The Unholy Consult by R. Scott Bakker
Teleol—Ancient Meöri town located on the foot of the Osthwai Mountains.
Tempiras the King—A work widely thought the greatest of Hamishaza’s satiric tragedies.
Temple of Exorietta—A notorious temple in Carythusal.
Temple Prayer—Also referred to as the High Temple Prayer. Prayer Inri Sejenus taught to his disciples in The Tractate that was later adopted as the canonical institutional prayer of the Thousand Temples in both its Inrithi and Zaudunyani incarnations. Several versions of the prayer, or “Comprehensions,” have always circulated throughout the Three Seas, despite the traditional importance accorded to it.
The text of the most common version runs:
Sweet God of Gods,
who walk among us,
innumerable are your holy names.
May your bread silence our daily hunger,
may your rains quicken our undying land,
may our submission be answered with dominion,
so we may prosper in your name.
Judge us not by our trespasses
but according to our temptations,
and deliver unto others
what others have delivered unto us,
for your name is Power,
and your name is Glory,
for your name is Truth,
which endures and endures,
for ever and ever.
Ten, the—Epithet for the ten most powerful and widely worshipped of the Hundred, consisting of Yatwer, Gilgaöl, Husyelt, Gierra, Jukan, Anagke, Onkhis, Akkeägni, Bûkris, and Ajokli.
Tendant’heras—An extensive fortress located on Nilnamesh’s frontier with Girgash and Kianene.
Tertae Plains—The heavily cultivated alluvial plain bordering northeast Caraskand.
tesperari—A Nansur term for naval captains who retire to command merchant ships.
Thaila, Nersei (4123— )—The only daughter of Nersei Proyas.
Thampis, Kemetti (4076—4118)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Conriyan Baron from the Anpleian frontier, killed during the Unification Wars.
Tharschilka, Heänar (4068—4110)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Galeoth Earl of Nergaöta, and one of the three leaders of the Vulgar Holy War.
Thassius (4054-4115)—A ranking member of the Imperial Saik.
Thawa Ligatures—Gnostic Torture Cant.
Therishut, Gishtari (4067—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Conriyan Baron from the Ainoni frontier, murdered by persons unknown.
Thesji Bowmen—An elite Kianene unit of Chorae bowmen.
thil—“Salt” (Sakarpi). Sakarpic euphemism for wisdom.
Third Analytic of Men, The—Regarded by many as Ajencis’s magnum opus, the Third Analytic interrogates the aspects of human nature that make knowledge possible, as well as the human weaknesses that make knowledge so difficult to attain. As Ajencis notes, “if all Men disagree on all matters, then most Men confuse deception for truth.” He investigates the reasons, not only for deception in general, but for the erroneous sense of conviction that sustains it, giving what has come to be called the “selfish knower” thesis, the idea that convenience, conditioning, and appeal (as opposed to evidence and rational argumentation) are the primary motivation for the beliefs of the vast majority.
Thoti-Eännorean—The alleged mother tongue of all Men, and the language of The Chronicle of the Tusk.
“Though you lose your soul, you shall gain the world.”—The penultimate answer in the Mandate Catechism, referring to the fact that Mandate Schoolmen, unlike other Schoolmen, damn themselves for a purpose.
Thousand Temples—The ecclesiastical and administrative framework of Inrithism, based in Sumna but omnipresent throughout most of the Three Seas. The Thousand Temples first became a dominant social and political institution during the reign of the first Aspect-Emperor, Triamis the Great, who declared Inrithism the official faith of the Ceneian Empire in 2505. Authority is nominally centralized in the person of the Shriah, who is regarded as the Latter Prophet’s living representative, but the sheer size and complexity of the Thousand Temples often renders that authority ceremonial. Aside from the management of the temples proper, there are the ecclesiastical courts, the political missions, the various Colleges, and the labyrinthine interconnections with the Cults to administer. As a result, the Thousand Temples often suffers from weak leadership, and is regarded with cynicism by many in the Three Seas.
This situation would radically change once Anasûrimbor Maithanet was elected Shriah, even moreso when Anasûrimbor Kellhus was declared Holy Aspect-Emperor in Shimeh in 4112, an event that effectively sundered the Thousand Temples into warring camps. An oft overlooked fact of the Unification Wars was the degree to which it involved the reunification of the Thousand Temples beneath the hegemony of Anasûrimbor Maithanet. A relic of the Ceneian Empire, the Thousand Temples have long been the institutional skeleton connecting the Three Seas, even so far as functioning as a moneyhouse for transnational commerce.
