Vein - People created by Lindent Vein during the Recreation. 1.8 meters tall by Earth measurement. All are born blind. Four arms, two smaller, more nimble primary and two larger, stronger secondary. Slender, willowy. Hair is colorless. Skin is pale cream with lavender undertones. Highly perceptive, with enhanced nervous system to detect electrical impulses as well as ranged temperature shifts, sound, and smell. Primary exports are technologies backward-engineered and developed from discovered Pre-Cataclysm devices. Governed by elite class, determined by academic accomplishment.
Breaker - People created by Helsim Breaker during the Recreation. 2.25 meters tall by Earth measurement. Tusked from the lower jaw. Large, bulky, and muscular. Grayish, pebbled skin. As far as anyone knows, the Breaker will not die of natural death. Pacifists, highly sensitive to mood and health of those they interact with. Patient craftsmen. No organized government. Most of them commune with nature wherever they can live peacefully. Often share islands with Rakkar.
Rakkar - The people created by Arthel Rak. 1.6 meters by Earth measurement. Slender, petite build. Rosy-yellow skin, with protective chitin plating covering most of the face, hands, and forearms. Resistant to the effects of high heat, smoke, and toxic chemicals. Black eyes, adapted for subterranean life. Agoraphobic almost universally. Expert engineers and inventors. Defiant of the taboo against alchemical research (although cautious). Primary exports are precious metals and gems mined from their volcanic islands.
Imperials - A term used to describe the servicemen and women of the Cutter Empire.
Veritors of the Lost Codex - A cult of Cutter folk who have interpreted an ancient text to mean that the Cutter folk were the only people that existed Pre-Cataclysm. Hold The Five in disdain. Believe that the world is fundamentally wrong and research, plot, and act with the intent to make Cutter folk the dominant—or for some members, the only—race on Peridot. Have a large following among the rich and powerful, and may be embedded in the highest levels of the Empire.
Yu’Nyun - Bipedal, chitin-plated, digitigrade, bilaterally symmetrical alien visitors to the planet Peridot. Technologically advanced compared to the natives. Interested in understanding how Peridot came to be and how it continues to function. Other Vocabulary
Airship - Transportation vessels featuring hot air lift balloon systems, turbines, steam engines, and sails. Required for long distance travel through Peridot. Designed and built by all races except the Rakkar, primarily by the Bone and Cutter folk.
Atmo - Short for ‘atmosphere,’ refers to the inhabitable areas of Peridot’s skies, where one may breathe unassisted and temperatures support life.
Coffee - Beverage brewed from… you don’t really need me to define this, do you?
Colony ship - Airship habitats for town or city-sized populations of Cutter folk who prefer not to settle down on stationary islands. Often, these ships travel on a regular circuit between islands where they may stop to refuel and trade. Their primary export is ship craft, engineering developments for patent, textiles, entertainment (music and theater), and other products that do not require large tracts of land or heavy resource use.
Dextral - The direction of natural spin of Peridot around Nexus. Opposite of sinistral.
Duskfey - Tiny bioluminescing pests that feed on vegetation, especially glow pumpkins.
Fatcrat - Derogatory term for wealthy bureaucrat.
Flotsam - A trapped layer of loose objects at the bottom of Peridot’s gravity well.
Glow pumpkins - Enormous gaseous gourds that emit purple light during nighttime hours and golden light during daylight hours. Cultivated on stations across Peridot to provide additional lighting.
Mantas - Smooth-hided flighted creature with bioluminescent signals in a translucent camouflaging body with long trailing tendril tails. Feed off small insects and other pests. Curved beak, tridactyl feet for gripping perches.
Mermaids / Zalika - Soulless beings who live and hunt in the stationary storms across Peridot’s skies. They have a long, powerful tail, and flesh-webbed wings. Androgynous with alto and soprano vocalizations, agonized facial expressions, clawed hands, and a taste for flesh.
Pale coats - A derogatory term for Imperial officers, referring to their pale blue uniform jackets.
Prayerlocks - Knotted segments of hair maintained by Cutter folk in honor of Silus Cutter, often gripped, twisted, rubbed, tugged, or otherwise to invoke his blessing, as both a pious act, and one of superstition. They are formed in young children as soon as their hair is long enough, and others may be formed later in life. As is the nature of hair (and especially of hair often tugged), ’locks will occasionally fall out entirely and new ones started. These are often decorated with beads or metal rings sold by Wind Monks in various markets.
Presscoins - Cutter currency. Smelted and minted precious metal, stamped with the official seal of the Empire on one side, and a portrait of the ruler, or ruling family, on the other. Pressed in copper, silver, or gold.
Sally bar - Slang for ‘salvage bar’. Tool for wedging, levering, and severing.
Salvage gear - Suit, helmet, gloves, lines, winches, and communication wiring which allows a person to (almost) safely visit flotsam to retrieve lost items.
Simula - Yu’Nyun-produced android capable of being programmed for both appearance and behavior. Can be controlled, if necessary, by a circlet device that interfaces with its cranial drive. When inert, appear Yu’Nyun in shape, with translucent gel-filled skin over a mechanical skeleton.
Sinistral - Direction counter to the natural spin of Peridot around Nexus. Opposite of dextral.
Sirenia - Large roving beasts of the sky which feed on vegetation. Bioluminescing signaling across their body, large fins for display. They attain buoyancy through a balance between inflatable gas organs and consumed ballast.
Slips - Localized wind systems that travel faster than the air around them.
Starship - Fully enclosed ships designed for the vacuum of space, capable of long range travel between stars.
Stormwater depot - Supply stations set up within the storm clouds to collect rainwater for use across Peridot, especially for steam engines. Visited by water trawler airships, and also by smugglers and pirates as a place to hide.
Tripolarizing kiparcoiled band-conducted electroionic nimbofauna deterrent - Illicit alchemical device designed to protect ships that travel within storm
