The Unholy Consult
But unlike those exotic Nilnameshi sects devoted to various other forms of “enlightenment,” the Dûnyain are not so naive as to think this can be attained within the course of a single lifetime. They think of this, rather, as a multi-generational process. Quite early on they recognized that the instrument itself, the soul, was flawed, so they instituted a program of selective breeding for intellect and dispassion. In a sense the entire sect became a kind of experiment, isolated from the world to maintain control, with each prior generation training the next to the limit of their capabilities, the idea being that over the millennia they would produce souls that could climb further and further from the circle of before and after. The hope was that eventually they would produce a soul utterly transparent to Logos, a soul capable of apprehending all the darknesses that come before.
Dûnyanic—The language of the Dûnyain, which remains very close to the original Kûniüri from which it is derived.
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Eämnor—A lost White Norsirai nation of the Ancient North. The roots of Eämnor reach back to the days of Aulyanau the Conqueror and the Cond Yoke. In 927, Aulyanau conquered the fortress of Ara-Etrith (“New Etrith”) and, struck by the anarcane characteristics of Mount Ankulakai, settled several Cond tribes in the vicinity. These tribes flourished, and under the influence of the nearby cities of the Aumris they quickly abandoned their pastoral ways. In fact the Cond were so effectively assimilated into Aumris culture that their White Norsirai cousins, the Scintya, took them for High Norsirai during the time of the Scintya Yoke (1228—1381).
Eämnor proper emerged from the Scintya Yoke as one of the pre-eminent nations of the Ancient North. Though laid waste in 2148, Eämnor could be considered the sole surviving nation of the Apocalypse, insofar as Atrithau survived. Due to the concentrations of Sranc, however, Atrithau has never been able to recover more than a fraction of the lands constituting historical Eämnor.
Eämnoric—The lost language of ancient Eämnor, a derivative of Condic.
Eänna—“[Land of the] Uplifted Sun” (Thoti-Eännorean). The traditional name of all the lands to the east of the Great Kayarsus.
Eärwa—“[Land of the] Felled Sun” (Thoti-Eännorean). The traditional name of all the lands to the west of the Great Kayarsus.
Ebara—A small fortress in the Gedean interior, built by the Nansur after the fall of Shigek to the Fanim in 3933.
Ecosium Market—The main “wares market” of Sumna, located just south of the Hagerna.
Escalumis (2299—2389)—Ceneian historian (of Antanameran descent) and famed author of On the Arrangement of Souls in Battle and War.
Ecstasis—Nonman expression for revelatory experiences obtained in contemplation of beauty.
Ej’ulkiyah—A Khirgwi name for the Carathay Desert meaning “Great Thirst.”
Ekirick, Goettal (4089— )—Ordealman, Shield-Thane of King Hogrim, known as the Bald.
Ekkinû—Sorcerous arras behind Kellhus’s bench in the Eleven-Pole Chamber. Sorcerous artifact of unknown provenance or function, first reported in the possession of Anasûrimbor Kellhus in 4122 (thus earning a place among the Orthodox “Articles of Damnation”). Several theories regarding its origins and uses have circulated through various literate entrepots around the Three Seas, among them the suggestion that the undulating displays constitute some kind of language, but consensus considers them decorative merely.
Ekyannus I (2304—72)—The first “institutional” Shriah of the Thousand Temples, and the author of the widely admired 44 Epistles.
Ekyannus III, “the Golden” (2432—2516)—The Shriah of the Thousand Temples who converted Triamis the Great in 2505 and thus assured the predominance of Inrithism in the Three Seas.
Eleäzaras, Hanamanu (4060— )—Man-of-the-Tusk, Grandmaster of the Scarlet Spires.
Eleneöt, Fields of—See Battle of Eleneöt Fields.
elhusioli—The daimos of excess. As per standard Kiünnat metaphysics, souls directly move other souls, impart the imprint of daimos upon another daimos. Some, such as terror or enthusiasm, are set apart for the dramatic nature of their effects.
Eliriqû (?—?)—Legendary Siolan progenitor of the Quya (whom are often referred to as the “Sons of Eliriqû”), who established the “Lore-Kinning” to parallel the “War-Kinning” structure of the Ishroi found in all great Mansions (save Viri), laying the groundwork for what became the Quya.
elju—The Ihrimsû word for “book,” referring to someone, either Man or Sranc, who accompanies a Nonman to aid with his failing memory.
elking—Sakarpan rite of passage conferring the rights and obligations of manhood upon adolescent boys.
