Renewal Administration: see Renewal^(T); more informally called "the Admin" or abbreviated as "R.A."

Assembly: The Administration's legislative (generally) and executive (when dividing into assemblary working groups) branches, and also the physical building they convene in. Always comprised to at least 60% of paramilitary members "until mortalkind is entirely free"; otherwise staffed by elected delegates sourced from the R.A.'s territories.

Capital: the Administration's seat of power; still known as Verredam abroad and to most of its residents

Coalition: The fulcrum of anti-Renewal reaction, encompassing over half the undead-led territories in the world. Though the aviticracy was pushed out into the periphery, they took many of their riches and magical knowledge with them, and solicentral nobles and their loyal households form the revanchist backbone of the Coalition.

celestial planes: The dimensions adjacent to Reality, beyond the Shadowplanes. Sometimes called the "higher" or "upper" planes, but never capitalized, as this is not the proper noun of a singular dimension, but merely a collective term for everything 'above' Reality. That aside, even less is known about them than the Shadowplanes - almost nothing, in fact, aside from the fact that at least a few intelligent, powerful beings exist within them.

Martyrsband: A smooth, symmetrical ring which used to surround the world. It was theoretically visible at night from the far glacier, but did not run across the solicenter. Its remnants dispersed and became visible after the Martyrsbreak^T, an event in which it seemingly intercepted an object on a collision course with the planet's habitable zone. It only became generally known of at this time, roughly seven centuries ago, though it was known to a few undead scholars as the Band or Ring even before then. Scavenging for pieces of it that fell deep into the glacier is a dangerous, but potentially quick, way to make money in the periphery.

Reality: The dimension which the world is in. Consists of an innumerable quantity of other such more or less world-like spheres (and their stars) gravitically arranged in intricate, many-layered systems, suspended in a slightly dusty void by gravity and other, as-yet unknown forces. Populated by mortals, undead, and presumably a lot of different, far-away things. Other dimensions may have turned out to be real, but only Reality is Real.

Shadowplanes: The space between Reality and the celestial planes. Sometimes called the "lower planes". Due to their ever-changing nature, the Shadowplanes have not been mapped to any significant extent, and it's hard to say what their overall structure is compared to that of the Real universe. Populated by shadowfiends^(T), though it's unknown how broad the category of "shadowfiend" really is.

Spire: The Architect's^(P) wizard tower. An enigmatic, almost entirely windowless staple of Verredam's skyline, and the tallest building in the Collegiate District. It and its courtyard are considered a subdistrict; the smallest in the city.

The Verrécole (College of Verredam): An acclaimed institute for secondary education within Verredam and the Administration as a whole. Though the Verrécole is best known for its (moderately successful) attempts to standardize and classify the study of magic, it mostly offers courses on mundane subjects. Due to the Architect's influence, the organizational structure of the Verrécole was left mostly untouched by Renewal, and it even managed to retain a few undead staff members.

Verredam: A city which used to be considered quite peripheral, but which has become one of the largest cities in the world over the past few centuries. As it stands, it is the most industrialized place in the world, boasting a telephone network, a grid-like layout with purpose-aggregated zoning, and a robust public transit system. Used to be ruled by House Verrebrand as the Duchy of Verredam, alongside the surrounding countryside; nowadays, also see Capital.
Verredam's districts include the Waterfront District (set to be renamed to Logistics District after the completion of an ongoing six-year renovation plan), Manufactoriate District, Collegiate District and Administrative (formerly: Central) District. Each of these districts is surrounded and crossed by residential areas, except for the smog-covered Manufactoriate.

arcanist: archaic synonym for mage; still used occassionally to emphasize an unorthodox approach to magic

aviticracy (aviticratic, aviticrat): The most common system of governance; literally "rule of the not-living". In an aviticratic society, undead (most commonly vampires) have consolidated power in the hands of one or a few people. This status is maintained through an intricate system of semi-independent vassals (undead) and thralls (mortal), which may or may not have their own subordinates and enforcers, in turn. Aviticracy is undisputably maintained by force, but has retroactively been justified by the superior foresight and advanced culture undead (supposedly) have over mortals.

