The Thousandfold Thought

  “I renounce my School!” he continued. “As an assembly of hypocrites and murderers.”

  “Then you sentence yourself to death!” Nautzera cried. “There’s no sorcery outside the Schools! There are no—”

  “I renounce my Prophet!”

  Gasps and sputters filled the galleries of the First Temple. He waited for the uproar to subside, staring for what seemed an unblinking eternity at the otherworldly aspect of Anasûrimbor Kellhus. His last student.

  Nothing passed between them.

  Somehow his gaze found Proyas, who looked so … aged with his beard squared. There was prayer in his handsome brown eyes, the promise of return. But it was far too late.

  “And I renounce …” He trailed, warred with errant passions. “I renounce my wife.”

  His eyes fell upon Esmenet, stricken upon the floor. My wife!

  “Noooo,” she wept and whispered. “Pleeaaase, Akka …”

  “As an adulteress,” he continued, his voice cracking, “anda…a…”

  His face a mask of nimil, he turned without leave, began walking back the way he came. The Men of the Tusk stared at him dumbstruck, their outrage as bright as sparks in their eyes. But they fell away before his approach. They fell away.

  Then, through the sound of Esmenet weeping …

  “Achamian!”

  Kellhus. Achamian did not condescend to turn, but he did pause. It seemed the future itself leaned inscrutable against him, a yoke about his neck, a spear point against his spine …

  “The next time you come before me,” the Aspect-Emperor said, his voice cavernous, ringing with inhuman resonance, “you will kneel, Drusas Achamian.”

  Retracing his bloody footprints, the Wizard limped on.

  Encyclopedic Glossary

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Steeped in the classics, Inrithi scholars commonly rendered names in their Sheyic form, opting for native forms only in the absence of antique Sheyic analogues. So, for instance, the surname Coithus (which is mentioned twice by Casidas in The Annals of Cenei) is in fact a Sheyic version of the Gallish “Koütha,” and so is rendered as such here. The surname Hoga, on the other hand, has no extant Sheyic form, and so is rendered in the original Tydonni. Kyranean place names (such as Asgilioch, Girgilioth, or Kyudea) are a notable exception.

  The vast majority of the following proper names, then, are simply transliterated from their Sheyic (and in some instances Kûniüric) form. They have been translated only where their Sheyic (or Kûniüric) version does likewise. So, for instance, the Ainoni “Ratharutar,” which has the Sheyic form “Retorum Ratas,” is given as “the Scarlet Spires,” the literal meaning of ratas (“red”) and retorum (“towers”). The etymological provenance and translated meaning of place names can be found bracketed at the beginning of certain entries.

  These would be the names as Drusas Achamian knew them.

  A

  Abenjukala—The classic treatise on benjuka, written anonymously in Near Antiquity. Because of its emphasis on the relation between benjuka and wisdom, many consider it a classic philosophical text as well.

  Absolute, the—Among the Dûnyain, the state of becoming “unconditioned,” a perfect self-moving soul independent of “what comes before.” See Dûnyain and Conditioning, the.

  Abstractions—An epithet for Gnostic sorceries.

  Adûnyani—“Little Dûnyain” (Kûniüric from Ûmeritic ar’tûnya, or “little truth”). The name taken by the followers assembled by Kellhus in Atrithau.

  Aëngelas (4087-4112)—A Werigdan warrior.

  Aethelarius VI (4062- )—(Sheyic form of Athullara) The King of Atrithau, last of the line of Morghund.

  Agansanor—A province of south central Ce Tydonn, noted for the martial zeal of its sons.

  Age of Bronze—Another name for Far Antiquity, during which bronze was the dominant technology of Men.

  Age of Cenei—The era of Ceneian dominance of the Three Seas, from the conquest of Nilnamesh in 2478 until the Sack of Cenei in 3351.

  Age of Kyraneas—The era of Kyranean dominance of the northwestern Three Seas.