Emilidis (?—?)—The Artisan, the famed “kinningless” Nonman Siqu who founded the Gnostic School of Contrivers, the Mihtrûlic, in Far Antiquity, and is credited with the manufacture of a wide number of sorcerous artifacts. A great deal of controversy and confusion surrounds the Artisan and his creations, the latter because the School of Mihtrûlic insisted on crediting Emilidis with the manufacture of everything save the humblest sorcerous artifacts long after his disappearance, and the former because Emilidis was a foundling, and as such, possessed no family historian. The first mention of him in the Isûphiryas involves his gift of the Sky Lantern to King Sin’niroiha of Nihrimsûl, an artifact that not only secured his fame among the Mansions, but led to Sin’niroiha’s marriage to Tsinirû, and thence the birth of Nil’giccas, and the end of the long war between Nihrimsûl and the Houses of Tsonos. He first enters human history during the Nonman Tutelage, founding the Mihtrûlic sometime late in the rule of God-King Nincama-Telesser (Mandate scholars give the date of 661, but this is disputed).
As kinningless, Emilidis grew up in the deep Qûlnimil, the famed nimil mines of Ishoriöl, a fact which perhaps explains his lifelong obsession with the sorcery of materiality when he could have been the greatest Quya the Nonmen had ever known. According to legend, the great Hero-Mage, Titirga once confessed that Emilidis “swam deep where he could only watch from the shallows.” His greatest works, or Sublime Contrivances, exhibit miraculous reworkings of nature itself, be it the twisting of down sideways with the Immaculate Rim (Orimuril), or the spawning of day (as opposed to merely light) with the Diurnal, or the recombination of souls with the Amiolas. Though other Contrivers have managed to create artifacts immune to Chorae, Emilidis is unparalleled in that all his creations, from the merest dagger to the famed Day Lantern, exhibit such immunity. Mandate scholars cite this as why Nil’giccas charged him with raising the Barricades high upon the Upright Horn—what would prove to be his final, and most tragically flawed, work. The Legendary Artisan retreated from both the World and the historical record after this, admitting only private petitioners to his Foundry in the Qûlnimil.
Emiorali—The name of the mythical inhabitants of the Yimaleti in Far Antiquity, referenced several times in the Holy Sagas (typically as Men possessing unnatural ferocity and prowess in battle), but dismissed as a “wives fancy” by Ajencis.
Empharas, Krijates (4103— )—Ordealman, Palatine-Marshal of Attrempus, general of the Conriyans in the Great Ordeal of Anasûrimbor Kellhus.
Empire-behind-the-Mountains—A Scylvendi name for the Nansurium.
Emwama—The indigenous Men of Eärwa, who, as slaves of the Nonmen, were massacred by the Five Tribes following the Breaking of the Gates. Very little is known of them.
Enathpaneah—A governorate of Kian and former province of the Nansur Empire. Located at the hinge of Khemema and Xerash, Enathpaneah is a semi-mountainous, semi-arid land whose wealth is predominantly derived from the caravans that pass through Caraskand, its administrative and commercial capital.
Engûs (c. 1236—c. 1255)—The fifth son of Borswelka IV (1198—1249) famed for the loss of Swur Fords (to his eldest brother) in 1251, and his subsequent flight into the Demua mountains, where he and his remaining household would live a life of murderous outlawry before finally being hunted down and killed. According to the Yolkbook (the traditiona
l verse chronicle of the Meöri Kings), the victors—the last two surviving brothers—found numerous Sranc bones and skulls scattered about Engûs’s camp. According to Sakarpi legend, the vale that had hidden their encampment remains cursed to the present day.
Enhorû, Temus (4066— )—Ordealman, Grandmaster of the Imperial Saik in the Great Ordeal of Anasûrimbor Kellhus.
Ennutil—A Scylvendi tribe of the northwestern Steppe.
Enshoiya—Sheyic for “certainty.” Zaudunyani name for the Warrior-Prophet’s sword.
ensolarii—The base monetary unit of High Ainon.
Eöthic Garrison—The primary fortress and barracks of the Emperor’s personal guard, dominating Momemn’s northern quarter.
Eöthic Guard—The personal heavy infantry guard of the Nansur Emperors, consisting primarily of Norsirai mercenaries from Cepalor.
