Scylvendi-The dark-haired, pale-blue-eyed, and fair-skinned race predominantly concentrated in and around the Jiunati Steppe. One of the Five Tribes of Men.

Seat, the-A symbolic name for the station of Shriah.

Secharib Plains-The vast alluvial tablelands that sweep north from the River Sayut in High Ainon, noted for their fertility (sixty- to seventy-fold crop yields) and dense population.

Second Apocalypse-The hypothetical catastrophe that will inevitably befall Earwa should the No-G.o.d ever walk again. According to the Mandate tradition, Anasurimbor Celmomas, the High King of Kuniuri during the Apocalypse, prophesied that the No-G.o.d will in fact return. The prevention of the Second Apocalypse is the Mandate's ultimate goal.

Seleukara-The commercial capital of Kian, and one of the great cities of the Three Seas.

Selial Column-A division of the Imperial Nansur Army traditionally stationed on the Kianene frontier.

"selling peaches ..."-A common Three Seas euphemism for selling s.e.x.

Sempis River-One of the great river systems of Earwa, draining vast tracts of the Jiunati Steppe and emptying into the Meneanor Sea.

Seokti (4051- )-The Heresiarch of the Cishaurim. (4051- )-The Heresiarch of the Cishaurim.

Sepherathindor (4065-4111)-The Count-Palatine of the Ainoni palatinate of Hinnant, claimed by disease at Caraskand. (4065-4111)-The Count-Palatine of the Ainoni palatinate of Hinnant, claimed by disease at Caraskand.

Seswatha (2089-2168)-The founder of the School of Mandate and implacable enemy of the Consult throughout the Apocalypse. Born the caste-menial son of a Trysean bronzesmith, Seswatha was identified as one of the Few at a very young age and brought to Sauglish to study with the Gnostic School of Sohonc. A prodigy, he became the youngest sorcerer of rank in the history of the Sohonc at the age of fifteen. During this time he became fast friends with Anasurimbor Celmomas, a so-called "Hostage of the Sohonc," as the School referred to its resident exoteric students. As this strategic friendship might suggest, Seswatha proved an adroit political operator, both before becoming Grandmaster and after, forging relationships with important personages across the Three Seas, including Nil'giccas, the Nonman King of Ishterebinth, and Anaxophus, who would become the High King of Kyraneas. These skills, in addition to his peerless command of the Gnosis, would make him the natural, if not the t.i.tular, leader of the various wars waged against the Consult before the Apocalypse. He and Celmomas would become estranged during this time, apparently because Celmomas resented Seswatha's influence over his youngest son, Nau-Cayuti, but legends have long circulated that Nau-Cayuti was in fact Seswatha's son, the product of an illicit union between him and Sharal, the most prized of Celmomas's wives. They would not be reconciled until the eve of the Apocalypse-after it was far too late. See (2089-2168)-The founder of the School of Mandate and implacable enemy of the Consult throughout the Apocalypse. Born the caste-menial son of a Trysean bronzesmith, Seswatha was identified as one of the Few at a very young age and brought to Sauglish to study with the Gnostic School of Sohonc. A prodigy, he became the youngest sorcerer of rank in the history of the Sohonc at the age of fifteen. During this time he became fast friends with Anasurimbor Celmomas, a so-called "Hostage of the Sohonc," as the School referred to its resident exoteric students. As this strategic friendship might suggest, Seswatha proved an adroit political operator, both before becoming Grandmaster and after, forging relationships with important personages across the Three Seas, including Nil'giccas, the Nonman King of Ishterebinth, and Anaxophus, who would become the High King of Kyraneas. These skills, in addition to his peerless command of the Gnosis, would make him the natural, if not the t.i.tular, leader of the various wars waged against the Consult before the Apocalypse. He and Celmomas would become estranged during this time, apparently because Celmomas resented Seswatha's influence over his youngest son, Nau-Cayuti, but legends have long circulated that Nau-Cayuti was in fact Seswatha's son, the product of an illicit union between him and Sharal, the most prized of Celmomas's wives. They would not be reconciled until the eve of the Apocalypse-after it was far too late. See Apocalypse Apocalypse.

Seswatha's Dreams-See Dreams, the Dreams, the.

Seswatha's Heart-The mummified heart of Seswatha, which is the key artifact in the so-called Grasping, the sorcerous rites that transfer Seswatha's memories of the Apocalypse to Mandate Schoolmen. See Mandate, School of Mandate, School of.

Setpanares (4059-4111)-The General in command of the Ainoni contingent of the First Holy War, slain by Cinganjehoi at Anwurat. (4059-4111)-The General in command of the Ainoni contingent of the First Holy War, slain by Cinganjehoi at Anwurat.

