Glossary Page A-L
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This page is the glossary for items beginning with the letters A through L.

The letters M through Z are here.

This list of common sayings, titles and other terms are used throughout the series. This index is universal, as with other portions of this site. Some words will not apply to a particular book due to time and location. It is purely alphabetical and most apply to all periods.

This is a partial list and will be added to over time. Anyone with suggestions is more than welcome to send them to author@anuawakesseries.com

AAA

The abhorrent doctrine

During the early ages of the Secondary Epoch, the Yakku of Thermistal, who possessed well-preserved records of the Primary Epoch’s Viracocha Flora Ministry, appeared to have a summary or reference to what is now known as the Final Tolku Proclamation. While the Koru of Rho-Jashun embraced the concept of the ‘Rectification’ as a regrettable necessity, the Yakku came to reject it. The notion of their common ancestors sacrificing themselves for the sake of what the Yakku now deemed to be the mark of monumental hubris was untenable. Eventually, various threads of this rejection wove into a messianic religion, Siv-Sa. The term' abhorrent doctrine' first appeared within this diverse collection of subsequent writings.

Ablutions

Ablutions or ‘taking ablutions’ refer to various health, cultural, and other activities at what is formally known as Ablution Academies. These are usually distinct structures containing many amenities that bring together circles from different clusters for recreation, education, inter-cluster relations and business.

Ablution Academy

It is impossible to overstate the critical role this Majastas Foundation plays in the life of all clusters, urban and rural. It is the confluence of every Governance Ministry and the distillation of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation's collective Genius. Such is the importance of this cultural seat, containing extensive baths, gymnasia, museums, galleries, libraries, and theatres, to name only a few of its amenities, within enclosures of surpassing beauty and richness that no cluster may be located beyond an easy days’ journey from one or more of these facilities. Many significant Mantle Establishments are regularly attached to Ablution Academies, including Refinement Emporiums, Benevolence Bowers, Maja Cloister Halls, Erudite Ceremonial Theatres, Fertility Sanctuaries, and Artisan Boroughs. Along with providing governance services, legal guidance, education and edification, these structures are designed to intensify aromas and thus facilitate large cluster dances and other ceremonies. A portion of each cluster is encouraged to ‘take ablutions’ each day. Ablution Academies are even more vital in the countryside, bringing a rich bouquet of urban culture and stimulation to Rural Clusters. Ketukku Enclaves are also concentrated in these country settings to serve a large and disbursed population.

Acclaimed Professor
This title is used for one of the four classic academic professions dating back to the Primary Epoch among the Tolku. It is to be noted that a significant percentage of Mundanes excel in these occupations. They are often grouped with ‘Esteemed Librarians, Honoured Historians, and Venerable Scholars.’ Among this collection of excellencies is the most significant designation of the rare honour of becoming a Treasure of the Cluster-of-Cluster’s Nation.

Acclamations and Benedictions

These are the formal greetings given between differing ranks. Those deeper in status will formally address those of the shallower class with the term ‘benedictions.’ The lighter echelons formally address the deeper with the term ‘acclamations.’ These terms are also a more ceremonial way of referring to an ancient collection of lists better known as the ‘Honours and Duties.’ In this case, Honours stands for the Benedictions provided by the state and Acclamations for the Duties of the subject to that state.

Achalam Religion 

This is one of many most-ancient religions that rose to prominence before going extinct during the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch in central and northern Rho-Jashun. Also known as the ‘God of Four Bodies,’ Achalam manifested four principles ranging from creation to destruction. Fragments of Achalam literature speak of his slaying Charu, the ‘mother of the waters,’ who was an immense serpent. She had been the Queen of the former age. The God Achalam declared he was the lord of the One-Hundredth Age and, like his predecessors, would also oversee its destruction so a new era could be born. This would commence with a new god slaying him. Once Achalam established himself, he gave birth to all creatures out of his armpits. As with the gods of the previous ninety-nine ages, Achalam considers most of the issues from his body as unworthy and removes himself from Anu. His priesthood was charged with keeping his laws in his name. Achalam's and Sime's followers appear to have formed an alliance. While they differed on many issues, they seem to have made common cause against perceived enemies. Achalam appears in the much later Menem epic known as the Tarunachit. He was one of the Kovlah’s sub-commanding generals serving Yeoyupan, whose forces fell to Anu along with the Menem from Ranvartawan. He is depicted as participating in several ongoing battles against the Grand Menem. By equating Achalam with what would later be identified as the Suvuka, this appears to have been an ancient slander perpetuated against what the Menem saw as a rival religion. Venerable Scholars and Honoured Historians may now trace how this deity is an amalgam of four distinct gods of similar traits. They have also noted that the little history of this religion sees it becoming prominent during what is known as the Third Generation of Self Absorption. Beyond these fragments, the primary source of knowledge about this religion is found in one set of ten satyrical plays produced near the end of the World City of Thithanu, collectively known as the ‘Everlasting Ennui.’

Acoon

This strange creature has no known links to any other animal. Despite its large size and extraordinary appearance, it may be easily hidden in tropical foliage. No other being was coming close to its capacity to manufacture a wide range of potent juices, from the immobilizing toxins to the most profound Vision Windows. Given its relatively soft flesh, it moves slowly on a single slime foot, and the outside of dense foliage is quite visible; it may be wondered how such a being has survived. Its most extraordinary power is charm. It weaves around itself a mysterious bouquet of aromas that can modify swiftly to suit the flora and fauna surrounding it. It repels enemies with stinging and burning emissions and entices prey with stupefying redolence. From prehistoric times, the Tolku observed how Cousins could coax it to give them sweet, intoxicating drinks. They also observed how one would occasionally be persuaded to enter the cavity it would create within its body, somewhat like the Bowvow Tree, to gather them inside and consume them. They also noted how some ailing Cousins could gently gain entry, be saturated with medicines and then be released, seemingly healed of their ailments. The Tolku of the Primary Epoch and the Koru of the Secondary Epoch apprehended the potential to benefit significantly from this creature. Hundreds of generations laboured on modifying them within Tatchlan. Finally, Yeldic Majastas Multitude Sheshisana X culminated all this work to fashion what is now known as the ‘Comforting Nurse,’ who delivers the ‘Acoon Nostrum.' This powerful medicine can do what Healing Vats cannot: reach into the brains of sufferers and alleviate many mental ills (see also Shashelvan). This led to the formation of the Nostrum Bureau of the Wellbeing Ministry and changed all subsequent history. The Tolku laid the foundation for Sheshenara and Living Instruments; the Koru was renowned for the Healing Vat and the Yelda. The Yelda, in turn, has two achievements standing apart from all the rest: the Acoon and the Upata Bulb, both of which this most estimable Majastas Multitude played a vital part in.

Acoon Blood

Danam Yeldic Majastas Complete Bakasha-Duta II, who reigned from 152,689 to 153,460 UKC and 103,970 to 104,741 of the Nantu Age, possessed an exceptionality beyond the usual complement of powerful charms accompanying Majastas Completes. Despite being preceded by nineteen other Majastas Completes disbursed through the previous eleven Danam Yeldic Majastas Dynasties, Shehe was the first to possess what came to be known as ‘Acoon Blood.’ This term refers to Herhis's profound affinity not only to interact with Acoons but also to imbue them with new powers. It has been reported that Acoons sway and emit unusual sounds in their presence. Infusing fluids from the Majastas Complete occurs when they bond with the creatures. It is as if a reversal of the usual interaction takes place. The Majastas Complete steps into the Acoon’s ‘Gateway,’ and the being receives potent medicines from the Majastas. These new potencies are retained after the blissful encounter and passed on to the following generations. Only a handful of Danam Yeldic Majastas Completes possessed this ability. The subtle fluid properties of Completes have long been known. While Majastas Completes magnify this signature Spoke in many ways, most do not maintain powerful fluids beyond the already impressive suite of any other Majastas. It has been determined these exceptional Majastas Completes are one indicator of the ‘Splendid Yeldic Body,’ particularly of the Danam Yelda, manifesting a depth and richness hitherto unknown on the Skin of Anu.

Adept

This is a term for an itinerant Tolku educator trained and licensed in various forms of instruction during the Primary Epoch. This informal position had some oversight from authorities, particularly in Statos-Vey, where ‘Wandering Scholars’ were required to report to the capital, Upata-Shepsus, for recertification on an annual basis. As the social and educational infrastructure expanded in the late Duamang Age, these Adepts were increasingly replaced by established institutions and instructors. With the arrival of the Tolku’s Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, these facilities were primarily located in Ablution Academies.

Aeon

An Aeon is a unit of time division used by Venerable Scholars, Esteemed Librarians, Acclaimed Professors and Honoured Historians to navigate the immensity of the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch. One Aeon was 25,000 years in length. Based on incomplete and fragmentary records, the best estimate is that the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch comprised one hundred and twenty Aeons. The Voltumnam Majastas Dynasty reigned during Aeon Sixty, placing them close to the middle of this immense period. The first Aeon of the Secondary Epoch was 25,000 UKC, during the reign of Koru Majastas Nopsantur I, eighteen years before the completion of Thamand 121 Living Mountain. The Second Aeon was 50,000 UKC or 1281 of the Nantu Age during the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Danam Yelda Majastas Upata-Shepsus III. The Third Aeon was 75,000 UKC and N 26,281 during the seventy-eighth year of Danam Yeldic Majastas Kavan-Kyan II. This was forty-four years before Sowuk-Luzow Subject Province opened. The Fourth Aeon was 100,000 UKC and N 51,281 during the seven hundred and eighteen years of the reign of Danam Yeldic Majastas Multitude Valaganawon XVI. This was seven hundred and nineteen years before the Five Thousandth Two Hundredth Decennial Census of all Yelda of Statos-Vey was taken. The Fifth Aeon was 125,000 UKC and N 76,281 during the four hundred and thirty-seventh year of the reign of Danam-Yeldic Majastas Between Kutran-Kamos XV. The Sixth Aeon was 150,000 UKC and N 100,291 during the nine hundred and twenty-second year of the reign of Danam-Yeldic Majastas Multitude Hertamasa XXIV and ninety-five years before what would become the Second Majastas Multitude of this dynasty, Majastas Multitude Hertamasa XXV, was enfolded in the Mantle.


The Danam Yelda’s Nantu Age encompassed Nine Aeons, from the Second to the Eleventh. Their Emaxul Age commenced during the Twelfth and continued to the Thirtieth, for Eighteen Aeons. In their third age, the Quantha, where our series ends, all events occur within this Thirtieth Aeon, although it would span many more Aeons into the future.

Agility Trials

These are tests for Yeldic children and youth within the Yakku Collective of Thermistal and the Yakku Estates of Rho-Jashun. They are intended to confirm that the Yelda are sufficiently proficient at moving through the canopy to become full members of Yakku society. The trials have varied over time and region but generally have one or more short tests followed by physical demonstrations. A test may, for example, have the student swiftly identify diseased branches at a distance to know how to avoid them. While the subsequent demonstrations must display general agility, the participants must prove they may be entrusted with various tasks, including travelling through challenging courses while carrying heavy objects. Some regions have run multiple tests for different age groups while others make a day-long event where all display their abilities together. These trials were instituted early in The Interim by the Yeldic Newborns League to serve two purposes. Beyond the apparent examination of youthful ability, it was also to bring together Yakku and, on infrequent occasions, Koru parents to demonstrate the efficacy of having Yelda in the Collective and the benefits of continued relations with the Koru. Long after the tragic demise of the League, the practice continued. On Rho-Jashun, an additional element was added early in the Secondary Epoch. Select members of Field Yelda clusters surrounding the Yakku Estates also participated in these Agility Trials as part of their ongoing cordial relations with the Yakku.

Air is thin and empty. The loam is rich and full

This customary phrase links back to debates between Menem Priests and the Primary Tatchlan Masters at the dawn of the Primary Epoch.

Ally Creature

This term is applied to raw creatures, usually found by the Tolku during the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, and improved to become servants of the Tatchlan System. The two notable members of this class are the Cousins and the Krall. Venerable Scholars and Esteemed Librarians have also applied this term to other creatures who once served the ancient Suvuka during the pre-Tatchlan period. During their First Onslaught of Rho-Jashun, the Uluvatu Masters successfully gained entry to them. They began swift modifications to build bridges to the Suvuka, notoriously challenging to alter within Tatchlan, and to, in various ways, dull the impact of the Onslaught. The Suvuka noted these changes and exterminated all of their allies as tainted.

Alpanum Religion

This was the name of a Goddess worshiped early in the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch on Statos-Vey and certain portions of southern Rho-Jashun. Due to subsequent chaos and destruction, very few of her manifestations and teachings have survived. What is known is she was born out of ‘The Universal Egg’ floating on the ‘ocean with no bottom.’ Once hatched, she used the shell to create land and a succession of mates to bring about the birth of all life. Once fertilized, she consumed her consort and brought forth an entire class of flora or fauna. These were determined by the shape of the eggshell she had used to fashion her fertilizer. The Goddess Alpanum was given terms like ‘Opening Mother’ and ‘Laughing Mountain.’ Due to this second appellation, she has been associated with an ancient image - a giant of abundant features; she sits laughing as many tiny children climb over and sit on every portion of her generous body. Two additional features of these rare figures make clear she was the source of both creation and destruction. As her progeny swarmed over her, she gave birth to another infant as she stuffed two more into her laughing mouth. She is also associated with similarly prehistoric images of what appears to be a primitive representation of the Planet Anu with an immense pair of eyes. There is compelling evidence that several low mounds in central Statos-Vey were at one time modified to be open-air monuments to this Laughing Mountain. Apertures for numerous smaller statues to be affixed representing her young perforated the surface of these vaguely ‘mother-shaped’ mounds. These escaped vandalism during the Second Suvuka Onslaught because, as The Witnesses were spared, the Suvuka mistook them for natural features. Much later in the Lesser Era, a theatrical parody of the same name formed one of the ten plays known as the Everlasting Ennui. Whatever materials the playwrights consulted for their work have not survived until now. There is evidence that Alpanum came into conflict with the combined forces of the Sime and Achalam religions, which appear to have judged this tradition to be perverse, decadent and evil. There is some historical justification for associating this religion with the First Generation of Self Absorption. The Menem Priesthood of Thithanu mounted several crusades to eradicate all traces of this religion.

Ama

This is a traditional name for one’s birth mother; it can also be applied to other mothers. The usual appellation is First Ama, Second Ama, et cetera.

Amarel Mountain

This is a unique monument at the heart of a walled enclosure within the most-ancient Tolku port city of Bhampay. Its imposing physical dimensions and curious design are only matched by the near-complete lack of any explicit reference to it within surviving Primary Epoch literature. One of the few artistic renderings of this monument outside Bhampay appears within the Anu Cluster Event Chamber. This is located in the Inner City, beneath the Grand Interior of Upata-Shepsus, one thousand andas to the south and west. Its depiction within this Chamber makes clear the monument, or likely a succession of similar monuments, stood for most of the latter half of the Primary Epoch. Three profound mysteries envelop this strange golden dome. The first is the clear evidence that a massive undertaking, appearing to have taken one or more decades, was carried out to bury it and much of Bhampay just before the Killing Swath. The true nature of what was hidden beneath a set of hills fooled the Suvuka during their Second Onslaught through artful landscaping. It remained concealed throughout The Interim period. At the beginning of the Secondary Epoch, at the end of the reign of the first Koru Majastas and the assumption of the Mantle by the second member of the Zudaz Dynasty, Amarel Mountain was rediscovered. A passing reference to the immense labour of enshrouding this monument and the surrounding city over seven hundred years earlier was found. The First Stanza of what is known as the Final Tolku Proclamation was serendipitously discovered at the same time far to the north within Mount Arnom, one of the three original Sanctuaries, which provides the only official reference. “Bhampay shall empty, in preparation for filling, while our Tribute Chamber and Dream Guides are made safe for the heirs.” No other documentation has been discovered to explain or provide further details of this colossal enterprise, seemingly focused on preserving this monument above all else. The second mystery involves a group of one hundred and twenty-four striking sculptures arranged just beyond a circular procession way surrounding the monument. Initially, these bizarre figures meant nothing to the Koru uncovering them. In part due to texts initially dismissed as unintelligible from the uncovered Treasuries during The Interim, it was realized they were the largest surviving renderings of ‘Dream Guides.’ They represented a treasured tradition in the later Primary Epoch that the Guardians abandoned. The third and most profound mystery of all was contained within what turned out to be the hollow interior of Amarel Mountain. On a series of shelves were arranged two hundred and fifty-six sculpted forms. Despite the considerable variation in style and materials, all shared the peculiar feature of being pairs of joined heads, ranging from seemingly attached at their ears to melding into various merged forms composed of two distinct entities. The discovery of another ancient site far to the west known as Turace and its famous ‘Turace Royals’ did not make clear what these figures were, and it is now deemed evidence of a profound Majastas Inhibition. This was lifted dramatically in the final novel of this series. The story of this majestic discovery is presented in the series' second novel, Amarel Mountain.

Andas

A unit of measurement. Anu is 40,000 andas from the South to the North Pole. One Anda is subdivided into sixty-four units known as Ans. Imperial Ways are all one An in width. Each An is further divided into sixty-four units known as Das. A cart axel is one Da in length. Hull widths of canal craft are one Da. Each Da is further divided into a final sixty-four units known as Dans.

Angakut Channel

This is an incursion from the Panchala Sea dividing the northeastern coast of Statos-Vey from the southeastern coast of Rho-Jashun. While a shallow shelf characterizes much of the Panchala’s seabed, at this particular point, the ocean flows deep, and this channel shares its depth for most of its extent down to the eastern shore of the Pax Zenam Ridge. The Wakanda Channel is markedly shallower on the other side of the ridge. Due to this depth and the shape of the channel, Angakut has some of the deepest tides on all Anu. It is along the north shore of this channel that the Kavan-Kyan cave complex is located. In the Primary Epoch, the Tolku had many ports and settlements all along both coasts. In the Secondary Epoch, those who would become the Danam Yelda followed a route laid down by their Venerable Koru from Dalinantu to Upata-Shepsus, called the Ceremonial Walk, going south along its western coast, following the north shore of the Pax Zenam Ridge and then north towards the Primary Mountain Circle. This route is now a place of pilgrimage, re-enacting this historic migration of the early Danam Yelda.

Annular Chamber

Within each provincial centre’s Eight Ministry Campus is a spacious round room called the Annual Chamber. This may serve for large governance assemblies, ministry ceremonies, and public honour rituals for meritorious circles and clusters. The primary use of this space is for the occasion when the Majastas Progress arrives at this provincial centre. At this time, the Annual Chamber was converted into the Majastas Court. During the Primary Epoch, a gentle depression formed a ring around the periphery of this chamber. The symbolic significance has never been determined, but given this area's formal title throughout the Primary Epoch, the depression has been universally maintained to ensure this connection to treasured history.

Anu

This is the planet containing the continents of Thermistal, Rho-Jashun and Statos-Vey, along with all oceans, including the Wakanda Ocean and Panchala Sea, and life on and within it. She orbits around her father sun, Nu. Four moons orbit about her: Xica Nu, Lya Nu, Myka Nu, and Bekma Nu.

Anu’s Breath (Yakku/Koru/Yelda)

This is a conventional phrase designating the wind.

Anu Cluster Event Chamber

While a few other renditions depict this most-ancient global event, only one Anu Cluster Event Chamber exists. It is located deep underground within what is known as Upata-Shepsus’s famed ‘Inner City.’ It is beyond monumental in scale and contains vast and intricate mosaics depicting this intercontinental ceremony that is without parallel. It is also the best preserved, close to pristine condition, given its antiquity. While the glorious Grand Interior on the surface was reduced to ash during the Second Suvuka Onslaught, all entries to the Inner City were successfully camouflaged, and it appears the brutes never dreamt of what lay beneath their paws. Early in the Secondary Epoch, the Statos-Vey Protectorate, charged with preparing the subcontinent for its eventual possession by what would be known as the Danam Yelda, discovered the Inner City and, eventually, this most-ancient wonder. Descriptions of this chamber are found in the third novel of this series, Dalinantu Emergence. Its complete study commenced in 48,481 UKC by the Koru’s Enumerator and other Dallamaplan Ministries. The Chamber is the most immense of all most-ancient structures, extending nearly two full andas from end to end and over half an anda wide. Gatherings of up to ten thousand have occupied the interior with ease. Internal evidence points to its construction halfway through the Primary Epoch, possibly during the famed Voltumnam Dynasty. Subtle signs within the Chamber suggest there was a growing realization that what had been the welcome Blossom event was now turning into an increasingly deadly Bane requiring shelter. There are even suggestions it was used during such events to house vulnerable species and populations as part of a growing initiative known as ‘The Shift.’ While all aspects of this Chamber are infused with the most exquisite of art and craft, the ceiling gives the Chamber its title. The broad central panels depict a global ceremony called the Anu Cluster Event. This universal rite commenced on the first occupied land to witness Nu’s rising in the east. According to Nu's progress through the sky, all clusters would rise and perform a series of simple gestures and chants accompanied by musical sequences, all according to the drummer's beat. At designated points further west, each new group would begin their version of the same series. This would form a line going south to north, travelling westward across the three continents throughout the day. Lake Kozen, standing for the centre of all Anu’s land at the equator, located just north of the Angakut Channel, was the ceremonial midpoint of the global event. This lake is in southeastern Rho-Jashun in what is now Chelka Province. While there were several points of respite, the ceremonies continued in each region until Nu set in the west. A poet’s line comes down to us describing this event, “our flesh was an undulating ocean surging across Anu.” The ceiling depicted the entire sequence playing out in numerous reference points from one end of Anu to the other. All of the innumerable wondrous monuments represented no longer exist, except Amarel Mountain in Bhampay. Independent records and dramatic depictions of this event are fragmentary. They suggest hundreds of these global events, perhaps tied to the marking of a new Aeon, occurred during the Primary Epoch. However, what initiated such vast undertakings has never been definitively concluded. Despite many glories of the Secondary Epoch, within the scope of this novel series, the Anu Cluster Event has never been repeated due to the divisions between the Koru and the Yakku.

Anu’s Turnings

This is a common way of referring to national and international affairs and events.

Arms are growing/continue to grow (Yakku)

This is meant to signify good health and proficiency in the arboreal life of the Yakku Nation. It is most often applied to Yakku Yelda and other Yelda who have joined Yakku society and are acclimatizing themselves to the Eight Levels of Yakku civilization.

Mount Arnom

This is one of three Mulungu Mountains comprising the ‘Central Triumvirate,’ including Mounts Chraxan and Rongu, set up by the last Tolku and first Koru early in The Interim to shelter against the Second Suvuka Onslaught and cultivate the necessary conditions for a new Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. Arnom stands tall among her modest foothill neighbours. As with many mountains in this region, it maintained several Eye Stations. One, the Molvon Eye Station, is a preserved ruin as the Suvuka discovered and destroyed it. Mount Arnom’s greatest fame comes from it containing the Kodrapum Grotto and the Parayad Treasury. It is from this collection that the Tolku Final Proclamation was recovered.

Aroma Accord
There are five families of body aroma within a cluster, known as Accords. These are the foundations of circle and cluster functioning.

Aroma Accord Sillage
This is a trail left by one or more Aroma Accords within or outside a cluster. While any group of cluster mates can produce sillage, this is the particular power of the Cinnabar Betweens. Their potent combination of Warm and Sweet Accords may ‘cause charm’ in many settings ranging from Ablution Academy events to rural Giftings. Groups of Cinnabar Betweens work in concert to ‘interknit’ their ‘Sillage Spoor’ at such public functions.

Aroma Bloom

This is a flush of intensified scent issuing off a body, usually immediately after a Skin Shedding. There are other instances of the Bloom, usually under very unusual circumstances. One example is when numerous members of one of the Eight Living Jewels congregate together during their sequestering throughout a Burning Blossom Cycle. This Bloom is not to be confused with a ‘Scent Wash’ that occurs near the end of a woman’s first pregnancy, announcing that she is a Double.

Artisans Borough

These ‘Mantle Establishments’ are often associated with a neighbouring Ablution Academy. They are located in those settings on that precinct's eastern or southern extent. They may also be separately situated in a large Encirclement, often designated as a provincial centre’s ‘Seats of Collective Districts’ by the Regions Bureau of the Grandee Secretariat Ministry. These structures may vary widely, and a stranger may be sure of their function only by the Emblem of the House Upkeep Bureau of the Ceremonies Ministry. An Artisan Borough may also have one or more Face Shrines attached to it, given the close association these facilities have with making Masks and all other regalia associated with the Face Days of Tatchlan. All Art and Craft are taught and produced in these structures, and they have a close association with one of the Fourth of the Eight Living Jewels, those designated as possessing ‘Deep Craft.’ They are revered as ‘the garden out of which all beauty ensues.’

Asaku

This is the smallest member of the first of three Cousins branches, known as the ‘Tree Dwellers.’ They are known for their arresting yellow coats with striking green and blue accents on their faces, hands and tails. Throughout the Primary and Secondary Epochs, these tiny imps served as messengers, trained to navigate great cities to bring messages to specific recipients before returning to their place. The early Practicians and first Masters built on their considerable ability to learn complicated routes through the jungle, along with a solid visual memory, to accomplish this. As with the other ‘Tree Dwellers,’ the Asaku could serve the Gatherers in harvesting Nara fruit while producing Sheshenara. They also played a modest role in sailing vessels during the Primary Epoch, which were strengthened to serve the Kudurapala during the Secondary Epoch. The Yakku of Thermistal expanded their functions within their Collective at each Level, making them an integral part of their life in the canopy. These included responding to a wide variety of voice commands.

