Her thoughts turned to her hasty departure from the One-Eighth less than a day ago. She'd probably fucked everything up with her sudden transfer of power and in her haste to leave, but hopefully things would turn out.

  Between the Mune organizing things and providing some skilled artisans, Aliasara managing the people, the Sect importing or breeding who-knew what to help them, that Arborian dwarf lady with the seeds and the green thumb, a grudging agreement by the Ink Parser guy to supply those ConMach machine whatevers sooner rather than later, plus a quick talk imparting the surprising amount she remembered about metallurgy and steel forging with a Mune metal smith... yeah, she could lay off the guilt a bit.

  She belatedly realized she'd put Alerestro in charge of tracking down the Professor's killers, then promptly taken him with her. Hopefully Cleft Hand would lay off it now that she'd given up the verse, though by the way he'd snubbed her and stormed off she doubted it. She and his gang had killed the Professor, but without any witnesses or proof, she'd decided to vent her frustration, grief, and anger elsewhere. Maybe Aliasara would have found something by the time she got there.

  After stepping on a training tatter and almost falling down the stairs, Wake snarled and ripped the tangled mess that was the hem of her dress away. Seeing Aida watching her, Wake threw the remains of the dress down and glared at Aida. "What?"

  "It just registered on me, but did you just say a bit ago that you're defecting from the Rags to join us?" Aida said as they resumed their climb up the stairs.

  A long sigh was her only reply for a long moment before Wake spoke again. "I hadn't quite gotten that far, but the Ancients have everything stacked so heavily in their favor, it's hard to not see them as our common enemy. Though any of my companions who survived may feel differently. We had hoped the Slave Legion might turn things in our favor, but that's definitely off the table now."

  As they reached the nose-bleed section of the stadium, Aida glanced down at the wreckage she'd wrought in the arena and the swelling ranks of freed slaves gathering around Viviana's leaders. She would definitely be focusing on handling the breaking stuff she was good at from now on and delegating the putting it back together parts to people who were actually qualified to attempt it.

  Looking out over Berujat's fascinating sprawl crowding the tops and dangling into the crevices between a cluster of plateaus and long, rocky fins jutting hundreds of feet over river-run canyons, she felt less confident that she'd done the right thing. Screams, shouts, and sounds of fighting echoed through the city. The sprawling area nearest the stadium hosted what had to be the infamous Flesh Markets. Many of the buildings there had caught fire or been put to the torch and the flames had spread to other tarped and tented markets nearby. Fortunately, most of the buildings beyond seemed to be made of stone, but at a glance it looked like half the ones that weren't stone were now made mostly of fire.

  While some slaves tearfully reunited with family or friends, more stole anything they could get their hands on, kicked in doors all over the city, and unleashed retributive violence on potentially-innocent citizens. On the far side of the city she saw citizens fleeing across rope bridges and stone pathways carrying hastily-packed bundles or small children on their backs or slung over heavily-laden pack striders. A few Versal troops and the odd collection of Ferals escorting their Dynasts out of the city resisted the flood of freed slaves, but otherwise Berujat was now a 'free city'.

  "Free of slavery and Dynastic rule and with it safety, law and order," she mumbled to herself. "I'm Hurricane Aida. An unnatural disaster that unmakes society wherever I go."

  "Some places need to be unmade to be rebuilt better," Ryk said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

  Wake snorted. "Sentimental nonsense. There is no 'better', just whatever form of 'it works' you can keep stable long enough to keep everyone from killing each other for a little while."

  Watching a gang of naked slaves armed with crude clubs and stolen spears chase a young couple carrying screaming infants on their backs as they fled in panic, Aida definitely saw her point. That didn't mean she had to like it. Rapidly amplifying her voice, she shouted at the gang. Even from her height and distance, the sound sufficed to startle, distract, and slow them for a moment before they resumed their chase. Hopefully enough to let the couple get away or hide.

  She turned on Wake, channeling her anger at what went on below at the still-smug Dynast. "You were going to send the the slaves in to die against the Ancient's Legions. Cannon fodder sounds like to me."

  "And you'll do differently once your new Seneschal woman there can round them back up?" Wake snapped. "Why else did you come here if not to entice them to fight for you just as we were?"

