Memes of the Prophets Glossary

anti-prophet: A person who claims to be a Prophet when the Church of Valrune has already designated an official Prophet. Erica technically isn’t an anti-prophet—she never tried to claim the title per se—but the church nonetheless declared her one.

aurism: Prejudice against other types of sentient creatures. Since the most physically obvious differences between kinds are the ears, Eitanians call this “aurism” rather than racism.

balderdash: A Calitanian dish consisting of meatballs and gravy over mashed potatoes.

Banish me now: Basically “F*** me!’” in New Serenity slang, an expression of exasperation and despair.

bell: In Eitanian cities they tell time by a series of bells that ring eight times, evenly distributed through daylight hours. That means that the time between bells varies by the time of the year, from roughly an hour to 90 minutes. Clocks do exist in this world, but a lot of people still prefer the bell system.

bravo: A light and mobile warrior class, common among swashbucklers and their ilk.

Broken Pillars, The: And inversion of the Two Pillars gesture (see below), where you hold up a hand with the back of it facing someone else and hold up your pinky and ring fingers. This is basically the Calitanian equivalent of flipping the bird.

cadasta: A pasta dish that resulted from combining the newly introduced pasta with elven cuisine.

cadina: An Eitalethi beverage made with kelarys root (which has purifying properties) and various leaves and herbs steeped in cold water.

cadras: A type of herb-infused cake, originally intended as a kind of rations, popular in Eitalethi cuisine.

cadul: A blend of herbs and leaves with vinegar and olive oil; basically a salad from Eitalethi cuisine, though they consider it a main dish.

Calitania: The human nation that joined with Eitaleth to form Eitania.

Calitanian: The language of the people of Calitania, which for some reason is virtually identical to modern English. Native speakers have what to Earth ears sounds like a generic American accent. Also can refer to the people and elements of their culture.

Clan of the Shadow Blade: A brotherhood founded by the Prophet Sebastian Darkthorne (a.k.a. Takeshi Tanaka), and a bunch of weirdos who love strange, impractical magical swords. The Clan is divided into several “houses” that favor different types of techniques and swords.

Corvath: Another continent that lies to the east of Galania, known for its infestation of dragons.

Deathstride Badlands: This area was once the elves’ sacred Greenstride Forest, which sat near the border with Calitania and the Temple of St. Raddyn. The Prophet Tim’s powers went berserk not long after he visited the Temple, turning the forest into a dangerous wasteland and helping spark the War of the Leaves.

dragoon: A heavily armored warrior class, specializing in defense. In other words, a tank class. This is the opposite of a bravo, which is a highly mobile DPS warrior class, for swashbucklers and such.

Eitaleth: The elven nation that joined with Calitania to form Eitania.

Eitalethi: The type of elves that are the most common in Eitania. They are pale-skinned forest elves, and tend to be really big on plants and leaves. Also can refer to their language and elements of their culture.

Eitania: The kingdom where the story takes place, and a result of Calitania and Eitaleth unifying in the face of the common threat of an invasion from Vedris.

era: Although many cultures count years since the ascension of the Golden King of Yunqarth, Calitanians divide history into eras, with each new era starting with the summoning of a new Prophet. As the story unfolds it’s the first year of the era of the 68^th Prophet.

Farys: A continent to the west of Galania, home to the Empire of Vedris.

fetsette: A type of hat traditionally worn by summoners, consisting of a short, conical section (like a shorter fez) with a puff ball on top. They come in a variety of colors.

Five Evils, The: The five things that Valrune proclaimed to be intolerable and immoral. The Five are: slavery, murder, rape, greed, and bigotry. While all are bad, people generally view them as being arranged in descending order of severity.

flaum: A collection of species of short (adults are about three feet tall) animal-like beings, known for (or at least stereotyped as) being exceptionally talented at magic.

Galania: The continent where this story takes place, home to Eitania, Yunqarth, Ironforge, and some other nations.

Get a prophecy: Basically “Get a clue” in New Serenity slang.

Go cast a spell: Essentially, “Go f*** yourself” in New Serenity slang.

