Lamplighter (73 page)

Pandomë
one of the
calendars
of the
Right of the Pacific Dove,
a
pistoleer
(or
spendonette
as she would be called by her “sisters”) of great skill and fiercely devoted to
Dolours,
even over her loyalty to the
Lady Vey.
Her name, given her when she joined the
Right,
means “of the people, of the house,” essentially “woman of the people.”

Pannette
a purrichinn—or
calendine sagaar
of the
Right of the Pacific Dove,
young and fairly newly joined to the
Right,
being with them not even a year. It is said she was banished from her
clave
back in Grawthewse for undisclosed “irregularities” of conduct, though word has filtered through from visiting
caladines
of other
claves
that it involved a series of assignations with a married peer.The
august
of the
Right
has not pressed her for clarity, but rather has welcomed the increase to their numbers regardless of any reservations.

parenthis
waiting room in a
coach-host
or any other establishment requiring such a place. They are so called because of the Parenthine in
Clementine,
the great waiting hall where honored and lofty folk tarry before a meeting with the Emperor.

park-drag
very large carriage that can carry up to eight passengers, needing at least a team of six to pull it; it is more common in cities than the country.

parti-hued
multi-colored; mottled with bright hues.

Paucitine, the ~
eastern half or
theme
of the
Idlewild,
from the
Wight
to
Haltmire,
gaining its name from the poorness of farming and the harshness of life in general in that region, so much of which is taken up by the
Frugelle.

pediteer
any kind of foot soldier. See entry in Book One.

peltrymen
trappers and fur traders living rough lives; tough and resourceful, these fellows know well how to avoid monstrous encounters and some even dare to trap the same and sell them to agents in the
dark trades,
doing so to supplement their meager earnings.

pen(s)
also imagineer or (derogatory) fabulist; what we might think of as an illustrator or commercial artist. Somewhat confusingly, the term is also used for freelance writers.

peoneer(s)
military laborers with particular skills in constructing fortifications from surrounding materials and sapping, that is, digging trenches near enemy positions and undermining walls.

pernicious threwd
the worst kind of
threwd,
said to drive people mad with fear. It is the kind of
threwd
that is said to grip the inland places of the Half-Continent: the Grassmeer and the Witherlends. Some of the more crafty
monsters
are actually able to amplify the effect of the
threwd
to terrify an individual. The most mighty of the
monsters
are said to be able to awe whole armies with such amplification.

Pettiwiggin, the ~
meaning “little worm,” the more common name for the
Harrowmath Pike.
Part of the
Wormway,
running from
Winstermill
in the west to
Wellnigh House
in the east.

phrantry
specifically the collective membership or sisterhood of a
clave
of
calendars.

physician(s)
highly respected, these are the main practitioners of
physics
in the Half-Continent. See entry in Book One.

physics
what we would call medicine. See Book One.

Pile, Laudibus
a native of
Brandenbrass
and
telltale
to the
Master-of-Clerks.
From a middle-class family brought to near ruin by the cheating and falsehood of a viciously unscrupulous peer, Laudibus decided by his tenth birthday that when he was old enough he would become a
falseman
and bring that same peer undone. This he did, rescuing his family though corrupting himself in the process and earning a short stint in gaol. Thinking his prospects ruined, Pile yet managed to work his way into a minor Imperial clerical position—such is the demand for
falsemen.
There he was “discovered” by one
PodiousWhympre—
then a senior tally-clerk in the Imperial Usury Bureau—who took him under his wing, anticipating a general upward movement in his own propects and knowing full well how handy your own
falseman
can be.When the promotion and shift to
Winstermill
arrived for his new master, Pile happily followed in Whympre’s wake.

Pill
eminent illustrator of broadsheets and other periodicals known for the firm, confident quality of his lines and the precise detail he can achieve in a relatively short time.

Pillow, Giddian
native of Doggenbrass, Pillow is a younger son of small-time middle-class merchants who was taken out of school and sent to the
lighters
when his parents inherited an old family debt. This had them put in the sponging house and all the children set to work until the debt was paid.Though Pillow does go on
vigil-day
trips to
Silvernook,
he does not spend much there but sends most of his pay back home. He would much rather continue in his father’s line of work than live a life of danger on the road.

piquet
a small collection of ambuscadiers,
lurksmen, leers
and other sharp-eyed individuals sent to scout or spy and return with their report unnoticed.

pirouette
card game where the highest hand makes the lowest hand dance a particular dance as dictated by the cards of the winner. It is a complex game where knowledge of all the many ranks and meanings of cards is essential if you do not want to find yourself hopping and bop-ping embarrassingly all night. Each combination of cards or “route” has a name: “the Kindly Ladies” are any combination of queens and duchesses; the four of brutes is “the dancing (or hopping)
aurang
” and so on. Knowing
all
these names and their combinations is held as proof of your skill with the game.

pistoleer
teratologist
who performs services with pistols and other handheld firelocks loaded with various kinds of
skold-shot.
They are often skolds who make their own
potives
to be discharged from the barrel of a pistol, though many would be considered
ledgermains
with just enough habilistics to achieve the chemistry they need to make
skold-shot
or any other
potive
that can be discharged. Pistoleers prefer to use
hauncets
and
salinumbus
rather than just a simple pistola, though they might possess one to deal with more mundane threats.