  Aida shook her head vehemently. "I didn't come to draft them into suicide squads, I came to free them. If some wanted to fight, they certainly could, but I'm not going to force anyone to do anything."

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  "Says the woman who just launched an unprovoked attack on our assembly where we were offering them freedom," Wake said, bitterly.

  Resisting the urge to slap the woman took everything Aida had for a moment. Knowing half the anger was guilt at the people being robbed, murdered, and who knew what else out in the city because of the chaos she'd created did nothing to lessen the anger's burn.

  "Unlike yours, my offer was unconditional. They're free now whether they were ready or not." Aida grimaced and the sounds of fighting intensified in the distance. Ghillie snapped and pointed a few times, drawing her attention instantly. The Feral interjected rarely enough that it had always proved important on those occasions when she did. At first she strained to figure out exactly what changed out in the city where Ghillie was pointing.

  "They're all running this way now," she finally muttered. "Slaves, locals, everyone. Coming from the direction of... shit."

  She wheeled on Wake. "I think those attacks on Valeers and whatever might have stirred up the hornets nest. I'm pretty sure the Legions are here."

  Wake gritted her teeth. "Our spies notified us half of them suddenly formed up and marched to the nearest Thorn a few days ago so you're probably right though it's not our fault. If they're arriving now, they had to have be acting on orders organized and dispatched weeks ago."

  "Well, time to talk fast, sister," Aida said, taking the steps back down as quickly as she could and still maintain a conversation. "Better prove your worth to us if you want us to take you with us. Otherwise, we're chaining you up and leaving you for Jaxe or whoever's leading the troops."

  "Jaxe doesn't have the discipline to lead a Legion. And what's the matter, can ambush our Ferals and versal troops, but don't have the guts to face a real Legion?" Wake snapped, then quickly shifted gears as Aida shot her a dark look. "I can tell you much about the Ancient's capabilities, their verses, how they think."

  Aida pointed to Viviana. "She and Alerestro seem to have that covered. If that's it then..."

  "I can try to convince the other Rebellion Against the..." Wake sighed. "The other Rags that we've done everything we can against the Ancients and should side with you."

  "If your position is weak enough now that you're willing to side with us menials and Wretches, not sure that's saying much," Aida said as they reached the last of the stairs.

  Before she stepped down to the sands, she spotted Alerestro arriving at the arena gates with a few familiar faces by his side. By the way their chests heaved and the urgency with which they pressed through the throng they weren't coming with any good news.

  "We burned the Annalis at Libriam - no records of who owns what... or owns whom now. We also took the Black Court and... stole the Partaker," Wake practically blurted. "We have immortality."

  Aida tried to process Wake's words, but her brain was bouncing around like a ping pong ball as she tried to process everything. They began to push through the crowd of slaves Viviana had gathered and their pace slowed as half those they passed tried to reach out and touch her. She glanced back at Wake as Ryk and Ghillie moved ahead to try to clear some space. "Why does immortality help? Unless you have a small army of centenarians waiting around."

  "That's... not entirely necessary," Wake said, speaking as though the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

  "Explain. Quickly."

  "Almost no one makes it that old. I certainly didn't. Until the Clockpriests figured out how to track time at Gears a couple centuries ago, our timekeeping was based on incomplete local records, recollection, and sometimes outright lies. Since we've had real timekeepers, we've had almost no new Dynasts so..." She cut off as shouts about the Legions' arrival began calling through the throng, changing the general attitude from one of joy to fear in a heartbeat. "The menials were told you had to be Kin and live ten decades to be Partake, but we've already tried it on... volunteers to be sure and though it killed most of them, the survivors seem to have at least most of our benefits."

  The way Wake stalled out there made Aida assume the volunteers had been volunteered, but they'd almost reached Vivian's knot of leaders so she didn't press the point. "So you can make more Dynasts now. Out of anyone."

  "As I said, it kills most of those who try it - the resilience granted by being Kin isn't a lie - but yes."

  "Dynast Aida," Alerestro called, panting and sweating profusely as he reached them and Viviana's group at the same time. "The Vale Legions assault from the Thorns, cutting down anyone in their way. Most of our followers made it away and are heading here, but we can't stay. They must have heard about the Slave Legions somehow too as they're heading straight here."

