swazond—The ceremonial scars used by Scylvendi warriors to denote foes slain in battle, believed by some to be markers of stolen strength.
Swazond Standard—The name given to Cnaiür’s banner at the Battle of Anwurat.
Sweki River—“The Sacred” (Kianni). The so-called “miracle river,” revered as holy by the Kianene, who claim that its waters arise from nothing by the will of the Solitary God. Before the first Jihads, Nansur cartographers made several attempts to locate its headwaters in the Great Salt, none of them successful.
Synodine—Chamber on the Andiamine Heights housing the Imperial Synod.
Synthese—Artifacts of the Inchoroi Tekne, thought to be living “shells” specifically designed to house the souls of senior Consult figures.
syurtpiütha—A Scylvendi euphemism for life, meaning “the smoke-that-moves.”
T
talent—The base monetary unit of the Nansur Empire prior to the Zaudunyani conquest.
Tamiznai—A fortified oasis two days south of the River Sempis, frequented by caravans.
Tarpellas, Biaxi (4101— )—Ordealman, Patridomos of House Biaxi, General of the Nansur contingent of the Great Ordeal of Anas?rimbor Kellhus.
Tears of God—See Chorae.
Tekne—Also known as the Old Science. The non-sorcerous craft of the Inchoroi, used to mold abominations out of living flesh. According to various Nonman sources, the Tekne proceeds on the presumption that everything in nature, including life, is fundamentally mechanical. Despite the absurdity of this claim, few dispute the efficacy of the Tekne, as the Inchoroi and the Consult after them have time and again demonstrated the ability to “manufacture flesh.” Mandate scholars claim that the fundamental principles of the Tekne have been long lost, and that the Consult can only proceed in a trial-and-error fashion, on the basis of an incomplete understanding, and using ancient and ill-understood instruments. This ignorance, they claim, is all that preserves the world from the No-God’s return.
Teleol—Ancient Me?ri town located on the foot of the Osthwai Mountains.
Tempiras the King—A work widely thought the greatest of Hamishaza’s satiric tragedies.
Temple of Exorietta—A notorious temple in Carythusal.
Temple Prayer—Also referred to as the High Temple Prayer. Prayer Inri Sejenus taught to his disciples in The Tractate that was later adopted as the canonical institutional prayer of the Thousand Temples in both its Inrithi and Zaudunyani incarnations. Several versions of the prayer, or “Comprehensions,” have always circulated throughout the Three Seas, despite the traditional importance accorded to it.
The text of the most common version runs:
Sweet God of Gods,
who walk among us,
innumerable are your holy names.
May your bread silence our daily hunger,
may your rains quicken our undying land,
may our submission be answered with dominion,
so we may prosper in your name.
Judge us not by our trespasses
but according to our temptations,
and deliver unto others
what others have delivered unto us,
for your name is Power,
and your name is Glory,
for your name is Truth,
which endures and endures,
for ever and ever.
Ten, the—Epithet for the ten most powerful and widely worshipped of the Hundred, consisting of Yatwer, Gilga?l, Husyelt, Gierra, Jukan, Anagke, Onkhis, Akke?gni, B?kris, and Ajokli.
Tendant’heras—An extensive fortress located on Nilnamesh’s frontier with Girgash and Kianene.
Tertae Plains—The heavily cultivated alluvial plain bordering northeast Caraskand.
tesperari—A Nansur term for naval captains who retire to command merchant ships.
Thaila, Nersei (4123— )—The only daughter of Nersei Proyas.
Thampis, Kemetti (4076—4118)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Conriyan Baron from the Anpleian frontier, killed during the Unification Wars.
Tharschilka, He?nar (4068—4110)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Galeoth Earl of Nerga?ta, and one of the three leaders of the Vulgar Holy War.
Thassius (4054-4115)—A ranking member of the Imperial Saik.
Thawa Ligatures—Gnostic Torture Cant.
Therishut, Gishtari (4067—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Conriyan Baron from the Ainoni frontier, murdered by persons unknown.
Thesji Bowmen—An elite Kianene unit of Chorae bowmen.
thil—“Salt” (Sakarpi). Sakarpic euphemism for wisdom.
Third Analytic of Men, The—Regarded by many as Ajencis’s magnum opus, the Third Analytic interrogates the aspects of human nature that make knowledge possible, as well as the human weaknesses that make knowledge so difficult to attain. As Ajencis notes, “if all Men disagree on all matters, then most Men confuse deception for truth.” He investigates the reasons, not only for deception in general, but for the erroneous sense of conviction that sustains it, giving what has come to be called the “selfish knower” thesis, the idea that convenience, conditioning, and appeal (as opposed to evidence and rational argumentation) are the primary motivation for the beliefs of the vast majority.
Thoti-E?nnorean—The alleged mother tongue of all Men, and the language of The Chronicle of the Tusk.
“Though you lose your soul, you shall gain the world.”—The penultimate answer in the Mandate Catechism, referring to the fact that Mandate Schoolmen, unlike other Schoolmen, damn themselves for a purpose.
Thousand Temples—The ecclesiastical and administrative framework of Inrithism, based in Sumna but omnipresent throughout most of the Three Seas. The Thousand Temples first became a dominant social and political institution during the reign of the first Aspect-Emperor, Triamis the Great, who declared Inrithism the official faith of the Ceneian Empire in 2505. Authority is nominally centralized in the person of the Shriah, who is regarded as the Latter Prophet’s living representative, but the sheer size and complexity of the Thousand Temples often renders that authority ceremonial. Aside from the management of the temples proper, there are the ecclesiastical courts, the political missions, the various Colleges, and the labyrinthine interconnections with the Cults to administer. As a result, the Thousand Temples often suffers from weak leadership, and is regarded with cynicism by many in the Three Seas.
This situation would radically change once Anas?rimbor Maithanet was elected Shriah, even moreso when Anas?rimbor Kellhus was declared Holy Aspect-Emperor in Shimeh in 4112, an event that effectively sundered the Thousand Temples into warring camps. An oft overlooked fact of the Unification Wars was the degree to which it involved the reunification of the Thousand Temples beneath the hegemony of Anas?rimbor Maithanet. A relic of the Ceneian Empire, the Thousand Temples have long been the institutional skeleton connecting the Three Seas, even so far as functioning as a moneyhouse for transnational commerce.
Thousand Thousand Halls—The labyrinth constructed by the D?nyain beneath Ishu?l and used by them to test their initiates. Those who become lost in the Thousand Thousand Halls invariably die, ensuring that only the most intelligent survive.