Guidance: One of the Two Pillars of Valrunism, the idea that people, especially clergy, should emulate Valrune by providing wise guidance to ensure that things go as they should.

guildie: A person who seems to spend an inordinate amount of time hanging around a guild. Clark is one of the best-known guildies of the New Serenity Guild of Adventurers.

happy kitty tea: Black tea with catnip, popular with feline wildkin (and flaum) who like being inebriated.

Ironforge: The kingdom of dwarves that lies to the east of Eitania. "Ironforge" is an exonym; they call it Krrg'thask, which translates to "Consolidated Mine #1."

Kalanethi: Known as “desert elves” to humans (their name actually translates to something like “Oasis Walkers”), these dark-skinned elves are one of the major ethnic groups of Yunqarth. “Kalanethi” is actually the Eitalethi exonym, and in their own language they’re the Haldara.

leafer: A type of merchant in elven culture who specializes in the cultivation and sale of leaves for culinary and medicinal purposes. The Eitalethi term is actually “cadelantar.”

lover: In most of Galania people describe sexuality in terms of who a person is attracted, so someone attracted to women is a “lover of women” regardless of their own gender. In addition to lovers of women there are lovers of men, both, all, none, etc.

mana: Magical energy, which exists in varying quantities virtually everywhere in Galania and the rest of the world beyond, but doesn’t exist at all on the Earth that Erica hails from.

mana font: A region with unusually heightened levels of mana. There’s a small one in New Serenity where people pay to enter so they can more easily practice magic.

mana shaping: A core part of spellcasting, where the caster mentally directs magical energy into the desired form, a "mana formation."

manacite: A very rare and potent crystallization of mana. Even a small piece contains a massive amount of energy.

manatite: A more common form of crystallized mana, which is much less dense, but still useful.

New Ohio: A small republic founded by the Prophet Richard. Thanks to Richard’s knowledge of engineering, New Ohio has more developed technology, but mostly shuns outsiders. He named it after his home state, and its capital is New Columbus.

New Serenity: The capital of Eitania and a major port of trade. It was formerly known as simply “Serenity,” and rebuilt and made the capital after the War of the Leaves.

newsies: Slang for the inhabitants of New Serenity, especially the more cosmopolitan, loud-mouthed ones.

Order of St. Armand: An order within the Church of Valrune for war clerics. They are a major part of the church’s militant arm and wield holy magics in battle. They have a reputation for being difficult and aggressive.

Order of St. Caligrus: An order within the Church of Valrune that specializes in keeping records and recording history. Maintaining the Prophetic Canon is one of their most important duties.

Order of St. Cuthbert: An order within the Church of Valrune of paladins. They broke away from the Order of St. Armand to create a new practice with a greater emphasis on martial prowess. They are fierce opponents of slavery, and played a significant role in its abolition across Galania.

Order of St. Raddyn: One of the smaller orders within the Church of Valrune, specializing in “computing.” They care for the Prophet OMNIVAC at the Temple of St. Raddyn, but also count some of the world’s best mathematicians among their members.

Patriarch: The leader of the Church of Valrune. While the church mostly treats people the same regardless of gender, the overall leader has always been a man, even if there are no rules saying there can’t be a Matriarch.

pet: A derogatory term for wildkin, which references how in antiquity they were kept as slaves, and how more recently they’ve been stereotyped as prostitutes.

Prophet: In Valrunism, a Prophet is a person from Earth summoned in a special ritual that is held periodically. There isn’t a set schedule for this, and the timing of the ritual tends to depend on what’s politically expedient. The stated purpose of Prophets is to bring new ideas.

