The Thousandfold Thought (The Prince of Nothing, Book 3) (87 page)

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Authors: R. Scott Bakker

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BOOK: The Thousandfold Thought (The Prince of Nothing, Book 3)
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Ikurei Anphairas I
(4022-81)—The Emperor of Nansur from 4066 to 4081, and grandfather of Ikurei Xerius III, assassinated by persons unknown.
 
Ikurei Dynasty
—Always one of the more powerful Houses of the Congregate, the Ikurei seized the Imperial Mantle in 3941, capitalizing on the turmoil following the loss of Shigek and then Gedea to Kian in the Dagger Jihad. Ikurei Sorius I became the first of a line of shrewd yet defensive Ikurei Emperors. See
Nansur Empire
.
 
Ikurei Xerius III
(4059- )—The Emperor of the Nansur Empire.
 
Imbeyan ab Imbaran
(4067-4111)—Sapatishah-Governor of Enathpaneah and son-in-law of the Padirajah, slain at Caraskand.
 
Imperial Army
—A common name for the standing Nansur army.
 
Imperial Precincts
—The name given to the grounds of the Andiamine Heights.
 
Imperial Saik
—The School indentured to the Nansur Emperor.
 
Imperial Sun
—The primary symbol of the Nansur Empire.
 
Impromta, The
—The anonymously written collection of the Warrior-Prophet’s earliest sermons and aphorisms.
 
Imrothas, Sarshressa
(4054-4111)—The Palatine of the Conriyan province of Aderot, claimed by disease at Caraskand.
 
Inchoroi
—“People of Emptiness” (Ihrimsû) A mysterious and obscene race that, according to legend, descended from the void in the Incû-Holoinas. Very little is known about them, aside from their apparently limitless capacity for cruelty and their malignant obsession with the carnal. See
Cûno-Inchoroi Wars
.
 
Incû-Holoinas
—“Ark-of-the-Skies” (Ihrimsû) The great vessel that brought the Inchoroi from the heavens and became the golden heart of Golgotterath.
 
Indara-Kishauri
—The “tribe” of the Cishaurim. The “Indara” refer, in the Kianene tradition, to the “tribe of water-bearers,” a legendary band that supposedly wandered the dunes dispensing water and mercy to the faithful. The designation is critical (according to the
kipfa’aifan,
it saved Fane’s life), given the importance of tribal affiliation in desert Kianene society.
 
Indenture, the
—The infamous document used by Ikurei Xerius III in his attempt to secure the lands conquered by the First Holy War.
 
Indigo Plague
—According to legend, the pestilence swept up from the No-God’s ashes after his destruction at the hands of Anaxophus V in 2155. Mandate scholars dispute this, claiming that the No-God’s body was recovered by the Consult and interred in Golgotterath. Whatever the cause, the Indigo Plague ranks as among the worst in recorded history.
 
Indurum Barracks
—A lodging for soldiers located in Caraskand and dating back to the Nansur occupation of the city.
 
Ingiaban, Sristai
(4059- )—The Palatine of the Conriyan province of Kethantei.
 
Ingoswitu
(1966-2050)—A far antique Kûniüric philosopher, famed in his own day for his
Dialogia
but primarily known in the Three Seas through Ajencis and his famed critique of Ingoswitu’s
Theosis
in
The Third Analytic of Men
.
 
Ingraul
—A fiefdom of the Thunyeri Sranc Marches.
 
Ingusharotep II
(
c.
1000-
c.
1080)—The Old Dynasty Shigeki King who conquered the Kyranae Plains.
 
Injor-Niyas
—The last remaining Nonmen nation, located beyond the Demua Mountains. See
Ishterebinth
.
 
Inrau, Paro
(4088-4110)—A former student of Drusas Achamian, slain in Sumna.
 
