Infinity's Shore

Chimpanzee or “chim”—a partly uplifted variety that accompanied humans to Jijo, mute but able to communicate readily with sign language.

Client — a race still working out a period of servitude to the patrons that uplifted it from presapient animal status.

Danik — a vulgarized term for Danikenite, a cultural movement dating from soon after humanity’s first contact with Galactic civilization. Daniks believe Earthlings were uplifted by a Galactic patron race that chose to remain hidden for unknown reasons. An offshoot cult believes that the Rothen are this race of wise, enigmatic guides. (Also sometimes “Dakkin”)

Day of Judgment — in prophesy, when the Six Races of Jijo will be judged for their crimes. By that time, many hope that their descendants will be like glavers — innocents, far along the Path of Redemption.

Deconstructor — a mechanical device licensed by the Institute of Migration to demolish remnants of technological civilization on a planet declared fallow.

Dolo — a village on the Roney River, famed for papermaking.

Dooden Mesa — oldest and largest g’Kek enclave.

Dross — Any nonbiodegradable waste material, fated to be cast into the Midden, for recycling by Jijo’s tectonic fires.

Dura — Approximately one third of a minute.

Earthclan — a small, eccentric Galactic “family” of sapient races consisting of neo-chimpanzee and neo-dolphin clients and their human patrons.

Egg — see Holy Egg.

Er — a genderless pronoun, sometimes used when referring to a traeki.

Exploser — demolitions expert who mines settlements of the Six Races for quick destruction, should The Day arrive. Guild headquarters in Tarek Town.

Fen — plural of “fin”; Anglic shorthand for a neo-dolphin.

Fist of Stone — a huge shelf of stone above Biblos that has been mined by the explosers, and would serve to destroy the fortress on Judgment Day.

Fractal World or Fractal System — a place of retirement for races that have nearly transcended the Civilization of the Five Galaxies. A huge, diffuse edifice made of hydrogen snow, constructed to surround and use all the energy of a small star.

Galactic — a person, race, concept, or technology deriving from the eons-old Civilization of the Five Galaxies.

Galactic Institutes — vast, powerful academies, purportedly neutral and above interclan politics. The Institutes manage or regulate various aspects of Galactic civilization. Some Institutes are over a billion years old.

Galactic Library — a fantastically capacious collection of knowledge gathered over the course of hundreds of millions of years. Quasi-sapient “branch Libraries” are found in most Galactic starships and settlements.

Gathering Festival — annual fair that celebrates and reinforces the Great Peace among Jijo’s sooner races. Incorporates a pilgrimage to the Holy Egg.

Gentt — a river just north of Blaze Mountain.

Great Peace — a time of growing understanding among the Six Races, variously credited to the influence of Biblos, or else to the arrival of the Holy Egg and rewq symbionts.

Great Printing — the sudden introduction of paper books by the humans soon after their arrival on Jijo.

Grok — Anglic term, of obscure origin, that denotes understanding a thing or ’concept in its entirety. Similar to the Scottish “ken.”

Guenn Volcano — Location of the hidden forges of Uriel the Smith.

“Heresies”—variant views of Jijoan destiny, held by groups who disagree with the High Sages. One holds that Galactic law is just — and Jijo would be better off without “infestation” by sooner races. Others subscribe to more orthodox interpretations of the Sacred Scrolls, that each exile race should seek separate salvation down the Path of Redemption. One rare heresy is called “progress.”

Holy Egg, the — a mysterious mass of psi-active stone that emerged from a volcano a century ago, accompanied by widespread visions and dreaming.

Humicker — slang term for someone who mimics humans, because Earthling texts still dominate literate life of Jijo, long after the Great Printing.

Ifni — probably a vulgarization of “Infinity.” In spacer tradition, a name given to the goddess of luck. Personification of chance or Murphy’s law.

Illias — a matriarchal tribe of horsewomen living secretly in the Spectral Flow.

Izmunuti — a red giant star, uncomfortably close to Jijo’s sun; spews a carbon wind masking Jijo from supervision by the Institute for Migration.

Jadura — Approximately forty-three hours.

Jijo — planet in Galaxy Four. Home of seven sooner races: humans, hoons, qheuen, urs, g’Kek, devolved glavers, and “demodified” Jophur known as traeki.

Jophekka — the homeworld of the Jophur.

Kidura — approximately one half second.

Kiqui — a presapient race of amphibians native to Kithrup.

Kithrup — a water world rich in heavy metals, where the Streaker crew lost Captain Creideiki and many others in escaping a dire trap.

Loocen — largest of Jijo’s three moons.

Lorniks — a domesticated animal, bred as servants by qheuen. Lorniks are radially symmetrical, have four legs and four three-fingered hands.