celestial: metareal being from anywhere 'above' the Shadowplanes

construct: A manufactured type of undead. Sometimes referred to as "automata" or "robots". Constructs can be sapient, but as it stands most are created to be servants for special purposes which a simple reanimated corpse would be unsuited to. Nonetheless, a select few constructs are intelligent, ranging from arrogant wizards' proofs-of-concept to purpose-built assassins (and whatever the Architect^(P) is).

demesne: The geo-semantic region a vampire reigns over. A demesne can range in size from the vampire's coffin-room to an entire country, depending on the individual's will to power and how unchallenged it remains. As such, demesnes within demesnes are commonplace: a patrician vampire is welcomed into a count's city and permitted to lease a town-house, which becomes their demesne. The count, in turn, swears fealty to a duchess, and his county both remains his demesne and becomes part of the duchess's geo-semantic property.
A vampire can only properly heal and recover their strength within their demesne, but most of their other weaknesses (and their need to feed on human life essence) are mitigated almost entirely while inside their demesne. Lieges can extend this mitigation to their vassals, allowing them to parlay in open sunlight anywhere within the liege's lands. This privilege is just that: a privilege. So, while it may be rude to refuse such an invitation from your liege, it would be outright stupid not to also ward yourself from the sun by other means. Death by revocation is a common trope in aviticratic stories, though it doesn't actually happen very often.

dhampir: A half-vampire, i.e. the offspring of a vampire and a mortal human. Dhampirs tend to live a few decades longer than other mortals. On the other hand, many find it unusually difficult to ever become vampires themselves, and not just because they're often looked down upon by both mortals and vampires alike. Unless, of course, their vampiric parent is sacrificed in the turning ritual, in which case even the most hapless and incompetent dhampiric ritualist can easily become a true immortal - with or without any other vampire's approval.

familiar: creature pactbound by a Real entity (or "person") as opposed to a metareal entity; most often a mundane animal

ghoul: A fairly common type of sapient undead, thought to arise from slightly too-fervent magical attempts to cure disease or serious injuries. Unlike vampires, ghouls remember little of their mortal lives, and cannot sustain themselves off of living humans - they are obligate carnivores. Most ghouls derive the lion's share of their nutrition from non-sapient animals, even though they are most easily sustained by human flesh.

glacier: A massive, but slowly declining, buildup of permafrost which surrounds the inhabited center of the world. It is thought to cover over 90% of the world, only melting into liquid water near the solicenter.

human: a term for sapient mortals; anthropogenic undead, such as vampires and ghouls, arise from humans

lich: A type of undead which may arise from any sapient creature (though undead usually have far less incentive to turn themselves into liches than mortals do). Anyone whose consciousness can persist separately from their body is considered a lich. Lichdom, invariably powered as it is by magic, is widely considered the hardest form of undeath to achieve.
There is no accidental or involuntary way to become a lich, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution to ascend to lichdom. Thus, liches are self-selected to be some of the most intelligent and powerful, yet reclusive undead, often going so far as to move out onto the far glacier or even teleport themself to another planet to escape supplicants and rivals alike.

metareal(ity): term denoting anything not from the dimension of Reality

metaveritology: The study of metareality. Since contact with other dimensions has only been possible since the Martyrsbreak, metaveritology is sometimes given the epithet "the youngest science".

kindred (kindred-house): term for (a formal family of) vampires who share the exact same bloodline

