Gehennum
Glossary for the Decadent Period
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- Assembly
- Legislative assembly of all the citizens of a city.
- Ceremonial assembly of the magisters of all the
chartered cities in Gehennum.
Of little power or importance in either case.
- Avatar
- A person who, by psychologically resembling an
exemplar, can perform miracles.
- Battalion
- A military formation nominally of 500 troops (5 companies
), usually all of the same troop type (eg. all archers, all
hoplites, etc.). A battalion is led by two officers.
- Bethan
- A large city on the island of Bethany,
once noted for its Spartan military tradition, now notable as capital of
the prefecture of the same name.
- A prefecture in the southern part of the island
of Bethany.
- Bethany
- A very large island in the far east of Gehennum, considered provincial and
loutish.
- Bethanian Helmet
- A helmet with hinged cheek-pieces and a nasal or small bill, like a Roman
helmet.
- Blackshirts
- The private army (2 brigades) of the
Marshal of Gehennum, serving as spies, assassins, and secret police. They
are recruited and trained on Souvenir.
- Brigade
- A military formation, nominally of 2,500 troops (five battalions) usually in a
balanced mix of heavy, light, and missile troops, commanded by two officers.
- Chancellor
- A senior but powerless imperial official and member of the
Council.
- Cloak
- A square of cloth draped over the 'off' arm and pinned on the opposite
shoulder, like a Greek chlamys.
- Companions
- Warriors attending a prefect,
legate or other important man, and acting as bailiffs,
bodyguards, retainers, and political hatchet-men.
- Company
- A military formation nominally of 100 troops, usually organised into ten files
and lead by two officers.
- Council
- A ceremonial executive committee of the imperial government, nominally
exercising supreme executive powers. The Council consists of the
Emperor, the Primate of Gehennum
(who is often a retired Marshal of Gehennum), the
Chancellor, the Marshal of Gehennum, the
Treasurer,the Imperial Herald,
and the Court Mage. The other Councillors are
appointed by the Marshal, and all except the Court Mage must be
nobles.
- Courtesan
- A woman who professionally entertains men in private and intimate circumstances,
as at meals and parties. Like a Japanese 'geisha', a courtesan is rather a
companion, escort, and hostess than a prostitute, though a woman may be both.
- Court Mage
- A powerful imperial official and member of the Council.
The Court Mage must be a magician, and has regulatory and police powers over
the practice of magic.
- Demigod
- The child of a mortal and a geist.
- Diver
- Member of an amphibious human species.
- Dream-weaver
- A professional of the mystic discipline
of Dreaming, practising as an
entertainer or psychotherapist.
- Duke
- A noble of the highest degree and member of the
Senate. Dukes and their heirs are confined to frivolous
and ceremonial activities, and may not take part in military or
administrative affairs.
- Elmis
- A huge metropolis on Bethany, capital of the prefecture of Mela.
- Emperor
- The nominal but powerless hereditary ruler of Gehennum. The Emperor's time is
completely absorbed by ceremonial and sybaritic frivolity.
- Ephebe
- A boy aged 18 or 19, undergoing compulsory military training and service.
- Exemplar
- A powerful archetypal denizen of the World of Dreams, core of multiple
legends.
- Falchion
- A short, heavy-pointed, single-edged sword, designed solely for chopping.
Gehennese falchions have a markedly concave edge, appearing positively crooked,
like a Greek 'machaira', Roman 'falcata', or Gurkha 'kukri'.
- Fathom
- A unit of length, supposedly the height of a man, fixed at about 180cm (one
hundredth of the length of the old stadium at
Thekla.
- File Closer
- A non-commissioned officer of the lower grade, assistant to a file leader.
- File Leader
- A non-commissioned officer of the higher grade, leading a 'file' of ten men.
- Flute
- Recorder.
- Flyer
- Member of a species of winged humanoids, noted for pilfering and lechery.
- Forum
- The public square of a Gehennese city, used as a market, meeting place, and
place of assembly for official business.
- Four Lives
- The stages of a traditional career
of public service for a male Gehennese citizen: the Life of the Child
(learning), of the Warrior (serving), of the Magistrate (administrating), and
of the Priest (interceding with geists). Ideally, each
should last 20 years.