Placidine, the ~
western half of the
Idlewild,
so named because it is considered safer (and thus more peaceful) than the eastern half. The Placidine is regarded by most (especially those who dwell therein) as the true
Idlewild,
the only part that really counts or has value. See
Idlewild, the
.

plaudamentum
the proper name for
Cathar’s Treacle
, which is taken by
lahzars
. See
Cathar’s Treacle
and entry in Book One.

“playing of strings”
also known as “pulling the cords,” both meaning using influence, favors, nepotism and whatever other means at your disposal to achieve an ambition within or through a bureaucracy, political body or anywhere else really.

pledget(s)
absorbent bandages, often made from lint or pullings of cloth and used mostly to staunch flows of blood, such as might occur in a surgery.

Plod, Punthill
prentice
in the same course with Rossamünd. A native of
Brandenbrass
and the youngest of fifteen children, Plod has joined the Imperial Lighters of the
ConduitVermis
to escape his poverty. He will not be missed by his overtaxed and half-soused mother.

plush
elegant finery, clothes of expensive make often finished with flourishes of lace and fur and metallic cloths and the like. Especially used of uniforms so made; what we might call livery.

po
solemn, serious or innocent-looking; also sometimes used to mean unconcerned or indifferent.

poker
unflattering name for
lamplighters,
so given because of the pole-pokes (see
fodicar
) they carry to light the
lamps
with.

poleax(es)
not actually an ax, but rather a nasty-looking war hammer upon a long pole. At the end of such a length of handle the head can achieve a terrible blow and as such they are the preferred tool of
troubardiers
wanting to hammer people to stuff inside their gaulded covers.

po’lent
shortened form of
post-lentum,
“po(st)-lent(um),” and a common vernacular term for carriages of that kind.

poll
person’s head, or the top or “head” of anything.

pollcarry
“on-seller” of a skold’s
potives,
unable to make them, but buying them from one zaumabalist (or skold) or more and reselling them for whatever price the local market will bear. They have a variable reputation, and are often the only source of
potives
in some remoter places.

post-and-six
or lentum-and-six, simply the name of the carriage and the number of horses in the team pulling it: in this case, a
post-lentum
and a six-horse team.

post-lentum(s)
among the carriages more commonly used to traverse the highroads and byroads of the Half-Continent, post-lentums deliver mail and taxi people (for a fare) from one post to another. They are manned by a lenterman or driver, an escort (usually armed and armored) known as a side-armsman or cock robin (if wearing a red weskit of Imperial Service) or prussian (if wearing a deep blue weskit of private employment) and one or two backsteppers—either
splasher boys
or post runners or amblers—sitting upon the seats at the back of the roof.When travelling dangerous stretches, another backstepper may join—a quarter-topman possessing a firelock and a keen gaze—for extra protection. This crew is collectively (and confusingly) referred to as lentermen. The delivery of post in remoter areas is irregular, the lentermen waiting for there to be enough missives and parcels to warrant the dangerous journey (usually a post-bag over half-full). If possible they also prefer to take passengers along with them, the extra income making the risk of travel worthy.
Po’lent
is the common term for these vehicles, an abbreviated derivation of po(st)-lent(um).

potive(s)
any combination of parts (chemicals) for a particular and definable effect. See entry in Book One.

prentice(s), prentice-lighter(s)
“prentice” is the name given to any (typically young) person taken on to learn a skill-set, in the case of this book, those training to be
lamplighters.
A prentice-lighter’s duties will include workings (hands-on learning), targets (shooting practice),
evolutions
(marching and drill), readings (very basic reading, writing and rimitry [arithmetic] lessons from books), refections (meals), impositions (minor punishments),
castigations
(the period after mains when punishments are read out to remind the prentices of who needs to be where for doing what. This is also the term for major punishments, including time in the pillory and flogging—very
very
rare) and confinations (when prentices are kept in their cells). The life of prentices is governed by strict routine, and every moment of their day is taken up with military and practical lessons in fighting and lighting the
lamps
. Four months (roughly thirteen weeks) is deemed long enough to turn a
blunderer
into a
lighter,
though once the prentices have been promoted to
lampsman 3rd class
they are typically billeted to the safer western end of the road till they have achieved the rank of lampsman 2nd class. Because there are far fewer of them, prentices are treated better than other military recruits, husbanded as a precious resource and fed well and trained intensively (though briefly) in their tasks. Given this and that they are better paid (slightly) than your usual
pediteer,
it is surprising more lads do not sign up for a life tending the
lamps
on the highroads.

prentice-watch(es)
lantern-watch
conducted for
prentices,
where the platoon of
prentices
is divided into
quartos
and each one is sent out onto the road on set nights to learn the job in the field.The
quartos
are named after noteworthy military persons from history or the current regime. When Rossamünd was
prenticing
he and his fellows were sectioned into three
quartos,
or
prentice
quarters, named as follows: 1st Quarto = Q Protogenës (1st PQP), 2nd = Q Io Harpsicarus (2nd PQIH), 3rd =
Q Hesiod Gæta
(3rd PQHG—which is Rossamünd’s
quarto
). Each one was sent out on this roster: