Foundling (50 page)

wordialogue
collection of words; a lexicon, normally upon a particular subject or set of subjects.

work docket
small cardboard book marked with the
Empire’s
or your own
city-state’s
seal, in which your work history is recorded: the date you started your job, the date you left it and any outstanding points good or bad your employer feels beholden to mention. A “good” work docket can get you almost any job you wish; a “bad” one relegates you to the meanest of labors. The seal they bear makes them hard to forge.

Wörms
ancient city in the east, beyond the
Ichormeer
, situated on the western flanks of the mighty Wormwood forest; made mostly of black stone, with its walls topped with spikes and gallows, and built right in the midst of land that is still
threwdish
even after centuries of effort, Wörms is a grim place full of serious, intense people and renowned for the quality of its
skolds,
especially its
scourges
, and for the
proofing
made there. It was the second city founded by the Skylds—an ancient people who fled over the Mare Periculum to the
Half-Continent
(which they call Westelünd) many thousand years ago. The people of Wörms still proudly call themselves Skylds, and their oldest and most powerful houses reckon their descent from those early times.

Wormway, the ~
the
Conduit Vermis,
the Imperial
Highroad
that runs from
High Vesting
to
Wörms;
it runs through the Smallish Fells, along the top of Hurdling Migh and right into the red horror of the
Ichormeer
. The region immediately surrounding the Wormway is a
ditchland
known as the Idlewilds: a collection of colony towns, fortresses and cothouses (the homes of the
lamplighters
) each founded and sponsored by different powers, including the
Empire
,
Boschenberg
and
Brandenbrass
.

wurtembottles
lazy, fat black flies living as maggots in the putrid bogs of the Wurtemburg Foulness beyond the Imperial boundaries and flying south when transformed from a pupa. Some see them as carriers of foul diseases.

xthylistic curd
said “zy-lihss-tik” curd; one of the ingredients for
Cathar’s Treacle
, being made from the glandular secretions of certain sea-
monsters
combined with the dried marrow and a powder of well-seasoned bones. See
Cathar’s Treacle
.

yardsman
one of a number of people responsible for the protection and order of a driveway and accompanying yard outside a
wayhouse
or manor-house or palace or any other such place. Your average yardsman earns from between twenty-five to thirty-five
sous
a year depending on his or her abilities.

Oh, my bursting knees! There is no entry for
z
at all.

THE 16-MONTH CALENDAR Of THE HALF-CONTINENT

DAYS OF THE WEEK (7)

N - NEWICH first day of the week
L-LOONDAY
M - MEERDAY
M - MIDWICH
D - DOMESDAY a day of rest
C - CALUMNDAY
S-SOLEMNDAY

 

 

 

 

VIGILS -
DAYS OF OBSERVANCE

(THESE NUMBERS CAN BE FOUND IN THE CALENDAR)

1. - DIRGETIDE

2. - HALFMERRY DAY

3. - MALBELLTIDE

4. - MANNER

5. - MELLOWTIDE

6. - NYCHTHOLD

7. - PLOUGHMONDAY

8. - EIGHT-MONTH’S EVE (CLERK’S VIGIL)

9. - THISGIVINGDAY

10. - GALLOWS NIGHT

11. - VERTIIMNUS

12. - MIDTIDE

THE DATE UPON WHICH THE SOLSTICE & EQUINOX OCCUR IS VARIABLE, HENCE THE TWO POSSIBLE TIMES SHOWN FOR EACH EVENT.

* SAID TO BE THE COLDEST MONTHS,
UNFRIENDLY TO TRAVELERS.

 

 

%IN THE OLD CALENDARS THIS WAS
ONCE THE FIRST MONTH OF THE YEAR

 

 

+THESE TWO MONTHS WERE ONCE IN THE REVERSE ORDER. THEY CAME TO BE SWAPPED WHEN THE EXCEEDINGLY TALL AND EXCESSIVELY SPOILED DAUGHTER OF MORIBUND SCEPTIC III COMPLAINED SO BITTERLY THAT SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BORN IN THE BEAUTIFUL-SOUNDING MONTH OF LIRIUM RATHER THAN THE UGLY-SOUNDING (AS SHE THOUGHT IT) MONTH OF CACHRYS. SHE MADE COURT LIFE IMPOSSIBLE UNTIL HER MUCH-HARASSED FATHER DECREED THE SWAP BY IMPERIAL EDICT. THE CHANGE HAS REMAINED EVER SINCE, EVEN AFTER A WAR WAS FOUGHT OVER IT.

A haubardier
in the general pattern of uniform. The name is derived from the haubardine worn beneath the coat, making for very effective protection, enough even for it to be worthy of the encumbrance. Fusiliers and the like wear only the coat, adequate armor‘tis sure, but rarely as good protection as a coat
and
haubardine.

THE KORNCHENFLECTER
OR PARTS-WHEEL OR PRINCIPIA CIRCUM

A DIAGRAM OF THE REACTIONS
BETWEEN THE FOUR ELEMENTS WHERE
A= FIRE;
= EARTH; W = WATER; M = AIR
Fire reacts with earth, earth reacts with fire.
Earth reacts with water, water reacts with earth.
Water reacts with air, air reacts with water.
Water retards fire.
Earth retards air.

The black-and-white checkers upon his baldric (the mottle of the concometrists) can just be seen through the open part of the maincoat. By the maincoat and the shaved hair, it is clear this fellow works as a consultant for the Empire’s navies.

A wayfarer of the Soutlands
heavily armed and well provisioned, this individual is equipped for existence in the ditchlands and even the wilds. His clothing provides fine protection from harm and foul weather. Under the jackcoat (which, of course, is gaulded) would be some kind of proofed vest, and longshanks have gaulded “plates” sewn into their lining. This person is so accoutred that he could easily be employed as an ambuscadier (light infantry skirmisher) should there be an opportunity. Indeed, the fellow may well have been occupied in such manner at one time or another.