Between cracks and rumbles from far above that shook the entire stack, distant terrified or tortured screams that could last minutes, and the knowledge that any corner or stairwell exit they might turn and come face to face with something out of a nightmare forced Hassani to focus everything she had to avoid drawing the Aze Blade. If she did, she might not be able to sheath it again this time.

  "Can we res', Amma?" she said, plunking down on last stair of a long flight. Fresh blood pooled and ran from under a doorway nearby. Though stone and door mostly muffled it, she made out a chewing sound from within. Hassani moved quickly both to block the sight from her daughter's view with her body and kept half-an-eye on it.

  "Not much farther," Hassani said, kneeling down and lifting her daughter's chin. "Can you be strong for Amma and Adda just a little bit longer? Hear that regular rumble from below? That's the waves. We're almost to the docks. You can rest as long as you want when we get our boat."

  Avani's pale face screwed up with determination. She stood solidly and nodded.

  "I knew you were strong," Hassani said, standing back up. "Takes a lot to-"

  The whole stack seemed to lurch sideways. Hassani caught Denault as his bad leg gave out, gritting her teeth as he smashed her wounded leg into the wall.

  "Did the entire dome just come down?" he said, rubbing his sweat-streaked face against his shoulder.

  "Maybe. Felt more like that came from somewhere below. Jaxe's private harbor?"

  "Whatever it was, we need to get out of here," Denault said, swaying as he stumbled a few steps down the next hallway. "The whole stack is shaking. Feel it?"

  Hassani did. They hurried as best they could. Her relief at getting away from the bloody door came light a tortured chord on a stringed instrument finally fading to silence.

  When they broke out finally into the sunlight, they stood squinting at the sudden brightness. "Where is this ship of yours, Denault?"

  Denault carefully set Deia down and raised a hand to shadow his eyes. Anything that could sail had already left, sails and the blocky shapes of barges filling the horizon.

  "There's nothing left," Hassani said, slumping against the wall. She didn't want to look at her leg.

  "Amma, look. I foun' a boat."

  They turned to see Avani sitting on a the slender, ugly gray shape of a ConMach courier. No sign of the crew.

  Hassani limped over to it, smiling. "Good job, honey. Only we don't know how to make it go."

  Avani lay her cheek against the hot rusty block abutting the paddle wheel. "Its 'live, Amma. I can feel it."

  "It's just a boat, Avani," Hassani said, staring out over the waves and judging if they could throw some flotsam in the water and use it as a float to swim to one of the barges. With her bleeding, Denault crippled, and Avani barely able to swim, she didn't like their chances even without who knew what lurking out there in the water.

  "What do we do now?" Denault said, dragging Deia's body by the collar.

  "How could you disrespect my master like that?" Hassani shouted, shoving Denault aside. He fell hard on the dock, wincing. Out in the full light of day, she saw suddenly realized how gaunt and ragged he looked.

  "No disrespect meant," he said between pants. "I just don't have strength left. Barely been eating. When they thought I was dead and you vanished, Jaxe seized everything. Worried if I tried to come back and make a claim, he'd just make the dead stick. You'd never guess we were Kin by the sorts of things he's been doing in the name of fighting the war. I lived off the generosity of Wretches until Jaxe finally had them rounded up a week ago. Can't remember when I ate last."

  She reached down to pull him up, feeling his ribs against her arm as she looped it around his waist.

  "At least we die together as a family," Denault said as the Stack shuddered. They ducked as large stones splashed down into the fizzing waters, soaking them to the bone instantly.

  "I got it goin', Amma!" Avani said, waving at them as the paddle wheel on the courier slowly spun to life.

  Rather than questioning the miracle, Hassani helped Denault to the craft then turned and gathered up Deia's body. Denault untied the boat's mooring line as she jumped aboard.

  Avani petted the metal block and cooed at it. As ridiculous as it seemed, the wheel churned faster in response and propelled them away from the crumbling stack with surprising haste.

  "By the Ascen," Denault whispered as a cracking boom blasted across the waters and a massive piece of the stack tilted away and crashed into the water. "Hold on!"

  They clutched at whatever they could on the small craft as a wave twice Denault's height crashed into them. Denault cursed, Avani screamed, and it was all Hassani could do to hold onto Deia and keep herself aboard as the water rushed over them.

