Glossary
Ace : [noun] The advanced rank for an agent of the Domino Programme.
ther : [noun] The spirit realm, which exists alongside the physical or corporeal world, Earth. Among humans, only clairvoyants can sense the ?ther.
Alysoplasm : [noun] The blood of the Emim . It can be used to conceal the nature of voyants’ gifts, or to hide their dreamscapes in the ?ther, making them undetectable to a dreamwalker . However, it also prevents them from being able to use their clairvoyance for a time. Rephaim can tolerate a small amount of alysoplasm, but any more transforms them into Emim.
Amaranth : [noun] An iridescent flower that grows in the Netherworld. Its nectar can heal or calm any wound inflicted by a spirit; it can also fortify the dreamscape . Warden and Terebell take amaranth to ease the pain of the scars on their backs, inflicted by one of Nashira’s fallen angels .
Amaurotic : [noun or adjective] A human who is not clairvoyant. This state is known as amaurosis, from an Ancient Greek word referring to a dimming or dulling, especially of the senses. Among voyants, they are known colloquially as rotties .
Anchor : [noun] The symbol of the Republic of Scion, often used as a metonym for it, e.g. countries are described as being ‘in the shadow of the anchor’ when they come under threat from Scion.
Anchorisation : [noun] The process of converting a conquered or amenable country into a territory of the Republic of Scion. This includes the dismantling of democracy, the suppression of religion, the mass arrest of clairvoyants and dissenters, and the destruction of anything deemed unnatural, e.g. art that acknowledges the existence of spirits, deities, or the afterlife.
Anchorite : [noun or adjective] A disparaging term for people who work directly for Scion, or are especially committed to its message. It can also be used as a descriptor, e.g. anchorite propaganda .
Angel : [noun] A category of drifter . There are several known sub-types of angels:
–A guardian angel is the spirit of a person who died to protect someone else, and now remains with the living person they saved
–An archangel protects a single bloodline for several generations
–A fallen angel is a spirit compelled to remain with their murderer
All sub-types of angels can be breachers
Apport : [noun] The movement of physical objects by ethereal means, derived from Latin apportō (‘I bring, I carry’). Among spirits, this ability is unique to breachers . Rarely, clairvoyants or Rephaim may be able to use apport.
Aster : [noun] A genus of flower. Certain kinds of aster have ethereal properties:–
– Blue strengthens the link between the spirit and the dreamscape. It can sharpen recent memories and produce a feeling of wellbeing
– Pink strengthens the link between the spirit and the body; consequently, it is often used by voyants as an aphrodisiac
– Purple , highly addictive, is a deliriant that distorts the dreamscape
– White causes amnesia. Prolonged overuse of white aster can lead to narcolepsy, followed by whiteout
Augurs : [noun] The second order of clairvoyance according to On the Merits of Unnaturalness . Like the soothsayers , they are reliant on numa . They often have blue auras. The so-called vile augurs, who use the substance of the human body to connect with the ?ther, were persecuted by the syndicate for many years.
Aura : [noun] A manifestation of the link between a clairvoyant and the ?ther, visible only with the sight . Since the Netherworld began to deteriorate, Rephaim have required human auras to sustain their own connections to the ?ther.
Bicentenary, the : [noun] A key event in recent Scion history, the Bicentenary was the celebration of two hundred years of Rephaite rule, held in Oxford in September 2059. The Great Territorial Act was to be signed on this night, and Nashira intended to kill Paige in front of the assembled guests.
Binder : [noun] A type of clairvoyant who can compel and tether spirits. A spirit that serves a binder is called a boundling .
Blood-consort : [noun] The consort of a blood-sovereign of the Rephaim. Following the Rephaite civil war, Nashira Sargas forced Arcturus Mesarthim to be her blood-consort for two centuries, treating him as a war trophy.
Blood-sovereign : [noun] The leader of the Rephaim. There are always two – a male and a female. Nashira and Gomeisa Sargas are the incumbent blood-sovereigns.
Bone Season : [noun] A harvest of clairvoyant (and some amaurotic) humans, organised by Scion to appease the Rephaim , to compensate them for protecting humankind from the Emim . For two centuries, clairvoyants were detained over the course of each decade and sent together to the prison city of Oxford. Paige was drafted into Bone Season XX.
Boundling : [noun] Any spirit controlled by a binder .
Breacher : [noun] A category of spirit that can affect the corporeal world, e.g. by moving objects or injuring the living. The ability to breach is usually related to the manner of a spirit’s death – a violent death is more likely to produce a breacher. The most common types of breacher are angels and poltergeists . When breachers touch either a human or a Rephaite, they can leave cold scars and a profound chill.
