Like the Novella
itself, this glossary has not been formatted to the HTML, and looks terrible,
but should be understandable.
Glossary
of Terms and Characters
Allodial -
an adjective meaning free, this is the name chosen by the out-castes to call
themselves.
Andid -
[An deed] A nineteen year old female auxiliary. (Thirty-one Quotissian years
old.)
Anoth,
General - commander of the Auxiliary Legion of Lecardia. Nohro's ultimate
commanding
officer. Higher ranking than the Centurion and outranked only by the
Potentates of Lecardia.
Auxiliary
- a person chosen at birth to be trained as a guardian of the Polis. He must be
exemplary both physically, mentally, and morally.
Blaster -
general term for weapons that fire a burst of neural inhibiting energy.
Blasters are Mercury level tech-clearance devices and are used by the
auxiliaries to maintain peace on Quotiss. A blaster, unless specified, is
usually a hand blaster, or pistol. Each has two
barrels, one with various settings ranging from a light shock to a stun
setting to an instantly lethal setting. The second barrel of the hand
blaster holds a single grenade. There are also blast-rifles (w/ three
barrels) and a blast-cannon (w/four barrels), about the size of a tripod
mounted Browning fifty-caliber machine gun.
B'ned - a
beast of burden indigenous to Quotiss and often ridden by the Auxiliaries. They
are
massive beasts with six relatively stubby legs, a tiny head with a
disproportionately large
forehead used as a ramplate, and a huge hump centered over their foremost
"shoulders."
A human ridder sits behind the hump and controls the beast using a system
of wooden
handles attached to reigns on the beast's head and two peddles attached
to spurs at
the creature's rear.
B'neding -
v. Riding a B'ned.
B'nedman -
a trained B'ned rider.
B'nedmanship
- the skill of riding a B'ned.
Centicycle
(Centi)- approximately 12 minutes (see Day cycle)
Centurion
- an auxiliary who has been placed in charge of one hundred others. (ie ten
Lieutenants)
Clearance
- see tech-clearance
Common - a
language derived of English. English was the official language of the Earth at
the
time that faster than light travel was discovered and thus became the
official language of
the Terran Colonial Coalition, and then the Galactic Coalition, and so
Quotiss. Over the
millennia it has gone through many changes, but was easily translated
back into
twentieth century English.
Common
Hall - the place of meditation and meals and other gatherings of the
auxiliaries, built at
an almost central location in the Polis. The Potentates commons are at
the center of the
Polis.
Coreworlds
- inhabited planets in the core of the galaxy, as apposed to Quotiss, which is
a rimworld' on the fringe of the galaxy. Historically, the coreworlds are
all connected
by a network of perambulaters making slowships unnecessary to travel
between them.
The coreworlds made up the Galactic Coalition at the time that the
founders fled
to Quotiss.
Cygnus -
the god of balance. From the twentieth century epic "Hemispheres" by
the rock and roll band RUSH. Also, a canonized Potentate of old, a
philosopher saint. (See philosopher saint)
Day cycle
- a day on Quotiss is roughly equivalent to 20 earth hours. A decicycle ( or
Deci) is approx. 2hrs. A centicycle (Centi) is approximately 12 mins. A
millicycle (Milli) is approximately 90 seconds. A micricycle
(micri) is a little less than a second. The prefix
demi is often used to describe units of time equal to each of these
units, for example a
demideci is one hour.
Decicycle
(Deci) - approximately 2 hrs (see Day cycle)
Demideci
(Demidecicycle) - approximately 1 hour. (see Day cycle)
Deed -
short for Andid.
Dounger -
an old man and shoemaker in the polis of Lecardia. Master to Triast.
Efra - a
conservative minded auxiliary, and good friend to Nohro. Like Nohro he is
twenty years
old (thirty three Quotissian years).
Ef - short
for Efra.
Etyrp - a
small creature that lives in thickets of kuckla and makes an incessant clicking
noise. When many are present they actually create a music that grows more
organized and more complex the greater the population present.
Founders,
The - a radical group of utopians who left the coreworlds during the upheaval
of the third galactic war to establish Quotissian society based on
Plato's Republic.
Guardian -
the guardians are those individuals chosen at birth to be the
protectors/governors
of the community.
Guardian Ranks Age: In Earth years In Quotissian Years
Primeds (Primary Education) 4-17 6-28
Auxiliary 17-20 28-33
Mathematicians 20-30 33-50
Dialectic 30-35 50-58
Teacher 35-50 58-83
Potentate (Philosopher King) 50-death. 83-death
Deity death-eternity death-eternity
Galactic
Coalition - the dominant galaxy spanning government for millennia before
The Founders fled. The worlds of the Coalition, known as the
coreworlds were all connected
by a network of perambulaters making slowship travel between them
unnecessary.
