Lamplighter (68 page)

Gall, Grizzelard
Lictor
of
Winstermill,
the continuer of a greatly esteemed family trade, who delights in terrorizing the
prentices
with the power of his threat.

gallant
monster-
hunter, a more vulgar term than
teratologist.
Sometimes used to refer to venators (non-surgically improved hunters of
monsters
) but is a general appellation too.

gargant
any large
nicker
.

gaudery
odd and colorful garb that many
teratologists
wear: actually a stage term for the overdone costumes worn in plays and other performances.

geese
vulgar term for the smallest denomination of Imperial coin, the guise piece, often used as a general reference to money of all kinds and amounts.

Gethsemenë
blue glowing planet and one of the brighter heavenly bodies in the night. Not nearly as large as
Maudlin
or Faustus, it gains it prominence for being, after Phoebë (the moon), the closest object in the cosmic sky.

Giddian Pillow
see
Pillow, Giddian.

glaucolog
sweet-talker; the less-than-polite name given to politicians, ministers, bureaucrats, lobbyists, factors and clerks—anyone in an official position who needs to persuade or coerce with words.

glimbloom
see
bloom.

Gomroon porcelain
one of the finest kinds of porcelain, coming from the tiny kingdom of Gomroon far away on the shores of the
Sinus Tintinabuline.
This place has grown rich and powerful almost solely from the export of its much sought after tableware.

good-day gala-girls
women of ill repute.

Gotts
the proud race of people living in the southeast of the Half-Continent, their ancestors—the Skylds—coming once from far over the western waters, from the Hagenlands, driven out by crueler men and settling first in Wörms (see entry in Book One). From there they spread, mingled and merged with the local wildmen and eventually forged a small empire of their own to resist the rise of the Haacobins and the Sceptics before them. Gott, their language—sometimes still referred to as Skyldic—is somewhat akin to German in our own world.

gourmand’s cork
also known as a throttle or a gorge; the projecting “knuckle” of cartilage in a person’s throat, in which is situated the vocal cords; what we would call the Adam’s apple. It is called the gourmand’s cork (a gourmand being one who is a gluttonous or greedy eater) because of the tight sensation you can get there when feeling nauseated, which vulgar folk hold is your throat trying to prevent or “cork” any further eating.

graille(s)
tools of a
punctographist.
A marker needs four particular utensils to make a
cruorpunxis
upon the skin. These are the:
Other tools necessary to a
punctographist
are a notebook and stylus to take an observation of the fallen
monster’s
face (either by description or by the presence of a corpse—or the head at least). From this is then figured the design of the
mark,
usually in consultation with the “markee.”

great-lamp(s)
also called a
vialimn,
the roadside
seltzer lamps
that illuminate the conduits and conductors of the world.They are larger, brighter and more robust than the street-lamps of the cities. In safer places, they are placed about 400 yards apart, and in more wild lands from 200 to 300 yards apart, though this is not a hard rule. The action of winding out the lamp is sometimes known as a hoist or lift-and-drop, each lamp requiring a different number of hoists to wind out fully. A lamp that has not been fully wound does not really pose any problems, but simply cuts down the amount of light thrown and is not good practice.

Greater Derehund(s)
one of the larger breeds of
tykehound
with brindled hindquarters, a blunt, squarish snout and small, sharply pointed ears; originally from
Dereland
(hence their name), where they have served for centuries as defenders of
everymen.
Among the biggest of the
tykehounds,
the largest specimens can attain the size of a donkey and are a genuine terror to the lesser kinds of
monster.

gretchen(s), gretchen-globe(s)
also called
liaphobes
or Phoebë’s Daughters (after a most famous collection of them); giant, beautiful “pearls” gagged up by kraulschwimmen. Formed in the bellies of the mighty sea-beasts in much the same way as the small nacreous globes are made inside an oyster, their most remarkable trait is that, from no cause the habilists can currently fathom, they glow naturally. The best, those considered flawless, are perfectly round and glow with such intensity that they are hard to look at. By action of currents and the occult movements of the sea
-nickers,
gretchens are found in greatest number along the Enne. Consequently the near-independent duchy of
Flint
and its lesser neighbors have a monopoly on the “harvesting” and trade of the beautiful globes. The smallest
liaphobes
can be no bigger than a typical oyster-made pearl, but the largest known—the Great Gretchen, from which all others take their name, which was found washed up on the shore of the Flintmeer after a mighty storm—was the size of a cottage. The cause of much envy and, in the end, a terrible war, it was lost along with the Phoebë’s Daughters and a vast collection of the biggest
liaphobes
ever discovered. All those since found by the foolishly brave divers—encouraged by the great wealth to be had from their labors—have never come close in size.

Griffstutzig
the name given to the best canignavor of
Winstermill’s tykehounds.
Derived from the Gott for “dim-witted.”

Grindrod, Lamplighter-Sergeant ~
said “
Grind
’rod”; senior non-commissioned officer in charge of the training of
prentices
at
Winstermill.
Covered with scars, he has, as he would put it, “survived more
theroscades
than ye’ve had puddings on Domesdays.” He is a rough man but is genuinely concerned that the young souls he trains are prepared well for the labors of a
lamplighter,
that they well understand the terrors they face and are ready to cope with them.

gringollsis
potives
made to paste on to blades or coat the lead bullets of firelocks, making these better able to harm a
monster.
See
skold-shot.

gromwell
inexpensive and barely effective restorative having the equivalent impact on the imbiber of a shot of brandy, a warming jolt that does not last terribly long. Some who take it might also suffer the “runs” and bouts of austeration (meaning farting, taken from auster = “the south wind”).

