by Mark Angel
Alleyskitter(repenomamus): A furry animal that preys on snakes, rodents and other pests. Their front legs are larger than their rear legs, with paws capable of grabbing and manipulating prey. A prehensile tail helps them climb trees.
Arc: One-twentieth of a turn of the Planet Rex around its axis.
Beyond: The infinite/infinitesimal place beyond time/space that can only be described as a place that spirit dwells.
Botes: A stimulating, dark drink made by boiling ground, roasted seeds from a botes tree.
Chip: A denomination of legal tender equal to one-tenth of a cube (see cube).
Clan: Several prides of affiliated prairie rexes that share and defend a common hunting territory.
Clubtail(euoplocephalus): A heavily-armored herbivore with a clover-shaped tail club; hunted for its armor and meat.
Cocklebird(galliform): A common bird with brightly colored plumage and long display feathers.
Crested Muckraiser(parasaurolophus): A herbivore about the same size as a sloggerbeast, hunted for meat.
Cube: A unit of legal tender with a value based on its composition (copper, silver, gold). Plural: cubeage. Ten cubes of copper equal one chip (see chip) of silver. Ten cubes of silver equal one chip of gold.
Cycle: A term of 19 sars signified by the realignment of the sun’s and moon’s orbits.
Dactylite Homer(small pterosaur): A flying creature known for consistently returning to roost after being released. Used by Rexians to carry urgent messages among the five kiths of Rex.
Domehead(pachycephalosaurus): A domesticated herbivore with a boney, dome-shaped head and powerful hind legs, bred for speed and endurance and favored for its mild temperament and herd mentality.
Earth(Earth): A term used by the Ancients to refer to prehistoric Rex.
Flatbilled Muckraiser(corythosaurus): A large herbivore that spends most of its life in the warm, shallow swamps of the Interior feeding on bottom-grass.
Giant Dacty(quetzalcoatlus): The largest known flying animal with a wingspan nearly as broad as a prairie rex is long.
Guardian: A person responsible for upholding the laws of the Civilization of Rex and defending Rexians from danger.
High Moon: That stage of the moon’s pass where the entire lunar face is visible in the sky.
Hip (slang): Transporting someone from one place to another on a beast.
Inner Paddock: An area enclosed by a perimeter wall but outside the barrier walls that enclose the city.
Kith: A group of protectorates and settlements associated with a single clan of domestic rexes.
Kotz: A shrub with long, sharp thorns.
Landbird (ratite): A large flightless bird raised for food.
Length: One-thousand strides (see stride).
Lightfoot (dromiceiomimus): A small, fleet-footed herbivore that travels in flocks across the Interior.
Longneck (apatosaurus): The largest beast on the Snail Continent, an herbivore more than twice as long and 25 times heavier than a prairie rex. A fully gronw adult is nearly unassailable, especially when in groups, but the juveniles, before they joined an adult group, are excellent prey.
Nobhead (stygimoloch): A small herbivore similar to a domehead, often ridden by children or—over short distances—by adults.
Pass: The time it takes for the moon to make one revolution around the Planet Rex.
Pa-tah (expl): An exclamation usually emitted to signify victory or engagement.
Powillow vine (n): A lightweight, tough vine that grows in a natural three-part twist; indigenous to the south.
Prairie Rex (tyrannosauroid): The primary predator on the Snail Continent; smaller but more aggressive cousin to the thunderrex (see thunderrex). Distinguished by a large head and mouth filled with sharp teeth, huge hind legs with talons and relatively small front limbs and claws. Walks upright on its hind legs like a bird. Begins life covered in feathers, but loses all but the crown quills (bulls only) during adolescence.
Pride: A group of prairie rexes that live together and cooperate to hunt. All pride members are subordinate to a single breeding pair.
Prime Bull: The dominant bull of a pride of prairie rexes.
Prime Pair: The Prime Bull and his mate—the only breeding pair in the pride of prairie rexes. Though other mature rexes mate, their eggs are usually destroyed by the prime pair before they hatch. Any hatchlings that do emerge are considered at great risk.
Raptor (dromaeosaur): a small but deadly, pack hunting carnivore.
Recognition Bell: A silver or brass bell used by Councilors to signal their desire to speak during council meetings.
Rexrider: A person bonded to a domestic prairie rex, responsible for the rex’s welfare and the welfare of those who interact with their rex.
Sar: Sidereal Annual Revolution—one revolution of the Planet Rex around its sun (a year).
Settee Root: A rare plant that grows prevalently in the Eastern Kith, used to prevent infections and control bleeding.