  "The slaves have apparently been planning an uprising for years," Viviana cut in, speaking quickly. "A few escaped slaves have set up camps and hideouts in the canyons; many of the slaves already head there. They can lead us and take us to a little-known Thorn so we can escape."

  Aida turned to Ryk and Eth. "I have a question and want a direct answer. No nonsense now. If we stay and fight this Legion, do we win?"

  Eth glared at Ryk and he flushed slightly as he spoke. "We don't know. What, Eth? She said no nonsense and Parathas reminded me I decided to be more direct with her."

  "So if we stay and fight, we might be able to take them?" Aida said.

  "If we stay and fight maybe we do," Eth said, stunning Aida with a direct answer for once. Until she continued sarcastically. "Or we all die a slow death rotting away in cages. We know we live if we run, though, so it's time to go."

  As the ex-slave's leaders called out to their people and all the occupants of the Arena surged into action at once, Aida turned to Wake.

  "Are all Imminent like that?"

  "She doesn't seem that bad. Most are far more insufferable."

  Aida was, for a moment, at a loss for words. "I can't imagine."

  Whatever Wake said in reply was drowned away as the cacophonous clamor of combat erupted directly outside the Arena. The relatively-orderly exodus from the stadium turned into a panicked pell-mell.

  Next chapter: What happens when a Dynast takes a basket full of vipers to the face?

  Adonissian: a Phero who poses as a traveling musician. Died of the Wretch Plague in Heaven's Tread.

  Aida: MC. Mother of Exiles. "Ender of Verses?" "Savior of Dynasties?"

  Aj: a long-slumbering, powerful being which annihilated Inro's Sunset Legions. Also "almost destroyed the Dynasty single-handedly six-and-some centuries ago"

  Alerestro: a handsome, multi-talented man from Azure. Partner of Viviana

  Aliasara: servant at Ocyl's villa who befriends Aida

  Anticores: a pair of Sect representatives, off-putting and strange

  Arca: chief of the tribe that "adopted" Inro

  Asta: Tertius Dynast of Silk. Assassinated by the Rags.

  Avani: Hassani's daughter, an albino

  Baka: Dynast of Ziggurat. Huge, massively strong. Tertius.

  "Braid"; a thug who accosted Aida in Jadeye. His face gifted to Aida by Ocyl.

  Broadaxe: large, axe-and-shield-wielding Feral protecting Aida. Killed by Jaxe in Jadeye

  Cairin: Arca's sister, slinger

  Cleft Hand: malcontent in the One-Eighth, maimed hand due to Ryk

  Das: Rega's Immanent

  Deai: Hassani's swordmaster, renowned for killing a Paragon

  Dels: Dynast of Azure

  Denault: Hassani's husband. Shipwright, Kin.

  Eonora: a Legion officer in Ziggurat who defected with the Rogue Legions Mother's Militant

  Eth: a young Imminent

  Ghillie: a 3rd Feral who wears a primitive Ghillie suit. Carries cross between kunai and acupuncture needles

  Ghulen: Rega's "pet monster", an Inviolate

  Goboro: a fat, amiable scribe friend of Hassani's in Libriam

  Godge and Ardina: Primary Small Masters in Berujat

  Fallon: Aida's Seneschal. Died killing the Inviolate Rasofi in Jadeye

  Fatma: weakest Small Master of Berujat

  Feral: a bone-masked woman of violence (Feral) in Aida's service. Knife wielder. Killed by Ghillie in Jadeye.

  Festrin: Seneschal of Monopollis, father of Fallon

  Fetriene: Ocyl's soresearer

  Goldilocks: twitchy, spear-and-javelin carrying Feral guarding Aida. Died burning a Wicker Way in Jadeye.

  Hassani: Inviolate agent of the Black Court, sent by Fractious Fraction

  Hue: Vibrant accompanying Simon

  Huspara: minor bureaucrat in Libriam

  Ijran: Multi-minded wiz, Small Master of Berujat

  Inro: Dynast formerly ruling Sunset

  Izbali: a silent tribal shaman

  Janali: Ocyl's elegant Seneschal

  Jaxe: Dynast of Stacks. "Young" (Secounds), wealthy. Also has "the Pale" (an Albino). Ancient.

