Instruments of War (Iron Kingdoms Chronicles) (13 page)

Cohort:
One of the large fundamental army increments of the skorne. For many houses, a cohort represents its entire army, and is led by the tyrant or lord tyrant. Particularly large houses combine multiple cohorts into a sabaoth.

Dakar:
A skorne officer rank, utilized by those who lead either a datha or a taberna of soldiers. Junior dakar are entrusted to lead a datha, while senior ones are entrusted to lead a taberna.

Datha:
A small squad of warriors, usually six to ten in number, led b a dakar.

Decurium:
A sizable group of soldiers serving a house or army, being ten taberna or 200-500 warriors, led by a primus.

Domina/Dominar:
Rank above Lord Tyrant and below Archdominar reserved for the head of a significant house. Domina is female, dominar is male.

Extoller:
A highly respected spiritual caste responsible for burial rites, including preserving the most honored skorne in sacral stones after death. Extollers are skilled in mortitheurgy but practice this art to preserve, honor, and communicate with exalted ancestors. Extollers replace an eye with a crystal oculus to perceive spiritual essence.

Exalted:
Honored ancestors who are deceased but preserved on Caen in sacral stones are considered exalted, the state of being every skorne aspires to achieve by acts of valor. Very few skorne become exalted, and then generally only renowned members of the warrior caste. The exalted can occasionally be communicated with by extollers.

Ferox:
Term derived from deadly long-fanged carnivores used as mounts by skorne praetorians, applied to both the animal itself and those riding them. Ferox are never entirely tamed and employing them is always risky to the rider.

Great Cataclysm:
A vast disaster thousands of years ago Immoren was changed by a vast supernatural explosion, opening the Abyss and creating the Stormlands. This resulted in the destruction of the Lyoss Empire and forced the nomadic skorne to seek shelter in the Shroudfall Mountains, founding Malphas and beginning skorne civilization.

Halaak:
Largest skorne city, became the capital of the Skorne Empire after unification.

Harakith:
Largest river north of the Shroudwall Mountains, feeds into the Mizrah Sea.

Havaati:
Primary language of the skorne.

Hestatians:
A lower warrior caste of skorne utilized primarily as city garrisons and rural militia, as well as the least skilled of any house warrior force. Often used as reserves or fodder in major battles.

Hezaat:
Largest river in the Skorne Empire, flowing from Melhaas Lake to the ocean near Kademe.

Hokar:
An explosive “paste” discovered by skorne chymists (alchemists) which can be utilized in cannons. Does not work well in small quantities (and hence small weapons).

Hoksune:
The Hoksune Code is the most important philosophical credo of the skorne warrior caste, originally set down by Vuxoris the First Exalted. It emphasizes how one is only truly alive in battle. Honor is found in fighting perfectly and fearlessly in the face of certain death, an inevitability one must simultaneously accept and defy.

Immortals:
Soldiers preserved by ancestral guardians to become revered companions frequently have their sacral stones set into statues armed for battle known as immortals, which fight in units alongside a house’s living soldiers.

Jakaar:
This major house gains dominance over House Lushon shortly after the invention of the reiver firearms. This house creates the first organized and trained venators.

Kadamesh:
Largest skorne ethnicity comprised mostly of southeastern skorne living along the fertile Hezaat River and also those dwelling in the city of Kademe. These skorne have emigrated throughout the Empire and can be found in every region.

Kademe:
Second largest skorne city, the only true “port city” in the Skorne Empire.

Kadesh:
Skorne language spoken predominantly in the southeast.

Kahzek:
Influential house in the city of Kademe, notable for Lord Tyrant Hyvlaarik who once defied the houses of Halaak but was slain in the Battle of the River Houses.

Kajar:
Considered part of the Kadamesh regional ethnicity, the Kajar are actually a distinct minority descended from southern skorne who did not seek shelter in Malphas after the Great Cataclysm.

Kalos:
Notable skorne settlement northwest of Halaak, close to the Blasted Desert.

Karax:
A fighting discipline of praetorians employing pikes and shields in formation to serve as resilient soldiers.

Kasortaan:
Small skorne ethnicity of the northernmost skorne including those living beyond the Shroudwall Mountains.

Kolrathe Ocean:
Ocean northeast of Immoren.

Kovaas:
“Rage ghost”, what happens to an exalted ancestor whose sacral stone is shattered, releasing their soul as an insane and wrathful spirit.

Lord Tyrant:
Rank above Tyrant and below Dominar, utilized in the Army of the Western Reaches for those leading a major cohort or multiple cohorts. Traditionally also a title in use by house lords allied and subordinate to a stronger house but in control of smaller houses.

Makeda:
Became Supreme Archdomina of the Skorne Empire after overthrowing the Conqueror, whom she had previously served as Archdomina of the Army of the Western Reaches and leader of House Balaash, that house’s greatest leader since Vaactesh, her grandfather. Sister of Akkad, younger daughter of Telkesh.