Prophetic Canon: The vast collection of official records of the lives, deeds, and knowledge of the Prophets. It spans over a thousand volumes now, and even within the church few people even attempt to read it all.

recaller: A rare class that has the power to summon inanimate objects.

rings: The currency of Eitania. These are ring-shaped pieces of silver, gold, and platinum, etched with the denomination on the side. The currency symbols are each an S, G, or P inside of a circle. Elves tend to call them by the name of the metal alone, while humans typically say “rings” when they mean gold and specify the metal for silver or platinum. Yes, this does cause confusion sometimes.

screaming kobold: Someone who raises a fuss for no good reason, especially if they’re pathetic or harmless themselves. Kobolds don’t actually exist in Galania, and the concept was originally popularized by the Prophet John Black.

separationism: Opposition to the unification of Calitania and Eitaleth. While some separationists hope to achieve their ends by peaceful means, there are militant separationists, some of whom commit acts of terror.

shadowmancy: A “school” of magic that came about because an annoying guy named Clark cobbled together some shadow-related spells. As of this writing he is the only “shadowmancer.”

slime surprise: A dessert made with “gelatin” derived from slimes. It includes heavy cream, which conceals both the fact that it comes from slimes and the berries traditionally put inside, hence the “surprise.”

spellblade: An uncommon class that blends swordsmanship with magic. Not all members of the Clan of the Shadow Blade are spellblades, but it’s the most common class among them.

Sultana: The current ruler of Yunqarth. The regime of the Sultanas took over after the rules of the Warlords, and have governed with a light touch.

summoner: A class that specializes in magic that pulls beings from other worlds. It’s a very technical form of magic, which requires learning a great deal of theory.

tanelanti: Also known as “flower poetry,” this is an elven art form that involves the careful cultivation and arrangement of living flowers and other plants that have deep symbolic meanings. Artisans who specialize in tanelanti are called tanelantar.

tanny: A creamy soup made with caramelized onions.

Temple of St. Raddyn: A temple in the Deathstride Badlands, where Prophets have traditionally made pilgrimages to receive guidance. Also the permanent home of the Prophet OMNIVAC, who took the form of a mainframe computer.

thaumaturgy: A quasi-scientific approach to magic, which seeks to understand how it functions through empirical means. While magic has always existed in Galania, it used to rarer and more esoteric. The Thaumaturgical Revolution turned it into something predictable and part of the everyday, thereby greatly increasing the average person’s quality of life.

Two Pillars, The: One of the core beliefs of Valrunism is the “Two Pillars,” which are wise guidance and benevolent protection. The faithful will make a gesture where they hold up the index and middle fingers as a sign of respect.

unionism: The belief that Calitania and Eitaleth should remain united as Eitania. Tepid unionism is the mainstream, though some people go out of their way to intermarry and otherwise promote unity.

Valrune: The God of Crossings, a deity worshiped in Calitania and now Eitania. Valrune guides the dead to their correct resting place, and he claims that on Earth he is known by names like Osiris and Charon.

Valrunism: The main religion of Calitania, centered around the worship of Valrune. Although Valrunism allows for the existence of other gods and even includes an entire pantheon, Valrune himself is the overwhelming focus.

Vedris: A nation across the ocean, notable for having invaded in an attempt to conquer Calitania and Eitaleth.

Veil, The: A region of the multiverse where magic is dampened or absent entirely. In some worlds only people touched by magic can see it, while in others (like the Earth that the Prophets come from), magic is nonexistent and the supernatural has no influence to speak of. Gods and angels can penetrate the Veil to some degree, but in the deep Veil they can’t manifest physically or otherwise affect the physical world.

velice: A hot, caffeinated drink made from the leaves and roots of the velisen plant. It doesn’t have quite as much of a kick as coffee, but it has enough caffeine to get Eitania on its feet in the morning. Elves originally drank it primarily for religious ceremonies, but they’ve been drinking it for secular purposes as well for many centuries now. For an Earth equivalent try dark roast yaupon tea.

War of the Leaves, The: A conflict between Calitania and Eitaleth, sparked by the Prophet Tim’s powers going berserk and turning the elves’ sacred Greenstride Forest into the Deathstride Badlands. The war ended when the kingdoms united to face the common threat of the invasion by Vedris.

wildkin: An exonym for the various human-like peoples with animal-like ears and tails. They think of themselves as members of their various tribes, such as the Tuathi (cat people) and Aurathi (rabbit people).

Yunqarth: A desert kingdom that borders Eitania to the west. It’s more cosmopolitan, and home to a wider variety of peoples.