Martyrsbreak: The shattering of the Martyrsband. Though its sacrifice prevented a total cataclysm, this still caused untold death and destruction. Post-Break, millions of apparitions swarmed the world, causing fear, confusion, and magical anomalies. Some previously-unnoticed barrier between Reality and everything beyond evidently stopped functioning, revealing the existence of hitherto-mythological 'fiends and celestials. Chunks of very valuable remnants of the Band fell on the world at random, causing "crystal rushes" - previously-destitute areas suddenly became hotbeds of (economic) activity.
It was a time of plagues, crop failures, mass death, and general societal upheaval. So, of course, the aviticracy promptly coalesced into two factions that began killing one another. In the end, both their primarchs' names were struck from recorded history, and the cause of their disagreement was lost to time. Many were lost, in general; it's estimated that over 80% of the world's population was wiped out in the aftermath of the Martyrsbreak. Similarly, only two immortals (Riçilt and Xivilarth) are publicly known to have survived this decade of strife, though some others may have simply changed their names and gone into hiding, for fear of old nemeses.
But, as it must be with all disasters which can be talked about, life bounced back over time. The world's population is likely back to where it was when the Break happened, and the crystalline remnants of the Martyrsband have caused great strides in technology and magic alike. However, the climate has also gotten quite a lot warmer since then, causing the glacier to begin melting and the direct solicenter to heat up a bit past the point of mortal comfort. Intense auroras have also signified disturbances in the world's magnetosphere, though these have abated somewhat in the centuries since.

metric time: A base-10 system of measuring time. Metric time was originally introduced by the Vigil as an obfuscation tactic, but is now standard in the entire Administration^(L). Residents of the R.A. generally use metric time, while most undead territories have continued to use the less-standardized "common" time system. In metric time, a year has 36 weeks, a week has 10 days, a day has 10 hours, an hour has 100 minutes, and a minute has 100 seconds. Metric time is generally displayed on "card clocks", on the basis of bands with numbers on them. By adding another two digits, these clocks can display weeks as well, and have largely displaced traditional calendars.
In common time, a year has 10 months, a month has 7 or 8 weeks, a week has 5 days, a day has 25 hours, an hour has 60 minutes, and a minute has 60 seconds. As a consequence of this, there are 90 000 common seconds in a day, whereas a metric day has 100 000 (slightly shorter) seconds. In the common system, the space between the two 8-week months in the middle of the year was used to recalibrate the measured year to the planet's actual cycle; in the metric system, clocks are intended to have a short reset interval at the end of each week, accomplishing much the same thing.

mortal: opposite of undead; describing or relating to a creature with a limited natural life-span (also see: human)

pactbinder: see familiar

paladin: A subtype of warlock, with a celestial patron known as a guardian. Not much is known about what distinguishes a guardian from celestialkind as a whole, but their connection to denizens of Reality is strongest in those who adhere to a rigid code of conduct at all times.

periphery (peripheral): Places in the world nearer the glacier than the solicenter. Sometimes used disparagingly, albeit less so in recent years, due to both climate change and Renewal.

primarch: Any aviticrat who lords over multiple ducal-tier vassals is considered a primarch. As a permanent arrangement, this is entirely unheard of - it's fair to say that it's impossible for any single person to keep such large swathes of vassals in check for more than a few months at a time. As such, primarchs are generally referred to as the capital-P Primarch during their tenures.
Only twice in recorded history has a primarchry lasted for more than a year. The first time was in the years immediately following the Martyrsbreak, when there were two rival primarchs. The second is now: the reactionary Coalition^(L) is led by a Primarch. However, this is an elected position, subject to frequent change - if an absolute majority of the Coalition's elector-counts and duchesses changes their mind about who should be the Primarch, someone else takes on the mantle. Instantly, in fact, if they're a vampire themself. As such, though most vampires would greatly welcome the instant rush of authoritarian gratification that comes with being elected Primarch, the position is rightly understood to be a difficult and fickle one.

