Foundling (49 page)

Vestiweg, the ~
or Vesting Way; road running from
Proud Sulking,
parallel with the river
Humour
, meeting with the eastern bastion of the
Spindle
before going through the
Brindleshaws
to a junction with the
Gainway
.

Vigilus, Rivermaster ~
master and owner of the fine sixteen-gun
cromster Rupunzil
.

vigorant(s)
scripts
concerned with reviving and healing. See
scripts
.

vinegaroon(s)
common term for a sailor at sea but not on a river (
bargemen
), whether working a
ram
or a
cargo,
and of any rank. Two things that make a vinegaroon stand out in a crowd is the clumsy, rolling walk that comes from moving around decks constantly pitching and yawing with the sea; and red, pitted and blotchy skin, especially on the face, damaged by the caustic sprays and spindrift of crashing waves and wind-whipped waters. The life of a vinegaroon is hard and they often die young; for one to live into his sixties is a remarkable feat.

vinegar seas, vinegar waves
also the acerbic seas, the lurid seas, the soda-seas or the Main; sometimes also called simply “the vinegar,” “the deeps” or even just “the sea” or “the ocean,” of course; named for the sharp, sour-wine smell of their waters, caused by the exotic salts that dissolve up from the ocean floor. Although these salts smell similar, they make the seas and oceans distinctly different colors: bright yellow, orange, red, violent blues, murky greens, white and even black. The acrid nature of the seawater is inhospitable to people. After half an hour in the water, your skin will become red-raw and sting sharply. After about three quarters of an hour, painful blisters will form and even pop. After an hour and a half in the vinegar, the salts in the water will have leeched into your body, retarding and even stopping the precise chemical reactions in your cells that keep you alive. Shock sets in, and soon after this your end will come. The creatures that make the vinegar seas their home, including the nadderers (sea-
monsters
), are made to live in it and thrive. Anything caught from the oceans for eating has to be soaked in brews known as dulcifiers (said “dool-sih-fy-ers”), which neutralize the poisonous salts and (apparently) improve the flavor of the meat. This process is known as “soaking,” and can take a long time to do properly. Fortunately, there are several types of fish that do this naturally within their own bodies and can be caught, cooked and eaten straightaway. Most of these, however, do not taste nice.

Vlinderstrat
Hergott for “butterfly street”;
Madam Opera’s Estimable Marine Society for Foundling Boys and Girls
is an address upon its crumbling walks.

Voorwind, Clerk’s Sergeant ~
revenue officer
in charge of one of the many gates of the
Axle
. His pay does not stretch far enough to properly provide for the needs of his twelve children (aged between four months and eight years old—one set of triplets and two sets of twins), and so he has taken to receiving bribes as additional income.

watches
there are 7 watches in a day, the day starting at 12 noon. Each watch is 4 hours long, except the two dogwatches, which are only 2 hours each and were devised to make sure that people working by the watches do not have to do the same ones over and over. A bell is often rung or a drum beaten or a bugle sounded every half hour of a watch; 1 bell (or rataplans or blasts) for the first half hour, 2 bells for the second half hour, 3 bells for the third and so on; 8 bells signals the beginning of the next watch, even for the dogwatches.

See
bells of the watch.

Way, the ~
a rather poetic term for roads and a life lived wandering them.

waybill
piece of paper granting the bearer access to any of the states or cities marked on it.You are allowed to enter a state not marked on it provided your other documents are in order and you get permission from the appropriate bureaucracy of the new state and the correct entry on your waybill as soon as possible.The best kind is an Imperial waybill, which declares you a “Citizen of the
Empire,
” and gives the right to cross from one state to another within the
Empire
, without needing particular permission from that state’s regents or representatives.

wayfarers
also hucilluctors (said “hyoo-sil-luk-tor,” meaning “one that goes hither and thither”); frequent travelers of
highroads
and byroads. A rugged and tough lot, hardy and knowledgeable in outdoor survival and thrival; usually good at running away—from the authorities and
monsters
. Too much skulking about can become irksome, and many a wayfarer, in country that demands constant tiresome wariness, longs to be able to stroll down the road in the broad day with happy pace and an easy whistle. The term can also mean any traveler on the road. See Appendix 5.

wayfoods
foods prized for their lightness, nutrition and long life, and therefore by
wayfarers
(travelers),
vinegaroons
(sailors) and
pediteers
(soldiers). Fortified sack cheese,
portable soup
and
red must
are all common wayfoods; the
whortleberry
is among the most expensive and the most remarkable.

wayhouse
what we might call an “inn,” a small fortress in which travelers can find rest for their soles and safety from the
monsters
that threaten in the
wilds
about. The most basic wayhouse is just a large common room with an attached kitchen and dwelling for the owner and staff, all surrounded by a high wall. Indeed, the common room still forms the center of a wayhouse, where the stink of dust, sweat and
repellents
mingles with wood-smoke and the aromas of the pot. The
Harefoot Dig
is large as wayhouses go, with stables and carriage sheds, a carvery as well as a common room, a reading room, many kinds of bedrooms to suit different purses, a large staff and full-time guards.