  Age of Warring Cities—The era following the dissolution of Kyraneas (c. 2158) until the rise of Cenei, characterized by perpetual warfare between the cities of the Kyranae Plain.

  Aghurzoi—“Cut Tongue” (Ihrimsû) The language of the Sranc.

  Agmundr—A province of northeastern Galeoth, located beneath the Osthwai Mountains.

  Agnotum Market—The main bazaar of Iothiah, dating back to the days of Cenei.

  agoglian bulls—Ancient Kyranean symbols of virility and fortune. The most famous examples are found in the Hagerna opposite the Vault-of-the-Tusk.

  Agongorea—“Fields of Woe” (Kûniüric) The blasted lands to the west of the River Sursa and north of the Neleost Sea.

  Agonic Collar—A sorcerous artifact of the Ancient North, reputedly crafted by the Mihtrulic Gnostic School. According to Mandate scholars, the purpose of the Agonic Collar was analogous to that of the Uroborian Circle utilized by the Anagogic Schools of the Three Seas, namely, to inflict excruciating pain on the wearer should he attempt to utter any sorcerous incantation.

  Agonies—The name for the Gnostic Cants of Torment, a reputed specialty of the Mangaecca.

  Ainoni—The language of High Ainon, derived from Ham-Kheremic.

  Ajencis (c. 1896-2000)—The father of syllogistic logic and algebra, held by many to be the greatest of all philosophers. Born in the Kyranean capital of Mehtsonc, he is reputed to have never once left his city, even during the horrific plagues of 1991, when his advanced age made his death a near certainty. (According to various sources, Ajencis bathed on a daily basis and refused to drink water drawn from city wells, claiming that these practices, combined with a distaste for drunkenness and a moderate diet, were the keys to his health.) Many commentators, both antique and contemporary, complain that there are as many Ajencises as there are readers of Ajencis. Though this is certainly true of his more speculative works (such as Theophysics or The First Analytic of Men), his work does possess a discernible and consistent sceptical core, primarily exemplified in The Third Analytic of Men, which also happens to be his most cynical work. For Ajencis, Men by and large “make their weaknesses, not reason or the world, the primary measure of what they hold true.” In fact, he observed that most individuals possess no criteria whatsoever for their beliefs. As a so-called critical philosopher, one might have supposed he would eventually share the fate of other critical philosophers, such as Porsa (the famed “Philosopher-Whore” of Trysë) or Kumhurat. Only his reputation and the structure of Kyranean society saved him from the vicissitudes of the mob. As a child, he was allegedly such a prodigy that the High King himself took notice of him, granting him what was called Protection at the unprecedented age of eight. Protection was an ancient and hallowed Kyranean institution; the “Protected” were those who could say anything without fear of reprisal, even to the High King. Ajencis continued speaking until he suffered a stroke and died at the venerable age of 103.

  Ajokli—The God of thievery and deception. Though listed among the primary Gods in The Chronicle of the Tusk, there is no true Cult of Ajokli, but rather an informal network of devotees scattered across the great cities of the Three Seas. Ajokli is oft mentioned in the secondary scriptures of the different Cults, sometimes as a mischievous companion of the Gods, other times as a cruel or malicious competitor. In the Mar’eddat, he is the faithless husband of Gierra.

  Ajowai—A mountain fastness in the north Hinayati Mountains that serves as the administrative capital of Girgash.

  akal—The base monetary unit of Kian.

  Akkeägni—The God of disease. Also known as the God of a Thousand Hands. Scholars have oft noted the irony that the Priesthood of Disease provides the primary repository of physicians for the Three Seas. How can one at once worship disease and war against it? According to the scriptures of the Cult, the Piranavas, Akkeägni is a so-called Bellicose God, one who favours tho
se who strive against him over sycophants and worshippers.