Galactin - a formal language adopted by the Galactic Coalition millennia ago
that allows for no
contradictions or ambiguities in written or spoken communication. Used in
legal
and political documents. Terrible for the use of art.
Gasta -
another lieutenant in Nohro's phalanx.
General - the commander of all phalanxes in a polis' auxiliary military. They
are above the Centurions, lieutenants, and lancemen. They rank below only
the Potentates in their polis.
General
Anoth - the commander of the Lecardian forces. (See above and see Anoth)
G'sendoo -
a guardian and loving teacher of auxiliaries. (See Guardian Ranks above)
God-guides
- in the Myth of Er Plato reveals his belief that each of us goes through each
incarnation in this world with our own personal deity as guide. The
people of the Poleis of
Quotiss subscribe to this belief.
Great
Cleansing - the time following the founders arrival on the rural world of
Quotiss. Every
person over the age of ten was exiled back through the perambulaters to
the coreworlds
or executed. All technology not to be used for the Founders purposes was
destroyed.
As everywhere else in the galaxy, dolphins and the Taali were hunted and
put to death.
Intifa -
old woman, out-caste, and Allodial who practices the way of the Taali. Friend
of Andid.
Ipeotyri -
a Potentate who lived many centuries ago and who was canonized some time after
his death. He is now considered a minor deity, a philosopher saint.
Ipeotyri is God-guide to Dounger the shoemaker.
Juji - a
three limbed creature that can both run extremely fast and swing from tree
branches
almost as quickly, and in a far more versatile way than any earth monkey.
There is
no right side up or down to them. They are sometimes saddled and ridden
by humans.
Kuckla - a
common tree on Quotiss. There are three levels, low branches at about one to
two meters, no branches - only a parasitic fuzz - between 4 and 20
meters, and a dense canopy
of branches between 20 and 25 meters. See detailed illustration at the
end of section seven.
Lance -
nine auxiliaries and their lieutenant.
Lanceman -
a soldier in a lance.. The lowest rank in the auxiliary military pecking order.
Nine Lancemen and their lieutenant make up a lance.
Lancemen -
plural of the above.
Lecardia -
the polis from which Nohro hails. It is inland, smack in the middle of the
outback,' east of Port Bachwen, south west of Polis Centralis, the
planetary capitol.
Lecardian
- of the polis of Lecardia. Nohro is a Lecardian. He serves in the Lecardian
auxiliaries.
He eats Lecardian food... etc...
Legion -
the sum total of all phalanxes in a polis. Each legion is commanded by a
general. The
Lecardian legion has four phalanxes, thus four centurions, forty
lieutenants, and 360
lancemen.
Lieutenant - an auxiliary placed in charge of nine others, a lance, and
subordinate to the centurion of his phalanx. Nohro holds this rank.
Tec-pefer and Gasta are other examples.
Maneuvers
- training maneuvers.
Mid-month
-Quotiss has seven major rings (like Saturn). The month on Quotiss is defined
by the
ring's place in the sky. At mid-month the rings are directly overhead,
spanning the sky east to west. At day the rings, which are made mostly of
ice, glitter like so
many prisms in high orbit.
Millicycle
(Milli) - approximately 90 seconds. (See Day cycle)
Micricycle
(Micri) - a little less than a second. (See Day cycle)
Nebra - a
tall (1meter) plant like a cross between a grass and a bamboo. Basically, a
weed
that makes up many natural meadows on Quotiss.
New
Coalition - the government that the characters learn has risen in place of the
old Galactic
Coalition during Quotiss' isolation form the coreworlds.
Nebula,
the - see Redorb Nebula.
Nohro -
the narrator of the story, an exceptional auxiliary chosen to be trained as a
future Potentate of his Polis.
Outback -
the wilderness around Lecardia, motley kuckla thickets, nebra fields, and
barren rocky hills.
Out-castes
- those inhabitants of Quotiss who, for whatever reason, live out side the
poleis. Many are exiles or have run away, or are descendants of such
people. A precious few are descendants of the Old Quotissian refugees who
hid from the Founders and the great cleansing.
Phalanx -
a unit of the military consisting of ten lances, and commanded by a centurion.
Philosopher
saint - a Potentate who was deemed worth canonization sometime after his death,
and
who is now considered a minor deity.
Polis - a
Quotissian city state.
Polis
Centralis - capitol city of the planet, site of a Planetary Council of
Potentates.
Poleis -
plural of polis.
Port
Bachwen - a polis to the west of Lecardia on the coast of the Southern Ocean.
