Lamplighter (74 page)

Each
quarto
sets out to light the
lamps
in the late afternoon of the day named for that
quarto
, staying overnight at
Wellnigh House
when they are done. The next morning they wake before dawn, ready themselves and set out at sunup to “douse” the lanterns, arriving back in
Winstermill
to rest and ablute before rejoining their comrades for the usual day of training. These two days either side of a prentice-watch are long for those involved, hence the two or three days’ break in between for each
quarto
. See Appendix 8.

prenticing
training and initiating people into a trade.

“present and level”
to present your arm is to hold it out in front of you; to level is bring it up and point it in the general direction of the enemy.

private room
Winstermill
has a few small chambers it dedicates to the accommodation and intimate meetings of distinguished guests, found on the second floor of the manse. These are somewhat self-contained, possessing their own
jakes,
small conference rooms and a wet area for ablutions. Even so, these rooms are still quite spare as city standards go—more on par with a provincial wayhouse.

privers
long sturdy tongs used to grip toxic articles, especially such things as
skold-shot.

proofener
one who supplies proofing but does not manufacture it.

proof-steel
metal (usually forged iron and the like) that has been backed with buff or some other sturdy proofed material. This allows the metal to be thinner and therefore lighter while still offering superior protection. The wearing of metal proofing of any sort is regarded as flashy or
showing away
or old-fashioned or all of these in one, though regardless
troubardiers
and
lesquins
typically reserve the right to don - proof-steel.

pudding(s)
what we would call dessert.

punct, puncting
to
mark
someone with a
cruorpunxis.

punctographist(s)
also called a nadeller (Gott) or marker. A person who is skilled in marking or
puncting
a person with a
monster-blood tattoo.
A punctographist’s tools are known as
grailles,
used for either extracting the
cruor
of a
monster
or for tattooing (
puncting
) a
mark
on a person. A punctographist typically views the head and face of the slain
monster
in advance of the actual
puncting,
and makes a design for the tattoo in a book or on some other paper from what they see or are told.

punt-royale
card game where the highest ranked cards are the least desirable.The game revolves around passing these cards off on each other till all the cards are played or a predecided number of passes (turns) have occurred. The loser, or knave, is the one with the most high cards; the winner, or free-man, is the one with none. More of a recreational game rather than one for gambling, though inveterate wagerers have found ways to win and lose money with it.

purgation
taming the land and quelling the
threwd
through force and violence, especially against the
monsters
themselves. It is the more immediate way to begin conquest of the wilds, but its effects are only short term, for
monsters
will always return to places they consider their home, their original/proper range of wandering. See
Idlewild, the.

Puttinger
said “
Putt
’ing’ger”; lampsman 1st class of
Winstermill,
once a native of Gottland, being born in Wittzingerod; how he came to be in the Emperor’s Service is a tale he isn’t telling. He is the eldest of the three
lampsmen
set over the young
prentices
and probably the friendliest—though only just barely. Struggles to make himself understood to the lads through his thick Gott accent.

q
the symbol for sequins, the middle-value denomination in the common currency of the
Soutlands.
The average weekly wage for your common working fellows is 8 q, which in turn is about the average hourly rate of hire for your high-class
teratologist
—such as Europe, the Branden Rose. See
money
in Book One.

QGU
abbreviated reference to
quo gratia.

Q Hesiod Gæta
the
quarto
of
prentice-lighters
to which Rossamünd belongs. The
Q
stands for quarto, and Hesiod Gæta was once lamplighter-marshal in charge of the
lighters
at the time that the
Idlewild
was founded. The names of the other
prentice quartos
are also taken from other noteworthy
lighters
of old. Io Harpsicarius was the founding marshal of
Winstermill,
while Protogenës is probably the most renowned, performing great feats in defense of the fledgling colonies of the Placidia Solitus.

quabard
vestlike proofing for the chest, sometimes referred to in full as “quarter-bard,” usually reaching down over the abdomen. See entry in Book One.

quacksalver
doctor or
dispensurist,
but particularly a bad one or one who passes himself off as a person of
physics
without possessing the actual qualifications or skills.

quarto(s)
the smallest designation of a group of soldiers. It goes:

quiet-shoes
also called pattens; soft, heelless, pliable shoes with stoutly proofed soles, usually tied on to the foot with ribands wound way up the leg.Very useful for walking quietly and for activities that require nimbleness, grip and a near-silent step. Easily the most preferred shoe of
calendars
and
sagaars
and even some
fulgars.

Quinault
northernmost town of the
Idlewild,
founded by the Sovereign State of Quimperpund with backing from the peoples of the Maund. Situated on the borders of Sulk, it is a major supplier and trafficker of foodstuffs from the Sulk to the other colonies immediately to the south.

quo gratia
shortened form of the
Tutin
term “quo gratia ex unicum,” “the favor of the peerless,” and often invoked in its abbreviation—
QGU;
it is the right of a peer to circumvent certain laws—civil or military, though the latter is a little harder—or the due process of the judicial system, or even nullify a court’s ruling, all for personal ends. Based on an ancient code known as the Wittenrood that existed before even the occupation of the
Empire, QGU
is preserved most in the
Soutlands,
where the Emperor tolerates it to keep the peers there on his side. It is not common to use this right too frequently, though a peer with enough swagger might carry off even the most outrageous affront under the cover of
QGU.
Most, however, are careful and sparing in its use, for its invocation can get you unwelcome attention from
Clementine.
Generally if you are to use it, you want to be pretty sure you can get away with it, either through corrupt practices, the justice of your cause or the power of your lobby in the Imperial Capital.

