Shigek reached the height of her power during the so-called Old Dynasty period, when a succession of Shigeki God-Kings extended their dominion to the limits of the Kyranae Plains in the north and to ancient Eumarna to the south. Great cities (of which only Iothiah survives) and monumental works, including the famed Ziggurats, were raised along the River Sempis. At some point in the twelfth century various Ketyai tribes began asserting their independence on the Kyranae Plains, and the God-Kings found themselves waging incessant war. Then, in 1591, the God-King Mithoser II was decisively defeated by the Kyraneans at Narakit, and Shigek began its long tenure as a tributary to greater powers. It was most recently conquered in 3933 by the Fanim hosts of Fan’oukarji III. Much to the dismay of the Thousand Temples, the Kianene method of simply taxing non-believers—as opposed to out-and-out persecuting them—led to the wholesale conversion of the populace to Fanimry within a few short generations. The Inrithi revival following the reconquest of Shigek by the First Holy War, of course, either revealed the brittleness of this conversion or the fickle nature of the Shigeki soul.
Shigogli—Desolate plain encircled by the Ring Mountains and encircling Golgotterath. Arguably no place in the World has witnessed so much butchery. After his victory at Pir Pahal, Cu’jara Cinmoi squandered the lives of thousands attempting to overcome the crude breastworks the Inchoroi had raised before rebuilding Arobindant and resuming the Watch. The day of Pir Minginnial, the Second Battle of the Ark, saw more Ishroi and Quya die on Shigogli than on any other. Though the toll at the Battle of Imogirion was smaller, the fact that Illisser? alone bore its brunt made its impact every bit as profound. Some suspect the toll exacted at the Battle of Isal’imial approaches that of Pir Minginnial, but is never reported given the totality of Nil’giccas’s triumph. In terms of numbers, the toll exacted upon Men was every bit as high, with the losses of the First Great Investiture (2125—2131) matched by those of the Second in 2143, which, of course, ended with the disaster of Initiation—Apocalypse. Also known as Innuir-Shigogli, or “Black Furnace Plain.”
Shikol (2118—2202)—The King of ancient Xerash, famed for sentencing Inri Sejenus to death in 2198, as recounted in The Tractate. For obvious reasons, his name has become synonymous with moral corruption among the Inrithi.
Shilla Amphitheatre—Primary locus for religious festivals, drama, and official speeches in A?knyssus. Carved from the hip of Mount Omprempa, the Shilla is famed for the view it affords the entire city.
Shimeh—The second-holiest city of Inrithism, located in Amoteu, and the site of Inri Sejenus’s ascension to the Nail of Heaven.
Shinoth—The legendary main gate of ancient Trys?.
Shinurta, Khui (3741—3828)—Renowned Grandmaster of the Scarlet Spires credited with using the Scholastic Wars (3796 to 3818) as a means of conquering High Ainon. Famously slain by the legendary Holca freebooter, Eryelk, while investigating the Daimos.
Shir—An ancient city-state on the River Maurat that eventually became the Shiradi Empire. See Shiradi Empire.
Shiradi Empire—The first great nation to arise in the eastern Three Seas, where it ruled much of what is now Cengemis, Conriya, and High Ainon for much of Far Antiquity. By c. 500 a number of Hamori Ketyai tribes had settled the length of the River Sayut and the Secharib Plains, becoming more sedentary and socially stratified as they exploited the rich cereal yields afforded by the fertile soils of the region. But unlike Shigek, where the first God-Kings were able to unify the Sempis River Valley quite early, Seto-Annaria, as it came to be called (after the two most dominant tribes), remained a collection of warring city-states. Eventually the balance of power shifted to the north, to the city-state of Shir on the River Maurat, and sometime in the thirteenth century it managed to subdue all the cities of Seto-Annaria, though its rulers would spend generations putting down rebellions (the Seto-Annarians apparently thought themselves superior to their uncouth cousins from the north). Then, sometime in the fifteenth century, Xiuhianni invaders from Jekk ravaged the empire and Shir was razed to the ground. The survivors moved the capital to ancient A?knyssus (the present administrative capital of Conriya), and after some twenty years managed to oust the E?nneans. Centuries of stability followed, until 2153, when the forces of the No-God inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Shiradi at the Battle of Nurubal. The following two hundred years of chaos and internecine warfare effectively destroyed what remained of the empire and its central institutions.
The influence of ancient Shir is evident in many respects in the eastern Ketyai nations of the Three Seas, from the revering of beards (first cultivated by caste-nobles to distinguish themselves from the Xiuhianni, who were reputed to be unable to grow beards) to the continued use of a Shiradi-derived pictographic script in High Ainon.
Shorathises, Matmuth (4088— )—Ordealman, Ainoni Palatine of Karyoti, eldest son of Ramgath.
Shortest Way—See Logos.
Shriah—The title of the Apostle of the Latter Prophet, the administrative ruler of the Thousand Temples, and the spiritual leader of the Inrithi.
Shrial Apparati—The generic term for career and hereditary functionaries in the Thousand Temples.
Shrial Censure—The excommunication of Inrithi from the Thousand Temples. Since it rescinds all rights to property and vassalage as well as to worship, the worldly consequences of Shrial Censure are often as extreme as the spiritual. When King Sareat II of Galeoth was censured by Psailas II in 4072, for instance, fairly half of his client nobles rebelled, and Sareat was forced to walk barefoot from Oswenta to Sumna in contrition.
Shrial Insurrection—The successful coup initiated by Anas?rimbor Maithanet against his sister-in-law, Anas?rimbor Esmenet, in 4132.
Shrial Knights—Also known as Knights of the Tusk. The monastic military order founded by Shriah Ekyannus the Golden in 2511, charged with prosecuting the will of the Shriah.
Shrial Law—The ecclesiastical law of the Thousand Temples, which in a labyrinthine variety of forms serves as the common law for much of the Three Seas, particularly for those areas lacking any strong secular authority.
Shrial Priests—Inrithi clerics who, as opposed to Cultic Priests, are part of the hierarchies of the Thousand Temples, and perform the liturgies of the Latter Prophet and the God rather than those of the Gods.
Shrial Remission—A writ issued by the Thousand Temples absolving an individual of sin. Remissions are commonly awarded to those who accomplish some act of penance, such as joining a pilgrimage or a sanctioned war against unbelievers. Historically, however, they are primarily sold.
Shrial Warrant—A writ issued by the Thousand Temples authorizing the arrest of an individual for the purpose of trial in the ecclesiastical courts.
Sibaw?l te Nurwul (4092— )—Ordealmen, Believer-Prince of Nymbrica, leader of the Cepaloran contingent in the Great Ordeal.
Sign of Gierra—The twin serpents that Sumni harlots must have tattooed on the back of their left hand, apparently in imitation of the Priestesses of Gierra.
Siklar, Gaes (4101—4132)—Tydonni Ordealman, cousin to King Hogrim, slain at the Battle of Imweor.
Simas, Polchias (4052— )—Achamian’s old teacher and a member of the Quorum, the ruling council of the School of Mandate.
Sinerses (4076— )—Man-of-the-Tusk, Shield-Captain of the Javreh and favourite of Hanamanu Ele?zaras.
Singer-in-the-Dark—See Onkis.