Sculpa River—The northernmost of the three major river systems draining into Lake Huösi.
Skûlsirai—“Shield-people” (Aörsic). Name the ancient Aorsi used to refer to themselves.
Scylvendi—The dark-haired, pale-blue-eyed, and fair-skinned race predominantly concentrated in and around the Jiünati Steppe. One of the Five Tribes of Men.
Seat, the—A symbolic name for the station of Shriah.
Secharib Plains—The vast alluvial tablelands that sweep north from the River Sayut in High Ainon, noted for their fertility (sixty-to seventy-fold crop yields) and dense population.
Second Apocalypse—System Resumption. The hypothetical catastrophe that will inevitably befall Eärwa should the No-God ever walk again. According to the Mandate tradition, Anasûrimbor Celmomas, the High King of Kûniüri during the Apocalypse, prophesied that the No-God will in fact return. The prevention of the Second Apocalypse is the Mandate’s ultimate goal.
Seeing-Flame (or “Seeing Hearth”)—Sorcerous hearth cast from iron in the shape of an octagon. Arcane scholars dispute its origins (it is neither a Quyan nor a Mihtrûlic artifact), though several extant sources claim that it was presented as a gift to Anzumarapata II in 1331, and subsequently fell into the hands of none other than Triamis the Great in 2483. At some point it passed to the Fanim (likely in one of their many victories over the Nansur), and thence to Anasûrimbor Kellhus following the fall of Nenciphon in 4113.
Seleukara—The commercial capital of Kian, and one of the great cities of the Three Seas.
Selial Column—A division of the Imperial Nansur Army traditionally stationed on the Kianene frontier.
“selling peaches …”—A common Three Seas euphemism for selling sex.
Sempis River—One of the great river systems of Eärwa, draining vast tracts of the Jiünati Steppe and emptying into the Meneanor Sea.
Semper, Midru (4078—4121)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Ainoni Baron in the First Holy War, murdered by unknown assassins while sleeping in 4121.
Seökti (4051—4112)—The Heresiarch of the Cishaurim, one of the most powerful Cishaurim ever known, killed at Shimeh by Anasûrimbor Kellhus.
Sepherathindor (4065—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Count-Palatine of the Ainoni palatinate of Hinnant, claimed by disease at Caraskand.
Seswatha (2089—2168)—The founder of the School of Mandate and implacable enemy of the Consult throughout the Apocalypse. Born the caste-menial son of a Trysean bronzesmith, Seswatha was identified as one of the Few at a very young age and brought to Sauglish to study with the Gnostic School of Sohonc. A prodigy, he became the youngest sorcerer of rank in the history of the Sohonc at the age of fifteen. During this time he became fast friends with Anasûrimbor Celmomas, a so-called “Hostage of the Sohonc,” as the School referred to its resident exoteric students. As this strategic friendship might suggest, Seswatha proved an adroit political operator, both before becoming Grandmaster and after, forging relationships with important personages across the Three Seas, including Nil’giccas, the Nonman King of Ishterebinth, and Anaxophus, who would become the High King of Kyraneas. These skills, in addition to his peerless command of the Gnosis, would make him the natural, if not the titular, leader of the various wars waged against the Consult before the Apocalypse. He and Celmomas would become estranged during this time, apparently because Celmomas resented Seswatha’s influence over his youngest son, Nau-Cayûti, but legends have long circulated that Nau-Cayûti was in fact Seswatha’s son, the product of an illicit union between him and Sharal, the most prized of Celmomas’s wives. They would not be reconciled until the eve of the Apocalypse—after it was far too late. See Apocalypse.
Seswatha’s Dreams—See Dreams, the.
Seswatha’s Heart—The mummified heart of Seswatha, which is the key artifact in the so-called Grasping, the sorcerous rites that transfer Seswatha’s memories of the Apocalypse to Mandate Schoolmen. See Mandate, the.
Setpanares (4059—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, general of the Ainoni contingent of the First Holy War, slain by Cinganjehoi at Anwurat.
Seven Wolf Shield—Crest of the ancient Meöri Empire, consisting of seven wolves arrayed like flower petals.
Shaeönanra (c. 1086— )—“Gift of Light” (Ûmeritic). The Grandvizier of the Mangaecca who, according to legend, went mad studying the Incû-Holoinas, and whose subsequent acts would eventually see him convicted of impiety and his School outlawed in 1123. The greatest prodigy of his age, Shaeönanra claimed to have rediscovered a means of saving the souls of those damned by sorcery. He reputedly spent his life investigating various soul-trapping sorceries in the hope of avoiding passage to the Outside—and to great effect, given that he allegedly continues to live some three thousand years afterward, though in an obscene and unnatural manner. By the fourteenth century the Trysean annals began referring to him as Shauriatas, the “Cheater of Gods.”