Pote -
slang for Potentate.
Potentate
- a ruler of a Polis on Quotiss. Each was an exemplary auxiliary and is in
addition
an accomplished philosopher. The Philosopher Kings of Plato's Republic.
Preliminary
(Preliminaries or prelims) - see Guardian ranks.
Producers
- the lowest caste in the system prescribed by Plato in the republic, these are
the
laborers and artisans.
Quotiss -
the name of the world the story takes place on.
Quotissian
- the inhabitants of Quotiss. - of or pertaining to the planet Quotiss.
Redorb
Nebula - the crimson nebula that fills the Quotissian sky during much of the
winter and spring. It physically separates the planet and its solar
system from the coreworlds. Dangerous travel through the nebula
discourages any Slowships from traveling to Quotiss.
Republic,
The - yes, the book written by Plato, back on earth. Used as a model for
each Quotissian Polis by the Founders.
Rings -
Quotiss has seven major rings (like Saturn). The month on Quotiss is defined by
the
ring's place in the sky. At mid-month the rings are directly overhead,
spanning the sky east to west. At day the rings, which are made mostly of
ice, glitter like so
many prisms in high orbit.
Slowship -
a starship. Slowships are actually equipped with a Quantum Drive that allows
faster
than light travel through the distortion of space/time, but compared to
the instant
travel offered by a perambulater, they are intolerably slow, taking years
to span galactic
distances at their average speed of a light year per day.
Seven
Tomes Of The Founders, The - seven giant books that elaborate of the ideas set
forth in
Plato's republic. These volumes are like the Bible of Quotissian society.
These are the each Tome's popular name based on content:
The First Tome - The Tome of Founding
The Second Tome - The Tome of Explanation
The Third Tome - The Tome of Exposition
The Fourth Tome - The Tome of Implementation
The Fifth Tome - The Tome of Education and Tradition
The Sixth Tome - The Tome of Quotiss
The Seventh Tome - The Tome of Prayers and Meditations
Specialty
- that function within the community that each individual is chosen to perform.
For example, Nohro's Centurion is a B'nedsman and military commander.
Dounger is a
shoemaker. Nohro is on the track leading to becoming a Potentate.
Spring
Festival - a celebration of new life held by most poleis in mid spring. This is
when a lottery is held to determine who gets to reproduce that year.
Spur
Peddles - foot controls used by B'ned riders to poke the B'ned in the rear with
a spiked
plate, or spur.
Taali - an
ancient order of psionic (having powers of the mind) men, women,... and aliens.
Tech-clearance
- technology is very tightly controlled on Quotiss. Each member of a polis is
assigned a technology clearance level and they can only use technology of
that level
or lower. Each and every tool in a Polis is marked with the insignia of
the level it
belongs to, and is marked in that color.
Level Description (color)
Terra this is the lowest level of technology - including shovels and
pulleys
And other simple farming and construction implements.
(Black)
Luna this includes more sophisticated farm and urban machines
(red)
Sun still more sophisticated, yet pedestrian and civilian
implements (orange)
Venus the highest level of "non-guardian clearance" some
limited galactic level technology is available for
specific jobs. (Yellow)
Mercury the lowest level of auxiliary clearance - allows the use of
blasters and armor. (Green)
Mars the high level auxiliaries have this clearance - more
devastating
weapons etc are available, and they can use
communication technology. Centurions hold this
clearance. (Blue)
Jupiter highest level military - includes limited access to
military vehicles
Usually only the Polis commander has this access - and
the philosophers (Indigo)
Saturn Some philosophers gain this level from the planetary
council. (Violet)
Galactic this is literally galactic level technology, starships, and
the teleport
only the planetary
philosopher's council (and their special auxiliary
force) has access to this level. (White)
Technic -
a technical language used in engineering and other technical pursuits. It was
once
used - and is still out in the galaxy - to program computers.
Tec-pefer
- another lieutenant in Nohro's phalanx.
Tome - see
Seven Tomes, The
Triast - a
sixteen year old boy (27 Quotissian)
Wetrobe -
a slick rain and water proof robe with built in insulation and other niceties
useful in
bad weather.
Year -
mean here as a Quotissian year - about 3/5 the length of an earth year. The
Quotissian sun is smaller and weaker than Earth's sun, and the planet
orbits closer - each orbit takes less
time. (A Quotissian year is about 219.15 earth days, but 262.98
Quotissian days - a Quotissian leap year is only once every fifty years.
- see Day Cycle)
Yolk - the
"steering wheel" attached to the reins on a B'ned.
Ytrus -
Nohro's trusty B'ned. (See B'ned)