Ashailna River

The Ashailna is said to ‘flow through Statos-Vey's history.’ The brutes could not erase this mighty river's legacy despite so much being destroyed on Statos-Vey due to the Second Suvuka Onslaught polluting this elegant subcontinent. The Ashailna begins on Latva, the inner land arm forming the northern shore of the Angakut Channel, over two thousand andas due east of Upata-Shepsus. Soon after her birth, she fed two high lakes, Napiruka and Mererish, before continuing east and passing through the Danam Yeldic Provincial Centre of Mish-Kanla in the later Secondary Epoch. She then turns north before turning east to flow past her most ancient ornament, the ‘Mabulan Procession,’ one of a series of prehistoric wonders collectively known as ‘The Witnesses’ built from monumental stone found on the subcontinent. The Danam Yelda followed this immense configuration during their Ceremonial Walk to Upata-Shepsus. As with all these monuments, the Mabulan Procession appears to have stymied the Suvuka, who left them untouched. Ashailna continues north and east before turning southeast. From here, another monument escaped the savages’ talons. For the next one thousand, six hundred and ninety-eight andas, the Ashailna becomes a broad canal, its bed faced with the purest Azure Stone in gentle descending tiers, before emptying into Lake Mandadra. Fragmentary literary evidence makes clear this now elegant watercourse, which flowed directly before The Gateway of Upata-Shepsus, was a significant Ceremonial Procession route. Colossal events involving hundreds, and even thousands, of Tumatch, carried glittering displays and entire theatre troupes performing epic dramas to innumerable attendees along both shores along its complete length. The canal’s dimensions are perfect for Alpha Tumatch to proceed with its substantial front flippers throughout its extent. During the Secondary Epoch, Danam Yeldic Majastas, on occasion, reenacted this spectacle on several noteworthy events.

Atmite Treasury

This Treasury was the nineteenth out of thirty-two to be uncovered by the first generations of Koru early in The Interim period. The Second and Third Generations had begun to tentatively explore the many legacies left behind by the Tolku before The Killing Swath swept their world away. While most Treasuries were filled with a wide variety of texts, often packed according to size with no relation to each other in each of their crates, the Atmite Treasury is unique. Containing two thousand twenty-four crates within the characteristic Treasury interior, in this case, as a Ketukku Drone, the majority of their crate contents were the exact proportions, being volumes of a single collection. Despite being of similar dimensions and containing a standard complement of crates, Atmite is the most modest collection of all Treasuries, with a final count of 221,440 recovered volumes. Of these, a remarkable 187,310 were sequential members of a single compendium, named the ‘Conceptional Lists.’ This title refers to the immense collection known as ‘Concept Filaments,’ tracing the path of ideas through time. This was the work of the deepest branch of Honoured Historians, known as ‘Jemnum Apprehenders,’ who were usually also members of the Genius Class of Living Jewels. As with most of the Treasuries, this collection proved challenging to appreciate fully. Part of this had to do with innumerable abbreviated references to historical events and personages for which no other documentation was ever found. These volumes were also written in a dense style using an extensive collection of specialized vernacular. Despite these challenges, new generations of Koru and later Danam Yeldic Apprehenders would master and then add to this scholastic monument. As with their most-ancient predecessors, modern Jemnum Apprehenders will conclude, ‘There are few new ideas on the Face of Anu.’

Awakening Blade

A small ceremonial knife used by a specialized branch of Invocates who work what are known as the Tatchlan Cubes. The knife was used to prick each finger of one hand and apply it to five holes in a mesh created by Living Instruments to commence the rite. This ceremonial tool's size and singular design date back to the Tolku’s Buyanupithar Dynastic capital of Thithanu on Rho-Jashun in pre-Tatchlan times.

Azure Stone

This is a rare stone found primarily in the Veradapandra Mountains of Statos-Vey. This material is perhaps the most beautiful and durable of all stones for building, sculpture and other craftwork. It is also valued for its ability to be sliced into thin sheets that may be applied to other constructions to strengthen it. During the Primary Epoch, thin slices of Azure were also used as coloured glass in structures and even carriages. These iridescent windows become a signature of Majastas Ministry structures on Statos-Vey during the Secondary Epoch. While strong, Azure also has an elastic quality, allowing structures composed of it to survive Anu quakes better. Tiny gemstones, including Lapis, Cupric and Argent, are embedded in the highest quality Azure. Most of these gems are also found in more prominent veins within the range. A far smaller quantity of this material has been located within the Viracocha Mountains of Western Thermistal, the eldest of that continent’s three mountain ranges.

BBB

Baby Mother Sacrament

This term covers several rites of great antiquity, all devoted to the community’s devotion to the soil’s fertility. Long before any written language, these ‘Blood Crop’ practices solidified, first for planting Charsha and later for Salarish. It is to be noted that the Salarish craft long predated the Buyanupithar Dynasty, which converted the vast Marachla Plain of Rho-Jashun into fields of improved crops. The primary branches of these ceremonies, one for each crop, are the Sprouting Mother (Charsha) and Baby Mother (Salarish) rites. Both involve the formation of ‘fertile mother’ figurines out of a paste formed by the kernels, which are ‘fertilized’ by germinating seeds and blood offerings so they may be fortified and take root within the body before sprouting out. These offerings are taken to the fields to fertilize the coming crop in various ways. Despite so much being lost from the Primary Epoch, the memory of these traditions persisted among the Field Yelda of the Marachla Plain and later the Danam Yeldic Rural Clusters of Statos-Vey.

Backforest/backwoods/backjungle (Yakku)

A phrase meaning going deep into the forest or jungle, away from the large population centres. Depending on the speaker's origin, this term has a positive or negative connotation. The backforest is where illegal or forbidden activity may take place. The phrase also connotes cultural and social backwardness. Another term that implies these negative connotations is the ‘Thicket.’ Conversely, it may also be seen as a place untouched by the impurity of the larger population centres.

Backwoods Art

These Yakku artworks of Thermistal, in a wide variety of media, are characterized by two features. The first is their traditional location deep in the thickets, far from the Crown Rises. The second feature is their mystical quality. Most feature depictions of amalgams of Yakku and trees, often morphing into and out of each other. Another prominent subject is the Wajah, who are rarely shown as they appear but as monumental Yakku bodies growing out of the earth, often sprouting branches out of their bodies and heads. There is little to no ideology accompanying these artworks, which appeal to a fundamental Yakku identity. While both predating and following the eventual death of the Siv-Sa religion, they have been associated with the backwoods culture of this period. It has been noted that these strange creations only appear in urban centres when there is civil unrest, such as during The Rift period.

Bane

This usually refers to a dangerous or even calamitous event, commonly from the class of Non-Living Elements. While they are generally seen as not alive and, therefore, are not affected by Tatchlan, they also possess ambiguous qualities, making them difficult to categorize. These Banes are typically classified into four classes, ‘From Above,’ ‘From Below,’ ‘From Water,’ and ‘From Surface.’ Some mimic strange versions of rare atmospheric or geological events, while others draw close to resembling dangerous creatures. Some are traditionally seen as heralds of an impending Burning Blossom Cycle, and others maintain themselves regardless of the passage of time. Many Governance Ministries devote significant time and expense to studying and, wherever possible, mitigating the harm caused by these Banes.

Beautiful Accomplishments

This refers to the intensive specialty of song, music and dance associated with Completes and Betweens. These are primarily related to intimate affairs within the cluster or between clusters during Giftings. During Face Days and other ceremonial events, they may also take on extravagant forms within Ablution Academies and other public settings. Within Danam Yeldic cluster culture, this has grown to new dimensions with the advent of their potent forms of cluster dance, in particular, their Spinning Wheel Dances.

Beautiful and Practical in Equal Measure

A traditional phrase said to date back to the Primary Epoch; it phrases the value of ensuring all functional aspects are ‘improved by art.’ The ideal in both Koru and Danam Yeldic  Cluster-of-Clusters Nations was for the beauty to be distinct to as many senses as possible.

Bekma Nu

Fourth of Anu’s four moons. Known as ‘Smaller Moon’ and ‘Peaceful Moon.’ It has a near-white face with what appears to be blue and green veins running through it. In most ancient times, Chelyaka called him the second ‘cool moon,' and the followers of Menem named this moon Yuyutar, ‘the Guide,’ the fourth member of the Four Grand Menem. This moon's formal depiction is a black-and-white sphere with a line of figures standing between them. This moon is associated with Openness, the third Yeldic Cluster Virtue. This cool moon appears in its opening crescent face, or first quarter, at the end of the Yeldic Equilibrium Icon; the final design is two ‘cool,’ outward-facing crescents enclosing the two ‘hot moons’ between them. The Shanni of Thermistal designated the Ridatu inhabiting this moon as the servant of the second of the Principle Ridatu, Lya Nu. Bekma Nu is said never to be alone.’ He rises while Myka Nu is low on the western horizon and is followed by Xica Nu before reaching his zenith.

Benevolence Bowers

These merciful Mantle Establishments are usually associated with an Ablution Academy and are dedicated to providing a wide range of healing services. These facilities house finely-tuned Healing Vats for unusual conditions and specialized Healers and Soothers. Some of the more extensive facilities may even possess one or more Acoon. Along with treating a wide variety of conditions, these are also teaching facilities on these esteemed tracts of Majastas Property for Healers and Soothers to either be certified for general practice or attain a ‘Benevolence Speciality’ by all bureaus of the overseeing Wellbeing Ministry. Small specialist universities may be attached to these Majastas Foundations for in-depth study and training associated with a particular branch of medicine. Mobile circles of Healers, Soothers specialists and Living Instruments have been known to be dispatched to attend to a cluster for various issues, such as when the entire cluster is suffering a Malaise.

Bestowals

A general term referring to gifts presented during ceremonies. The best-known form of bestowal occurs during the festival day of a Principal Faces of Tatchlan. Many wearing the costume of one or more of the Faces perform dance dramas and throw or present miniatures of their mask or other symbolic attributes of that aspect of the system.

Between

A Between is a Spoke of the Cluster Wheel possessing both female and male sensibilities. The variations are formalized into seven distinct Aspects: Amarel, Cinnabar, Azel, Acanthus, Lapis, Ochre, and Antimony. As children, they are trained in many creative and ceremonial duties set aside for them within the cluster. Their name comes from one ceremony where they stand as a bridge between all female and male cluster members.

Bhampay (map)

This famed port city, one of the richest gems of Statos-Vey, was founded by the first Unifying Dynasty of the Funomanru. Due to many natural factors, they designated what had already been a sizeable port as their commercial capital. At the same time, royal power and imperial administration resided in what would come to be known as the Primary Mountain Circle of Upata-Shepsus. During this early period, these two concentrations of wealth and power were called the ‘Sister Cities.’ The Funomanru fashioned the first Imperial Way, originally paved entirely of rich Azure Stone, travelling directly from Bhampay’s port terminus for nine hundred and seventy-seven andas to the yawning Gateway into Upata-Shepsus, ending at The Plateau. Even when the Primary Mountain Circle took on different roles, Bhampay became a commercial hub for Statos-Vey. Its greatest pre-Tatchlan glory came when it assumed the mantle as capital for the Yin-Vinulan Dynasty, leaving a considerable cultural legacy. They transformed the immense rock formation in the southeastern quadrant into what came to be known as ‘The Tooth,’ where their famed palaces were built and finished a broad assembly area around it today occupied by ‘The Blue City.’ Their most enduring bestowal came from the Red Ring Wall's engineering wonder around the city bordering the Inner Harbour. The Quickening of the Tatchlan System became manifest in this city with the birth of Majastas Thakadush-Satwa. For the extended duration of the Tolku’s Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, this port city continued its venerable role as a commercial and cultural metropolis. Out of the thirty-two Treasuries discovered by the early Koru during The Interim, several documenting astonishing claims about the city contained an initially mystifying set of volumes. In particular, those were suggested periods when the port of Bhampay held thousands of thousands of the Eight Living Jewels. One claimed over seven thousand recognized under the first class of ‘Genius’ dwelt in the city during a single generation. All this glory came to an end with The Killing Swath. Even then, Bhampay was distinguished by a massive project to bury much of the city, including Amarel Mountain, against what appears to be the sure knowledge of an eventual Second Suvuka Onslaught. Its role in serving the future appears in the First Stanza of the Final Proclamation of the Tolku. The Secondary Epoch has seen Bhampay returning to and exceeding its former glory in instances too numerous to mention. One of the most notable occurred during the Emaxul Age when it was the first city to have all its clusters housed in Upata Bulbs.

Blood Crop

This is a prehistoric concept of giving blood as a form of recompense for cutting the Skin of Anu during cultivation. A ceremonial knife, known as the ‘Kothon,’ is employed with reverence at the start of various solemn ceremonies to score her Face. This practice has taken many forms through time and across regions. Still, the essentials are blood in some way ceremonially used, often with the officiant scoring themselves and allowing their blood to fill the wounds in the soil. Kothon Festivals often characterize Spring One of the Salarish Agricultural Calendar. Blood is also a fundamental ingredient in the most-ancient Baby  Mother rituals. While there are records of such rites from Funomanru times forward, wonder may be found in their unbroken practice through to the present. The same rites practiced by Chelyakan devotees to maintain their sealed world during The Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch are used by Rural Clusters within the Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation during the Quantha Age of the Secondary Epoch. A Kothon Blade is found in a place of honour in each Rural Cluster on this day. Such examples speak to Yelda’s deep love of the steadfast continuance of tradition, fashioning ennobling roots deep into the treasured past. There is some evidence within Tatchlan that the Uluvatu Masters had a hand in this admirable example of generational continuity.

Blood Midges
This is a general term for many tiny night-flying bloodsuckers. They are primarily known in tropical regions. From prehistory, those dwelling in these areas develop a sufficient tolerance that they hardly notice their presence by Ripe Adulthood. The subcontinent of Statos-Vey is their primary abode, and both the Tolku and later the Yelda are not only accustomed to them, but their presence has become an aesthetic benefit. From ancient times, the cumulative spotting from repeated bites endures skin sheddings, and a generous and unique configuration of markings has become an attractive feature. Northerners on Rho-Jashun and Thermistal, not accustomed to their constant attention, are less confident and require time to adjust. Remarkably, the most-ancient Tolku discovered the savage Suvuka found their presence in southeastern Thermistal, a perennial irritant. It is now known that many of the early Uluvatu Master’s improvements were carried by Blood Midges. Master Duamang used them as ‘chariots’ to carry her weapon to defeat the Suvuka.

Blue City

The Blue City comprises one hundred and eighty-one tight complexes of clusters and compounds spread in formation across an expansive area dominating the southwestern quadrant of the Sister City of Bhampay. They stand on the vast parade ground and assembly area surrounding the most-ancient monumental seat of the Yin-Vinulan Dynasty, ‘The Tooth.’ These surface complexes were connected by an intricate subterranean transit network from early in the Secondary Epoch and given over to the Danam Yelda’s Cluster-of-Clusters Variothya Ministries. Like the far more ancient Imperial Way, rich stone paving was laid down to distinguish this sector further. The tradition began by installing a blue banner in front of each complex detailing what ministry was found there. While all eight ministries have always had a significant presence here, the Cycles and Ceremonies Ministries compose the crucial component, making them the authoritative hub for these two Cluster-of-Clusters Ministries for all Statos-Vey. The immense commercial warehouses in the port city are on the western edge, where most of the Cycles Ministry facilities are located. Cycles also dominate the northern portion of the Blue City, directly facing The Imperial Way running through the centre of Bhampay. The eastern and southern sides of the Blue City contain most of the Ceremonies Ministry, where three monuments along the eastern border are associated with them. During the Emaxul Age and the arrival of the Upata Bulbs as the preferred cluster residence, the Blue City underwent its own transformation. While the rest of the city lost all its former regularity in what became the familiar organic arrangement of Encirclements, the Blue City maintained its structure. The Upata Bulb clusters of the ministries were placed under what came to be called ‘Star Blocks’ composed of hugely fashioned and highly-polished blue Sheret Shields. This uniform and polished formation presents a commanding presence to all entering the Blue City and stands in marked contrast to the happy chaos of the Encirclements surrounding them. The Blue City title predated this development, but now, these formations cemented the precinct’s identity.

Blue Star

This sea creature has seven radiating arms of a deep blue colour. They converge on a deep red egg-shaped core that advertises its toxic contents if attacked. It is a slow-moving predator seeking out a variety of shell-bearing sea life. It is primarily known for herding its young between the gaps in its arms. As they form tight formations, they appear at a distance to be seven spheres encircling their parent. There are prehistoric depictions of this creature, where it is already fashioned into a heraldic device. Due to the formation of its young, it is known to have been associated with protection and guardianship. It became a royal emblem during the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, particularly for the Yin-Vinulan Dynasty of Bhampay. It also became associated with The Blossom and its Benisons during the early portions of the Greater Era. This was the rewarding precursor of what would later become the dangerous Burning Blossom. The Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation of Statos-Vey used this most-ancient symbol of defence and preservation in the Secondary Epoch. It made it a Majastas emblazon, featured prominently in all eight Variothya Majastas Ministries icons.

Bowvow Tree
This exceptional being was classified in most-ancient times as a ‘plant/animal.’ Its outward appearance is of a tree with several singular features. Its leaves are thick with a naturally occurring fibrous growth on the underside. Its bark is fragrant and gives off a gentle heat that is even noticeable in the tropics. This tree being also distinguishes itself by emitting a series of sounds, primarily an extended series of low thrumming rhythms. By far, its most famous attribute is how it feeds. While having a root system, it also has a unique way of gaining sustenance from living creatures by temporarily creating an opening for animals to enter a cavity. They do so for shelter but always leave a small portion of themselves behind. The early Tolku saw how some creatures, including Cousins, chose to end themselves within the Bowvow and how others consigned their dead to the being. All subsequent histories of the Primary and Secondary Epochs on all continents have cultures celebrating and venerating the Bowvow Tree.

Brangnam Plague
This was one of the most feared of all nightmares in ancient times. The Brangnam Plague existed in a mild form among the Cousins, but it leapt to the early Tolku in prehistoric times. Among them, it turned vile and visited unimaginable suffering and death. It was not uncommon for entire communities to slay themselves in what became known as ‘Merciful Suicide’ at local pools of Hungry Rock once it was clear they were infected to avoid the horror to come. Initially, its scope was limited due to the modest nature of early societies, but it would return to find large cities to ravage after biding its time. Eventually, the Tatchlan Masters struggled heroically for generations and ultimately domesticated it. They ‘pulled its teeth’ and put a firm halter on it for service. Twice, they were employed by the Tolku to defeat the Suvuka. Once by Master Duamang to remove them from Rho-Jashun, and then by Koru Majastas Zudaz I, who finished the Suvuka on all Anu. After this task, She turned the last of this dangerous entity upon itself to extinguish itself.

Bundled and hanging (Yakku)

This is meant to signify a concentration, be it of Yakku or other creatures or items. It is based on the common practice of taking valuables or any desirable thing, putting them in a bag or basket, and hanging them from a branch for safekeeping.

Burning Blossom

Nu has been going through a series of accelerating cycles occurring once in tens of millennia throughout recorded history. The earliest references are found midway through the Duamang Age during the final years of the Lesser  Era of the Primary Epoch. Throughout its history, the Cycles have been characterized by extraordinary ‘rainbow emanations’ around the disk of Nu. For much of the Greater Era, these grew into a welcome boon. They came to be known simply as the ‘Blossom.’ Life appeared to respond beautifully to ‘Nu’s Largesse.’ The Tolku found themselves cured of ailments and augmented just by standing under its garish radiance. Preserved ‘Comely Tales’ from the Treasuries speak of miraculous children born, while other volumes listed the ‘Blossom Benisons’ bestowed on Tatchlan itself during these events. An elaborate culture came to be constructed around this eagerly anticipated occurrence. Each Blossom Cycle series grew stronger than the last, and finally, late in the Greater Era, what had been the beloved Blossom turned into the fearful ‘Burning Blossom.’ From this time and throughout the Secondary Epoch, these cycles of Nu grew increasingly vicious. The Koru were always the most sensitive and came to hide entirely within their Living Mountains. When these proved insufficient and large numbers suffered and died, they were forced to abandon their magnificent legacy on the Skin of Anu and construct their Deep Domains beneath Anu’s Flesh. The Danam Yelda and Yakku could better withstand the Burning Blossom but found themselves repeating the steps the Koru had taken long before. They moved eventually towards the same conclusion, which extends beyond the scope of this novel series.

Buyanupithar Dynasty

This is the second pre-Tatchlan royal dynasty of the Tolku after the Funomanru. The Buyanupithar was the most powerful and lasted over two millennia. They were based in northern Rho-Jashun and built the most significant capital city on the surface of Anu, Thithanu. Only the vast constructions of the Koru’s Living Mountains in the Secondary Epoch surpassed it. Based in the north, they sponsored work to bring Salarish into equal production as a staple as Charsha enjoyed in the south, filling the vast Marachla Plain with undulating fields of the tall crop. They established the calendar and an extensive civil code, still in use, among many other accomplishments. During their reign, the Menem Religion became prominent and eventually dominated all others, leading to the persecution and destruction of all other traditions. At this time, the early Masters quit the capital and travelled south to settle in Mount Uluvatu on Statos-Vey. Despite many successes, the scourge of the Four Generations of Self-Absorption finally brought this glorious dynasty down. There was the rot of ministerial corruption at the empire’s heart and growing civil disturbance on its periphery. While bringing about many improvements, the Menem Priesthood's sponsorship of the proliferation of machines also appears to have led to many breakdowns in the social order. Cycles of plague swept through a capital lacking sufficient sanitation while a rash of Non-Living Banes further destabilized a now-tottering state. In the end, the Buyanupithar met its tragic end in a series of self-ignited conflagrations.

By my four thumbs and sixteen fingers! (Yakku)

This is an often-used exclamation among the Yakku, referring to what they pride as one of their distinctive physical traits, their elongated toes allowing them to boast of having a second set of hands, as all true tree-dwelling cousins. Toe length has been used to distinguish those Yakku Yelda as more Yakku than Koru.

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The Capital Region

Precisely one hundred andas from the outside boundaries of the Primary Mountain Circle of Upata-Shepsus on all sides is designated as ‘The Capital Region.’ This territory, including the ‘Grand Interior’ on the Skin of Anu and the ‘Inner City’ beneath it, is directly administered by the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation and partakes of its historical glory. This boundary was officially marked lavishly during the Primary Epoch by erecting two monumental sculptures known as the Majastas Varox on either side of the Imperial Way to announce their entry into the Capital Region to all travellers. The Suvuka destroyed them during their Second Onslaught. Early in the Secondary Epoch, the Statos-Vey Protectorate restored these monuments. This was on the eve of the Danam Yelda's arrival at the end of their Ceremonial Walk from Dalinantu. At all other points, official stelae stand at regular one-anda intervals around the distant periphery of the outer walls. This landscape, containing certain specialized cluster compounds, is studded with many tall memorials and monuments to important events and exceptional personalities of past ages. Seven of the eight Imperial Ways radiating from Upata-Shepsus stop at the surface to the Capital Region, where other surface transport is taken into Upata-Shepsus. The underground lines continue; some have stops at different stations within the Primary Mountain Circle, but all end in the terminal beneath the roots of The Plateau.

Cathalu

While categorized as a most-ancient religion, what little is known suggests it was more of a philosophical movement that used vivid imagery to dress up profound concepts. Fragments of founding myths relate to how what would now be termed the prehistoric Tolku, aided by legions of Cousins, threw down a pantheon of gods and used their dismembered bodies to fertilize and enrich the Skin of Anu. They also feasted on this divine flesh and gained their powers. The smaller Cousins consumed their feet and hands to gain dexterity, the larger cousins their arms and legs to gain strength, while the Tolku ate their heads and so grew to possess immense intelligence. There are also some passing references to some association between the proponents of Cathalu and the Chelyakans; given their very different idea systems, this is poorly understood. By consuming their gods, the Everlasting Ennui play of the same name is relatively gentle in critiquing this religion. Cathalu is now associated with the First Generation of Self Absorption. In later ages, there appears to have been a significant augmentation of the core literature with even more sophisticated musings on the nature of existence and life on Anu. The Pauloman Catalogues of the Mount Midin Amassment mention finding extensive collections of later works inspired by this tradition. Included in their observations were examples of what are thought to be among the earliest written references to the concept of ‘self-absorption’ as the fundamental issue to resolve to bring about lasting peace and prosperity. They also noted early references to other most-ancient truisms, such as the famous saying ‘I am because we are.’ Sadly, all traces of this most-ancient material perished in the Amassment Tragedy.

Central Triumvirate

This term was later given to the three principal mountains within the central and southern range of the Mulungus of Rho-Jashun, Chraxan, Arnom and Rongu. They formed the ‘Sanctuaries,’ where the surviving Tolku found refuge after The Killing Swath at the end of the Primary Epoch and where the first Koru came into being in subsequent generations during The Interim. The term also refers to the first beneficent state formed prior to the arrival of the first Koru Majastas, Zudaz I. Under the hand of this emergent civilization, the early Genius of the Koru became manifest. They reclaimed and perfected the Recovered Ones, giving birth to a novelty unknown in The Primary Epoch, the Healing Vat. This led to a new culture based on the most-ancient Spoke of the Cluster Wheel, Doubles, and their unique role in nurturing these Healing Vats. A particular cluster of the time, the Pomona Cluster, is now celebrated throughout all Cluster-of-Cluster Nations. With the arrival of the first Koru Majastas, this honourable period gave way to the triumphal return of Tatchlan to Anu. The Triumvirate also oversaw the ambitious attempt to rescue the Mount Midin Amassment and the initial work in The Treasuries.

