Lamplighter (70 page)

Another version replaces “chattels” in the third line for “labors”—though the idea is held to be the same. Other
claves
will have similar creeds, for
calendars
of any stripe live by such things.

Ingébiargë
pronounced “
Ihng
’geh’bee’arr’gee;” or
Biargë the Beautiful,
as she is commonly known, a powerful creature who relishes the taste of vinegaroon and has lived as long as modern matter can tell. See
Biargë the Beautiful.

 

invidist(s)
commonly thought of as loathards, those who utterly hate
monsters,
who feel
theiromisia
(deliberate and pointed malice against teratoids), as opposed to those who feel a general dislike or habitual, mindless fear (the average citizen of the
Empire
). Also known as aspex (typically used in reference to a
teratologist
), theirmisers, execrats, these are the inveterate enemy of sedorners.

ipse adversus
as the Marshal says, this roughly means “standing alone” and comes from “(ipse) solus adverso malus,” literally, “(oneself) alone against the evil.”

“I will wait for thee/If thou wouldst come with me”
a quote from “The Wide-faring Merchant,” also called “The Plaint of the Merchant’s Wife,” a popular tune heard the
Soutlands
over.

jakes, the ~
toilets, also called
heads
(navy), or garderobe, water closet, the gong and the rest.

Josclin
said “joss’lyn”;
scourge
of
Winstermill.
Hailing from
Brandenbrass
yet said to be descended from Cloudeslee stock, that quasi-mystic land beyond the southern bounds of the
Haacobin Empire,
reputed to be populated with sedorners and most famous for its deadly accurate archers—or toxothetes. Josclin does not elaborate on his heritage and, as a
scourge,
has chosen a profession quite at odds with the principles of his reputed forebears. He trained at the Madrigoll, the much-vaunted rhombus in Maubergone, rather than at the Saumagora—or “Soup Pot”—in
Brandenbrass,
won by the former’s well-earned reputation for producing first-rate
scourges.
He so rarely ventures forth without his
fascins
that though he has served with the
lighters
at
Winstermill
for nigh on a decade, only a few of his fellows know what he actually looks like.

knave(s)
• (noun) the opposite of a
spurn;
broadly any
teratologist
who hires services out to the highest bidder or any other paying customer, but used in reference to
lahzars
particularly—a nonlahzarine
monster-
slayer is sometimes called a hack, because these nonsectified
gallants
have to “hack” at a
monster
to battle it (as with a sword or cudgel or the like). How this includes skolds (which it does) is unknown and also unquestioned. • (verb) to hire oneself out, especially as a
teratologist;
to sell one’s services.

knavery
offices where a person can go to hire a
teratologist
or three or as many as are needed. Such establishments gain their name from the term “
knave
,” that is, any person who sells services to any paying client, as opposed to a
spurn,
who serves a retaining lord or master. When entering a region for the first time, a
teratologist
may register at the local knavery to make it known that he or she is about and going on the roll offering services. In doing this
monster-
hunters are agreeing not to shop their skills through other neighboring knaveries or their own advertisement, thus denying the knavery its commission.The knaving
-clerk
will take a request from a customer and offer a selection of
monster-
hunters they believe will solve the dilemma. Once the
teratologist
has been selected, he or she is approached with an Offer of Work, which may be accepted or rejected. Work is more steady for
teratologists
who use the knaving system, though they usually make less money for service rendered.

lackbrained
empty-headed, slow-witted, not very bright or clever.

Lady Dry-stick
vulgar term for an uptight, unfriendly, upper-class woman.

Lady Vey, The ~
see
Vey, the Lady ~.

laggard(s)
leers
specializing in the detection of hard to see things and things far off, getting greater use out of a
sthenicon
, which is made in part to enhance such senses, than a
falseman
.

lahzar(s)
said “luh’
zahr
”; the premium
monster-
hunter, gaining peculiar and deadly abilities through surgery. See entry in Book One.

lale
short afternoon break usually held at 4 P.M., where the
lantern-watch
ready themselves to depart, taking a small meal to help them on the road. The word is an antiquated rendering of “lull,” a time of quietude.

lambrequin
simple proofed cover-all armor, worn over the top of normal clothing, like a kind of heavy gaulded poncho.

“Lamp East Winst(ermill)
x
West Well(nigh House)
y
”
system for designating the placement of a
great-lamp
on a highroad,
x
and
y
being the number of
lamps
away from a
cothouse
or other fortification.

lamplighter(s)
pediteer
responsible for the lighting and dousing of
lamps
along highroads, low-roads and any other roads in between. One of the benefits of experience is knowing just how many winds it takes for each lamp to be fully wound out, for not every
great-lamp
requires the same number of lift-and-drops to bring out the
bloom.
Upon joining as a
prentice,
a
lighter
is issued with the following items:

Of course, if fellows possess equivalent items of their own, then these are employed instead, and they may expand their equipment as they wish. At some
cothouses
each
lighter
is also issued with charges of repellents or
blastes
(such as bothersalts,
Frazzard’s powder,
salt-of-asper and the like) and given a little training in how to use them, thus acting as his own skold. Every second
lighter
is also issued a record: a small book in which the disrepair of a lamp can be recorded and left for the
seltzermen
to read and act upon. See entry in Book One and Appendix 7.

