The Clockwork Wolf (35 page)

animech:
mechanized animals

annum:
year

apothecary:
pharmacy

Aramantha:
the island homeland of the Aramanthan, destroyed by mysterious forces which caused it to break up and sink beneath the sea

Aramanthans:
a race of superhuman magic practitioners who ruled the world before the rise of mankind

bacco:
tobacco

barrister:
attorney

bathboy:
a male attendant/masseur who works at public baths for women

beater:
a uniformed police officer who patrols the streets, usually on foot

believer:
someone who believes in magic

belowground:
beneath street level

binding:
a stone or other object that can contain psychic energy until its release is triggered by touch or proximity

black:
very strong, thrice-brewed tea

blackpot:
a coal-fueled boiler

blacks:
formal suit worn by high-class male servants

Blind my Cupid:
an vulgar exclamation of amazement and disbelief

bloodbane:
one of the highly toxic magic poisons used in snuffballs

blower:
a chamber that uses air leeched from the city's tubes to dry wet items

blue ruin:
gin

blues:
people of aristocratic birth

bookmaker:
printer

braves:
warrior class of native Torian people

BrewsMaid:
an automatic tea maker

brickie:
a bricklayer

bronze, bronzen:
a theatrical cosmetic that temporarily darkens the skin

brown:
Talian currency

bruiser:
a large or physically intimidating man; thug

bucks:
clothing made of buckskin

bum:
ass

calendula:
an herbal tincture used as a topical disinfectant

care kit:
first-aid kit

carri:
steam-driven carriage

carriwright:
maker of steam-driven carriages

cartlass:
a girl or woman who sells food and/or beverages from a portable cart on the street

cashsafe:
a hidden, locking recess in a private home where money and other valuables are kept

catchall:
an extending/grasping device with a pinchers at one end

Church:
the Torianglican Church, the only religion recognized and approved by the Crown; the Church of England

clearstone:
quartz

clopboard:
building siding made of planks recovered from abandoned horse barns

coal burner:
engine that runs on coal

coddles:
cod cut into chunks

coin:
money

collar:
vicar

commoner:
an ordinary, untitled individual; someone of low birth

conciliator:
mediator

cosh:
bludgeon

crispie:
potato chip

croke:
croquet

Crown, the:
the English monarchy as well as its authority over Toriana

crowswalk:
a viewing deck that encircles the upper portion of a building

dear:
costly

deathmage:
magical practitioner licensed to kill

deb:
debutante

detector:
a magic practitioner (generally employed by the court) who uses touch to discern truthfulness

digger:
miner

dink:
a small or short man

dipper:
strip of treated paper that changes color when exposed to poison or drugs

drawers:
underwear

drips:
syphilis

Druuds:
mortal magic practitioners who captured and imprisoned the Aramanthans to end the mage wars

ducklings:
children

echo:
device used to detect hidden objects

elshy:
hellchild

entitlement:
inheritance of title and property

exormage:
exorcist who nullifies curses and rids people and places of demon infestation

faeriestale:
fantasy stories told to children

fete teller:
the humblest of fortune-tellers who set up tents at village fetes to do many readings for very little money

fichu:
a shoulder wrap, usually made of lace

firebrigader:
firefighter

fishncrisp:
a shop that sells fish fillets fried together with potatoes cut in various shapes

flat:
apartment

flathouse:
a building that has been divided up into flats

Fleers:
remnant members of the American rebel forces who fled west after losing the war to England

flystick:
a clear glass rod containing live lightning bugs, used like a flashlight or lantern

foundling:
abandoned orphan

freeclaiming:
a social practice caused by the shortage of women among the original colonies, which allowed men to kidnap and hold captive unprotected or abandoned women

freedman:
ex-convict

fry bread:
bread fried in bacon drippings

furrin, furriners:
slang for
foreign
,
foreigners

garms:
garments

gaslamp:
exterior lighting powered by natural gas

gel:
girl (common, casual, generally used to refer to females of the merchant class)

get the sack:
be fired

gildstone:
marble

ginger:
woman with red hair

glass:
common term for ambrotype glass plate negative

glassed:
photographed

glasshield:
windshield

glassies, glassines:
protective, preservative glass coatings applied to documents

glasslung:
terminal respiratory disease caused by inhaling sparkglass; suffered by painters and construction workers

gogs:
protective eyewear

goldstone:
building made of blocks of pyrite-flecked granite

gone off:
suffered a mental breakdown

gowners:
dressmakers who specialize in creating gowns for wealthy society women

gravecart:
hearse

Great Uprising, the:
Toriana's name for the failed revolutionary war against England