Ceremonial Walk
In the year 48,558 UKC of the Secondary Epoch, on Foremost Day (415) of Two-Month Drostol, ‘The Lamp’ (24), during the reign of Koru Majastas Mustamu II, the Epochal Generational Plan of seeing the Yelda bringing about the Koru vision of ‘Two Majastas Hands’ commenced. The founding Koru Majastas Zudaz I began this plan in the first years of the Secondary Epoch. Her Dynasty and the six that followed laboured on readying the Yelda to become a Majastas-Growing, Cluster-of-Clusters Nation able to preside over the day hours as the Koru presided over the night hours. Now, the second Majastas of the eighth Koru Majastas Dynasty sent out the thirty-two fortified clusters, representing the pinnacle of the Yelda, to complete their destiny. Galvanized by the seldom deployed ‘Spice Driver,’ they went from an ancient assembly area just beyond the southeastern boundary of the Mulungu Mountains, approaching the Panchala Sea, called Dalinantu. A century before this nation-building event was set in motion, a vast construction project created a broad and noble way in the original Funomanru Imperial Way model connecting Upata-Shepsus to Bhampay. Millions of fine-dressed Azure and other stones were laid in elegant formation along the nine-thousand anda route from Dalinantu to its joining with the original Imperial Way at The Gateway to the Primary Mountain Circle. The Statos-Vey Protectorate oversaw this venture based on The Plateau of Upata-Shepsus. The last ornamental flagstones were sealed at The Gateway into Upata-Shepsus on the same day the Ceremonial Walk began in Dalinantu. These were initially named ‘State Yelda’ to distinguish them from the ‘Field Yelda’ remaining on the Marachla Plain. After a faltering start, they swiftly surpassed all expectations in their rapid progress along the 9,529-anda route, fortified by twenty-four caches set along the way and a small fleet of Kudurapala, eventually joined by Koru Invocate Circles. During their remarkable journey, they raised twenty Witness Mounds at regular intervals. They circumnavigated most of the Angakut Channel and traversed the Pax Zenam Ridge in an odyssey detailed in the third novel of this series.

Certain actions lead to certain results

This phrase is attributed to the Primary Tatchlan Masters. It intends to instruct Invocates on the practical aspects of working the Tatchlan System, with or without its exotic and mystical depths. Perhaps the most notable example of this phrase, and the associated body of teaching, was with the Kitheshal movement during the Nantu Age of the Danam Yelda.

The Change

Surviving The Killing Swath at the close of the Primary Epoch, the Tolku of both Statos-Vey and Rho-Jashun and the separate population of Tolku of Thermistal underwent mysterious transformations over subsequent generations. The process has many names, and some aspects of these unusual developments are little understood. What is known is this process differed significantly in the south and the north. Those living in the Sanctuaries of the Mulungu Mountains on Rho-Jashun began to see their bodies increase in girth and a diminishment and intensification of certain senses. Their sense of smell became more acute, whereas their eyesight became profound in the darkness and weakened in daylight. These cumulative alterations led the now nocturnal descendants of the original refugees to acknowledge they were new beings and came to call themselves Koru. On Thermistal, the surviving Tolku of necessity scaled the mighty forest stands in Western Thermistal to elude the Suvuka’s Second Onslaught. Over subsequent generations, they also changed, although they did so in markedly different ways to the Koru to the south. For them, their bodies elongated, their ears grew huge, emphasizing their new acute hearing, and the toes on their feet lengthened significantly. These and other changes led them to the same conclusion: they were no longer Tolku. They named themselves Yakku. It would later be revealed within Tatchlan that these two sets of transformations were partly brought about by the Living System radically altering their bodies to suit their very different settings. Thus, ‘The Change’ reworked the original Tolku into the Koru and Yakku. Adding to the mystery was the birth of Yelda. They were the result of many sexual encounters between the Koru and Yakku when they were reunited during ‘The Happy Century’ and beyond. While Koru adults produced Koru children and Yakku adults Yakku children, Koru and Yakku couplings produced what appeared to be Tolku in proportions and propensities. This surprising result has been a deep study of the matter inside and out of Tatchlan.

Charsha

While many kinds of cereal were harvested in prehistoric times, Charsha was the first to be improved through selective breeding and intensively cultivated. During this long process, the Sprouting Mother traditions developed. This led to some of the first agricultural communities and early irrigation and canal-building efforts. Early in the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, after the first Unification War, the Funomanru Dynasty commenced extensive large-scale agricultural works to convert marshland and other wetlands into vast crop fields, making it the foundation of their empire. They also expanded terrace farming to maximize yields in previously unsuitable areas for agriculture. Attending these large-scale works was significant research into improving cultivation, combatting pests and blights, and keeping the soil fertile and vital between crops. The harvested grains could be dried, stored for long periods, and easily transported. The crop itself requires a tropical environment. Despite growing expertise over millennia, these intensive planting and irrigation initiatives increased salinization in the soil. This issue was not solved until the Living System of Tatchlan was fully realized. Vilates, tiny worms native to brackish waters, were modified to remove this buildup of salt and other minerals in ancient growing sites. In the case of Charsha, a version known as ‘Wet Vilates’ is employed.

Charu

This figure appears in three most-ancient religions flourishing during the later ages of the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch. In the Achalam, Laranal and Sime religions, she is an immense serpent devoted to all evil and destruction. The Gods Laranal and Achalam defeat or promise to destroy her, while the later God Sime battles her perpetually. Sime also warned that Charu might manifest as a whispering conniver, a temptress and a sorceress who corrupts foolish Tolku. While these later deities of the sky do all worthy works ‘with their cupped hands.’ all evil erupts from her womb. Even though she was supposedly defeated, there are numerous warnings and prohibitions concerning her within the surviving literature of the Laranal and Achalam religions. During the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch, intensive scholarship and research revealed this allegory for the subjugation and destruction of earlier Goddess traditions, such as Hathnal, Alpanum, and Heason, on the Skin of Anu. While differing in many ways, these Goddesses shared devotion for serpents. They were agents above and below the Skin of Anu and were important symbols for the turning wheel of the seasons with their skin sheddings. Charu also enabled the division of a harmonious network of these former goddesses into a dualistic, absolutist universe of equal and warring forces. Without Charu, the sky Gods would have had to be responsible for the good and evil of Anu.

Chelyaka

Even among the diverse collection of most-ancient religions, Chelyaka was unique for its singular cosmology. The origins of the name Chelyakan are unknown. Early in the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, this tradition appeared suddenly on the Marachla Plain of Rho-Jashun with what all others would agree was an inverted view of life on Anu. This community saw themselves living inside an enclosed sphere with all the sky and celestial bodies encased by an encompassing shell. Far beneath their feet was the outer layer, surrounding all life and protecting it from the chaos that filled the rest of existence. There are tales of groups linking arms and legs to form large empty balls for children to enter and perhaps cause to move in a simulation of their believed state on Anu. Mystics supposedly rode up Memanu flowers to meet those on the far side, passing Nu and the four moons during their passage. Many of the ‘Blood Crop’ rites originated in this tradition. As with the Cathalu culture, which had similar roots, there were no divinities or conceptions of a separate existence from their bodies. A few historic fragments suggest an extensive association existed between these two groups, although what form this may have taken is unknown. While these notions are now deemed eccentric, their dispensing with concepts of divinities or an afterlife placed them in the First Generation of Self Absorption. The Kavan-Kyan cave complex on the northern coast of the Angakut Channel contains the single largest religious grotto devoted to this mysterious movement.

Children crown a well-developed life

A most-ancient truism intended to speak to controlled birth according to the well-being of the individual and community. This was achieved by reaching a certain age and accomplishing a measure of schooling and other work to establish a measure of full adult life before giving birth. During the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch, the Tolku Cluster-of-Clusters Nation formalized this with the designation of pre-adults, Fresh Adults and Ripe Adults.

Chill Crystals

This Non-Living occurrence is of particular concern to all shipping and coastal communities, particularly along the coastlines of the colder Wakanda Ocean bordering western Rho-Jashun and eastern Thermistal. Toxic bubbles issue from the depths and skip across the surface of the winds. Any being touched by them in their liquid state is poisoned to varying degrees. As the name suggests, if the bubble does not touch the surface again in short order, it may harden into an airborne crystal. Should this encounter anything living, such as flesh, or that once was alive, such as wood, it burrows in and can destroy its victim. Unclad ships have been known to sink if caught in a cloud of Chill Crystals they cannot evade. Metals of various grades have been found to shatter them on contact. They usually break harmlessly if they meet no obstacles and encounter the ground, leaving little trace behind.

Mount Chraxan

This was known as the ‘Prime Sanctuary’ of the three Mulungu mountains on Rho-Jashun, forming the third member of the ‘Central Triumvirate.’ Here, the last Tolku remnants found a peaceful end, and the early Koru civilization emerged during the Second Suvuka Onslaught on Rho-Jashun. The Zudaz Cluster of this mountain would be honoured to see the birth of the first Koru Majastas in history in the year seven hundred and forty-one of The Interim. This is the final year of this period, the first of The Secondary Epoch, and the first year of what would be known as the Unbroken Koru Calendar (UKC). During the Continental Lines construction, this mountain would become the Second Spoke Line, named the Chraxan Spoke Line; it travelled six thousand two hundred and forty-six andas west and south beneath the southern Marachla Plain. This venerable mountain is also honoured for being the birthplace of the Yeldic Colloquium. One of their original gathering chambers is still preserved, cut out of the living rock with long tables and benches carved in place.

Circle Dance

The Circle Dance, particularly among the Yelda, is a primary event in the life of every cluster. Taking various forms and functions, it usually involves most or all cluster mates. It can accompany essential events, such as a Gifting between clusters, or be for the cluster alone at any time. During these events, the Elders may instruct the other Spokes of the Wheel to facilitate shifting the composition of circles within the cluster. Such events are known to initiate both Scent Integration and Scent Separation. The most vital dances lead to Spinning Wheel Visions, images shared by many or most Yeldic cluster members.

Circle of Eight

The Circle of Eight is the Primary Social Unit within the cluster, composed of six men and two women, at least one of whom must be a Maja. This is also informally known as a ‘brood’ or ‘clutch.’ The men may also be male Betweens. The women may also be female Betweens. Completes may stand in either place. Whatever the adult arrangement, their dependent pre-adults fill the middle of the shared life circle. In large clusters, there can be Double Circles and even Triple Circles. There are other rare variations, including monosexual circles of all women or all men and very rare half circles. Circles of Eight can exist as a separate unit, united in their Cluster Uses, or may combine with other circles for various functions within the cluster. One of the chief responsibilities of the Elders is to ensure the three-to-one balance between males and females is maintained. The Secondary Social Units are clusters, and the Tertiary Units are Encirclements. Occasionally, exceptional cluster mates, such as Invocates within specialized Estates, may be called upon to separate from their circle and cluster to form a new circle with others, either sharing their powers or possessing others. These temporary circles may join others in ‘Mobile Estates’ to conduct Ministry or Cluster-of-Clusters tasks. On other occasions, temporary circles of eight are formed, usually among newly Ripe Adults, for various training purposes. One example is those travelling to Vaucalo Island to undergo the ‘Tutelage and Inculcation’ rites of Kitheshal. Permanent relocations of individual cluster mates, circles or entire clusters demonstrating particular powers or abilities regularly occur, usually to a Governance Ministry.

Circle-of-Eight Walks

These are a series of ways circles move both within and without their clusters. These include the ‘Spinning Wheel Walk,’ the ‘Wedge,’ and the ‘Linked Line.’

Circle Spiral

This phrase refers to the generational history of an individual circle. It forms the first level of depth of the ‘Cluster Memory’ safeguarded by the Elders. It is usually confined to living memory, but exceptional past circle mates are recalled for generations. To speak of the generational spiral of a given collection of circles and the entire cluster usually means identifying events and personalities in the circle’s history extending back to the fourth generation. After this, most Spirals are discarded with only the most notable events and figures, usually associated with the Keepers of the Artifacts.

Circumambulatory Highway

This is said to have been constructed by the Funomanru Dynasty at the same time as the original Imperial Way, issuing out of the base of The Plateau in Upata-Shepsus and travelling to the port terminus of Bhampay. As the name suggests, it serves as the place for the honoured circling of The Plateau by dignitaries, pilgrims and various ceremonial parades filling The Capital Region calendar each year. It also serves as the border between The Plateau and the surrounding stately facilities associated with Majastas past and present.

The Classics

This is a Secondary Epoch term referring to four historic and ongoing collections of written materials deemed of sufficient merit to be gathered into large codices with copious expository materials. The eldest is the Nuloy-Voyal (containing the famed ‘Lokantare’s Passage’), followed by the Tolam-Rho-Therm and the Valheed-Alvaza, the ‘Ocean of Tales.’ The youngest of this collection is the Yiz-Vayaj, devoted to the emergence and effulgence of the Yelda. This anthology begins with the Koru’s ‘Yeldic Bulletins,’ chronicling the early Field Yelda’s maturation on the Marachla Plain and the ‘Poison Blossom,’ a terrible account of the termination of the Yelda on the ill-fated island of Tich-Tushmul on the eve of the emergence of the Danam Yelda after their Ceremonial Walk. The Yiz-Vayaj now approaches the Valheed-Alvaza in compilations and scholarly analysis due to the extent and duration of their Majastas-Governance Cluster-of-Clusters National history. Many other collections exist, but only these are considered universal and foundational.

Clusters

These are the Secondary Social Unit in the larger Cluster-of-Clusters societies within the Tatchlan System. The size of these clusters depends on many factors. If a Rural Cluster, it can range from the Fourth Grade, being thirty-two Circles-of-Eight, to as large as the Fifteenth Grade, being one hundred and twenty Circles-of-Eight. Urban clusters are far smaller, averaging between Second Grade at sixteen Circles-of-Eight to Fourth Grade. Maja forms the core and ‘scent anchor’ for each circle of eight and, in concert with other Maja, the entire cluster. They will also have different manifestations of Tatchlan, such as Doubles, Betweens, and perhaps a Complete. The oldest members of this community attain the title of Elder. These Elders, Spokes, and Maja oversee all aspects of the cluster's life. This is particularly the case around fertility and maintaining the three-males-to-one-female ratio. Within the Cluster, circles are ordered in the ranking. The lowest or first eight clusters form the Leadership Ring. A neighbouring cluster group creates a Network of Uses, including the Tertiary Social Unit called Encirclements.

Cluster Life Pillar

Primary symbol and central focal point of most clusters. It is used for many cluster ceremonies. Life Pillars are of great antiquity, examples being known from the remotest reaches of prehistoric times. Its presence may be seen as one of the longest-continuing traditions in history.

Cluster Malaise

The general term ‘malaise’ covers a wide range of fluctuations in the Cluster Tone arising during ordinary events. While these may range in unpleasantness, they are generally seen as a normal part of the cyclical nature of cluster life. Euphoria is short-lived, and it is common for the cluster to settle briefly in its opposite after an ecstatic period. A malaise may also occur when a cluster’s aims are thwarted, routines are disrupted, or a portion of the cluster is separated from the rest. When all or most Maja are absent, Maja Gatherings may occasionally produce a malaise in the remaining cluster. Another source of this occasional malaise is the cluster’s complexity. The rich atmosphere may become volatile if there is an intensive and diverse population of Cluster Spokes, along with Fresh Adult Mundanes attaining exceptional or even Genius levels. Achieving greater depths may be followed by notable malaise shallows. In rare instances, this condition may become extended or more profound. In the case of an Urban cluster, this is quickly noted by its surrounding Encirclement. This may lead to their employing various artistic and other means within their clusters to help restore Encirclement balance. While seldom seen, Cluster Malaise becoming a severe issue within an isolated Rural Cluster is not unknown. Many factors mitigate the lamentable condition of their isolation from other clusters in the design of the population distribution in a given area. Ablution Academies and other Mantle Establishments are crucial in bestowing healing culture to these ailing clusters. Due to the handful of historical examples where this condition grew to malignant proportions, they are constantly monitored by the Wellbeing and other ministries. Within the Danam Yelda’s Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, their distinctive Virtue of Equilibrium is focused on the more severe manifestations of this malaise. In the exceedingly rare cases where this malaise encompasses more than one cluster, the Majastas may intervene.

Cluster-of-Clusters

Also called the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, this refers to the entire living social and cultural fabric under a given Majastas. The Tolku Majastas presided over the Tolku Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. The Koru Majastas and Danam Yeldic Majastas are assembling and arranging all aspects of their respective subject domains. A rare application of this term is employed when referring to an unusually large Encirclement within a provincial centre.

Cluster-of-Clusters Treasures

This is a Majastas Honour bestowed on an achievement or distinction benefiting the entire Cluster-Of-Clusters Nation. Only a few clusters and circles have been conferred with this privileged designation containing a ‘Treasure’ of the nation. Most such honourifics are bestowed on recognized members of the Eight Living Jewels.

Cluster Percentage

Members of each Spoke of the Cluster Wheel have an established population within each cluster, maintained by the Cluster Elders. This reflects the larger conventions of averages found in the Enumerator Ministry’s Census Bureau’s census, which is carried out once a decade. In general, there are in a given rural or urban cluster and Encirclement a remarkable average of eleven percent Maja, eight percent Elders, twelve percent Betweens, nine percent Doubles; three percent Completes, five percent Touched, fifteen percent Dreamers and thirty-seven percent Mundanes. These figures are standard, and each census illustrates how gentle fluctuations above and below these numbers tend to remain in balance. Exceptions to this equilibrium are rare for much of the history of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, regardless of isolated instances of disruption. True divergence occurs during extraordinary incidents, such as a Burning Blossom Cycle. Most Spokes drop in percentage at such times, while the Mundane rate may rise dramatically.

Cluster Signature

The ‘signature’ of a cluster is composed of two aspects. One is called the Cluster Tone, which refers to the gentle ‘humming’ heard upon entering the cluster. While all may read the nature of this tone and any changes to it, Skin Touched may discern far more depth through the vibrations to their feet. The other aspect is known as the Scent Wall. This refers to the collective Maja Aroma overlaid by the bouquet of the rest of the cluster. Aroma Touched may possess profound abilities to read this wall when called upon. The combination of two or more Cluster Signatures produces a Resonance Ritual.

Cluster Tone

This is the auditory portion of the Cluster Signature (see immediately above) greeting all those entering the cluster. The cluster emits a generalized ‘harmonic tone,' forming a backdrop of all activity and notable even when most are asleep. Often described as a gentle ‘humming,’ even a Mundane may discern subtle alterations in this Tone due to incremental changes within the cluster and notable events outside it. Skin Touched can delve far deeper into this by ‘listening’ to the vibrations of a cluster through their feet. This ability was profoundly augmented with the innovation of Upata Bulbs. While not possessing the rare Tremor Reader's profound ability, this Sensitive class may read much in this fashion. Coupled with this is the second aspect, which is not auditory. The ‘Scent Wall,’ also described as a ‘curtain,’ also presents when entering a cluster. Any cluster-mate re-entering the cluster may learn many things by sampling this ‘wall.’ With the development of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation during the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch, the Tolku formulated the ‘Rule of Accordant Tones’ to ensure efficiency and harmony in cluster-to-cluster relations. Most clusters remain within their specific Tone for a minimum of a single generation. Changes in Tone are usually an incremental process over generations, and most involve a gentle ‘slide’ into a neighbouring Tone. Long-lived clusters, numbering their span in centuries or more, seldom stray outside their initial Accordant Tone Ranking. A historical trauma to a cluster is nearly the only cause for a subsequent dramatic change in Accordant Tone.

Cohort Jelly

The Tolku Masters formulated this substance for the vital function of controlling the gender of newborns within clusters. As such, it has always fallen under the purview of cluster Elders. They are charged with maintaining the three-men-to-one-woman ratio. In the Koru and Danam Yeldic Governance, Cohort Jelly is grown by the Ratio Bureau of the Wellbeing Ministry. There is an incomplete account of how, after The Killing Swath, a group of Guardians risked their lives in rescuing batches of Cohort Jelly to be made safe in the Sanctuaries and ensure the continuance of treasured clusters and all their comforting and refining ways.

Collective Crown

This term is applied to living beings who are not just Self-Aware but possess distinctive forms of Genius able to adapt to radically different environments in swift succession. Most importantly, they do so by cultivating aggregate intelligence and memory. The primary medium for this interconnected web of brilliance is an adaptive, accommodating, and expansive language. If individuals of Genius are Living Jewels, then a group communicating with each other, working together, or succeeding each other forms the ‘Collective Crown’ of Jewels. Upon this foundation alone are built all forms of civilization, moving from extensive to intensive formations, growing in the richness of their interlaced complexity until arriving at the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. From prehistory to the end of the Primary Epoch, only two beings possessed the Collective Crown, albeit to different degrees - the Tolku and the Suvuka. The Suvuka undoubtedly had extensive ability to attain pastoral mastery of the land. They never attained the intensive development of the early Tolku, characterized by widespread domestication of crops and animals and the collective richness of the kind of resource accumulation, collaborative learning, and comprehensive specializations only possible in urban settings. They certainly never approached the Tolku in taking control of themselves to fashion a new being living in a new Living System. After The Killing Swath, the surviving Tolku fragmented into the Koru and the Yakku, who later produced the Yelda. These three owned this Collective Crown of adaptive, communicating and recollecting intelligence during the Secondary Epoch.

Collective Pull

One of the subtle ways a Majastas enacts Generational Plans is through what Venerable Scholars, Honoured Historians, and Esteemed Librarians have coined the ‘Collective Pull,' meaning a gradual, incremental shift in a particular direction of the entire population. This occurs over the ephemeral passage of successive generations, accompanied by the gentle accretion of institutional and cultural modifications over centuries or even millennia. The most profound work, including the famed Epochal Generational Plans, carried out by a chain of Majastas or even more than one Majastas Dynasty, is primarily accomplished through the benign application of the Collective Pull. This capacity to enact such works is usually the provenance of a mature Majastas fully integrated into The Throne. As such, it may be seen that the Living System is ‘flowing through their feet and out of their hands.’ Venerable Scholars have also discerned instances over many generations where the Collective Pull is perceived to continue beyond a single Majastas' lifespan. This may well be a matter of conscious policy of succeeding members of a Majastas Dynasty. When such movements continue beyond one or more dynasties, it is understood this is evidence of the ‘Resplendent Hands.’ This has been acknowledged over time by several Majastas from widely different periods during the Epoch.

Comfort Knot

This arrangement of cluster mates brings all together. These can take many forms, and traditions exist for various variations depending on the circumstances. This is primarily used for general nurturance and when one or more of a circle of eight, or other cluster mates, are in particular distress.

Commanderies

This is the title of mobile circles far from the provincial centres and the capital reporting to the Engineering, Calamity and Resolution Bureaus of the Commandant Ministry or directly to the Majastas.

Common Desire

These terms refer to how the collective perceptions and inclinations of varying portions of the entire population manifest within Tatchlan. Mostly, these take the form of liquid moving across the Resplendent Work. They may manifest as contented pools or volatile floods. While Invocates and Operants monitor the varied conditions the Common Desire presents, one of the principal activities of the Majastas within the Living System is intervening as necessary to modify or divert flow segments. This animation may take on a specific form on rare occasions, usually during dramatic change or dislocation. This forgetful and changeable element within the Living System is also called ‘The General Will.’

Complete

These Spokes of the Cluster Wheel are born manifesting both female and male genitalia and other attributes. They are treasured as unique beings, being ‘whole’ and ‘undivided.’

Concept Filament

The term dates from the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch, during the Jemnum Majastas Dynasty, when a Majastas Multitude founded the Jemnum Academy to pursue deep history. While any Mundane may discern the practice of ‘Drawing Pages from other Books,’ this breed of Genus Historians delved into the history of each idea through time, uncovering each branch and root. From the outset, they saw themselves as Mundane embodiments of Humma, the Fourth Principal Face of Tatchlan, known as ‘The Face of Recollection.’ They referred to their epochal passage as a ‘thread’ or ‘filament’ and, through subsequent ages, marked a detailed history of each concept from its earliest beginnings to the present. These ‘Jemnum Apprehenders’ noted how some filaments were resilient in conflicts with other ideas, changing cultures, and contending religions. Some appeared to die and submerge only to reappear when a new set of circumstances favoured them; a few seemed to have a relatively short life before being extinguished by fundamental shifts in the cultural landscape. The Apprehenders are famed for declaring that most noteworthy ideas came into being in prehistory, with far fewer novelties during the Lesser Era and a select few during the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch. As such, what may appear a new idea today is just the most recent tendril, or on exceptional occasions, a novel intertwining of separate Conceptual Filaments stretching back hundreds of millennia. As such, from their depths, they declare there are ‘Few new ideas on the Skin of Anu.’ The Atmite Treasury, discovered during The Interim within a mountain renamed in its honour within the Mulungu Chain, is distinguished for being devoted almost exclusively to subsequent generations of Jemnum Apprehender’s ‘Conceptional Lists.’ As with much of the contents of these Treasuries, these volumes initially proved very difficult to comprehend fully.

Conclusion and Commencement

Many rites of passage occur within each cluster to mark various milestones ranging from the prosaic to notable. The most fundamental Commencement Rites attend a birth, and Conclusive Rites a death. Commencement Rites note many beginnings and are generally short and straightforward. Most of these occur during pre-adult, Fresh Adult, and the early decades of Ripe Adulthood. They are more likely confined to the individual circle of eight. A few exceptions exist to this general rule, the most notable being the Life Cake Ceremony. Far more elaborate and elongated rites mark endings, be they the completion of a significant task, the end of a circle or cluster role, or a change in biological capacity. Conclusion Rites cover a more comprehensive range of endeavours than Commencement Rites. Such events are usually marked by the entire cluster and, on occasion, by the surrounding Encirclement. They may also occur in an Ablution Academy or other Mantle Establishment and contain various artistic or theatrical elements. An example of this would be a Double's Conclusive Offering. This event is also an example of combining both Conclusion and Commencement elements, marking the death of a Double and a new Ripe Healing Vat entering the cluster.

