Dying of the Light

Fat Satan. Red supergiant located beyond the Tempter's Veil, notable for the six yellow suns that circle it in a Trojan relationship to each other; the entire system is called the Wheel of Fire. Some speculate that the Wheel was created by a race of vanished superbeings capable of moving suns. Fat Satan is also known as the Helleye and the Hub.

Federal Empire. Political unit that ruled human space during the early centuries of starflight, colonized most of the first– and second-generation worlds and some of the third, and conducted the Double War, during the course of which it finally collapsed. The term itself was a convenient misnomer; the so- called empire was more correctly a democratic-socialist-cybernetic bureaucracy. The ultimate decision maker was the Chief Administrator, who was elected by and responsible to a tricameral legislature meeting in Geneva, Old Earth, but most of the day-to-day administration on Earth itself was conducted by the Artificial Intelligences, vast computer constructs. In the waning years of the Double War, the Federal Empire grew increasingly repressive and lost touch with its own colonies and even with its military arms.

FTL. Faster than light.

Fyndii. Alien race, and the first star-traveling sentients to make contact with humanity. The Fyndii were one of the enemies the Federal Empire faced in the Double War. Fyndii seem to feel almost no race loyalty; their societies are made up of empathically linked 'hordes,' and each horde is a bitter rival of all the others. Mind-mutes, incapable of linking, are friendless outcasts. The Fyndii rule approximately ninety worlds, generally inward from the worlds colonized by men.

githyanki. Hrangan slaverace, often termed soulsucks by humans. Barely sentient, malevolent, and potent telepaths, the githyanki were capable of bending and twisting human minds, sending false visions, hallucinations, and dreams, strengthening the animal side of man and warping judgment and reason, all for the end of turning brother against sister.

glowstone. Stone native to High Kavalaan, capable of storing light and emitting it in darkness. Glowstone is used for both building and jewelry, and is an important Kavalar export.

Glowstone Mountain. One of the greatest holdfast-coalitions in Kavalar history, finally defeated and destroyed by its enemies, now abandoned.

Great Black Sea. Outworld term for the space between the galaxies, where there are no stars.

Haapala's City. Festival city built by Wolfheim and named after Ingo Haapala, the Wolfman astronomer who first discovered that Worlorn would pass through the Wheel of Fire.

Hellcrown. One name of the six yellow stars (collectively) that circle the red supergiant sometimes called the Helleye, and together with it form the Wheel of Fire. Also known as Satan's Children, and the Trojan Suns. The six stars are virtually identical, and orbit in a Trojan relationship to each other.

Helleye. See Fat Satan.

High Kavalaan. Human world on the Fringe, colonized during the Double War by refugees and miners from Tara. Hrangan raids destroyed most of the original colony; survivors evolved modem Kavalar holdfast civilization. Kavalar society is regimented and individualistic at the same time; the culture places strong emphasis on both loyalty and personal honor. Close to barbaric when rediscovered by traders, the Kavalars are now industrializing rapidly, educating their young, and acquiring their own fleet of starships. High Kavalaan, which claims legal jurisdiction over the rogue planet Worlorn, was one of the driving forces in the Festival of the Fringe.

holdfast. Basic social unit of High Kavalaan; an underground chamber or series of chambers, easily defensible from attack, that provides shelter for anywhere from six to one hundred people. In ancient times each holdfast was an independent entity, a combination of family and nation. Soon, however, holdfasts began to make alliances and merge with other holdfasts, and even connect up underground; these were called holdfast-coalitions. In modern times the term holdfast is often used loosely to signify what might more properly be called a holdfast-coalition.

Hrangans. Humanity's great enemy during the Double War, the Hrangans were perhaps the most alien sentients ever encountered. Their social system was structured on the basis of a number of biological castes, most of whom seemed to belong to different species, so different were they. Of the Hrangan millions, only the so-called Minds were truly intelligent, and mankind never communicated successfully even with them. The Hrangans were bitterly xenophobic; prior to the Double War, they had enslaved a dozen less-advanced races, and there is evidence that they had exterminated others entirely. The war effectively destroyed the Hrangans, except on Old Hranga itself and a handful of their oldest colonies.

Hruun. Hrangan slaverace often used in combat during the Double War. The Hruun were more intelligent than most other Hrangan slaves. Their homeworld was a heavy-gravity planet by human standards, so the Hruun were warriors of immense strength. Among their other attributes was an ability to see well into the infrared that made them especially suited for nocturnal combat.

Hub. See Fat Satan.

interregnum. Historical period between the collapse and the resumption of starflight. By its very nature, the interregnum is difficult to date precisely. Some worlds experienced the collapse early, some late; some lost starflight for five years, some for fifty, some for five hundred; some-like Avalon, Baldur, Newholme, and Old Earth-were never really isolated from the rest of mankind, while others perhaps have still not been rediscovered. It is commonly said that the interregnum lasted a 'generation'; this is workable enough as a rough approximation, if only the major human worlds are considered.

Ironjade Gathering. One of the four modern holdfast-coalitions of High Kavalaan. The Ironjade Gathering is one of the two most progressive Kavalar holdfasts.

jambles. Wolfman slang, now common parlance in the outworlds, for the area of space between the Fringe and the highly civilized worlds around Old Earth. The Hrangan Empire occupied a large portion of what is now called the jambles, and it was there that the most terrible actions of the Double War took place, leaving many planets ruined and many civilizations broken and 'jumbled,' from which word the term derived. Notable human worlds in the jambles include Avalon, Bastion, Prometheus, and Jamison's World.

Jamison's World. Human world in the jambles, settled chiefly from Old Poseidon. Jamies live on the planet's lush islands and archipelagoes; the one large continent is largely unexplored. Jamison's World is a regional center for industry and trade, and is a commercial rival of Avalon.

Kavalar. Native of High Kavalaan. Kenn. Extinct Kavalar holdfast- coalition.