Foundling (41 page)

lahzar(s)
sometimes spelled in old texts as “lazhar,” said “luhzar”; also called catharcriths, thanatocates (“death-bearers”), orgulars (“haughty ones”—the name once given to the heroes of old), spooks-and-pukes or just spooks.Though no one knows for sure, it is commonly held that lahzars first appeared in the
Empire
around
HIR
1263, over a century before the
Battle of the Gates
. They were said to be among the survivors of a race of previously unknown peoples from far northwest beyond the
Half-Continent
who called themselves the Cathars. It was rumored that these Cathars were fleeing the destruction of their realm by the rise of one or many
false-gods
. Settling in the far west beyond Hamlin and Pechenneg, and in the once small stronghold of
Sinster
in the east, these Cathar refugees brought with them their ancient surgical knowledge, techniques unknown in the
Half-Continent
except to a learned few. These techniques were called clysmosurgia and involved grafting into a person’s body special organs—called mimetic organs—harvested from beasts, altered and grown in vats. Once put inside a person’s body, these mimetic organs could give the subject unheard-of abilities; the power to generate deadly arcs of electricity inside the body (the
fulgar
), or send forth brain-frying waves of invisible energy (the
wit
). Clysmosurgia was quickly rejected by the conservative as a form of “dark” or “black”
habilistics
(also called morbidology) and it was declared illegal throughout the
Empire
. Yet since their refuges were, and still are, beyond the Imperial jurisdiction, the Cathar
surgeons
continued their work. To put a person through clysmosurgia is called transmogrification, and a person so transmogrified is called a “lahzar,” a Cathar word meaning “those who have returned (from the grave),” called so because of the long period they are under the surgeon’s knife. One side effect of having these impostor organs within them is a constant dull ache, occasionally sharp. For
wits
it manifests itself behind the eyes and in their skulls; for
fulgars
it hurts in their arms and shoulders and down in their guts. Even a lahzar’s scars might ache on cold days. Another problem is gauntness caused by the overworking of their
pith
—what we would call “the metabolism” and “immune system,” as their bodies strive to accommodate the intruding flesh; this can bring on mood swings and even psychotic episodes. Lahzars might be powerful, but they are far from happy folk. It took almost three quarters of a century before people began to catch on to just how much more effective these new lahzars were against
monsters
. During that period lahzars were outlawed in Imperial lands. Their success at the
Battle of the Gates
, employed in disobedience to Imperial law, won them a grudging acceptance in society. Since then, while clysmosurgia remains an illegal realm of
habilistics
, lahzars themselves have been legitimized, their labors rivaling and even eclipsing the work of the traditional
skolds
. Because, however, lahzars have so many alien organs stuck into them, it is still a topical parlor-room debate as to whether or not lahzars are actually a kind of
gudgeon
. This is an idea that lahzars find completely offensive and refute utterly. As a consequence of this question, their foul moods and strange
drafts,
lahzars are still considered pariahs, a necessary evil. Even with an expensive set of
proofing,
nonlahzars would find them extremely difficult to beat in a fight, and this has granted them a status that is not low but simply outside the existing social ranks. This unique status has made becoming a lahzar popular with the fashionably bored young sets of the gentry and the
peers,
and they spend large chests of their mama and papa’s
sous
to make the trip to
Sinster
and seek out the best transmogrifer they can afford. A
surgeon
of average skill will perform clysmosurgia for about 1,200
sous
; the best will do it for about 3,000
sous
. Payment can be made in advance, or over a period of time from the lahzar’s earnings as a
monster
-slayer, soldier or bodyguard. After an initial period of interviews and testing, a subject is either refused or allowed to proceed. A refused subject is free to seek another
surgeon
. If accepted, it takes several days to complete the operations to make a person into a lahzar (transmogrify them). The whole time the subject is kept drugged and strapped to the cutting table. Once the transmogrification has been done, and the lahzar has been “made,” it can take anywhere from one month to half a year for a person to recover. During this recovery they receive training from the surgeon’s aides (called articles) in the ways of a
wit
or a
fulgar
. From time to time it is common for lahzars to return to their
surgeon
for observation and “repairs”—operations to mend damage caused by illness, organ rot,
spasming
or violent injury. These repairs require only a day or so under the knife and a fortnight at the most for healing afterward. The “skills” or “abilities” or “powers” their organs give to a lahzar are called potencies (
sing.
potency). It is these potencies that make a lahzar so effective against
monsters
(and people too for that matter). The arcs and lightnings of a
fulgar
and the mental and sensory assaults of a
wit
are much more consistent in their deadly power and easier to deliver than a
skold’s
or
scourge’s potives
. Despite this lahzars are regarded less as civilization’s heroes and more as a distasteful new “fad.” Obviously lahzars will charge for their services, commanding high prices for the efficacy of their labors:
In a quiet year they can earn around two hundred
sous
; in bumper years when
monsters
are overactive this can rise to five hundred
sous
. See
fulgar
,
wit
,
Sinster
and
surgeon
.