  This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

  Somehow they remained afloat and all of them aboard. By the next huge chunk of the stack sheared off, they'd managed to put enough distance between themselves and the stony pillar that the waves merely rocked the boat. They stared in stunned shock as the whole thing collapsed.

  "What happ'n'd to our home, Amma?" Avani said, her voice tiny and trembling.

  "Home is wherever you are, my precious," Hassani said, reaching over and clasping Avani's hand tightly. With Deia's head resting in her lap, she turned and grasped Denault's hand with her other hand. "Wherever we are together, that's home. From now on, that's all we ever need."

  Tears ran freely down Denault's face, streaming from eyes lit with a warmth she'd never even hoped to ever see there.

  "Home," he echoed, gently brushing tears from her cheeks.

  "Home is 'ere," Avani echoed before looking out across the ocean. "But where we goin' now?"

  "To take her home," Hassani said, glancing down at Deia for a moment before looking back up at Avani. She released the girl's hand and pointed the general direction the other ships sailed, every one of them drifting towards the Heaven's Spear visible from the hazy distance only as a faint darkening on the horizon. "Can you tell this boat to sail that way?"

  Avani leaned her cheek against it, burbling singsong nonesense at it and petting it.

  While Avani handled the boat, Hassani took a deep breath, drew her knife, and set to extracting the black barbs hooked into the already-swelling, blood soaked mess left of her leg. Denault moved closer, helped her with precise incisions. He offered her a handful of his robe to clutch as he carefully extracted the hooked barbs.

  After they'd cut and prised what they could free and lacking anything else to use, she ripped an inner layer of her skirts free. The bandages came out crude and uncomfortable, but they couldn't do any better with what they had.

  That done, she used her hands as scoops, drank some sweet, bubbly water.

  "I'm going to rest for a minute," she said, planning to just rest for a moment and figure out a plan. She only woke up when the boat bumped up against something.

  A radiant sunset lit the clouds with inner fire. The Heaven's Spear blotted out the far horizon. She swiveled her neck to see the slight pillar of Deia's stack rising before them.

  "We're here," Denault said, wincing as he pulled himself to standing.

  Hassani tried to stand beside him, but her leg gave out.

  Only by using Denault for support could she rise to standing. Once they reached the stairs and she could use the outside of stack to lean against and hold herself up, she sent Denault back to grab Deia's body. The stairs she usually bound up two or three at a time seemed to take an hour with a concerned Avani hovering behind her and putting small hands on her leg or rump to support her every step.

  Once atop the tiny stack, she stopped to adjust the blood-soaked bandages while shooting glances out across the waters towards the Heaven's Spear. A hundred ships, barges, canoes, yachts, and anything else that might float sailed towards it. With Jaxe gone, it didn't seem like much safety as everyone who had a 'nail had probably left weeks ago, but where else was left?

  She reached into her pouch and produced her chain of nails: Stacks, Libriam, Heaven's Tread, the unknown one the skin gave her what felt like an age ago, and... Terminus? She wondered when that one slipped in, how she hadn't noticed it when she came to Stacks, and who had done it. The skin? An Imminent while she'd been caged and she just now noticed? Fatma stashing a lone 'nail with hers to keep them in the same place?

  Snatches of Deia's last words came to her. Three to Terminus, two leave, one to... she couldn't remember exactly. To end it all? Had Deia slipped it into her pouch while Hassani visited her? Three, two, one what or who?

  Denault grunted as he reached the top of the stairs, laying Deia's body down carefully and leaning against Hassani. They held each other up for a while, staring at the beauty of the sunset lighting the clouds and sparkling off the waves. Avani slipped between the two and held both of their hands.

  "We just leave him here?" Denault said, nodding down to Deia. "That ConMach courier moves five times faster than anything under sail. There's a Thorn in the Spear; sooner we leave, sooner we beat the mob."

  "We should put her inside at least," Hassani said, eyes suddenly blearing with tears as she looked down at her master. "In bed. Deia can rest there forever, until the verse collapses."

  "Verses don't collapse," Denault said, releasing her hand. "And Deia's dead, won't know the difference either way."

  "Gods don't die either, yet I saw one floating in the ocean on my way here and others elsewhere," Hassani said, limping over to the trapdoor and heaving it open. "Lower her down to me."

  She climbed down the ladder into the cluttered room, her leg nearly giving out again as Denault lay prone, held Deia under the armpits, and carefully handed her slight weight down to Hassani.

  "We come'n down too, Amma?" Avani said, eyes wide as she looked around at the clutter.

