Lives of Bitter Rain ch 6; Days of Shattered Fait ch 5-15	the creature involved in the previous Resident's fatal "hunting accident" in Usmai; Angilly has no context for it
twelveday	City of Last Chances ch 1	old Ilmari calendar unit, now illegal to use
Unhappy Jack	Days of Shattered Fait ch 49	the stage of grief Jack passed through after losing his wife, between "Happy Jack" and his current hollow grimness; characterised by weeping, red eyes, demands made of an absent God
Usmiri inclusive and exclusive we	Days of Shattered Fait ch 47	Usmiri has a linguistic distinction Pel lacks: the "we" that includes the listener versus the "we" that is only the speaker and others.
Volunteers	House of Open Wounds ch 41	euphemism for bound Whitebellies with tablethi strapped to their necks and empty coppers before them, to be commanded as ghost-ammunition sources
votaress	City of Last Chances ch 9; House of Open Wounds ch 49	an Allorwen sacred intermediary between worlds who formalises agreements for the benefit of her people; Mother Semprellaime's former training
White Manor	City of Last Chances ch 12; House of Open Wounds ch 37	used as a verb ("You do not know enough to come here and White Manor me"), meaning to attempt to extract premium prices or to affect airs of high-status dealing; the youth had been told he'd get thirteen pence "at White Manor"
Working Against the Perfecture	City of Last Chances ch 24	the charge on the official poster condemning the healer, Ruslav, the student girl, and Ivarn Ostravar; the chapter notes no common crimes were smeared on them, unlike usual Palleseen practice
baton-fodder	House of Open Wounds ch 35	slang term for expendable soldiers; Thurrel tells the demon to "round us up another batch"
bawd	House of Open Wounds ch 7	the operator of a circle house; Mother Semprellaime's trade
birds	City of Last Chances ch 10
bludgeons	Days of Shattered Fait ch 30	Flint's term for large wooden tankards (as opposed to "small sticks," i.e. standard cups)
brute-work demon	Days of Shattered Fait ch 38	a classification of demon suited to labour and violence, which Pel (designed for easy learning) suits as a language
camp followers	House of Open Wounds ch 37	the profession and legal fiction by which those purveying "mortal or infernal flesh" register as seamstresses and laundresses in the Pal census
comedy horse	House of Open Wounds ch 36	Lidlet's term for the stretcher she and the other bearer carry ("the comedy horse that was their stretcher")
demon chit	House of Open Wounds ch 45	epithet for Caeleen
excursion permit	House of Open Wounds ch 23	a document invented by the Landwards Battalion Logistics Department, not present in Forthright Battalion or elsewhere
foul-shot	House of Open Wounds ch 33	Tallifer's term (with uncertainty: "Or that's the word") for the Loruthi ammunition; implies that if nothing gets septic, there is a deeper problem
god smuggler	House of Open Wounds ch 2	a charge brought against the prisoner; a crime that does not exist on the usual list and had to be invented for him
idiot passes	House of Open Wounds ch 26	an additional document that Landwards Battalion instituted for Accessories to carry when entering a city; Palleseen Regulars and officers do not need them
Islerwoman	Days of Shattered Fait ch 1	term used by the Cotto pirate for a foreigner from the islands/Archipelago; used "like a title of honour"
knocking shops	House of Open Wounds ch 31	brothels; "one of the various knocking shops around here"
living curse	City of Last Chances ch 17	the Old Duke's last wickedness, foisted onto the man who was hanging him; a term the narrator uses without full explanation
negotiators	House of Open Wounds ch 50
niece-cousin	Days of Shattered Fait ch 8	a Cotto kinship label for very distant familial connection that still carries obligation
phal education	House of Open Wounds ch 36	formal military or institutional education; Lidlet has "No phal education but top-grade credentials from the schools of life and military regulations"
quacksalvers	City of Last Chances ch 10	practitioners in Mirror Allor; along with fortune-tellers and curse-mongers
seachild	Days of Shattered Fait ch 36-40	the Cotto epithet for Loret, marking her as holy through the Fisher King's consecration; "sacred to them" because "all the blood shed for either cult ran into" the same ocean
statlos	City of Last Chances ch 1-36; House of Open Wounds ch 2-9; Lives of Bitter Rain ch 1-2; Days of Shattered Fait ch 12-33; Pretenders to the Thro ch 40	a social/military rank below officer status; Angilly's father was "a mere statlos"
succubus	House of Open Wounds ch 9	A type of demon in a woman's shape, made to be "a mirror to desires"; Caeleen is one
the meat grinder	House of Open Wounds ch 45	colloquial term for the interlocking arms of the Palleseen war machine
trustie	City of Last Chances ch 8-26	Hoyst's assistants at the scaffold; they "hauled the levers in perfect unison, practised as clock-tower figures"
wineglass	Pretenders to the Thro ch 10