Epistemologies, The—A work oft attributed to Ajencis but more likely a redacted compilation drawn from his other works. Many consider it his definitive philosophical statement on the nature of knowledge, but some argue that it distorts his position since it presents a unitary vision of views that actually evolved quite dramatically over the course of his life.
Erengaw Plain—Tablelands located to the north of the Urokkas and to the east of the River Sursa.
Eritga (4092—4111)—A Galeoth slave-girl belonging to Cutias Sarcellus, slain in the deserts of Khemema.
Erratic—Name given to those Nonmen overcome by the Dolour. From the Ihrimsû, “Mi,” a term sometimes translated as “Wayward.”
Eryeat, Coithus (4038—4116)—The King of Galeoth, and father of Coithus Saubon.
Eryelk, Thurror (3771—c. 3830)—Holca freebooter who earned fame as both a hero and a criminal during the Scholastic Wars (3796—3818).
Erzû—Iswazi gown stitched with one hundred and thirteen pockets for the one hundred and thirteen fetishes traditionally used by the Mbimayû.
Eshganax—A Palatinate of High Ainon, located across the north Secharib Plains.
Eshkalas—A Palatinate of High Ainon, famed for the quality of its cotton, located on the western edge of the Secharib Plains.
Eswarlû, Embas (4102— )—Ordealman, Angle-Thane of Scolow, a frontier march of Agmundr, Galeoth.
Etrithatta—Original city of the Aumris, ancient rival of Ûmerau, destroyed by the Scintya in 1228.
Eumarna—Populous province of the New Empire and former governorate of Kian. Located to the south of the Betmulla Mountains, Eumarna is a large, fertile land that is primarily known for its exports of wine and horses. Though once comprising the commercial heart of the Kianene Empire, its capitulation and subsequent conversion to Zaudûnyani proved remarkably swift. See Unification Wars, the.
Eumarni—The language of Eumarna, a derivative of ancient Mamati.
eunuchs—Men castrated either before or after the onset of puberty, but usually before. Eunuchs have become something of an informal caste in the Three Seas, both in the management of harems and also in high administrative posts, where their lack of progeny, the belief is, renders them more immune to influence and less likely to harbour dynastic ambitions.
Exalted Bark—“Ishivaril” (Ihrimsû). The levitating platform housing the urtotem of Ishterebinth, the Aeviternal Seal, and the throne of its king, the Black Iron Seat.
Exalt-General—The traditional title of the Imperial Army’s supreme commander.
Excuciata—Famed fresco of the One Hundred and Eleven Hells in the Holy Junriüma, and perhaps the most well-known of the countless artistic renditions of perdition. Apparently inspired by ancient, pre-Arkfall Nonman statuary, the grand image—the product of the legendary “Ten Simpletons” to commemorate the Scholastic Wars in 3800—is the first depiction of the hells that defects from spatial and associative norms, bringing the chaos of damnation to the fore. As a ceiling fresco, it is sometimes referred to as the Hanging Hells or the Inverse Fire.
Excursi—Sranc bred to escort Mannish allies of the Consult through regions populated with wild Sranc. Their origins are obscure, though several references to Sranc fitting their description can be found in the Pit-of-Years, suggesting they were a creation of the Inchoroi, and thus fashioned via the Tekne proper, rather than being the product of some later Consult breeding regime.
Exhortations—The sole surviving work of Hatatian. See Hatatian.
“Expect not, and you shall find glory everlasting …”—The Tractate, Book of Priests, 8:31. The famed “Expect Not Admonition” of Inri Sejenus, where he urges his followers to give without hope of exchange. The paradox, of course, is that by doing this, they hope for eternal paradise in exchange.
Extrinsic Gate—Epithet given to Ûbil Maw, the great outer gate of Golgotterath, in distinction to Ûbil Noscisor, the Intrinsic Gate.
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Fallow Gate—The northernmost gate of Ishuäl.
Fama Palace—The residence and administrative seat of the Warrior-Prophet while the First Holy War remained in Caraskand, located on the Heights of the Bull.
Fanashila (4092—4112)—One of Esmenet’s Kianene body-slaves during the First Holy War.
Fanayal ab Kascamandri (4075—4132)—The first-born son of the Padirajah, and leader of the Coyauri, his famed elite heavy cavalry.