  Johine: crude slave

  Kass/Kassenia: mercenary attached to Adonissian. Died of Wretch Plague?

  Maxem: High Parser from Ink, ambassador to Jadeye

  Ocyl: Dynast of Heaven's Tread, powerful and unpredictable

  Parathas: Aida's skinscribe. Also a mountaineer.

  "Professor, The": leader of Aida's Wretches, impaled on a tree in the One-Eighth

  Rasofi: Inviolate killed by Fallon in Jadeye

  Reck: Dynast of Chalk, "not witty enough to be clever and takes himself too seriously to be ironic". Paranoid, Fractious Fraction. Tertius. Died to a mob of menials in Jadeye.

  Rega: Inro's sister, Dynast of Monopolis. Septemius

  Riccaro: majordomo of Ocyl's estate. Hung by a looting mob in Heaven's Tread.

  Ruja: Dynast of Berujat

  Rustrovan/"Rusty": Eth's old, gap-toothed skinscribe

  Ryk: "the most beautiful man Aida had ever seen", a Paragon

  Sadar: odd boy traveling with Semon, a Twine

  Sava: Dynast of Libriam

  Savalius: Grand Quartermaster of the Legions

  Semon "Goldtongue": white-haired, one-eyed master of cults. First Disciple of the Mother.

  Sephily: diminutive Arborist from Groves

  Stiller: serving boy at Ocyl's estate. Rendered mute by psychological or head-trauma

  Strygen: a dusa traveling with Semon

  Taesal: one of Rega's other Inviolates, axe scar to face

  Three Bracelets Left: "Leader" of the Mune collective

  "Toothy": leader of a group of thugs who accosted Aida in Heaven's Tread. Killed by Feral in Jadeye

  Tyrs: many-pierced Secundus Dynast of Forge. Fed into one of his own forges by the Rags.

  Valeer: a mentally challenged, unkempt individual able to manipulate Thorns. Died in Jadeye to "Braid".

  Vanyen: A crippled young woman who created the Cult of the Mother. Martyred Prophet of the Mother. Murdered by Semon Dynastic Assassins.

  Venner: Grandmaster of Optimimes in Jadeye, "best in the entire Book"

  Viviana: gorgeous, multi-talented ex-slave from Berujat. Partner of Alerestro.

  Wake: Dynast of Graves, marries even though they all die. Quintus. Isolate.

  White Spiral: an older Feral in Aida's service. Archer. Died protecting Aida in Jadeye

  36th Dynasty: A Dynasty the Anticores have met?.

  100th Dynasty: The Dynasty ruling the Book.

  Adventures of Bubo, The: popular kids story

  All, The: All the verses, even those beyond The Book.

  Ancients: a major Dynastic Chapter, an "elite number", "own Ziggurat" and "run the great bank that is Monopolis"

  Anchorites: individuals capable of creating anchor points affixed to nothing.

  Annalis compound: sprawling complex in Libriam, heart of The Book's bureaucracy. Arrivals 'Dirt' home to new dispatches, Archives 'Dust' storage for old material. Paths and Ways storage for 'nails. Burned to the ground by the Rags.

  Anticore: Sect creature which "wears convincing human skins" with "swarming insects... beneath the skin"

  Arborian: gardeners from Groves

  Arcers: a type of mancer able to summon blades of energy

  Ascen, The/The Ascendant: divinities "watching over every verse"?

  Assessor: census-taker

  Audits/"Diggers": Libriam internal affairs

  Autumn: verse rich in gold?

  Aze: swordmaker?

  Azure: An oceanic verse with blue beaches ruled by

  Berujat: "fleshmarkets"; primary seat of slave trade and home of most Lineage Masters, owned by Fraction.

  Black Court: a realm of pure darkness. Also, those who rule there. Where Partaking happens.

  Black Court Tribunal: localized Black Court authority?