Thousand Thousand Halls—The labyrinth constructed by the Dûnyain beneath Ishuäl and used by them to test their initiates. Those who become lost in the Thousand Thousand Halls invariably die, ensuring that only the most intelligent survive.
Three Flutes—Name of the three enclosed waterfalls that track the length of the Vast Ingressus in Ishterebinth.
Three-Headed Serpent—The symbol of the Scarlet Spires.
Three Hearts of God—A term referring to Sumna, the Thousand Temples, and the Tusk.
Three Kingdoms—Collective name for Kûniüri, Aörsi, and Sheneor, the nations that Nanor-Ukkerja I created for his sons in 1556.
Three Seas—Specifically, the seas of Meneanor, Oncis, and Nyranisas, located in south central Eärwa. More generally, the (primarily Ketyai) civilization that has thrived in this region since the end of the Apocalypse.
Three Sickles—The famed symbol of Triamis the Great, and by extension, the Ceneian Empire.
Threesie—The name given to Nansur who sign on for a third fourteen-year term of service in the Imperial Army.
Thresholds—The torture chamber of Ishterebinth, designed so as to be invisible to the Gods, and so to spare Nonmen interrogators the burden of their sins.
Throseanis (3256—3317)—A late Ceneian dramatist, famed for his Triamis Imperator, a dramatic account of the life of Triamis I, the greatest of the Ceneian Aspect-Emperors.
Thunyeric—The language of Thunyerus, a derivative of Meoric.
Thunyerus—A Norsirai nation of the Three Seas located on the northeastern coasts of the Meneanor Sea. According to Thunyeri legend, their peoples migrated down the length of the Wernma River, continually pressured by the Sranc tribes that largely rule the great forests of the Dameori Wilderness. For two hundred years the Thunyeri plied the Three Seas as pirates and raiders. Then, in 3987, after three generations of Inrithi missionaries had largely converted them from their traditional Kiünnat beliefs, the tribes elected their first King, Hringa Hurrausch, and began adopting the institutions of their Three Seas neighbours.
Tikirgal ab Ramitju (4101—4132)—Ordealman, Grandee of Makreb’at-Akii, killed in the days leading up to the disaster at Irsulor.
Tirummas, Nersei (4075—4100)—The eldest brother of Nersei Proyas, and Crown Prince of Conriya until his death at sea in 4100.
Titirga (c. 1055—c. 1119)—The second Grandmaster of the Sohonc, childhood pupil of Noshainrau the White, and the famed Hero-Mage of Ûmerau, reputed to be the most powerful sorcerer, Man or Nonman, to have drawn breath. He is rumoured to have been murdered by his great rival, Shaeönanra, and buried in the ancient ruins of Viri.
Tokush (4068—4111)—The Master of Spies to Ikurei Xerius III.
Toll—Orthodox pamphlet circulated during the Unification Wars, containing the Imperial Appraisal detailing the numbers of dead woman and children counted following the Sack of Sarneveh in 4120.
topoi—Locations where the accumulation of trauma and suffering has frayed the boundaries between the World and the Outside.
Tracery—Dûnyai
Tractate, The—The writings of Inri Sejenus and his disciples, forming the second part of the Inrithi scriptural canon. The Inrithi believe The Tractate to be the prophesied culmination of The Chronicle of the Tusk, an amendment of the Covenant of Gods and Men for the realities of a new age. Among its seventeen books are various accounts of the life of the Latter Prophet, many parables for the purposes of moral instruction, and Inri Sejenus’s own explanation of the “Intervention” he himself represents: that mankind, as it matures, will become more and more able to worship the God in His “singular multiplicity.” Given that The Tractate was written more as a testament to the divinity of Inri Sejenus’s vision than out of any real commitment to historical rigour, it is impossible to assess the veracity of the text. Zarathinius and, more recently, Fanim commentators have pointed out several glaring inconsistencies in the text, but nothing that Inrithi apologists have not been able to explain away.
Trail of Skulls—See saka’ilrait.
Triamarius I (3470—3517)—The first of the Zerxei Emperors, acclaimed by the Imperial Army following the assassination of Trimus Meniphas I in 3508. See Nansur Empire.
Triamarius III (3588—3619)—The last of the Zerxei Emperors of Nansur, murdered by palace eunuchs. See Nansur Empire.
Triamic Walls—Caraskand’s outermost fortifications, raised by Triamis the Great in 2568.
Triamis Imperator—The famed drama by Throseanis, based on events in the life of Triamis the Great.
