Unn?rull—“Trackless Plain” (Ihrims?). C?nuroi name for Agongorea, given its desolation and the uncanny way it resists footprints.
?nosiri—Lost province of ancient K?niüri, once the hunting preserve of the ?meri All-Kings.
Unterpa—River fortress to the south of Sakarpus.
Upper Pausal—First stage of the antechamber to the Coffers, buried deep beneath the Library of Sauglish.
Upright Horn—Also known as the High Horn. See Horns of Golgotterath.
Uranyanka, Sirpal (4062— )—The Palatine-Governor of the Ainoni city of Moserothu.
Urmakthi ab Makthi (4068—4132)—Ordealman, Believer-King of Girgash, leader of the Girgashi contingent in the Great Ordeal of Anas?rimbor Kellhus, called Ama’morit, or “Skullhammer,” by his people for felling a mastodon with a single blow in the Battle of Chianadinara in 4120. Killed in the Battle of Irsulor.
Ur-Mother—One of many names for Yatwer.
Uroborian Circle—A so-called “artifactual Cant” used to prevent the utterance of sorcery and thought to turn on the same aporetic principles that make Chorae possible.
Urokkas—Low range of five mountains, consisting of Antareg (or Iros), Ingol, Oloreg, Mantigol, and Yawreg, located north northwest of the Neleost Sea, famed for once housing the Nonman mansion of Viri (who called them Virolotoi, or the “Wards-of-Viri”) and for lying on the Agongorean frontier.
Uroris—A constellation in the northern sky.
Ursilaral—“Way of the Spine” (?meri). Main avenue joining the fortified cells of the Library of Sauglish.
Ursranc—The Sranc of Golgotterath, a stock bred by the Consult over thousands of years for strength and obedience, primarily charged with defending the Ark, often used to manage their wilder cousins on the field of battle. They stand more erect (making them appear taller) and are broader through the shoulder—enough to resemble stunted Nonmen as much as Sranc. They are generally armoured in a uniform manner (with black-iron scale hauberks and conical, sometimes brimmed, helms). They are also commonly branded with the wedges symbolizing the Twin Horns.
Ussiliar, Samp? (4091— )—Ordealman, Grandmaster of the Shrial Knights in the Great Ordeal of Anas?rimbor Kellhus.
Usgald—A fiefdom in the Galeoth interior.
Uskelt Wolfheart (?—?)—One of the Chieftain-Kings named in the Tusk.
Utemot—A tribe of Scylvendi located in the northwest extremes of the Jiünati Steppe. Among the Scylvendi, the Utemot are noted as the tribe of both Uthgai and Hori?tha, the two greatest conquerors in their history.
Utgarangi ab Hoularji (4059— )—The Sapatishah-Governor of Xerash.
Uthgai (c. 2100—c. 2170)—The folklore hero and Scylvendi King-of-Tribes during the Apocalypse, whose deeds are oft recited in the Scylvendi oral tradition.
V
Valrissa (4086—4112)—A daughter of the Werigda and wife of A?ngelas.
Vaparsi—The lost language of ancient Nilnamesh, a derivative of Shem-Varsi.
Vasnosri—The language group of the Norsirai peoples.
Vast Ingressus—See Ingressus.
Vastwhite—Akksersian name given to the unexplored northern wastes extending the length of the Great Kayarsus.
Vault-of-the-Tusk—See Junriüma.
Venicata—An Inrithi holy day celebrated in late spring, commemorating the so-called First Revelation of Inri Sejenus.
Vile—Nonman pejorative for Inchoroi. See Inchoroi.
Vindauga River—The westernmost of the three major river systems draining into Lake Hu?si, and the primary geographical boundary between Galeoth and Cepalor.
virnol—The finger-locking hand shake that Sakarpi warriors reserve for their boonsmen.
Viri—One the Nine Mansions of E?rwa, and the first to be destroyed in the wars against the Inchoroi, located on the northern coasts of the Neleost Sea. Though populous, and though her sons were as widely traveled as those of any other Mansion, Viri was in many ways the most parochial of the Mansions, committed to the spare traditions of their fathers with zeal they saw only as wisdom. They were commonly derided as a result, and therefore more defensive of their characteristic identity than any other Mansion. (“Where the hearts are as callused as the hands, and the vision as crude as the cloth,” one chronicler of the Is?phiryas notes). They were, for instance, reluctant slavers, and unlike any other Mansion, still possessed Kinnings devoted to agriculture and menial trades, until, that is, Arkfall lead to their ruin and treachery.
Vishr?n?l—“Field Appalling” (Ihrims?). The Nonman name for Agongorea.
Viturnal Nesting—Grounds to the northeast of Sakarpus periodically frequented by thousands of mating storks.
Vokalati—“Sun-wailers” (Vaparsi). The Major sorcerous School of Nilnamesh, famed for its subtlety, secrecy, and insularity. The Vokalati trace their origins to the very beginning of the Old Invishi period (1023—1572), arising from an informal confederacy under Ogad?l the Great designed to control prices among Invitic magi. They were instrumental to the expansionist ambitions of Anzumarapata II, and even feature in several famed weaves commissioned to commemorate his Far Antique victories. Their first true crisis was none other than Triamis the Great, whose Saka proved their tactical betters on the field of war. The Aspect-Emperor’s rout of Sarnagiri V in 2483 left them with no more than six sorcerers-of-rank. Faced with dissolution, the Six, as they would be called, agreed to acknowledge the rule of Imperial Cenei, as well as to perpetually limit their numbers to six. The Vokalati even changed the colours of their emblem—the Sundered Scroll—to the Triamic white and violet, so eager were they to appease Cenei and escape the fury of the Saka.
With the fall of Cenei in 3351, the Vokalati immediately began rebuilding, reestablishing themselves as one of the Great Factions of the Three Seas in three short generations.
V?kyelt, Hringa (4097— )—Ordealman, Believer-King of Thunyerus, son of Hringa Skaiyelt.
Vulgar Holy War—The name given to the first contingent of the Holy War to march against the Fanim.
W
Wainhail, Swahon (4055—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Galeoth Earl of Kurigald, slain at Mengedda.
Wair Chirsal—The “Fords of the Skull,” several miles to the north of Antareg, famed for the Far Antique wars waged upon them (primarily between Golgotterath and A?rsi), and so named for the countless lives they have taken.
wairo—Zeumi folk term meaning “entangled” with the Gods, a somewhat more sophisticated way of thinking “accursed.”
Wall of the Dead—Name given to the seaward fortifications of Dagliash following its fall to Golgotterath in 2133.
war, Scylvendi mode of—Despite their illiteracy, the Scylvendi possess an extensive war nomenclature that provides them with a thorough understanding of battle and its psychological dynamics. They call battle otgai wutmaga, a “great quarrel,” wherein the point is to convince the foe of their defeat. The concepts central to the Scylvendi understanding of war are as follows:
unswaza—envelopment
malk unswaza—defensive envelopment
yetrut—penetration
gaiwut—shock
utmurzu—cohesion
fira—speed
angotma—heart
utgirkoy—attrition
cnamturu—vigilance