DICTIONARY ❖

Common Terms ❖

Jackal: Mass-produced dimunitive Pygmalion, produced by the Kreuzhafen Union of Autonomous Colonies.

Raven: Mass-produced dimunitive Pygmalion, produced by the Kreuzhafen Union of Autonomous Colonies. A grade of quality higher than a Jackal.

Pilot: Human who operates a Pygmalion without being permanently bound, possibly without any bond at all. Contrast with Vessel.

Pygmalion: Necrotechnological construct, distinguished from a Necromatrix by its sentience, if not necessarily sapience. A living mecha.

True Pygmalion: The pinnacle of fleshcrafting, a True Pygmalion is an artificial human, perfected in nearly every single way. In many ways, a True Pygmalion's only weakness is their Vessel.

Vessel: General term for a human with a permanent bond to a Pygmalion. Sometimes incorrectly used to describe any human who operates a pygmalion, in which case the improper term True Vessel might be used to describe bonded humans.

Major Factions ❖

Divine Solis Imperium of the Saint Apostolic CDXIII: The religious empire that formed from the earliest of schisms among Kishar families. It's unclear how old the Divine Solis actually is, but by their own accounts, the families of the Solis first split off from Kishar's thousands of years ago. A fascistic absolute theocracy that worships the Divine Flesh, with an emphasis on traditionalism, sacrifice, and mortality. Officially, there are no citizens alive past the age of fifty, although the pseudo-immortality of Saints is allowed to circumvent this law.

Kreuzhafen Union of Autonomous Colonies: The union of colonies that broke away from the Divine Solis Imperium, in part due to the aid from several Kishar families. A rather large group of often incongruent ideologies and peoples, at the most broad of generalisation, it can be said that the Union is authoritarian, reactionary, and neoliberal. Led in modernity by the Seneschals, their history is one of revolutionary war and withering idealism.

Empyrean Court of Kishar Dynasties: The amalgamation of power wielded by the noble families of Kishar, the planet formerly called Earth. Less of a faction and more of a mutual agreement to unite should the need strike. Still, they maintain a position of incredible significance in politics and culture, along with claiming ownership of the oldest and most incomprehensible of fleshcrafting traditions.

Vesselry ❖

Adon: Honorific form of address used by Pygmalions towards their Vessels. Used by all Pygmalions, regardless of origin and contact (or lack thereof) with other Pygmalions. Unclear origin.

Communion: Intimate exchange between Pygmalion and Vessel.

Dispersal Field: Shock absorption ability possessed by many (but not all) Pygmalions. Entirely invisible, effectively hardening anything it is applied to. When released, all absorbed energy is violently expelled as pure force. The amount of force a dispersal field can absorb seems to be associated with a Pygmalion's Neural Weight.

Hirudo Score: See Hirudo Score.

Overburst: Technique in which a Pilot or Vessel consciously thins their Neural Wall while feeding more blood than usual into their Pygmalion. While incredibly risky, Overbursting can allow a Pygmalion to perform otherwise impossible feats. While a Vessel is unlikely to suffer permanent damage from a brief Overburst, a Pilot without a bond can easily find themselves consumed by their Pygmalion, regardless of whether they're or not they're a True Pygmalion.

Static: More properly, Neural Static. The ambient radiation of unfocused Neural Weight. While most humans aren't sensitive enough to notice it, those who spend time around Necrotechnology quickly find themselves capable of hearing it. Emitted by all Necrotechnology, as well as those with a current bond to a Pygmalion, albeit in significantly smaller quantities. To those who can hear it, aging Necromatrices are infamously noisy.

Stigma: Physical changes observed in the bodies of Vessels, passed on through their bond with a Pygmalion. Can be largely cosmetic (loss of pigment, elongated canines, bioluminescence of the eyes), mild (anaemia, sensitive stomach, duplication of pupils), severe (splitting of limbs, rapid osteoperosis, partial externalisation of vascular system), or potentially fatal (complete failure of digestive system, paralysis, inverse thermoregulation).

Wall: More properly, Neural Wall. Partially metaphorical term used to refer to the technique of keeping a Vessel's mind intact from their Pygmalion's. The degradation of the Neural Wall is often accompanied by the emergence of Stigmata, while its total collapse results in ego dissolution.

