The Unholy Consult (Aspect-Emperor #4)

Seeing-Flame (or “Seeing Hearth”)—Sorcerous hearth cast from iron in the shape of an octagon. Arcane scholars dispute its origins (it is neither a Quyan nor a Mihtr?lic artifact), though several extant sources claim that it was presented as a gift to Anzumarapata II in 1331, and subsequently fell into the hands of none other than Triamis the Great in 2483. At some point it passed to the Fanim (likely in one of their many victories over the Nansur), and thence to Anas?rimbor Kellhus following the fall of Nenciphon in 4113.

Seleukara—The commercial capital of Kian, and one of the great cities of the Three Seas.

Selial Column—A division of the Imperial Nansur Army traditionally stationed on the Kianene frontier.

“selling peaches …”—A common Three Seas euphemism for selling sex.

Sempis River—One of the great river systems of E?rwa, draining vast tracts of the Jiünati Steppe and emptying into the Meneanor Sea.

Semper, Midru (4078—4121)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Ainoni Baron in the First Holy War, murdered by unknown assassins while sleeping in 4121.

Se?kti (4051—4112)—The Heresiarch of the Cishaurim, one of the most powerful Cishaurim ever known, killed at Shimeh by Anas?rimbor Kellhus.

Sepherathindor (4065—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Count-Palatine of the Ainoni palatinate of Hinnant, claimed by disease at Caraskand.

Seswatha (2089—2168)—The founder of the School of Mandate and implacable enemy of the Consult throughout the Apocalypse. Born the caste-menial son of a Trysean bronzesmith, Seswatha was identified as one of the Few at a very young age and brought to Sauglish to study with the Gnostic School of Sohonc. A prodigy, he became the youngest sorcerer of rank in the history of the Sohonc at the age of fifteen. During this time he became fast friends with Anas?rimbor Celmomas, a so-called “Hostage of the Sohonc,” as the School referred to its resident exoteric students. As this strategic friendship might suggest, Seswatha proved an adroit political operator, both before becoming Grandmaster and after, forging relationships with important personages across the Three Seas, including Nil’giccas, the Nonman King of Ishterebinth, and Anaxophus, who would become the High King of Kyraneas. These skills, in addition to his peerless command of the Gnosis, would make him the natural, if not the titular, leader of the various wars waged against the Consult before the Apocalypse. He and Celmomas would become estranged during this time, apparently because Celmomas resented Seswatha’s influence over his youngest son, Nau-Cay?ti, but legends have long circulated that Nau-Cay?ti was in fact Seswatha’s son, the product of an illicit union between him and Sharal, the most prized of Celmomas’s wives. They would not be reconciled until the eve of the Apocalypse—after it was far too late. See Apocalypse.

Seswatha’s Dreams—See Dreams, the.

Seswatha’s Heart—The mummified heart of Seswatha, which is the key artifact in the so-called Grasping, the sorcerous rites that transfer Seswatha’s memories of the Apocalypse to Mandate Schoolmen. See Mandate, the.

Setpanares (4059—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, general of the Ainoni contingent of the First Holy War, slain by Cinganjehoi at Anwurat.

Seven Wolf Shield—Crest of the ancient Me?ri Empire, consisting of seven wolves arrayed like flower petals.

Shae?nanra (c. 1086— )—“Gift of Light” (?meritic). The Grandvizier of the Mangaecca who, according to legend, went mad studying the Inc?-Holoinas, and whose subsequent acts would eventually see him convicted of impiety and his School outlawed in 1123. The greatest prodigy of his age, Shae?nanra claimed to have rediscovered a means of saving the souls of those damned by sorcery. He reputedly spent his life investigating various soul-trapping sorceries in the hope of avoiding passage to the Outside—and to great effect, given that he allegedly continues to live some three thousand years afterward, though in an obscene and unnatural manner. By the fourteenth century the Trysean annals began referring to him as Shauriatas, the “Cheater of Gods.”

Shaita’anairull—“The Grave-that-is-Golden” (Skaaric). Name given to the resting place of Lokung, the Dead God of Scylvendi religious tradition.

Shakers—The name given to extreme devotees of Onkis who claim that their fits are the result of divine possession.

Shaman—Sorcerer-prophets periodically condemned by the Old Prophets in the Chronicle of the Tusk, but redeemed via the New Covenant of Anas?rimbor Kellhus, Holy Aspect-Emperor of the Three Seas.

Shanipal, Kemrates (4066— )—Man-of-the-Tusk, Baron of Hirhamet, a district in south central Conriya.

Shaugiriol—“Eaglehorn” (?meritic). The northernmost peak of the Demua.

Shaul River—The second most important river system in the Nansur Empire, after the Phayus.

Shauriatas (c. 1086— )—“Cheater of Gods” (Umeritic). See Shae?nanra.

She?ra—“Sunskin” (?meritic). Sorcerous golden armour crafted in Far Antiquity by the School of Mihtr?lic.

Shelgal (?—?)—One of the Chieftain-Kings named in the Tusk.

Shemic—The language group of the ancient non-Nilnameshi pastoralists of the southwestern Three Seas.

Shem-Varsi—The language group of the proto-Nilnameshi pastoralists of the southwestern Three Seas.

Sheneor—Far Antique High Norsirai nation, the least of three nations created by Nanor-Ukkerja I to divide between his sons in 1556.

Sheyic—The language of the Ceneian Empire, which still serves, in debased form, as the liturgical language of the Thousand Temples and as the “common tongue” of the Three Seas.

Sheyo-Buskrit—The language of Nilnameshi labouring castes, a derivative of High Sheyic and Sapmatari.

Sheyo-Kheremic—The lost language of the lower castes of the Eastern Ceneian Empire.

Sheyo-Xerashi—The language of Xerash, a derivative of Xerashi and High Sheyic.

Shield-Breaker, the—A common name for Gilga?l, God of War.

Shield of Sil—The soggomantic great shield belonging to the King-After-the-Fall, which Shauriatas took as a platform for the decrepit amputees bearing his soul.

Shigek—A governorate of Kian and former province of the Nansur Empire. Located on the fertile delta and alluvial plains of the River Sempis, Shigek was the ancient competitor of Kyraneas and the first civilized nation of the Three Seas.

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