Triamis the Great (2456—2577)—The first Aspect-Emperor of the Ceneian Empire, famed for his conquests and for declaring Inrithism the official state religion in 2505. See Ceneian Empire.
Triaxeras, Hampei (4072— )—The Captain of Ikurei Conphas’s bodyguard.
Trimus, House—A Nansur House of the Congregate.
Trinkets—See Chorae.
Triple-Crescent—The symbol of the Anasûrimbor of Trysë in Far Antiquity.
Troinim—Name of the three low hills upon which the Library of Sauglish was raised.
Trondha, Safirig (4076—4117)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Galeoth thane, client to Earl Anfirig of Gesindal.
Trucian Dramas, The—The magnum opus of Xius, a near antique poet and playwright.
Truth Room—An interrogation chamber located deep in the catacombs beneath the Andiamine Heights.
Trysë—The ancient administrative capital of Kûniüri, destroyed in the Apocalypse in 2147. Arguably the greatest city of the Ancient North and, with the exception of Sauglish, Ûmerau, and Etrith, also the oldest.
Tshuma (4073—?)—Man-of-the-Tusk, one of the Nascenti, formerly a Kutnarmu mercenary. He returned to his homeland in 4118 declaring his intention to convert his nation, but was never heard from again.
Tsonos (?—?)—Son of Imimorûl, legendary Ur-King of Siol, and the name given to the Kinning-most-High-and-Deep, the bloodline of so many Nonman Kings that it has become a necessary condition of any claim of royal authority.
Tsuramah—“Hated One” (Kyranean). The ancient Kyranean name for the No-God. See No-God.
Turret, the—The primary citadel of the Library of Sauglish, raised by Noshainrau in 1058.
Tusam—A village in the Inûnara Highlands destroyed by Fanim raiders in 4111.
Tusk, the—The premier holy artifact of both the Inrithi and Kiünnat traditions, and the most unholy in the Fanim tradition (where it is referred to as Rouk Spara, or “Cursed Thorn”). Since the Tusk bears the oldest extant version of The Chronicle of the Tusk, which in turn is the oldest human text, its provenance remains an utter mystery, though most scholars agree that it predates the coming of the Tribes to Eärwa. It has been installed in the holy city of Sumna throughout most of recorded history.
Tusking—Legendary event following the mass execution of Fanim captives on the Holy Kalaul of Caraskand, where Anasûrimbor Kellhus marked Tusks in blood upon the foreheads of the faithful.
Tûtmor, Beotha (4071— )—The New Imperial Consul of Ce Tydonn.
Tûthorsa, Beotha (4089—4121)—Man-of-the-Tusk, Tydonni Thane in the First Holy War.
Tutseme—The pigeon dialect of slaves and caste-menials in Carythusal.
Twelve Germs—The twelve bloodlines of the Dûnyain.
Twin Scimitars—The primary holy device of Fanimry, symbolizing the “Cutting Eyes” of the Solitary God.
Tydonni—The language of Ce Tydonn, a derivative of Meoric.
Tyrûmmas (4075-4100)—See Tirummas.
Tywanrae River—A major river system in north central Eärwa, draining the Gâl basin and emptying into the Cerish Sea.
U
Uän, Samarmau (4001–)—One of the Dûnyain Pragma.
Ûgorrior, Plain of—Name of the flat tracts immediately before Gwergirah, Corrunc, and Domathuz, demarcated not so much by virtue of geography as history. Called Mirsurqûl by the Nonmen (the “Final Dust”), countless Men and Nonmen have perished upon it.
Ukrummu, Madarezer (4045—4111)—Man-of-the-Tusk, sorcerer of rank in the Scarlet Spires, slain by Chorae at Anwurat.
Ûliqara (?—?)—Wife of Oirûnas, Lord of the Watch, and mother of Oinaral Lastborn.
Ulnarta, Shaugar (4071–)—Man-of-the-Tusk, one of the Nascenti, formerly a Tydonni thane.
Umbilicus—The residential and command pavilion used by Anasûrimbor Kellhus throughout the Great Ordeal.
Ûmerau—See Ûmeri Empire.
Ûmeri Empire—The first great nation of Men, encompassing the length of the River Aumris, founded after the overthrow of the Trysean God-Kings, c. 430. See Kûniüri.
Ûmeritic—The lost language of ancient Ûmerau, a derivative of Aumri-Saugla.
Umiaki—The name of the ancient eucalyptus tree located in the heart of the Kalaul in Caraskand, famed as the tree from which the Warrior-Prophet was hung on the Circumfix.