  Blood, The: imbibed at Partaking, transforms one into a Dynast if they survive

  Book of Verses, The: the 1,000 verses ruled by the Dynasty. "The Kiloverse"

  Broadcliff, Tallmarket: cities in Stacks

  Calms: periods when ever-blowing winds die down in Berujat

  Canyon of Cages: cliff where slaves are held in Berujat

  Cave Dwellers: tribes that live in the underground in Origin, keep others out until "the Return"

  Century Thread: additional threads appearing elsewhere on the body every century a Dynast lives

  Cerebrist: creator of slavants

  Chalk/"Vistas": verse entirely made of chalky cliff, belongs to Reck

  Chant, The/Sacrosanct Chant: some sort of law in the Dynasty?

  Chant of Inoculation: chant supposed to protect against disease, "Mudra of Cleansing"

  Chapters: power groupings among the Dynasts of the Book: predominantly The Ancients, the Fractious Fraction, and Isolates.

  Circular Sea: an ocean abutting the Jadeye segment of Heaven's Tread

  Clock Priest: priests from Gears who track and tell time religiously

  Commu: chewed drug/herb?

  ConMach: convoy? courier? "ConMach drains the very life from the Directory's verses". Supply "ConMach machines"

  Crowmen: buy corpses to return them to life and service as rotters

  Cupola Thorn: the main Thorn in the city Jadeye in Heaven's Tread, a stone dome built over it

  Currence: something valuable inside old coins? "harder than currence"? "Solid current forms currence." Currence melts to watter.

  Currency: money, gold coins once held currence inside to give value, now debased

  Current: some form of energy that powers "artifices"? "Solid current forms currence."

  Directory: "the Directory to Ink is like the Dynasty to the Book", dominating rulers of Ink

  Donative, The: Black Court taxes, taken by Legion if not offered. Don't pay, no Partaking every century.

  Dusa: people with manipulable hair of silver wire, from Gears

  Dynast: individual given rule of a verse if they survive Partaking. Ageless and hard to kill. Regenerative. Sustained by "the Blood"; no food or water necessary.

  Dynast's Tower: a massive tower at the peak of Ziggurat.

  Dynasty: the Dynasts who rule the Book

  Ebon: founder of the Dynasty and Black Court

  Ebon Saga: the tale of Ebon's foundation of The Book and Dynasty

  Ebonese: the language of the Book

  Echoseer shells: devices to allow one to "see" in the Black Court

  El: semi-insubstantial snake/remora-like creatures that follow gods (and sometimes Dynasts) around

  "Emperor of Everything": popular kids story about Inro turning down becoming emperor, then crushing those who elevated a different Dynast

  Feral: bone-masked bodyguards who require the essence of their master to survive. "Damned to Ferals" as a form of capital punishment. "the damned", "damned to a Feral"

  Fetalist: Imminent faction who believe the future is unchangeable

  First Thread/Primus: a fresh Dynast/the first luminescent silver thread etched into their foreheads.

  Forge: verse ruled by Tyrs with much metalworking

  Fractious Fraction/"DissatisFaction"/"The Renewal": a major Dynastic Chapter who "hate everyone including each other", "entice every freemancer and Lineage Master" ... "to Berujat". For those with "verses deficient in maor ways."

  Gates, The: Inter-verse travel method created by Ebon. Opened with Limn

  God, A: unique, "undying" creatures of immense size, The First Ones

  God's Rote: child's first memorization, what gods are

  God-dwellers: "monks" who live on a god

  God-touched: those who have physically touched a god (and lived)

  Gonist: organ dealers and traders

  Gons: self-sustaining organs capable of living outside a host

  Graves: a verse "Made of the dead by the dead for the dead".

  Green People: A tribe of jungle dwellers from Origin

  Groves: a forest verse, home to Arborists

  Heaven's Tread: a verse "inside a hollow rolling pin", host to Jadeye, the largest city in the Book

  High Parser: officials from Ink

  Imminent: seers advising Dynasts and shaping course of The Book

  Imminent Prophecy: something about a barbarian Dynast, Ender of Verses and/or Savior of Dynasties?

