The Thousandfold Thought

by R. Scott Bakker

  Whelming—A hypnotic trance instrumental to Dûnyain Conditioning, and a purificatory rite of induction for the Zaudunyani.

  “When sorcerers sing, men die.”—The traditional expression used to refer to the fact that sorcery is destructive rather than constructive.

  White Jihad—The holy war waged against the Nansur Empire by Fan’oukarji I and the Kianene from 3743 to 3771. See Kian.

  White Lord of Trysë—An honorific of the Kûniüric High King.

  White-Sun Palace—See Korasha.

  White Yaksh—The traditional tent of Scylvendi tribal chieftains.

  Whore, the—A popular name for the Goddess Anagkë. See Anagkë.

  witches—The name given to women who practise sorcery, despite their persecution by both the Thousand Temples and the Schools.

  wizards—The name given to men who practise sorcery independent of any School, despite their persecution by both the Thousand Temples and the Schools.

  World Between—The world as it exists “between” our perceptions of it, or “in itself.”

  World-Breaker—A name for the No-God. See No-God.

  Worldhorn—A ceremonial sorcerous artifact belonging to the Aörsic House of the Anasûrimbor and lost in the destruction of Shiarau in 2136.

  Worm, the—A vernacular name for the great slums of Carythusal.

  Wracu—Also known as Dragons. Immense, fire-spitting, winged reptilian monstrosities created by the Inchoroi during the ancient Cûno-Inchoroi Wars to destroy the Nonmen Quya, then subsequently wielded by the No-God during the Apocalypse. Very few are thought to have survived.

  Wrigga (4073- )—A caste-menial Zaudunyani agitator.

  Writ of Psata-Antyu—The proclamation issued by the high clergy of the Thousand Temples at the Council of Antyu (3386) that limits the power of the Shriah. The Writ was motivated by the cruel excesses of Shriah Diagol, who held the Seat from 3371 until his assassination in 3383.

  Wutmouth River—The immense river joining Lake Huösi to the Meneanor Sea.

  wutrim—A Scylvendi word meaning “shame.”

  X

  Xatantian Arch—The triumphal arch marking the ceremonial entrance to the Scuäri Campus, which depicts the military exploits of Emperor Surmante Xatantius. See Xatantius I.

  Xatantius I (3644-93)—The most warlike of the Surmante Emperors of Nansur, Xatantius enlarged the Nansur Empire to its greatest extent, pacifying the Norsirai tribes of the Cepalor and for a time even managing to hold the far southern city of Invishi (though he failed to entirely subdue the Nilnameshi countryside). Despite his military successes, his continual wars exhausted both the Nansur people and the Imperial Treasury, inadvertently laying the groundwork for the disastrous wars against the Kianene following his death. See Nansur Empire.

  Xerash—A governorate of Kian and former province of the Nansur Empire. Located north of Eumarna on the Meneanor coast, Xerash is primarily known, through The Tractate, as the violent and debauched neighbour of Amoteu during the time of Inri Sejenus. See Amoteu.

  Xerashi—The lost language of scriptural Xerash, a derivative of Vaparsi.

  Xerius—See Ikurei Xerius III.

  Xiangic—The language group of the Xiuhianni peoples.

  Xijoser (c. 670-c. 720)—An Old Dynasty God-King of Shigek, known primarily for the Ziggurat bearing his name.

  Xinemus, Krijates (4066- )—The Conriyan Marshal of Attrempus.

  Xiuhianni—The black-haired, brown-eyed, olive-skinned race that still dwells beyond the Great Kayarsus. One of the Five Tribes of Men, who, according to The Chronicle of the Tusk, refused to follow the other four tribes into Eärwa.

  Xius (2847-2914)—The great Ceneian poet and playwright, famed for The Trucian Dramas.

  Xoägi’i—A Sranc tribe from the Plains of Gâl.

  Xothei, Temple of—The primary edifice of the Cmiral temple complex, famed for its three great domes.

  Xunnurit (4068- )—The Scylvendi chieftain of the Akkunihor tribe, infamous for leading the Scylvendi to defeat at the battle of Kiyoth.

  Y

  yaksh—The conical tents of the Scylvendi, made of greased leather and poplar branches.

  Yalgrota Sranchammer (4071- )—The Thunyeri groom of Prince Hringa Skaiyelt, famed for his giant stature and ferocity in war.

  Yasellas—A prostitute acquaintance of Esmenet.