Great War, the:
Toriana's version of WWI

hair grips:
bobby pins

hatch drop:
manhole access to underground tunnels

hellchild:
a child believed to be demon-possessed and therefore impervious to magic

Herself:
slang term for the queen of England

hidey-holes:
small, concealed places in houses for people to hide in or use to spy on someone

Hill, the:
an area of Rumsen where most of the wealthy and titled reside

H.M.:
abbreviation for Her Majesty

hothead:
woman with red hair

illuminator:
a device that works like a primitive film projector

Independence:
freedom from English rule

johnnies:
men who hire prostitutes

keep safe footing:
to be cautious or conservative

keroseel:
a combination of seal, whale, or fish oil and kerosene

keyfob:
a chain-and-loop key ring, carried by men

keylace:
a ribbon key ring, worn around a woman's wrist

kipbag:
mesh tote

kneecappers:
criminal enforcers who use clubs to shatter the knees of their victims

knickers:
underwear

lampflies:
fireflies

lass:
girl (affectionate, proper)

lav:
lavatory

loo:
toilet

loomgel:
a girl or woman who works in a menial position at a textile factory

loomworks:
textile factory

loon:
a mentally disturbed person

loon herder:
an orderly at an asylum

loonhouse:
asylum for the mentally disturbed

Lost Timers:
brigades of English and Italian soldiers who became lost in the Bréchéliant forest and were there possessed by Aramanthan spirits

lungfever:
slang for influenza

mage:
magic practitioner

magis, magistrate:
judge

maiden night:
the first time a virginal woman has sex with her husband; term often used for betting purposes by men who want to break an engagement

mariners:
sailors

matchit:
a disposable, one-use lighter

mate:
friend

mech:
a mechanic; anything mechanical

mechworks:
mechanical rooms

mercantile:
a shop selling some variety of merchandise

Middleway:
industrial Torian city located on the Great Lakes; also called Middy

mixpot:
mixing bowl

mole:
city underground worker

nappy:
diaper, women's panties

navyman:
a current or former member of H.M.'s naval forces

necktwister:
assassin

negli:
negligee

netherside:
the spirit world, invisible to ordinary mortals; the source of magic power

new industry:
the beginning of the industrial age in Toriana

New Parliament:
governing body of Torian officials who petition the Crown and enforce the Queen's legislation; the Torian version of Congress

nightstone:
a semiprecious mineral used to contain the spirits of long-dead mages and Aramanthan wizards

Nihon:
Japan, Japanese

nits:
head lice

nobber:
private security guard hired by Hill residents to patrol their streets and keep out any undesirables

Norders:
people from the North of England

nozzer:
nose; a face mask used with a portable oxygen tank

nudie:
a flesh-colored garment worn to give the illusion of nudity under a semitransparent gown or overgarment

Occupancy, the:
a period of thirty years after the Rebellion failed during which Toriana was occupied by English troops and governed by martial law

on the stroll:
working on the streets (said of prostitutes)

pain powder:
a mild opiate or analgesic

partymage:
a magic practitioner who uses his power to entertain

pasturelands:
farmlands

penders:
suspenders

physick:
doctor

piesafe:
kitchen cabinet where food is stored

pin minder:
a dresser or vanity stand that holds hairpins and hat pins

piper:
plumber

pong:
stink

portents:
predictions or signs of future events

portints:
portraits made from ambrotype photographs that are hand-painted to colorize

posh, posher:
wealthy aristocrat

poxbox:
diseased prostitute

prayerhouse:
the Fleers' religious gathering places

privy:
restroom

prodder:
iron fireplace poker

prommy:
the promenade in the city's central park used by horseback riders and carris

pyre:
crematorium

queensland, the:
England

Queen's Voice, The:
the Crown's official newspaper

questioning:
police interrogation at New Scotland Yard

rasher:
strip of bacon

Reapers:
a secret society comprising important political, business, and social figures in Talia; enemies of the Tillers.

red joy, ruddy joy:
opium

redcoats:
English militia

redstone:
brick

reticule:
purse

rondella:
an automated carousel-type apparatus

rotagears:
gears that drive a rotational device

rounder:
a rubber carri tire

rub:
massage

Rumsen:
major city on the west coast of Toriana, roughly equivalent to San Francisco in the United States

satchel:
tote bag carried by women

scrabbler:
a person who makes a living by scavenging

scram:
salvage

seeing:
an act by a fortune-teller of predicting a client's future

seeking:
an act by a fortune-teller of finding someone or something

Settle:
Seattle

shaman:
a native Torian holy man

shelfairs:
aerated shelving, usually for books

shopkeep:
shop proprietor

short sheet:
a hastily printed, illegal daily list of horse races and other events for the purpose of placing bets