The World of "Piaffe" : Supplemental Glossary
Military Ranks (Graduated Order)
- Emendare - literally, pure. plural- Emendati. The military members, society, and related culture, in contrast to Liberti which submerses in mardonken culture as a whole.
- arête - "from the net", meaning newly conscripted into service, freshly caught, green recruit.
- miles - literally, soldier. plural — milites
- venator - tracker, hunter. Locate and assist conscripts (arête). plural — venatores
- medicus - physician, medic, healer. plural - medici
- dux - ringleader, captain. The top rank in a grotto.
- praetor - leader, governor, chief. commander-in-chief, governor-general. Management and coordination of all military installations on a single continent.
- In umbra - literally, the silence; stillness, protection, darkness, obscurity, quietness, guard. A guard, umbra. plural — umbras. Umbra falco is the guard leader. Sometimes referred to as falco by other guard members.
- emeritus - retired soldier, "become unfit for service" literally, "he has earned it, served out."
- Anima - spirit, or animating energy. The avatar of each aedis is called its anima: idolon, draco, and falco.
- Atelli - literally, from the bowels of the earth. Derogatory term used in reference to military personnel.
- Consensus- to join perception, with feeling. The connection, the act of connecting, between mardonken and insignis.
- Draco summa - three remain, the fragmen (see below).
- Fertaede - from qui fertaede - literally, the one who carries the temple. The term used by in umbra to refer to an aedis bearer who has or is capable of awakening the summa.
- Fragmen - the remaining draco summa. They were Aedis ambassadors, linked to the ancora, and through these amulets were able to go into stasis, hiding themselves away from the physical realm in a place of in between, in hopes of diverting certain death at the hands of the serpen.
- Insignis - 'marked', distinguished. Indigenous sapient species, distant cousins to equines, who form consensus with mardonken. plural- insigni.
- Kef - leader (alpha insignis) in a proscript herd, those insigni that have aligned themselves not with the formal Emendati culture, but instead with Liberti.
- Legatus - the three summa ambassadors to the Aedisi. Plural- legati: Aedis Idolon-Doni. Aedis Draconi-Rida. Aedis Faulkon-Lau.
- Liberti - The counterpart mardonken culture to the Emendati.
- Met'karn - the rank assigned to thirteen council members at a given Liberti hall.
- Nexus - the Aedis chapterhouse at Arx.
- Onusodio - from onus odio, literally: the burden of hate. These creatures were introduced by serpen during the Paen Revolt, and inhabit the desert wasteland in the central area of Ghernakon continent. Their origin is unknown- superstition amongst civilian populace attributes their presence to serpen who use them to hunt down and kill mardonken targets.
- Posse - obsolete term referring to aura, personal ability; varying in strength from one individual to the next. Can also be a reference to the collective strength of a given aedis (family), or Aedis (house), dependant on context.
- Serpen - the serpents. Originally paen draco, literally ‘almost a dragon’, a reference to their state of being one step below draco summa, highest dragon. An indigenous sapient species with multiple stages of development, from larvae to pupae, to adult. “Rae” is larvae, “Paen” or serpen is pupae. The final stage of “summa” is adult. It takes three full summa to perform tollo and raise a paen to adulthood, and a candidate for raising must pass a battery of tests, known as selection boards, to prove itself sound of mind, body, and ethics and thus worthy of being raised.
- Tortus - literally, twisted. The derogatory term for a cross-thread consensus between a male and a filly, or a female and a stallion.
- Ubi vult - the nomadic/migrant aedisi. Very often they trade stories for hospitality, and while they rarely perform for currency, they usually barter for their performances. Theatrically and musically talented posse, those that are conscripted from their numbers usually end up as scholars or performers.
- Ae prima. - First among peers.
- Bene facis. - (as an interjection) thank you.
- Ite hinc. - [Go] away from me. An ancient banishment curse used against evil spirits.
- Ommat ubi vult. - Where Ommat wills.
- Paenitet - regret
- Requiesce, scies pace. - Rest now, you will know peace. A prayer for the soul of deceased.
- Secretum servo tuo. - The secret of thy servant. alt: Servant to your secret.
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