Conglomerations Theory

Venerable Scholars, Esteemed Librarians and Honoured Historians have formed an accord around this theory, based on what was later seen as several connected chains of events stretching across several Majastas dynasties during the Secondary Epoch. This ‘Conglomerations Theory’ is based on a living remnant from the Primary Epoch found within Tatchlan known as the ‘Breathing  Seals Conglomerations.’ This original set of eighty living installations was a legacy of the Foremost Ones in an attempt to instruct those coming after them to watch for the subtle signs of damage within the Resplendent Work to avoid the eventual cascade of catastrophes triggering what has been termed the ‘Rectification’ and the ‘Ultimate Panacea.’ This theory posits that Koru and Danam Yeldic Majastas have constructed new Conglomerations of Living Sigils to communicate deep matters deemed too sensitive to commit to any form of communication on the Skin of Anu. Eventually, oblique references found their way into historical documents such as Majastas Annotations, and from these, the following may be said with a measure of confidence. No Invocate may approach their location; even Superior Operants cannot achieve sufficient depths within Tatchlan to behold them. It is even suggested that Majastas who have reigned for less than a century may not draw near them, but only once The Throne fully possesses them. It has also been implied that Majastas Inhibitions have been evoked during specific volatile periods. These appear to have always been lifted after a Generational Pause. No Koru or Danam Yeldic Majastas has ever spoken plainly about the existence of these New Conglomerations.

Consumption Monolith

This is one of two ‘Non-Living’ entities of the ’Skin Banes’ class that tend to be located in isolated locations in mountains or deserts. Unlike the other Skin Bane known as Hungry Rock, there can be no doubt this inert pillar possesses various wiles to entice prey to approach its smooth and shining surface. Once there, they are immediately sucked in without leaving a trace. Apart from setting boundaries, few cultures have developed around these non-living beings. The most-ancient Nethuns religion was the singular exception, appearing to have worshiped them early in the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch. During the first millennia of the Secondary Epoch, the Koru Enhancement Bureau of the Preeminent Works Ministry conducted extensive research and experimentation with these beings, known to preserve artifacts lying close to them for Aeons. The result was the powerful innovation known as Preservation Cubes, employed to fortify and restore metal, rock, and other constructed materials. Due to the significant risks involved in handling these materials, only certified Cube Masters may learn this craft and handle these daunting materials.

Continental Lines

During the Primary Epoch, these vast transit networks spread across Anu, made possible by the Living Instrument known as the Mecalan powering the carriages from their beds between the rails. An immense transit system was established during the Greater Era once the Mecalan was sufficiently improved to allow for living transport (from the beginning, inert freight could be transported at killing speeds). There were essentially surface lines during this Epoch, except for the necessary tunnels through mountains and rough terrain. After the Killing Swath and throughout The Interim, most of these lines were destroyed by the Suvuka. With the emergence of the first Koru Majastas, Zudaz I, at the commencement of the Secondary Epoch, the revival and fortification of the Mecalan colonies (damaged by The Killing Swath) was accomplished. These ‘Modified Recovered Ones’ formed the foundation for a new network of mass transit lines beneath the Skin of Anu. The entire line would be composed of multiple tracks laid side by side, usually four in number. Two carried freight at higher speeds in each direction, and two more contained living passengers. Majastas Zudaz I laid the foundation for this prodigious transportation web across Rho-Jashun and other portions of Anu. In many ways, these networks surpassed those constructed by the Foremost Ones, particularly for extending beneath the Panchala Sea to connect Koru clusters living in the Viracocha Mountains of Western Thermistal with the Koru Rho-Jashun. Most of these Continental Lines were anchored to the bottom tips of the new Living Mountain Series. Above these deepest terminals ran the domestic lines, often connecting a group of Living Mountains forming a local Interlaced Dependency Region. A multitude of additional Continental Lines would follow the progress of these Living Mountains Series and later Interlaced Dependencies throughout the Living Mountain building period. They would eventually connect to the Deep Domains after the Burning Blossom series robbed the Koru of their treasured Living Mountains, forcing them to adapt to a deeper residence within the Skin of Anu.

Cousins

This is a collection of seven distinct members of a creature closely related to and resembling the original Tolku. They were later classified into three branches. The first are the ‘Tree Dwellers,’ the Asaku, the Mayku, and the Tecku. The second are the ’Long-Tailed Troupes,’ the Patzku, and the Varku. The third are the ‘Massive Land Walkers,’ the Toboku, and the Tamku. They were close allies and dear companions of the prehistoric Tolku. The Tolku rewarded them for their long service during the chaos of early history by enlarging them to varying degrees within Tatchlan to perform many duties within the early Unification Empires and in the later Cluster-of-Clusters Nations. The most profound in-depth is the second of the two ‘Long-Tailed Troupes’ class, the Varku. They are named the First Among Cousins.

Covering eyes (Yakku)

This is a Yakku gesture of mourning where their hands cover their faces at the sight of death or other calamities as a sign of respect.

Crossover Servants

Two unlikely allies assisted the last Tolku and first Koru after the Killing Swath. One was the Cousins, who appear to have been given deep instruction before the end of the Primary Epoch. The second was the Krall, a seabird of high intelligence for their kind, which had been greatly augmented to serve as messengers and observers. Together, they served the beleaguered survivors of the Swath within the Mulungu Mountains.

Crown Rise (Yakku)

An individual or stand of trees rising high above those around them. Crown Rises are traditionally set aside for those of ‘high’ rank, along with ceremonies, public events or announcements or for councils.

The Crux

This refers to the region separating Central and Southern Statos-Vey between the ports of Yava-Thon and Mi-Yang. Between these two provincial centres is the venerable Uluvatu Mountain, where the Primary Masters withdrew after persecution on Rho-Jashun and successfully conceived of the Tatchlan System. Now located within Bai Province, the spring from the mountain's core, where the most-ancient masters gathered, becomes the River Ap. This river eventually finds fulfilment in emptying into the Guadal River, which in turn loses itself in the Aval River, the delta being the site of the port city of Yava-Thon on the shores of Jawalam Bay.

Culsu

The treated skin of a young Danta produces a fine velum parchment for calligraphy and other artworks. Secondary sources suggest they were associated with official documents and commemorative literature editions during the Primary Epoch. During the Secondary Epoch, this use was expanded to include presentations of honourifics, often fine-mounted and framed renditions, of the most excellent quality, of one or more Tatchlan Faces associated with the lauding of exceptional genius. Among the Danam Yelda, these precious tokens are usually egg-shaped, with a narrower portion at the top. Such is the honour of their bestowal that such items are never included in Gifting events. With few exceptions, they remain with the cluster as long as it exists. Should the cluster come to an end for whatever reason, this Culsu Medallion is passed to the local Mantle Establishment and ultimately to the Mantle Museum of the current Majastas Dynasty to display the riches of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation for that age. The earliest surviving example of a Culsu document is the Final Tolku Proclamation.

DDD

Dalinantu

This is a valley on the southwestern flanks of the Mulungu Mountains of Rho-Jashun, situated fifteen hundred andas north of the equator. From this place, nine thousand seven hundred Yelda, forming thirty-two clusters, issued out of the Marachla Plain in the year 48,588 UKC to ‘receive their face’ as ‘the Foremost Ones (Tolku) reborn’ from their Venerable Koru. They then commenced their ‘Ceremonial Walk’ to Statos-Vey and the beginning of their history. A significant feature of this acclaimed location is known as the ‘Five Tables.’ The monument comprises one massive stone slab on four sturdy legs flanked by four large benches. While the feet of any Yelda seated on one of these benches dangles off the ground, they are overlarge even for most Koru. Some large Koru Majastas and giant Yeldic Majastas Multitudes were said to ‘fully occupy’ the Tables. The main table is usually covered in a rich tapestry, and the benches with ornate cushions. These are according to the nature of the gathering. This was intended to be a ceremonial site for future conferences between the Koru and Yeldic Majastas. While these are common enough within Tatchlan, it was deemed a worthy location for those occasions when a physical gathering, with representatives of all eight ministries in attendance, was conducive to the orderly maintenance of joint Generational Plans or to meet a sudden calamity. While reserved for these august assemblies, they are also employed to conduct other business not requiring the presence of a Majastas and are thus in regular use throughout the year. This is also the opening site of a traditional pilgrimage for those wishing to reenact the founding Yelda’s Ceremonial Walk to Statos-Vey. Eventually, a series of pillars were erected with banners representing each province throughout Yeldic Statos-Vey and southern Rho-Jashun, serving as the focus for members of each province to gather before beginning their pilgrimage. Of equal fame to The Five Tables are giant Flower Effigies woven by a multitude of Koru clusters. These often surround the Tables on days when no gathering is scheduled, and miniature versions, some composed of rich minerals and glass, are presented to pilgrims as tokens to treasure after completing their trek back to Statos-Vey. It may be noted here that the four leading clusters of the Ceremonial Walk were the Danam, Horm Unu, Shamsemer and Huanath. The first would eventually produce the first Upata-Shepsus Dynasty and the name of the mature Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. The remainder would subsequently grow their dynasties.

Dallamaplan

This is the title of the eight Koru  Majastas  Governance Ministries. Their Danam Yeldic counterparts are the Variothya.

Danam Yelda

This term refers to the pinnacle of the Koru’s achievement with the Yelda. The Field Yelda holds a place of honour on the Marachla Plain on Rho-Jashun, and the Sumudin and Kudurapala are faithful Servants living within the Koru’s Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. Danam began as joined fragments in the Royran Valley in 200 UKC and journeyed with Sama Cluster to their new home on the edge of Kalasek Estate on the ‘Boundless Marachla Plain.’ They continued their perfection over the next forty millennia (eventually merging with Sama Cluster and others) until they became sufficiently ripe to walk toward their destiny. They stood on the edge of the full realization of the Epochal Generational Plan initiated by the first Koru Majastas, Zudaz I, known as the ‘Two Majastas Hands.’ Thirty-two Yeldic clusters, averaging three hundred members each, commenced their Ceremonial Walk from Dalinantu to Upata-Shepsus, the most-ancient capital of the Tolku of the Primary Epoch, in 48,558 UKC. During this walk, the Danam Cluster predominated; eventually, all these Yelda assumed that name, which remained for the rest of the Secondary Epoch. The story of this Ceremonial Walk is found in the third novel of this series, ‘Dalinantu Emergence.’ One hundred and sixty-one years after arriving in Upata-Shepsus, their first Majastas grew out of the enlarged Danam Cluster, founding the first of all subsequent Danam Yeldic Dynasties of the Nantu, Emaxul, and Quantha Ages.

Dance of Fertility

This is the oldest and rarest version of the Cluster-of-Clusters Dance. As with the employment of this event's ‘foundation’ of Vendupash Paste, this rite may serve both joy and sorrow. It may be a key feature of Giftings, bringing about an ‘Each Belongs to All’ bonding between two clusters. It may also be enacted after hardship and loss or among new clusters composed of recently joined cluster fragments. The structure is far less complex and more primal, usually involving Elders feeding the ‘Sweet Healer,’ Vendupash, and a Vision Window opener.

Danta
This gentle herbivore is the largest of all grazing animals on Anu's three continents, both in adult proportions and their herds' size. They are also the most adaptable to different environments while spending most of each year on open grasslands. They engage in seasonal migrations that may extend over several thousand andas. After their numbers, their primary defence against predators is its tough scaling. Their undersides are the least protected. This scaling covers a most unusual layer of skin. When a young Danta’s skin is removed and treated, it produces the most excellent grade of parchment, traditionally named Culsu, reserved for the finest documentation and commemoration (see Final Tolku Proclamation). The living Danta is distinguished for another feature. They have a hollow horn on their heads, which they use to sound alarms and various other calls. This immense assembly has a considerable following of creatures, many of whom have become regular or permanent residents. Many animals have been seen riding on their broad backs, leading to the common saying they ‘carry the world.’ The most-ancient Tolku and the Koru and Danam Yelda of the Seconnadary Epoch have had their turns peacefully managing these creatures and their migrations. From prehistoric times, their horns have been worked into a beautiful set of musical instruments. See Migration Theory for the mystery of the presence of Danta and other southern animals on Thermistal.

Death chasing life chasing death

This phrase predates the Water Viewers of antiquity. It was a lament for the seemingly hopeless state of Raw Life. The most-ancients observed how the survival imperative blindly tore down all structures and blotted out all memory of a succession of civilizations attempting to create the necessary sheltering conditions for a full life.

Deep Hair

This refers to the hair growing at the base or nape of the neck. Such strands may be used in various ceremonies and are seen as the ‘deepest’ because they are positioned at the base of the head.

Defining Uses

Spokes of the Cluster Wheel have core Uses based on their distinctive life juices. Beyond this, at minimum, all clusters and circles have general uses necessary for maintaining their circle, cluster and Encirclement. Skill and occasional genius determine increasing levels of specialization across the cluster spectrum and Cluster-of-Cluster endeavours. While the most notable attainments of exceptionality are naturally diverted to new clusters within such eminent Seats of Excellence as Ketukku Enclaves, Mantle Establishments and Governance Ministries, those clusters in close proximity to a notable collection of other clusters or a site or institution of importance, may grow Defining Uses within their cluster. These uses are traditionally ordered into ranks of Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Uses. While any cluster or circle may engage in multiple activities, it must be appreciated that such designations are reserved for activities involving exceptional skill, application and responsibility that the appropriate ministry has recognized. While many examples of clusters, and even individual circles, are recognized for having a Primary and Secondary Use, only a few clusters have been recorded as Masters in three or more Uses. On rare occasions, some of these peerless circles, or even one member, may be temporarily separated from the rest to join other cluster fragments to form a mobile Estate for missions beyond their habitual confines.

Dion and Earna

These libations are more potent than Fermented Sap but are classed as a mild Vision Window. They are held and used by Cluster Elders for particular cluster gatherings. Depending on dosage, it can produce a mild to ecstatic euphoria. They are often associated with bonding rituals between different clusters and at Giftings. While all ages welcome Fermented Sap, those attaining Fresh Adulthood can consume this mild Vision Window for the first time during cluster ceremonies.

Distinct to Universal

This phrase is generally associated with death, when it is observed no matter how unique and gifted someone has been, in death, they are alike to every other in the same final condition.

Doreth are for the young and the Yelda (Koru)

This refers to adult Koru (and Yakku) of the Secondary Epoch, which is too large for most Doreth to support. Few Koru or Yakku children and young adults are inclined to try, although there are cases where they have been used in an emergency. During the Primary Epoch, they were flying mounts for the Tolku. Adult Yelda are nearly identical in proportion to the most-ancient Tolku. This has led to the Doreth becoming a vital part of Yeldic life.

Double

These women absorb their baby during their first pregnancy and become ‘double.’ They announce their presence within their cluster with a ‘scent wash,’ a powerful spray of liquid scent. This usually happens late in a troubled pregnancy and is immediately followed by relief of the baby's quick absorption into the mother’s body. While she will never give birth to a baby, she will conceive hundreds to thousands of times throughout her life. With each new conception, Doubles grows into a new being capable of healing many ills and displaying various abilities prized by her cluster. Doubles bestow their intense health in several ways. One is with the ‘Offering Knife,’ where they open a small wound and offer their blood. This blood can be drunk by those afflicted or can be used to enrich Healing Vats. See ‘Doubles and Healing Vats’ for more on their unique relationship developed late in The Interim.

Doubles and Healing Vats

Doubles are a Primary Epoch Spoke of the Cluster Wheel. During the Primary Epoch, their blood and, after death, their bodies were a gift of health and vitality to their cluster. At the beginning of the Secondary Epoch, Doubles were bonded with a new creature produced by the Genius of the Koru, the Healing Vat. The Doubles and Vats Bureau of the Wellbeing Ministry was informed when these Doubles began manifesting. They instruct a nearby Farmer Enclave to dispatch an egg to her cluster. She commences her Trial of Retreat, attended by Elder Doubles until it emerges. A bond forms between the Double and her one child for the rest of her life. After her death, the Double’s body becomes her Conclusive Offering by being absorbed by her child. She is now ‘ripened’ her subsequent service to her cluster and is called a ‘Ripened Vat.’ She retains her Double mother’s name and place as a valued cluster mate.

Dramsus

This is a venerable musical instrument long associated with ceremonies of most-ancient origins. Representations of it may be found in the Chelyakan Cave complex of Kavan-Kyan on the south-eastern coast of Rho-Jashun, which predates much of the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch. It comprises two or more lengths of twine fixed to a ‘Y’ frame. Small disks of stone, glass or other musical materials with a hole bored through the centre are strung along them. This arrangement is shaken during public events to produce a melodious sound. They are held one in each hand by four, eight, sixteen or more players forming single or multiple circles around stationary or moving ritual focal points or standing in rows on either side of processions.

Drawing Pages from Other Books

This refers to the common practice of a crafter, artist, scholar, or other practitioner borrowing insight and innovation from others, contemporary or ancient, to use in their work. The Jemnum Apprehenders contend this cumulative practice across generations is the universal foundation of all cultures. Their following of various ‘Concept Filaments’ across the ages illustrate how this activity recycles and recombines all thought before forming new fountainheads of inspiration. Much of this occurs gradually and beneath wakeful awareness, yet many examples of conscious harvesting of other material for new compositions also exist. In pre-Tatchlan times, this often took intangible concepts and visual iconography from different traditions and made them their own. Perhaps one of the best-known examples of this practice from this period reveals the destructive side of this tendency. The early Menem Priesthood of Thithanu appears to have thoroughly studied all surviving religious texts. They took hold of certain concepts, such as the Sime Religion's abhorrence of the ancient practice known as the ‘Repast of Remembrance,’ and incorporated it into their peculiar idea system. They destroyed the rest of the text and mounted largely successful persecutions of the remnants of these traditions.

Dream Guides

Long before the first fire was lit, there were Sensitives with powerful abilities to dream. In prehistoric times, these individuals were able, with little effort, to enter the realms now occupied by the Tatchlan System. Their visions founded most of the ancient religions. Without this rare ability, it is hard to contemplate how the first Practicians could have even begun their work to modify life to ultimately expunge the inflated powers of Self-Absorption and the tyranny of its Four Generations. Some always had profound ability in this area. For most, the ability to Dream their way into this deeper reality remains elusive. This led to the innovation of one hundred and twenty-four Dream Guides being constructed within Tatchlan during the Primary Epoch to allow all, including Mundanes, the opportunity to see the Living System with their own eyes. This proved to be a highly sought-after service. Specialists, trained and licensed, arose to instruct and guide dreamers on the correct Guide and the proper procedures before retiring to bring about their visitation. The business conducted in this matter was personal and had no impact on the work of Invocates and others within Tatchlan. Dream Guides and their attendant dreamers were so small within Tatchlan that they were invisible. It was common for these dreamers to have their Guide conduct them to one of the antique Lustrum Mirrors within Indatubangus to purge themselves of some persisting aspect of Self-Absorption.

Dream Moss
This potent Vision Window has surprising origins - the Suvuka. The beasts discovered and were able to cultivate the substance for their versions of trance states. By unknown means, the Tolku found this application and came to refine and diversify the organism for its uses. Even after the Killing Swath, the early Generations of Guardians deemed it worthy of preservation during The Interim. It continues to be employed to this day. The Yakku also appeared to preserve and cultivate this growth independently for its many benefits.

Dream Share

This is a traditional start to cluster activity. When rising, all circle members with significant dreams relate them to the rest. Those deemed of interest of particular importance are shared with all other circles of the cluster and, as needed, beyond.

Dreamer Spoke Circle and Pattern

One way the original ‘raw sensitives’ distinguished themselves in ancient times was in their ability to have powerful dreams. The nature of these visions often pertained to the state of a larger community or nation and lent themselves to various tribal affirmations. They also could have what was celebrated as ‘visitations,’ now seen as forming or augmenting the foundations of various ancient religions. The Uluvatu Masters refined this particular attribute among raw sensitives into a tool to delve into the Tatchlan System from a singular perspective. As a Spoke of the Cluster Wheel, Dreamers are profound observers of what lies beneath their Circle of Eight, their cluster, and beyond this, to particular aspects of the entire Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. Some may even attain the depth to see aspects of the Tatchlan System beneath the layer of the Twelve Faces. In this way, they approach the Majastas' appreciation of larger patterns, including those of the Common Desire. Dreamers are generally divided into two grades. The majority occupy the First Grade of ‘Circle Dreamers’ and concern themselves with the welfare of their circle and cluster. They are vital advisors to the Leadership Ring of Elder Circles when considering any internal matter of interest or concern. The Second Grade are the ‘Pattern Dreamers.’ It is these few whose fertile minds possess the ability to see the patterns in many dreamers beyond their cluster. Such visions are vital to understanding subtle shifts within the larger population. While their power to apprehend is profound, unlike Invocates, they have no agency to modify these turbulent landscapes and instead inform Invocates and Operants of collective tendencies they may not be able to distinguish. Some Circle Dreamers and most Pattern Dreamers share one attribute with Operants in entering a ‘dream state’ at will. The Danam Yelda has developed the unique ability to share a dream within the Spinning Wheel Dance and the resulting Spinning Wheel Vision. Here, the Circle Dreamers may become Cluster Dreamers in guiding the entire cluster to dream together. This is not to be confused with Tolku, Koru, and Yeldic Mundanes and other undistinguished cluster mates employing Dream Guides to obtain glimpses of Tatchlan.

Droners (Yakku)

This term was used throughout Yakku history to describe the speech of the Koru and Yelda.

Duamang Age

This is a specific calendar set up in what would become the final age of what is known as ‘The Lesser Era’ of the Primary Epoch and is based on the successful work of Master Duamang in defeating the Suvuka. It runs for twelve hundred and seventy-three years. It ends shortly after the birth of the first Majastas, Thakadush-Satwa, and the commencement of the remainder of the Primary Epoch and the Tolku Cluster-of-Clusters Nation also called the ‘Greater Era.’ The first novel of this series, Hesha Vira’s Challenge, occurs in the final years of this Duamang Age.

EEE

Each belongs to all/each works for all/each shelters all

This aspirational phrase appears simultaneously in multiple sources after the First Suvuka Onslaught among the surviving populations of Tolku on Statos-Vey. It was then, and continues now, intended to describe the joy of cluster life, imbued by its vital attribute of Impartial Love and Caring. These truisms are common to both Koru and Yelda within Tatchlan during the Secondary Epoch. They refer to harmonious relations within each cluster and between one cluster and another according to their Cluster Tone. Among the Danam Yelda, this concept becomes a well-defined set of ceremonies, usually during Giftings. Known as ‘Each Belongs to All Bonding’ events, these various rites strengthen clusters and their relations with neighbouring clusters through peaceful and disturbed circumstances. The spectrum of ritual procedures may range from Nurturing Ceremonies to Dances of Fertility, among many others. Depending on the situation, Vendupash and Vision Windows may be liberally distributed.

Each giving and receiving breath

This is a common phrase of indeterminate origin referring to all living.

Eight Ministry Campus

This is the name of the governance facilities within each provincial centre of the Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. These are usually a combination of the local governance structure under the leadership of the province’s Submissively Venerating and offices and bureaus representing the larger Cluster-of-Cluster Variothya Administration. Attached to these governance structures are ancillary facilities such as the Adjudicator Bureau's Regional Magistracies Office and the Annular Chamber. The Eight Ministry Campus forms the core of each provincial centre.

Eight within Eight within Eight

The Uluvatu Masters invoked this phrase to describe the precise and orderly formations within Tatchlan. The first Practicians able to delve into a deeper apprehension of existence had begun weaving the initial layers of The General  Plain over the odious blind passions of Raw Life. They noted how their intelligent cultivation of formerly senseless random elements started to fit together in formations of eight interlocked components. This configuration proved to be the optimum for accomplishing their initial work. They also discovered this pattern repeating itself in more extensive and significant elements, each containing successive layers of the same interconnected structures travelling down to the most minuscule. Later, the first Masters noted how this organization was universal to all subsequent emerging elements of the Living System of Tatchlan. It became visible on the Skin of Anu within what is known as ‘Tatchlan Skin Patterning.’ From this point onward, this phenomenon was called the ‘Eight within Eight within Eight Living Conventions.’ While this process continued within Tatchlan during the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, it also began to manifest in various ways, in flora and fauna on the Skin of Anu and even within pre-Tatchlan Tolku culture. The most notable example of the latter is in ‘The Increments of Eight’ conventions instituted by the Yin-Vinulan Dynasty of Statos-Vey.

Elara

Elara is a rich moss growing near the moist eastern coasts of southern Statos-Vey, Thermistal, and elsewhere. Elara is known to be a favourite food of the Sheret, which will travel many andas inland to find it.

Elder

These are the cluster's aged members who form their own Circles-of-Eight to oversee life within the cluster. These Elder Circles are often also part of the Leadership Ring. Their duties include controlling fertility within the Cluster to maintain the three-males-to-one-female ratio. This ratio forms the basis for all circles of eight within the cluster. They are commonly called ‘Honoured Mother’ and ‘Honoured Father.’ Informally, they are called ‘Honoured’ and their given name, i.e. ‘Honoured Vara.’

Elder first, younger last

This is an age-old saying about the order of importance of cluster mates and the usual way processions and other ceremonies are arranged. The phrase appears from prehistoric times when most-ancient mound worshiping cultures viewed what is now called the ‘Ketukku Peaceable Relations.’

Elder’s Aid
This refers to the fermented juices of the Vikavan insect, which, among other uses, assists Elders in managing the pains of age and fortifies them.

Eleven Breaths of Anu (Yakku)
Also known as the Eleven Winds, these terms describe the strength of winds in the trees. In order, they are: silent, sleeping, whispering, turning, bending, walking, striding, running, bowing, rampaging and murdering. Many colours and other modifying descriptive phrases are used to identify further the weather, i.e., ‘a black murdering wind.’