  Inevitables; faction of Imminent who believe it is their sacred duty to ensure the future comes to pass as seen

  Ink: home verse of the Skeinry, Keens, Directory, and "the Faded People"

  Innoculist: doctors who teach chants "brought from Logos" to cure disease

  Inviolate: agents of the black court who "serve the Black Court, protect the Dynasty, uphold the Chant, root out corruption" with "unlimited, undisclosed, and untraceable budgets"

  Inviolate Vial: carried by Inviolates as badge of office

  Iode: substance that ignites when crushed

  Iris: the giant portals leading between one cylinder of Heaven's Tread to the next

  Isolates: a major Dynastic Chapter with a "unified stand for independence", "cheat the Donative, stockpil[e] currence and watter" "hire Keen mercenaries" "raise own private Legions in secret"

  Jade Eye, The: the "giant emerald" at the middle of Ocyl's Spire in Jadeye

  Jadeye: the largest city in the Book and major trade hub, in Heaven's Trade

  Jar: Name of a "gold" coin now made of brass. Once held currence within.

  Jaxeday: holiday in Stacks with boat carvings, feasts, games of Fishhead, dances, and storytelling

  Jaxestack: a whitewashed stack on Stacks home to Jaxekin

  Jutland Reach: a verse with guns?

  Green People: tribes that live in the jungles of Origin

  Keen: Ink warriors wearing impossibly-heavy iron armor whose power source drains color from the area about it. "Tank knights"

  Kin: descendants of a Dynast, most desperately trying to reach 100 so they can Partake

  Kiss, The: disease that wiped out "hundreds of verses", also name for the time period when Aj became active last and destroyed 100s of verses before halting in Sunset

  Lambent ram: animal whose wool glows?

  Letch: sect bred leech-like creature designed to stop bleeding on wounds

  Libriam: a swampy verse home to the Annalis, heart of The Book's bureaucracy

  Libwe: tribe possessing the "holy" Limn clay bed.

  Limn: "infused clay" bearing some sort of internal power, used by Ebon to found the Dynasty

  Lineage: a line of mancers taught by a Master

  Linemen: workers on the Stacks trolleys who pull the cars along the lines

  Lizard Hunters: Arca's people, walkers of the wastes of Origin

  Logos: "the thought realm"

  Machine Curse: something that stops machines from working between verses?

  Mancers: "no mancers arc (could) affect it", people with abilities beyond human normal, usually trained/implanted by a Master.

  Master's Markets: primary slave market in the Book in Berujat

  Menial: common folk

  Molt: person able to shed skins (see skins)

  Mon, The: "the Outsiders". "exist only to destroy the Book" with their "demonic and monstrous children" from "the Hells beyond"

  Monopolis: the "City of Currency", bank verse ruled by Rega

  Mourne, The: something dangerous that lurks in the Vale, "the why we do not tarry"

  Mother's Faith: the relgion based on Aida created by Semon

  Mother's Militant: Formerly the Rogue Legions led by Eonora, now pledged to protect the people of the Book

  Mune: a utopist collective from Dost who mask their identities and share everything communally

  Nameday: when children are named

  Ocyl's Preserve: a garden "beyond the Circular Sea" in Heaven's Tread?

  Ocyl's Spire: the tower home to the court of Ocyl, Dyanst of Heaven's Tread

  One Tribe, The: Arca's new tribe incorporating the Libwe and whomever else is conquered or enticed to join.

  One-Eighth Shithole: Aida's verse. Unfortunately. A desolate place home to volcanoes and a giant dead turtle

  Optomime: gadgeteer

  Origin: the First Verse, from which Ebon originated, containing the "Cities Below". The "first page of The Book"

  Pale, The: light-skinned people, conquered by Ebon during the founding of the Dynasty. Alternately, albinism

  Paragon: warrior who can see the future

  Partaking: the ritual that creates Dynasts (or kills those who try). Performed by some unknown, large creature in the Black Court.

  Phero: Lineage whose scent creates overwhelming attraction

  'pillar: fuzzy Sect-bred giant caterpillar pet

  Porcelain Guard: Ocyl's white-masked Ferals

  Pure Priest of the Ascen/Blind Priests: priests praising the Ascen and back the Black Court

  Rags: derogatory name for alliance of Isolates and Fractious Fraction. Call themselves "Resistance Against the Grevious Ancient Coup."