  "No. I'll just be a moment," Hassani said, tucking Deia into bed and pulling the covers high and tight. If she didn't know any better, her master could just be sleeping, ready to awaken at any minute with a sharp comment, sideways comment, or mocking ambush.

  Tears and snot flowed as her mind flitted between memories. Deia had been the bedrock of her life, her own personal stack she could always come to. Deia had been the one who convinced her through action rather than word that Hassani might make something of herself some day, even as a Pale little nobody. Without Deia, she would have been exatly that: nobody.

  She kissed Deia on the lips and turned to survey the room a final time. Her eyes halted on the second trapdoor descending further into the stack. Scrounging around, Hassani found a lamp with a bit of watter still sloshing about its reservoir, lit it, and pulled the trapdoor open.

  Inside, a darkness barely pushed back by the lamp's dim light.

  "Where are you going?" Denault called, poking his head down through the upper trapdoor. "Where does that go?"

  "I'm going to find out quick. Be right back." Hassani lowered herself down the ladder slowly and carefully. With a lamp in one hand and one leg a throbbing, stump, she barely made it down the ladder without falling.

  Leaning against the worn wood of the ladder, she raised the lamp to look around and gasped, nearly fumbling the lamp as she reached for the Aze Blade.

  The room at the base of the tower sat empty but for a single other occupant.

  At the exact center, folded in lotus position, sat a form forged of darkness so complete the light did nothing to illuminate it.

  The Aj.

  Eyes as bright and pure a white as its body was dark creased open and the Aj stared into her.

  Next chapter: A strange meetup in Terminus.

  Adonissian: a Phero who poses as a traveling musician. Died of the Wretch Plague in Heaven's Tread.

  Aida: MC. Mother of Exiles. "Ender of Verses?" "Savior of Dynasties?"

  Aj: a long-slumbering, powerful being which annihilated Inro's Sunset Legions. Also "almost destroyed the Dynasty single-handedly six-and-some centuries ago"

  Alerestro: a handsome, multi-talented man from Azure. Partner of Viviana. Accidentally killed by Jaxe in the One-Eighth.

  Aliasara: servant at Ocyl's villa who befriends Aida

  Anticores: a pair of Sect representatives, off-putting and strange

  Arca: chief of the tribe that "adopted" Inro

  Asta: Tertius Dynast of Silk. Assassinated by the Rags.

  Avani: Hassani's daughter, an albino

  Baka: Dynast of Ziggurat. Huge, massively strong. Tertius.

  Balmos: Venger working for Ghulen. Killed be Deia in Stacks.

  "Braid"; a thug who accosted Aida in Jadeye. His face gifted to Aida by Ocyl.

  Broadaxe: large, axe-and-shield-wielding Feral protecting Aida. Killed by Jaxe in Jadeye

  Cairin: Arca's sister, slinger

  Cleft Hand: malcontent in the One-Eighth, maimed hand due to Ryk. Impaled on a broken spear by Wretches in the One-Eighth.

  Das: Rega's Immanent

  Deai: Hassani's swordmaster, renowned for killing a Paragon

  Dels: Dynast of Azure

  Denault: Hassani's husband. Shipwright, Kin.

  Eonora: a Legion officer in Ziggurat who defected with the Rogue Legions Mother's Militant

  Eth: a young Imminent

  Ghillie: a 3rd Feral who wears a primitive Ghillie suit. Carries cross between kunai and acupuncture needles

  Ghulen: Rega's "pet monster", an Inviolate. Eaten by a demon in Stacks.

  Goboro: a fat, amiable scribe friend of Hassani's in Libriam

  Godge and Ardina: Primary Small Masters in Berujat

  Fallon: Aida's Seneschal. Died killing the Inviolate Rasofi in Jadeye

  Fatma: weakest Small Master of Berujat

  Feral: a bone-masked woman of violence (Feral) in Aida's service. Knife wielder. Killed by Ghillie in Jadeye.

  Festrin: Seneschal of Monopollis, father of Fallon

  Fetriene: Ocyl's soresearer

  Goldilocks: twitchy, spear-and-javelin carrying Feral guarding Aida. Died burning a Wicker Way in Jadeye.

