Lore

Places

Chosyebeyen - a grand city that is the seat of Goodentoyg, which is one of the most fertile valleys of the Kaleeto region. It is the home of the Chosye and the Durramkuts, and it now the home to some thousands of invading Uentackyens

Uentackye - a vast kingdom somewhere east of the Kaleet Desert, which is the greatest power in the world at the time of Heeqadaf. It is ruled by a Ckotol, which at the time is Beskig, the conqueror of Chosyebeyen. Its true name is Vinta, though this simple name is rendered to an overcomplicated muddle by the Chosye language.

Teskor - an ancient empire to the south that has since declined in power. It is the origin of most of the culture and civilization in the region, and despite its decline, it is still considered a haven to scholars and scientists.

Tell Bathud - an abbey or basilica of the Chosye which lies atop an ancient midden, or tell.  It is where Peybo Dulioch presides and where Heeqadaf is left after Uiyam's death. It was built centuries before the story, after several millennia of broken masonry from the expansion of the the Chosyebeyen settlement produced an enormous hill of refuse, which eventually settled into solid earth.

Technology

Limning - the practice of making limbs, maintaining the connection of these limbs to the body, and fitting a person safely with limbs. This is an absolutely necessary practice at this time, as people are born without arms or legs.

Limb - a general term for artificial arms and legs that are made from hard "limnactiles" (bones made of wood or steel) and yon-stuffs. 

Yonnode - a term that can either mean the ion-sensitive pads connecting the limb to the shoulder-socket's blood vessel, or the shoulder socket itself. It is responsible for carrying the ionic charges from the adenosine-rich blood cells to the yonbars. They are usually made of the sliced sections of besk flower rhizomes.

Yonbar - a conduit, usually made of dyonana root in Goodentoyg, that relays the ionic charge from the yonnode to the yonmus

Yonmus - an artificial muscle that converts chemical energy in the yonbar to mechical energy, which moves the limnactile. This can be made from the tallow or brains of the gihyur (a mammal that resembles a very slow and fat cow) or the fiber from the eforckeh tree's bark

The Celestial Host

Yos - the creator of the universe. His being encompasses the breadth of all existence, and he was responsible for augmenting his chaotic form, the Eternal Furnace, into the Cosmogony which became earth. Similar to Vishnu, Yos represents the main, paternal personality of the Self who projects mirroring personalities that represent his endless abilities. He is occasionally referred to as "God", as his proper name is considered too momentous to use arbitrarily. He is worshipped as the Supreme Being by the Chosye, and later too by the Yosalaynists. 

Drramtur - the Supreme Artist of humanity. Like Baita, he is a copied form of Yos who was created in order to set humanity in its ideal course. He is worshipped by the Durramkuts, who are heavily persecuted by both the Chosye and the Uentackyens.

Baita - the Planetary Stonemason. He is an incredibly simple being who, after shaping the world according to Yos' will, continued to re-shape in with the passage of time. He is worshipped by the Baitashir, who are sometimes persecuted by the Chosye, though not so adamantly as the Durramkuts are.


Guden - the lady of water, and the consort to Yos, whose limbs are composed of woven reeds. She is the saint of limb health and maintenance, though she if often blamed for blood diseases of the yonnodes.


Dinye - the lady of misery and revenge, and enemy to Yos, whose limbs are made of living flesh. She was cruelly rejected by Yos and her sisters at the creation of the world, so she now gathers evil souls in her wasteland so that she may set them against her creator.


Tebel - the lady of lifeforms, whose limbs are made of earth


Hedel - the lady of geological activity, whose limbs are made of copper


Sechel - the lady of the atmosphere, whose limbs are made of charcoal

Kaibel - the lady of minerals, whose limbs are made of unpolished pig iron

People

Heeqadaf - or Heeqa Yosul, the son of Uiyam, who had been magically conceived. He is now under the care of the Chosye of Tell Bathud.

Uiyam - the mother of Heeqadaf, wife of Yichen, and chief noblewoman of Chosyebeyen. She was hunted down by Ckotol Beskig's soldiers and murdered in the street.

Ckotol Beskig - the Ckotol, or emperor, of Uentackye. He conquers Chosyebeyen by use of a sort of gunboat diplomacy; by effectively threatening to put the city under permanent siege. When he seizes control, he cements his rule by insinuating himself in the native religion, simultaneously endearing himself to the more orthodox citizens and canonizing himself.

Peybo Dulioch - the Peybo, or Archbishop, of Tell Bathud. He meets Ckotol at the gates of the city in order to preserve the religion of his people, and since then he continues to work against the efforts of the invader to change the culture.