lahzarine
said “lazz-er-reen” and also orgulous; of or pertaining to a
lahzar
; concerning all things to do with
lahzars
.

laid up in ordinary
vessel that has been emptied of most of its crew and its stores, taken up out of the water onto a dry dock to be careened (have its hulled cleaned), thoroughly repaired, overhauled, refitted and made ready for another lengthy service on the
vinegar waves
.

lambast(s)
great rope-and-steel sprung engines of war used to hurl large harpoonlike projectiles known as bastis. The bladelike tips of these bastis are typically treated with toxic
scripts
designed to especially harm
monsters
. A thick chain attached to powerful steel arms is wound back with a large winch that takes several men to operate. When the chain is wound right back, it is locked with a trigger and the bastis is laid into a special groove or track. When all is ready, the trigger is tripped and the bastis is flung out as far as three hundred yards. Lambasts are most usually found on rams, where their main job is for use against
kraulschwimmen
and other nadderers (sea-
monsters
), but they are also used to throw harpagons, great grappling hooks made to ensnare other vessels, or as a last resort when the shot lockers are empty and the powder all used.

lamplighter(s)
essentially a kind of specialized soldier, mostly employed by the
Empire
, though some states also have them. Their main task is to go out in the late afternoon and evening to light the
bright-limn
lamps that line the
conduits
and
conductors
(highways) of the
Empire
, and to douse them again in the early morning. They are fairly well paid for soldiers, earning about twenty-two
sous
a year.

Lamplighter-Marshal
most superior officer of the
lamplighters;
the one that
Rossamünd
is going to serve under is in charge of the whole of the
Wormway
from
Winstermill
to
Wörms
and the
lamplighters
who work along it.

lamplighter’s agent
clerks and the like seeing to the business of the
manse
and the
Lamplighter-Marshal
in far-off cities and other lands. Their main tasks include visiting and delivering dispatches to other
manses
and
Lamplighter-Marshals
, organizing supplies and suppliers from the suppliers’ end, seeking new recruits, hunting down leads on smuggling rings, appealing to the
Emperor
in
Clementine
itself for more pay or resources and so on.

landaulet
said “land-or-let”; open-topped, four-wheeled carriage usually drawn by a single horse and having two seats within that face each other. A folding top divided into two parts may be drawn completely over to protect from inclement weather. Used in the cities where horses are safer; only the foolish or those capable and willing to defend their trusty nag dare take a landaulet out beyond.