Malphas:
First city of the skorne, located below a cliff up in the Shroudwall Mountains. The origin of skorne civilization.

Malzash:
Skorne minority found primarily in Malphas and Halaak, they consider themselves the descendants of the most esteemed houses of ancient Malphas.

Master:
Master can be used as an honorary rank for many different roles in skorne society, mostly those among the worker caste, particularly those castes requiring specialized skills or advanced knowledge.

Master Tormentor:
An honorary rank to the paingivers who are at the top of their caste, and who are not counted as subordinate to other peers. Master tormentors are nominally the leaders of their caste, although presently subordinate to Lord Assassin Morghoul.

Melhaas Lake:
Smallest of the three major lakes south of the Shroudwall.

Mirketh:
Mirketh Lake is really an inland sea, the largest body of water of inland eastern Immoren, and in fact the largest inland sea of Immoren.

Mokkar:
The Mokkar - a great desert occupying a sizable section of the southern skorne territory. Some of this area is inhabited, but most skorne settlements are on the periphery or found near charted oasis.

Morghoul:
Lord Assassin serving the Skorne Empire as leader of the paingivers, which have been made a house under his command by Supreme Archdomina Makeda. Played a key role in the Second Unification, many battles of the Army of the Western Reaches, and ensuring the compliance of Halaak for Makeda.

Morkaash:
Ancient warrior-philosopher and ascetic who focused on learning anatomy and the infliction and endurance of pain and agony as a method of enlightenment. A key figure in the development of the paingivers, who also advanced mortitheurgy and whose philosophies also influenced the nihilators.

Mortitheurge:
One who practices mortitheurgy as a primary avocation and who is not an extoller, paingiver, or house leader. Master mortitheurge is a title of significant respect for those of exceptional skill in this field, and may be adopted as an honorific title by house rulers with sufficient depth of knowledge.

Mortitheurgy:
A broad field of skorne arcane study rooted in the energies of flesh, bone, and spiritual essence. Mortitheurgy allows some skorne to become warlocks. Its powers are essential not only to mortitheurges, but paingivers and extollers. Some degree of mastery over this study is required of all skorne house leaders.

Nihilators:
An extreme cult of warrior-ascetics who seek exaltation through acts of extreme courage and self-destruction on the battlefield. They seek spiritual clarity and supernatural power through self-inflicted pain.

Paingiver:
A versatile caste of assassins, spies, beast-handlers, and interrogators. An ancient tradition rooted in fundamental skorne philosophies laid down by Morkaash. The most proficient paingivers apply the principles of mortitheurgy to their arts. Currently led by Lord Assassin Morghoul and treated as a house under his rulership.

Praetorians:
Considered to represent the backbone of the warrior caste, soldiers of several fighting disciplines who serve their houses by following the hoksune code. Most praetorians practice sword mastery, but others employ polearms and shields, others subjugate and control ferox steeds to serve as cavalry.

Primus:
An officer title among the skorne, utilized by those who lead a decurium, the largest division of a cohort.

Reiver:
A type of skorne firearm which utilizes compressed explosive gas to hurl needle-like projectiles at great force at a long range.

Revered Companions:
Those preserved after death but counted just below true exalted in esteem are revered companions. This state is reserved for soldiers who die in major battles in the proximity of ancestral guardians or extollers who preserve them in sacral stones. Many become immortals and fight on for their house.

Sabaoth:
A large army of skorne, including multiple cohorts, generally led by a dominar.

Sacral Stone:
A piece of special obsidian which has been enchanted by special mortitheurgical rites known to the extollers to attract and preserve a soul before it passes beyond Caen. This is the mechanism of exaltation. Sacral stones or pieces of sacral stones contain great power which can be harnessed by weapons and armor.

Shroudfall Mountains:
Large chain of imposing mountains in the northern Skorne Empire serving as the primary geographical barrier between the northern and southern portions of eastern Immoren.

Soresh:
A dialect of Havaati found among the nomadic skorne of the plains and fringes.

Sortaan:
Plains of Sortaan, the great arid grassy expanse west of Halaak.

Sortaani:
Second largest skorne ethnicity, includes most of the western skorne including those in the plains and numerous smaller settlements.

Taberna:
A group of soldiers serving a house or army, literally a “tent” of warriors, being several datha, generally from 20-50 in number, led by a senior dakar.

Tormentor:
A rank of experienced paingivers, the equivalent of an officer rank within their caste.

Tyrant:
Rank usually reserved to the head of the house army or the house itself, if it is a minor house. In a larger skorne army, this title may represent solely control of a cohort without authority over a house. Regardless, every tyrant will have a cohort that answers to him.

Vaactesh:
Notable Archdominar of House Balaash, father of Telkesh, grandfather of Makeda and Akkad.

Venators:
Venators are deemed members of the warrior caste, but of considerably lower standing than praetorians or cataphracts, due to their emphasis on fighting at a distance via the use of reivers and similar weapons, a relatively modern invention. This mode of combat, while essential to modern warfare, is less honorable according to hoksune.