Weight: More properly, Neural Weight. The physical manifestation of immaterial power exerted by Pygmalions and their Vessels. In small quantities, it can cause disorientation, while sufficiently heavy quantities can cause neurotoxicity. In exceptionally rare cases, Neural Weight can be focused into a sort of telekinesis.

Technology ❖

Alloy Plate: Metal that has been in contact with Ayin for long enough to begin leeching some of its nature. Both harder and lighter than should be possible.

Ayin/Azoth/Divine Flesh: Properly, that which is unobservably modified. Occasionally used to refer to the unobservable property itself. While Ayin, Azoth, and Divine Flesh are the three most commonly-used terms, several other terms are used in highly localised contexts.

Blackblade: Union-specific designation for military weapons derived from insurgent designs. Originally crafted from industrial equipment, modern Blackblade carries only the spirit of its humble beginnings.

Ferrous Humor: Blood, especially that which flows through a Necromatrix or Pygmalion. Often shortened to FH.

L-FH: Low-grade Ferrous Humor. Because Ferrous Humor quickly spoils outside of a body, a shelf-stable treated alternative was developed. L-FH is notable for its white-blue colour, so pale as to be nearly transparent outside of glass. True Pygmalions remark on the vile taste, and necrotechnology powered by it tends to behave sluggishly.

Mimeoplex: A cloning complex, often but not necessarily dedicated to creating flesh sacrifices for use in Fleshcrafting.

Necromatrix: Organic technology without sentience. Used to refer to life support systems, autopiloting mechanisms, flesh computers, living generators, autodoctors, and more.

Communications ❖

Anticipated Loss: Calculated percentage chance of data sent over the Weavenet being corrupted before it arrives at its destination. Anticipated Loss (shortened to AL) is automatically reported over the Weavenet, meaning that particularly lossy Weaves run the risk of being blacklisted from sharing Weavenet paths with their neighbours. Low AL is highly desirable, leading to many Weaves keeping temporary backups of received data in an effort to keep their AL low and extract higher usage fees.

Comlink: Any device which can connect to a Weave, regardless of whether it was designed to connect to the Weavenet proper. Encompasses a wide range of technology, but has largely fallen out of use for stationary devices.

Fare: Combined set of usage fees of all nodes in a selected Weavenet path. Fees are set independently by Weaves, but with higher prices comes an expectation of lower Standard Delay and Anticipated Loss. Fare trends noticeably higher during wartime, trading frenzies, and peak hours for mainworlds.

Slate: Electronic tablet. Almost always a Comlink, but not necessarily.

Standard Delay: Expected delay for communications sent over the Weavenet. When a connection is attempted across two or more weaves, this number is calculated using average signal delay and chance of data corruption. Upon completion, a confirmation containing the Standard Delay, in addition to the expected Fare for the selected network path, is sent to the connected Comlink. When the handshake is received, the sender can decide whether or not to pay the Fare.

Subnet: Chat network. Smaller than the weavenets they're built off of, but larger than a one-on-one conversation. Usually implies some degree of privacy and exclusivity, facilitated by password-locking, as opposed to more public forums.

Weave: Communication network. Weaves vary in their specifics, often shaped by the capabilities of the comlinks that most often connect to them, but almost always exist as distributed subnetworks, dedicatedly serving the location in which they are installed. Exceptions to this rule exist, with some heavily-developed planets having a singular weave to save on relay charges.

Weavenet: Interchangeably, the network of Weaves and the protocol which allows them to connect. The protocol operates off a node system, allowing users to select a path of desired Weaves through which to make their connections. Necrotechnology allows faster-than-light connection, albeit cheaper paths tend to be slower and lossier. Instant connections are, generally speaking, unheard-of.

Sciences and Disciplines ❖

Augmentative Science: Loose term for any discipline of Necrotechnology that qualifies as neither Fleshcraft nor Necrosurgery, especially that which makes use of inorganic construction. Generally considered to be an outsider science that merely associates with Necrotechnology, rather than a true branch of it.

Fleshcraft: All-encompassing term for the ritualistic creation and manipulation of Ayin from normal flesh. Considered the theoretical branch of Necrotechnology, to be contrasted with its sister discipline, Necrosurgery.

Necrosurgery: The study, experimentation, and exploitation of dead and dying bodies. Considered the practical branch of Necrotechnology, to be contrasted with its sister discipline, Fleshcraft.