Buzzers : [noun] See Emim .
Clairvoyant : [noun] A human who can sense and interact with the spirit world, the ?ther . They are identifiable by their aura .
Cold spot : [noun] A portal between Earth and the Netherworld, which manifests as a perfect circle of ice. Humans cannot pass through a cold spot, but Rephaim and Emim can.
Denizen : [noun] A resident of the Republic of Scion.
Deuce : [noun] The starting rank for an agent of the Domino Programme.
Dissimulator : [noun] A form of free-world technology, apparently unknown to Scion, that changes the wearer’s face. The Domino Programme issues them to many of their field agents.
Doctrine of distance : [noun] A Rephaite law preventing all physical contact between humans and Rephaim , based on a superstition that the Netherworld fell due to unsanctioned intimacy between the inhabitants of the two worlds. While the law originated from the Sargas family, the vast majority of the Ranthen also adhere to it.
Doublet : [noun] An envoy for the Domino Programme in a benefactor country.
Dream-form : [noun] The form a spirit takes within the confines of a dreamscape. It may or may not reflect how an individual looks physically; rather, it is a self-image. Once a spirit leaves a dreamscape and enters the ?ther, it no longer has a clear form.
Dreamscape : [noun] The house or seat of the spirit , where memory is stored. The term is often used interchangeably with mind by clairvoyants.
The dreamscape is thought to be how the brain manifests in the ?ther , and often resembles a place where an individual feels safe. Clairvoyants can access their dreamscapes at will, while amaurotics may catch glimpses in their sleep. The dreamscape is split into five zones or rings:–
– Sunlit zone , the centre of the dreamscape, where the spirit is supposed to dwell. The silver cord fastens it in place
– Twilight zone , a darker ring that surrounds the sunlit zone. The spirit may stray here in times of mental distress. Only dreamwalkers can go beyond this zone without injuring themselves
– Midnight and abyssal , the next two zones
– Hadal zone , the outermost and darkest ring of the dreamscape. Beyond this point is the ?ther . There may be spectres – manifestations of memory – in this zone
Dreamwalker : [noun] A contraction of dreamscape walker , referring to an exceptionally rare and complex form of clairvoyance . Comparable to the esoteric concept of astral projection, dreamwalking involves the dislocation and projection of the spirit from the dreamscape . Dreamwalkers have an unusually flexible silver cord , allowing them to not only walk anywhere in their own dreamscape, but to possess other people.
Drifters : [noun] Spirits that have not gone to the outer darkness or the last light , instead remaining within reach of the living. They are broadly divided into two categories: breachers and common drifters . Within these categories are numerous sub-types of spirit, including angels and ghosts .
Ectoplasm : [noun] The Rephaite equivalent of blood. It is luminous and slightly gelatinous, and considered to be molten ?ther . As such, it heightens clairvoyant abilities.
Emim : [noun] Large and violent creatures that have infested the Netherworld and are now venturing to Earth. They are known colloquially as Buzzers , due to a distinctive sound that voyants hear when they appear. The Emim feed on human flesh to sustain their earthly forms, and are also believed to devour spirits, trapping them in their dreamscapes. Despite their immense power, they cannot enter a circle of salt. During her time in Paris, Paige learned that the Emim are former Rephaim.
Ethereal : [adjective] Pertaining to the ?ther .
Extrasensory perception : [noun] The most common name for clairvoyance outside the Republic of Scion.
Free world : [noun] A catch-all term for countries outside the Republics of Scion.
Furies : [noun] The sixth order of clairvoyance according to On the Merits of Unnaturalness. They often have coral auras.
Ghost : [noun] A spirit that prefers to dwell in one place – often their place of birth or death. Moving a ghost from its haunt will upset it.
Glossolalia : [noun] The language of spirits and Rephaim, distinguished from the fell tongue. Usually shortened to Gloss . It is impossible to acquire Gloss; one can only be born with it. Among humans, only polyglots are capable of speaking it.
Golden cord : [noun] A connection between two spirits. It creates a seventh sense, allowing the linked individuals to track one another and convey their emotions. Arcturus Mesarthim and Paige Mahoney share a golden cord.
Grand Inquisitor : [noun] Leader of a Scion country. Each has its own Grand Inquisitor, but they all submit to the authority of the Grand Inquisitor of England, currently Frank Weaver.
