Ivory Gate—The northernmost gate of Caraskand, so named because of the pale limestone used to construct it (as well as the Gate of Horns).
Iyokus, Heramari (4014- )—A Daimotic sorcerer of rank within the Scarlet Spires, and, despite his chanv addiction, Master of Spies to Hanamanu Eleäzaras.
J
Jahan Plains—The large, arid tableland that makes up the western frontier of Eumarna.
Jarutha—A small agricultural town some twenty miles southwest of Momemn.
Javreh—The slave-soldiers of the Scarlet Spires, famed for their ferocity in battle. The first unit was created in 3801 by Grandmaster Shinurta at the height of the Scholastic Wars.
Jekhia—A tributary nation of High Ainon, famed as the mysterious source of chanv, located at the headwaters of the River Sayut in the Great Kayarsus. The Men of Jekhia are unique in that they exhibit Xiuhianni racial characteristics.
Jeshimal River—The primary river system of Amoteu, draining the Betmulla Mountains and emptying into the Meneanor Sea at Shimeh.
Jihads—Fanim holy wars. Since the inception of Fanimry, the Kianene have waged no fewer than seven jihads, all of them against the Nansur Empire.
Jirux—A great Kianene fortress on the north bank of the River Sempis.
Jiünati Steppe—A vast region of semi-arid plains extending northward from the Carathay Desert to the Istyuli Plains, and inhabited by Scylvendi pastoralists since the early years of the Second Age.
jnan—An informal code of manner and speech understood by many to be a “war of word and sentiment.” Adeptness at jnan is understood, particularly by the more refined subcultures of the Three Seas, to be the key determinant of status among individuals who are otherwise of equal caste or station. Given that the God is believed to be manifested in the movement of history, and history is determined primarily by the disparate statuses of men, for many jnan is understood as a sacred and not simply an instrumental enterprise. Many others, however, especially the Norsirai of the Three Seas, regard jnan with contempt, as a “mere game.” Jnanic exchanges are typically characterized by concealed antagonism, the appreciation of irony and intellect, and the semblance of detached interest.
Joktha—A port city on the Enathpanean coast.
Jorua Sea—A great inland sea located in mid-western Eärwa.
Journals and Dialogues—The collected writings of Triamis I, greatest of the Ceneian Aspect-Emperors.
Judges—The name given to Zaudunyani missionaries.
Jukan—The God of sky and season. One of the so-called Compensatory Gods, who reward devotion in life with paradise in the afterlife, Jukan rivals Yatwer in popularity among subsistence farmers yet is scarcely represented in major urban centres. The priests of Jukan are readily recognizable by their blue-dyed skin. The Marjukari, an extreme ascetic branch of the Jukanic Cult, are notorious for living as hermits in the mountains.
Junriüma—Also known as the Vault-of-the-Tusk, the ancient fortress-temple that houses the Tusk, located in the heart of the Hagerna in Sumna.
Jurisada—A governorate of Kian and former province of the Nansur Empire. Located on the southeastern end of the Eumarnan Peninsula, Jurisada is an intensively agricultural region, densely populated, and thought to be a land of “spiritual sloth” by many Kianene.
Juru—God of virility and fertility. One of the so-called Compensatory Gods, who reward devotion in life with paradise in the afterlife, Juru is popular among aging caste-noble men, and possesses only a handful of temples, most of them found in major cities. It is often mocked as the Mistress Cult.
Juterum, the—The so-called Sacred Heights in Shimeh, where, according to scripture, Inri Sejenus ascended to the Nail of Heaven.
K
Kahiht—The name given to so-called World-Souls in the Inrithi tradition. Since the God manifests himself in the movement of historical events in Inrithism, to be Kahiht, or a world historical individual, is considered sacred.
Kalaul—The great campus of the Csokis temple complex in Caraskand.
Kamposea Agora—A great bazaar adjacent to the temple complex of Cmiral in Momemn.
Kanampurea—A palatinate in the Conriyan interior, famed for its agricultural productivity, traditionally held by the brother of the Conriyan King.
Kanshaïva—A district of Nilnamesh.
Karian Way—An old Ceneian road running through the province of Massentia that once linked Sumna to Cenei during the reign of the Aspect-Emperors.
Karyot—A palatinate of High Ainon, located on the upper Sayut and forming the Jekhian frontier.
Kasalla, Porsentius (4062- )—One of the Nascenti, formerly a Captain in the Imperial Army.
Kasaumki, Memshressa (4072- )—One of the Nascenti, formerly a Conriyan knight.
Kascamandri ab Tepherokar (4062-4112)—The Padirajah of Kian, slain by the Warrior-Prophet at the Battle of Tertae Fields.
Kayarsus Mountains—See Great Kayarsus.
Kelmeöl—The ancient capital of the Meöri Empire, destroyed in the Apocalypse in 2150.
Kemkaric—The language group of the ancient Ketyai pastoralists of the northwestern Three Seas.
Kengetic—The language group of the Ketyai peoples.
Kepfet ab Tanaj (4061-4112)—The Kianene officer who betrayed Caraskand to Coithus Saubon and the First Holy War in 4111.
