Glossary
afore: before
aught: anything
bailey: courtyard in a castle
bait: food and water for horses at a rest stop
barbican: fortified gateway
barrel trapper: kidnapper
beard: oppose boldly or impudently
Birdie: informant
blessing: birth control device or charm
bogle: ghost
bolster: long, narrow, stiff pillow or cushion
Book of Gold, The: oldest census of the noble houses of Tortall, dating back to the founding of the realm
boot: metal boot placed on a victim’s foot. Wedges are hammered into the inside of the boot, pressing on the lower leg until they break bones. Metal boots can also be heated to burn the victim’s leg.
bordel: house of prostitution
budget: pouch or wallet
by-blow: illegitimate child
canoodling: sexual activity
caudles: soothing drinks given to excited or crazy people
cipher: shorthand method used by Dogs, with symbols for entire common words
cole: false coin
colemonger: someone who makes or passes false coins; counterfeiter
Common: language spoken in Tortall, Barzun, Tusaine, Maren, Tyra, and parts of Saraine and Scanra
coney: victim of a theft or any crime; sucker
copper noble: coin equivalent to ten coppers
corbie: raven
cot: small house or cottage
cove: man
coyne: vagina
cozening: cajoling, wheedling
cracknob: madman
craven: cowardly
cresset: metal wall fixture containing wood or oil to be burned for light
cuirass: piece of armor protecting chest and back
dance a set: fight
destrier: warhorse
detail: assignment
Dog: member of the Provost’s Guard
dozy: sluggish
Drink: form of torture in which water is poured down the victim’s throat and nose to simulate drowning
dust spinner: small dust whirlwind, what our world calls a dust devil
elsewise: otherwise; or else
fambles: hands
Ferrets: street nickname for Crown spies
folderol: nonsense, foolishness
fussock: donkey; old mean woman
gab: speech
Galla pasties: turnovers with beef, cheese, pine nuts, currants, and spices
get bit: be cheated
gixie: girl
gob: mouth
gods’ fool: crazy person
gold noble: coin equivalent to ten silver nobles or four gold bits
gormless: gutless
Great Gods: most powerful gods in the pantheon: Mithros; the Great Goddess (three aspects: Maiden, Mother, Crone); the Black God of Death; Oinomi Wavewalker; the Smith God; the Trickster or the Crooked God; Gainel (Master of Dreams); Wind (god of all winds); Pelmry (bird-clawed god of scribes); Apetekus (god of slaves); Wilnedur (goddess of slaves)
ground cover: anything on the ground: grass, trees, bushes, gravel, stones, and crops
Happy Bag: weekly bribes for Provost’s office
Heskaly’s drum: instrument used by the trickster god of the hills to make people crazy
hoddy-dod: slang for snail; someone who is slow
Hunt: criminal investigation; pursuit of criminals
hunter: hound trained to hunt escaped prisoners and slaves
Hurdik: language of Tunstall’s native hill tribes
jabbernob: chatterbox
Jane Street kennel: Tunstall and Beka’s home base
jerkin: hip-length sleeveless jacket
jumped-up: raised above one’s station
kennel: Provost’s watch house; police station
ladyhorse: destrier (warhorse) bred smaller and lighter for lady knights
looby: fool
lure: scent sample used to give Achoo the right scent to follow
mains: main dishes for meals
Master: Mr.; mister; old title of honor for a mage
mayhap: perhaps
mumper: beggar
new Tom: overeager stranger; one who thinks he knows the game
nimmer: swindle
nuncle: pimp
pallet: narrow, straw-filled mattress
pig’s knuckle: barely competent worker; major insult
Puppy: trainee in the Provost’s Guard
rack: torture device on which the victim is placed with arms and legs spread. Turns of the handle and grips stretch the victim until his or her joints dislocate, then separate. Muscles are also stretched to a point at which they no longer contract. Some racks also have a spiked roller that can do bloody damage when the victim is placed facedown.
randy: always having sex on his or her mind
Rat: captive, civilian, criminal, or prey (to Dogs)
raw one: corpse; body
rushers: thugs
sap: lead-filled six-inch leather cylinder; bone-breaking weapon
sarden: blasted; damned; detestable
scry: watch something magically in water, a crystal, or a mirror
scummer: animal dung
scut: idiot
seek: hunt down a criminal or missing person
Sign: sign against evil; an X intersected by a vertical line to form a star on the chest
sign: in a Hunt, some indication of the prey, such as a footprint or handprint; marks of urine, feces, or vomit; or pieces of clothing
stripes: marks of the whip
swive: vulgar term for having sexual intercourse
tack: harness for a horse, including bridle and saddle
take someone over Breakbone Falls: administer a very severe beating
tarse: piece of meat
thumbscrew: vise that crushes the victim’s fingers or toes
ticklers: fingers
tightfisted: cheap
trencher: “plate” cut from a stale loaf of bread, used to hold food
trull: very low-class woman; the dregs
turncoat: traitor
twilsey: refreshing drink made from raspberry or cider vinegar and water
wander mage: mage who travels, picking up work here and there
wench: less-than-respectable woman