Nincaer?-Telesser (c. 549—642)—The fourth God-King of the Umeri Empire, and famed patron of the ancient Gnostic Schools.
Nin’ciljiras (?—4132)—Son of Ninar, Son of Nin’janjin, and the last known Nonman King.
Nin’sariccas (?— )—Dispossessed Son of Siol sent as a false emissary to treat with Anas?rimbor Kellhus.
Nin’janjin (?—?)—Nonman King of Viri, widely regarded as a tragic figure in Mannish commentary, though seen as epitomizing villainy in Nonman myth and legend. See C?no-Inchoroi War.
Nine Great Gates—The epithet given to the main gates of Sumna.
Nine Mansions—Name of the nine greatest subterranean cities of the Nonmen, consisting of Si?l, Nihrims?l, Ishori?l, Viri, Cil-Aujas, Illisser?, Curunq, Incissal, and Cil-Aum?l. Siol claims to be the first, but then so does Nihrims?l. What seems clear is that some time in Nonmen prehistory Siol founded Ishori?l, Viri, Illisser?, and Cil-Aujas, which in turn founded Curunq, Incissal, and Cil-Aum?l. Of the Nine, the Blood of Tsonos ruled all but Nihrims?l.
Niom—“Three Souls” (Ihrims?). Given the treacherous nature of Men, the Nonmen typically demanded three hostages to secure all their treaties with them: a son and a daughter to vouchsafe cooperation, and a captive human enemy to assure honesty. Also known as the “Law of Niom.”
Nirimenes (4078—)—Ordealman and sorcerer-of-rank in the School of Mandate.
Nirsodic—The language group of ancient Norsirai pastoralists ranging from the Sea of Cerish to the Sea of Jorua.
Nirsi shal’tatra—“Honey and goad” (Kianni). Traditional Kianene phrase referring to the need to balance punishments with rewards to rule.
Niz-H? (c. 1890—c. 1935)—Legendary Chieftain-King of Famiri, famed for his military humiliation of Shir.
Nogaral—“High Round” (?meri). Ancient fortress the School of Mangaecca raised upon Mount Iros to better plumb the ruins of Viri in the days of the Cond Yoke, mysteriously destroyed in 1119.
No-God—Also known as Mog-Pharau, Tsurumah, and Mursiris. The entity summoned by the Consult to bring about the Apocalypse. Very little is known about the No-God, save that he utterly lacks remorse or compassion and possesses terrible power, including the ability to control Sranc, Bashrag, and Wracu as extensions of his own will. Because of his armour (the so-called Carapace), which eyewitnesses describe as an iron sarcophagus suspended in the heart of a mountainous whirlwind, it is not even known whether he is a creature of flesh or of spirit. According to Mandate scholars, the Inchoroi worship him as their saviour, as do—according to some—the Scylvendi.
Somehow, his mere existence is antithetical to human life: during the entirety of the Apocalypse, not one infant drew breath—all were stillborn. He is apparently immune to sorcery (according to legend, eleven Chorae are embedded in the Carapace). The Heron Spear is the only known weapon that can harm him.
See Apocalypse.
Nomur (?—?)—One of the Chieftain-Kings named in the Tusk.
Nonman King—The poetic name of Cu’jara Cinmoi in the High Norsirai bardic tradition.
Nonmen—At one time the pre-eminent race of E?rwa, but now much reduced. The Nonmen call themselves ji’c?n? roi, “the People of Dawn,” for reasons they can no longer remember. (They call Men j’ala roi, “the People of Summer,” because they burn so hot and pass so quickly.) The Chronicle of the Tusk, which records the coming of Men to E?rwa, generally refers to Nonmen as Oserukki, the “Not Us.” In the Book of Tribes, the Prophet Angeshra?l alternately refers to them as “the Accursed Ones” and “the sodomite Kings of E?rwa,” and he incites the Four Nations of Men to embark on a holy war of extermination. Even after four millennia, this xenocidal mission remains part of the Inrithi canon. According to the Tusk, the Nonmen are anathema:
Hearken, for this the God has said,
“These False Men offend Me;
blot out all mark of their Passing.”
But C?nuroi civilization was ancient even before these words were carved into the Tusk. While the Halaroi, Men, wandered the world dressed in skins and wielding weapons of stone, the C?nuroi had invented writing and mathematics, astrology and geometry, sorcery and philosophy. They dredged mountains hollow for the galleries of their High Mansions. They traded and warred with one another. They subdued all E?rwa, enslaving the Emwama, the soft-hearted Men who dwelt in E?rwa in those early days.
Their decline is the result of three different catastrophic events. The first, and most significant, was the so-called Womb-Plague. In the hope of achieving immortality, the Nonmen (specifically, the great Cu’jara Cinmoi) allowed the Inchoroi to live among them as their physicians. The Nonmen did in fact attain immortality, and the Inchoroi, claiming their work done, retired back to the Inc?-Holoinas. The plague struck shortly after, almost killing males and uniformly killing all females. The Nonmen call this tragic event the Nasamorgas, the “Death of Birth.”
The following C?no-Inchoroi Wars further sapped their strength, so that by the time the first Tribes of Men invaded, the Nonmen had not the numbers or, some say, the will to resist their advance. Within the course of a few generations they were nearly exterminated. Only the Mansions of Ishoriol and Cil-Aujas survived.
See C?no-Inchoroi Wars.
Nonmen Tutelage—The great period of Norsirai-C?nuroi trade, education, and strategic alliances, beginning in 555 and ending with the Expulsion in 825 (following the famed Rape of Omindalea).
Norsirai—The typically blond-haired, blue-eyed, fair-skinned race predominantly concentrated along the northern fringe of the Three Seas, although they once ruled all the lands north to the Yimaleti Mountains. One of the Five Tribes of Men.
noschi—A K?niüric term meaning “source of light,” but used in the sense of “genius” as well.
Noshainrau the White (c. 1005—72)—The founding Grandmaster of the Sohonc and author of the Interrogations, the first elaboration of the Gnosis by Men.
Nosol (c. 2111—2152)—The Meori Prince famed for securing refuge for his people in Cil-Aujas, fighting with Gin’yursis in the victory at Kathol Pass, then ultimately betraying him, and sacking the famed Nonman Mansion.
Novum Arcanum—Esoteric metaphysical treatise written by Anas?rimbor Kellhus instrumental in recruiting the Major Three Seas Schools during the Unification Wars.
Nron—A minor island nation of the Three Seas, nominally independent but in fact dominated by the School of Mandate in Atyersus.
Nroni—The language of Nron, a derivative of Sheyo-Kheremic.
nukbaru—“stone-hewer” (Zeumi). Zeumi euphemism for souls hardened by perpetual war.
N?lrainwi—Watchtowers raised in early Far Antiquity by C?nwerishau, allowing the cities of the River Aumris to communicate via beacons of fire.