Lamplighter (66 page)

coty gaute
pronounced “
co
’tee
gort
,” a delicate pastry from the Patricine stuffed with quail cooked so long the bones are edible.

course •
(verb) to hunt, particularly to hunt monsters. • (noun) the hunt itself, usually referred to as a coursing-party, or in such phrases as “to go on a course.” A course is, obviously, a dangerous affair. One undertaken lightly will always result in the doom of some, if not all, of those involved. A prospective courser is always advised to take at least one skold and one
leer—
or, if they are unavailable, a
quarto
of
lurksmen,
even a navigator or wayfarer, and a hefty weight of
potives
and
skold-shot.
Not to be confused with “corse,” meaning (of course) a dead body, a corpse.

court-martial
a court or tribunal made up of military or navy officers who try their own for any offense committed by
pediteers
or vinegaroons against military—and even sometimes Imperial—law; a martial court rather than a civil court (court-civil), where everyday folk are tried. To be subject to a court-martial does not necessarily mean being cashiered from one’s chosen service; the tribunal of officers in a court-martial have to establish guilt or innocence, just as in a civil court. Therefore you can be tried in a court-martial and be found innocent and so return to service.

crank
in habilistics this term is used to mean something that is of dubious or unknown origin and/or effect, something made with little skill and giving little real benefit; it is also used to refer to something that is broken or impaired in some way.

crank-hook(s)
another name for
fodicars,
so given for the blunt spike sticking from one side that is used to wind the mechanism of a
seltzer lamp
to draw out the
bloom
into the
seltzer water
.

Craumpalin’s Exstinker
nullodor
made by Master Craumpalin for Rossamünd, which Rossamünd is meant to apply frequently; he works hard to do so, keeping a careful eye on how much he has used and how much he has left.

crinickle
bonnet of muslin or silk worn by women to bed at night to keep their hair in place during the night’s sleep.

Cripplebolt
cothouse
situated on the
Frugelle
built atop the ruins of an ancient Burgundian tollhouse; most famous for the horse-stud kept within the old, still-intact cellars protected by three sets of strong doors and the vigilant maintenance of powerful
nullodors
.The stocky nags bred there are not the sleekest beasts, but they still pull a load as they are meant to.

Critchitichiello, Mister
itinerant
ossatomist
hailing originally from Seville who finds life down in the cooler climes of the
Soutlands
more to his liking because people are not so aware of his unusual past, and rumor so far has not managed to follow him across the Grassmeer. A
ledgermain
of natural gifts, he is talented at basic
skolding
too, and has made a comfortable living in the less traveled habitations of the
Empire’s
southern conquests.

Crofton Wheede
prentice-lighter.
See
Wheede, Crofton.
cruor
monster’s blood once it has been taken from the beast.

cruorpunxis
monster-blood tattoo.
Though
cruor
is used to mark a
monster-
slayer, this is not because of any special properties in the blood of a dead
monster
over the blood from a live
monster
(
ichor
). It is simply that getting a
bruicle
of blood from a still-living
nicker
might seem a difficult task: the author would defy anyone to attempt it and come away whole. See Book One.

curricle
light two-wheeled cart or carriage usually pulled by a team of two horses or, in a pinch, a pair of strong mules or donkeys—though at a slower pace.

cursor(s)
mathematical
clerks
employed for their ability to count and arithmecate (do all manner of sums) quickly and without the aid of counting devices.

dancing calendar(s)
more properly
calendine sagaars.

dandicomb(s)
large, gaudily decorated “novelty” hats, designed to attract attention. Worn almost exclusively by
teratologists,
dandicombs declare very much that the wearer is serious about killing
monsters.
They come in a variety of forms with wings (ailettes), horns, multiple crowns, twisted crowns; whatever the imagination of the wearer, the depth of his or her purse and the skill of the milliner might conjure.

dandidawdler(s)
rich, affected men who dress expensively in fussy, frilly threads; those of the modern fashionable set known as
fluffs.
See Appendix 4.

dark trades
illegal trade of body parts and
monster
bits. See entry in Book One.

day-clerk(s)
in
cothouses
much of the clerical work—filing of indents, sorting of work cards, auditing of stores, concatenation of papers—is in the hands of one person, the day-clerk, who may have an assistant, if he or she is fortunate. Day-clerks are also responsible for the transit of mail through their station and the dissemination of the same to and from postmen serving the area.

day-watch
watch
in a
cothouse
responsible for guarding their
billet
and the sleeping
lantern-watch
and the immediate road during the day; for driving off
monsters
from their stretch of the way; for aiding in the chasing and apprehension of
lurchers
and other
commerce men;
for participating in
fatigue parties
either on ditch duty or as laborers themselves; and for whichever other duties might present themselves for the doing. At determined intervals that vary with the needs of each house, the day-watch and
lantern-watch
will swap duties, making it a long day for the previous day-watch and a shortened
vigil-day
for the relieved
lantern-watch.

Dead Patch, the ~
the common grave of the
lamplighters
and
auxiliaries
in
Winstermill.
Indeed there are many graveyards throughout the Half-Continent and beyond with this name. A noteworthy feature of the one in
Winstermill
is that the dead are buried feetfirst—standing upright, as it were—to conserve room, so that as many as possible might be interred there.

degree
another term for the situations of social status and rank. The highest degree is a duke/duchess, then marche/marchess, followed by a count/countess, then viscount (or reive)/viscountess (or revine), after which are baron/baroness, then companion/companine, then armige (or esquire)/armigine and finally gentleman/gentlewoman. Each degree above companion may be referred to as “lord” or “lady,” and those below as “sir” or “dame.”