leer(s)
also called perspicriths (“sense-holders”), cognisters or vatiseers; a creepy lot trained in seeing small and otherwise missed detail, remembering faces, following scents and trails, spying, shadowing and all such prying arts and the use of the
sthenicon
and
olfactologue
. They soak their eyes over a period of months in special potives collectively called washes or opthasaums, which irreparably change the colors of the eyes and permanently alter the abilities of their sight. The first of these opthasaums prepares the eye for transformation and is called Saum of Adparat or adparatic syrup. After a month of soaking in this wash, one hour each day, the leer spends another month soaking his or her eyes in either of two washes: Bile of Vatës will make the more common leer known as a
laggard
with brown and yellow eyes, and cognistercus or Swill of Cognit the less common
falsemen,
with red and pale blue eyes. The whole process of changing a person’s eyes is called adparation, and one can tell a leer by these weirdly colored orbs. Each also takes particular kinds of
drafts
to enhance his or her capacities in day-to-day duties. Leers are highly sought after:
laggards
in the wild places to warn against
monsters
and other lurking dangers and to track
brigands
,
smugglers
and escaped prisoners; and
falsemen
in the cities to work for the wealthy and for government, wheedling out the dishonest and sycophantic and interrogating the suspicious. Though they alter their biology in a chemical way, they are not regarded with nearly as much suspicion or loathing as
lahzars
and are not questioned as potential
gudgeons
. See
falsemen
and
laggards
.

left-decede
to decede is to step aside quickly, 90° to the line of attack, while turning to face your attacker as, it is to be hoped, he or she stumbles past you. A left-decede is a rapid sidestep to the left with a half turn to the right—a defensive move that is part of the
Hundred Rules of Harundo
.

Lentine grand-cargo
massive cargo vessel that comes from the ports of a distant southern coastal region known as the Lent.

letter of introduction
letter written for you by a significant person of rank and merit, saying who you are and your qualities (and flaws), recommending you to whomsoever should read it. It is often sealed with a wax seal, to add a sense of veracity. An excellent letter of introduction can open many doors.

letters, to have your ~
to be able to read and to write competently—neatly and with correct spelling—more than a few words or simple scrawled sentences. Those who can read but have never been taught to write are called partly lettered. (“I can read me letters, sir, but a cain’t make ’em.”)
levin-bolt
another term for lightning.

Liberum Infantis
Tutin
for
book child
.

Licurius
said “ly-kyew-re-us”; a
leer
and
factotum
for
Europe
. Originally one of the lifeguards of the Duchess of Naimes, he has served
Europe
for over ten years. Licurius has left his
sthenicon
on too long, letting the organs within grow up into his nose and face.
Leers
who let this happen are known variously as breach-faced
leers
, aspexitors or leerbrechts; and any biologue that is allowed to grow unchecked like this is said to be exitious (said “eck-zi-shoos”) or ruinous. During his time with
Europe
, Licurius’ thoughts have become darker, more suspicious and bitter, and his hatred for
monsters
has grown. More recently the two of them have begun doing wicked and infamous things, things they will not talk about, and somehow it has been Licurius who has led in them.

limbers
small versions of a
gastrine
, metal-bound boxes of wood in groups of twos or threes down either side of each
gastrine
. They are used to warm up and loosen the muscles of the much bigger counterpart to make them ready for operation. If a
gastrine
is not massaged by a limber first, it could tear, become swollen and infected, thereby reducing its performance and even occasioning its death. The limbers themselves are warmed up by the
gastrineer’s
mates, who crank long handles in the limber-box that turn a much smaller version of a treadle-shaft within called a maiden. Once the revolutions of the maiden have reached a certain rate, the muscles of the limber, having been nicely massaged by this turning, will take over and by a series of jointed levers, repeat this process on a greater scale with the
gastrines
. If a vessel needs more speed it may put some or all of its limbers to work, helping the
gastrines
to turn the main treadle-shaft. There is a risk of permanent harm being done to the limber, but because they are much easier and cheaper to replace, this risk is often taken. The best a captain could hope to get by putting “all limbers to the
screw
”—as it is called—is an extra knot or, at best, two. This may not seem like much, but at the relatively slow speeds of all watergoing craft of the
Half-Continent
, one to two knots can equal the difference between success or doom. See
rams
,
gastrines
and
gastrineer
.