Shaeonanra ( (c. 1086- )-"Gift of Light" (Umeritic) The Grandvizier of the Mangaecca who, according to legend, went mad studying the Incu-Holoinas, and whose subsequent acts would eventually see him convicted of impiety and his School outlawed in 1123. The greatest prodigy of his age, Shaeonanra claimed to have rediscovered a means of saving the souls of those d.a.m.ned by sorcery. He reputedly spent his life investigating various soul-trapping sorceries in the hope of avoiding pa.s.sage to the Outside-and to great effect, given that he allegedly continues to live some three thousand years afterward, though in an obscene and unnatural manner. By the fourteenth century the Trysean annals began referring to him as Shauriatas, the "Cheater of G.o.ds." 1086- )-"Gift of Light" (Umeritic) The Grandvizier of the Mangaecca who, according to legend, went mad studying the Incu-Holoinas, and whose subsequent acts would eventually see him convicted of impiety and his School outlawed in 1123. The greatest prodigy of his age, Shaeonanra claimed to have rediscovered a means of saving the souls of those d.a.m.ned by sorcery. He reputedly spent his life investigating various soul-trapping sorceries in the hope of avoiding pa.s.sage to the Outside-and to great effect, given that he allegedly continues to live some three thousand years afterward, though in an obscene and unnatural manner. By the fourteenth century the Trysean annals began referring to him as Shauriatas, the "Cheater of G.o.ds."

Shakers-The name given to extreme devotees of Onkis who claim that their fits of shaking are the result of divine possession.

Shanipal, Kemrates (4066- )-The Baron of Hirhamet, a district in south central Conriya. (4066- )-The Baron of Hirhamet, a district in south central Conriya.

Shaul River-The second most important river system in the Nansur Empire, after the Phayus.

Shauriatas ( (c. 1086- )-"Cheater of G.o.ds" (Umeritic) See 1086- )-"Cheater of G.o.ds" (Umeritic) See Shaeonanra Shaeonanra.

Shelgal (?-?)-One of the Chieftain-Kings named in the Tusk. (?-?)-One of the Chieftain-Kings named in the Tusk.

Shemic-The language group of the ancient non-Nilnameshi pastoralists of the southwestern Three Seas.

Shem-Varsi-The language group of the proto-Nilnameshi pastoralists of the southwestern Three Seas.

Sheyic-The language of the Ceneian Empire, which still serves, in debased form, as the liturgical language of the Thousand Temples and as the "common tongue" of the Three Seas.

Sheyo-Buskrit-The language of Nilnameshi labouring castes, a derivative of High Sheyic and Sapmatari.

Sheyo-Kheremic-The lost language of the lower castes of the Eastern Ceneian Empire.

Sheyo-Xerashi-The language of Xerash, a derivative of Xerashi and High Sheyic.

Shield-Breaker, the-A common name for Gilgaol, G.o.d of War.

Shigek-A governorate of Kian and former province of the Nansur Empire. Located on the fertile delta and alluvial plains of the River Sempis, Shigek was the ancient compet.i.tor of Kyraneas and the first civilized nation of the Three Seas.

Shigek reached the height of her power during the so-called Old Dynasty period, when a succession of Shigeki G.o.d-Kings extended their dominion to the limits of the Kyranae Plains in the north and to ancient Eumarna to the south. Great cities (of which only Iothiah survives) and monumental works, including the famed Ziggurats, were raised along the River Sempis. At some point in the twelfth century various Ketyai tribes began a.s.serting their independence on the Kyranae Plains, and the G.o.d-Kings found themselves waging incessant war. Then, in 1591, the G.o.d-King Mithoser II was decisively defeated by the Kyraneans at Narakit, and Shigek began its long tenure as a tributary to greater powers. It was most recently conquered in 3933 by the Fanim hosts of Fan'oukarji III. Much to the dismay of the Thousand Temples, the Kianene method of simply taxing non-believers-as opposed to out-and-out persecuting them-led to the wholesale conversion of the populace to Fanimry within a few short generations.

Shikol (2118-2202)-The King of ancient Xerash, famed for sentencing Inri Sejenus to death in 2198, as recounted in (2118-2202)-The King of ancient Xerash, famed for sentencing Inri Sejenus to death in 2198, as recounted in The Tractate The Tractate. For obvious reasons, his name has become synonymous with moral corruption among the Inrithi.

Shimeh-The second-holiest city of Inrithism, located in Amoteu, and the site of Inri Sejenus's ascension to the Nail of Heaven.

Shinoth-The legendary main gate of ancient Tryse.

Shir-An ancient city-state on the River Maurat that eventually became the Shiradi Empire. See Shiradi Empire Shiradi Empire.

Shiradi Empire-The first great nation to arise in the eastern Three Seas, where it ruled much of what is now Cengemis, Conriya, and High Ainon for much of Far Antiquity. By c c. 500 a number of Hamori Ketyai tribes had settled the length of the River Sayut and the Secharib Plains, becoming more sedentary and socially stratified as they exploited the rich cereal yields afforded by the fertile soils of the region. But unlike Shigek, where the first G.o.d-Kings were able to unify the Sempis River Valley quite early, Seto-Annaria, as it came to be called (after the two most dominant tribes), remained a collection of warring city-states. Eventually the balance of power shifted to the north, to the city-state of Shir on the River Maurat, and sometime in the thirteenth century it managed to subdue all the cities of Seto-Annaria, though its rulers would spend generations putting down rebellions (the Seto-Annarians apparently thought themselves superior to their uncouth cousins from the north). Then, sometime in the fifteenth century, Xiuhianni invaders from Jekk ravaged the empire and Shir was razed to the ground. The survivors moved the capital to ancient Aoknyssus (the present administrative capital of Conriya), and after some twenty years managed to oust the Eannean invaders. Centuries of stability followed, until 2153, when the forces of the No-G.o.d inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Shiradi at the Battle of Nurubal. The following two hundred years of chaos and internecine warfare effectively destroyed what remained of the empire and its central inst.i.tutions.