Dereland
the vast southeastern continent beyond the Liquor and the Mare Periculum (Gramlendenmeer), a region which includes the Hagenlands, the eoned home of the
Gotts
before they were driven out by the
Hagenards.

diet
the defined range of a
calendar clave’s—
and therefore its
august’s—
influence as stipulated by the
clave’s Imperial Prerogative
(a commission from the Emperor). Any
calendar
entering another
clave’s
diet must seek permission either from the
laude
or the
august
herself, depending on circumstances.

dispensurist(s)
in
Winstermill,
dispensurists occupy a rank between
sergeant
and
under-sergeant,
meaning they are one step down from a
leer
and therefore subordinate to the same. See entry in Book One for more on dispensurists in general.

distinct acid(s)
acidic
scripts
made especially for a reactive corrosion upon contact, properly known as
mordants.

ditchland(s)
also known as fossis, ditchlands are the last march of human habitation, being disputed territory where men and
monsters
vie for control of the land. Essentially you could think of a ditchland as the “front line” in the never-ending war between
everymen
and
üntermen.

doglock
heavy firearm, somewhere between a pistol and a carbine in length, and often with a very large bore. Also known as a
hauncets,
they make excellent
salinumbus.

dolly-mop(s)
a fairly recent social innovation, these are the working girls of a city or town, ones living for fun and fashion, using their self-earned income in pursuit of the same.

Dolours, Lady ~
pronounced “doll-loors,” a power
calendine bane
and the
laude
of
Syntychë,
the
LadyVey
and protectress of
Threnody.
Her origins are uncertain; she perhaps comes from the Patricine state of Vauquelin or Haquetaine. Only a handful of years younger than the
Lady Vey,
she arrived at
Herbroulesse
as a teen, already well along the path of
skolding.
There she was so well cared for by
Syntychë’s
mother (the existing
Lady Vey
) and by all of the Right that she willingly transmogrified to become the personal protectress of the heiress of the
clave—
a young
Syntychë
herself. Dolours is the oldest serving friend of her mistress, and though she does not agree with all
Syntychë
does or says, she remains fiercely loyal to her, taking on the role of
spurn
to Threnody, the next heiress of
Columbris,
with pride (even though in some ways this is a demotion). There are rumors about, vague hints that Dolours has been spied in conversation with
monsters,
suspected of discerning between
monsters
that must be slain and those that should be spared, of being affected with
outramour.
All of this is conjecture, and the
bane
herself remains taciturn when asked: what business is it of others? It is unknown if the title of “lady” is a courtesy or a declaration of rank, and Dolours has never sought to clarify this either way.

domesticar(s)
pediteers
in the employ of a particular individual, serving as the personal guard and even army of the same.

Dovecote, the ~
also known as
Herbroulesse
or
Columbris;
the home and headquarters of the
Right of the Pacific Dove,
gaining its name from the title of the
calendar clave
living within.

Dovecote Bolt
cothouse
situated nearest to the
Dovecote
and one of the smallest
cothouses
on the
Wormway,
known as the Bolt by its inhabitants; an unremarkable
billet,
and notable only for its proximity to the incidents involving
Numps
and his fellow
seltzermen.

Drüker
derived from the Gott word for “crush,” the name of one of
Winstermill’s
fourteen
tykehounds,
and their curregitor. See
tykehound(s).

Duke of Sparrows, the ~
also called the sparrow-king or sparrowlengis; urchin (see entry in Book One), and one of those known as a nimuine, or monster-lord, who have sway over the behavior of the lesser
monsters
about them.Though most do not believe he exists, the common myth states that the sparrow-king is a friend of the Duke of Crows. He is said to hold court in the woods of the
Sparrow Downs
, resisting the conquering actions of those
monsters
set against the realm of everymen. Even so, reputed autumn-land or not, few dare to venture too far into the Downs. People of the
Haacobin Empire
have dismissed the ancient foolishness that there are two kinds of monster-lord: the nimuines who are kinder, seeking to benefit
everymen
, and the cacophrins or tlephathines, who seek their own ends and the destruction of
everymen
.

dust-of-carum
see
carum, dust-of-~.

dyphr
said “
die
’ferr,” from the
Attic
for “seat” or “chair”; a light, two-seater, four-wheeled carriage with a high dashboard, open-topped and open-sided before the driver and with the back wheels much greater in diameter than the front wheels. Built for speed and recreation, it is driven by the owner, with no lenterman’s seat at the front. For inclement weather, a foldable top can be pulled over the occupants, and higher sides can be folded up to help protect against a
theroscade,
though a hasty retreat is a dyphr’s best protection.

einsiedlerin
the Gott word for an eeker, those people living by choice or imposition on the fringes of society. See
eeker
in Book One.

Emperor’s Own Lighters
the formal and glorious title of a
lamplighter
in the service of the Haacobin Emperor. Declared boastfully to the listener, it is used particularly by
lighters
when referring to themselves.

Empire, the ~
meaning the
Haacobin Empire
of current rule or the Sceptics whom they overthrew. See entry in Book One.

enkle
Gott for “grandson,” a name kindly old Gott folk sometimes give to any young person.

epimelain
pronounced “eh-
pihm
-eh-layn” or “eh-
pihm
-eh-line” and sometimes shortened just a little to pimelain; also known as an abergaile, a person we would call a nurse, employed in infirmaries and
sequesturies
to tend to the routine cares of the sick and recovering; regarded as a superior class of maid.