Grey market : [noun] A trafficking ring founded by Jaxon Hall after he broke the terms of his release from Oxford. In London, the grey market specialised in procuring clairvoyants of interest and selling them to Scion and the Rephaim. While Nashira Sargas did accept clairvoyants from the market, she forced Jaxon to shut it down when he pledged himself to her service in late 2059.
Guardians : [noun] The fifth order of clairvoyance according to On the Merits of Unnaturalness. They often have orange auras and exhibit a particularly high degree of control over spirits. A binder is a type of guardian.
Inquisitorial : [adjective] Referring to the authority of a Grand Inquisitor, e.g. Inquisitorial law.
Invocation : [noun] See séance .
Jumpers : [noun] The seventh and rarest order of clairvoyance according to On the Merits of Unnaturalness , made up of dreamwalkers and oracles . They often have red auras.
Last light : [noun] The end or heart of the ?ther , the place from which spirits can never return. What lies beyond it is unknown.
Latency : [noun] A state that Rephaim enter if they are unable to access voyants’ auras , causing them to lose their own connections to the ?ther. Their ectoplasm vitrifies, rendering them unable to move. After a period of delusion, their spirits become unresponsive in their dreamscapes , locking them in the spiritual equivalent of a coma. There is no known way to reverse the process, but latent Rephaim can still be transformed into Emim , and they are a particular temptation to the creatures in that state.
The pollen of the poppy anemone can push Rephaim to the brink of latency, even if they have recently fed.
Mecks : [noun] A non-alcoholic drink. Comes in white, rose and blood (red) to imitate wine.
Mediums : [noun] The third order of clairvoyance according to On the Merits of Unnaturalness. They are vulnerable to possession by spirits.
Mime-lord or Mime-queen : [noun] A high-ranking member of the clairvoyant syndicate of London. Together, they form the Unnatural Assembly. Under Paige Mahoney’s rule, they have become commanders of small cells of voyants.
Mollisher : [noun] The heir and second-in-command of a mime-lord or mime-queen. The Underqueen or Underlord’s mollisher is known as the mollisher supreme .
Mothallath family : [noun] The former rulers of the Rephaim, who claimed to have been sent from the last light to reign over the Netherworld. Originally, they were the only Rephaim who could cross the veil to walk among humans. During one of their crossings, an unknown event caused the Netherworld to begin to decay. The Sargas family blamed the Mothallath and declared war on them, finally usurping them. The Mesarthim family, which was duty-bound to defend the Mothallath, supported them to the last.
Netherworld : [noun] The home world of the Rephaim , which once functioned as an intermediary realm between the ?ther and Earth. At some point, the Netherworld was overrun by the Emim and began to fall into decay, forcing the Rephaim to relocate to Earth.
Numa : [noun] [singular: numen] Objects used by soothsayers and augurs to connect with the ?ther, e.g. mirrors, tarot cards and bones. The term originates from the seventeenth century and refers to a divine presence or will.
Off the cot : [adjective] A slang term for mad .
Opaline : [noun] An iridescent and translucent Netherworld material, believed to be the only substance that can sever Rephaite bone.
Oracle : [noun] One of the two categories of jumper . Oracles receive sporadic visions of the future from the ?ther, often experiencing intense migraines at the same time. They can also learn to make and project their own visions.
Performer : [noun] In Oxford, this term referred to humans who had either been evicted from the residences or received the yellow streak . Performers specialised in various arts to entertain the red-jackets, and were under the command of the Overseer.
Poltergeist : [noun] A class of breacher , most often created by a violent death, a belligerent personality or an especially intense and negative emotion at the time of death. They are considered by voyants to be the most difficult spirits to control, but a skilled binder can bring them to heel.
Poppy anemone : [noun] A red flower, also known as the windflower. In Greek myth, it grew from the blood of the hunter Adonis, a lover of Aphrodite. Though named for its short-lived fragility, its pollen can inflict serious damage on Rephaim .
Psychopomp : [noun] A spirit that once led the spirits of the dead to the Netherworld, before the Waning of the Veils. Many psychopomps now carry messages for the Ranthen .
Querent : [noun] A person who seeks knowledge of the ?ther. They may ask questions or offer part of themselves, e.g. their palm, for a reading.
Ranthen : [noun] A group of Rephaim who supported the doomed Mothallath family during the Rephaite civil war. The surviving Ranthen see the Sargas family as usurpers and do not wish to subjugate humans. They are currently in a tenuous alliance with Paige Mahoney and the Mime Order.
Red-jacket : [noun] The highest rank for humans in Oxford. Red-jackets were primarily responsible for patrolling Gallows Wood to protect the city from the Emim . After the fall of Oxford, most of the surviving red-jackets became Punishers, a class of Vigile .
