The Demi-Monde: Summer (59 page)

Aryan:
The racial bedrock of UnFunDaMentalism. The Aryan ideal is to be blond, blue-eyed and fair-skinned, the physical profile of the Pre-Folk from whom the Aryan people are supposedly descended.

Auralism/Auralist:
A woman (there is no recorded incidence of males having the power of Auralism) who is able to discern and interpret the halo surrounding a Demi-Mondian’s body. The most accomplished Auralists are the Visual Virgins of Venice.

Awful Tower, the:
The 350-metre-tall geodetic iron structure built in the heart of the Paris District to commemorate the signing of the Hub Treaty of 517 which marked the end of the Great War. Destroyed in a terrorist act attributed to Normalist activists in Spring 1005. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World name
Eiffel Tower
.

BC:
Before Confinement (see also ‘Confinement’).

BiAlects, the:
The second and probably later of the two MasterWorks of Confusionism, the BiAlects comprise nine Books, the teachings
enshrined within them relating how the Master grappled with the Five FundaMental Questions of Life and the AfterLife. In this MasterWork, the Master proposes that the Five FundaMental Answers to the Five FundaMental Questions will only emerge as a consequence of earnest and heated argument, and he therefore wrote the BiAlects as a confrontational debate between two polarised adversaries. This process the Master calls Dialectic Confusion, the Confusion being a product of his indecision as thesis and antithesis struggle – in vain – to achieve synthesis. The Master’s frustration with the inability of Dialectic Confusion to reach a conclusion is encapsulated by the famous final phase of the Master’s which ends the BiAlects:

And the Master said, ‘Oh, who gives a toss anyway; what you believe today is tomorrow’s reactionary cant. I’m going to bed; wake me up in time for Tao.’
[Ninth Book of the BiAlects, Verse 99]

Birdland:
Derogatory slang term for the Coven.

Blanks:
Derogatory NoirVillian slang term for Anglo-Slavs.

Blood Banner:
The flag that the ForthRight Party’s SS regiments carried before them when they fought their first battle during the Troubles and seized control of Berlin’s Blood Bank. A sacred relic of UnFunDaMentalism.

Blood Brothers:
The NoirVillian gangsta sect responsible for the black-market trading of blood. The leader of the Blood Brothers is Shaka Zulu.

body clock:
The means by which a Demi-Mondian body records the passage of time. The ticking that can be heard in the chest of all Demi-Mondians is the sound of their body clock.

Bucintoro:
The galley used by the Doge on state occasions.

Book of Profits, the:
The holiest book of the nuJus, which comprises 333 Epistles written by the Profits.

Boundary Layer, the:
The impenetrable, transparent ‘wall’ which prevents DemiMondians leaving the Demi-Monde and entering the Great Beyond. UnFunDaMentalism officially defines the Boundary Layer as a Selectively Permeable Magical Membrane.

ChangGang, the:
The secret police of the Coven.

Checkya, the:
The secret police of the ForthRight, established by Lavrentii Beria. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World word
Cheka
.

Code Noir:
The secret society of WhoDoo mambos, dedicated to protecting the Demi-Monde should Lilith ever return.

Confinement, the:
The mythical event describing the original sealing of the Demi-Monde behind the Boundary Layer. As a consequence of the Fall of the Pre-Folk from grace with ABBA (see also ‘Lilith’), ABBA punished the peoples of the Demi-Monde by confining them behind the impenetrable Boundary Layer in order that they should not corrupt the rest of His Creation with their Sin. Only when they have repented all their Sins,
have come to Rapture and returned to Purity will ABBA, once again, smile upon them and allow them to be reunited with the rest of the Kosmos.

Confusionism:
Confusionism is the religio-philosophical system that held sway in the Coven until it was toppled by HerEticalism in 996 AC. Although it is now something of an anachronism in the Coven, Confusionism (and especially its subform WunZianism) still informs much of Covenite life, thought and moral attitudes.