Red Scarfe
rural center considered a part of
Sulk End,
though many of its inhabitants have family and associates in the
Idlewild
and so consider themselves as being part of the westernmost end of the
Idlewild.
It gets its name from the red bricks that were originally used to make its encircling, sloping walls (a scarfe or scarp).

revenant
simply a more formal, educated rendering of
rever-man.

rever-man
“zombielike”
gudgeon,
and the most human-looking of the same. See entry in Book One.

Right of the Pacific Dove, the ~
calendar clave
found in the historied fastness of
Herbroulesse,
led by
Syntychë, the Lady Vey.
The
clave-
members are usually called
columbines,
from the
Tutin
word “columbarium,” meaning “dovecote.” Originally dwelling in
Brandenbrass,
the Right—as it is called by its own—was founded over three hundred years earlier in the time of the Sceptic Dynasty. After too many rivalries with local lords, as well as with another, better connected
clave,
they had their charter to exist in that city revoked. Acquiescing meekly, the Right moved to remoter lands, finding
Herbroulesse,
where it has endured ever since. Their motto is “Semper Fidelis”—“always faithful.”

rimple
a curious-looking hairy-leather purse made from the entire skin of a small rodent, shaved, with a drawstring at the neck hole, and the skin of one limb sewn back on itself as a loop to fix on to a belt. Actually looking like some bloated rat, a rimple is all the fashion as a coin-bag among the wayfaring classes.

Roughmarch, the ~
the combination of two deep gorges cutting through the southern tip of the Tumblesloe Heap, worn down into the rock and earth by the action of two ancient, now-dry waterways: one running roughly west, the other east.

Roughmarch Road, the ~
road that runs through the
Roughmarch
gorge, running along the serpentine wendings of the dry streambeds. The middle part of the road is straightest where Imperial
peoneers
and road-builders blasted and cut the small spur of rock that separated the two original gorges to allow the road to continue through. The
threwd
is never far gone from this place, and the thorny plants that grow along its edges are in need of constant pruning and lopping.
Fatigue parties
are sent out at least every two months to do this, thus preventing a
monster
from having a place whence to ambush passing traffic.

rouse-master
one in change of a
rousing pit
. See
hob-rousing.

rousing-pit(s)
holes in the ground with stalls or stands or make-shift seats about and in which
gudgeons
and bogles are set to fight to the death while the spectators above wager on the outcome. Such pits are usually situated well away from prying authorities and common paths, kept hidden and secret to all but to those initiated into the local rousing brotherhood.

ruttle
to clear the throat; the sound of mucus in the windpipes.

sabine
expensive weave of soft wools from the small kingdom of the same name, found beyond the northern shores of the
Sinus Tintinabuline.
It would be held as mythic by southern folk but for the existence of its exquisite wools, and there are many imitators of their product, some so good only a connoisseur can tell the difference.

sagaar(s)
the combatant
teratologist
dancers who use their nimbleness, the prescribed movements of their chosen “dance,” and
therimoirs
to defeat the
nickers
and the bogles. See entry in Book One.

salinumbus
meaning “salt-shaker” and also called a salt-gun; a straight-handled pistol made to fire special
potives
designed for the purpose. The inside of its barrel is treated with coatings to reduce the corrosive damage done by the chemistry of its shots.

Sallowstall
a
cothouse
on the
Wormway
situated in a small dell, by a ford-crossing on the
Mirthlbrook.
Sallowstall is thickly surrounded by a small wood of maples and ancient willows, and gains its name from the thicket of willows—sallows being the local name for willows—that grow about it and along the banks of the
Mirthlbrook
on which it is built. It is actually a cot-rent, with a few extra, cramped rooms where non-lampsmen can stay for modest board.

salpert(s)
small, fragile sacks of cloth that hold
potives,
especially those that need to burst when they are thrown and hit something. A fair amount of care must be taken when handling them, and the recommended method for carting them is inside some kind of padded box such as a
stoup
or digital.

salt-bag(s)
simple name for a
salumanticum,
and so called because it is designed to hold the parts or “salts” of a skold or other habilist or - parts-dealer.

salt-horse
a useless person, taken from the idea of a horse that is so old it is no longer good for anything but being turned into dried, heavily salted meat.

salumanticum
(
Tutin,
meaning “salt-bag”) also known as a
salt-bag,
usually a satchel with various pockets, flaps and slots for holding
potives
in all their varied forms. The arrangement of a salumanticum should facilitate easy access to the right chemical at the right time, and skolds will know and recall the inside of their
salt-bags
better than their own birthdays.

Scale of Might, the ~
originally an anecdotal reckoning of the number of
everymen
it takes to best an
ünterman,
it has since been extensively codified by Imperial Statisticians, but simply put it is deemed possible for three ordinary men armed in the ordinary manner to see off one garden-variety bogle, and for about five to handle your more common
nicker.
Add
potives
or
teratologists
to the group and this number fluctuates significantly—depending on the quality of
potive
or skill and type of
monster-
slayer.