Rephaim : [noun] [singular: Rephaite] Humanoid beings of the Netherworld. Among humans, they are known colloquially as Rephs . Since their world fell into decay, the Rephaim have been forced to use human aura to sustain themselves.
If Rephaim exposed to a large enough dose of alysoplasm , or their sarx is broken by an Emite , they can become Emim themselves. This process can only be stopped by using salt water and aura.
Sarx : [noun] A name given to the skin and substance of Netherworld beings. Rephaite sarx is slightly metallic and more durable than human skin, showing no signs of age. While Earth-made weapons may pierce it, it will heal quickly, while breachers and Netherworld metals cause significantly more damage.
Scimorphine : [noun] The most effective painkiller in Scion.
Scionet : [noun] The intranet of the Republic of Scion.
Séance : [noun] An event where voyants seek to invoke and communicate with a spirit. Most séances are performed in groups, but they may also be conducted alone, in which case they are usually described as an invocation . The Ranthen most often use séances to converse with their messengers, the psychopomps.
Sensors : [noun] The fourth order of clairvoyance according to On the Merits of Unnaturalness. Most sensors can perceive and interact with the ?ther through smell (sniffers), sound (whisperers) or taste (gustants), while the polyglots can speak and understand Glossolalia . They often have yellow auras.
Seven Orders of Clairvoyance : [noun] A system for categorising clairvoyants, first proposed by Jaxon Hall in his pamphlet On the Merits of Unnaturalness. Despite its controversial implication of higher and lower sorts of clairvoyance, the system was adopted as the official method of categorisation in the London underworld, resulting in a spate of gang wars and the persecution of the so-called vile augurs.
Shade : [noun] A type of drifter , older than a wisp .
Silver cord : [noun] The link between the body and the spirit. The silver cord wears down over the years and eventually snaps, resulting in death.
Soothsayers : [noun] The first order of clairvoyance according to On the Merits of Unnaturalness. They use wrought numa to connect with the ?ther and often have purple auras.
Sovereign-elect : [noun] The leader of the Ranthen , currently Terebellum ‘Terebell’ Sheratan.
Spirit shock : [noun] A state that voyants can enter if their connection to the ?ther is severely weakened or shaken. Soothsayers are particularly vulnerable to spirit shock, as it can be induced by destroying their favoured numen (see numa ). It differs from the process of becoming unreadable .
Spirit sight : [noun] Sometimes referred to as the third eye or simply as the sight . The ability to perceive the ?ther visually, indicated by one or both pupils being shaped like a keyhole. Most voyants are sighted, but some are not. Half-sighted voyants can choose when to see the ?ther, while full-sighted voyants must see it all the time.
Spool : [1] [noun] A group of spirits; [2] [verb] to draw spirits together. All clairvoyants are capable of spooling.
Summoner : [noun] A clairvoyant who can call spirits across great distances. Jaxon classifies summoners as part of his own order, the guardians .
Threnody : [noun] A series of words used to banish spirits to the outer darkness, a part of the ?ther where they can no longer be contacted. There are many threnodies, developed by clairvoyant communities across the world.
Underlord or Underqueen : [noun] The head of the Unnatural Assembly and mob boss of the clairvoyant syndicate of London, whose authority is symbolised by the Rose Crown. The incumbent Underqueen is technically Paige Mahoney, but since her disappearance, Eliza Renton – one of her two mollishers – has stepped up to fill the position.
Unnatural : [noun or adjective] The formal name for clairvoyants under Inquisitorial law.
Unreadable : [noun or adjective] A type of clairvoyant whose dreamscape has collapsed, often as a result of trauma, and regrown with thick armour, rendering them immune to all spiritual interference.
Veil : [noun] A word used to describe the boundaries between the three known planes of being – the corporeal world, the ?ther and the Netherworld.
Vigile : [noun] A member of the police forces of Scion. Day Vigiles are amaurotic and work for the Sunlight Vigilance Division (SVD), while night Vigiles are clairvoyant and work for the Night Vigilance Division (NVD). Night Vigiles agree to be euthanised after thirty years of service.
Voyant : [noun or adjective] See clairvoyant .
Waitron : [noun] A gender-neutral term for anyone in the service industry of the Republic of Scion.
Whiteout : [noun] A state caused by prolonged overuse of white aster , where the user succumbs to narcosis. This is followed by a complete loss of identity, or, in rarer cases, death.
Windflower : [noun] See poppy anemone
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