Based on the teachings of the mysterious Master as recorded in the two MasterWorks – the iChing (see also ‘iChing’) and the BiAlects (see also ‘BiAlects’) – Confusionism differs from all other religions in the Demi-Monde in that it refuses to provide a definitive guide to its followers as to what Confusionists should believe and how they should act. This ‘confusion’ inherent in Confusionism is a result of the Master’s teachings being represented by the diametrically opposed views of two mythical opponents and their inability – and, it must be said, unwillingness – to fuse these views into a single teaching. The two Voices of the BiAlects – the Sages Wun Zi (see also ‘WunZianism’) and Too Zi (see also ‘TooZianism’) – represent contrasting and irreconcilable interpretations of human life and purpose, of the Creation, of the ultimate Fate of the Kosmos, and of the existence and role of ABBA in human affairs. It is the aim of all Confusionists to reconcile the two Voices (‘the Fusion’) and to know the Answers to the Five FundaMental Questions posed by the BiAlects. The Master informs us in the Ninth and final Book of the BiAlects that the Fusion will not come until the Time of Enlightenment, when Yin and Yang (see also ‘Yin/Yang’) are merged in the form of Ying, and all knowledge – both Self-Knowledge and Knowledge of the Kosmos – is revealed to HumanKind.

Cool:
Cool is the most difficult concept in the whole of HimPerialist thought, being readily recognisable in those who possess it, but almost impossible to define. Parallels have been drawn between the HimPerial concept of Coolness and the state of
wu wei
enshrined in Confusionism. It is the
raison d’être
of HimPerial Men that they be and remain Cool, as this is the only way they can come to Oneness with ABBA. They try to act Cool (that is, they strive, no matter what the provocation, to remain calm and unexcited); they try to look Cool (exercising to sculpt their bodies and wearing hard-cut clothes); and they try to speak Cool (the ever-changing reBop speech being the preferred patois of HimPerialistic males). But perhaps just as importantly, HimPerial Men try to shun that which is declared unCool: Blanks, woeMen and Men displaying a lack of Machismo being some of the most
important things to be shunned by Cool Cats.

crypto:
Originally coined to describe a Suffer-O-Gette terrorist who had infiltrated the ForthRight, but now commonly used to refer to all spies and third columnists active in the DemiMonde.

Daemons:
Mischievous and occasionally malignant (when in league with Loci) Spirits who manifest themselves in the DemiMonde. They may be identified by their ability to bleed.

Dark, the:
The evil that waits to consume the Demi-Monde, waiting patiently for the moment when the power of ABBA falters so that it might consume HumanKind. The Dark is the embodiment of Loki.

Dark Charismatics:
The coterie of persons who exhibit the most malicious form of MALEvolence. Dark Charismatics, though physically indistinguishable from the host population, are preternaturally potent, possessing a perverted and grossly amoral nature. As such, Dark Charismatics present a morbid and extreme threat to the instinctive goodness of Demi-Mondians. The only reliable means of identifying Dark Charismatics is by the examination of their auras by Visual Virgins.

Declaration of Ancestry:
The proof of Racial Purity necessary in the ForthRight to claim status as an Aryan. The authenticated and apostilled genealogical chart that confirms an Aryan’s ancestry is uncontaminated by UnderMentionables for ten generations.

Dork:
Derogatory slang for a woman who practises HerEticalism or displays LessBien tendencies.

Femme:
Covenite term for ‘woman’.

Femme2Femme:
The sexual activities ordained by HerEticalism, as practised by MoreBiens.

Fiduciary Sex:
The sexual activity indulged in by Visual Virgins. As they are unable to enjoy penetrative sex (the loss of their virginity severly impairs their powers as an Auralist), Visual Virgins have perfected the art of provoking orgasms in their ‘prey’ by the stimulating of their imagination and the generation of sexual fantasies.

ForthRight:
The Demi-Mondian state created by the union of the Rookeries and Rodina. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World term
Fourth Reich
.

Fresh Blooms:
The female concubines who provide sexual comfort to the Empress Wu.

Future History:
The OutComes resulting from the application of preScience and the empiricalisation of 4Telling.

galvanicEnergy:
Electricity. Discovered by the ForthRight scientist Michael Faraday.

Hel:
The Demi-Mondian term for the underworld. A remembrance of the Norse word
Hel
.

