Numaineiri—A populous and fertile fiefdom of interior Ce Tydonn, located to the west of Meigeiri. Numaineiri warriors are known to paint their faces red whenever they believe themselves doomed in battle.
number-sticks—A means of generating random numerical results for the purposes of gambling. The first references to number-sticks reach as far back as ancient Shigek. The most common variations consist of two sticks typically referred to as the Fat and the Skinny. A groove is carved all the way through the Fat so that the Skinny can drop up and down its interior length. The Skinny is then capped on either end to prevent it from falling out. Numerical values are marked along the length of the Fat, so that when the sticks are thrown, the Skinny can indicate a result.
Numemarius, Thallei (4069—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Patridomos of House Thallei, and General of the Kidruhil until his death in Nagogris.
Nuns—Epithet given to the Swayali witches during the Great Ordeal for the way they resembled Jokian nuns when wearing their billows bound.
Nymbricani—A tribe of Norsirai pastoralists who range southern Cepalor.
Nyranisas Sea—The easternmost of the Three Seas.
O
Obligate—Individual indentured to mentor some member of the Satakhanic family in Zeum.
Obotegwa (4069—4132)—Obligate to Prince Zsoronga.
Observances—The manse between the Apiary and the Pith, once reserved for H?lya ritualists.
Occlusion, The—The name given to the mountainous crater rim surrounding the Inc?-Holoinas, derived from the C?n?roi name, Vilursis, or “obscurity.”
Oinaral Lastborn (?—4132)—The last Nonman born during the Womb-Plague. Son of the hero Oir?nas, and Siqu (something rare for Dispossessed Sons of Siol).
Oir?nas (?—4132)—Eldest son of Oirasis, legendary Ishroi Hero of the Nonmen, Dispossessed Son of Siol, twin brother of Oirinas, survivor of the First Watch, and Lord of the Second Watch.
Oirinas (?—?)—Ishroi Hero, twin brother of Oir?nas, slain at the Battle of Pir Minginnial.
Oknai One-Eye (4053—4110)—The inveterate chieftain of the Munu?ti, a powerful federation of Scylvendi tribes.
Okyati urs Okkiür (4038—4082)—The cousin of Cnaiür urs Ski?tha, who first brought Anas?rimbor Mo?nghus as a captive to the Utemot camp in 4080.
Old Ainoni—The language of Ceneian Ainon, a derivative of Ham-Kheremic.
Old Father—An epithet used by skin-spies to describe their Consult makers.
Old Me?ric—The lost language of the early Me?ri Empire, a derivative of Nirsodic.
Old Name—A term referring to the original members of the Consult.
Old Science—See Tekne.
Old Scylvendi—The language of ancient Scylvendi pastoralists, a derivative of Skaaric.
Old Zeümi—The language of Angka (ancient Zeüm), a derivative of Ankmuri.
Olekaros (2881—2956)—A Ceneian slave-scholar of Cironji descent, famed for his Avowals, and the five Economies, his treatises on machines, from the base and terrestrial, to the celestial and superluminary.
Oloreg—Mountain in the Urokkas.
omba—Face mask of black gauze worn by Mbimayu to better cope with the glare of sorcery.
omen-texts—The traditional indexes, usually specific to each of the Cults, detailing the various omens and their meaning.
Omiri urs Xunnurit (4089—4111)—The lame daughter of Xunnurit and wife of Yursalka.
Omrain—The first woman according to The Chronicle of the Tusk:
And the Mother did blow upon the dust, raising forth Omrain from a smoking column. And the Sky blessed her, and she had skin and bone and blood and was alive. And the Mother sayeth unto her, “As he doth take, so shall ye give.”
Oncis Sea—The westernmost of the Three Seas.
III Aphorisms—A minor work of Ekyannus VIII, consisting of 111 aphorisms that primarily deal with matters of faith and integrity.
“one lamb for ten bulls”—A saying that refers to the relative difference in value between a witting and an unwitting sacrificial victim.
One-Thousand-Gift-Shields—The collected treaty-tokens that lined the Ursilaral in the Library of Sauglish in Far Antiquity, signifying the peace between the School of Sohonc and all the Norsirai tribes, which is to say, the neutrality of the Schoolmen and Sauglish.
Onkis—The Goddess of hope and aspiration. One of the so-called Compensatory Gods, who reward devotion in life with paradise in the afterlife, Onkis draws followers from all walks of life, though rarely in great numbers. She is only mentioned twice in the Higarata, and in the (likely apocryphal) Parnishtas she is portrayed as a prophetess, not of the future, but of the motivations of Men. The so-called “shakers” belong to an extreme branch of the Cult, where the devotees ritually strive to be “possessed” by the Goddess. Her symbol is the Copper Tree (which also happens to be the device of the legendary Nonman Mansion of Siol, though no link has been established).
“Only the Few can see the Few”—The traditional expression used to refer to the unique ability of sorcerers to “see” both the practitioners and the products of sorcery.
Onoyas II, Nersei (3823—78)—The King of Conriya who first forged the alliance between the School of Mandate and House Nersei.
onta—The name given by the Schools to the very fabric of what is.
On the Carnal—The most famous of Opparitha’s exhortatory works, popular among lay readers though widely derided by Three Seas intellectuals.
On the Folly of Men—The magnum opus of the famed satirist Ontillas.
On the Temples and Their Iniquities—A quasi-heretical Sareot text.
Ontillas (2875—2933)—The near antique Ceneian satirist most famous for his On the Folly of Men.
Opparitha (3211—3299)—The near antique Cengemian moralist most famous for his On the Carnal.
Opsara (4074— )—A Kianene slave who serves as the infant Mo?nghus’s wet nurse.
Oratorium—Wrought iron platform set within the Concavity where petitioners assemble for audiences with the Nonman King of Ishterebinth.
Ordeal, the—Sometimes referred to as the Great Ordeal. The tragic holy war Anas?rimbor Celmomas called against Golgotterath in 2123. See Apocalypse.
Orimuril—“Immaculate Rim” (Ihrims?). Ensorcelled armour (known as “the Scarp” by Men), one of the Sublime Contrivances of Emilidis, belonging to S?jara-nin.
Orovelai—Stronghold of the Swayali, located upon (and within) the extinct Nonman Mansion of Illisser?.
Orsuleese (c. 3780—c. 3820)—Sakarpic Hero famed for racing on foot from the Pale to the Lonely City—outrunning Sranc—to warn of a vast mobbing.