Emaxul Age

This is the Second Danam Yeldic Age, following a half-century period of no Majastas among the Danam Yelda. All that preceded this unprecedented period was named the Nantu Age. There were fifty-eight years between the end of the Nantu and the commencement of the Emaxul due to the unparalleled interruption of the Majastas Mantle. This is now seen as leading to perhaps one of the more extreme versions of what is known as The Moment of Disturbance when a portion of the Danam Yeldic population migrated away from Statos-Vey to form a new society known as the ‘Pastoral Yelda.’ The Emaxul began in the year 279,483 UKC and continued for 455,964 years. In Aeons, this period numbers from the Twelfth Aeon to the Thirtieth Aeon of the Secondary Epoch for a total of Eighteen Aeons. Among many momentous events, the Yelda settled around Lake Teval in central Thermistal. All dates in this second age are preceded by an ‘E.’

Emblem

This image is fashioned to represent an idea or an event on an ongoing basis. Usually, they start by appearing on a stela or other public moment, or in a book or additional rendering. Over time, the image is taken up in different places until it becomes synonymous with the concept depicted. Occasionally, they are set inside an epochal border, but they are not to be confused with an Icon. The primary examples of emblems within these appendices are those concerning the Yakku, collectively known as the ‘Yakku Hand Emblems.’ Even though they were crafted by ancient Koru artisans and are enclosed in an inverted version of their own proper ‘mountain’ icon borders to illustrate their orientation towards the sky, they do not serve to bring an aspect of Tatchlan to life in the viewer. They are said to have no efficacy and do not have the ‘Power to Summon.’

Encirclement

While the Primary Social Unit comprises circles of eight and the Secondary Unit comprises the entire cluster, the ‘Tertiary Unit’ is a close-knit gathering of neighbouring clusters. This group of clusters forms close bonds of shared and complementary Uses and a mutual sense of cluster identity. This usually occurs in provincial centres and may involve forty or more clusters. As with most things of value, their ongoing development is incremental. With each generation’s births and deaths, the comings and goings of Cohorts, and Giftings' infusion and diffusion, the Tone of each cluster gradually alters. This affects the cluster’s relations to its immediate and nearby cluster neighbours. This ongoing flux is monitored by a core group of clusters, providing the necessary continuity and collective focus for the Encirclement. Such vibrancy may encircle existing wonders like an Enclave or generate ones like Artisan Borough. Many of these large and stable Encirclements may be designated as a ‘Seat of Collective Districts’ by the Regions Bureau of the Grandee Secretariat Ministry.

Encirclement of Anu

During the Secondary Epoch, this phrase came to embody the aspiration to recapture the unified Cluster-of-Clusters Nation of the Tolku of the Primary Epoch, encompassing all of Anu. The Secondary Epoch opened with the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation possessing the continent of Rho-Jashun. The Danam Yelda eventually followed with their own Cluster-of-Clusters Nation on Statos-Vey. All looked with yearning towards the day the Yakku Collective was healed, and Thermistal would leave behind its long and troubled history and become the third Seat of Majastas Glory.

Enclave

This is a term of great antiquity that has changed meaning over time. During the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, the ‘Master Enclave’ was a compound where several Master pre-clusters usually lived and plied their craft. These were also sites of their education facilities, including the training in using the Tatchlan Cubes and the intensive Descending the Depths initiations for new Invocates. With the arrival of the first Tolku Majastas, Thakadush-Satwa, and the commencement of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, these compounds lost their residential function as most now formed separate clusters. Enclaves as educational establishments persisted throughout the Primary Epoch. Enclaves were divided into five specialized institutions in the Secondary Epoch, especially among the Danam Yelda. They are known as Ketukku Enclaves and are used for the training of various Invocate Estates, raising various Living Instruments, and ongoing public education.

Entering the Presence

This is a formal term for approaching the Majastas. It may occur within the Majastas Court or numerous other settings within the capital, Upata-Shepsus, or anywhere within the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. It may also refer to encounters within the Living System of Tatchlan. In all cases, protocols are in place, usually overseen by the Chancellery or Grandee Secretariat Ministries. If a cluster or Encirclement representatives are to approach the Majastas, the Ceremonies Ministry is involved. A common form these encounters may take is that of a ‘Humility Petition,’ most likely to take place during the Second Day Phase of the Majastas Hours, which generally commences during the Hour of Nu Dispelling (third hour). Approved documentation reviewed by the Majastas is also said to ‘Enter the Presence.’ Should the Majastas annotate this material and have reason to return it to the sender, approaching this improved material is also said to be ‘Entering the Presence.’

Erudite Ceremonial Theatre

While often housed in Ablution Academies, these venerated cultural temples may also stand alone in places of confluence within provincial centres. These Mantle Establishments are a potent manifestation of the Erudite Bureau of the Enumerator Ministry in its education and improvement of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. The canon for these theatres is immense, including such most-ancient classics as the famous ‘Everlasting Ennui,’ ‘Yeoyupan,’ and many later Primary and Secondary Epoch masterpieces. The bureau emphasizes Improvement through Art serving ‘the general edification and Improvement of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation.’ In fulfilling this responsibility, this bureau also offers training in all aspects of theatre, commissions new work and holds regular trials for productions and performances of exceeding excellence. In doing so, they serve their Majastas by ensuring an ongoing series of ennobling Ceremonies on the Skin of Anu.

Estate

This refers to the regime of dividing Invocates into the multitude of proficiencies required to fill the needs of communication, research, governance, and trade throughout the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. Each potential Invocate is monitored at each step of their Descending the Depths to see if distinguishing sensitivities begin to manifest. This may lead to their being moved to a different enclave to better guide them toward their particular estate discipline or estate specialty. For example, those able to conduct Invocates to others performing a very different service to themselves are known as Locus Invocates or Invocates of the Locus Estate. Invocates possessing particular powers may occasionally be called to form ‘Mobile Estates.’ Often, they must separate from their circles and integrate into one or more temporary new circles to create a powerful unit. These circles may be composed of their own or a variety of other defining specialties. Such Mobile Estates often travel to locations where unusual events occur, usually at the service of one or more Governance Ministries. Among many other titles, the Majastas is said to ‘Assume all Estates.’ This term is in no way related to Yakku Estates.

Esteemed Librarian

Four classic academic professions were formalized during the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch. Esteemed Librarians were joined by Honoured Historians, Acclaimed Professors and Venerable Scholars. Two marvellous distinctions characterize this estimable group. Notably, most designations of the Eight Living Jewels, particularly the treasured ‘Genius,’ occur within their company. The other is a majority of them are Mundanes.

Even Perfection may stumble

This common saying of unknown origin has appeared in many literary and dramatic works, ensuring its continuance. The most-ancient Practicians often employed it during their generations of struggle with The General Plain and by later Tatchlan Masters and Majastas themselves in dealing with difficulties arising from the complexities of the Living System.

Everlasting Ennui

This is a collection of ten satirical plays coming down from the final decades of the life of the World City of Thithanu on Rho-Jashun. Internal evidence suggests they were publicly performed at most twenty years before the First Suvuka Onslaught. Fragmentary evidence reveals they resulted from a competition, and these ten playwrights were the winners. Their existence poses many questions. Besides all being comedies, these ten productions are outspoken parodies, and in some cases outright lampoons, on all notions of divinities and an afterlife. It must be appreciated these were created and publicly performed during a tumultuous period in the seven-century-old capital. The Menem priesthood supposedly filled all offices and administration and would have viewed these works as blasphemous. Beyond the prudence of not naming Menem directly, these works openly attack all aspects of the tradition by laughing at the many religions the Menem themselves persecuted into extinction. This collection is compelling evidence of a sophisticated urban culture far beyond the Menem’s ability to control, tarnished as they were in the eyes of many for mounting evidence of hypocrisy, abuse, corruption and other crimes. Each play focuses on a different divinity and its associated afterlife. In various ways, the Goddesses and Gods are shown to be absurd and pointless. All of them are destroyed by the end of the play, bearing their name. The afterlife in each is revealed; notwithstanding their distinctive pleasures, they are exposed as meaningless, preposterous and utterly tedious. These gods meet various ignominious ends, with several being consumed in what came to be called the ‘deity feast.’ Most of these ten productions end with some or all of the cast laughing, clapping, or sighing in relief as they fade out of a pointless eternal existence. Tradition has it a single copy was carried by a refugee through the Xaduron Wall of the Impenetrable Barrier Region ahead of the murderous Suvuka Onslaught. It then was reproduced and circulated within the concentrated populations of Statos-Vey. It is speculated the Uluvatu Masters were aware of and welcomed the existence of this odd anthology. This would likely be due to their unique power to undercut many spectral concepts they sought to remove to ensure an embodied life took hold among the Tolku. Throughout the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch, this unlikely collection found the very different society of the Tolku Cluster-of-Cluster’s Nation avidly embracing what was agreed was their timeless wit and insight. Eventually, copies were deposited in the Mount Midin Amassment, where they survived the Killing Swath and the Second Suvuka Onslaught. The only controversy surrounding this most-ancient collection is their occasional association with the Chelyakan Religion. While each play, regardless of what other myths are examined, has explicit and, on occasion, overt references to this unique tradition, in no way does it resemble anything a devout Chelyakan would subscribe to, particularly the notion of an afterlife. There is no evidence that Chelyakan adherents entertained any such idea. Capping the anthology’s extraordinary adventures was its final escape from the fate of most of the Mount Midin Amassment during The  Interim. By chance, the collection had been removed for study when the Suvuka destroyed the priceless legacy, making it one of only a handful of Primary  Epoch Attainments surviving into the Secondary  Epoch.

Eyes of Nu

This is a shockingly sudden Sky Bane in the form of rocks of various sizes falling from the sky onto Anu. The term comes from prehistoric times when it was believed they were one of the restless stars, then called the ‘night eyes’ or ‘lesser eyes’ of Nu’s ‘Great Eye,’ leaving their rounds and falling to Nu. While their landing may be catastrophic, when recovered, they have also been known to contain unique elements used to fashion prized artifacts. Later in the Primary Epoch, they came to be associated with the Blossom, particularly with the Burning Blossom, and some literature frames them as ‘Blossom Heralds.’ Despite their density and velocity, an improbable shelter against these Eyes of Nu, particularly during Burning Blossom Cycles, was developed as shelters using the Sheret shells. There is a measure of ambiguity in most-ancient texts where this term is used for falling rocks and the fixed stars.

Eye Station (Koru)

These are facilities within mountain ranges and elsewhere along Tolku and Koru underground transit lines. They serve many functions, including, as the name suggests, being watch posts for the Koru to gather information about what is happening in distant locations.

Eyes to Loam (Koru)

This expression encapsulates the Koru idea of all richness and savour being found on and in the loam, along with their antipathy towards the void of the atmosphere (Upper Abyss). It also signifies an attention to and appreciation of where Tatchlan is to be found.

Eye Window

While this term has been used for other ‘seeing’ creatures within Tatchlan, it primarily means a specific manifestation of an intensively improved seabird known as the Krall. Within Tatchlan, their presence is an oblong disk with a pair of green wings on either side. There may be two to four hundred of these, some moving in slow formation and others independently nearby. The wings do not move but remain stationary as the manifestation rotates in slow circles at mid-height. A strong Invocate, an Operant, and certainly a Majastas may grasp the wings of one of these and look into the disk. There, they see through the eyes of a flock of Krall at a great distance. If the first vista is not what they need, they may either turn the Eye slightly to see a different scene or be able to call forth the Krall at a given location to ‘open their eyes,’ at such time, the Eye immediately fills with their vision. Only the Majastas may bring all the windows together to present one vision of what all Krall of Anu sees. This remarkable work was an early innovation of the Tatchlan Masters of Rho-Jashun, long predating those working within Uluvatu Mountain on Statos-Vey. This term is not to be confused with ‘Vision Window.’

FFF

Face Dancer

These may be trained professionals and participants selected for their place on the Spoke of the Cluster Wheel to don a Mask and celebrate one of the Twelve Faces of Tatchlan on their allotted day. The Face Days Bureau of the Ceremonies Ministry sees all aspects of these events.

Face Day

This day is set aside each year for one of the Twelve Faces of Tatchlan. These public events occur on what is known as a ‘day pairing,’ meaning Day 11, 22, 33, up to the final event celebrating them all together on Day 444 of the 486-day calendar. The Twelve Faces are marked on each of these days, meaning Alatanda Day is first on Day Eleven, known as ‘Between Day’ of the first two-week of the year, Atra, the Flame. The day starts with all Face Shrines and all other monuments associated with this Face being opened at dawn and various rituals, songs, and performances taking place before it. From there, processions carrying multiple items related to this Face, including large Masks, are held aloft as they travel along circuitous routes through the surrounding community. During these processions, various Spokes of the Cluster Wheel take on specific roles, including as Face Dancers. Participants are dressed in the Face’s colours, and primary performers may have elaborate additional costumes, or their bodies may be painted to celebrate the Face Day. Crafted items associated with the Face are given out as ‘Bestowals.’ Other events may occur at various locations, including public performances and general feasting. This observance long predates the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch. It represents a profound and subtle working of culture by the Tatchlan Masters, particularly within the Yin-Vinulan and Muraharoma Dynasties on Statos-Vey. They introduced various aspects of these events into the general culture in tiny increments long before the Twelve Faces were known. When ‘The Quickening’ took place, all was revealed, and the public was fully prepared to embrace the true meaning of these Face Days.

Face Shrine

These Mantle Establishments are often attached to other Majastas Properties, such as Ablution Academies and some larger Artisan Boroughs. They usually take the form of twelve buildings set into the southern wall of their structure. Each contains the masks, ceremonial wear, bestowals, and other tools to be used by Face Dancers and others during the annual celebration of each of the Twelve Tatchlan Faces and other public ceremonies. In the case of the first of the Twelve Faces, Alatanda, his day is in the first month, Atra or the Bursting Flame, on Between Day (11). His Face Shrine is opened on this day, and the contents are swiftly disbursed to the Face Dancers for the day’s festivities. Being under the Ceremonies Ministry's purview, these Face Shrines are maintained by the Face Shrines Bureau.

Faval

These strange beings have been described as ‘Moving Stones’ and, on occasion, ‘Singing Stones.’ They are one small member of an enormous population collectively named the ‘Jesplace,’ meaning those who are ‘born without eyes.’ Those dwelling on The Skin of Anu never encounter them, as their domain lies, on average, two to four andas beneath their feet. While discovered at some point during the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, and the existence of a small encyclopedia found within the Treasuries making mention of them during The Interim, none believed they existed. A herd of Faval was discovered in a near bottomless cavern within the Central Veradapandra Range during the Danam Yelda’s Nantu Age. They are slow-moving mineral feeders whose byproducts include minerals such as acanthus and even argent, lapis and cupric gems. This process revolutionized the understanding of how many elements are formed within the bowels of Anu. The appellation ‘Singing Stone’ came from their reaction to the sudden moisture infusion. They appeared to emit a strangely melodious sound when wet. It was determined this was in no way a distress call and instead signalled their integration of this moisture into their infusion processes. They were later found immersing themselves in deep watercourses. Within their enclosures, in Bhampay, they appeared to thrive under her constant rains. They also displayed admirable adaptation in their ability to pivot from feeding on the radiating heat of the depths of Anu to the open glare of Nu, something their kind had never before experienced. Most Jesplace were not successful in making this transition.

Fermented Sap

This general term refers to a wide variety of intoxicating beverages. Despite their strong impact in large doses, they are not considered Vision Windows. Their use is confined to pleasant gatherings inside and outside the cluster.

Fertility Sanctuary

Also called ‘Fertility Shrines,’ these Mantle Establishments are excavated enclosures to enact rituals to celebrate the healing nature of delight and fertility. These designated Majastas Foundations are home to various locally-produced Life Pillars and may contain several sizeable renditions of the Face of Kava-Kura. Intensive aromas are produced, and multiple wind harps and bells respond to each breeze. There is usually a central circular space for dances. It radiates out from this a series of passageways leading to circular chambers for fertility rites by one or more Circles of Eight.

Four Gateways Four Stations

Early in the Secondary Epoch, within the separate life of the Field Yelda on the Marachla Plain of Rho-Jashun, a tradition emerged of four gateways in their cluster compounds alighted to the cardinal points. These gateways developed symbolic significance that was unique and tied to most-ancient Tolku traditions. The Northern Gateway came to be associated with Sorrow. The Western Gateway corresponded to Uses. The Eastern Gateway was associated with Delight, and the Southern Gateway was associated with Nobility. Traditions grew up around each of these gates. These included when they were opened and shut and what took place in their proximity. Much later, the Danam Yelda of Statos-Vey divided the Annular Chamber, where the Majastas Court was held into four equal quadrants with the Majastas at the centre. On the periphery were formal ministry Stations instead of gates. The Northern Station was titled ‘Challenge,' and representatives of the Chancellery, Cycles and Commandant Ministries attended. They commonly occupied it during the second-day phase of the Yeldic Majastas Hours and at any other time according to their Majastas's good pleasure. This is the disposition of the remainder of the Court Layout.

Free of Anu, she/he floats to Nu (Yakku)

A traditional ‘backforest’ Yakku phrase for one who has died, having its roots in the Siv-Sa Sagas. This became associated with certain extreme practices, including the ‘hanging of the dead.’

Fresh Adult

The title ‘Fresh Adult’ is given to someone who has completed the Life Cake Ceremony between ten and fifteen years of age. This is seen as the first step on the honourable road towards becoming a ‘Ripe Adult.’ Traditions vary regarding the time between these two milestone events and whether the Fresh Adult now joins a Circle of Eight of their own. Many practices vary across regions and time set aside for this population. One typical example is their honour of wearing the cluster’s Memory Masks during regular ceremonies and notable cluster milestones.

Froth on the Wave/Dust on the Wind

This refers to a superficial event compared to a more significant one or the difference between an individual life and history's majesty.

Full and fit

An affirmation of good health and contentment.

Funomanru Dynasty

Funomanru is the first royal house to unify all others and form a continent-spanning state for the Tolku of the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch. They were based on Statos-Vey with their seat of power within the massive formation of Upata-Shepsus. They also founded a port in what would become the city of Bhampay. They perfected Charsha as a staple crop and undertook a vast irrigation and cultivation network across Statos-Vey to produce it. They also established Azure Stone with its accompanying gems as a fundamental aspect of their economy. While they founded many civilizing traditions and numerous legal and institutional conventions during the fleeting six centuries of their reign, they are perhaps best remembered for their fall and the resulting pre-Tatchlan schools emerging in response to the violence and waste that followed. They looked back and delineated the Four Generations of Self-Absorption made clear in the death agonies of this first global state. They also noted how the concentration of large populations allowed successive waves of the fearsome Brangnam Plague to wash over them in the dynasty’s latter days. Along with a small body of preserved art and literature is one curious legacy. All surviving references to what appears to be the prehistoric religion, Chelyaka, come from this time.

GGG

Gandahatapan
Known as the ‘Perfection of the Air,’ this winged colony of insects is given the honorific of ‘Venerable’ for their social organization genius. Primarily found in the tropics, these colonies of up to one million members rove over vast areas by flying in massive collective and undulating formations from one tree roost to the next. They feed on nectar and clear the surrounding region of many other insects and, occasionally, small animals. During the Lesser Era, they were an emblem of ‘pride,’ both in its laudatory and destructive aspects. They have always held a particular antipathy towards two other beings. One is another Venerable Insect Society, the Mahakram. This may be seen as their wish to eliminate another force competing for the same prey. The reason for their hostility to the Sirintya is less understood. They also cannot abide by neighbouring colonies of their kind. If one is detected, they can determine which one is stronger by their aromas. The weaker one immediately removes themselves from the other’s territory. The most-ancient Practicians and early  Tatchlan Masters studied them for how aroma formed a primary bond holding thousands together around their Queen. They were particularly enamoured by their ability to create enormous formations that radically altered shape as they flew to form mesmerizing aerial spectacles. Throughout the Primary Epoch, the Tolku revered them as a Perfect Society. The ‘Field Yelda’ of the Secondary Epoch also accorded them this honour.

Gashandak Treasury Abridged Encyclopedia

There are so many unanswered questions about the Treasuries. Among them is why a small portion of an abridged encyclopedia, which must have been an extensive set of volumes more significant than the famous Yin-Vinulan Encyclopedias, found its way into this single treasury crate. These items predate the remainder of the crate’s contents by millennia and the rest of that particular Treasury. Gashandak is the northernmost of the thirty-two treasuries and is located within Mount Lumol, less than one hundred andas northeast of the first of all Koru Living Mountains, Kupat Queens One. The scope of the original volumes is nearly impossible to comprehend. According to the abridged version, it attempted to cover the Primary Epoch, both the Lesser and Greater Era. Yet another frustrating aspect of this collection is even this abridged version is incomplete. Only the first seven volumes, covering the Pre-Tatchlan period, were included. The collection was an immense and ongoing undertaking, and there was no indication of how many volumes were in the summary collection, let alone the complete encyclopedia series. A single intact set of the original comprehensive encyclopedias would have been such a gift to the Secondary Epoch, but thanks to the Suvuka, only this partial summary has survived. While numerous other sources exist, this is the most complete record of the Lesser Era, with many details found nowhere else. Some call this single set of seven volumes the ‘Midin Mountain Amassment’ as a bitter reference to the Mount Midin Amassment's incalculable loss.

The Gateway

The broad gap between the two ‘arms’ of the Primary Mountain Circle, situated in the northeastern portion of the monument, allowing entry into the open interior, is known as ‘The Gateway.’ While there are multiple small ways to gain access to the inner portion of the Capital Region, The Gateway has always been the official and ceremonial entrance to Upata-Shepsus. The Plateau lies three hundred andas southwest of The Gateway along the Imperial Way, which begins at the ramp at its base and ends at the port terminus of Bhampay.

Gather our many wandering threads together

A phrase indicating a time to pause in some intensive activity to reflect.

Gelion Thrush

This is a little bird of the temperate zones. Chiefly noted because of its call at Nu’s setting, its song announces, “Nu is gone! Nu is gone!” It is one of the first singers to stir at dusk, so its music is the first noticed. It continues the same refrain through the night, but as most other birds have more vital voices, it is seldom noted again.

Geltran-Kenal-Tumhal

This was an ethicist who arose early in the Duamang Age and came to lament the fate of the Suvuka. He was born among those defending the Xaduron Wall defences as part of the ‘Impenetrable Barrier Region’ of the southern Mulungu Mountains at the Nabunal Bend, containing the First  Suvuka Onslaught. As a child, he saw the Suvuka, now ancient and diminished, after becoming barren with Master Duamang’s weapon. As a youth, he travelled through the now-liberated territory and was saddened by signs of complacency among the Tolku. Later, he wrote several works critiquing this period, including his primary opus, ‘Our Great Failure.’ While his thesis was respected, many were displeased with him, and eventually, he had to defend his work publicly. Long after his death, the anti-Tatchlan critic Nebutan rediscovered Our Great Failure and ensured his insights were credited in her work. It is to be noted that unlike Nallurakon, who died long before he was born, Geltran had no affiliation with the Menem, and there was no religious content in his writings. The Suvuka Domestication Ministry's eventual establishment within the Tolku’s Cluster-of-Clusters Nation during the Greater Era led to his views being set aside.

Gem Mother

These women petition their cluster Elders to become the mothers of ‘Manifold Births.’ Often, this will be their first pregnancy, seen as the best time to give birth to multiple offspring. Such deliveries of ‘Gems’ form part of the larger Leadership Ring and Ratio Bureau plans to maintain the three-men-to-one-woman ratio within their cluster and neighbouring clusters in their Encirclement. As with all planned births of specific genders, Cohort Jelly is fed to both the prospective mother and, if a desired Spoke of the Cluster Wheel is needed, two or more male members of that Spoke. Due to the potency of the Cohort Jelly, this is the exception to the general rule of Spokes arising spontaneously from Mundane and other mothers. These preparations are normally sufficient to ensure the class of Manifolds and their Spoke is assured. After that, this woman is honoured to be a ‘Gem Mother’ or a ‘Gem Spoke Mother.’ She may be further designated according to the Spoke of her manifold progeny. i.e. ‘Pale Blue Complete Gem Mother.’ This brings honour to her cluster and circle. It also empowers her to wear designations of this status to cluster and Encirclement events.

Gem Mother Double

It is not unknown for first-time mothers, commonly perceived as Mundanes, to successfully win the Gem Mother designation and then surprise everyone by manifesting as a Double. Until their first pregnancy, no indication of which women will display this treasured Tatchlan attribute. This is one of the rare instances where one aspect of Tatchlan, Cohort Jelly, augments another aspect, a blossoming Double. These become known as ‘Gem Mother Doubles.' There is some correlation between their intended ‘Gem Formation,’ i.e. ‘Pale Blue,’ ‘Dark Blue,’ et cetera, augmenting their abilities. While this is demonstrably the case, there is no appreciable parallel between the number of absorbed infants and the Double’s potency. Beyond what was originally going to be a Green Gem Mother, planning to give birth to four identical siblings, there is no notable difference in Doubles, who initially was to give birth to a higher formation. This is known as the ‘Two-to-Four Rule,’ suggesting Gem Mother Doubles may manifest the potency of up to four Doubles, but no more. The exception to this rule is the rare ‘Manifold Doubles.’ As with all Doubles in the Secondary Epoch, as Ripe Adults, these Gem Mother Doubles receive their Egg to raise as their Healing Vat. The only difference is a determination made by the Doubles and Vats Bureau to disburse a Specialty Egg to a given Gem Double to eventually produce a Healing Vat attuned to specific ailments or conditions.

