Hikousen—the term used to describe the air cars provided to the seijins who fought for the Church in the War Against the Fallen.
Hill dragon—a roughly elephant-sized draft animal commonly used on Safehold. Despite their size, hill dragons are capable of rapid, sustained movement. They are herbivores.
Holy Writ—the seminal holy book of the Church of God Awaiting.
Hornet—a stinging, carniverous Safeholdian insect analogue. It is over two inches long and nests in ground burrows. Its venom is highly toxic to Safeholdian life-forms, but most terrestrial life-forms are not seriously affected by it (about ten percent of all humans have a potentially lethal allergic shock reaction to it, however). Hornets are highly aggressive and territorial and instinctively attack their victims’ eyes first.
Ice wyvern—a flightless aquatic wyvern rather similar to a terrestrial penguin. Species of ice wyvern are native to both the northern and southern polar regions of Safehold.
Inner circle—Charisian allies of Merlin Athrawes who know the truth about the Church of God Awaiting and the Terran Federation.
Insights, The—the recorded pronouncements and observations of the Church of God Awaiting’s Grand Vicars and canonized saints. They represent deeply significant spiritual and inspirational teachings, but as the work of fallible mortals do not have the same standing as the Holy Writ itself.
Intendant—the cleric assigned to a bishopric or archbishopric as the direct representative of the Office of Inquisition. The intendant is specifically charged with ensuring that the Proscriptions of Jwo-jeng are not violated.
Journal of Saint Zherneau—the journal left by Jeremy Knowles telling the truth about the destruction of the Alexandria Enclave and about Pei Shan-wei.
Jungle dragon—a somewhat generic term applied to lowland dragons larger than hill dragons. The gray jungle dragon is the largest herbivore on Safehold.
Kau-yung’s striker—(also simply “striker”) the ICA’s combat engineers’ nickname for a flamethrower.
Kau-yungs—the name assigned by men of the Army of God to antipersonnel mines, and especially to claymore-style directional mines, in commemoration of the “pocket nuke” Commander Pei Kau-yung used against Eric Langhorne’s adherents following the destruction of the Alexandria Enclave. Later applied to all land mines.
Keitai—the term used to describe the personal coms provided to the seijins who fought for the Church in the War Against the Fallen.
Kercheef—a traditional headdress worn in the Kingdom of Tarot which consists of a specially designed bandana tied across the hair.
Knights of the Temple Lands—the corporate title of the prelates who govern the Temple Lands. Technically, the Knights of the Temple Lands are secular rulers who simply happen to also hold high Church office. Under the letter of the Church’s law, what they may do as the Knights of the Temple Lands is completely separate from any official action of the Church. This legal fiction has been of considerable value to the Church on more than one occasion.
Kraken (1)—generic term for an entire family of maritime predators. Krakens are rather like sharks crossed with octopi. They have powerful, fish-like bodies; strong jaws with inward-inclined, fang-like teeth; and a cluster of tentacles just behind the head which can be used to hold prey while they devour it. The smallest, coastal krakens can be as short as three or four feet; deepwater krakens up to fifty feet in length have been reliably reported, and there are legends of those still larger.
Kraken (2)—one of three pre-Merlin heavy-caliber naval artillery pieces. The great kraken weighed approximately 3.4 tons and fired a forty-two-pound round shot. The royal kraken weighed four tons. It also fired a forty-two-pound shot but was specially designed as a long-range weapon with less windage and higher bore pressures. The standard kraken was a 2.75-ton, medium-range weapon which fired a thirty-five-pound round shot approximately 6.2 inches in diameter.
Kraken oil—originally, oil extracted from kraken and used as fuel, primarily for lamps, in coastal and seafaring realms. Most lamp oil currently comes from sea dragons (see below), rather than actually being extracted from kraken, and, in fact, the sea dragon oil actually burns much more brightly and with much less odor. Nonetheless, oils are still ranked in terms of “kraken oil” quality steps.
Kyousei hi—“great fire” or “magnificent fire,” from the Holy Writ. The term used to describe the brilliant nimbus of light the Operation Ark command crew generated around their air cars and skimmers to “prove” their divinity to the original Safeholdians.
Land-bomb—Temple Loyalist armed forces’ term for a land mine.
Langhorne’s Tears—a quartet of alpine lakes in the Mountains of Light. Langhorne’s Tears were reportedly known as Langhorne’s Joy before the destruction of Armageddon Reef.
Langhorne’s Watch—the 31-minute period which falls immediately after midnight. It was inserted by the original “Archangels” to compensate for the extra length of Safehold’s 26.5-hour day. It is supposed to be used for contemplation and giving thanks.
Levelers—a reformist/revolutionary Mainland movement dedicated to overturning all social and economic differences in society.
Lizardhole—Temple Loyalist armed forces’ term for “foxhole.”
Marsh wyvern—one of several strains of Safeholdian wyverns found in saltwater and freshwater marsh habitats.
Mask lizard—Safeholdian equivalent of a chameleon. Mask lizards are carnivores, about two feet long, which use their camouflage ability to lure small prey into range before they pounce.
Master Traynyr—a character out of the Safeholdian entertainment tradition. Master Traynyr is a stock character in Safeholdian puppet theater, by turns a bumbling conspirator whose plans always miscarry and the puppeteer who controls all of the marionette “actors” in the play.
Messenger wyvern—any one of several strains of genetically modified Safeholdian wyverns adapted by Pei Shan-wei’s terraforming teams to serve the colonists as homing pigeon equivalents. Some messenger wyverns are adapted for short-range, high-speed delivery of messages, whereas others are adapted for extremely long range (but slower) message deliveries.
Mirror twins—Safeholdian term for Siamese twins.
Moarte subită—the favored martial art of the Terran Federation Marines, developed on the colony world of Walachia.
Monastery of Saint Zherneau—the mother monastery and headquarters of the Brethren of Saint Zherneau, a relatively small and poor order in the Archbishopric of Charis.