Glossary

Ahd- A domesticated animal with a prehensile tail, similar in size and appearance to that of a cat, but with the temperament and loyalty more like that of a dog. They have highly developed paws, designed for climbing trees, especially wogbols. Accomplished hunters, this animal is useful because they prey on the poisonous snakes, insects, and arachnids that dwell in wogbols and other tropical trees.

Algmal- A long stemmed flower with green petals, found in the dense jungle. It has few, if any, leaves at its base, since its petals handle most of the plant's photosynthesis. The stem is solid, but flexible; similar in structure to a wogbol, though not related. When competing with dense ground foliage, this flower can grow up to two meters in height.

Aris- One who is a master at her ability, and uses it to make a living. The title is a fairly common title for portalers, healers, and movers, but uncommon for minders and emoters.

Bor- A goat-like animal raised for milk and meat.

Cahlar- Portaler. Portalers can "portal"-- a form of teleportation that opens a window between two locations, allowing movement between the two points. The extent of which varies from person to person. All portalers wear shades of green. Their style of dress is the most conservative of the five power groups. All clothes have at least some leg and sleeve to it. But the fit can vary from baggy to skintight.

Dahs- Child. All newborns are given the last name of Dahs, and dressed in white. When the child first displays her ability, around age one-half year, that ability is added on to the name, and then dressed in the appropriate color clothes. For example: when Dahra Dahs exhibited portaling abilities. Her name was immediately changed to Dahra Cahlardahs and dressed in the green clothing worn by all portalers.

Difig- The standard unit of measurement on docre. It is equal to roughly eighteen inches (forty-five centimeters). This story was originally written using these units.

Docre- Dahra's home planet, the fifth planet out from Lat. It is five and a third Astronomical Units from its sun (one AU is the distance of the Earth from the Sun). Docre has only a ten degree tilt on its axis (as opposed to Earth's twenty- three and a half), and has a tropical climate over the majority of the planet. Docre's year is equivalent to six point seven earth years (2560 days long). Each year is divided into sixteen "months", and each month is divided into four "weeks", each of which is forty days long. A docren day is approximately equivalent to twenty five Earth hours long. Coincidentally, docrens divide time into twenty four hour intervals, breaking their hours down into one hundred "minutes", and then breaking the "minutes" into one hundred "seconds".

Eglas- Engineer.

Falas- Geologist.

Faldu- A large-breasted woman. Most docren females have small breasts (A-cup bra size). Only about three percent have breasts larger than that (no larger than D- cup). There are a number of myths about faldu which most docrens know are not true, but color others' attitude about them anyway (much like our superstitions about horseshoes and walking under ladders). The most prevalent of these is that faldu are more likely to get pregnant than non-faldu, and make better mothers. In a society that cherishes children as much as Docre's, this is a good thing. Faldu tend to get extra attention at the insemination centers, thus making this prejudice self-fulfilling. On the negative side, faldu are said to be lazy, and slow to catch on to new skills. This tends to make it hard for some faldu to find a job, and makes their bosses more critical of their job performance. As a result, many faldu try to cover up this fact from the rest of the world, through having their breasts surgically reduced, or binding them.

Fahr- The largest island on Docre. About twice the size of the big island of Hawaii.

Fahrlot- The capital city of Docre on the island of Fahr. It is also the largest city on Docre, with a population of approximately one hundred thousand.

Felgis- Archaeologist/anthropologist.

Grandahs- Priest (means literally "Child of Gran").

Guild- Every docren, by age one, is a member of one of the five guilds corresponding to which ability she has. The original purpose of the guilds were to develop, control and refine the ability of each docren.

As time passed, the guilds also became political organizations, looking after the political interests of their guild. Many docrens have little to do with their guild. While some, who enjoy politics or are politicians, want to refine their ability, or teach them to children, are very active in guild activities. All guild members wear the specific color of their guild, as soon as the ability is discovered. This started out as a courtesy to others. But now, to docrens, the notion of not wearing the appropriate color is as strange as the idea of men wearing women's clothing is to us.

Ipse- The equivalent of a doctor's degree. The word is formally added to the name of the person receiving the degree. Dahra has an ipse in archeology, so her actual name is Dahra Cahlaripsefelgis. Using the ipse in your last name is considered pretentious, and is thus only used when the recipient needs to establish her credentials, such as when giving a scholarly speech, writing a technical paper, or introducing oneself to a new class. Thus Dahra hardly ever adds "ipse" to her name.

Ishtahr- Healer. Healers can accelerate metabolism, immunity and healing mechanisms in another person. All healers have taken an oath, similar to the Hippocratic Oath, not to use their ability to hurt others. The extent of this ability varies from individual to individual. All healers wear shades of blue. They having their navels exposed and decorated in some manner-- except in the most extreme weather conditions. They also wear some kind of skirt, even if it is just a small ruffle around the waist.

Kemetir- Mover. Movers are telekinetic. They can move objects with their mind-- the extent of which varies from individual to individual. All movers wear shades of brown. Their clothes are usually loose-fitting and expose as much skin as possible, which borders on what we would call indecent. But unlike healers, movers never have their navels exposed. Some movers have gone so far as having their naval surgically removed.

Klinkas (pronounced klin-kas)- Computer scientist.