Gem Siblings

These are manifold births of identical female or male siblings brought about by their cluster’s Leadership Ring for the gender maintenance of the three-males-to-one-female ratio within their own or a neighbouring cluster. Of necessity, such births are planned between one to two decades in advance within and between clusters. This is based on the Leadership Ring’s projections based on the surrounding Encirclement’s census data provided by the Ratio Bureau of the Wellbeing Ministry. These ‘Gem Formations’ will not be planted into their new circles until they reach Ripe Adulthood. At such times, it is common for festivities to occur involving the exchange of Ripe Adult Cohorts. Gem or Manifold Formations are divided into eight classes. 


Pale Blue Gems: informally known as ‘Pale Blues,’ twin girls or Completes intended to form the core of a single Circle of Eight.


Dark Blue Gems: triplet boys or Completes intended to replenish half the males of a given Circle of Eight or bond two circle fragments.


Green Gems: these quadruplet Manifolds, known as ‘Greens,’ may be of either gender or Complete and are a welcome remedy for various cluster issues. Four girls may eventually heal two circles, suffering the loss of both women in their circle. They may also form a bridge between two circle fragments to form a double circle. Four boys may remain together to return a circle fragment, especially one containing Spokes or Elders, to fullness. They may also go as two pairs to separate circles. On rare occasions, Greens comprise one set of female and male twins. As Ripe Adults, they may go as single or opposite-sex pairs to two circles or bring completion to a single fragment.


Yellow Gems: these are five male or Complete quintuplets performing the same services as Dark Blues.


Peach Gems: these six males are intended to join one set of Pale Blues or two other women to form a new circle. In the case of the women not being twins, these two women are often designated as Spokes of the Cluster Wheel. 


Orange Gems: these rare seven identical siblings are a complex rendering for unique circumstances inside or outside their birth cluster and maybe a combination of female and male.


Red Gems: eight females or complete manifolds to make four whole circle fragments or two double circles.


Purple Gems: nine identical male siblings are only seen in challenging times. They are disbursed to circles in need, usually in pairs or, on occasion, two siblings and one set of four.

Gender Maintenance

This is the ongoing task of Elders and their attendance within each cluster to ensure the three-men-to-one-woman ratio, vital to the formation and health of Circles of Eight, is maintained.

The General Plain

Early in The Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, the first Practicians able to access the inner world found themselves standing, ‘with bared feet’ on the blistering surface of Indatubangus, the realm of Raw Life. Generations learned how to refine elements of this realm. They then took to weaving an orderly mat of living tissue to overlay large portions of this vile landscape. Once begun, these new forms of life began to perpetuate and self-organize, later taking on the descriptive title of ‘Tentacles, Tendrils and Tails.’ Resembling other living lattices, in particular, what would later be called the Nether Network beneath the Skin of Anu, this was the first and most profound living structure of Tatchlan. They contained a complexity and functionality within them that the Uluvatu Masters would call the ‘Eight within Eight within Eight Living Conventions’ (see also ‘Increments of Eight Conventions’). Immense discipline and patience were necessary to bind these minuscule successive layers, representing perceiving intelligence and design, onto the rude and blind chaos of Raw Life. Most-ancient sources credit another early product of Genius within the emerging Tatchlan, The Lustrum Mirror, by allowing these early originators to shed the residual traces of Self-Absorption, impeding their noble labours. The pace of subsequent innovation was initially languid, with many generations’ intervals separating one from the next. It was not until the very first true Tatchlan Masters that this collective work possessed the necessary cohesion to become known as The General Plain. Forming a mycelium of growing depth and already daunting complexity, The General Plain became the loam out of which all subsequent resplendent aspects of the Living System emerged. As a diversity of refinements sprung out of The General Plain in successive generations, it also became referred to with great affection as the ‘Undulating Fields.’ This term refers to the fact that, over time, deep folds have developed across the otherwise rolling landscape, containing rich activity concentrations. While they run deep, the curving gaps are narrow and easily traversed. Throughout subsequent Aeons, these channels came to house deep concentrations. A few became inaccessible to all but the most potent Operants and the Majastas. It was eventually revealed that one Majastas, or dynasty, would leave living Sigils for the successor to find, providing profound arcana. Often, only a mature Majastas possessed by The Throne could appreciate it. The most well-known example of this is the ‘Breathing Seals Conglomerations.’ The Tatchlan Cubes were the initial way of overseeing the entirety of this calming and ordering layer over Raw Life. In the final decades of the Duamang Age, this meticulous plain began to produce an explosive profusion of growth in anticipation of the Quickening of Tatchlan and its full manifestation on the Skin of Anu. This process was well underway during the first novel of this series, Hesha Vira’s Challenge. This leads to the Masters becoming disoriented within the suddenly changing landscape within the Living System. After the Quickening and the arrival of the first Majastas, Thakadush-Satwa, much of The General Plain became buried within a profusion of new life. Still, one or more open expanses of this original landscape persisted throughout subsequent history.

Generational Pause

This phrase refers to Koru and Danam Yeldic  Majastas ensuring any meaningful change is accompanied by a significant time for integration. As the title suggests, this usually takes the form of an entire generation’s life. After this hiatus of sixty to one hundred years, additional changes or innovations in the same field may be introduced, followed by other pauses. As change may occur in multiple areas during dynamic periods, this may become difficult, leading to a more significant pause after a volatile era.

Gidalist (Yakku)

This modified creature occupies the ‘Lower Body, Arms and Hands’ of the Yakku’s Eight Levels of the forest. They are bred to be guardians and serve as a warning for any unusual activity on the forest floor. Their tiny bodies have powerful, long tendrils which issue out at any strange vibration and are surprisingly swift and accurate in ensnaring any prey. They are trained to whip their tendrils when anything significant appears to alert their Yakku masters above.

Gifting

A fundamental institution of cluster life is Gifting. This ancient practice is typically initiated by one or more larger clusters, which invites one or more smaller clusters to gather with them, either within their compound, an Ablution Academy, or some other Mantle Establishment. The primary function of the event is for the initiating cluster(s) to bestow on the recipient cluster(s) a sizeable portion of their wealth in the forms of cluster mates goods, along with the laying out of contracts for the provision of services unique to the Uses within the host cluster. Giftings bring boons to all participating while rooting out any vestiges of Self-Absorption. Each cluster's Signature is said to be ‘flushed’ and ‘refined’ by all aspects of this event. Through large enactments of The Nine Petals, the communal singing of anthems, Cluster and Circle Dances, House Mask sharing, and other ecstatic activities between different cluster circles, existing bonds are strengthened and new ones formed. This and the eating of selected Vision Windows ensure any ongoing tensions, particularly between clusters of contrasting Tones, are released. Different Spokes of the Cluster Wheel have essential functions during these events. For instance, Cinnabar Betweens laid down robust Sillage Trails and interweaved their Sillage Spoor with Cinnabar Betweens of other participating clusters to knit the different groups together. Perhaps the most pronounced boon is the transference of the Ripe Adult Cohorts and Gem Siblings between clusters. Under the direction of the Ratio Bureau of the Wellbeing Ministry and the surrounding Encirclement’s Maja Gatherings, the Leadership Ring of Cluster Elders ascertains both the givers and receivers during the Gifting Transference. The aim is to redistribute wealth and ensure Encirclement harmony, contributing to the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation’s maintaining ‘Peace, Order and Good Governance.’ While each urban cluster will know at least one Gifting each decade, these events are even more frequent and intense among Rural Clusters.

Gomuun
This is a very early modified being crafted during The Interim during the famed Fourth Generation's lifetime when they realized they needed to amplify the air circulation within the Sanctuaries. While known during the Primary Epoch, these tiny air circulators were not deemed necessary to refine, given the existing venting network was adequate for a far lower population. Most Tolku dwelt under what the Koru now term the ‘Upper Abyss.’ With increased densities of Koru clusters, these tiny creatures, moving through crevasses and inadvertently pushing a surprising quantity of air in and out of these enclosed spaces, came to the fore. Due to their being uniquely amenable to being located and modified within Tatchlan, the first generations of Koru Invocates and Operants had early success in gently altering them to be of better service in circulating the air in and out of the Sanctuaries through a multitude of tiny passageways drilled through for their passage. The Gomuun is ranked as a ‘Modified’ member of the Recovered Ones.

Good Cargo

This ancient sailing designation means someone has proven their value aboard a ship.

The Grand Interior

The expanse within the Primary Mountain Circle was granted this title during the Funomanru Dynasty. Its most significant length is from the northwest to southeast at one thousand, one hundred and forty-six andas. Its greatest width east to west is five hundred and seventy andas. From the first unifying dynasty of the Funomanru, the Grand Interior was divided into four Districts with straight borders running east to west. The northernmost is the Turms District, followed by the ‘Mid-North District’ of ‘Ethausva.’ ‘Areatha District’ forms the Mid-South region, and ‘Tages District’ ends at the southern inner wall. The significance of these names has been lost to time. Each of these districts is roughly two hundred and eighty andas from their northern to the southern border. During the Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, the Turms District contains most of the Variothya ministry facilities. Only the Cycles and Ceremonies Ministries are not based here but in the Blue City of Bhampay. The Plateau is just across its southern border, on the northern edge of Ethausva District. Ringing its Circumambulatory Highway is a forest of monuments and places of ceremony, including vast interconnected networks of specialized museums and immense theatrical complexes. To the south of this, the Areatha District is given over to Mantle Museums and supporting facilities, including numerous city-sized hostelries for the pilgrim populations making the circuit around The Plateau before their extended devotional visits to the famed Mantle collections. The Tages District has been the most fertile and the source of crop and other food production for The Capital Region for millennia. While this area is well-populated, it must be noted that the massive girding walls enclosing it are honeycombed with passages connecting hundreds of interior chambers also devoted to the welfare and business of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation.

Greater Era

The Greater Era refers to most of the Primary Epoch when the Tolku Cluster-of-Cluster’s Nation held sway over all Anu. An Aeon is a unit of time composed of 250,000 years. The Greater Era is estimated to have seen over one hundred and twenty Aeons. The Imperial Capital Region has always encompassed the Primary Mountain Circle of  Upata-Shepsus. The glittering port city of Bhampay served as the cultural and commercial capital. At the close of the first novel of this series, Hesha Vira’s Challenge, this age was about to commence with the arrival of Majastas Thakadush-Satwa. The beginnings of this immense period, exceeding two million years, are well known. As outlined in the second novel of this series, Amarel Mountain, the tragic conclusion of this epoch was initially shrouded in the mysterious catastrophe of The Killing Swath. As the ensuing Secondary Epoch progressed, increasing understanding about the necessity of the Rectification only added to the deep respect and admiration accorded to the most-ancient Tolku. Sadly, up to ninety percent of the enormous legacy between this commencement and termination of the Tolku Cluster-of-Clusters Civilization was destroyed. In the mere seven centuries of The Interim, it was reduced to blood-soaked dust by the vile Suvuka during their Second Onslaught on all three continents. With the discoveries of the Treasuries, there was great hope of something approaching the lost Mount Midin Amassment. Still, while a greater appreciation of these profound works came in time, they did not serve to detail the history of this immense period. Other sources, including living records within the Living System of Tatchlan, provide some insight, but much of this period appears to be lost beyond recall.

Guardians

This title appears in the Second and Fourth Stanzas of what is known as the Proclamation Text, the final document circulated within the Tolku Cluster-of-Clusters Nation before The Killing Swath. The term refers to the Swath survivors seeking shelter in the Sanctuaries prepared for them in the Mulungu Mountains of Rho-Jashun and rebuilding Tatchlan. These were the last generations of Tolku at the commencement of The Interim. They continued into the first generations of Koru. Venerable Scholars point to this extraordinary state of affairs to illustrate Mundanes' role in the stability of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. Given the presumed extremity of the event, nearly all Sensitives appear to have perished, and the majority of those surviving to become Guardians were Mundanes. They possessed the internal fortitude to travel through the horror to the Sanctuaries. Once there, they established pre-clusters, and the first Elders laid down the protocols for Mundane Mothers to give birth to Sensitive offspring. The Change became manifest among these new Spokes of the Cluster Wheel generations.

HHH

Haklu

This is the oldest four-stringed musical instrument, having come virtually unchanged from pre-Tatchlan times to the present. This is the traditional instrument of the Senu, who hold it near vertical while doing simple singing recitations. More ambitious presentations to larger audiences usually require a small orchestra to accompany the Senu. The Haklu is one of two secondary emblems employed by the Erudite Bureau of the Enumerator Ministry.

Hathnal

This most-ancient Goddess was known as the ‘Queen of Ranvartawan,’ despite the fact the later Menem narrative of their eternal realm of the same name makes no mention of her. Presiding over a quarrelsome pantheon in the minds of her adherents during the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, she was the victorious fourth generation’s ruler. The previous three generations saw an eternity of peaceful Goddesses being overthrown by young male deities who, in turn, are destroyed and consumed by a new Goddess. Hathnal is the fourth in this line of victorious mothers who restore balance to all Anu. She teaches all creatures, including the Cousins and Tolku, to survive and comport themselves. She was said to bring agriculture, animal husbandry, language, and writing to the Tolku. This religion contains the earliest known references to being rooted in place, leading to true wisdom. Evidence of using Life Pillars as part of Charsha Sprouting Mother rites has also been verified. It has also been suggested the most-ancient adage, ‘Life Must Live With Life,’ originates in this religion. Beyond this, very little more is known about this extinct culture. Perhaps a millennia after the tradition waned, Hathnal makes an unlikely appearance in the Tarunachit, the Menem epic chronicling battles between the Menem and Kovlah. She is an enemy Kovlah general, fully dressed in armour and described as standing' head to head’ as tall as Tarunachit himself. Equating the goddess with the Suvuka was seen as the greatest insult the Menem could make to a religion they despised. This religion is seen to have been a manifestation of the Second Generation of Self Absorption. The Pauloman Catalogues mention many volumes devoted to this religion, but none survived the Mount Midin Tragedy.

Healers and Soothers

These are very general terms for physicians addressing a diversity of ills beyond or in concert with Healing Vats (see below). ‘Healers’ are associated with physical difficulty and the application of topical remedies, while ‘Soothers’ address the spectrum of mental/emotional disturbances. These two terms are amongst the oldest in any language, and their ‘Blue Hands’ emblem is among the earliest surviving from antiquity. However, by the beginning of the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, they came to be closely associated with the Tatchlan Masters. The training and certification of all those working under these designations is the responsibility of the Pacifier Bureau of the Wellbeing Ministry.

Healing Vat

Next to the Yelda themselves, the Healing Vat is the wonder of the Secondary Epoch brought about by the Venerable Koru. This novel Living Instrument transformed the lives of all employing them by imparting improved health and vitality in myriad ways. This Koru innovation also opened a new service door to Doubles, who become linked to one or more Healing Vats, raising them, tending them, and ultimately offering themselves after death to bring them into full ripeness for their cluster. With the establishment of Healing Vats and their Doubles, there has been a Doubles and Vats Bureau within the Wellbeing Ministry.

Heason and Hays Religion

This was Anu with a Goddess’s face and body from most-ancient times. She and her brother Hays grew out of the barren ground. Hays immediately flew up to the sky to escape the ‘binding soil’ but was held fast by a cord linking him to his sister, Heason. She pulls him back each season to copulate before he dies. One inscription declares, ‘Heason is the throne Hays briefly sits upon.’ After his death, Heason would wash Anu with her tears before giving birth to the following year’s Hays. The new Hays would lay on top of her each spring, and her issue would then squeeze out from between their two bodies. Eventually, by mid-year, there was enough of a problem to physically push Hays away to provide room for them to live and grow. Fragmentary evidence tells of a ritual where the faithful would stand in long lines with pikes and other weapons in midsummer, stabbing upwards repeatedly to either drive Hays away or kill him to free themselves and their Goddess from his suffocating embrace. Mystifying fragments suggest many other odd concepts, but these are too incomplete to relate. There are explicit references in the later Laranal’s narrative stating this religion declared war on the followers of Heason. The later Menem Priesthood of Thithanu did all they could to expunge all physical traces and literary references to Heason. These efforts included pulling down what remained of most-ancient bounding walls and other structures around Memanu fields, deemed sacred precincts of Heason. This Goddess and the practices attributed to her followers were singled out for particular humorous treatment in a play of the same name within the ‘Everlasting Ennui.’

Hidden treasures remain

This proverb is invoked when exclaiming on a treasure or insight found in an unlikely place.

Honoured Historian

This refers to one of the four traditional academic occupations. The other three are ‘Venerable Scholars,’ ‘Esteemed Librarians,’ and ‘Acclaimed Professors.’ All of these respected positions have a preponderance of Mundanes in their ranks. As expected, this vast discipline is divided into many specialities, spreading to various endeavours over time and reaching significant depths. As the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation attains greater levels of ‘National Maturity,’ the stature of Honoured Historian is viewed by all with awe. Among this collection of excellences is the most significant designation of Living Jewels, and among this cherished company, the rare instance of one being designated as a Treasure of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. The deepest level of this class is the Jemnum Apprehenders, who deal with the exotic task of tracking ‘Concept Filaments.’

Honoured Mother, Honoured Father

This traditional title was given to Elders. Often, it is shortened to the honorific followed by the name, i.e., Honoured Vara.

Honours and Duties
Entirely separate from the Funomanru and Buyanupithar Dynasty Legal Codes were a body of aspirational doctrines meant to set out the position of each Tolku of the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch about their surrounding nation. These are collectively referred to as the ‘Honours and Duties.’ In summary, many of these documents detail how the Tolku arose from among the Cousins and how the foundations of social living were learned from them. None can exist by themselves. The Thyma pack or large Kumastam picks off a solitary wanderer. None possess all they need to survive and are subject to calamity and misfortune. Much of this material is taken up by lists under these two categories. The Honours refer to the multitude of benefits the encompassing state provides from birth to death. These are also referred to as ‘Benedictions.’ The Duties are the service offerings each provides to the community and larger polity. These are often named ‘Acclamations.’ Acclamations and Benedictions’ were meant to fulfill the most-ancient dream of ‘Peace, Order and Good Governance.’ During the chaotic Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, the ‘First Generation of Self Absorption’ saw the most intensive emulation of all the Honours and Duties. By the Third Generation, these doctrines were disparaged and abandoned. Only with the arrival of the first Majastas and the institution of the entire Cluster-of-Clusters Nation were the Honours and Duties of ancient times fully realized and steadfastly observed, without pause, generation after generation.

Huallapandu Headlands

These are the most northerly lands of Rho-Jashun and witness the warm Panchala Sea's violent meeting with the frigid Tharapura Ocean, known as the ‘Black Maid.’ These headlands are also known as the ‘Crown’ of Rho-Jashun. Beyond these physical traits, this area has the dubious distinction of being associated with both Suvuka Onslaughts. On both occasions, this is where the Suvuka landed in their crossing of the Panchala Sea from Thermistal before preparing to move south to destroy all traces of the Tolku and their descendants. After their eventual defeats, both remnants retreated to this same region before dying out or being forced to return to Thermistal.

Humility Petition

This ritual predates the Funomanru Dynasty and has undergone many changes through subsequent millennia. What has remained the same throughout the Primary and Secondary Epoch's Cluster of Clusters Nations is that this petition is usually repeated to successive governance representatives prior to ‘Entering the Presence.’ This formula allows a minimum of such extra business to be brought directly before the Majastas. Depending on the nature of the petition, if deemed worthy, it may ultimately be presented during slow circumambulation beyond the periphery of the Majastas Court. It may even be considered of sufficient merit to warrant a private audience. Such petitions are commonly first heard by members of the Appointments Bureau of the Grandee Secretariat. Humility Petitions may also be presented directly to the Majastas within Tatchlan. Given that these may only be made by Invocates or Operants, they potentially have more ready access, but even they must await the Majastas's good pleasure.

Hungry Rock
This is known as a Non-Living ‘Skin Bane,’ meaning it is present on the surface or Skin of Anu (as opposed to a Water Bane or Sky Bane) and is potentially dangerous. Hungry Rock is a silent, smooth grey pool with a shimmering surface. These pools are usually rounded in shape and have distinctive Natlay grasses growing around their edges. As the name suggests, this inert area consumes whatever is placed on it. Whether living, dead or never alive, the Hungry Rock makes no distinction in swiftly absorbing whatever comes in contact with it. The incidence of Hungry Rock is significant across much of Anu. They are seldom hidden, and large animal migrations take their locations into account. From prehistory onward, the Tolku made material offerings and honoured dead to their local grey entity, which they named the ‘Gentle Consumer.’ Not only have the Koru, Yakku and Yelda continued this practice, but it was learned even the Suvuka may have had similar traditions. Back when the dreaded Brangnam Plague was visiting early Tolku populations in cycles, the notion of ‘Merciful Suicide’ was embraced, and those facing the horrors of infection avidly sought release at pools of Hungry Rock. Later ages would recall these events and note that the plague was completely extinguished, as all other life was, and new practices were enacted to dispose of any collection of contaminated materials at these pools with a special ceremony.

III

I am because we are

This most-ancient Cathalu declaration was later championed by the Uluvatu or Primary Masters as the foundation of all social wisdom.

I am helpless, bowed, stooping and humble

This is the traditional commencement of a Humility Petition and similar presentations to those possessing greater depth than the petitioner.

I regret to bring Nu out (Koru/Yelda)

A traditional phrase of the Koru, surviving among the Yelda, means the necessity of imparting bad news.

Icon

An icon is an image capable of stirring the Living System within the circle or cluster viewing it. This is known as its ‘efficacy’ and ‘power to Summon.’ It is like a House Mask, becoming a mirror that brings to the surface those aspects of Tatchlan residing within the viewer. Icons depicting aspects of the Resplendent Work have more ‘weight’ than others, particularly those dealing with the Majastas and the Twelve Tatchlan Faces. Others may be rooted in ancient events or locations or depict frightful or dangerous aspects, yet they still resonate within Tatchlan. Eventually, all ‘attainments’ of urban civilization, seen as simultaneously forming the foundation of, and being infused by, the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, came to possess the power to summon aspects of the Living System. An example is the Rock Craft Shell Formation icon of the Koru. Traditionally, icons are enclosed in reserved borders. In general, the Tolku placed their icons inside squares set on point. The Koru inside ‘mountain’ triangles and the Danam Yelda use a ‘teardrop’ formation. Also, images of sometimes ancient pedigrees, such as those generally known as ‘Yakku Hand Emblems,’ are not icons.

Icon border

Founding conventions around Icon borders used during the Primary and Secondary Epochs are surprisingly elusive. Before the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch, the pre-Tatchlan Tolku had enclosed images of import in various forms. One convention surviving from the Lesser Era was the Circular Icon. The criteria dictating when this rarely employed formation was used is still being determined. There is no record of how what came to be designated as the Tolku, or Primary Epoch, border for Icons, being a square set on one point, was instituted. While there is no founding document, it is presumed the early years of the first Koru Majastas, Zudaz I, at the commencement of the Secondary Epoch, established an icon border reflecting the raw mountain and then Living Mountain life of the Koru. The resulting triangular formation is often called the ‘Mountain’ or ‘Living Mountain Border.’ With the commencement of the Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation in Upata-Shepsus, another innovation was introduced. To the amazement of Venerable Scholars and Esteemed Librarians, no charter has been found setting out the governance custom and specific dimensions of what is known as the Danam Yeldic ‘Teardrop’ icon border. While records exist of its introduction early in the reign of the first Majastas, Upata-Shepsus I, nothing has been found in the Mantle Museum Archives detailing how this design was established. A handful of most-ancient ‘teardrop’ images from the Primary Epoch exist. They enclosed items deemed vital to the Living System and thus represented a ‘drop’ in the Sea of Tatchlan. What little is known about the adoption of this convention for the Summoning Icons of the Danam Yelda was the memory of his precedent.

Impartial Love and Caring

This most-ancient phrase is often linked with another, ‘Each Belongs to All.’ They both speak to the longing for a life free of Self-Absorption and its attendant ills. With the Tolku realization of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, these aspirations filled festive banners and were carved deep on eternal moments. They were sufficiently realized in daily life that the term ‘Impartial Love and Caring’ is evoked as a treasure to be lost by the impending Killing Swath in Stanza Six of the Final Proclamation of the Tolku. Such is the success of the Rectification that all Koru and Yelda know its meaning, whether or not they have ever heard the phrase.

Impenetrable Barrier Region

This refers to the southeastern, particularly the southern wall of the Mulungu Mountain Chain stretching from the eastern to western coasts of southern Rho-Jashun. It came by this name during the First Suvuka Onslaught. Much of this range is tightly packed with narrow, tortuous passes easily defended against the Suvuka. There were three areas open to a possible breach. Tolku defenders hastily filled the easternmost gap at the Nabunal Bend with what became known as the Xaduron Wall, a smooth construction bending inwards to discourage the Suvuka from trying to scale it. The second was further west and far longer, the Thumondu Wall. The only reason this was completed in time was the Suvuka tarried in their excessive destruction of the World City of Thithanu. While it held against the First Onslaught, it fell in the Second Onslaught after The Killing Swath as no one defended it. The third was a barrier of a different sort, the Bulbogal Trench, a vast tear in the landscape artfully disguised so reportedly thousands of Suvuka were deceived into stampeding towards a portion of the mountain range only to plunge into it. This same strategy would be used over one hundred Aeons later, during The Interim, by the Yakku at the Paramount Barrier on Thermistal.