Shaita’anairull—“The Grave-that-is-Golden” (Skaaric). Name given to the resting place of Lokung, the Dead God of Scylvendi religious tradition.
Shakers—The name given to extreme devotees of Onkis who claim that their fits are the result of divine possession.
Shaman—Sorcerer-prophets periodically condemned by the Old Prophets in the Chronicle of the Tusk, but redeemed via the New Covenant of Anasûrimbor Kellhus, Holy Aspect-Emperor of the Three Seas.
Shanipal, Kemrates (4066— )—Man-of-the-Tusk, Baron of Hirhamet, a district in south central Conriya.
Shaugiriol—“Eaglehorn” (Ûmeritic). The northernmost peak of the Demua.
Shaul River—The second most important river system in the Nansur Empire, after the Phayus.
Shauriatas (c. 1086— )—“Cheater of Gods” (Umeritic). See Shaeönanra.
Sheära—“Sunskin” (Ûmeritic). Sorcerous golden armour crafted in Far Antiquity by the School of Mihtrûlic.
Shelgal (?—?)—One of the Chieftain-Kings named in the Tusk.
Shemic—The language group of the ancient non-Nilnameshi pastoralists of the southwestern Three Seas.
Shem-Varsi—The language group of the proto-Nilnameshi pastoralists of the southwestern Three Seas.
Sheneor—Far Antique High Norsirai nation, the least of three nations created by Nanor-Ukkerja I to divide between his sons in 1556.
Sheyic—The language of the Ceneian Empire, which still serves, in debased form, as the liturgical language of the Thousand Temples and as the “common tongue” of the Three Seas.
Sheyo-Buskrit—The language of Nilnameshi labouring castes, a derivative of High Sheyic and Sapmatari.
Sheyo-Kheremic—The lost language of the lower castes of the Eastern Ceneian Empire.
Sheyo-Xerashi—The language of Xerash, a derivative of Xerashi and High Sheyic.
Shield-Breaker, the—A common name for Gilgaöl, God of War.
Shield of Sil—The soggomantic great shield belonging to the King-After-the-Fall, which Shauriatas took as a platform for the decrepit amputees bearing his soul.
Shigek—A governorate of Kian and former province of the Nansur Empire. Located on the fertile delta and alluvial plains of the River Sempis, Shigek was the ancient competitor of Kyraneas and the first civilized nation of the Three Seas.
Shigek reached the height of her power during the so-called Old Dynasty period, when a succession of Shigeki God-Kings extended their dominion to the limits of the Kyranae Plains in the north and to ancient Eumarna to the south. Great cities (of which only Iothiah survives) and monumental works, including the famed Ziggurats, were raised along the River Sempis. At some point in the twelfth century various Ketyai tribes began asserting their independence on the Kyranae Plains, and the God-Kings found themselves waging incessant war. Then, in 1591, the God-King Mithoser II was decisively defeated by the Kyraneans at Narakit, and Shigek began its long tenure as a tributary to greater powers. It was most recently conquered in 3933 by the Fanim hosts of Fan’oukarji III. Much to the dismay of the Thousand Temples, the Kianene method of simply taxing non-believers—
as opposed to out-and-out persecuting them—led to the wholesale conversion of the populace to Fanimry within a few short generations. The Inrithi revival following the reconquest of Shigek by the First Holy War, of course, either revealed the brittleness of this conversion or the fickle nature of the Shigeki soul.
Shigogli—Desolate plain encircled by the Ring Mountains and encircling Golgotterath. Arguably no place in the World has witnessed so much butchery. After his victory at Pir Pahal, Cu’jara Cinmoi squandered the lives of thousands attempting to overcome the crude breastworks the Inchoroi had raised before rebuilding Arobindant and resuming the Watch. The day of Pir Minginnial, the Second Battle of the Ark, saw more Ishroi and Quya die on Shigogli than on any other. Though the toll at the Battle of Imogirion was smaller, the fact that Illisserû alone bore its brunt made its impact every bit as profound. Some suspect the toll exacted at the Battle of Isal’imial approaches that of Pir Minginnial, but is never reported given the totality of Nil’giccas’s triumph. In terms of numbers, the toll exacted upon Men was every bit as high, with the losses of the First Great Investiture (2125—2131) matched by those of the Second in 2143, which, of course, ended with the disaster of Initiation—Apocalypse. Also known as Innuir-Shigogli, or “Black Furnace Plain.”