HerEticalism:
The official religion of the Coven. HerEticalism is a religion based on female supremacy and the subjugation of
men. The HerEtical belief is that Demi-Monde-wide peace and prosperity – an idyllic outcome given the HerEtical tag ‘MostBien’ – will only be realised when men accept a subordinate position within society. The more extreme HerEticals believe that a state of MostBien will only be secured when the male of the species has been removed from the breeding cycle. Such is the extremist attitude of MostBiens that they are lampooned throughout the DemiMonde as ‘LessBiens’.

HimPerialism:
The official religion of NoirVille. Based on an unwavering belief in male supremacy and the subjugation of women (or, as they are known in NoirVille, woeMen), HimPerialism teaches that Men have been ordained by ABBA to Lead and to Control the Demi-Monde and that woeMen’s role is to be Mute, Invisible, Supine and Subservient (subMISSiveness). Further, HimPerialism states that an individual’s Manliness may be enhanced by the exchange of bodily essences, a practice known as Man
²
naM.

HimPeril:
The militant/terrorist wing of HimPerialism, HimPeril is dedicated to the use of violence and intimidation to achieve male supremacy and the subjugation of women. The leader of the HimPeril movement is Mohammed al-Mahdi aka the Mahdiman.

Hub, the:
The grass and swampland area situated between the urban area of the Demi-Monde and Terror Incognita. HyperOpia: The Future History program employed by the Future History Institute.

iChing:
Perhaps the most widely used method of 4Telling in the Demi-Monde. It is believed that the iChing is the earlier of the Master’s two MasterWorks. Subtitled ‘The Book of Small Change’, it reflects the belief that by the tossing of coins it is possible to have the Qi of the Kosmos influence how the coins fall and hence to understand a soul’s Destiny. Used correctly, the iChing can unveil the enigma of Yin and Yang and describe how these separate but united entities are shaping and moulding the destiny of a soul. As the Master said, ‘
The soul who understands its destiny will not stand under a tottering wall, unless, that is, he (or perhaps she) is totally fucking stupid.
’ [Second Book of the BiAlects, Verse 34]

ImPuritanism:
The official religion of the Quartier Chaud. ImPuritanism is a staunchly hedonistic philosophy based on the belief that the pursuit of pleasure is the primary duty of Mankind and that communion with the Spirits can only be achieved during orgasm. The ultimate aim of all those practising ImPuritanism is the securing of JuiceSense: the experiencing of the extreme pleasure that comes from an unbridled sexual orgasm. To achieve JuiceSense requires that Men and Women are spiritually equal and that Man’s
proclivity towards MALEvolence is controlled and muted.

IRGON:
The Independent Regional Government of nuJus – is the political organisation devoted to the maintenance of law and order in the JAD and the transporting of the nuJus scattered around the Demi-Monde to this nuJu homeland. That the IRGON is seen by HimPerial extremists – notably the Black Hand gang – as the body responsible for bringing the seemingly never-ending stream of nuJu refugees into NoirVille makes it a natural target in the war these so-called freedom fighters are waging against those they call the ‘infidel interlopers’.

jad:
The swing music that came out of the JAD. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World word
jazz
.

JAD:
The nuJu Autonomous District, the area of NoirVille settled by the nuJus and granted independence by His HimPerial Majesty Shaka Zulu in exchange for the supply of Aqua Benedicta.

JuiceSense:
The ultimate orgasm. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World word
jouissance
.

Kept, the:
Those Daemons captured and denied a return to the Spirit World.

LessBien:
Derogatory slang term for a woman who finds sexual enjoyment/comfort/satisfaction with another woman. A play on the word ‘MostBien’. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World word
lesbian
.

Li:
The precise and unbending protocol that determines all conduct within the Forbidding City.

Lilith:
The semi-mythical Shade witch – adept in the esoteric knowledge of Seidr magic – who corrupted the Demi-Monde and brought down the Pre-Folk. The Dark Temptress who initiated the Fall.

Lilithian:
ForthRight adjective describing the lascivious and sexually corrupting inclination of women.

Living, the:
The fundamental elements of life, usually portrayed as two snakes or dragons spiralling around one another. Living&More: The dietary and life-style mantra of UnFunDaMentalism designed to detoxify the body and to render it safe from possession by Dabs and Backers, the evil spirits and sprites that torment Demi-Mondians. A corrupted remembrance of the Real World word
Lebensreform
.