Renewal: A large-scale human uprising against aviticratic rule. It began about two decades ago, and now holds about a third of all non-glacial land. The Renewal Administration is still technically in a state of open hostility towards all undead-led nations, but has some diplomatic and economic ties to a few smaller, less chauvinistic ones.

shadowfiend: metareal being from the Shadowplanes^(L); often colloquially called 'fiend'

[soli]center ((soli)central, solicentric): the place in the world above which the sun appears most directly overhead, in the very center of the sky

undead/undeath (unlife/unliving): opposite of mortal; describing or relating to a creature with a theoretically unlimited natural lifespan

vampire: The most well-known type of sapient undead. Vampires are thought to have had only a few initial progenitors, but have since diverged into myriad different bloodlines. These undead have very varied abilities, but almost all share an aversion to silver and direct sunlight, and the ability to derive sustenance for their immortality from living humans. Most vampires have a sort of "sixth sense" for their reputation, since some of their power depends on being acknowledged as the ruler of a certain area (see demesne). Vampires can ritually turn humans into more vampires, but most only choose to do so sparingly, so as to avoid competition.

Vigil(ant): As both the largest and the most radical Renewalist paramilitary, the Vigil commands the loyalty of a plurality (albeit not an absolute majority) of humans willing to fight and die for their freedom from the undead. Vigilants are known for their grey cloaks and ritual disuse of parts of their names - both hold-overs from a time in which mortals were almost entirely disenfranchised from the practice of magic, and superstition held that obfuscation of one's identity could ward against mental magic. Notably, this did actually work, albeit in much the same fashion as sugar pills.
In times of peace, constant vigilance has a tendency to turn to paranoia. As effective (and genuinely liberatory) as the Vigil was at first, its methods have seen declining results as the Administration has moved away from all-out war. Since most less-radical Vigilants have meanwhile left for other parts of the new government, and its remaining members favor more zealous recruits, the Vigil has become known for its inflexibility - its members police and berate those of smaller paramilitaries and local civilian governments with such ferocity, you'd think they were zombies.

warlock: A person who derives their magical ability from the patronage of a more powerful entity. Typically, a warlock's patron is from another dimension (but see familiar for the Reality-locked version of such a pact). Warlocks are a highly mixed bag - what kind of magic they're best at depends almost entirely on what their patron is good at.

witch: A mage whose magic is centered around changing their own perceptions, first and foremost. Where wizards are scientists, witches are mystics, deriving power from sudden revelations instead of methodical study. Depending on the degree to which they commune with their familiar, use substances, or contact metareal entities, witches may also be called shamans, alchemists, or oracles. Witches excel at divination.

wizard: A person whose theoretical understanding of magic is good enough to actually practice magic, as well. Though wizardry is the hardest path to magic, it is also the most common, since it's the only methodology available to anyone (with enough time and effort). Wizards excel at physical magic, such as telekinesis and transfiguration.

wysp: A non-anthropogenic type of sapient undead. Sometimes categorized as "elementals" instead of undead, usually to ensure they don't rise too far within aviticratic hierarchies. Wysps are among the rarest types of undead, but tend to stick out due to their unique appearances and poorly-known elemental abilities.

The Architect: An arcanist, architect, and construct-bodied lich. They've been subtly influencing the development of their home city of Verredam^(L) for centuries, mostly by designing things for it free of charge. Surprisingly little is known about them by the world at large, and even the people of their city, aside from the fact that they're useful to have around. Those who excel at noticing patterns might be able to point out that people who openly defy the Architect's advice tend to live shorter lives - but that probably just means they give really good advice, right?
The Architect is a tenured professor at the Verrécole^(L), but spent fairly little time actually teaching there before Renewal. Renewal forced them (nominally undead as they are) to work on their public image a bit more - and brought with it swathes of bright-eyed mortal students. Unfortunately, interacting primarily with mortals for a decade has only made them feel more isolated from society at large, no matter how collected and professional the public image they project may be.
The Architect has an almost collegial understanding with Captain Fargrave, and is generally quite well-regarded in their home city, but isn't particularly close to anyone (except, of course, the even less publicly-known metareal entity they're working for).