Skaw (protungulatum): A hip-high creature from the northern forests raised for fur, meat and milk; walks on all four legs.
Skywatcher: A person responsible for monitoring the weather and the seasons, advising growers and herders, and presiding over key ceremonies and celebrations.
Slackjacker: A derogative term referencing a misfit worker unqualified to do anything but keep the slack out of climbing and hauling lines.
Sloggerbeast (edmontosaurus): A beast of burden slightly larger than a prairie rex or domehead. Generally walks on all fours, with front legs slightly shorter than its rear ones. The docile nature of the female of the species makes her ideally suited for domestic hauling, digging and other tasks. Males are often slaughtered before maturation for their meat.
SMOQ: Standard Measure of Quantity. Based on the quotient stone and its divisions (see Appendix D).
Smuggler: A person responsible for carrying correspondence, legal notes, tender, and dactylite homers from one protectorate to another.
Spring Heat: The time during spring moon when young Rexians take part in semi-formal camping to experience the wilderness, court and make new friends. Lover’s Peak is a favorite spot for Western and Southern Kith youths.
Square: A unit of area one stride (20 hands) in length and one stride in breadth (see Appendix D).
Stay: A cubby or shed built into a cliff side or wall where goods, equipment and tools are stored.
Stride: The standardized measure of a rex's pace; equal to 20 standard hand-widths (see Appendix D).
Thunderrex (tyrannosauroid): The largest meat-eating dinosaur on the Snail Continent.
Teller: A person charged with the duties of recording significant events in the history of Rex and keeping that history alive. Tellers preside at the Naming ceremony of every Rexian as well as many other events. They also serve as counsel to those charged by the Guardians with crimes against civilization.
Threehorn (ceratopian): A large herbivore with a broad frill protecting its neck and three long, sharp horns on its face.
Treeskitter (alphadon): Furry arboreal creature fond of insects and hunted for its fur.
Turn: The time required for one rotation of the planet Rex on its axis (a day).
Waterskitter (taeniolabis): A furry, freshwater mammal; an aquatic relative of the alleyskitter (see above).
Wing (quetzalcoatlus): A giant flying beast with broad, skin covered wings that hunts anything it can carry, including children and small animals.
APPENDIX C: Weights and Measures: the Quotient Stone
Set outside Chambers in Stonehaven is an ancient carving called the Quotient Stone. Hewn from a perfect rectangular ashlar of white marble, it rests on a black slab sheltered from the elements by a vaulted stone awning that arches away from the outer wall of Chambers and is supported by five ornately carved columns. This simple horizontal sculpture defines the geometrical standards of dimensional measurement for distance, weight, volume, and time. Replicas of this stone are located in the principal c
ities of each of the five kiths of Rex.
The Quotient Stone is exactly one stride in length—symbolically representing the length of a single pace of Fen-rex, the first domesticated rex. This stride, in turn, is divided into ten identical sets of hands, thumb to thumb; little finger to little finger, carved into the stone in relief.
In a parallel row immediately below each hand, chiseled again in relief, are the renderings of a hundred fingers lined up to convey the concept that five fingers equal one hand, and that 20 hands equal one stride. Carved beneath the fingers in yet another parallel row are 500 grooves, every one separated by a lip identical in width to the groove—a thousand spaces in all—each the standardized width of a fingernail, representing the concept that ten nails equal one finger.
The Quotient Stone weighs exactly 200 SMOQs (standard measure of quantity) and displaces exactly 200 SMOQs of pure water when submerged.
Beside the stone, resting on a separate pedestal is a cube with like carvings known as the Dimension Stone. Precisely two hands in length, breadth and thickness, it is made in the image of a tenth portion of the Quotient Stone—in fact, it looks as if it has been sliced off its end. The Dimension Stone weighs exactly 20 SMOQs and is the benchmark from which duplicate measuring devices are fashioned and distributed throughout five kiths of the civilization.
Time is likewise measured by the Quotient Stone. On spring and autumn equinox at high meridian the sun passes through a slit in the south face of the vaulted ceiling that protects the stone. In the middle of the slit is set a thin stone rod. As the sun makes its pass the rod’s shadow progresses along the Quotient Stone. The time required for the shadow to pass one nail is called a nail, or the time it takes a child to say “I’d like to ride on a really fast rex.” The time to pass one hand is a hand. The time required to pass the entire ashler is an arc. Twenty arcs (comprising both the light and dark times) elapse during the course of one turn, or a single rotation of the planet upon its axis. It follows that, by definition, a circle is divided into 20 arcs, 400 hands, and 20,000 nails.
Thus is comprised the fundamental system of measures for the Civilization of Rex.