  Hassani: Inviolate agent of the Black Court, sent by Fractious Fraction

  Hue: Vibrant accompanying Simon

  Huspara: minor bureaucrat in Libriam

  Ijran: Multi-minded wiz, Small Master of Berujat

  Inro: Dynast formerly ruling Sunset

  Izbali: a silent tribal shaman

  Janali: Ocyl's elegant Seneschal

  Jaxe: Dynast of Stacks. "Young" (Secounds), wealthy. Also has "the Pale" (an Albino). Ancient. Blasted by Aida on Stacks.

  Johine: crude slave. Killed by Ghulen in Stacks.

  Kass/Kassenia: mercenary attached to Adonissian.

  Maxem: High Parser from Ink, ambassador to Jadeye

  Ocyl: Dynast of Heaven's Tread, powerful and unpredictable

  Parathas: Aida's skinscribe. Also a mountaineer.

  "Professor, The": leader of Aida's Wretches, impaled on a tree in the One-Eighth

  Rasofi: Inviolate killed by Fallon in Jadeye

  Reck: Dynast of Chalk, "not witty enough to be clever and takes himself too seriously to be ironic". Paranoid, Fractious Fraction. Tertius. Died to a mob of menials in Jadeye.

  Rega: Inro's sister, Dynast of Monopolis. Septemius

  Riccaro: majordomo of Ocyl's estate. Hung by a looting mob in Heaven's Tread.

  Ruja: Dynast of Berujat. Killed by Cairin and company in Ziggurat.

  Rustrovan/"Rusty": Eth's old, gap-toothed skinscribe. Died of Wretch Plague.

  Ryk: "the most beautiful man Aida had ever seen", a Paragon

  Sadar: odd boy traveling with Semon, a Twine. Killed by Kass in Libriam.

  Sava: Dynast of Libriam

  Savalius: Grand Quartermaster of the Legions. Killed by Baka in Ziggurat.

  Semon "Goldtongue": white-haired, one-eyed master of cults. First Disciple of the Mother. Killed by Ghulen in Libriam.

  Sephily: diminutive Arborist from Groves

  Stiller: serving boy at Ocyl's estate. Rendered mute by psychological or head-trauma

  Strygen: a dusa traveling with Semon. Killed by Kass and Balmos in Libriam.

  Taesal: one of Rega's other Inviolates, axe scar to face

  Three Bracelets Left: "Leader" of the Mune collective

  "Toothy": leader of a group of thugs who accosted Aida in Heaven's Tread. Killed by Feral in Jadeye

  Tyrs: many-pierced Secundus Dynast of Forge. Fed into one of his own forges by the Rags.

  Valeer: a mentally challenged, unkempt individual able to manipulate Thorns. Died in Jadeye to "Braid".

  Vanyen: A crippled young woman who created the Cult of the Mother. Martyred Prophet of the Mother. Murdered by Semon Dynastic Assassins.

  Venner: Grandmaster of Optimimes in Jadeye, "best in the entire Book"

  Viviana: gorgeous, multi-talented ex-slave from Berujat. Partner of Alerestro. Killed by the Vale Legion in Berujat

  Wake: Dynast of Graves, marries even though they all die. Quintus. Isolate.

  White Spiral: an older Feral in Aida's service. Archer. Died protecting Aida in Jadeye

  36th Dynasty: A Dynasty the Anticores have met?.

  100th Dynasty: The Dynasty ruling the Book.

  Adventures of Bubo, The: popular kids story

  All, The: All the verses, even those beyond The Book.

  Ancients: a major Dynastic Chapter, an "elite number", "own Ziggurat" and "run the great bank that is Monopolis"

  Anchorites: individuals capable of creating anchor points affixed to nothing.

  Annalis compound: sprawling complex in Libriam, heart of The Book's bureaucracy. Arrivals 'Dirt' home to new dispatches, Archives 'Dust' storage for old material. Paths and Ways storage for 'nails. Burned to the ground by the Rags.

  Anticore: Sect creature which "wears convincing human skins" with "swarming insects... beneath the skin"

  Arborian: gardeners from Groves

  Arcers: a type of mancer able to summon blades of energy

  Ascen, The/The Ascendant: divinities "watching over every verse"?

  Assessor: census-taker

  Audits/"Diggers": Libriam internal affairs

  Autumn: verse rich in gold?

  Aze: swordmaker?

  Azure: An oceanic verse with blue beaches ruled by

  Berujat: "fleshmarkets"; primary seat of slave trade and home of most Lineage Masters, owned by Fraction.

  Black Court: a realm of pure darkness. Also, those who rule there. Where Partaking happens.