Inri Sejenus
(
c.
2159-2202)—The Latter Prophet and spiritual (although not historical) founder of the Thousand Temples, who claimed to be the pure incarnation of Absolute Spirit (“the very proportion of the God”), sent to emend the teachings of the Tusk. After his death and supposed ascension to the Nail of Heaven, his disciples recounted his life and teachings in
The Tractate,
the text that is now considered by the Inrithi to be as holy as
The Chronicle of the Tusk
.
 
Inrithi
—The followers of Inri Sejenus, the Latter Prophet, and his amendments to the Tusk.
 
Inrithism
—The faith founded upon the revelations of Inri Sejenus, the Latter Prophet, which synthesizes elements of both monotheism and polytheism. The central tenets of Inrithism deal with the immanence of the God in historical events, the unity of the individual deities of the Cults as Aspects of the God, and the role of the Thousand Temples as the very expression of the God in the world.
Following the alleged ascension of Inri Sejenus, Inrithism slowly established itself throughout the Ceneian Empire as an organized hierarchy independent of the state—what came to be called the Thousand Temples. Initially, the existing traditionalist Kiünnat sects simply dismissed the new religion, but as it continued to grow, a number of attempts were made to circumscribe its powers and prevent its further spread, none of them particularly effective. Escalating tensions eventually culminated in the Zealot Wars (
c.
2390-2478), which, although technically a civil war, saw battles fought far outside the boundaries of what then constituted the Ceneian Empire.
In 2469, Sumna capitulated to Shrial forces, but hostilities continued until Triamis was anointed Emperor in 2478. Though himself Inrithi (converted by Ekyannus III), and despite enacting the constitution governing the division of powers between the Imperium and the Thousand Temples, he refrained from declaring Inrithism the official state religion until 2505. From that point the ascendancy of the Thousand Temples was assured, and over the ensuing centuries the remaining Kiünnat “heresies” of the Three Seas would either wither away or be forcibly stamped out.
 
Inshull
(?-?)—One of the Chieftain-Kings named in the Tusk.
 
Inskarra, Saweor
(4061-4111)—The Earl of the Thunyeri province of Skagwa, slain at Anwurat.
 
Inûnara Highlands
—A region of foothills to the northeast of the Unaras Spur of the Hethanta Mountains.
 
Invishi
—The commercial and spiritual capital of Nilnamesh, and one of the most ancient cities of the Three Seas.
 
Iothiah
—A great Old Dynasty city located on the Sempis Delta.
 
Irreüma
—A so-called “all-Gods temple” located in the administrative quarter of the Hagerna. Though its architecture belongs to the classical Kyranean period, its provenance is unknown.
 
Iryssas, Krijates
(4089- )—The young and impetuous majordomo of House Krijates, and cousin to Krijates Xinemus.
 
Ishoiya
—Sheyic for “uncertainty.” The so-called Day of Doubt, an Inrithi holy day celebrated in late summer, commemorating the spiritual turmoil and renewal undergone by Inri Sejenus during his imprisonment in Xerash. Among the less pious, Ishoiya is renowned as a day of copious drinking.
 
Ishroi
—“Exalted Ones” (Ihrimsû) The name given to the Nonmen warrior castes.
 
Ishterebinth
—“Exalted Stronghold” (Ihrimsû) The last of the Nonmen Mansions, located to the west of the Demua Mountains. Known as Ishoriöl (“Exalted Hall”) in the Isûphiryas, Ishterebinth was considered one of the premier cities of the Cûnuroi after Siöl and Cil-Aujas. See
Cûno-Inchoroi Wars
.
 
Ishuäl
—“Exalted Grotto” (Ihrimsû) The secret fastness of the Kûniüric High Kings, located in the Demua Mountains, and subsequently inhabited by the Dûnyain.
 
Istriya, Ikurei
(4045- )—The mother of Emperor Xerius III, once famed for her legendary beauty.
 
Istyuli Plains
—A vast and largely semi-arid tableland running from the Yimelati Mountains in the north to the Hethanta Mountains in the south.
 