Shikol (2118—2202)—The King of ancient Xerash, famed for sentencing Inri Sejenus to death in 2198, as recounted in The Tractate. For obvious reasons, his name has become synonymous with moral corruption among the Inrithi.
Shilla Amphitheatre—Primary locus for religious festivals, drama, and official speeches in Aöknyssus. Carved from the hip of Mount Omprempa, the Shilla is famed for the view it affords the entire city.
Shimeh—The second-holiest city of Inrithism, located in Amoteu, and the site of Inri Sejenus’s ascension to the Nail of Heaven.
Shinoth—The legendary main gate of ancient Trysë.
Shinurta, Khui (3741—3828)—Renowned Grandmaster of the Scarlet Spires credited with using the Scholastic Wars (3796 to 3818) as a means of conquering High Ainon. Famously slain by the legendary Holca freebooter, Eryelk, while investigating the Daimos.
Shir—An ancient city-state on the River Maurat that eventually became the Shiradi Empire. See Shiradi Empire.
Shiradi Empire—The first great nation to arise in the eastern Three Seas, where it ruled much of what is now Cengemis, Conriya, and High Ainon for much of Far Antiquity. By c. 500 a number of Hamori Ketyai tribes had settled the length of the River Sayut and the Secharib Plains, becoming more sedentary and socially stratified as they exploited the rich cereal yields afforded by the fertile soils of the region. But unlike Shigek, where the first God-Kings were able to unify the Sempis River Valley quite early, Seto-Annaria, as it came to be called (after the two most dominant tribes), remained a collection of warring city-states. Eventually the balance of power shifted to the north, to the city-state of Shir on the River Maurat, and sometime in the thirteenth century it managed to subdue all the cities of Seto-Annaria, though its rulers would spend generations putting down rebellions (the Seto-Annarians apparently thought themselves superior to their uncouth cousins from the north). Then, sometime in the fifteenth century, Xiuhianni invaders from Jekk ravaged the empire and Shir was razed to the ground. The survivors moved the capital to ancient Aöknyssus (the present administrative capital of Conriya), and after some twenty years managed to oust the Eänneans. Centuries of stability followed, until 2153, when the forces of the No-God inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Shiradi at the Battle of Nurubal. The following two hundred years of chaos and internecine warfare effectively destroyed what remained of the empire and its central institutions.
The influence of ancient Shir is evident in many respects in the eastern Ketyai nations of the Three Seas, from the revering of beards (first cultivated by caste-nobles to distinguish themselves from the Xiuhianni, who were reputed to be unable to grow beards) to the continued use of a Shiradi-derived pictographic script in High Ainon.
Shorathises, Matmuth (4088— )—Ordealman, Ainoni Palatine of Karyoti, eldest son of Ramgath.
Shortest Way—See Logos.
Shriah—The title of the Apostle of the Latter Prophet, the administrative ruler of the Thousand Temples, and the spiritual leader of the Inrithi.
Shrial Apparati—The generic term for career and hereditary functionaries in the Thousand Temples.
Shrial Censure—The excommunication of Inrithi from the Thousand Temples. Since it rescinds all rights to property and vassalage as well as to worship, the worldly consequences of Shrial Censure are often as extreme as the spiritual. When King Sareat II of Galeoth was censured by Psailas II in 4072, for instance, fairly half of his client nobles rebelled, and Sareat was forced to walk barefoot from Oswenta to Sumna in contrition.
Shrial Insurrection—The successful coup initiated by Anasûrimbor Maithanet against his sister-in-law, Anasûrimbor Esmenet, in 4132.
Shrial Knights—Also known as Knights of the Tusk. The monastic military order founded by Shriah Ekyannus the Golden in 2511, charged with prosecuting the will of the Shriah.
Shrial Law—The ecclesiastical law of the Thousand Temples, which in a labyrinthine variety of forms serves as the common law for much of the Three Seas, particularly for those areas lacking any strong secular authority.
Shrial Priests—Inrithi clerics who, as opposed to Cultic Priests, are part of the hierarchies of the Thousand Temples, and perform the liturgies of the Latter Prophet and the God rather than those of the Gods.
Shrial Remission—A writ issued by the Thousand Temples absolving an individual of sin. Remissions are commonly awarded to those who accomplish some act of penance, such as joining a pilgrimage or a sanctioned war against unbelievers. Historically, however, they are primarily sold.
Shrial Warrant—A writ issued by the Thousand Temples authorizing the arrest of an individual for the purpose of trial in the ecclesiastical courts.
