90
A slang term common to many hive communities, referring to those both literally and figuratively at the bottom of the social heap, who scrabble a precarious existence out of what they can salvage of the detritus falling from the higher levels. Cain alludes repeatedly to an early life spent in an underhive, but as yet his world of origin remains obscure.
91
A popular form of theatre on several worlds in the sector, in which a large cast of characters continually misunderstand one another to comedic effect. They're generally set in an aristocratic milieu, allowing the general populace a bit of harmless amusement at the expense of a stratum of society that's barely aware of their existence in any case, and culminate in some dramatic contrivance to bring everyone together at the same time. For obvious reasons a ball is a frequent choice of the lazier playwrights, hence the name.
92
On Viridia, not to mention many other worlds where a period of service in the PDF is considered an acceptable way of keeping young members of the nobility relatively harmlessly occupied, the rather more flamboyant than practical uniforms of the units so favoured are a perennially popular subject for such packaging. Why any confectioner would consider their wares enhanced by such images we can only speculate, but the hope of selling a few boxes to rich idiots would be my guess.
93
A clear reference to his involvement in the defence of the sector against the tyranid hive fleets at the turn of the millennium, the details of which, though fascinating, need not detain us at this juncture.
94
Despite Cain's highly subjective characterisation of her as both ruthless and selfish, there's no evidence at all that Mira intended deposing her father by force of arms. His earlier assertion that she was intent merely on strengthening her position against rival claimants when the governorship eventually fell vacant seems far more likely.
95
By which he meant that the object the auspex was scanning was dense enough to register strongly, and was therefore probably not a natural phenomenon.
96
Another quotation from Soylens Viridiens for the Machine-Spirit.
97
In actual fact it was only four or five kilometres across in any direction, but that's quite big enough under the circumstances.
98
A rare direct reference to Cain's own family history, although, as noted elsewhere, anything he says in this regard must be treated with considerable caution. Many of these fragments of information are clearly contradictory, particularly those which occur in his reported conversations with others.
99
In fact CATs have been in service with the Astartes and the Adeptus Mechanicus for centuries, if not millennia. Few Space Marine Chapters make much use of them, however, preferring to rely on the expertise of their scouts under most circumstances, while the Mechanicus finds the more versatile servitor better suited for most practical purposes. Nevertheless, the construction and modification of CATs remains a popular pastime for a considerable number of tech-priests, who claim to find the activity meditatively calming and beneficial in advancing their understanding of the blessings of the Machine-God, so that it's a rare visit to a Mechanicus shrine which isn't likely to be interrupted by the erratic progress of one or more of these ambulatory devices. Despite these pious assertions, and though true servants of the Omnissiah would vigorously deny the fact, to outsiders they seem less like recreational construction projects than pets.
100
If not more so: this would irrevocably contaminate the gene-seed carried by the host's progenoid glands, passing on the taint to any later recruits implanted with it.
101
An Imperial Guard term for the accidental firing of a weapon.