Imperial Way

This is the title for the eldest of all surface highways on Statos-Vey. It travels from The Gateway of Upata-Shepsus to the port terminus of Bhampay, a distance of nine hundred and seventy-seven andas. The distance from the foot of The Plateau and the surrounding Circumambulatory Highway to Bhampay’s port is 1,278 andas. This means three hundred and one andas between the Gateway into Upata-Shepsus and the foot of The Plateau. Taking the vast ramp stairway extending out from the base of The Plateau, it is traditionally said three hundred andas separates the Gateway from The Plateau. One Anda is subdivided into sixty-four units known as Ans and The Imperial Way, and all subsequent highways constructed by the Danam Yelda on Statos-Vey are one An in width. The original Imperial Way was entirely built of Azure Stone, which is said to have been taken from the massive piles produced by flattening the top of the Primary Mountain Circle. Given its immense antiquity, all of the stone has been replaced. Still, great care was taken to ensure every new piece fit into the previous gap, making the current marvel nearly identical to the original.

Improve your Depth

This may refer to a circle of eight, an entire cluster, an Encirclement or beyond. For example, a circle may ‘Improve their Depth’ by regularly attending an Ablution Academy or other Mantle Establishment events. Depth Improvement may also refer to the intensification of Maja, or other Spokes of the Cluster Wheel’s, birthrate within a cluster, thus strengthening its Circle Ranking and Cluster Grade.  Rural clusters ensure circles containing Fresh Adults attain more significant ‘Increments of Perfection’ and become ‘Saturated by Improvement’ by temporarily replacing an urban circle in their cluster. The urban circle performs a similar service by bringing many urban refinements to the rural cluster. It is also common for Fresh-Adult circles to be sent to a large urban centre to perfect their ‘Saturation’ before returning to enrich their cluster.

Improve by Art

The Koru adopted a traditional phrase of the Tolku and later Danam Yelda to refer to all forms of modifying the raw natural environments to a new aesthetic state. The smoothing of a hill or pruning of a tree is said to ‘improve it by art.’ This term has wide application, one example being the Rock Craft and iridescent organics of the Koru’s Living Mountains. The goal is to make all things ‘Beautiful and Practical in Equal Measure.’ The mandate of the Koru and Yeldic versions of the Enhancement Bureau of the Preeminent Works Ministry is to Improve by Art each aspect of Cluster-of-Clusters life.

Improving
Often expressed as something being ‘Quite Improving’ or ‘Most Improving,’ this affirms the value of an installation or event to increase the depth of the viewers. This is often attributed to individual Circles of Eight engaged in Improving their Depth (see above).

Inari (Yelda)
This Living Instrument is one of several creatures of the plant/animal class fashioned for the Preeminent Works Ministry’s Edifice Bureau. They became prominent throughout the Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation after the widespread adoption of the Upata Bulb for clusters. This had the unforeseen consequence of a growing aversion for the interiors of ‘dead’ structures. Given a limit on how large Upata Bulbs may expand, for example, most Mantle Establishments remain housed in non-living facilities. Grown in Builder Enclaves, the Inari are mites adhering to the interior walls of such public buildings. Their suction roots attach to the walls and contact their neighbours, forming elaborate and shifting patterns that change colour and undulate with gentle movements. Their small oval blooms of tiny tentacles feed on the aromas and skin flecks exuding from the public in these spaces. In time, the Koru welcomed these creatures to live on the interior walls of their Living Mountains. See also Shaka Bishamon.

Increments of Eight Conventions

Few terms have more layers of depth to them. The Uluvatu Masters maintained that the circle of eight was the optimal social unit for their dream of a Cluster-of-Clusters Nation on the Skin of Anu. They saw to it that eight was planted into the very depths of Tatchlan, knitting what had been an uneven patchwork of blind chance into a succession of interlocking configurations of eight built into The General Plain at the ‘Tentacles, Tendrils and Tails’ level. It is said these Seeds are composed of an incalculable number of eight components within eight components, known as ‘Eight within Eight within Eight.’ It is common to find the same living conventions repeated with endless variations and ongoing alterations throughout Tatchlan. On the Skin of Anu, it is possible to see many examples of how Raw Life has been over the march of ages domesticated by these conventions. What are known as examples of Tatchlan Skin Patterning, most commonly observed among the Mayku and present in innumerable other hides, skins, leaves and stems of the living, are composed of tiny conventions of eight, often in a curved or circular formation. ‘Increments of Eight Conventions’ has a much earlier historical foundation. In the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, the Yin-Vinulan Dynasty commenced a program of organizing their new Unification State into sixty-four provinces with further increments of eight built into subsidiary governance structures within each province. To align with these conventions, they re-established the Funomanru standards for all weights and measures, such as the Anda. Esteemed Librarians, Honoured Historians, and Venerable Scholars may contend on many matters. Still, there is a strong consensus that this is a sign the Tatchlan Masters were deep in the councils of this new dynasty. Now, they began to step out of the shadows and proclaim their vision for all Tolku. This is not to be confused with the ‘Increments of Perfection.’

Increments of Perfection

This phrase is usually used to describe the changing nature of a cluster’s Grade given the incidents of births of Spokes of the Cluster Wheel. Secondary use of the term involves an individual cluster-mate, or Circle-of-Eight’s, attaining a notable milestone or distinction. This term is not to be confused with a similar one, the Increments of Eight Conventions.

Indispensable Hands

This title is given to the Invocates for their many abilities within the Resplendent System of Tatchlan. It refers primarily to their detailed service to Majastas and Governance Ministries of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. To a lesser extent, it also refers to their ability to link with Invocates on the other side of Anu, effecting immediate long-distance communication, sometimes informally referred to as ‘indispensable ears.’

Inner City

The term refers to Tolku and later Danam Yeldic underground chambers and connecting networks of tunnels beneath large urban centres. The two best preserved from the Primary Epoch were those beneath the capital of Upata-Shepsus and the commercial hub of Bhampay. Even though Bhampay is a port city, the subsurface comprises near-pure Azure Stone with minimal seepage from the Siana River or the Panchala Sea. There was a third famed Inner City during the Lesser Era beneath the World City of Thithanu, but the Suvuka managed to gain entry and bring most of it down along with the surface city. Due to less compact soil conditions beneath Thithanu, despite its vast surface area, their Inner City was far more modest than Upata-Shepsus, which is also Azure Stone only a short way below the surface. The Inner City of Upata-Shepsus, continually developed throughout the Primary Epoch, is the most extensive, extending sixteen levels beneath the surface. Along with serving the surface infrastructure, these chambers stored goods and housed many notable and precious items. While these included some surviving libraries, nothing approached the loss of the Mount Midin Amassment. This network's most famous and far largest cavity is known as the Anu Cluster Event Chamber, one of the most well-preserved monumental relics from the Primary Epoch that completely evaded the Suvuka’s Second Onslaught. The Danam Yelda of the Secondary Epoch modestly continued this tradition in their new provincial centres on Statos-Vey, each having its own Inner City to varying depths that formed a natural connection with the continental lines travelling across the subcontinent.

The Interim

This is a period of seven hundred and forty-one years between the ending of the Primary Epoch of the Tolku and the commencement of the Secondary Epoch (also the Unbroken Koru Calendar) of the Koru, Yakku and Yelda. During this period, Tolku, surviving The Killing Swath, gathered in two places to persist and endure. On Rho-Jashun, they entered the Sanctuaries within the Mulungu Mountains, which had been established long before this cataclysm. On Thermistal, they ascended the mighty trunks of the western forests surrounding the Viracocha Mountains. Both populations were subjected to the blind fury of the Second Suvuka Onslaught, which, in time, possessed all of Anu. The Suvuka destroyed all living associated with the Tolku and laid waste to the accumulated inheritance of two million years of majestic glory. Within their separate camps, these two groups of Tolku underwent ‘The Change,’ which saw their bodies transform over several generations into ones suited to their two different environments. On Rho-Jashun, they became the Koru dwelling beneath the mountains. On Thermistal, they became the Yakku, living high in the forest canopy. The Koru faithfully fulfilled their role as Guardians and worked tirelessly to rebuild Tatchlan. They revered the Tolku for making the ultimate sacrifice to perform the Rectification to save Tatchlan. For reasons little understood, the Yakku turned their backs on this legacy. They refused to subscribe to the notion of a Rectification, later referring to this concept as an ‘Abhorrent Doctrine.’ They saw the Killing Swath as a destructive act of malice or incompetence of the final Tolku Majastas. For a time, these two groups lived in ignorance of each other’s existence. Finally, the Koru ventured onto Thermistal and met the Yakku. Initially, what followed was a euphoric period known as ‘The Happy Century.’ Exchanges of all kinds were made in extensive celebrations, seeing each spending years exploring the other’s domains. This led to the birth of unforeseen progeny between them, the Yelda. Gradually, an estrangement developed over many profound differences between these two progeny of the original Tolku. When the first Koru Majastas arose and pronounced an end to all Suvuka with Her release of Master Duamang’s weapon, the Yakku chose to needlessly punish the already doomed beasts at a high cost to themselves. The Koru played no part in this shameful display of vengeance. The Secondary Epoch began with the Koru’s Epochal Generational Plan to fashion a Majastas-growing Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation to rule the day hours. At the same time, the Yakku turned in on themselves, consumed in a series of destructive forms of mysticism.

Interlaced Dependency Region

This administrative district is for a group of Living Mountains within the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation on Rho-Jashun. During the extended period, the Koru constructed these massive wonders. When a collection of one Living Mountain Series, and on occasion members of one or more neighbouring series, reached the desired population density, a petition is sent to the reigning Majastas to declare this collection of Living Mountains an Interlaced Dependency within the larger Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. The first such region was named the Kupataron Interlaced Dependency. It comprised the first twelve Living Mountains of the Kupat Series, the first eight of the Ronthum Series, the first eight of the Xaduth Series and the first three of the Thamand Series for thirty-one Living Mountains. The Kupataron Interlaced Dependency has two other names. Within the Dependance, it is also known as the ‘Kupataron Living Mountain Cluster.’ This refers to the intensive relations between this ‘cluster’ population of Living Mountains. From early in the Secondary Epoch, immense nighttime Processions would exit from each neighbouring pyramid to gather in the open areas for enormous group dances and other ceremonies. Within the more extensive Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Majastas administration, this Dependency was also known simply as District One.

INVOCATE

These are Maja who possess sufficient depth to enter the Living System of Tatchlan, commonly via ‘linking’ with what is known as the Premier Class of Living Instruments. Roughly one in ten Maja may become Invocates after intensive, in-depth training. Without Invocates, the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation could not function. Due to their vital services, the Invocates Bureau is one of the four bureaus of the Chancellery Ministry, the first and deepest of the eight ministries.

Invocate Circle

Upon completing their Descending the Depths, Full Invocates may be disbursed in various formations. A few may join a Mobile Invocate Estate or be sent back to their cluster to operate independently within Tatchlan. Most stay with their student Invocate Circle of Eight or join another and be relocated to a region conducive to their Estate Speciality. Those of notable powers will likely serve one or more Governance Ministries, either within the ‘Sister Cities’ of Bhampay or the capital, Upata-Shepsus or in some other strategic location.

Intonation

This term refers to a series of specialized vocalizations designed to commence the awakening of the Premier Class of Living Instruments for use by an Invocate. These are employed early in reading for The Link between the two. The Uluvatu Masters crafted these sounds to resonate deeply with these specialized and deeply-refined beings. The most well-known of these Intonations is the ‘Yom Sha.’

It fell to the ground (Yakku)

A very early Yakku saying means something is forgotten or lost. It is said this dates back to the final generation of the Tolku finding refuge by climbing the trees of western Thermistal to escape the Suvuka Onslaught. Subsequent generations continued to live in the trees, and gradually, their bodies changed due to the Killing Swath. As they adapted to living in the trees, more old Tolku ways were lost, being said to ‘fall to the ground.’

Ixim

In its raw state, this is a relation of the Pelens and is closely associated with the dead. In the case of Ixim, they can swiftly consume down to naught all dead tissue within a proscribed radius. They are primarily employed by the Calamity Bureau of the Commandant Ministry during times of plague or other disasters when contamination and disease ready themselves to compound misery. They have an accelerated life cycle that ensures full results and a swift dying away when the immediate situation is cleared. They go through different stages as fuel shifts from flesh to bones and teeth. Each new generation turns on its parents when their peculiar tastes are no longer required, and the last generations clear the accumulated bodies of all residual forebears. Only a trace of fine powder remains. These creatures are of the ‘Innovated’ Rank of the Recovered Ones.

Jemnum Apprehender

Even though most of these penetrating scholastic delvers are Mundanes, these Apprehenders have nearly the same status as Senu, who are primarily Savant Touched. This association comes from a different type of remembering. They do not ‘consume and recite’ as the Savants do but occupy the deepest branches of the Honoured Historian class. Jemnum Apprehenders are mostly Geniuses who grow an exquisite sensitivity to ‘Concept Filaments.’ These filaments are seen as the convoluted journey of identifiable concepts through time. They can trace these intricate patterns, note how they change with encounters with other filaments, and adapt to challenges. Some Concept Filaments dominating prehistory through the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch have now been declared extinct. Many others have maintained themselves in various ways, primarily through combining with other filaments. ‘Jemnum’ was the name of a Greater Era Majastas Dynasty of the Primary Epoch. This dynasty contained a Majastas Multitude with an abiding passion for the subject. She founded an academy for what would later be called Jemnum Apprehenders and laid the foundation for the perfection of this deep refinement. During the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch, the Tolku Jemnum Apprehenders had a vast catalogue, known as the ‘Conceptual List,’ representing generations following the sometimes elusive path each concept has taken through the ages. The discovery of a single complete collection within the Atmite Treasury early in The Interim introduced this now-forgotten depth specialty. During the Secondary Epoch, Koru and Danam Yeldic Jemnum Apprehenders recaptured much of the content through arduous labour. They have done so despite no one being able to fully decipher many of the obscure technical aspects of the Primary Epoch text. What the general public knows of them is best summed up by their most-ancient adage: ‘There are few new ideas on the Face of Anu.’ As expected, the Apprehenders hold the Fourth of the Twelve Principal Faces of Tatchlan, Humma, in high regard. The Face of Recollection figures prominently on their badges and insignia.

Jesplace

Among many dismissed volumes discovered within The Treasuries during The Interim was a collection purportedly describing in detail a set of fantastical creatures, collectively referred to as ‘Jesplace,’ that were said to dwell so far below ground as to be ‘born without eyes.’ These beings appeared to be of crazed design and outlandish profusion. No evidence existed for these extravagant assertions, so they were deemed literary fantasies. While other unlikely declarations from The Treasuries were later proven true, the consensus on this collection was maintained. The fact no such beings were uncovered during the initial expansion of the Venerable Koru's Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, including the excavation of Living Mountains and Continental Lines, only reinforced this viewpoint. All this changed 140,356 UKC when Danam Yeldic Majastas Hertamasa III was conducted to an immensely deep cavern within the Central Veradapandra Mountain Range to view what was later identified, from those discounted Treasury sources, as a herd of ‘Faval,’ a creature appearing to be near composed of stone. Initially seen as curiosities, some were taken to Bhampay to be housed in a large enclosure for further study. The whole truth of what was an immense population was only revealed when the Koru began excavating their Deep Domains. This was discovered to be a separate kingdom from The Skin of Anu. All were oriented downward to the radiating heat at the heart of Anu. The full exploration of this new branch of flora and fauna, both within the Flesh of Anu and Tatchlan, and the unforeseen role they would play in augmenting The Shift and the final defence of all sentient populations of Anu against the horrors of the Burning Blossom Cycles of the Tertiary Epoch, take place beyond the timeline of this novel series.

Jezin
A tropical moss that is vexing to most creatures, but the Tolku domesticated it for a particular service. It was cultivated on outer walls during the Primary Epoch to memorialize all guests coming to the cluster. Upon arrival, they would press their faces and one or both hands into the moss, which would retreat from their contact and form a hardened likeness. These were known to remain for years. Upata Bulbs' advent in the Secondary Epoch diminished their most-ancient role, and they are now only found on non-living public structures.

KKK

Kana-Moptu

This is the easternmost of the five principal islands off the northern coast of Rho-Jashun, known as the Wazaratcha Archipelago. This island is known as ‘the Eastern Gate’ for its position at the archipelago's eastern end. It is also called ‘East Face’ due to its shape on maps. This is the birthplace of Hegev, the Adept of Seti, in the first novel of this series, Hesha Vira’s Challenge.

Kanart Mushroom

Few creatures of such modest dimensions and appearance have saved so many from such a potent threat. Naturally growing from cave ceilings, they can shield all under them from powerful Rainbow Emanations of Burning Blossom Cycles. The Tolku of the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch first discovered this unlikely capacity, and the Koru refined and amplified it to meet the growing malice of this queen of all Non-Living Banes. Eventually, the Danam Yelda, initially less impacted by the Blossom Cycles, came to use it after it could no longer protect the Koru, and they had retreated to their Deep Domains. They coated the ceilings of their clusters and protected them for most of the Secondary Epoch. These are ranked as ‘Converted’ among the Recovered Ones.

Karthala

This is a colony of near-insects living their entire lives underground and undergoing startling metamorphoses during their colony’s life cycle. The culmination of their existence comes when they travel long distances seeking out dead or dying trees. They consume their diseased or dead flesh from the inside out. Their feeding frenzies become audible, warning the surrounding community of what will come. At a critical moment, they know they have sufficiently undermined the trunk and, with great commotion, move back down and out of the tree. This usually precipitates its dramatic dissolution, leading to the expression ‘exploding tree.’ From prehistoric times, communities would surround the tree or group of trees at a safe distance to witness this dramatic event. On occasion, Karthala has been known to hollow out the carcass of a dead animal. White, it may be said the Karthala provide a service, but generally, they are viewed with distaste by those communities not living in rural areas. They were cast as agents of evil by the Menem religion.

Kavan-Kyan Caves

This vast complex was partly natural and partly excavated in prehistoric times along the northern coast of the Angakut Channel on the southern shores of Rho-Jashun. While there is evidence of occupation before the Chelyaka, they transformed it into a vast ceremonial space before the first Unification War brought the Funomanru to power. The complex continued sporadically until the Menem persecutions during the later Buyanupithar Dynasty. At this time, the entrances were thoroughly sealed with small mountains of rocks and abandoned. The Koru rediscovered this site early in the Secondary Epoch, and the Koru’s Erudite Bureau of the Enumerator Ministry took possession of the historic landmark. They did a detailed examination and cataloguing of the many items strewn within before housing them in new museums. They made faithful renderings of the extensive painted carvings on the walls. Where they could be assured of an accurate restoration, they repainted many works of art before employing the relatively new Preservation Cubes to ensure no further deterioration. Now, the site was exposed to the air again. Those who would become the Danam Yelda visited the site during their Ceremonial Walk from Dalinantu to Upata-Shepsus and performed a Maja Gathering that drew the dying form of the last Yeldic Majastas of Tich-Tushmul, Radashum-Nal.

Keeper

A circle or single cluster-mate within a circle is entrusted with caring for any valued item of cluster property. It may be precious in construction, memory, use, or all three. Different Spokes of the Cluster Wheel are Keepers of artifacts particular to their biological and ceremonial uses. Some are displayed for everyone to see, while others are secured until required.

Ketukku
Known as the ‘Tower Builders,’ these insect colonies are another manifestation of the ‘Venerable Insect Society’ of most-ancient, ancient and modern times. They distinguish themselves in several ways, primarily by having the most complex and sophisticated society of any insect. They are also known for their extraordinary ability to build a city, known as ‘towers,’ around themselves that rise high above the ground. It is filled with passageways and a central shaft leading down to a water source serving to moderate the internal temperature regardless of the outside world's extremities. They sustain themselves in numerous ways, primarily by growing their versions of crops within their enclosed worlds. While present in the tropics, they are most numerous in dryer regions and may be found further north and south than other insect nations. Among many signs of their collective wisdom, born out of great antiquity, is what is known as their ‘Peaceable Relations’ with other Ketukku mounds. When one colony’s Spies discover another colony, there appears to be an intensive investigation. Scouts from each colony meet and, based on aromas, resolve which is the eldest. Once determined, the younger colony removes itself in an orderly fashion to a new territory. This admirable impulse was later embodied in the virtue of ‘Elder First, younger last.’ In prehistoric times, the most-ancient Tolku grew cultures of Mound Worship around their towers, beginning a tradition of setting aside territory and leaving food offerings for them. They were also known to have circumambulatory rituals centred on them. While respected during the Primary Epoch, the Ketukku came to be genuinely venerated by the Secondary Epoch Koru. Later, the Danam Yelda joined them in viewing the Ketukku as their exemplar of a perfect nation. During the lead-up to a Burning Blossom Cycle, they emit high-pitched calls, leading to the term Singing Mounds.

Ketukku Enclosure

This is a tradition among the Koru and later the Yelda, where discovering one or more Ketukku Towers leads to building a circular wall to protect what is deemed a foundational symbol of the Cluster-of-Clusters society. The size of this enclosure varies widely across history. In later times, as much as an anda around the towers was the standard, based on knowledge of the range of the Ketukku colony beyond their communities.

Killing Swath

The Killing Swath was a planet-wide calamity where the majority of the Tolku population died. This event closes the Primary Epoch and ends the existence of the Tolku Cluster-of-Clusters civilization. It is now known this was enacted as the ‘Ultimate Panacea’ and ‘Rectification’ for the Tatchlan System. The few remnants of the Tolku survive in two populations, one in the mountains of Rho-Jashun, where they become Koru, and the other high in the trees of western Thermistal, where they become Yakku. This extraordinary transformation, known as ‘The Change,’ commences following this catastrophe and during the Second Suvuka Onslaught. See The Interim for details on this transition from the original to two distinct populations. The term ‘Killing Swath’ has never been found in Primary Epoch literature, where it was known as the ‘Ultimate Panacea.’ The Swath term is associated with the First Generation of Guardians.

Kitheshal Dynasty

During the Ceremonial Walk of the original thirty-two Yeldic clusters from Dalinantu to Upata-Shepsus, the new cluster coalesced at the Kitheshal River in southern Rho-Jashun. This was during the reign of Koru Majastas Mustamu II. Six thousand years later, the Mantle arose through the feet of this cluster, forming the second Majastas Dynasty of the Danam Yelda in the year 54,796 UKC. It saw its completion in the year 61,597 UKC. Its Nantu Age calendar age dates are N 6,077 to N 12,848. Twelve Majastas issued out of the Kitheshal Majastas Cluster, including three Majastas Completes and one Majastas Touched. Majastas Touched, Kitheshal IX, was always surrounded by Her Majastas Chorus. The seven hundredth Decennial Census through to the 1,200 Decennial Census occurred during this period. The epic bodies of literature known as the Nuloy-Voyal and the Tolam-Rho-Therm were ‘closed’ during the reign of Kitheshal Majastas VI. After the prodigious building program of the founding Upata-Shepsus Dynasty, Venerable Scholars and Honoured Historians now discern ‘The Throne’ changing its orientation with this new dynasty. This partly involved consolidating the greatly expanded population and infrastructure of Statos-Vey, but another tradition ensured the name ‘Kitheshal’ secured a unique place in history. This was due to the institution of the Kitheshal Traditions (see immediately below).

Kitheshal Traditions

This is to be distinguished from the Kitheshal Dynasty (above), the second Majastas Dynasty of the Danam Yelda’s Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, early in the Secondary Epoch. This term refers to an intensive training program exclusively for the Maja. Earlier in the reign of the first Majastas of this dynasty, a series of events in outlying provinces convinced Kitheshal Majastas Complete I of the need to fashion a new tool for Cluster-of-Clusters harmony. This was to take the form of a unifying culture overlaying the biology of the Maja. Vaucalo Island (the most-ancient birthplace of Master Tanas) on Lake Yandu in the Tanas Subject Province of Statos-Vey was given over to this highly-visible Generational Plan. This most extensive ceremonial site of the age, characterized by exemplary stone craft across the island, was over fifteen hundred andas north and west of the outer walls of the Primary Mountain Circle. Maja would arrive across Statos-Vey and be formed into new Circles of Eight composed of Maja from disparate parts of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. Their training would begin with various Vision Window initiations, followed by the group forming profound bonds through enacting the original four Cluster Virtues: Kindness, Comfort, Openness, and Patience. They would then move through the additional Yeldic Virtues: Reciprocity, Interlacing, Ensemble, and Equilibrium. All this would have as a backdrop lavish theatrical performances extolling these Kitheshal Traditions and an extensive company of Senu singing and reciting classic material and new works dedicated to the island’s culture. Collectively, this program was known as the ‘Tutelage and Inculcation.’ Through these and many other rituals and ceremonies, a new Maja Culture was fashioned to be taken back to the far reaches of the Danam Yeldic Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. The desired result was greater harmony and balance among the Danam Yelda across Statos-Vey through a standardized set of universal traditions, along with increasing the social status of the Maja. While the entire dynasty was partially characterized by supporting this novel initiative, two members distinguished themselves in fortifying this culture. The first was the founding Majastas Complete Kitheshal I, who also composed an extensive work on the underlying concepts behind this initiative, known as the ‘Primary Tanas Annals.’ The second major contributor to this literature was Kitheshal Majastas XI (60,272 to 60,900 UKC), who undertook an extensive revision of this founding material along with producing the ‘Secondary Tanas Annals,’ addressing longstanding issues and expanding on many historical points. The Secondary Annals resembled the Classics composed of instruction, drama, prose, and poetry, forming the new regime for all Maja studying on the island. Koru Majastas Mustamu X took the unheard-of step of questioning the wisdom of this project at its outset. She declared that not only had the eight Koru Majastas Dynasties of the Secondary Epoch never seen fit to enact a similar set of measures, but there was no evidence from the broken history of the Primary Epoch of the Foremost Ones ever sanctioning anything similar. What followed the Mantle leaving this dynasty is a classic example of a ‘Moment of Disturbance,’ when many objections to this program were suddenly raised, signalling ‘The Throne’ turning away from the full application of the Kitheshal Traditions. The succeeding Horm Unu Dynasty relaxed all mandates for compulsory Maja attendance and significantly reduced stipends to the island. They also lifted the prohibition against any copies of the First and Second Tanas Annals leaving the island. Succeeding history would see Vaucalo Island reclaim a portion of its former status and Maja attendance becoming once again mandatory, usually for the life of a given dynasty, only to have it diminish with the next. For most of Danam Yeldic history, Maja attendance was voluntary and initiated by their cluster or Encirclement. Certain regions, particularly those portions of Statos-Vey closer to Tanas Subject Province, were likelier to continue these traditions. To this day, all Invocates study portions of the Primary and Secondary Annals as part of their ‘Descending the Depths.’