  Reachers: massive, Sect-bred creatures that direct traffic and rescue unfortunates in the Sighted Path in Jadeye

  Reconquest: time four-hundred years ago when Inro "drove [tribals] back into civilization's fold at spear point"

  Rotters: sack-clothed, crudely-masked 'zombies' uses as pack-beasts and simple laborers. Created/sold by Crowmen.

  Royal Strider: giant striders which carry carriages of the wealthy slung underneath them

  Sect, The: breeders of useful insectoid- and/or sauroid-like creatures

  Seericide: seers capable of Knowing everything as they die

  Seneschal: chief servant of a Dynast, bear permanent strings allowing them to speak and understand any language

  Shale: a verse famous for its expensive stone

  Shore Striders: tribes that live along the oceans of Caves

  Shackle Pens: slave pens near Master's Market in Berujat?

  Shrineway: religious section of Jadeye "brailled prayers along the walls ... [and] cobblestones"

  Sighted Path: the zero-g road down the center of Heaven's Tread

  Silk: verse owned by Asta where all of verse's silk originates

  Sixth Tier Rebellion: last major uprising, in Ziggurat a century ago when "half the legions rose up". Put down by Baka

  Skeinry: iron-plated communication centers where Skeiners translate vibrations sent by wyre from other verses

  Skin/Hollow: animate skin of a molt able to move, talk, and share snatches of its experience with its molt

  Skinlife: living tattoos

  Skinscribe: individuals brailled with lore, walking libraries

  Slavant: an individual who "loses much" to be implanted with an ability

  Soresearer: individuals capable of "healing" by cauterizing wounds with their hands

  Stacks: An ocean verse comprised of tall pillars jutting up from the seas. Trolleys run on long ropes between them "affixed by Anchorites to airy nothing"

  Striders: "stilt-legged gray-skinned insect-lizard"s used as fast mounts, large enough to carry several riders

  Strings: worn or implanted wire devices that translate speech

  Stone Walkers: tribes that live in the cold of Origin

  Subterrane, The: inter-verse travel route accessed by Ebon via Limn

  Sunset: the verse where Aj was 'contained', formerly protected by Dynast Inro. The "Prison of Prisons" holds mad Dynasts, monsters and demons... vaults of dangerous relics.

  Sunset Legions/Vault Legions: Inro's Legions, wiped out by Aj in Sunset

  Surgon: person able to remove organs

  Swirl: A verse. "The pleasure barges of Swirl"

  Syphon: machine ConMach uses to "drain the very life" and color from a verse to "fuel... machinery"

  Tangle, The: the jungles of the One-Eighth

  Terminus: "Gates End", a verse?

  Thorn: huge, curling thorns which Valeers can use as gateways to the Vale, doorways between verses. Grow into verses over centuries

  Thrum: guide in the Black Court

  Tribunal: group of three Dynasts coming together to make ruling or pass judgment

  Twine: "one soul threaded through two bodies"

  Unkillable Swordsman: a Paragon killed by Deia long ago

  Vale: "The Place Between". A realm of high-contrast black and white full of thorns and Thorns.

  Vale Walkers: discoverers of verses

  Valeer: people capable of activating Thorns, barely functional of anything else

  Valeer's 'nail: crystals containing wafers that allow travel within the Vale to specific verses without a Valeer

  Venger: muscle man?

  Verse: a pocket universe or world

  Verser Lord/Lady: agents of an individual Dynast who rule part of a verse at the whim of their Dynast

  Vibrant: color-changing individuals from Ink?

  Watter: an energetic liquid. "Currence melts to watter. Watter's current dissipates over time, leaving water."

  Weeping Falls: Jadeye Iris flowing with waterfalls

  Wicker Way: towers of stone, wood, and rope that connect opposite far sides of Jadeye

  Wiz of Berujat: multi-minded, capable of performing multiple tasks simultaneously

  World Spear: an immense stack on Stacks

  Wretch: untouchables forced to walk on all fours, "the human refuse that cleans up the literal waste piles"

  Wretch Plague/Dynast's Plague: the flu. A horrific disease spread by Wretches.

  Wyres: lines run through the Vale between verses that allow communication between. A giant Ziggurat