Foundling (48 page)

sustis
pure determined defense, with
cudgel
held up; one of the many moves that are part of the
Hundred Rules of Harundo
.

swamp oak
dark, scruffy tree that grows tall in bogs and fens; the presence of swamp oaks is said to indicate the presence of
monsters
, and so they are chopped down when found in the
precincts of man
.

swine’s lard
oily fat of dead pigs, boiled and used for cosmetics and
scripts
alike.

Teagarden
gater,
head of the night watch and chief
yardsman
at the
Harefoot Dig
. The
chain mail
he wears, though a little old-fashioned, is an heirloom that has passed through twelve generations to make it to him. He wears it with pride, but is a practical man and so has a stout haubardine beneath (see
harness
).

teratologist(s)
also
pugnator
,
monster-hunter,
theroscaturgis (“beast-destroyer”) or catagist(~is) (“destroyer”). Strictly speaking, a teratologist is one who studies
monsters
. The term is used, however, to mean anyone with a professional interest in
monsters,
especially those who simply want to destroy them. Teratologists include:
lahzars
—both
fulgar
and
wit
;
skolds
and
scourges; sagaars
(the dancers); and filibusters or venators, everyday folks with no particularly unusual skill, just a bunch of
potives
bought from a
skold
, a sturdy brace of weapons, a keen eye and a cunning mind.

Different teratologists have different reputations:

teratology
technically it is the study of
monsters
and anything to do with them (such as
threwd
); more broadly it also means the study and practice of theroscaturgy (“beast-destroying”); that is,
monster
-hunting.

test
shortened from testle (“appliance, apparatus”); the place where a
skold
or
scourge
or any other
habilist
makes
potives
and
drafts
; what we would call a “laboratory.” Confusingly, it can be anything from a building to a cart or portable box.

thermistor •
act of
thermistoring
. • the name for a
fulgar
who thermistors—that is, causes lightning to strike from an overcast sky. They do it at great risk to themselves, and because
thermistoring
can only be done on cloudy, rainy days, thermistors have a reputation for being gloomy and dour—which, as it happens, is often true. Sometimes also called thunderers. See
fulgar
,
fulguris
,
lahzar
,
stage
.

thermistoring
the action of using a
fuse
to make lightning strike from the sky. See
fuse
for a more detailed description of how this is done. See
fulgar
and
thermistor
.

thew
the body; one’s strength of limb and health, including
pith,
one’s metabolism.

threwd
also called the Horrors; threwd is the sensation of watchfulness and awareness of the land or waters about you. Although no one is certain, the most popular theory is that the land itself is strangely sentient, intelligent and aware, and resents the intrusions and misuses of humankind. Paltry threwd, the mildest kind, can make a person feel uneasy, as if under unfriendly observation.The worst kind of threwd—called pernicious threwd—can drive a person completely mad with unfounded terrors and dark paranoias. Many expeditions of several thousand sent to tame certain regions of terrible threwd have disappeared without a trace. Once or twice a survivor or two has returned, ravening and broken. Not even a
lahzar’s
potencies can protect from the most pernicious threwd. It is well known that wherever threwd occurs, there
monsters
are too. Some
teratologist
scholars go so far as to suggest a mutually beneficial relationship between all
monsters
and the threwd. It has even been posited by the more eccentric natural philosophers that threwd is not just strong and weak, but also good and bad. Such an idea borders on
sedonition
and is not taken seriously. Several old books have said that there are those
monsters
powerful enough to have their own threwd, the power to terrify, drive mad or control weak minds at will, and that the worst of them can project such threwd far beyond themselves to take a whole place under their control—a forest for example. In fact the mind-control exercised by the
false-gods
is thought to be a kind of threwd.

threwdish
possessing or radiating
threwd; haunted;
frightening or terrifying, especially because of the threat of
monsters
.

thrice-high
taller variation of a tricorner hat, with its three angled brim-panels protruding straight rather than curving in toward the crown.

Tin Drum Lane
main thoroughfare of the
Mortar
in
Boschenberg
, where some of the city’s, even the region’s, best
gaulders
can be found. The stink of boiling
gauld
in all its varieties hangs over the street like a cloud.

Tochtigstrat
Hergott for “windy or breezy street.”

tomahawk
small-headed ax with a hollowed blade on one side and a broad spike on the other; the handle is often entirely bound with leather or sergreen (sharkskin); light, effective in a fight and good for throwing too.

tormentum(s)
essentially large catapults used to throw great hollow metal shells called censers at any threatening
monsters
, especially the bigger kinds. These four-foot-diameter censers are filled with prodigious amounts of fizzing, smoking
potives
and are flung in fuming arcs at any oncoming
nicker
. They are especially popular in harbor defenses, for gigantic nadderers (sea-
monsters
) have the nasty habit of rising out the depths at certain times each year.

treacle
shortened form of
Cathar’s Treacle
.

trews
either long, thick woolen stockings or tight-fitting leggings of the same material, worn as an undergarment.

troubardier
said “troo-bard-ear”; foot soldier or
pediteer
wearing full-
harness
of a haubardine with tassets, a testudo (metal back-and-breastplate) and sometimes pauldrons (metal shoulder armor). They protect their heads in distinctive full-faced metal helmets such as bascinets, sallets or the odd-looking hundshugel. Main weapons are the poleax (actually a hammer and a bec-de-corbin on a pole), langrass (huge two-handed sword) or clauf (long metal-studded club). Designated assault infantry. See
pediteer
and
harness
.

tuck
• or tuckin; small tin-silver coin worth two
sequins
or one eighth of a
sou
. • name given to a small foldable knife.