Lamplighter-Marshal, the ~
his correct title is the
Eighth Earl of the Baton Imperial of Fayelillian.
Though he comes from a well-to-do family, an entire life spent in military service in close association with the common
pediteer
has meant the Marshal has picked up their less-than-couth manners. He is the kind of leader who shows by example and has fought several
stouches
in the front with his men, gaining himself their deep respect, several gruesome scars and no small number of
cruorpunxis.
The rank itself is the highest possible for a
lamplighter
, an Imperial commission that is usually only granted to peers—with the heroic Protogenës being a notable exception. In order for the Lamplighter-Marshal to succeed at his tasks he is heavily reliant on the cooperation and skill of the Comptroller-Master-General and with him the
Master-of-Clerks
to keep the more bureaucratical gears of the lighters’ world turning efficiently.

Lamplighter-Sergeant Grindrod
see
Grindrod, Lamplighter-Sergeant.

lamps
collective noun for all lights, and particularly those that give light to streets and roads.

“A lamp’s worth is proved by its color”
also “a lamp’s weal (health) is proved by its color,” an old
lamplighter
truism meaning that someone’s moral value is proved by his or her actions, or “actions speak louder than words.” It comes from the idea that you can tell a
seltzer lamp’s
condition by the color of the light coming through the
seltzer.

lampsman 3rd class
the lowest rank of a properly qualified
lighter,
being the rank
prentices
are promoted to once
prenticing
is done. See Appendix 6.

lampsmen
another name for
lamplighters,
meaning generally the non-officer ranks.

lamp-watch
also called the
lantern-watch;
the nightly duty of moving along a stretch of road to light the
lamps
and then spend many hours on watch in your
bastion-house
till early morn when you go out once more and put all the
lamps
out again. After this it’s a well-earned sleep during daylight hours.The term also refers to the folk involved in the performing of the lamp-watch.

landgrave
a rank of peer in the Lauslands, equivalent to somewhere between a duke and an earl of the
Haacobin Empire;
essentially the now hereditary rulers of their lands, the ranks formerly granted by a long-gone dynasty of kings when the Lauslands were once a part of Ing. Now they elect for themselves a valastin (chief elector) from among their own, who rules for a set period and is responsible for those troubles of state that require centralized governing. The Haacobins and the Sceptics before them have long coveted these fertile western lands of the landgraves and have long waged war to get them. Yet they have never been able to prevail over their western neighbors.The soldiers on those failed campaigns have claimed that the
monsters
of those lands are actually working in the favor of the landgraves and their peoples; the ministers back in
Clementine
dismiss this as an excuse.

landsaire
also spelled landtseir, an organized group of
lesquins
of battalion strength or greater. Sometimes they include “legio” or “legion” in the names, after the
Tutin
armies of old.

lantern-crook
another name for a
fodicar.

lantern-span
distance between
great-lamps
on a highroad, the agreed standard being 400 yards, though the lamps themselves can be anything from 200 to 600 yards apart, depending on where in the road they are situated.

lantern-stick(s)
mildly deprecating name for
prentices
given them by full-ranked
lampsmen.
It comes from the name for the lighter wooden practice-crooks that are sometimes employed to help young would-be
lighters
in winding a
great-lamp’s
mechanism. It is also an insulting nickname infrequently given to
fodicars
by nonlighters.

lantern-watch
another rendering of
lamp-watch,
used especially to refer to the period of duty itself rather than the group of
lamplighters.

lark-lamp
also called a swadlimn, a 1:6 to 1:10 scale model of a
great-lamp,
used to instruct
lamplighters
on the workings of the lights used along the Emperor’s highroads. They are lights in their own right, fully functioning, with the
bloom
capable of being wound in and out of the
seltzer.
Unlike
bright-limns,
however, they do not suffer being tipped about, such action generally causing them to spill
seltzer water
and foul up the fine gears of their workings.

laude
assistant, voice and rod of the
august
of a
calendar clave
who knows all the comings and goings of the local area. It is to her and her assistants that all appeals, requests and visitors must come before being referred to the
august
for final arbitration. Highly capable and dangerous in her own right, a laude is the deliverer of all the censures and commendations of her
august
and
clave.

leakvane
kind of tarbinaire, a
potive
composed of two parts that combine to make the required reaction. Leakvanes themselves are small elongated boxes of thin light wood, designed to break apart, divided into two wax-sealed halves between which is a heavy film of treated velvet that protrudes from the top of the box. When this tab is pulled the two
potives
kept separate in either half mix together, and after anywhere from a few seconds to a minute they will react with the desired effect. The best tarbinaires will have the expected time for reaction stamped on them, and it is recommended never to shake one, as this can cause an almost instantaneous effect while the device is still in your hand.