Lakan- The docren version of coral.

Language- The docren language has pronunciation similar to English. All docren words are spelled phonetically; so the "e"at the end of "Docre" is pronounced. There are six vowels in the docren language: "a" as in "cat", "e" as in "bed", "i" as in "did", "o" as in "ought", "u" as in "uncle" and "ah" as in "dawn". The "o" and "ah" vowels may seem similar, but they are distinct to the docren ear. "O" is staccato, while "ah" is breathy. Docrens use all consonants used in English, except for the "q/kw" sound and the "j/soft g" sound (as in "giant"). All "g's" have a hard sound (as in "gutter"). They have one consonant not found in English: the "fv" sound. It is a smacking sound made by the front teeth and lower lip. Not a common sound, it is almost always used at the beginning of words.

Lat- Docre's sun. It is what we call Canopus, a yellow giant star, the brightest star in the constellation Carina, the Ship's Keel, and the second brightest in our skies. Canopus is only visible in the southernmost parts of the U.S., during the winter. It is seventy-six of our light years from Earth, and is two thousand times more luminous than our Sun. Docre has an incredibly thick ozone layer, without which the planet would have been burnt to a crisp.

Leechbird- A predatory bird that feeds on the blood of warm-blooded animals. Once they lock their beak on their prey's back, they are painful to remove. They favor domestic animals such as bor, but have been known to attack babies and small children who are not attended.

Likvis- Administrator.

Menor- Minder. Minders are telepaths. They can mentally speak, from one person to another without speaking, the extent of which varies from individual to individual. All minders wear shades of yellow. They always wear a tunic-style top, with the number of variations in style and cut which are amazingly diverse. The style of bottoms may vary, but the current style popular with minders is tights.

Middle Names- Only used if two docrens have the same first name, profession, and ability. It is always the first name of the docren's mother. Dahra's mother's name was Fran. So her full name is Dahra Fran Cahlaripsefelgis.

Monastery- Monasteries are places of spiritual retreat for all docrens. Here they are for- bidden the use of any ability, except in the most dire emergencies. To express equality, everyone wears white, just as they did as an infant, and everyone is called only by their first name. It is also forbidden is to talk about their ability.

Pleasure House- An establishment that uses low electrical currents to sexually stimulate the body. Most find this experience pleasurable, though some find it nauseating. And a few become physically and psychologically addicted to the experience, which leads to financial and physical ruin. These establishments, though legal, are held in about the same esteem as strip clubs are on Earth

Ribbon- Ribbons woven into a docren's hair is a symbol of leadership. They are worn by hosts of parties, teachers of a class, the chairman of a committee, the leader of a tour group, etc. The color of the ribbon matches the wearer's guild color.

Security Field- An electromagnetic field that surrounds a given area and keeps portalers from portaling into the area. Almost all buildings have them. Since these fields use massive amounts of energy, its use is very expensive, most people don't keep it activated while they are awake in the building. Some master portalers can penetrate the cheaper, less powerful security fields. Some portalers use a more sophisticated security field system that allows only them, with their own unique brain signature, entrance into their home.

Selah- A type of docren saltwater fish. It is very tasty if cooked properly.

Shalas- Geologist.

Tan- Student. All children when they enter school at age one take on the last name of tan. For example: Dahra Cahlardahs, at age one, changed her last name to Cahlartan when she entered school. This remains her last name until she finds a lifetime vocation.

Vaggir- Emoter. Emoters are broadcast empaths. They can broadcast the emotions they feel to others, and, in some cases, the emotions they want others to feel. All emoters have taken an oath, similar to the Hippocratic Oath, not to use their ability to hurt others. The extent of this ability varies from individual to individual. All emoters wear red, with their clothing being uniform-like. They all wear a red collar, similar to that of a Catholic priest, and either a full-length skirt or pants. Every outfit has one or more geometric shapes cut out, showing bare skin. The shapes, usually being rectangular, sometimes are triangular, circular, or even more complex in shape. Some of these cutouts would be considered immodest by human standards. Every emoter has her own design of shapes that she wears and is always different from all the other emoters. She either makes her own design or has it assigned to her when she joins the guild. No non-emoter knows which is the case, and the emoters won't talk about it, which causes much speculation by non- emoters. Their clothes are always sleeveless, except in cold weather, near the poles, and then they wear a black insulated bodysuit underneath.

Viglem- "Welcome"

Whikyahr- Translates in English to "white stone" (whik = stone, yahr = white). It is a very rare type of lustrous white marble that has no veins of any other color in it. Gram for gram it is as valuable as gold.

Wogbols- Tropical trees similar to Earth's palm trees. They have deep grooves around the trunk, creating rings about six inches apart, which makes for easy climbing. They also differ in that a palm frond consists of dozens of smaller leaves, wogbol fronds have one leaf, up to two meters in length. This leaf, shaped vaguely like an elm leaf, has many small slits radiating, spoke-like, from the central stem. Air passing through these slits makes whistling sounds that constantly changes in pitch and volume, depending on the wind speed, the branch's position, and the size of the slits.

Wogfandal- A dark hardwood tree, similar to oak, found on the islands near the polar regions. It is slow growing and highly prized by docrens, and therefore very expensive.

Zoras- Psychologist.