Fane (3669—3742)—The Prophet of the Solitary God and founder of Fanimry. Initially a Shrial Priest in the Nansur province of Eumarna, Fane was declared a heretic by the ecclesiastical courts of the Thousand Temples in 3703 and banished to certain death in the Carathay Desert. According to Fanim tradition, rather than dying in the desert, Fane went blind, experienced the series of revelations narrated in the kipfa’aifan, the “Witness of Fane,” and was granted miraculous powers (the same powers attributed to the Cishaurim) he called the Water of Indara. He spent the remainder of his life preaching to and consolidating the desert tribes of the Kianene, who after his death would launch the White Jihad under the leadership of Fane’s son, Fan’oukarji I.
Fanim—The name used by the Inrithi to refer to the followers of Fanimry.
Fanimry—A monotheistic faith founded upon the revelations of the Prophet Fane. The central tenets of Fanimry deal with the solitary nature and transcendence of the God, the falseness of the Gods (who are considered demons by the Fanim), the repudiation of the Tusk as unholy, and the prohibition of all representations of the God. Despite the many sects within the religion, all are founded upon variant interpretations of the kipfa’aifan, the “Witness of Fane,” which contains the narration of the Prophet’s experiences following his apostasy as a priest in the Thousand Temples and subsequent banishment into the wilds of the Carathay Desert.
All Fanim, regardless of their sect, are enjoined to practice Dwiva, the Twelve Disciplines, the rigours which the desert forces upon those who would survive it (thus transforming, as Farjanjua, the great Invitic Inrithi critic of the upstart religion would declare, the deprivations suffered by all desert pastoralists into sacred rules of conduct). Almost every variant of the faith finds its distinction in its interpretation of the meaning and importance of various strictures named in the Dwiva. Either because of Fane’s training as an Inrithi priest or his keen understanding of his spiritual competitors, the new faith almost immediately developed its own tradition of rational theology. The greatest sectarian divide predates the White Jihad in 3743, the product of a legendary dispute between the two most prominent and strong-willed disciples of Fane, Masurkur and Narunshinde. As the senior spiritual and military advisors of Fan’oukarji I (who always called them his “Bickering Crows”), both actively advocated drastically different interpretations of Dwiva, and so, starkly different visions of the future of Fanimry. For Masurkur, only a strict and violent interpretation of the Twelve Disciplines assured passage to paradise. He advocated the “Pok Harit” the One Direction, giving birth to the Pokariti, the first ascetic, militant strand of Fanimry. For Narunshinde, on the other hand, belief in the Prophet alone was enough to gain entrance, with the Dwiva acting primarily as an aspirat
ional ideal. He advocated the Somha Jil, or the Clasped Hand, a far more inclusive—and from the standpoint of conversion—a far more marketable version of the faith. His followers, which came to form the decided majority, were known as the Sumajil. Fan’oukarji I would become notorious for using Pokariti or Sumajil justifications opportunistically, either to rationalize his many cruelties, or his just as numerous acts of generosity. He actively encouraged the institutionalization of both schools of interpretation after the deaths of both disciples, apparently assuming they would prove as useful to his successors as they had to him, rather than forming the chasm that would claim countless lives in the centuries that followed.
Fan’oukarji I (3716—71)—“Peerless son of Fane” (Kianni). The son of the Prophet Fane and the first Padirajah of Kian. Fan’oukarji is credited with the fantastic success of the White Jihad against the Nansur Empire.
Far Antiquity—The historical period beginning with the Breaking of the Gates and ending with the Apocalypse in 2155. See Near Antiquity.
Far Wuor—Name given to those portions of Wuor, the northwesternmost province of Kûniüri, gradually abandoned between 1440 and 1680 due to Sranc incursions across the Leash.
Fathoming—A pilgrimage to the Holy Deep of Ishterebinth, sometimes called the Riminaloikas, or “Journey to the Underworld [Pit].” Even though Avoidance (or Ascetic) Faiths such as those characterizing Nonmen belief often defy human understanding, a number of ritualistic parallels can be identified, such as pilgrimages and various analogous rites of passage. The Fathoming constitutes a symbolic re-enactment of Imimorûl’s flight from the Heavens (or “Starving”) into the depths beneath what became Siol, the House Primordial, the idea being that souls so deep can slip the notice of the Gods and find oblivion. Fathomings were most common undertaken by those upon the threshold of death, the thought being that the Deepest Deep lay on the edge of Oblivion.