  Black Court Tribunal: localized Black Court authority?

  Blood, The: imbibed at Partaking, transforms one into a Dynast if they survive

  Book of Verses, The: the 1,000 verses ruled by the Dynasty. "The Kiloverse"

  Broadcliff, Tallmarket: cities in Stacks

  Bubo's Tale: Story of an ancient dyast who explored a mythical land called "Christendom" with his rats

  Calms: periods when ever-blowing winds die down in Berujat

  Canyon of Cages: cliff where slaves are held in Berujat

  Cave Dwellers: tribes that live in the underground in Origin, keep others out until "the Return"

  Century Thread: additional threads appearing elsewhere on the body every century a Dynast lives

  Cerebrist: creator of slavants

  Chalk/"Vistas": verse entirely made of chalky cliff, belongs to Reck

  Chant, The/Sacrosanct Chant: some sort of law in the Dynasty?

  Chant of Inoculation: chant supposed to protect against disease, "Mudra of Cleansing"

  Chapters: power groupings among the Dynasts of the Book: predominantly The Ancients, the Fractious Fraction, and Isolates.

  Circular Sea: an ocean abutting the Jadeye segment of Heaven's Tread

  Clock Priest: priests from Gears who track and tell time religiously

  Commu: chewed drug/herb?

  ConMach: convoy? courier? "ConMach drains the very life from the Directory's verses". Supply "ConMach machines"

  Construct: some great machine draining reality via black holes to create the All.

  Crowmen: buy corpses to return them to life and service as rotters

  Cupola Thorn: the main Thorn in the city Jadeye in Heaven's Tread, a stone dome built over it

  Currence: something valuable inside old coins? "harder than currence"? "Solid current forms currence." Currence melts to watter.

  Currency: money, gold coins once held currence inside to give value, now debased

  Current: some form of energy that powers "artifices"? "Solid current forms currence."

  Directory: "the Directory to Ink is like the Dynasty to the Book", dominating rulers of Ink

  Donative, The: Black Court taxes, taken by Legion if not offered. Don't pay, no Partaking every century.

  Dusa: people with manipulable hair of silver wire, from Gears

  Dynast: individual given rule of a verse if they survive Partaking. Ageless and hard to kill. Regenerative. Sustained by "the Blood"; no food or water necessary.

  Dynast's Tower: a massive tower at the peak of Ziggurat.

  Dynasty: the Dynasts who rule the Book

  Ebon: founder of the Dynasty and Black Court

  Ebon Saga: the tale of Ebon's foundation of The Book and Dynasty

  Ebonese: the language of the Book

  Echoseer shells: devices to allow one to "see" in the Black Court

  El: semi-insubstantial snake/remora-like creatures that follow gods (and sometimes Dynasts) around

  "Emperor of Everything": popular kids story about Inro turning down becoming emperor, then crushing those who elevated a different Dynast

  Feral: bone-masked bodyguards who require the essence of their master to survive. "Damned to Ferals" as a form of capital punishment. "the damned", "damned to a Feral"

  Fetalist: Imminent faction who believe the future is unchangeable

  First Thread/Primus: a fresh Dynast/the first luminescent silver thread etched into their foreheads.

  Forge: verse ruled by Tyrs with much metalworking

  Fractious Fraction/"DissatisFaction"/"The Renewal": a major Dynastic Chapter who "hate everyone including each other", "entice every freemancer and Lineage Master" ... "to Berujat". For those with "verses deficient in maor ways."

  Gates, The: Inter-verse travel method created by Ebon. Opened with Limn

  God, A: unique, "undying" creatures of immense size, The First Ones

  God's Rote: child's first memorization, what gods are

  God-dwellers: "monks" who live on a god

  God-touched: those who have physically touched a god (and lived)

  Gonist: organ dealers and traders

  Gons: self-sustaining organs capable of living outside a host

  Graves: a verse "Made of the dead by the dead for the dead".

  Green People: A tribe of jungle dwellers from Origin

  Groves: a forest verse, home to Arborists

  Heaven's Tread: a verse "inside a hollow rolling pin", host to Jadeye, the largest city in the Book

  High Parser: officials from Ink

  Imminent: seers advising Dynasts and shaping course of The Book

  Imminent Prophecy: something about a barbarian Dynast, Ender of Verses and/or Savior of Dynasties?