  Yatwer—The Goddess of fertility. One of the so-called Compensatory Gods, who reward devotion in life with paradise in the afterlife, Yatwer is far and away the most popular Cultic deity among caste-menials (as Gilgaöl is among caste-nobles). In the Higarata, the collection of subsidiary writings that form the scriptural core of the Cults, Yatwer is depicted as a beneficent, all-forgiving matron, capable of seeding and furrowing the fields of nations with a single hand. Some commentators have noted that Yatwer is anything but revered in either the Higarata or The Chronicle of the Tusk (wherein “tillers of soil” are often referred to with contempt). Perhaps this is why Yatwerians tend to rely on their own scripture, the Sinyatwa, for their liturgical rites and ceremonies. Despite the vast numbers of adherents enjoyed by the Cult, it remains one of the more impoverished, and seems to generate a large number of zealous devotees as a result.

  Year-of-the-Tusk—The primary dating system for most mannish nations, which takes the legendary Breaking of the Gates to be year zero.

  Years of the Crib—A common term for the eleven years of the No-God’s manifestation during the First Apocalypse, wherein all infants were stillborn. See Apocalypse.

  Yel (4079- )—One of Esmenet’s Kianene body-slaves.

  Yellow Sempis River—A tributary of the River Sempis.

  Yimaleti Mountains—An extensive mountain range located in the extreme northwest of Eärwa.

  Ysilka—The wife of General Sag-Marmau in The Sagas, whose name is often used as a euphemism for “adulteress” in the Three Seas.

  yursa—A Galeoth liquor made from fermented potatoes.

  Yursalka (c. 4065-4110)—A Scylvendi warrior of the Utemot tribe.

  Yutirames—A sorcerer of rank in the Scarlet Spires, slain by Achamian in the Sareötic Library.

  Z

  Zarathinius (3688-3745)—The famed author of A Defence of the Arcane Arts.

  Zaudunyani—“Tribe of Truth” (Kûniüric) The name taken by Kellhus’s followers during the First Holy War.

  Zealot Wars—The prolonged religious conflict (c. 2390-2478) between the early Inrithi and the Kiünnat, which eventually led to the ascendancy of the Thousand Temples in the Three Seas.

  Zenkappa (4068-4111)—A Captain of Attrempus, formerly a Nilnameshi slave belonging to the household of Krijates Xinemus, slain at Iothiah.

  Zerxei, House—A former Nansur House of the Congregate, and the empire’s ruling dynasty from 3511 to 3619, when Zerxei Triamarius III was assassinated by his palace eunuchs.

  Zeüm—A mysterious and powerful Satyothi nation beyond Nilnamesh, and the source of the finest silks and steel in the Three Seas.

  Zeümi—The language of the Empire of Zeüm, a derivative of Old Zeümi.

  Zeümi Sword-Dancers—The members of an exotic Zeümi Cult that worships the sword and has developed sword fighting to an almost supernatural level.

  Ziek, Tower of—The prison, located in Momemn, used by the Nansur Emperors to incarcerate their political foes.

  Ziggurats of Shigek—The immense stepped pyramids found to the north of the Sempis Delta and raised by the ancient God-Kings of Shigek to serve as their mortuary tombs.

  Zirkirta—See Battle of Zirkirta.

  Zohurric—See Aghurzoi.

  Zursodda, Sammu (4064-4111)—The Palatine-Governor of the Ainoni city of Koraphea, claimed by disease at Caraskand.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  To think I started this journey almost twenty years ago …

  If anyone had told me years back that the summer of 2005 would find me completing The Prince of Nothing, I likely would have coughed beer out of my nose. But here I am, and I have a long
list of debts to prove it.

  First, to my wife, Sharron, who has literally supported me unto the brink of insolvency. I stand tallest when she’s at my side.

  Then, the usual suspects: my brother, Bryan Bakker, for the gift of second sight; my friend Roger Eichorn, for the gift of his second sight; and my agent, Chris Lotts, for his honesty and his acumen—not to mention the odd eleventh-hour bombshell!

  I would also like to thank:

  Steve Erikson.

  My family and friends, for indulging my obsession in conversation after conversation. Joe Edmiston, for his squash-court criticisms. And my neighbour Mike Brown, for helping me sort out the difference between mystery and obscurity.

  The entire crew at Penguin Canada: Barbara Berson, Tracy Bordian, Karen Alliston, and Leslie Horlick. As well as Darren Nash and everyone at Orbit, U.K.

  But the people I most need to thank are the fans of the series. This includes everyone at www.three-seas.com and the “other author” forum at sffworld.com. The names that come immediately to mind are: Jack Brown, Wil Horsley, Gary Wassner, White Lord, Dylanfanatic, Ainulindale, Mithfanion, Leiali, Texmex, and, of course, Saintjon. Through innumerable discussions across several different venues, you have all made your mark.