The Unholy Consult (Aspect-Emperor #4)

Kian—The most powerful nation of the Three Seas before the rise of the New Emprire, extending from the southern frontier of the Nansur Empire to Nilnamesh. The Kianene were originally a desert people from the fringes of the Great Salt. Various Ceneian and Nilnameshi sources refer to them as cunning and audacious raiders, the target of several different campaigns and punitive expeditions. In his monumental The Annals of Cenei, Casidas describes them as “courtly savages, at once disarmingly gracious, and murderous in the extreme.” Despite their reputation and apparent numbers (Nansur records indicate several attempts to gauge their numbers by concerned provincial governors), the Kianene spent most of their time battling amongst themselves over scarce desert resources. Their conversion to Fanimry (c. 3704—24) would change this, and with drastic consequences.

Following the unification of the Kianene tribes under Fane, Fan’oukarji I, Fane’s eldest son and the first of Kian’s Padirajahs, led his countrymen in the so-called White Jihad, winning a series of spectacular victories over the Nansur Imperial Army. By the time of his death in 3771, Fan’oukarji I had conquered all of Mongilea and had made serious inroads into Eumarna. He had also founded his capital, Nenciphon, on the banks of the River Sweki.

Successive Jihads would see Eumarna (3801), Enathpaneah (3842), Xerash and Amoteu (3845), then finally Shigek and Gedea (3933) all fall to Kian. Though the Nilnameshi would successfully thwart several different Kianene invasions, Fanic missionaries would succeed in converting the Girgashi to Fanimry in the thirty-eighth century. By the end of the fourth millennium Kian was easily the pre-eminent military and commercial power of the Three Seas, and a source of endless consternation not only for the much-diminished Nansur Empire but for Inrithi Princes in every nation.

Kianni—The language of Kian, a derivative of Caro-Shemic.

Kidruhil—The most celebrated cohort of heavy cavalry in the Three Seas, primarily constituted by Nansur caste-nobles from the Houses of the Congregate. Reorganized in 4125 under the auspices of Anas?rimbor Kellhus, it was expanded to include Zaudunyani from across the Three Seas. Riding under the Golden Horse and Black Circumfix, the Kidruhil were used extensively throughout the so-called Unification Wars.

Kig’krinaki—A Sranc tribe from the Plains of Gal.

Kimish (4058—4121)—The Prime Interrogator to Ikurei Xerius III. Found dead in a ditch south of the Famiri frontier in 4121.

King-Fires—The ritual bonfires signifying kingship among the Galeoth.

King-of-Tribes—The title given to the individual elected by the Scylvendi chieftains to lead the gathered tribes in war.

King-Temple—Legendary palace of the K?niüric High-Kings in Trys?, home of the Ur-Throne, destroyed in 2147.

Kinning—Name for the various Ishroi bloodlines, many of which transcended the Mansions, and so considerably complicated the politics of the day.

Kinnings-of-the-Sworn—The lowest status and most numerous of the Nonmen Kinnings, largely consisting of individuals sworn to various Ishroi or Quya.

Kinning Most-High-and-Deep—Honorific accorded the House of Tsonos.

kipfa’aifan—“Witness of Fane” (Kianni). The holiest scripture of Fanimry, chronicling the life and revelations of the Prophet Fane from his blinding and exile into the Great Salt in 3703 to his death in 3742. See Fane.

Kishyat—A palatinate of High Ainon, located on the south bank of the River Sayut on the Sansori frontier.

Kiskei, House—A Nansur House of the Congregate.

Kisma—The adoptive “father” of Mallahet.

Kites—Euphemism for Schoolmen in the argot of the Great Ordeal, especially when engaged in Culling.

Kiz—Original name of the river fortress that would become the Scarlet Spires.

Kiyuth River—A tributary of the River Sempis, running deep into the Jiünati Steppe.

Kizzi Bones—Divination fetishes popular among the Zeumi.

kjineta—See castes.

Kneeling Heights—One of the nine heights of Caraskand and the location of the Sapatishah’s Palace.

knight-commander—The rank directly subordinate to the Grandmaster in the Shrial Knights.

Knights of the Tusk—See Shrial Knights.

Knights of Trys?—Also known as the Knights of the Ur-Throne. An ancient order of knights sworn to defend the Anas?rimbor Dynasty, thought destroyed in 2147 with the Sack of Trys?.

Koll (4098—?)—The last of the Stone Hags to survive the Skin-Eaters.

Koraphea—The most populous city of High Ainon after Carythusal, located on the coast north of the Sayut Delta.

Korasha—Also known as the White-Sun Palace. An extensive palace complex in Nenciphon, and traditional residence and administrative seat of the Kianene Padirajahs.

Kothwa, Hargraum (4070—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Tydonni Earl of Gaethuni, slain at Mengedda.

K?bur?—The canonical compilation of the heroic lays of ancient Zeum.

Kucifra—“Blinding Light” (Caro-Shemic). Fanim epithet for Anas?rimbor Kellhus.

Kumeleus, Sirassas (4045— )—A staunch supporter of House Ikurei, and Exalt-General prior to Ikurei Conphas.

Kumrezzar, Akori (4071—4110)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Palatine of the Ainoni district of Kutapileth, and one of the leaders of the Vulgar Holy War.

K?niüri—A lost nation of the Ancient North and the last of the ancient Aumris empires. High Norsirai city-states developed along the River Aumris and from c. 300 were united under C?nwerishau, the God-King of Trys?. From c. 500 the city of ?merau gained ascendancy, leading to the ?merau Empire and the cultural efflorescence of the Nonman Tutelage under Car?-Ongonean. Ancient Umeria thrived until defeated by the Cond tribesmen of Aulyanau the Conqueror in 917. The rapid collapse of the so-called Cond Yoke led to a second period of Trysean dominance of the Aumris, this one lasting until 1228, when another series of White Norsirai migratory invasions resulted in the so-called Scintya Yoke.

The K?niüric period proper did not begin until 1408, when Anas?rimbor Nanor-Ukkerja I, exploiting the confusion surrounding the collapse of the Scintya Empire, seized the Ur-Throne in Trys?, declaring himself the first High King of K?niüri. Over the course of his long life (he lived to the age of 178, the reputed result of the Nonman blood in his veins), Nanor-Ukkerja I extended K?niüri to the Yimelati Mountains in the north, to the westernmost coasts of the Cerish Sea in the east, to Sakarpus in the south, and to the Demua Mountains in the west. At his death, he divided this empire between his sons, creating A?rsi and Sheneor in addition to K?niüri proper.

K?niüri became, largely by virtue of its cultural inheritance, the centre of learning and craft for all E?rwa. The Trysean court hosted what were called the Thousand Sons, the scions of Kings from lands as far away as ancient Shigek and Shir. The holy city of Sauglish hosted pilgrim scholars from as far away as Angka and Nilnamesh. High Norsirai fashions were emulated throughout E?rwa.

This golden age came to an end with the Apocalypse and the defeat of Anas?rimbor Celmomas II on the Fields of Elene?t in 2146. All the ancient cities of the Aumris would be destroyed the following year. The surviving K?niüri were either enslaved or scattered.

See Apocalypse.

K?niüric—The lost language of ancient K?niüri, derived from ?meritic.

Kunniat—Name for the collection of religious practices and observances centred upon The Chronicle of the Holy Tusk and the deities named therein. Apart from sharing a common scriptural foundation, Kunniat practices and mores differ radically—as much between Cults as between nations. They do all share, however, the belief that the function of religious belief is to commend souls to the Afterlife as well as to maintain the connection between the present and the ancestral past.

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