  Inevitables; faction of Imminent who believe it is their sacred duty to ensure the future comes to pass as seen

  Ink: home verses of the Skeinry, Keens, Directory, and "the Faded People". Drained of color and drained.

  Innoculist: doctors who teach chants "brought from Logos" to cure disease

  Inviolate: agents of the black court who "serve the Black Court, protect the Dynasty, uphold the Chant, root out corruption" with "unlimited, undisclosed, and untraceable budgets"

  Inviolate Vial: carried by Inviolates as badge of office

  Iode: substance that ignites when crushed

  Iris: the giant portals leading between one cylinder of Heaven's Tread to the next

  Isolates: a major Dynastic Chapter with a "unified stand for independence", "cheat the Donative, stockpil[e] currence and watter" "hire Keen mercenaries" "raise own private Legions in secret"

  Jade Eye, The: the "giant emerald" at the middle of Ocyl's Spire in Jadeye

  Jadeye: the largest city in the Book and major trade hub, in Heaven's Trade

  Jar: Name of a "gold" coin now made of brass. Once held currence within.

  Jaxeday: holiday in Stacks with boat carvings, feasts, games of Fishhead, dances, and storytelling

  Jaxestack: a whitewashed stack on Stacks home to Jaxekin. Destroyed by Aida.

  Jutland Reach: a verse with guns?

  Gates: previous travel method before Thorns and the Kiss, opened by painting Limn on an arch in one verse and another in Terminus

  Green People: tribes that live in the jungles of Origin

  Keen: Ink warriors wearing impossibly-heavy iron armor whose power source drains color from the area about it. "Tank knights"

  Kin: descendants of a Dynast, most desperately trying to reach 100 so they can Partake

  Kiss, The: disease that wiped out "hundreds of verses", also name for the time period when Aj became active last and destroyed 100s of verses before halting in Sunset

  Lambent ram: animal whose wool glows?

  Letch: sect bred leech-like creature designed to stop bleeding on wounds

  Libriam: a swampy verse home to the Annalis, heart of The Book's bureaucracy

  Libwe: tribe possessing the "holy" Limn clay bed.

  Limn: "infused clay" bearing some sort of internal power, used by Ebon to found the Dynasty

  Lineage: a line of mancers taught by a Master

  Linemen: workers on the Stacks trolleys who pull the cars along the lines

  Lizard Hunters: Arca's people, walkers of the wastes of Origin

  Logos: "the thought realm"

  Machine Curse: something that stops machines from working between verses?

  Mancers: "no mancers arc (could) affect it", people with abilities beyond human normal, usually trained/implanted by a Master.

  Master's Markets: primary slave market in the Book in Berujat

  Menial: common folk

  Molt: person able to shed skins (see skins)

  Mon, The: "the Outsiders". "exist only to destroy the Book" with their "demonic and monstrous children" from "the Hells beyond". The same race as the Ascen but objectors to the creation of the All.

  Monopolis: the "City of Currency", bank verse ruled by Rega

  Mourne, The: something dangerous that lurks in the Vale, "the why we do not tarry"

  Mother's Faith: the relgion based on Aida created by Semon

  Mother's Militant: Formerly the Rogue Legions led by Eonora, now pledged to protect the people of the Book

  Mune: a utopist collective from Dost who mask their identities and share everything communally

  Nameday: when children are named

  Ocyl's Preserve: a garden "beyond the Circular Sea" in Heaven's Tread?

  Ocyl's Spire: the tower home to the court of Ocyl, Dyanst of Heaven's Tread

  One Tribe, The: Arca's new tribe incorporating the Libwe and whomever else is conquered or enticed to join.

  One-Eighth Shithole: Aida's verse. Unfortunately. A desolate place home to volcanoes and a giant dead turtle

  Optomime: gadgeteer

  Origin: the First Verse, from which Ebon originated, containing the "Cities Below". The "first page of The Book"

  Pale, The: light-skinned people, conquered by Ebon during the founding of the Dynasty. Alternately, albinism

  Paragon: warrior who can see the future

  Partaking: the ritual that creates Dynasts (or kills those who try). Performed by some unknown, large creature in the Black Court.

  Phero: Lineage whose scent creates overwhelming attraction

  'pillar: fuzzy Sect-bred giant caterpillar pet

  Porcelain Guard: Ocyl's white-masked Ferals

  Pure Priest of the Ascen/Blind Priests: priests praising the Ascen and back the Black Court

  Rags: derogatory name for alliance of Isolates and Fractious Fraction. Call themselves "Resistance Against the Grevious Ancient Coup."