Sibawûl te Nurwul (4092— )—Ordealmen, Believer-Prince of Nymbrica, leader of the Cepaloran contingent in the Great Ordeal.
Sign of Gierra—The twin serpents that Sumni harlots must have tattooed on the back of their left hand, apparently in imitation of the Priestesses of Gierra.
Siklar, Gaes (4101—4132)—Tydonni Ordealman, cousin to King Hogrim, slain at the Battle of Imweor.
Simas, Polchias (4052— )—Achamian’s old teacher and a member of the Quorum, the ruling council of the School of Mandate.
Sinerses (4076— )—Man-of-the-Tusk, Shield-Captain of the Javreh and favourite of Hanamanu Eleäzaras.
Singer-in-the-Dark—See Onkis.
Sin’niroiha (?—?)—“First Among Peoples” (Ihrimsû). Nonman King of Nihrimsûl, initially, and thence Ishoriol through his marriage to the sorceress Tsinirû, who would bear him Nil’giccas, his only son, and at long last unite all Mansions under the Blood of Tsonos. He is also famed as the longtime foe of Cu’jara Cinmoi, for refusing the Inoculation, and for rallying the Cûnuroi after the Breaking of the Second Watch and the disaster of Pir Minginnial.
Sin-Pharion—“Angel of Deceit” (Ihrimsû). Nonman epithet for Aurang following the Womb-Plague.
Siol—The Nonman Mansion from which, according to tradition, all other Mansions save Nihrimsûl are derived, and thus called the “House Primordial.” Located deep in the northeastern Kayarsus, Siol was the perpetual bulwark against the Mannish hordes to the east, heir to a ruthless martial ethos that would see its Sons conquer all Eärwa save Nihrimsûl (which famously endured the One-Thousand-Year-Siege). Even as Nonmen are more profound in their commitment to authority, so are they more savage in rebellion. The Isûphiryas chronicles the slow fracture of the Tsonos Dynasty as the interests of each diverged, eventually becoming as distinct as the Nihrimsûli (or “Dark Nonmen”). Thus the Sons of Tsonos ceased to recognize their common Kinning, and begin to wage war one against the other.
Siol remained pre-eminent, but more as a provender of human slaves and a perpetual aggressor than as a font of wealth
and wisdom. Commercially, the Mansion would be eclipsed by Cil-Aujas, Illiserû, and Ishoriol, the “House Eschatological,” which would culturally eclipse Siol as well. If one believes, as many scholars do, that Siol is the “Gate of Thayant” referred to in the Tusk, then its “Breaking” literally marks the beginning of human civilization in Eärwa.
Siqu—Generally, the term referring to Nonmen who find themselves in the service of Men, usually as mercenaries or in some advisory capacity. Specifically, those Nonmen who participated in the so-called Nonman Tutelage from 555 to 825. See Nonman Tutelage.
Sirol ab Kascamandri (4004— )—The youngest daughter of Kascamandri ab Tepherokar.
Siroyon, Halas (4098— )—Ordealman, Prince of Erras, General of the Famiri in the Great Ordeal of Anasûrimbor Kellhus.
Sirro (2367—2415)—Female Seleukaran poet, naturalist, and philosopher, famed author of The Holy Crone, burned by the Thousand Temples on suspicion of practicing witchcraft in 2415.
Skafadi—A Kianene name for the Scylvendi.
Skafra—One of the principal Wracu, or Dragons, of the Apocalypse, finally slain by Seswatha at Mengedda in 2155.
Skagwa—A fiefdom on the Thunyeri Sranc Marches.
Skaiyelt, Hringa (4073—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, eldest son of King Rauschang of Thunyerus and leader of the Thunyeri contingent of the Holy War. Claimed by disease at Caraskand.
Skala (4069-4132)—Cepaloran named Exalt-Captain of the Palatial Eöthic Guard by Xerius III following the death of Gaenkelti.
Skalateas (4069—4111)—A member of the Mysunsai School, murdered in the Ansercan countryside by the Scarlet Spires.
Skauras ab Nalajan (4052—4111)—The Sapatishah-Governor of Shigek and the first principal antagonist of the First Holy War, slain at Anwurat. A veteran of many wars, he was deeply respected by both his allies and his enemies. The Nansur called him Sutis Sutadra, the “Southern Jackal,” because of his Black Jackal standard.
Skavric—The language group of the Scylvendi peoples.
Skettic—The language group of ancient pastoralists of the Far Istyuli Plains, a derivative of Nirsodic.