Isûphiryas
—“Great Pit of Years” (Ihrimsû) The great work chronicling the history of the Nonmen prior to the Breaking of the Gates. In all likelihood it is the most ancient text in existence. Sometime in the fourth century, a copy of the
Isûphiryas
was given to Cûnwerishau by Nil’giccas, the Nonman King of Ishoriöl (Ishterebinth), as part of the ancient treaty between their two peoples—the first between Nonmen and Men. During the reign of the God-King Carû-Ongonean, five Ûmeri translations of the
Isûphiryas
were bequeathed to the Library of Sauglish. Four of these were destroyed in the Apocalypse. The fifth was saved by Seswatha, who delivered it to the scribes of the Three Seas.
 
Ivory Gate
—The northernmost gate of Caraskand, so named because of the pale limestone used to construct it (as well as the Gate of Horns).
 
Iyokus, Heramari
(4014- )—A Daimotic sorcerer of rank within the Scarlet Spires, and, despite his chanv addiction, Master of Spies to Hanamanu Eleäzaras.
J
Jahan Plains
—The large, arid tableland that makes up the western frontier of Eumarna.
 
Jarutha
—A small agricultural town some twenty miles southwest of Momemn.
 
Javreh
—The slave-soldiers of the Scarlet Spires, famed for their ferocity in battle. The first unit was created in 3801 by Grandmaster Shinurta at the height of the Scholastic Wars.
 
Jekhia
—A tributary nation of High Ainon, famed as the mysterious source of chanv, located at the headwaters of the River Sayut in the Great Kayarsus. The Men of Jekhia are unique in that they exhibit Xiuhianni racial characteristics.
 
Jeshimal River
—The primary river system of Amoteu, draining the Betmulla Mountains and emptying into the Meneanor Sea at Shimeh.
 
Jihads
—Fanim holy wars. Since the inception of Fanimry, the Kianene have waged no fewer than seven jihads, all of them against the Nansur Empire.
 
Jirux
—A great Kianene fortress on the north bank of the River Sempis.
 
Jiünati Steppe
—A vast region of semi-arid plains extending northward from the Carathay Desert to the Istyuli Plains, and inhabited by Scylvendi pastoralists since the early years of the Second Age.
 
jnan
—An informal code of manner and speech understood by many to be a “war of word and sentiment.” Adeptness at jnan is understood, particularly by the more refined subcultures of the Three Seas, to be the key determinant of status among individuals who are otherwise of equal caste or station. Given that the God is believed to be manifested in the movement of history, and history is determined primarily by the disparate statuses of men, for many jnan is understood as a sacred and not simply an instrumental enterprise. Many others, however, especially the Norsirai of the Three Seas, regard jnan with contempt, as a “mere game.” Jnanic exchanges are typically characterized by concealed antagonism, the appreciation of irony and intellect, and the semblance of detached interest.
 
Joktha
—A port city on the Enathpanean coast.
 
Jorua Sea
—A great inland sea located in mid-western Eärwa.
 
Journals and Dialogues
—The collected writings of Triamis I, greatest of the Ceneian Aspect-Emperors.
 
Judges
—The name given to Zaudunyani missionaries.
 
Jukan
—The God of sky and season. One of the so-called Compensatory Gods, who reward devotion in life with paradise in the afterlife, Jukan rivals Yatwer in popularity among subsistence farmers yet is scarcely represented in major urban centres. The priests of Jukan are readily recognizable by their blue-dyed skin. The Marjukari, an extreme ascetic branch of the Jukanic Cult, are notorious for living as hermits in the mountains.
 
Junriüma
—Also known as the Vault-of-the-Tusk, the ancient fortress-temple that houses the Tusk, located in the heart of the Hagerna in Sumna.
 
Jurisada
—A governorate of Kian and former province of the Nansur Empire. Located on the southeastern end of the Eumarnan Peninsula, Jurisada is an intensively agricultural region, densely populated, and thought to be a land of “spiritual sloth” by many Kianene.

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