- Gaia
- The geist of the World.
- Gamelan
- A choir of tuned percussion instruments, core of a Gehennese orchestra.
- Geist
- The spirit of an inanimate object,
or of a place. Important geists receive sacrifices and the attention of cults.
- Gentry
- Families of good standing, and with the wealth and leisure to serve in the
government of the prefectures.
- Greatsword
- A large two-edged sword with an oval guard, designed for use in one hand
or two.
- Gymnastics
- The physical half of a Gehennese education, consisting of athletics, dance,
and military drill.
- Gymnasium
- A public or private facility for gymnastics training,
athletic exercise, and such. It is usually an outdoor facility.
- Gynekeum
- The women's quarters of a Gehennese house.
- Helios
- The geist of the Sun.
- Herald
- A senior but powerless imperial official, and member of the Council.
The Herald acts as chairman a meetings of the Senate.
- Hoplite
- A heavy-armed infantryman, armed with a spear or pike and trained to fight in
close formation. Hoplites are named for their shields.
- Hoplon
- A large oval shield of laminated wood, covered with leather, and worn on the
forearm, covering its carrier from shoulder to knee.
- Inn
- A public house providing casual lodgings.
- Iron Stone Man
- A member of one of the old martial families of Bethan.
- Kukrim
- A game like volleyball using the skills of hacky-sack.
- Lictor
- A warrior attending on a
magistrate as his bodyguard, bailiff, and
executioner.
- Legate
- An important magistrate, wielding imperial
authority delegated by a prefect.
- Leshy
- [Member of] a beautiful and immortal human species. Leshy are uncommon, and
have no communities in Gehennum.
- Longsword
- A straight two-edged sword with an oval guard, designed for use in one hand:
cutting and thrusting around a shield.
- Lord
- A noble of the third (lowest) degree and member of the
Senate. Lords and their heirs are confined to frivolous
and ceremonial activities, and may not take part in military or
administrative affairs.
- Magister
- The chief magistrate of a city, combining
administrative and judicial functions in the city, and sitting as its
representative in the Assembly.
- Magistrate
- A public official in a judicial or administrative capacity, usually at least
40 years old. See Four Lives.
- Mantle
- A voluminous garment like a Roman toga or Greek himation (or, for that matter,
the 'robe' of a Buddhist monk).
- Marshal
- The magistrate in charge of military affairs in
a city, especially of the militia.
- The military dictator who rules Gehennum in the name of the
Emperor, like a Japanese shogun. The
family of the princes of
Souvenir hold a monopoly of the office of Marshal of Gehennum.
- Mentor
- An older man providing guidance and protection to a younger companion, his
protege.
- Metic
- A free person who is not a citizen. Immigrants and manumitted slaves become
metics, and the status is hereditary. Male metics aged 20-60 must pay
shield money, and may not bear arms.
- Militia
- Citizens of warrior age, organised into an official
military force for peacekeeping and law enforcement. Service in the militia is
compulsory (unless shield-money is paid. The
militia must provide their own armour and weapons, to a standard depending on
their wealth.
- Nobles
- Families entitled to a seat in the Senate, and immune to
lesser courts. They are descended from monarchs, and are usually very wealthy,
but they are excluded from military and administrative affairs by the
Marshal, and their time is absorbed by ceremonial
duties and sybaritic frivolity. The exception is the house of the
princes of Souvenir, whose court duties are real. The
Prince of Souvenir or his heir-apparent is usually Marshal of Gehennum.
- Oracle
- A geist providing advice to the public.
- Pankration
- A system of coping with adversity (especially opposition), including a martial
art, originated by the exemplar Persiflex.
- Patronage
- The intricate system of favours that pervades Gehennese politics and society
and defines political influence.
- Pelau
- A very simple loincloth resembling a short sarong.
- Pelta
- A light shield of wicker and leather, usually carried by missile troops.
- Peltasts
- Light-armed skirmishers and javelin-missile troops, usually unarmoured, named
from their shields.
- Perizoma
- A very simple loincloth resembling a short sarong.
- Pipe
- Oboe (with no keys, just fingerholes).
- Pontus
- The geist of the Ocean.