Turkemen, the ~
said “tur-keh-men”; not in this current story. The Turkemen, their ruling caste the Omdür and their
Emperor
the Püshtän rule a vast empire to the north of
Clementine
and the rest of the
Haacobin Empire
. For many centuries they have had their thoughts bent on conquering the
Haacobins.
The threat of the Turkemen is the main reason the various rivaling parts of the
Empire
remain in uneasy unity.

turnery
eating utensils made of wood instead of cuttle, that is, pewter.

turpentine
tall, broad-spreading evergreen tree with a rough dark gray trunk and small dark leaves, associated with
threwd
and
monsters
. Its sap and wood are strongly resistant to the caustic waters of the
vinegar seas
, making it favored for the construction of wharves and other harbor structures. Great forests of turpentine are grown to meet the demand for lumber, and these plantations attract all sorts of skulking
bogles
and
nickers
.

Tutin
said “tyoo-tin”; a race of people who conquered the
Soutlands
and beyond, the most senior being the
Emperor,
who rules from
Clementine
. Also the language spoken by them, which is very close to Latin in our own world (to the purists I give my deepest apologies).

tyke
another name for
urchin
.

tyke-oil
potive
that works in the opposite way to a
nullodour
, in that it intensifies your smell while making it as foul to a
monster
as possible. The idea is to make you repulsive and seemingly inedible. It is a last measure when you know there is no getting away from a
monster
.

Uda
said “yoo-dah”; second cook of the
Harefoot Dig,
serving under
Closet
. Most people would say that Uda is a better cook, that you can tell when she has made a dish and when she has not; so much so that some regulars ask for her to cook their meal, which she hates because
Closet
finds it so offensive. Once or twice
Closet
has ignored these requests and has been caught out each time. Uda has even been employed by local nobles to cook for their grand dinners.

umbles
one’s gizzards and guts.

Unhallows Night
another name for
Gallows Night
.

urchin(s)
also
tyke;
among the most powerful of
monsters
, having humanlike bodies but heads like different kinds of animal. Very rarely seen by people, if at all in modern times, they are said to be almost indestructible. Ancient texts suggest that the lords of the
monsters
are among their number and that there was once, many thousands of years ago, free communication between everymen and urchins. Probably the best known is one called the Duke of Crows, an urchin-lord or nimuine, ruling an enormous
threwdish
forest called the Autumn of Sleep.

utterworsts •
the wildest, most black-hearted of monsters; • anything considered the worst kind of evil.

Vadè Chemica
said “vay-dah kem-i-kah”; ancient book on
habilistics
, particularly the making of
scripts
(called scryptia or scryptics). Said to contain destructive, forbidden information, it was apparently written by a group of unknown authors from a now-lost race who were so far in advance of current “technologies” that it is still an authority today. Indeed, most have trouble fathoming exactly what large parts of it mean. In the
Empire
it is illegal to have a copy of the
Vadè Chemica
, though many people have secret copies of excerpts from it, including a small seven-volume series called the
Seven Nephthandous Tomes
. Outside of the
Empire
it is held in higher regard. The
rhombus
in
Wörms
, for example, has well over a dozen copies and its
apprentices
study it closely the entire duration of their training. The
skolds
from
Wörms
are thought to be the best in the
Half-Continent
.

venison ragout
spicy dish made of cubes of deer-meat and various vegetables, cooked in a thick, rich sauce till they are so tender they almost fall apart.

Verhooverhoven, Doctor ~
local
physician
of the
Brindleshaws
, a fellow in his early thirties who enjoys the good favor of the
peers
and gentry of that region. Born in
High Vesting
of poor parents, he scraped together enough to pay for his own training in the
physic
arts, working for four years as a surgeon’s assistant onboard various
rams
of the
Boschenberg navy
.

Verline
said “verr-leen”;
parlor maid
to
Madam Opera
and the eldest daughter of a proud serving-family, who see service as an honor and a dignity. Tender and caring of almost all of the children of the madam’s
Marine Society
, Verline has a soft spot for
Rossamünd
: something in his awkwardness reminds her of herself as a child. Her role is to tend to the needs of
Madam Opera
, though she is often caught up in some mission of tenderness for some child or other. Almost as beautiful as her younger sister
Praeline,
Verline is the darling of the all-male staff at
Madam Opera’s
, who often leave her little gifts and do whatever she asks. Verline herself would never dream of abusing such affection, and returns it wholeheartedly to the men she calls “those dear old salts.”
Praeline
(or more properly the Lady
Praeline,
for she has married well above her station) provides the
money
to her older sister to buy such small luxuries as
pamphlets
.

Vespasia
also Vespasio; constellation sitting high in the night sky. At certain times the red planet
Faustus
will appear like an eye in the midst of Vespasia. This is regarded by the superstitious as a sign of ill fortune.