Grystle, House-Major ~
once a highly successful captain of a ram. An indiscretion in money and being outspoken about a clear tactical error of his commanding admiral on a blockade led to Grystle being broke (dismissed of service). Finding himself a bachelor without hearth or immediate prospects, he chose the next best military service (where folk are not fussy of your origins) and took the Emperor’s Billion to become a
lamplighter.
Long years of habit mean he quite naturally runs the small stone world of
Wormstool
like the wooden ones he was used to on the vinegar seas. Indeed, he would tell you that there is little difference, both ram and
cothouse
being isolated in hostile regions and beyond immediate recourse to outside assistance, where survival depends upon the smarts and skills of its watches. Grystle is tight-lipped about his origins and the navy in which he served, though certainly by his accent and turn of phrase he is a native of the Grumid states (those states whose shores lie on the Grume).

gudgeon(s)
sometimes rendered “gudjins”; also called nandins (meaning “simpleton,” “idiot”); man-made
monsters
built by
massacars
(
black habilists
) from bits of people, animals, vat-grown organs, bits of machines and
monsters.
The most common are the corpselike
rever-men
or
revenants.
The major objection to the manufacture of gudgeons is that many body parts used once belonged to people, usually exhumed corpses.
Massacars
argue that this must be, especially with the brain, for without this the gudgeon will not be in any way controllable or useful.Yet with the rise of demand, kidnapping and murder have been employed to furnish the ever-needy
black habilists
, to the great sorrow of many. Publicly the Emperor is set against
black habilistics
, though his “backroom” opinion remains unknown. The more common uses people find for gudgeons are:

gyrovague
one who wanders; a
hucilluctor,
a wayfarer.

Haacobin Empire, the ~
see
Empire,
the ~ and the entry in Book One.

hackle(s) •
(noun) also called a
fitch,
a broad collar or shoulder-cape made of proofed fur; • (noun) any fur or unshaven animal hide that has been proofed. The gaulding process also affects the hairs themselves, adding to the protective qualities of the material.To gauld furs and keep the hairs, however, requires care and low apseric gaulds, of high quality, which of course increases the cost of the hackle, making it accessible only to the wealthy.

hack-watch
pocket watch used by vinegaroons on a marine vessel as an aid to navigation and to determining noon by the sun.

Hagenards, Haganards, the ~
people of the Hagenland and much of the
Derelands
who, long, long ago, drove the Skylds out of their homelands and across the western seas. The Hagenards took possession of Ald Skyld and the Skylds took possession of what is now known as the Gottlands.

half-pay poker(s)
older or worn-out
lampsmen
serving lighter duties either within a
cothouse
or on quieter stretches of road.The name
“poker”
is a somewhat derogatory reference to putting a
lantern-crook—
otherwise known as a poke—into the ratchet workings of a
great-lamp.

Hall of Pageants
large meeting hall built in the southwestern corner of
Winstermill’s
vast grounds. It is used for all ceremonies, from the
puncting
of its victorious
monster-
slayers to the bestowing of commissions and other noteworthy promotions and awards, and usually the
Billeting Day
parade, held amid much pomp and splendor for each “batch” of fully trained
prentices.
Situated by the
Dead Patch,
the hall has in its cellars and foundations the tombs and sepulchres of its seniormost officers, who served with distinction over the century of its existence. Indeed, the hall is said to be actually erected over the old grave site of the original fortification of Winstreslewe.

Hallow Sill
commonly known as the Hagwood, the forest surrounding
Herbroulesse,
which takes its less than friendly name from the very presence of the
calendars,
or hags, in that wood.

Haltmire
very last fortress before the eastern borders of the
Soutlands
give over to the
Ichormeer;
built originally as a bastion, dormitory and storehouse for the engineers and laborers attempting the enormous work of building a road through the dread swamp. Not as large as
Winstermill
or the
Wight,
yet it is mighty enough to provide a permanent foothold in the isolated and threatened lands—with a reputation similar to the manse’s for impregnability. Stationed there is the Warden-General, who has secondary command of the
“ignoble end of the road,”
and is the highest-ranking officer of the
lamplighters
on the road itself, topped only by the
Lamplighter-Marshal.
Like every other
cothouse
on the
Wormway,
Haltmire is undermanned, its company of
pediteer auxiliaries
reduced to one full platoon and one at half-strength, its
lighters
down to a
quarto,
its
thaumateers
limited to two skolds.There was once a
fulgar
employed there who was lost in the
Ichormeer
protecting the wife of the Warden-General as she desperately searched for their young children gone missing in that wretched place.The
lighters
of
Wormstool
and
Bleakhall
joined a greater and near futile search for the wife and daughters in which Haltmire’s
scourge
was also lost and many
lighters
and
auxiliaries
barely returned with their lives. Managing to at least save the Warden-General’s middle child, men of courage and a
frank
aim such as
Aubergene
proved their worth that day, and many were awarded by the grief-struck father. Situated so near to the southeastern city of Hurdling Migh, Haltmire gets most of its supplies from there and is a stockpile of resources for the
cothouses
to the west.