Kerathotics—The native Inrithi minority of Shigek.
Kerioth—A major port city on the south coast of Eumarna.
Kethantei—A palatinate located in south central Conriya, noted for its wine and fruit production.
Ketyai—The typically black-haired, brown-eyed, dark-skinned race predominantly concentrated about the Three Seas. One of the Five Tribes of Men.
Khemema—A region of Kian and former province of the Nansur Empire. Located to the south of Shigek, Khemema marks the point where the great Carathay Desert reaches the Meneanor Sea. Sparsely inhabited by desert tribesmen (see Khirgwi), Khemema’s only source of wealth derives from the regular trade caravans that travel between Shigek and Caraskand.
Khirgwi—The tribesmen of the eastern Carathay Desert, tributary to the Kianene but ethnically distinct.
Kian—The most powerful nation of the Three Seas, extending from the southern frontier of the Nansur Empire to Nilnamesh. The Kianene were originally a desert people from the fringes of the Great Salt. Various Ceneian and Nilnameshi sources refer to them as cunning and audacious raiders, the target of several different campaigns and punitive expeditions. In his monumental The Annals of Cenei, Casidas describes them as “courtly savages, at once disarmingly gracious and murderous in the extreme.” Despite their reputation and apparent numbers (Nansur records indicate several attempts to gauge their numbers by concerned provincial governors), the Kianene spent most of their time battling amongst themselves over scarce desert resources. Their conversion to Fanimry (c. 3704-24) would change this, and with drastic consequences.
Following the unification of the Kianene tribes under Fane, Fan’oukarji I, Fane’s eldest son and the first of Kian’s Padirajahs, led his countrymen in the so-called White Jihad, winning a series of spectacular victories over the Nansur Imperial Army. By the time of his death in 3771, Fan’oukarji I had conquered all of Mongilea and had made serious inroads into Eumarna. He had also founded his capital, Nenciphon, on the banks of the River Sweki.
Successive Jihads would see Eumarna (3801), Enathpaneah (3842), Xerash and Amoteu (3845), then finally Shigek and Gedea (3933) all fall to Kian. Though the Nilnameshi would successfully thwart several different Kianene invasions, Fanic missionaries would succeed in converting the Girgashi to Fanimry in the thirty-eighth century. By the end of the fourth millennium Kian was easily the pre-eminent military and commercial power of the Three Seas, and a source of endless consternation not only for the much-diminished Nansur Empire but for Inrithi Princes in every nation.
Kianni—The language of Kian, a derivative of Caro-Shemic.
Kidruhil—The most celebrated cohort of heavy ca
valry in the Three Seas, primarily constituted by Nansur caste-nobles from the Houses of the Congregate.
Kig’krinaki—A Sranc tribe from the Plains of Gâl.
Kimish (4058- )—The Prime Interrogator to Ikurei Xerius III.
King-Fires—The ritual bonfires signifying kingship among the Galeoth.
King-of-Tribes—The title given to the individual elected by the Scylvendi chieftains to lead the gathered tribes in war.
kipfa’aifan—“Witness of Fane” (Kianni) The holiest scripture of Fanimry, chronicling the life and revelations of the Prophet Fane from his blinding and exile into the Great Salt in 3703 to his death in 3742. See Fane.
Kishyat—A palatinate of High Ainon, located on the south bank of the River Sayut on the Sansori frontier.
Kiskei, House—A Nansur House of the Congregate.
Kisma—The adoptive “father” of Mallahet.
Kiyuth River—A tributary of the River Sempis, running deep into the Jiünati Steppe.
kjineta—See castes.
Kneeling Heights—One of the nine heights of Caraskand and the location of the Sapatishah’s Palace.
knight-commander—The rank directly subordinate to the Grandmaster in the Shrial Knights.
Knights of the Tusk—See Shrial Knights.
Knights of Trysë—Also known as the Knights of the Ur-Throne. An ancient order of knights sworn to defend the Anasûrimbor Dynasty, thought destroyed in 2147 with the Sack of Trysë.
Koraphea—The most populous city of High Ainon after Carythusal, located on the coast north of the Sayut Delta.
Korasha—Also known as the White-Sun Palace. An extensive palace complex in Nenciphon, and traditional residence and administrative seat of the Kianene Padirajahs.
Kothwa, Hargraum (4070-4111)—The Tydonni Earl of Gaethuni, slain at Mengedda.
Kumeleus, Sirassas (4045- )—A staunch supporter of House Ikurei, and Exalt-General prior to Ikurei Conphas.
Kumrezzar, Akori (4071-4110)—The Palatine of the Ainoni district of Kutapileth, and one of the leaders of the Vulgar Holy War.
Kûniüri—A lost nation of the Ancient North and the last of the ancient Aumris empires. High Norsirai city-states developed along the River Aumris and from c. 300 were united under Cûnwerishau, the God-King of Trysë. From c. 500 the city of Umerau gained ascendancy, leading to the Umerau Empire and the cultural efflorescence of the Nonman Tutelage under Carû-Ongonean. Ancient Umeria thrived until defeated by the Cond tribesmen of Aulyanau the Conqueror in 917. The rapid collapse of the so-called Cond Yoke led to a second period of Trysean dominance of the Aumris, this one lasting until 1228, when another series of White Norsirai migratory invasions resulted in the so-called Scintya Yoke.