- Prefect
- Hereditary ruler of one of the forty-odd provinces of Gehennum, nominally a
delegate of the Emperor and subject to the Council, but practically independent.
- Prefecture
- The domain of a prefect: nominally an administrative
division of the empire, but practically independent.
- Priest
- A public official, usually 60-80 years old, representing a community to a
geist, and often managing the geist's temporal affairs.
See Four Lives.
- Primate
- A senior local official, usually over 60, overseeing priests and ensuring exact discharge of community religious
commitments.
- A senior imperial official and member of the Council.
The Primate of Gehennum may be a retired Marshal of
Gehennum, in which case he will be very influential, or a member of some
other noble family, in which case he will be a mere
cipher.
- Prince
- A noble of the second (middle) degree and member of the
Senate. Princes and their heirs are confined to frivolous
and ceremonial activities, and may not take part in military or
administrative affairs. An exception to this rule is the House of Souvenir, of
which the prince is usually either Marshal or Primate of Gehennum.
- Protege
- A young man learning 'character' from an older companion: his mentor.
- Sacred Band
- A prestigious brigade of Imperial Guards, consisting of
pairs of homosexual lovers.
- Samariopolis
- A huge metropolis on the island of Samarios, capital
of the prefecture of Samars.
- Samarios
- A large island in central Gehennum, considered sophisticated and urbane.
- Samariosian Helm
- A large one-piece helm with exaggerated cheek-pieces
and nasal, fully protecting the face, like a Corinthian helmet.
- Scholastics
- The intellectual half of a Gehennese education, consisting of arithmetic,
geometry, dialectic, rhetoric, and music.
- Scuton
- A huge shield made of leather and laminated wood, shaped like a section of
the side of a cylinder. A scuton is carried on a strap over the shoulder, and
controlled with one hand in a handle. A scuton covers its user from shoulder
to ankle.
- Senate
- A judicial assembly of the dukes,
princes, and lords, of little real importance. The
Senate meets annually in Thekla as part of Court
ceremonial.
- Shaman
- A professional of the mystic discipline of
Spiritualism, dealing with
geists, ghosts, fiends and demonic possession, for fees.
- Shield-money
- A tax, dependent on income, that must be paid by metics
and by citizens aged 20-40 who do not serve in the
militia. It is due to the Emperor, but is collected
by the prefects.
- Ship-money
- A tax on land, collected by the prefects, but remitted
to the Marshal of Gehennum.
- Shortsword
- A two-edged stabbing sword, designed for use in one hand, like a Roman gladius.
- Souvenir
- A small but fertile island near Thekla. The
princes of Souvenir hold a monopoly of the office of the
office of Marshal of Gehennum.
- Stadium
- A place for running races and archery contests. Usually a straight level
course of about 180 metres with a slope or bank on each side to
accommodate spectators, and often stone seating, a canopy, etc.
- Also, a unit of distance equal to 100
fathoms (180 metres).
- Sublegate
- An honorary magistrate with minor judicial authority
delegated by a prefect.
- Tavern
- A public house selling cooked food, drinks, and drugs, usually to be consumed
on the premises.
- Thekla
- A huge metropolis on the island of Thelmond in western
Gehennum, capital of the Empire and the prefecture of
the same name.
- Theklan Bascinet
- A simple helmet made of one piece of metal with minimal shaping.
- Thelmond
- A large long island in western Gehennum.
- Treasurer
- An important magistrate in most cities.
- A senior but powerless imperial official and member of the
Council.
- Tunic
- Either of two sleeveless garments of variable length, the Greek 'peplos' and
'chiton'.
- Warrior
- A man (usually aged 20-40) serving the community in the army or
militia. See Four Lives.
- World of Dreams
- A spiritual world including the denizens of myth and legend, and the
archetypes of the collective unconscious, visited during sleep and by
Dream-weavers.
- World of Isles
- The real world, as opposed to the World of Dreams
, the hypothetical World of Forms, etc.
- Zither
- Common stringed instrument, played on a table or the lap.
- Zoma
- An elaborate loincloth resembling an Aztec 'maxcatl'.
Copyright © 1988-2003
Brett Evill. All rights reserved.