peneditari—A common name given to camp prostitutes, meaning “long-walkers.”
perrapta—A traditional Conriyan liquor, often used to inaugurate meals.
Persommas, Hagum (4078— )—Man-of-the-Tusk, one of the Nascenti, formerly a Nansur blacksmith.
Pharixas—A disputed island stronghold in the Meneanor Sea.
Pharroika—Name, meaning “The Wayward” in Ihrims?, given to Erratics.
Phayus River—The primary river system of the Kyranae Plains, draining the south central Hethanta Mountains and emptying into the Meneanor Sea.
Pherokar I (3666—3821)—One of Kian’s earliest and fiercest Padirajahs.
Phiolos—Famed mount ridden by Halas Siroyon in the Great Ordeal of Anas?rimbor Kellhus.
pick—A derogatory term often used by Norsirai when referring to Ketyai. The word comes from the Tydonni pikka, or “slave,” but has come to have broader, racial connotations.
Pilaskanda (4060—4112)—The King of Girgash and a tributary ally of the Kianene Padirajah, killed at the Battle of Shimeh.
Pillarian—A member of the Hundred Pillars.
Pirasha—An old Sumni whore befriended by Esmenet.
Pir Minginnial—See Battle of Pir Minginnial.
Pir Pahal—See Battle of Pir Pahal.
Pisathulas—The personal eunuch attendant of Ikurei Istriya.
Pith—The most ancient and sacred manse of Ishterebinth, located below the Observances, and above the Hanging Citadels. Also called the Radial Pith.
Pitiril—Divider (Ihrims?). Ensorcelled blade belonging to the Ishroi Hero Oirinas, lost at the Battle of Pir-Minginnial.
Plaide?l—A fiefdom of Ce Tydonn, one of the “Deep Marches” above the eastern headwaters of the River Swa. Plaide?lmen are famed for their ferocity in battle, and are easily distinguished by their great beards, which they never trim.
Pon Way—An old Ceneian road that runs northwest from Momemn parallel to the River Phayus and serves as one of the Nansurium’s primary commercial arteries.
Poripharus—An ancient Ceneian philosopher and advisor to Triamis the Great, famed for drafting the Triamic Code, the body of laws that forms the basis of legal practice in most Three Seas nations (with the notable exception of Kian).
Porsparian (4071—4132)—Ordealman, Shigeki slave (and secret Yatwerian priest) assigned to Sorweel upon his arrival in the Great Ordeal.
Possessors of the Third Sight—An alternate name for the Cishaurim, so called because of their reputed ability to see without their eyes.
Postern Terrace—The verandah immediately behind the Mantle on the Andiamine Heights.
Pow—The slum district of ancient Kelmeol.
Pragma—The title given to the most senior of the D?nyain.
Premparian Barracks—Fortress housing the Conriyan King’s Reserve Guard in A?knyssus.
Prima Arcanata, The—The magnum opus of Gotagga, representing the first sustained examination of sorcerous metaphysics by Men.
Prince of God—One of several names given to the Warrior-Prophet by the Men of the Tusk.
Principle of Before and After—Also known as the Priority Principle. See D?nyain.
Proadjunct—The highest non-commissioned rank in the Imperial Nansur Army.
Probability Trance—A meditation technique used by the D?nyain to assess consequences of hypothetical acts in order to determine the course of action that will most effectively allow them to master their circumstances.
Promised World—Inchoroi epithet for the world of E?rwa.
Prophet of the Tusk—The name given to the prophets depicted in The Chronicle of the Tusk.
Prophilas, Harus (4064— )—The commander of Asgilioch during the First Holy War.
Protathis (2870—2922)—A famed near antique poet of Ceneian descent, celebrated for many works, including The Goat’s Heart, One Hundred Heavens, and the magisterial Aspirations. Protathis is regarded by many as the greatest Ketyai poet.
Proto-Caro-Shemic—The language group of the ancient pastoralists of the Eastern Carathay Desert, a derivative of Shemic.
Psailas II (4009—4086)—The Shriah of the Thousand Temples from 4072 to 4086.
Psalm of Imimor?l—Verse passages beginning the Juürl, the primary scripture of the Nonmen.
The World to him, who sings my song,
for I am the Font, the Spirit of the Deepest Deep,
and mine is the first heart to beat your blood.
The World to him, who sings my song.
I, Imimorul, fled the Heavens,
so much did I love
the brooks that chirrup,
the high mountains that hiss,
the myriads that bolt through this blessed hair,
The World to him, who raises up
rooves in the Deep.
I, Imimorul, did flee the Starving [sky],
so much did I fear the Heavens,
the wrath of those who were wroth,
who would forbid my love,
of the myriads of the World.
The World to her, who kindles
her fire in the Deep.
I, Imimorul, did cut from my hand my fingers,
and from my arm, my hand,
and from my body, my arm,
and these pieces of me I did place
in the wombs of Lions, so that I might
dwell content in my own company.
And I became One-Armed,
Imimorul, the Unshielded.
And you were as children to me,
the form of Gods as the issue of Lions,
sons who would father nations, and
daughters who would mother the
myriads of the World.
And I sang to you such songs
as are only heard in the highest of Heavens,
and nowhere in the Hells.
We did weep together, as we sang,
for woe cares not for names or glory
only that skin blackens for bruising,
breaks for blood.
The World to him, who sings my song.
The World to him, who finds me in the Deep.
The World to him, and woe.
Psammatus, Nentepi (4059—?)—A Sumni Shrial priest of Shigeki descent, and regular customer of Esmenet’s.
Ps?kalogues, The—The magnum opus of Imparrhas, sorcerer of the Imperial Saik and esoteric metaphysician primarily interested in the Ps?khe of the Cishaurim.
ps?kari—Practitioners of the Ps?khe.
Ps?khe—The arcane practice of the Cishaurim, much like sorcery, though cruder in its exercise, and distinguished by its invisibility to the Few. See sorcery.
Pulit—A tribe of Scylvendi from the southern desert fringes of the Jiünati Steppe.
Q
Qirri—“Essence” (Auja-Gilc?nni (?)). Drug made of the ashes of some great soul—at once well known and profoundly taboo among the Nonmen. Much as a furnace burns away impurities from iron, the pyre burns great souls down to the raw kernel of their vitality, which, when ingested by another, obeys the Principle of Superordinate Identities, providing them with a vitality they could have never possessed otherwise.
Quandary of Man—The classic D?nyain problem referring to the fact that Men, though beasts like other beasts, can apprehend the Logos.
Quorum—The ruling council of the Mandate.
Q?lnimil—The legendary nimil mines of Ishterebinth, source of most nimil found in E?rwa.
Quya—“Miners” (Ihrims?). The generic name for Nonmen Magi.
R
Rank-Principal—The title given to fully invested members of the Scarlet Spires.