Allsaints—all the Saints in Heaven. Not a deity, exactly; more like a collective Archipelagos—islands south of Ninys, extending to the Antarctic ard—order, correctness (Mootya); may also denote a battalion of dragons Ardmagar—title held by the leader of dragonkind; translates roughly to “supreme general”
aurochs—large, wild cattlebeast, extinct in our world; existed in Europe until the Renaissance Bitter Branca—Ninysh drink with ale and pine brandy
Blystane—capital of Samsam
bollos—balls (Ninysh)
castameri—eunuchs (Ninysh)
Castle Orison—Goreddi seat of government, in Lavondaville coracle—light boat made of hides stretched over a wooden frame Cragmarog Castle—home of the Pfanzligs
Daanite—homosexual, a follower of St. Daan
damaelle—small, dear lady; a courtesan (Ninysh)
doublet—short, fitted man’s jacket, often padded
dracomachia—martial art for fighting dragons, invented by St. Ogdo Ducana province—Duke Lionel’s duchy
fatluketh—coming-of-age rite, wherein quigutl hatchlings fight their mothers and try to bite them, thereby ending the parental phase of the relationship (Quootla) fthep—to deliver a stinging rebuke with your tail (Quootla) fthootl—quigutl toy intended to build up ocular dexterity (Quootla) furze—also called gorse; a tough, prickly shrub
Goredd—Tess’s homeland, one of the Southlands (adjective form: Goreddi) Heaven—Southlanders’ afterlife, as outlined by the Saints in scripture houppelande—robe of rich material with voluminous sleeves, usually worn belted; women’s are floor-length; a man’s might be cut at the knee Infernum—Hell; not all Saints believe in it
ityasaari—half-dragon; the Saints of old were revealed to have been half-dragons, and so half-dragons are now considered living Saints (Porphyrian) kemthikemthlutl—ritual to connect one’s dreams with a World Serpent’s (Quootla) kikiu—death (Quootla)
ko—ungendered pronoun that quigutl use for each other (Quootla) Lavondaville—Tess’s hometown and the largest city in Goredd, named for Queen Lavonda, who made peace with dragonkind lunessa—it’s hard to find much concrete information on medieval feminine hygiene, so I invented my own marchpane—marzipan, a confection of almond paste and sugar megafauna—large animals, such as aurochs and dragons
mercer—textile dealer
Mootya—language of dragons, rendered in sounds a human mouth can make Most Alone—epithet for the World Serpent Anathuthia
naphtha—flammable liquid hydrocarbon, sometimes eaten by dragons Ninys—country southeast of Goredd (adjective form: Ninysh) nupa—opal; euphemism for clitoris (Ninysh)
ogham—ancient alphabet of carved hatch marks
oubliette—claustrophobic pit used as a dungeon
oud—lutelike instrument, often played with a pick, or plectrum palasho—palace (Ninysh)
parthenogenesis—asexual reproduction
Pelaguese—from the Archipelagos
penoio—penis (Ninysh)
Pentrach’s Dun—hill fort ruin
pessary—form of early birth control; inserted vaginally; not as effective as modern kinds, but better than nothing Pinabra—vast pine forest in southeast Ninys
Porphyry—small city-state northwest of the Southlands psalter—book of devotional poetry, usually illustrated; in Goreddi psalters, there’s a poem for each of the major Saints Quighole—dragon and quigutl ghetto in Lavondaville
quigutl—small, flightless subspecies of dragon with a set of dexterous arms in place of wings and a tube-shaped tongue that can produce a flame Quootla—language of the quigutl; sometimes inaccurately described as “Mootya with a bad lisp,” as the two languages are mostly mutually intelligible saar—dragon (Porphyrian)
saarantras—dragon in human form; plural: saarantrai (Porphyrian) St. Abaster—staunch defender of the faith, loves smiting sinners St. Agnyesta—patron of cheesemakers
St. Bert (Jobertus)—patron of natural philosophy; collegium named for him St. Clare—patroness of the perceptive
St. Daan—patron of romantic love (along with his partner, St. Masha) St. Fredricka—a living Saint and muralist who now lives in the Archipelagos St. Gobnait—patroness of the persistent; Lavondaville cathedral named for her St. Ida—patroness of musicians; music conservatory named for her St. Jannoula—a living Saint, helped instigate the recent war named for her St. Loola—patroness of children, the sick and indigent; hospices named for her St. Munn—patron of merchants, popular in Ninys
St. Nedouard—the physician, recently deceased
St. Ogdo—founder of dracomachia; patron of knights and of all of Goredd St. Pandowdy—a giant Saint who rose from the swamps near Lavondaville at the end of St. Jannoula’s War St. Prue (Prudia)—patron of history; monastery named for her St. Seraphina—what Seraphina is sometimes called, to her chagrin St. Siucre—patron of sweet memories; helps find what is lost St. Willibald (Wilibaio)—patron of markets and news; cathedral named for him Samsam—country southwest of Goredd (adjective form: Samsamese) Santi merdi!—holy shit (Ninysh)
sarabande—slow, stately dance in three
Segosh—capital of Ninys, center of art and culture
snaphound—rather like a whippet
Southlands—Goredd, Ninys, and Samsam together
Tanamoot—dragons’ vast country north of the Southlands Tathlann’s Syndrome—serious medical condition afflicting dragons who received no maternal memories, usually due to the untimely death of the mother tes’puco—stupid-head, also a euphemism for penis (Ninysh) thmepitlkikiu—something so transcendent there are no words for it (Quootla) thnik—quigutl device that allows the transmission of voices over long distances thnimi—thnik that also transmits images
thuthmeptha—when a quigutl metamorphoses from one sex to another, which happens several times across their lifespans (Quootla) Treaty Eve—annual commemoration of the treaty between Goredd and dragons Trowebridge—largest town in Ducana province
tutlkikiu—splitting death, an affliction of quigutl (Quootla) -utl—Quootla suffix indicating contradictory case, wherein a word also means its opposite World Serpents—vast creatures out of quigutl mythology, believed to have created the world and to hold it together Yawning Nancy—pagan sculpture similar to an Irish Sheela-na-gig