Lilith Saintcrow - Dead Man Rising

Ceremonial: 1. an accredited psion whose talent lies in working with traditional sorcery, accumulating Power and «spending» it in controlled bursts 2. Ceremonial magick, otherwise known as sorcery instead of more-organic witchery 3. (slang) Any Greater Work of magick

Clormen-13: (Slang: Chill, ice, rock smack, dust) addictive alkaloid drug Note: Chill is high-profit for the big pharmaceutical companies as well as the Mob, being instantly addictive. There is no cure for Chill addiction .

Deadhead: 1. Necromance 2. normal human without psionic abilities

Demon: 1. any sentient, alien intelligence, either corporeal or noncorporeal, that interacts with humans 2. the denizens of Hell, often mistaken for gods or Novo Christer evil spirits, actually a sentient nonhuman species with technology and psionic/magical ability much exceeding humanity's 3. any member of the previous definition's species 4. (slang) A particularly bad physiological addiction

Feeder: 1. a psion who has lost the ability to process ambient Power and depends on «jolts» of vital energy stolen from other human beings, psion or normal 2. (Psion slang) A fair-weather friend

Flight: a class/social rank of demons Note: There are, strictly speaking, three classes of demons: the Low, Lesser, and Greater. Magi most often deal with the higher echelons of the Low Flight and the lower echelons of the Lesser Flight. Greater Flight demons are almost impossible to control and very dangerous .

Freetown: an autonomous enclave under a charter, neither Hegemony nor Putchkin but often allied to one or the other in matters of trade

Hedaira: (Demon term) 1. an endearment 2. a description of a human woman tied to a Fallen (A'nankhimel) demon

Hegemony: one of the two world superpowers, comprising North and South America, Australia/New Zealand, most of Western Europe, Japan, some of Central Asia, and scattered diplomatic enclaves in China Note: After the Seventy Days War, the two superpowers settled into peace and are often said to be one world government with two divisions. Hegemony Afrike is technically a Hegemony protectorate, but that seems mostly diplomatic convention more than anything else .

Ka : 1. (Archaic) soul or mirrorspirit, separate from the ba and the physical soul in Egyptianica 2. fate, especially tragic fate that can't be avoided, destiny 3. a link between two souls, where each feeds the other's destiny 4. (Technical) Terminus stage for Feeder pathology, an externalized hungry consciousness capable of draining vital energy from a normal human in seconds and a psion in less than two minutes

Magi: Note: The term «Magus» is archaic and hardly ever used . «Magi» has become singular or plural, and neuter gender . 1. a psion who has undergone basic training 2. the class of occult practitioners before the Awakening who held and transmitted basic knowledge about psionic abilities as well as training techniques 3. an accredited psion with the training to call demons or harness etheric force from the disturbance created by the magical methods used to call demons; usually working in Circles or loose affiliations

Master Nichtvren 1. a Nichtvren who is free of obligation to his or her Maker 2. a Nichtvren who holds territory

Merican: the trade lingua of the globe and official language of the Hegemony, though other dialects are rampant 2. (Archaic) A Hegemony citizen 3. (Archaic) A citizen of the Old Merican region before the Seventy Days War

Necromancer (slang : deadhead) an accredited psion with the ability to bring a soul back from Death to answer questions Note: Can also, in certain instances, heal mortal wounds and keep a soul from escaping into Death .

Nichtvren: (slang : suckhead) altered human capable of living off human blood Note: Older Nichtvren may possibly live off strong emotions, especially those produced by psions. Since they are altered humans, Nichtvren occupy a space between humanity and "other species"; they are defined as a Paranormal Species and given citizen's rights under Adrien Ferriman's groundbreaking legislation after the Awakening .

Nine Canons: a nine-part alphabet of runes drawn from around the globe and codified during the Awakening to manage psionic and sorcerous power. Often used as shortcuts in magical circles or as quick charms. Note: Separate from other branches of magic in that they are accessible sometimes even to normal humans, by virtue of their long use and highly-charged nature .

Novo Christianity: An outgrowth of a Religion of Submission popular from the 1100s to the latter half of the twenty-first century, before me meteoric rise of the Republic of Gilead and the Seventy Days War. Note: The death knell of Old Christianity is thought to be the great Vatican Bank scandal that touched off the revolt leading to the meteoric rise of Kochba bar Gilead, the charismatic leader of the Republic. Note: the Republic was technically fundamentalist Old Christianity with Judic messianic overtones. Nowadays, NC is declining in popularity and mostly fashionable among the middle-upper class.

Power: 1. vital energy produced by living things, i.e., prana, mana, orgone, etc. 2. sorcerous power accumulated by celibacy, bloodletting, fasting, pain, or meditation 3. ambient energy produced by ley lines and geocurrents, a field of energy surrounding the planet 4. the discipline of raising and channeling vital energy, sorcerous power, or ambient energy 5. any form of energy that fuels sorcerous or psionic ability 6. a paranormal community or paranormal individual who holds territory

Prime Power 1. the highest-ranked paranormal Power in a city or territory, capable of negotiating treaties and enforcing order Note: usually Nichtvren in most cities and werecain in rural areas. 2. (Technical) The source from which all Power derives 3. (Archaic) any non-human paranormal being with more than two vassals in the feudal structure of pre-Awakening paranormal society

Psion: 1. an accredited, trained, or apprentice human with psionic abilities 2. a human with psionic abilities

Putchkin: 1. the official language of the Putchkin Alliance, though other dialects are rampant 2. a Putchkin Alliance citizen

Putchkin Alliance: one of the two world superpowers, comprising Russia, most of China (except Freetown Tibet and Singapore), some of Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East Note: After the Seventy Days War, the two superpowers settled into peace and are often said to be one world government with two divisions .

Republic of Gilead: theocratic Old Merican empire based on fundamentalist Novo Christer and Judic messianic principles, lasting from the latter half of the 21 stcentury (after the Vatican Bank scandal) to the end of the Seventy Days War Note: In the early days, before Kochba bar Gilead's practical assumption of power in the Western Hemisphere, the Evangelicals of Gilead were defined as a cult, not the Republic. Political infighting in the Republic brought about both the War and the only tactical nuclear strike of the War (in the Vegas Waste) .

Revised Matheson Score: the index for quantifying the level of psionic ability Note: Like the Richter scale, it is exponential; five is the lowest score necessary for a psionic child to receive Hegemony funding and schooling. Forty is the terminus of the scale; anything above forty is defined as «superlative» and the psion is tipped into special Hegemony secret-services training .

Runewitch: a psion whose secondary or primary talent includes the ability to handle the runes of the Nine Canons with more ease

Sedayeen : 1. an accredited psion whose talent is healing 2. (Archaic) An old Nichtvren word meaning "blue hand" Note : Sedayeen are incapable even of self-defense, being allergic to violence and prone to feeling the pain they inflict. This makes them incredible healers, but also incredibly vulnerable.