Yichen - the overlord of the city and husband to Uiyam, and the puppet of the Ckotol's shadow government. He attempts to kill Uiyam and Heeqadaf when he expects his wife of infidelity, but he is sent instantly into Dinye's wasteland by Heeqadaf's powers. His death enrages the Ckotol so much that he attempts to eliminate the mother and baby before the secret becomes public.

Khaibon - a minor, mostly insignificant brother of the Chosye in Tell Bathud. He happens to be at the gates of the basilica when Uiyam secretly passes off Heeqadaf, and so becomes the caretaker of baby. He is also unaware of the basic needs of a child, and is somewhat slow-witted and meek.


Fesye - a very sanctimonious and difficult brother of Tell Bathud. His labors are often devoted to studying the Benath and interpreting its meanings. He seems to have come from a large family.


Besqah - the wife of Lebbn and mother to Scharod, Elimacha, Eyscher, and two other children. She agrees to secretly nurse Heeqadaf in his early infancy, but returns him at the age of one to Tell Bathud

Lebbn - the devout grocer who supplies food and yon-stuffs to Tell Bathud gratis, the husband of Besqah, and father to her children. 

Reparisch - the doorkeeper to Tell Bathud. He suffered from a traumatic event in his past involving a madman whose arms had slipped from their shoulder-sockets, and it has made him suspicious towards nearly everyone.

Uiyehvam - a planter of potatoes, wife of Hogaf, and friend to Besqah and Akuscherna. 

Akuscherna - the local midwife and friend to Besqah and Uiyehvam. 

Lissegam - the second-most senior limner of Tell Bathud, and a cleric who specializes in diseases of the yonnodes

Historical Figures

Thudes - the king who built the city of Chosyebeyen


Tohbed - a book from the pre-Heeqadaf Benath tells of a prophet who had first transcribed the basic law of Yos after shepherding his people to Goodentoyg. He was thereafter involved in a conflict with a tribe called the "Basshek", a people of whose historicity is in doubt, and was friends another prophet named "Heeqadaf", who is unrelated to the Heeqadaf of this ta

Baykorod and Gezthedt - a book from the pre-Heeqadaf Benath which tells of the Teskorin king Baykorod that defends the promontory from the invading Boshte led by Ehgangel, falls in love with the beautiful chieftain Gezthedt, and learns from her the method of "prooving" infants for limbs


Groups

Chosye - an ethnoreligous group descending from Boshte and Baxon peoples who have settled in Goodentoyg. The word comes from the ancient Maydel word "Ckassy", which means vagrant. The term can also refer to adherents to Yos, and also to ascetics who devote their lives to the worship and study of Yos. The religion of Yos mainly comprises a code of law that its adherents must follow, though it is supported in administrative sections by the basilicas or abbeys, which host the orders of ascetics. In this story, we mostly concern ourselves with the basilica of Tell Bathud, which holds a religious influence around the neighborhood of the late Yichen's palace. It can be clearly seen in the events of the story that the culture supported by this religion is a highly patriarchal one that excludes women from positions of power and provides a moral edict to the secular lords of Goodentoyg that essentially canonizes their rule (similar to the Chinese notion of the "Mandate of Heaven"). The Chosye have also cemented their rule through more insidious means, chiefly through the vilification of the Durramkuts and by sanctioning the systemic riots, massacres, and forced resettlements of Durramkut communities. They have a more relaxed stance on the Baitashir, since the adherents to Baita are a more nomadic people and generally do not overlap boundaries with the Chosye.
It is theorized that much of this schism along the lines of worship between the male deities arises from a racial bias; one that holds the traditions of the predominantly Boshte-rich cultures (that being the Chosye) over the traditions of the mostly Baxon peoples (the Durramkuts and the Baitashir). This schism, which is maintained by archaeological and historicist investigation, was probably precipitated by a long occupation of the Kaleet region by Boshte settlers who began to gain significant political power in the years following the Benathic tale of Baykorod, when the cascading invasion from a broader and more confederated invasion from the cold plains saw the installment of King Thudes in the Goodentoyg region. Contrary to the Benath, Thudes (who was probably a real person, unlike Tohbed, Sejah, or the Bassheks), was probably born in the far north, and probably began a cultural trend that favored the Boshte and led to anti-Baxon sentiment. This sentiment co-opted the native trinity of Yos, Baita, and Drramtur, and produced a "superior" supreme being from the set in order to set the people apart.

Durramkuts - a religious group (consisting mostly of Teskorin Baxons) who worship Drramtur as the Supreme Being. They are heavily persecuted by both the Chosye and the Uentackyens.

Baitashir - a religious group (consisting mostly of Itjod Baxons) who worship Baita as the Supreme Being. They are known to worship in a variety of unusual ways, including nomadic pilgrimages into the desert and temple prostitution. They are persecuted by both the Chosye and the Uentackyens.