by Janet Morris
presti m’it: (Stothric: Presti, let us be of; m’it, one flesh;, thus, let us be of one flesh. Prest m’it: we be of one flesh.) Traditional Day-Keeper greeting.
ragony: Tan-and-black-striped hardwood from the deciduous ragony tree. Ragony is used where a decorative wood is desired. It is not uncommon, nor so costly as thala, and is often used as a substitute for thala where price is a concern.
rana: A hot, stimulating drink, rusty-brown in color, from the steppe-grown berried plant of the same name.
rana: (adj.) Being of the color rana, rusty-brown.
rendi: The hide rendi, under the city of Stra, which lies on the most western shores of the inland Opirian Sea; the hide-name rendi.
Sabembes: The Sabembe range, sometimes called the Eastern Crags.
Santha: The Plateau of Santha; the Falls of Santha.
seed-sowers: Variously known as the Lawgivers, Lords of Form, Creator Sons, System Suzerains, Pantheon of Gods, etc.; any postulated supernal hierarchy that aids, guides, judges, or in any way concerns itself with the lives of men; the doctrines of supernormal paternity and judgment. In specific, as it is known upon Silistra: In the beginning, there was the differentiation of One into the Sevenfold, and the resulting Interchange begat Time, and into Time was birthed Matter out of the Universe Mother by God the Absolute. Then began Dispensation of Labors and the creation of the Master Circuits, upon which were laid the superuniverses in plan and potential, that creation be ongoing. Into being came then the Hierarchy in its multitudinous Corps. These began instantly upon their functions; creation by differentiation and the Ordering of Time and Space. Under the guidance of the Creator Spirit was undertaken the design and implementation of the peronalizable minuscule, diversely known as the Mirror of Creation, the Eyes of God, and Mortal Man. So great was the hopes of the Source Indivisible for Man that the command came down the hierarchal circuits: In your own image, let them be made. And even did the Father Indissoluble send out fragments of himself to partake of the Apprehension of Creation from within as full partners with mortals of Silistra, and upon this decision came into being the seed-sowers, that the divinity-destined minuscules receive the aid and comfort due these flesh-children of God the Sevenfold. Into seed-sower care were placed the worlds of man, and even did they come upon Silistra and give instruction and guidance to the seven root-races. These Created Sons and Daughters lived side by side with primitives of Silistra, giving fire and language and in some cases admixing with mortals until the races of Man were secure. At that time, their mandate ended, they retired from the planet to the Magisterial Plane to take up the increasingly complex duties of caring for all that they had wrought, and to await reassignment in the worlds of ongoing creation.
sereel: A Mi’ysten measure of mental broadcast range.
set: Seven days; one quarter of the Silistran pass. Sets in a pass are reckoned first through fourth. “First third” would be the third day of the first set in a given Silistran pass.
Seven: A man who has attained the rank of seventh in the council of seven Slayers that oversees the Slayers of a given hostel; in addressing one of that rank: “Seven”; in speaking of him, “the Seven” of a. given hostel.
Shaper: One who can control the constituents of matter and form them to his will.
Silistra: The third planet of the star Veriti; in usage, the inhabited continent, exempting the Polar Wastes and those shores of which none are empowered to speak.
Silistran: (adj.) Of Silistra.
Silistran: (language.) Often called modem or New Silistran, the planetary tongue. Although some may not speak Darsti, the language of science, nor Stothric, the language of metaphysics, nor Parset, the tongue of the desert dwellers, all speak Silistran.
s’kim: An unrestricting short garment worn by women, often white. A s’kim may be tied in numerous ways, and is differentiated from a short-length wrap by its strings at neck, waist, and hip.
Slayers: The enforcement arm of the Day-Keepers, those who have tested for and been awarded the black-iron chain, chaldric strand of the Slayers. Slayers are an authority as accessible to one man as any other, and there is no man who is denied the strength of a Slayer’s arm, be his need just and true, and his waist chalded. A Slayer is responsible to his Slayers’ Seven and ultimately to the Day-Keepers for his actions, but in practice he is usually his own authority, responsible to the Law Within. The limit of fourteen Slayers upon any one commission, however, is strictly enforced. The Slayer’s device is the crossed sword and stones in black, upon a silver ground. Their leather colors are slate and black. Sub-ranks are indicated by belt colors and cords.