  Akksersia—A lost nation of the Ancient North. Though the White Norsirai of the north shore of the Cerish Sea lacked any sustained contact with the Nonmen, they gradually became the second great seat of Norsirai civilization. Akksersia was founded in 811 by Salaweärn I, following the dissolution of the Cond Yoke. Though confined to the city of Myclai, her commercial and administrative capital, the nation gradually extended its hegemony, first along the length of the River Tywanrae, then across the plains of Gâl and the entire north shore of the Cerish Sea. By the time of the First Great Sranc War in 1251, it was the largest of the ancient Norsirai nations, incorporating almost all the White Norsirai tribes save those of the Istyuli Plains. It fell to the No-God after three disastrous defeats in 2149. Akksersian colonists on the Cerish Sea’s heavily forested south shore would form the nucleus of what would become the Meörn Empire.

  Akksersian—The lost language of ancient Akksersia, and “purest” of the Nirsodic tongues.

  Akkunihor—A Scylvendi tribe of the central Steppe. As the tribe closest to the Imperial frontier, the Akkunihor are the traditional brokers of Three Seas rumour and knowledge among the Scylvendi.

  Algari (4041-4111)—A body-slave to Prince Nersei Proyas.

  Alkussi—A Scylvendi tribe of the central Steppe.

  “All heaven cannot shine through a single crack ...”—The famous line attributed to the poet Protathis suggesting that no man can be trusted with divine revelation.

  Allosian Forum—The great judicial galleries located at the foot of the Andiamine Heights.

  Am-Amidai—A large Kianene fortress located in the heart of the Atsushan Highlands, raised in 4054.

  amicut—A ration used by Scylvendi warriors on the trail, consisting of wild herbs and berries beaten into dried sections of beef.

  Ammegnotis—A city on the south bank of the River Sempis, raised during the Kyranean New Dynasty.

  Amortanea—The merchant carrack that bore Achamian and Xinemus to Joktha.

  Amoteu—A governorate of Kian, located on the southern edge of the Meneanor Sea. Like all the nations in the shadow of the Betmulla Mountains, Amoteu, or Holy Amoteu as it is sometimes called, grew in the influential shadow of Old Dynasty Shigek. According to extant inscriptions, the Shigeki referred to both Xerash and Amoteu as Hut-Jartha, the “Land of the Jarti,” or as Huti-Parota, the “Middle-Lands.” The Jarti were the dominant Ketyai tribe of the region, to which the Amoti and several others were tributaries before the Shigeki conquest. But with the extensive cultivation of the Shairizor Plains, and the slow rise of Shimeh and Kyudea along the River Jeshimal, the balance of power slowly shifted. For centuries the Middle-Lands found themselves the battleground between Shigek and her southern competitors, Eumarna across the Betmulla Mountains and ancient or Vapartic Nilnamesh. In 1322, Anzumarapata II, the Nilnameshi King of Invishi, crushed the Shigeki and, in an effort to secure his conquests, transplanted hundreds of thousands of indigent Nilnameshi on the Plains of Heshor, an act that would long outlive his brief empire (the Shigeki reconquered the Middle-Lands in 1349). With the collapse of Shigeki regional dominance in 1591, the Jarti attempted to reassert their ancestral control—with disastrous consequences. The resulting war gave rise to a brief Amoti Empire, which reached the length of the Betmulla to the frontier of the Carathay Desert. All the Middle-Lands would fall under the power of Kyraneas in 1703.

  With the dissolution of Kyraneas, c. 2158, Amoteu enjoyed its second—and last—period of independence, though now the Xerashi, the descendants of Anzumarapata’s settlers, had become its primary competitors. This second “golden age” would witness Inri Sejenus, and the slow growth of the faith that would eventually come to dominate the Three Seas. After a brief period of Xerashi occupation, Amoteu would suffer a long succession of foreign overlords, each leaving its own stamp: first the Ceneians, who conquered the Middle-Lands in 2414, then the Nansur in 3574, and finally the Kianene in 3845. Despite the peace and prosperity enjoyed by other conquered provinces, the early years of Ceneian rule would prove particularly bloody for Amoteu. In 2458, while Triamis the Great was still in his infancy, Inrithi fanatics led the province in a vicious rebellion against Cenei. As punishment, Emperor Siaxas II butchered the inhabitants of Kyudea and razed the city to the ground.

