Torian Glossary
abstainers: religious agnostics
across the pond: When in Toriana, a reference to Great Britain or Europe; when in Great Britain or Europe, a reference to Toriana (“pond” being the Atlantic Ocean)
aid-solicitor: legal representative provided by the Crown to defendants who can’t afford to hire a barrister
ambrotype: photography that uses chemicals (silverblack) to etch images on glass plate negatives
annum: year
apothecary: pharmacy
Aramantha: the island homeland of the Aramanthan, destroyed by mysterious forces that 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
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
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
catchalclass="underline" 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
collar: vicar
commoner: an ordinary, untitled individual; someone of low birth
conciliator: mediator
cosh: bludgeon
coin: money
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: fire fighter
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
geclass="underline" 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