Slayers’ Seven: The top-ranking Slayers in a given hostel; the seven officials directly responsible to the Day-Keepers for the comportment of their hostel. Each is addressed by his rank number, “One” through “Seven.”,
slitsa: Any legless reptile; of the class “slitsa.” There are one hundred and five species of slitsa.
stoen: The hide stoen, under the Lake of Horns, that Day-Keepers’ city west of the Yaica mountains and east of the Karir-Thoss River; the hide-name stoen.
stones: The weighted whip of the Slayers. All “stones” are five-lashed except within the Slayers’ Seven itself, where the number of lashes corresponds to the rank of the official concerned.
Stoth: The Stoth disciplines; the prehistoric philosophy and religion that were precursors to the Day-Keepers and the Weathers of Life.
Stothric: An archaic Silistran language; the language of metaphysics; the traditional garb of the Stoth priesthood.
Stra: The city of Stra, upon the most westerly shore of the inland Opirian Sea. Stra is the mining capital of Silistra, the home of famed stra-metal, whose secret is considered Stra’s greatest treasure. Stra also refines copper, bauxite, iron, and gold, all of which they mine in the rich Yaica range. Within Stra’s gates are Well Frenya, and beneath her, the hide rendi.
stra: That greenish metal refined hi the city of Stra, whose resistance to corrosion and tensile strength are greater than that of Silistran steel.
tas: The woolly hill grazer whose flesh is most highly prized of all Silistran meats. Tas graze well on most Silistran forage, the only exception being climatic— a hot tas will not eat. Even in the north it is customary to shear tas thrice yearly, that the spring and summer heat not kill them in large numbers.
tas-skin: Often referred to simply as tas, or tas-suede. The hide of the tas may be split very thin, and even in splits rivals the durability of leathers thrice as thick. Tas is often used in clothing or to line coarser leathers. Tas is recommended for use in any case where softness and pliability are a main concern.
Tasa: (Stothric: be blessed.) The common Silistran farewell.
tasling: A tas under six years of age.
“Tenist dast-ei”: “May your unions be fruitful.” Traditional well woman’s greeting to a customer.
“Tenist mist-as”: “May your womb bear my fruit.” Traditional customer’s response.
thala: The most costly hardwood upon Silistra. Northern thala, the preferred variety, is black with a blue cast. Southern thala, substantially less expensive, is black with brown overgrain. It lacks the sheen and depth of northern thala, but shares its near-imperviousness to weather.
Thrah: Iridescent long-haired pelts from the planet Torth; the animal from which the Thrah pelt comes is about the same size as a brist and might be mistaken for one, but for the long, multicolored coat and the fact that the thrah walks on all fours and is mute.
threx: The preferred riding beast of Silistra. The threx may range from fifteen to twenty hands in height, from one to two thousand B.S. pounds. It prefers meat but can subsist upon almost anything. It is readily domesticated up to a point, but remains a moderately dangerous animal at all times. Threx can reach a speed of up to forty neras an enth for short periods, and in endurance races have been known to make as much as six hundred neras in four days. Threx are readily trained and often war-trained.. Threx-men are fond of
saying that there is no weapon but man more dangerous than threx. The threx of the north and the Parset threx, who has two vertebrae fewer than his northern cousin, are in some other ways dissimilar: the Parset threx has a more efficient metabolism, nictitating membranes, nostrils that can be closed at will, and greater strength and stamina than the common Silistran threx.
titrium: A pinkish metal similar to gold but less costly. Titrium is the metal of the couchbond strand, and the half-well titrium coin. Titrium is a product of the city Torwin.