  Amoti—The language of Amoteu, a derivative of Mamati.

  Anagkë—The Goddess of fortune. Also known as “the Whore of Fate.” Anagkë is one of the primary “Compensatory Gods,” which is to say, one who rewards devotion in life with paradise in the afterlife. Her Cult is extremely popular in the Three Seas, especially among the higher, political castes.

  Anagogis—A branch of sorcery that turns on the resonance between meanings and concrete things.

  Analogies—An alternate name for Anagogic sorceries.

  Anasûrimbor Dynasty—The ruling dynasty of Kûniüri from 1408 to 2147. See Apocalypse.

  Anaxophus V (2109-56)—The Kyranean High King who wielded the Heron Spear against the No-God at Mengedda in 2155.

  ancestor scroll—A scroll kept by most pious Inrithi, bearing the names of all the dead ancestors who might intercede on their behalf. Since the Inrithi believe that honour and glory in life brings power in the afterlife, they are particularly proud of renowned ancestors and ashamed of known sinners.

  Ancient North—The name given to the Norsirai civilization destroyed in the Apocalypse.

  Ancilline Gate—One of the so-called Lesser Gates of Momemn, located to the immediate south of the Girgallic Gate.

  Andiamine Heights—The primary residence and principal administrative seat of Nansur Emperors, located on the seaward walls of Momemn.

  Anfirig, Thagawain (4057- )—The Galeoth Earl of Gesindal.

  Angeshraël (?-?)—The most famed Old Prophet of the Tusk, responsible for leading the Five Tribes of Men into Eärwa. Also known as the Burnt Prophet for bowing his face into his fire after confronting Husyelt at the foot of Mount Eshki. His wife was Esmenet.

  Angka—The ancient Norsirai name for Zeüm.

  animas—The “moving force” of all existence, typically analogized as the “breath of God.” Much ink has been spilt over the question of the relation between animas, which is primarily a theological concept, and the sorcerous concept of “onta.” Most scholars are of the opinion that the latter is simply a secular version of the former.

  Anissi (c. 4089- )—The favourite wife of Cnaiür urs Skiötha.

  Ankaryotis—A demon of the Outside, one of the more manageable Potents controlled by the Scarlet Spires.

  Ankharlus—A famed Kûniüric commentator and high priest of Gilgaöl.

  Ankirioth—A province of south central Conriya.

  Ankmuri—The lost language of ancient Angka.

  Ankulakai—The mountain on the southern limit of the Demua that cradles the city of Atrithau.

  Anmergal, Skinede (4078-4112)—A Tydonni thane, slain at the Battle of Tertae Fields.

  Annals of Cenei, The—The classic treatise of Casidas, covering the history of Cenei and the Ceneian Empire from the Imperial City’s legendary foundation in 809 to the time of Casidas’s death in 3142.

  Annand—A province of north central Conriya, known primarily for its silver and iron mines. “All the silver in Annand” is a common Three Seas expression, meaning “pricelessness.”

  Anochirwa—“Horns Reaching” (Kûniüric) An early mannish name for Golgotterath.

  Anphairas, Ikurei—See Ikurei Anphairas I.

  Anplei—The second-largest city in Conriya after Aöknyssus.

  anpoi—A traditional drink throughout the Three Seas, made of fermented peach nectar.

  Ansacer ab Salajka (4072- )—The Sapatishah-Governor of Gedea. The Black Gazelle is his totem.

  Ansansius, Teres (c. 2300-2351)—The most famed theologian of the early Thousand Temples, whose The City of Men, The Limping Pilgrim, and Five Letters to All are revered by Shrial scholars.

  Anse
rca—The southernmost province of the Nansur Empire.

  Antanamera—A province of High Ainon, located on the highland frontier of Jekk.