Destra: A ghoul, tailor, and hobbyist electrician - you'd be surprised how transferable the skills required for threading a needle and connecting wires together are! Destra has always (at least in unlife) been very avant-garde, especially compared to the glacially-conservative environment that is peripheral aviticratic society. It's no surprise, then, that they fell in with a pariah like the Reaper of Reality.
Armor-mender, gossip-monger, confidant - Destra was many things to the lich, back in the remote fortress that used to be her demesne. However, the two undead only got truly close in the uncertain, vulnerable time immediately following the Reaper's long march into R.A. territory. Though that aspect of their relationship didn't quite end up working out, Destra and Rachise are still close friends.

Fargrave: Captain of the Capital's Vigil chapter, and resident of Verredam from birth, Fargrave (first name obfuscated) is a rare voice of moderation within the upper echelons of the Vigil. Perhaps it's because mortals have always been slightly less disenfranchised in cosmopolitan Verredam than elsewhere. Maybe he's simply grown fond of some of the city's few remaining immortals. Most likely, he holds the Captaincy of Verredam for no reason other than that no one else volunteered, in the wake of the late Captain Hjalsund's untimely demise.
That his ill-fated predecessor spent his first 27 weeks in Verredam antagonizing the Architect, then the last 6 weeks of his life writhing in agony at the hands of an unusually aggressive form of cancer could have been a coincidence. Though Fargrave is far from the most learned man in the world, his intuition has rarely failed him - and in this case, it told him 1) not a spark's chance against the glacier; and 2) to keep that to himself. Obfuscation preserves, after all!

Knight-Captain Fortuna Cortez: Leader of the Order of Warding Abeyance, a mystic paladinate order. Sie inherited hir link to hir guardian-entity from hir parents, who were also paladins. This connection is likely also the reason sie's a sorcerer. Sie is dedicated, focused, and probably a bit young and/or socially inept to have become a Knight-Captain by merit alone.

Ophelia: A young nekophidia; one of the Reaper's familiars. Though once relatively common as familiars and companions, nekophidiae were thought to have gone extinct following the Martyrsbreak^(T), and the familiar may be one of the last extant members of her species.
As a sub-centennial wyvern, Ophelia is the size of a large domestic cat, albeit quite a bit longer, on account of her serpentine lower body. Her coat of downy, tar-black feathers render her about as voluminous as a domestic cat, too. Even aside from her keen intellect and magical potential, Ophelia has one distinct advantage over regular cats: opposable thumbs!

Rachise, Reaper of Reality: A vampire-bodied lich and sorceress, strongly linked (both morphologically and semantically) to the Shadowplanes. Her reputation precedes her: wherever she goes, other vampires stop squabbling over which peasant family belongs to whom and band together to kill her. Whether her opposition to aviticratic society comes from the fact that its members nearly universally revile her as an abomination or vice versa is impossible to know. Either way, Rachise may be one of only few vampires who have killed more undead than humans - probably because the latter generally have the good sense to stay out of her way.
The Reaper has spent centuries of her life running from place to place. In each, she's found either a good opportunity for a random act of banditry, or a desperate, odds-defying clash with those who'd want to destroy her. But now, the Coalition's aviticrats have finally managed to flush her out of their lands entirely - though they'd hoped to exile her onto the glacier if they couldn't kill her, having her cause chaos in Renewalist territories almost seems like an even better alternative. Perhaps now, after a few years of recuperation, their hopes are finally about to come true.
Rachise is friends with Destra, and is the pactbinder of two familiars: Shadetail and Ophelia. Even now, she has a demesne^(T), albeit one that is kept hidden from the world at large - a source of much anguish for the reputation-obsessed vampiric sorceress.