Torth: The planet Torth, from which Silistra buys more goods than from all the other star-worlds combined. Torth sculpture, whether out of metal or stone, or in the form of “Torth sculptured hangings” is much sought upon Silistra. A Torth sculptured hanging is basically a thick-piled tapestry worked upon a very fine grid with threads woven from the Thrall-hair, and then carved to various depths, revealing at each level different tones of color.
Torwin: The city Torwin, from which comes titrium. Torwin is sometimes called the musicians’ city. Both players and makers of instruments throng Torwin from elsewhere on Silistra, to study the aural arts. Torwin, upon the Karir river delta, has both a sea and river port, and from it ships tropical fruits and certain crustaceous delicacies north.
tridoe: A Mi’ysten holding or keep.
tun: A starchy, black-skinned tuber with yellow pulp that grows in stony, sandy, or even poor soil.
web-cloth: A nearly indestructible material made in collaboration by web-weavers and webbers, Silistra’s largest arachnids.
web-fiber: The web-strands used for ropemaking when optimum strength is required and the fact that web-fiber rope cannot be cut is no deterrent. Web-fiber is produced only by training webber-weaver pairs, arid is much less common than hemp rope.
web-work: Open-weave, diaphanous body dressing, usually geometric in pattern; more than lace and less than cloth, very similar to the unguided work ‘ of webber alone.
Well Arlet: The second most prestigious Well on Silistra lies in the elbow of the Sabembe range, above the hide bast..
Well Astria: The most venerated Well on Silistra, Astria bears the name of the Well Foundress Astria Barina diet Hadrath, author of the Well Woman’s Ors (Stothric: book). Astria was the premier Well, and although different in trappings and style, in substance every Well upon Silistra is patterned after the Astrian form. Well Astria lies upon the plain of Astria, fifty-eight neras from hide diet and the Day-Keepers’ School.
well tokens: (gold and silver.) Must be purchased with regular coinage or won in the pass and set games. Well tokens from one well may not be used in another, nor are they considered coinage per se. The nondenominational well token used at Feast of Conception and other ceremonial fetes never leaves the well, but is collected with great attention and reverence and stored until fortune dictates they be used again. The same nondenominational tokens have been used in Well Astria since the Well’s founding, were in fact used at that first well feast.
wind from the abyss: In the Ors Yris-tera (Book of the Weathers of Life), written by the dharen Khys, is the first known reference to the wind from the abyss, and it is from this book of divination that the term came into general usage. Who of Silistra has not at one time or another thrown the bone yris-tera pieces onto the three level board and found himself delineated as the “ebvrasea upon the square of overriding purpose’? Says the Ors: “His wings beat upon the wind from the abyss.” And: “Stalking is assiduous; Stalking culls the weak from the strong; In both the hunters and the hunted does it perform this function.” (Khys, from the divination “Stalking.”) In common usage, the chill of premonition, the physical forewarning of danger that may not be avoided. “Before Stalking, who can stand but those who also stalk?”
wisper: Wisper tree, a fan-leaved evergreen whose bark is smooth and velvety; the soft, resinous wood of the wisper tree.
wistwa: The great sea beast of Oguast. It is maintained by Oguasti that two tall men, one upon the other’s shoulders, could stand within the rib cage of the wistwa, and that the top man might then stretch his arms upward in vain to touch the backbone of the great sea beast of Oguast; the ivory of such a beast.
yellow crier: A bright yellow bird that might lie in the palm of a hand. In flight the yellow crier’s wings are invisible. It darts at great speed and low altitude after the insects that are its prey. Its beak is as long again as its head, and from its mouth comes a sound most like a screaming child’s. Zredori: The M’ksakkan misnomer for Mi’ysten.
Silistran Calendar
pass of winter solstice
Orsai
Tisera
Cai
Macara
Detarsa
Jicar
Finara
pass of summer solstice
Amarsa
Cetet
Enar
Brinar
Decra
Sisaen
Laoral
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Janet Morris lives in Hyannis, Massachusetts. She is thirty years old, and is a professional musician who sings and plays the bass guitar. This is her first book. She has written one very short story, which has never been published.