Weegbrug
Hergott
for “weighbridge”; a busy street in
Boschenberg
, being the address of many warehouse and store yards.

Weems
fellow
foundling
living at
Madam Opera’s
.Taller than
Rossamünd
even though he is younger, and apt to pick on our boy.

weskit
proofed
vest. See
harness
.

whortleberry
one of the best and most expensive of
wayfoods
. They are prized because one small berry can give an adult enough energy to last much of a day and even revive the spirits like a good
restorative
. Whortleberries come from (not surprisingly) the whortleberry bush, small with dark thorny leaves; it is found only on the western side of the
Half-Continent
. The semi-independent farming region of the Patter Moil has grown wealthy and powerful cultivating them, as have the kingdoms of Wenceslaus and Stanislaus (the Lausid states). Yet these “cultivated” plants do not produce nearly as powerful a fruit as those found in wild and
threwdish
places. Brave pickers still venture into the
wilds
to collect this better harvest.Those who survive can make twice as much for the same amount as the orchard-grown variety. They are best picked when pink and fresh; typically they are dried to increase their keeping. Another method of preserving them is to make whortleberry jam, carried in clay jars and eaten with one of the many hard-breads available as
wayfood
. Their amazing properties work just as well in any preparation of the berry and all keep for a very long time. They apparently work for
monsters
just as well, and the orchards in Patter Moil and the Lausids are heavily guarded.

wilds, the ~
places beyond the civilizing influence of humankind; places where
monsters
abound and
threwd
is strong, and plants grow fecund and free. People do not live in the wilds, and pass along quickly if traveling through them, normally in groups with a solid guard or powerful
potives
. Acquisitive
everymen
ogle the wilds greedily, desiring more land, more room, more wealth, and so they periodically send expeditions to tame some part of it, fighting with
monsters
, building fortresses and outposts. If all this goes well, they then invite settlers to make a home, the desperate seeking a better life, to try to make the wilds into a
ditchland
. These expeditions fail as much as they succeed. See
ditchlands
and
marches
.

wind
the soul or spirit of a person; feelings of well-being and other emotional states, the psyche; associated with one’s
milt
.

Winstermill
modern fortress built shortly after the
Battle of the Gates
to declare the new
Emperor’s
firm grip on things. It now serves as the
manse
(headquarters) of the battalion of
lamplighters
serving on the
Wormway
.

Winstreslewe
ancient name of a fortress built by the
Tutins
to guard what were once the southeastern borders of their realm.
Winstermill
was erected upon its foundations, which already included the tunnel through which the
Gainway
and the
Conduit Vermis
pass and meet.

wit
also called neuroticrith (“holder of a distorted mind”) or strivener; a kind of
lahzar
, a wit’s potencies (skills or powers) cannot be seen like the sparks and flashes of a
fulgar,
but are rather felt. Collectively called antics, these potencies are subtle and more sinister, affecting the victim’s mind, brain and nervous system. They are all variations on an invisible bioelectrical field, a “pulse” of energy called frission, that wits make with their surgically introduced organs. The use of frission is called witting or strivening:

A wit who is “green” has little control over the direction of the frission and it tends to radiate all about. With practice wits gain control over the area and direction of their frission till they can send it to a particular point. Most wits need to see what they are aiming at, but the most talented need only gently send (wit), find the target and afflict it from afar. Wits must be careful with all their potencies; if they overreach themselves and push too hard, they risk a violent bout of
spasming
. Excessive use of any of the antics will leave them exhausted and prone to illness. Along with this, after only a few months’ strivening, wits will begin to lose their hair until they become completely bald. Some then show their baldness with pride; others cover it with often brightly colored and jauntily styled wigs. Either is a telltale mark of a wit. They also mark themselves with the
spoor
of an arrow on the arch of an eyebrow, between the eyes or the corner or lower lid of one or both eyes; this is the universally recognized sign of their kind. Wits are trusted even less than
fulgars
, and their surly demeanor (due in some part to the constant pain they suffer) does little to help their grim reputation. See
lahzars
.

Witherscrawl, Mister ~
sour
indexer
of
Winstermill
; punctilious, fastidious, intelligent and rude to those he deems of less worth than himself. Clever enough to write with both hands without having to look. As an
indexer,
Witherscrawl is a type of mathematician, and therefore a rival to
Inkwill.