Umrapathur, Sasal (4078—4132)—Ordealman, Believer-King of Nilnamesh, Marshal of the Ketyai-of-the-South in the Great Ordeal of Anasûrimbor Kellhus, among the last souls killed at the disastrous Battle of Ursulor.
“umresthei om aumreton”—Kyranean for “possessing in dispossession.” Ajencis’s term for those moments where the soul comprehends itself in the act of comprehending other things, and so experiences the “wonder of existence.”
Unaras Spur—The low mountain range that extends from the southern terminus of the Hethantas to the Meneanor coast, marking the geographical frontier between the Kyranae Plain and Gedea.
Unclean, the—A name, derived from The Chronicle of the Tusk, commonly used by Inrithi as a pejorative for sorcerers.
Unerring Grace—The capacity to act and desire in perfect coincidence with one’s Fate, attributed especially to the Narindar. See Narindar.
Unification Wars—The Fall of Shimeh to Anasûrimbor Kellhus in 4112 did not so much occasion the end of his Holy War as lend it the legitimacy required to take on new, even larger quarry. What had begun as an Inrithi war against the Fanim had quickly become a Zaudunyani war against all. Conriya, of course, came to the Aspect-Emperor by virtue of Nersei Proyas. With the death of Ikurei Xerius and his heir, Ikurei Conphas, Maithanet need only proclaim Kellhus Aspect-Emperor to make Momemn the capital of his nascent empire. The successive defeats suffered at Mengedda, Anwurat, Caraskand, and Shimeh had so severely depleted the ranks of the Kianene nobility as to assure that Kellhus would install his Empress in the White-Sun Palace in Nenciphon in the winter of 4113. That year, the year that apocalypse was visited upon Fanimry, would become known as the Year of the Child Grandees.
Some among the wise contend that this first series of conquests belongs to the First Holy War proper, since the newly minted Aspect-Emperor spent three years consolidating his martial and spiritual conquests following the capitulation of the main Chianadyni tribes (decisively influenced by the Whelming of Massar ab Kascamandri in 4113). On this view, the Unification Wars proper begin with the Battle of Pinropis, in 4115. A substantial sho
By no means did even a fraction of the Three Seas consider Anasûrimbor Kellhus anything but an imposter of some mundane or arcane variety—this despite the declarations Maithanet, the Holy Shriah of the Thousand Temples. Even within the Nansurium and the provinces of the former Kianene Empire, the Orthodox, as those defending their rights and privileges against the Aspect-Emperor came to be called, vastly outnumbered the Zaudunyani. The war waged by the so-called Aspect-Emperor was not a war for power over (this was simply the first step toward Unification) but war for consent. Ils Hidarei calls the zealots, “an army of mathematicians, scribes, and merchants,” and comes to see them as all the more deadly for it:
“And they murder us, more surely than if they chased us into the wilds. They fat us upon our own fears, our own weaknesses and greed. All the pomegranate seeds they leave lead to them, to their mercy, their employ, their milder taxes. Even their daughters, affluent and poor, are encouraged to take us as lovers. The proof of their God, they say, is plainer to see!”
Rumours of skin-spies, declarations made by famously pious men. The stories of miracles. What had happened in Shimeh had united the attention of the Three Seas in a way not seen since the days of Cenei. Wonder had opened every soul before suspicion had a chance to winch them shut. And always the bottomless ghus of the End, the Second Apocalypse. The Mandate, who all had thought mad, had all along spoke true. And simple, catastrophic claim that the God of Gods had sent Anasûrimbor Kellhus to assure that the World at last listened.
The Three Seas must act of one will. God’s.
Unification for the Aspect-Emperor was Unification of will, the remaking of the Three Seas into a vast engine, for as the close of the Unification Wars would make amply clear, the Second Apocalypse was indeed his sole concern. “As you fear me,” he famously declared at the Paremti Massing, “your children will praise my name. And through me, shall you become the most revered name on their Lists, the most proud and hallow on the Lists of their children.” The strategies employed were ingenious, and became more so as time went on. Whole districts, cities, tribes, converted en masse, such that the first nations overthrown militarily (those comprising Nansur and Kian) were entirely subdued ere the last nations fell, their peoples Inrithi first, certainly, but in a manner corrupted by Zaudunyani concessions. Ere the departure of the Great Ordeal, more than half the population of every province in the Empire had been Whelmed, more than three quarters in a few (such as Nansur and Conriya).