Necrotechnology: The umbrella term used for all sciences that require or heavily deal with Ayin. Pygmalions and Necromatrices are the two most common examples of Necrotechnological constructs.

Reclamation: The process, either through Fleshcrafting or Necrosurgery, by which captured corpses, human or otherwise, are converted into Ayin. The cultural connotations of Reclamation vary, but even those cultures which consider it taboo have circumstances in which it is permissible.

Weavework: The field of communications technology based on the distributed weavenet protocol. Originally a term for communications studies, the ongoing stagnation in weave technology has seen it used to refer instead to the practise of operating and maintaining a weave.

Religion ❖

Faith (DSI): Belief, but specific to the Divine Solis Imperium, used with a direct connotation of submission. Because they are seen as having a direct relationship with divinity, Saints and other high ranking clergy are not expected or required to have Faith. Definitionally, the divine cannot have Faith.

Justice: Mansion of benign and neutral deities in several Union folk religions. The specifics of which deities make up Justice are unclear, and the term itself is an inaccurate translation in most cases. A very generic term that is often used more loosely than invoking a specific deity's name, so inoffensive as to be safe for use in advertising.

Authority ❖

Drachentoter: Praetorian guard of the Union Seneschals. Very little is known about them, besides their absolute loyalty. Founding-era stories tell of Drachentoter squads taking down Pygmalions on foot, but their heavily propagandised nature makes these claims unverifiable.

Rook: Last surviving scion of a family, especially in the context of one forcibly absorbed into the family which conquered their own. Treatment of Rooks varies from culture to culture.

Saint: Elite Vessels from the Divine Solis Imperium, released from observation of its tenets under the belief that they now wholly embody divine will. Saints are considered legally dead upon acquisition of the title, symbolically and practically a means to disconnect them from any familial obligations.

Seneschal: The highest seats of authority in the Union. The official position of Seneschal is a fairly recent construct, but it was merely the formalisation of a long-standing shorthand. A Seneschal is a powerful figure, almost always the head of an established family, whose economic, industrial, social, diplomatic, or military power has been deemed intrinsic to the Union's success.

Prince: Term of nobility used in both the Empyrean Court of Kishar Dynasties and certain families within the Divine Solis Imperium, carried into the latter by the former. While the title is somewhat gendered, several Kishar traditions consider it to be prescriptive rather than descriptive, carrying the original holder's social status when inherited.

Unusual Designations ❖

Black Knight: A True Pygmalion who continues on in an animalistic state (often one of berserker rage) despite their Vessel having been killed.

Gorgon: A Pygmalion, often but not always a True Pygmalion, whose Neural Weight is so great that their gaze can be classified as a weapon in its own right. Less commonly, a Vessel with similar Neural Weight.

Commodities and Contrabands ❖

Peri: A group of substances that skirt regulations and exist in a legal grey area. Wherever narcotics are restricted, peri can be found. Not the sort of thing you can buy without knowing how to ask for it.

Slurry: The artificial pseudonicotinoid-based filling used in the cheap cigarettes common throughout the Union. While usually smoked, the constituion of the fibrous substance allows one to dissolve it in their mouth without needing a lighter, although this method tastes especially unpleasant. When dissolved in liquid, produces a murky off-milk tone.

Slang and Vulgarity ❖

Dolphin: Euphemistic term for corpses resulting from explosive decompression, often but not exclusively in space. The origins of this term are unclear, with many proposed etymologies.

Dracul: Derogatory term for citizens of the Divine Solis Imperium, and less specifically, the followers of its state religion. Sometimes used to refer specifically to the clergy, but rarely that specific.

Fuss: Slang term for a low-tech comlink, stemming from the low-quality displays common in such devices and their tendency to look fuzzy with age. Almost exclusively used on Irra.

Cycle/Mulch/Wolf: Euphemistic terms. See also Reclamation

So: Filler word used in some Union territories, especially those heavily trafficked by traders. Seen as a bit rustic, but not necessarily impolite. Equivalent to eh?

Specky: Derogatory regional term for glasses-wearers, often with connotations of perceived elitism. Uncommonly used outside of Callisto and its associated stations, making it something of a shibboleth.

Thrall: Regional derogatory term, used by the Divine Solis Imperium to refer to mass-produced Pygmalions. Used often enough in official contexts that it might be mistaken for the proper terminology.