Kodrapum Grotto

This is a deep cavern within Mount Arnom, one of the three ‘founding mountains’ of the Sanctuaries, and later the Central Triumvirate, during The Interim period between the Primary and Secondary Epochs. During this time, one of the thirty-two Treasuries was discovered within this grotto, named by its creators the ‘Parayad.’ During the early reign of the second Koru Majastas, one of the crates contained in this Treasury was found to have the Final Tolku Proclamation.

Koru

After the Killing Swath, a fraction of Tolku survivors knew their future lay in becoming Guardians within Sanctuaries deep in the Mulungu Mountains of Rho-Jashun. They knew this because the last generation of Tolku was resigned to their necessary sacrifice to bring about the Rectification of Tatchlan (see Tolku Proclamation). After much suffering and hardship, these Guardians arrived and, once established, began the long process of rebuilding Tatchlan. They gathered surviving Living Instruments, Primary Epoch Attainments, and other resources to withstand their apparent certainty the Second Suvuka Onslaught would come. After the Suvuka filled the Marachla Plain of Rho-Jashun, these survivors' descendants heroically continued to venture forth to gather necessities to rebuild the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. They became known and celebrated as the Fourth Generation. At this time, it became apparent that their bodies were changing, likely a side effect of the Killing Swath and their new life inside the mountains. Known as ‘The Change,’ they grew in stature and developed an aversion to Nu’s Eye and open spaces. They fashioned a nocturnal, underground society, eventually leading to one of the greatest civilizations ever witnessed on Anu.

Koru White Hand

This defining icon was formulated early in The Interim to recognize and embrace The Change among the ensuing generations of Guardians within the Sanctuaries. Initially, this was viewed as a disturbing aberration and was classified as ‘Swath Changes,’ associated with The Killing Swath. With time, this transformation of the last Tolku into the first Koru, with all their attendant defining characteristics, including increased physical stature and a pronounced disposition to a nocturnal existence, came to be welcomed as a new manifestation of Tatchlan. The Koru Hand is turned downward to illustrate their choosing to leave behind the ‘Upper Abyss’ of Nu. Instead, they focus on what is below, the Skin of Anu. Its being white signifies their finding joy and peace in their night-dwelling existence. With the later discovery of the Yakku on Thermistal, these early Koru formulated a series of emblems meant to complement their iconography based on the Green Hand of the Yakku.

Krall

These sea birds live in large flocks and are known for performing beautiful mass formations. They are also a unique branch of the Living Instruments class, serving as ‘Eye Windows’ for the Majastas, Ministry Invocates and even the ‘First Among Cousins,’ the Varku. Eye Window comes from how their vision manifests within Tatchlan as white circles. Through these living windows, diverse vistas viewed by flocks in widely separated portions of Anu may be reviewed. The Majastas are able within Tatchlan to form the Krall into ‘one mind’ devoted to seeking out whatever is required anywhere on Anu. In turn, they can raise alarms when one of a multitude of predetermined signs appears to them. An early example of this power was their alerting the Uluvatu Masters on Statos-Vey to the arrival of the Suvuka on the Huallapandu Headlands in northern Rho-Jashun before their First Onslaught.

Kukernef Desert

This is second only in size to the Kyu Desert, on the Mushumafal Peninsula of Thermistal and the neighbouring island of Pramath.

Kumastam

Named ‘death from above,’ these are the queens of aerial predators. Their long segmented bodies undulate up and down in powerful waves to propel them through the air at a shocking speed. Their flight is aided by a set of wings all along their length. They are modest at either end and extended in the middle. Their winged bodies form an unmistakable profile in the sky, along with the ‘whoosh’ of their passage and a high, piercing cry. They have powerful, gripping jaws and pitiless beaks to make short work of prey of all sizes. Except for Xumkuka, whose flesh appears to have no appeal to them, all other winged beings have elaborate warning calls and flight strategies to evade them. Land and even sea creatures are subject to their attention under certain circumstances. They have been named ‘Air Thyma, ' hunting in small packs, although they often contest with these ground counterparts for fallen prey, and open conflicts have been witnessed. Such fleets and ferocious predators fill ancient epics and religious texts. In the Menem Religion, the terrible Tarunachit, one of the four ‘Generals of the Air,’ had a Kumastam as his mount. In most-ancient times, it was noted a single Tolku could, on occasion, be attacked. This led to them always travelling in small groups. Honoured Historians have speculated that this, among many other factors, led to the fundamental Uluvatu notion of the Circle of Eight security. While the Tatchlan Masters finally found a handle within the Living System to partially domesticate the Thyma, no such success greeted work on the Kumastam.

Kyu Desert

This is the principal desert of Thermistal. Beginning on the Eastern slopes of the Mandeca Mountains, it continues to the Vettencore Passage. The desert has grown since the Primary Epoch, and many mysterious beings and other wonders are found there. One of its more infamous inhabitants is the ‘Royalty of the Desert,’ the Toohund.

LLL

Laranal Religion

This is one of the earliest prehistoric religions distinguishing Anu from another ethereal world. Laranal was a supreme male deity who forbade the worship of all other gods and presented as an absolute and supreme ruler. Like the Achalam Religion, he celebrated destroying his final foe, Charu. She was an immense serpent. This demon witch was said to bind all life to crawl like her on their bellies. He then chopped up her body and consumed it before growing to immense proportions, presenting many new body parts. He removed each new limb to relieve himself and used it to fashion a renewed Anu and all creatures on it. Surviving images show him pulling out these lumps and reshaping them on his potter’s wheel or, in some cases, his smithy’s anvil. He considered his most perfect formation to be the sky. While he valued his works, he disparaged those born from them as flawed and imperfect. He declared their goal was to shake off their poor bodies at death to enter his true realm of light, ‘where pure blossoms sing as they float across the sky.’ This may be seen as the first expression of duality and opposition between physical life in bodies and some ethereal existence that the Menem would later take up. This religion had its origins in northern Rho-Jashun, and there is some evidence the largely nomadic followers of Laranal moved south in successive waves until reaching Statos-Vey. There, it appears they met the agricultural followers of the Goddess Heason and destroyed them due to their being profoundly offended by their practices. Although Laranal's duration was relatively short-lived for this and other factors, it is now associated with the Fourth Generation of Self Absorption. The Everlasting Ennui collection has a play titled ‘Laranal.’ This play is considered one of the most intensive and biting attacks on any tradition in this canon, exceeded only by another composition titled ‘Sime.’ In ‘Sime,’ the ‘Impatient God’ is transformed into a comical Raiden in that play. At the end of the ‘Laranal,’ the God is surrounded by the entire cast dressed as Raiden, the female version of the creature, who destroys the mumbling male deity before jumping and dancing on its deflating corpse. As with the amusing climax of ‘Sime,’ it is common for what appear to be portions of the God's body to be thrown out for the audience to eat, although these tend to be savoury meats. A triumphal ‘deity feast’ concludes several plays of this collection.

Larpana
This plant was known for its exquisite sensitivity to Nu’s passage through the sky. Its upper leaves were known to change colours regularly throughout the day in prehistoric times. The earliest Tatchlan Masters saw the benefit of finding a living timekeeper to serve the more sophisticated society of the early empires. Long generations worked within Tatchlan on perfecting the plant’s natural inclinations until, at last, it had a solid day and night cycle of sixteen phases each. It is known that the anti-Tatchlan critic Nallurakon worked on the final stages of this project before her rebellion. While some professions required other tools to measure time more precisely, this remained the standard for most Tolku throughout the Primary Epoch. Even though they in no way facilitated connecting to and rebuilding the Tatchlan System and the Cluster-of-Cluster’s Nation, the last generations of Tolku after the Killing Swath designated the Larpana as a ‘Primary Epoch Attainment’ and ensured their survival and continuance. This plant is known for giving warning signs of an impending Burning Blossom Cycle by a notable increase in patterning several two-weeks ahead of the event. This Recovered One is of the ‘Converted’ Rank.

Lascivious Gains
Thanks in no small measure to the transmuting powers of the Takshakutan, these are reformed members of what were once hateful venereal diseases. For much of the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, the Uluvatu and Tatchlan Masters struggled to ‘defang’ these malignant agents, turning joy into poison and death. Beyond this issue, they also presented significant barriers to establishing cluster conventions. Eventually, the last of these' vile lurchers' were successfully tamed within a generation of the end of the Duamang Age and the beginning of Tolku’s Cluster-of-Cluster Nation. They now delivered powerful medicines and vital refinements serving the Tatchlan System by transmutation. These directly beneficial agents are called ‘Voluptuous’ and ‘Erotic Gains.’ Visiting all these Gains branches is now seen as a healthy stage of young adulthood, and cumulative visitations provide comfort and ease specific complaints among the venerably aged.

Leadership Ring

The deepest of circles, occupying each cluster's ‘bottom’ depths, form the Leadership Ring. This Ring is the most profound of that cluster’s Circle Rank. This Leadership Ring comprises senior members of the cluster’s Spokes of the Cluster Wheel, particularly Maja and other Elders of distinction. Not all those who attain venerable aged status become Elders. On occasion, profound ability and merit determine the inclusion of younger members. These Elders oversee the ongoing affairs of the entire cluster, ranging from being points of contact for all Governance Ministries to the continuing maintenance of the Three-Men-to-One-Woman Ratio. The number of these Leadership Rings may be determined by many factors, including the Grade of their cluster. Specialized and ministry clusters, including those within the Commandant Ministry and the Majastas Cluster, contain Rings with extended duties beyond their cluster according to the depth of their Uses. Such groupings may also be Prime Rings and have a designated member entrusted with significant authority within their jurisdiction.

Lesser Era

This is a division of the Primary Epoch. It is ‘lesser’ because it predates the Tolku realization of the first Cluster-of-Clusters Nation and because it is of minuscule duration compared to the rest of the Primary Epoch, often referred to as The Greater Era. This Lesser Era is also known as the Pre-Tatchlan period. Despite its comparatively brief duration and diminished importance given subsequent history, more is known about these distant ages than the Greater Era. This is due to the Gashandak Treasury Abridged Encyclopedia, named after the Gashandak Treasury it was found. These seven volumes were mysteriously secreted into a crate with far newer material out of what was likely at least one hundred. These are not the complete encyclopedias but abridged versions providing summaries and overviews of what was in the now-lost expanded version. Full versions of this and other voluminous resources, such as the Yin-Vinulan Encyclopedias, were destroyed in the Mount Midin Amassment Tragedy, leaving us with these abstracts and little more.

Lewetar (map)

This large island is located in the northern portion of Lake Teval in central Thermistal. This island was the high ceremonial seat of the Suvuka, holding many initiations and other rites for herds across their territory. Later, it became the fictional setting for the Tolku epic poem, the ‘Yeoyupan,’ later in the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch. In the Secondary Epoch, it would become the centre of Yeldic settlement on Thermistal. It was also the eventual seat of the Prajartha Theocracy, one of two Yeldic anti-Tatchlan nations of the continent.

Life Cake Ceremony

These anticipated events were also known as the Swallowing Life Ceremony. For much of the Primary Epoch, this was a rite of passage that ushered pre-adults into the more excellent estate as Fresh Adults. The ceremony occurred between roughly ten and fifteen years of age and was determined by the cluster’s Leadership Ring. The cake is a complex combination of Vision Windows formed into a paste covering a Stekachey Nut. The nut itself is an even more powerful Vision Window. The ceremony was often performed within a cluster gathering such as a Gifting. The entire cake is put in the mouth and allowed to dissolve naturally. Common depictions show the pre-adult with their cheeks puffed out with the pastry. The pleasant taste and beautiful fragrances released are finally overwhelmed by the intense bitterness of the nut itself. At that instant, the receiver of the cake bites down hard on the nut. The bitterness is forgotten in the sweetness that follows on all levels. After this, the young cluster-mate was designated as a Fresh Adult. Eight to ten years could pass before the Elders announced a member’s final stage as a Ripe Adult. In most cases, this took the form of a simple declaration with little or no ceremony, although within their circle-of-eight and any other circles in close association with them, there are often observances of The Nine Petals and other celebratory rites. Late in the Primary Epoch, this entire rite was transferred and augmented to celebrate the attainment of Ripe Adulthood, with Fresh Adults receiving a celebratory announcement.

Life Must Live With Life

This phrase extends far back into prehistory, with the first verifiable attribution coming from the most-ancient Hathnal Religion. As with ‘Secure Us or Slay Us!’, it is a plea for resolution of the dilemma presented by what came to be known as ‘Self-Absorption’s Four Generations.’ In this case, during the ‘Third Generation: Theft’ phase, the abuse of other life on Anu and a general estrangement from the benefit of living things often came to dominate the thinking of these sad generations. While the Masters strove to correct the imbalances of Raw Life, they always embraced the living fabric of Anu. They correctly saw the Menem’s interest in the proliferation of Machines as a danger to their goal of a Cluster-of-Clusters Nation. The Yin-Vinulan Dynasty had some success in countering these trends but sadly was just as ultimately powerless before Self-Absorption. This most ancient declaration is seen as wholly fulfilled with the Quickening of the Resplendent Work, the establishment of the Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, the growing of steadfast lines of Majastas, and the successful completion of the Upata Bulbs, allowing all clusters to be fully enveloped in living tissue.

Life Pillar

The eldest of all artifacts, Life Pillars of all sizes turn up in farmer’s fields each season. They have been encountered at unlikely heights in the Veradapandra and Mulungu Mountains and have occasionally washed ashore from the Panchala Sea. During the most-ancient agricultural traditions of the Salarish Baby Mother and the Charsha Sprouting Mother ceremonies, Life Pillars are always flanked, the dough figures accentuating fertility. One of the prehistoric ‘Witnesses,’ mighty formations of megalithic stones found across central Statos-Vey, is the Pang Monument. Although made up of an extensive collection of elongated boulders, the cumulative result is the enormous Life Pillar on Anu. These phallic fertility symbols attended later religious traditions, being held by and flanking the Goddesses Tuchulacha and Hathnal. Later religions eschewed this iconography, in particular the Sime and Menem religions. Within the Menem tradition, the Four Grand Menem were always depicted with no genitals, while Yeoyupan was often displayed with a massive erection said to spew poison onto Anu. Some later cultures would associate Black Yal with these tales of emissions. Before the First Suvuka Onslaught, the ascendent Menem priesthood of Thithanu ferociously prosecuted a tradition known to have produced what is now named the ‘Primordial Life Pillar’ into extinction. A custom developed early in the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch among the Tolku Cluster-of-Clusters Nation to find a naturally formed Life Pillar of considerable size, or fashion one, to stand at the centre of the cluster compound. A deep pit often attended this in front of its main face that symbolically linked the cluster with the depths of Anu. This formation served as the focal point for cluster activities. During the Secondary Epoch, the Cluster Life Pillar was fully revived. The Koru were likelier to share a Life Pillar among several clusters, whereas the Field Yelda and the Danam Yelda once again placed them at the heart of their clusters. The pit of the Primary Epoch tends to be replaced by a depression for the arrangement of ceremonial objects or is not present. While glorying in their phallic nature, these Life Pillars exhibit various additional features. They often have one or two eyes or entire faces on the Bulb. The shaft may be composed of spirals or ribs and be festooned with usually effusive decorative elements. They are the focal point of many Yeldic cluster events, including Spinning Wheel Dances. Extravagant Life Pillars, some monumental in size, serve as directional markers within large urban settings.

Lifts her toes and drags her heels

This expression means the one referred to takes special care in attending to the importance of what is done. It means they intensify their link with Anu by calling Anu’s attention to their actions by scoring the loam as they proceed.

Lithic Arts

This is an honourific term for what is more commonly known as Rock Craft. The term is also prominent in numerous classical theatrical dramas and literature and applied to all those achieving distinction within this artistic discipline, such as a Lithic Master. Signature works by celebrated Masters, such as the ‘Munthukh Ocean’ chamber in Mount Rongu, are instantly recognizable set designs in several notable dramatic productions. This designation is nearly exclusively employed within the Koru Cluster-of-Clusters Nation, although a few exceptions are known among the Danam Yelda of Statos-Vey.

Living Instruments

While this term may be applied to a host of creatures, inside and out of the Living System, modified or wholly constructed for Tatchlan, it is primarily used to describe Invocates' beloved companions. They are also called the Premier Class of all Living Instruments. They were meticulously constructed within and outside Tatchlan in most-ancient times. Unlike most Tatchlan beings, their birth and cultivation remain a guarded mystery within Queen Enclaves' nurseries. Numerous rituals surround their early lives, roughly equivalent to the lifetime of four Invocates. Initially, these beings served to animate the Tatchlan Cubes, themselves a simplified extension of these Living Instrument’s marvellous bodies, back when the primary activity of the Masters was the maintenance of The General Plain. As the Quickening approached late in the Lesser Era of the Primary Epoch, Living Instruments became the vital link for Invocates requiring a more active entry into Tatchlan. They were further refined to form the Gateway so an Invocate could enter the depths of Life with open eyes and see the entire structure, including The General Plain's foundational overlay and the later fully awake Living System that now teems on it. Via their Living Instruments, innumerable Invocates fill this realm each day, fulfilling many tasks ranging from essential maintenance to profound emergency interventions. While Dreamers and other Sensitives also have some access, only Invocates, bonded to their Living Instrument, may instruct Secondary Faces and lay hands-on aspects of the Resplendent Work. Only Operants and the Supreme Operant, the Majastas, have more scope and ability within Tatchlan.

Living Loam

While this refers to the soil beneath one’s feet, the term has a deeper meaning. Living Loam is the conduit to the Living System. All actions to enter Tatchlan involve modifying how life is perceived. To stand with one’s feet ‘planted’ in the Living Loam is to be rooted in the collective legacy of all Uluvatu Masters and the succession of all Cluster-of-Clusters Nations that followed to the present. This has led to the ground being referred to as a ‘sublime substance,’ containing the entirety of the original raw life and the Resplendent System.

Living Mountain Series

Throughout The Interim, the emerging Koru had dwelt within the Mulungu Mountains of Rho-Jashun. Initially, they sheltered in one of the three Sanctuary mountains, Mounts Arnom, Rongu and Chraxan. Later, they tunnelled to additional peaks to expand their range while the Suvuka ravaged the Marachla Plain. Early in the Secondary Epoch, the first Koru Majastas began an enormous Generational Plan that would last for much of this Epoch. She envisioned a new sheltering mountain based partly on the Ketukku Towers. Majastas Zudaz-Vozev oversaw the foundational construction for the first Living Mountain: Kupat Queens One, over top of the two Continental Lines in 108 UKC. There would eventually be twenty-two pyramids in this Kupat Series. The inverted lower pyramid was excavated and constructed first before the upper pyramid rose over the Skin of Anu. At the same time, she instructed the Ratio Bureau of her Wellbeing Ministry to orchestrate a sequence of incremental population surges in subsequent generations to eventually occupy these vast new marvels. The lowest level of the lower pyramid contained the terminals for the two Continental Lines. Above these terminals was another set for the domestic lines linking this to the series's neighbouring mountain communities and future pyramids. Eventually, a collection of these massive entities coalesced into an Interlaced Dependency. The Continental Lines extended far beyond this range, finally crossing beneath the Panchala Sea to Thermistal. This surface structure and underground transit network would follow this template for the remaining twenty members of this Kupat series. This was followed by the Ronthum Series (45 Living Mountains), the Xaduth Series (81 Living Mountains), the Thamand Series (130 Living Mountains), and the Kanart Series, which was interrupted by the catastrophic Third Cycle of the Second Burning Blossom of the Secondary Epoch in 141,528 UKC, leading to the abandoning of the Living Mountain project by the Koru and the excavation of the Deep Domains.

Living System Elements

This term dates back to The Interim period when the early generations of Guardians risked everything to rescue each living creature associated with Tatchlan, particularly Living Instruments. There are oblique references to specific stockpiles being indicated and posted guides to vital nurseries that could only have been established by the Tolku before the Killing Swath. These vulnerable collections were primarily gathered by the First Generation, who could swiftly conduct them to the Sanctuaries aboard seagoing vessels. There were additional stocks gathered, including by the famed Fourth Generation. They were always secured in tiny Tolku population pockets in remote locations requiring rescue. This recovery effort was distinguished from the lesser priority of securing all Primary Epoch Attainments. ‘Living System Elements’ continues to be used to this day as another way of generally referring to these precious living beings and entities.

Locus Estate Invocate

This is a specialist population of Invocates who can locate and conduct one group of Invocates to find and interact with another from a different Invocate Estate to their own. While Secondary Faces may conduct an Invocate to a general area where a different Estate may be found, Locus Invocates work to ensure direct contact with specific Invocate Circles or individuals.

Lokantare’s Passage

This is the title of an epic piece of poetry purported to have existed in oral form far into prehistory. Its subject is the Planet Anu and the passage of the continents over its surface. Anu was born of Nu, the “Glorious Daymaker.” Anu, his daughter, was the “Proud Life Giver.” The epic declares Anu’s face, also named Lokantare, was initially whole, with one land and one ocean, and both slept peacefully and dreamed. The dreams arose and wriggled, crawled and walked. When Anu began to age, Lokantare became so baked by Nu and rocked by Anu's occasional fevers and tremors that she began to crack, suddenly opening wide. Lokantare awoke and was full of pain and confusion because she was dividing into two with many small pieces floating about them. The two new lands were afraid. They began to quarrel with each other, breaking off more pieces. Eventually, they each went their separate way, carrying their dreams on their backs and taking as many fragments of their former self as would follow them. The estranged sisters travelled over the Ocean until they met and were reconciled on the far side. While the language is antique, many Esteemed Librarians think the content is a subtle allegory hiding far more recent thinking. They suggest this was written in Thithanu and reflected current understandings about why the Panchala Sea appeared to incrementally narrow with its seabed buckling under growing pressure from the two landmasses approaching each other. This poem is the most significant piece in a collection known as the Nuloy-Voyal.

Lomand Nu Wing Formation

This manifestation of ‘The Witnesses’ is two hundred andas north of the Mabulan Procession and seventy andas south of Lake Yandu. It is in the form of an undetermined bird and has the unusual feature of the head being set up twenty andas away from the rest of the body. Whatever its original ceremonial function, the Suvuka converted it into the focus of their ritual activity. They formed two linked ‘runs’ around each portion of this formation, and there is evidence of hundreds of thousands participating. This formed part of their interest in Lake Yandu and Vaucalo Island.

Luntung Desert

This is the smallest of Anu’s three primary deserts on the Luduva Peninsula of Central Statos-Vey. Despite being a small arid pocket in the lush jungles of most of Statos-Vey, it has an evil reputation both for the smaller versions of the feared ‘Desert Royalty’ of the more extensive Thermistal deserts, the Toohund, but also for having a feared Consumption Monolith immortalized in several epic dramas.

Lustrum Mirror
This fundamental construction allowed the early Practicians to cross the threshold and become the first Tatchlan Masters. Small pieces of reflective material were found on the vile plain of raw life, also known as Indatubangus. When looking into these shards resembling glass, it was discovered that the Practicians saw in their reflection otherwise invisible lumps of Self-Absorption stuck to their bodies. They gathered these shards and bonded them to form the first Lustrum Mirror. Before this Living Instrument, they could see and remove each tumour before casting it away into the angry sea of raw life, never to afflict them again. In performing this rite, the Practician was said to have an ‘audience’ with the Lustrum. Were it not for this brilliant innovation, it is hard to imagine how the Uluvatu Masters could have accomplished their foundational works. In the final Aeons of the Greater Era of the Primary Epoch, the innovation of Dream Guides allowed some wishing to perfect themselves to use them, among many other purposes, to seek out and employ these ancient devices to cleanse themselves of any vestiges of Self-Absorption.

Lustrum Immaculacy

During the Secondary Epoch, many cleansing traditions developed with the full appreciation of the late Primary Epoch Dream Guide culture, particularly regarding employing these Guides in locating one of the ancient Lustrum Mirrors (see immediately above) to remove Self-Absorption tumours. Some were intensive, particularly for Delving Invocates, particularly those at the Initiate and Encompassing Delver levels, where repeated sessions with a Lustrum Mirror are required. As in the Primary Epoch, there was also a popular cultural aspect. These traditions developed for most youth, regardless of their potential position on the Spokes of the Cluster Wheel, to conduct themselves to one of these Living Instruments via the renewed Dream Guides as a rite of passage. While framed differently, both Invocates and youth completing a minimum of two ‘Lustrum audiences’ were said to have achieved Lustrum Immaculacy.

Lya Nu

Second of Anu’s four moons. Known as the ‘Farther Moon’ and ‘Little Nu.’ It has a bright orange face. In most ancient times, the Chelyakan named him the first of the ‘hot’ moons, and later, the Menem-worshipping Tolku called this moon Samajalas ‘The Fashioner.’ A pot with an orange disk on its side is the formal image for this moon, being the principal icon of Samajalas, also called the ‘Potter.’ This moon is linked to the second Yeldic Cluster Virtue: Comfort. The Danam Yelda made him the second moon in their Equilibrium Icon design, showing him in full face. The Shanni of Thermistal also calls the second of the two Principal Ridatu ‘The Petitioning Eye’ by this name. They said it was his dwelling during the night. Lya Nu rises as Xica Nu sets.

This page is the glossary for items beginning with the letters A through L.

The letters M through Z are here.

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