  Reachers: massive, Sect-bred creatures that direct traffic and rescue unfortunates in the Sighted Path in Jadeye

  Reconquest: time four-hundred years ago when Inro "drove [tribals] back into civilization's fold at spear point"

  Rotters: sack-clothed, crudely-masked 'zombies' uses as pack-beasts and simple laborers. Created/sold by Crowmen.

  Royal Strider: giant striders which carry carriages of the wealthy slung underneath them

  Sect, The: breeders of useful insectoid- and/or sauroid-like creatures

  Seericide: seers capable of Knowing everything as they die

  Seneschal: chief servant of a Dynast, bear permanent strings allowing them to speak and understand any language

  Shale: a verse famous for its expensive stone

  Shore Striders: tribes that live along the oceans of Caves

  Shackle Pens: slave pens near Master's Market in Berujat?

  Shrineway: religious section of Jadeye "brailled prayers along the walls ... [and] cobblestones"

  Sighted Path: the zero-g road down the center of Heaven's Tread

  Silk: verse owned by Asta where all of verse's silk originates

  Sixth Tier Rebellion: last major uprising, in Ziggurat a century ago when "half the legions rose up". Put down by Baka

  Skeinry: iron-plated communication centers where Skeiners translate vibrations sent by wyre from other verses

  Skin/Hollow: animate skin of a molt able to move, talk, and share snatches of its experience with its molt

  Skinlife: living tattoos

  Skinscribe: individuals brailled with lore, walking libraries

  Slavant: an individual who "loses much" to be implanted with an ability

  Soresearer: individuals capable of "healing" by cauterizing wounds with their hands

  Stacks: An ocean verse comprised of tall pillars jutting up from the seas. Trolleys run on long ropes between them "affixed by Anchorites to airy nothing". Overrun by demons.

  Striders: "stilt-legged gray-skinned insect-lizard"s used as fast mounts, large enough to carry several riders

  Strings: worn or implanted wire devices that translate speech

  Stone Walkers: tribes that live in the cold of Origin

  Subterrane, The: inter-verse travel route accessed by Ebon via Limn

  Sunset: the verse where Aj was 'contained', formerly protected by Dynast Inro. The "Prison of Prisons" holds mad Dynasts, monsters and demons... vaults of dangerous relics.

  Sunset Legions/Vault Legions: Inro's Legions, wiped out by Aj in Sunset

  Surgon: person able to remove organs

  Swirl: A verse. "The pleasure barges of Swirl"

  Syphon: machine ConMach uses to "drain the very life" and color from a verse to "fuel... machinery"

  Tangle, The: the jungles of the One-Eighth

  Terminus: the verse from which the Gates all opened, hub of the Book before The Kiss and now mostly abandoned.

  Thorn: huge, curling thorns which Valeers can use as gateways to the Vale, doorways between verses. Grow into verses over centuries. The 2√3 Dynasty.

  Thrum: guide in the Black Court

  Tribunal: group of three Dynasts coming together to make ruling or pass judgment

  Twine: "one soul threaded through two bodies"

  Unkillable Swordsman: a Paragon killed by Deia long ago

  Vale: "The Place Between". A realm of high-contrast black and white full of thorns and Thorns.

  Vale Walkers: discoverers of verses

  Valeer: people capable of activating Thorns, barely functional of anything else

  Valeer's 'nail: crystals containing wafers that allow travel within the Vale to specific verses without a Valeer

  Venger: muscle man?

  Verse: a pocket universe or world

  Verser Lord/Lady: agents of an individual Dynast who rule part of a verse at the whim of their Dynast

  Vibrant: color-changing individuals from Ink?

  Watter: an energetic liquid. "Currence melts to watter. Watter's current dissipates over time, leaving water."

  Weeping Falls: Jadeye Iris flowing with waterfalls

  Wicker Way: towers of stone, wood, and rope that connect opposite far sides of Jadeye

  Wiz of Berujat: multi-minded, capable of performing multiple tasks simultaneously

  World Spear: an immense stack on Stacks

  Wretch: untouchables forced to walk on all fours, "the human refuse that cleans up the literal waste piles"

  Wretch Plague/Dynast's Plague: the flu. A horrific disease spread by Wretches.

  Wyres: lines run through the Vale between verses that allow communication between. A giant Ziggurat