The Kûniüric period proper did not begin until 1408, when Anasûrimbor Nanor-Ukkerja I, exploiting the confusion surrounding the collapse of the Scintya Empire, seized the Ur-Throne in Trysë, declaring himself the first High King of Kûniüri. Over the course of his long life (he lived to the age of 178, the reputed result of the Nonman blood in his veins), Nanor-Ukkerja I extended Kûniüri to the Yimelati Mountains in the north, to the westernmost coasts of the Cerish Sea in the east, to Sakarpus in the south, and to the Demua Mountains in the west. At his death, he divided this empire between his sons, creating Aörsi and Sheneor in addition to Kûniüri proper.
Kûniüri became, largely by virtue of its cultural inheritance, the centre of learning and craft for all Eärwa. The Trysean court hosted what were called the Thousand Sons, the scions of Kings from lands as far away as ancient Shigek and Shir. The holy city of Sauglish hosted pilgrim scholars from as far away as Angka and Nilnamesh. High Norsirai fashions were emulated throughout Eärwa.
This golden age came to an end with the Apocalypse and the defeat of Anasûrimbor Celmomas II on the Fields of Eleneöt in 2146. All the ancient cities of the Aumris would be destroyed the following year. The surviving Kûniüri were either enslaved or scattered.
See Apocalypse.
Kûniüric—The lost language of ancient Kûniüri, derived from Umeritic.
Kuöti—A Scylvendi tribe of the northwestern Steppe.
Kurigald—A fiefdom of Galeoth, located on the eastern shores of Lake Huösi.
Kurrut—A small fortress in the Gedean interior, built by the Nansur after the fall of Shigek to the Fanim in 3933.
Kushigas (4070-4111)—The Palatine of the Conriyan province of Annand, slain at Anwurat.
Kusjeter (4077-4111)—The Count-Palatine of the Ainoni province of Gekas, slain at Anwurat.
Kussalt (4054-4111)—The groom to Prince Coithus Saubon, slain at Mengedda.
Kutapileth—An administrative district of eastern High Ainon, noted for its iron and silver mines.
Kutigha (4063-4111)—A Thousand Temples informant for the Scarlet Spires.
kut’ma—In benjuka, the “hidden move” that seems insignificant but actually determines the outcome of the game.
Kutnarmu—The generic name for the unexplored continent south of Eärwa.
Kyranae Plains—A fertile region drained by the River Phayus and extending from the southern Hethanta Mountains to the Meneanor Sea. Its peoples have given birth to three great empires: ancient Kyraneas, the Ceneian Empire, and most recently the Nansur Empire.
Kyranean—The lost language of ancient Kyraneas, derived from ancient Kemkaric.
Kyraneas—A lost nation of the ancient Three Seas, located on the River Phayus, with a capital first at Parninas then at Mehtsonc. Culturally linked and long tributary to Shigek, Kyraneas expanded to include much of her erstwhile ruler’s empire, and was at the height of her power at the time of the Apocalypse. With the loss at Mehsarunath in 2154 and the destruction of Mehtsonc shortly after, the fate of the ancient kingdom was sealed, even though the Kyranean High King, Anaxophus V, managed to defeat the No-God the following year. See Apocalypse.
L
Labyrinth—See Thousand Thousand Halls.
Lance, the—A Scylvendi constellation in the northern sky.
Languages of Men—Until the Breaking of the Gates and the migration of the Four Nations from Eänna, the Men of Eärwa—called the Emwama in The Chronicle of the Tusk—were enslaved by the Nonmen and spoke debased versions of their masters’ tongues. No trace of these languages remains, nor does any trace of their original, pre-bondage language. The great Nonman history, the Isûphiryas, or the “Great Pit of Years,” suggests the Emwama originally spoke the same tongue as their kin across the Great Kayarsus. This has led many to believe that Thoti-Eännorean is indeed the primeval language of all men.
Languages of Nonmen—Without doubt, the Nonmen, or Cûnuroi, tongues are among the oldest in Eärwa. Some Aujic inscriptions predate the first extant example of Thoti-Eännorean, The Chronicle of the Tusk, by more than five thousand years. Auja-Gilcûnni, which has yet to be deciphered, is far older still.
Latter Prophet—See Inri Sejenus.
“[to] laugh with Sarothesser”—An Ainoni phrase expressing their belief that laughter at the moment of death signifies triumph. This tradition stems from the legend that Sarothesser I, the founder of High Ainon, laughed at death the moment before it claimed him.
Law of the Tusk—The traditional law as laid out in the Book of Canticles in The Chronicle of the Tusk. Though largely superseded by The Tractate, it is still referred to in cases on which Inri Sejenus was silent.
Legion—A Dûnyain term referring to the preconscious sources of the conscious thought.