Baronet Riçilt (ordem Glaçiari): A frostwysp, warlock, accomplished commander, and probably one of the oldest vaguely humanoid beings alive today. Riçilt has an odd relationship to her patron: she appears to serve it in cycles, as one might do contract work with a mundane organization. In the same on-and-off cycle, she used to serve as a trusted bodyguard and advisor to a now-deposed (and deceased) solicentric kindred-house. Alas, during her 'retirement' cycle, she was exploring the glacier, and missed the actual "rebellion" part of Renewal^(T) entirely. Though this was not technically in violation of her contract, it still weighs heavily on her.
Strange as it may seem to most people, mortals in particular, Riçilt actually has a very strong sense of duty. Her exceedingly long-term perspective on things just means that a year off feels like a week of vacation to her. It'd always struck her as the best way to ensure she was well-rested and well-adjusted, so as to better fulfil her duties. After she returned to find the solicenter a very different place than it was a few years ago, Riçilt immediately agreed to be available as an advisor to the Primarchry. Self-imposed penance or not, she's regretted this decision ever since, and has once again retired - until the Coalition^(L) properly mobilizes, that is.

Baron Novak Siegweiher: A vampire, and leader of a renowned band of mercenaries. Unfortunately for Siegweiher, his cohort's flawless record was permanently marred when he hired them out on a mission aiming to permanently dispose of the Reaper. He took it as a personal slight when she kept one of his officers' suits of armor as a trophy, and (decades later) his cohort was the driving force behind the Reaper's exile into the Administration^(L).

Shadetail: A shadowfiend; one of the Reaper's familiars. As a 'lesser' shadowfiend, Shadetail has no 'true' shape of its own, and might not have been considered fully sapient if it hadn't been a familiar. As it stands, however, its bond with Rachise has made it smart enough to be mischievous, and - oddly - more literate than its pactbinder.

House Verrebrand: A relatively small cadet branch of a larger kindred-house. House Verrebrand used to hold quite a lot of sway near Verredam^(T) and further towards the solicenter, but has since been driven nearly destitute by Renewal. "Verrebrand" may also refer to the house's individual members, such as Xavier or Jasper.

Jasper Verrebrand: Son of Xavier Verrebrand and would-be heir to the Duchy of Verredam. Alas, two inconvenient little facts stand in his way: Verredam is currently the Capital of Renewal, and he's merely a dhampir^(T) - related to Xavier by blood, but not true kindred by induction. Tired of pleading with his vampire dad to turn him into a proper immortal already for decades, he's resolved to take his father's blood by force, if need be. Unfortunately, due to his aviticratic upbringing, he's not really good at anything except schmoozing, and isn't even actually that good at that.

Duke Xavier Verrebrand: The former duke of the Duchy of Verredam, who fled to the Coalition^(L) after Renewal. However, he was unpopular there to such an extent that he was eventually exiled, by invoking archaic laws against thrall fornication. Known in Verredam for his overt attempts at pacifying the human rebels with progressive decrees, while simultaneously covertly disappearing people. Currently lives in the Reaper's demesne with his thrall and spouse, Janus Wiering. Father of Jasper Verrebrand.

Governor Janus Wiering: The former governor of the Duchy of Verredam. He was an influential trader and advisor to the ducal government even before becoming the duke's thrall. After years upon years of ever-closer cooperation, Xavier and Janus realized they were basically already married, and formalized their relationship. They've had a child together, and have stuck together even in exile. Known in Verredam for seemingly good-natured attempts at providing state funding to otherwise independent institutions, only to reveal at the least convenient time that said funding did come with some obligations.

Xivilarth the Pluriscient: A lich and scholar who lives somewhere out on the glacier, but partially returns to the solicenter on occassion to publish books and maintain a loose network of scientifically-minded immortals (the eponymous Xivil Society). This semi-exile is only partially voluntary, but xiv doesn't seem to be terribly frustrated by it either way.
Xivilarth was alive (well, un-alive) during the Martyrsbreak^(T). Disgusted by the disjointed aviticratic response to the ensuing chaos, xiv was a vocal pacifist, but was nearly killed by xiv liege for this "disloyalty". Fleeing out onto the far glacier, Xivilarth discovered a particularly massive fragment of the Band, and its secrets purportedly fueled xiv ascencion to lichdom.