Glossary

Units

Time

Unit	Length	Notes
Heartbeat (approx.)	~1 second	Usually used only in e.g. combat.
Hail (approx.)	~5 minutes	The smallest interval of time normally used in everyday life.
Pot (approx.)	~20 minutes	A time measurement based on how long it takes to boil a large pot. Approximate.
Bell	1 hour	Just what they call hours. Less used because the bells from Vauclerc are too far to hear.
Spoke	2 hours	Spokes of the Wheel cast shadows across the sky at regular intervals as the Wheel turns overhead.
Watch	3 hours	From guardsmen watches. 3 hours per shift is common around the world for humans.
Day	24 hours	A standard time based on the most common length of the day. The actual length of a day from one sunup to the next can vary wildly with little rhyme or reason, as can the ratio of daylight to nighttime, but the Wheel of the Turning Year turns on regardless, maintaining the semblance of regularity to time.
Week	10–11 days	Depending on the month and which week of the month it is. Most weeks are 10 days with 4 weeks in a month. On the High Months (midspring, midsummer, midautumn, midwinter), the first and last weeks are 11 days.

Length

Unit	Imperial	Metric	Notes
Digit	0.75 inches	~1.9 cm	The width of your middle finger.
Hand	3 inches	~7.6 cm	The width of your hand from pinky to index finger.
Cubit	1.5 feet	~46 cm	The length from your elbow to your fingertip, or from your shoulder to your elbow if you cross your arms.
Pace	5 feet	~1.5 m	Based on roughly the length of a full stride, or two steps.
League	3 miles	~4.8 km	The distance a person should theoretically be able to walk in a bell. Spoke-Leagues and Watch-Leagues are sometimes used to mean 6 and 9 miles respectively, but are rare outside of specific contexts.

Weight

Unit	Imperial	Metric	Notes
Lesser Stone	5 pounds	~2.3 kg	See Greater Stone.
Greater Stone	20 pounds	~9.1 kg	There are a few actual rocks of “standard” weight in the storeroom, used for trading with passing merchants, but it’s approximate otherwise. “A Stone” usually refers to the Greater Stone.

Volume

Unit	Customary	Metric	Notes
Barrel	32 US gallons	~121 L	Also equal to 4 Bushels (dry) or 4 Urns (liquid). Roughly the size of a standard ale barrel.
Store	400 US gallons	~1,510 L	Used for both wet and dry goods. As the name suggests, the amount that fits in massive storage pots. Rarely used outside of merchants discussing goods transport or warehousing, or in granaries; the unit is too large to be useful most of the time.

Terms

Term	Definition
Human	An inexact term that refers to sentient creatures that vaguely resemble Men. As is obvious from the word, the term was invented by Men, and cultures and languages where other races are dominant rarely use this term. Whether or not a race is a human depends greatly on how fondly the Men in the region view that race. Most laws and rights, insofar as they exist, in nations dominated by Men only apply to humans, and those who are considered inhuman or monstrous are essentially considered to be no more than talking animals. Sometimes also used to refer specifically to the race of Men.
Humanoid	A broader term than human that also admits monstrous or alien creatures. Usually does not include the fae or demons, except when used as a purely physical description. Generally includes goblins, kobolds, orcs, gnolls, and so on.
Personal Divinity	The capacity of an individual creature to assert their presence and will separate from the Will of the World. Older things tend to have more personal divinity, and those with more personal divinity are more powerful. In particular, heroes often have a great deal of personal divinity, which enables them to defy otherwise lethal injuries, as well as harm those which should be out of the reach of mortal blades.
Hero	Any mortal with meaningfully elevated personal divinity compared to their peers. Almost all nobles are heroes by the standards of the common folk, but they rarely speak of each other as such.
First World	The world of ages long since past, defined by what should be rather than any rules about what is; a world where time and space are not yet separated and the laws of causality are tenuous at best. The home of the fae and demons alike.
Second World	The current world which has existed for many Ascensions. A world of fading magic where rules become fixed and the order of reality suppresses the whimsy of individuals. Still, the exceptional and truly divine can find ways to bend the world to their will.
Third World	A world of the distant future, where magic is dead and reality is written in harsh black ink and painted in faded grey. Inhabited exclusively by nearly soulless creatures with no, or almost no, personal divinity.
Namegiver	A term that refers to sentient creatures of the second world, as distinct from Namemakers (the Mantled, or titled, Fae), Namespeakers (most other creatures of the First World), the Nameless (sentient creatures of the Third World), and Name Eaters (Horrors). They are capable of granting Names to Nametakers (most everything else) and thus changing their nature ever so slightly.
Demon	A catch-all phrase for all aligned, non-native Outsiders. The different types are Celestial Demon (LG), Elysian Demon (NG), Arcaedian Demon (CG), Infernal Demon (LE), Tatarian Demon (NE), and Abyssal Demon (CE). There are also the much rarer, and more powerful, Sophian Demons (Pure G) and Hadal Demons (Pure E). When humanoids (or fae) go to other planes, they are considered Tellurian Demons (see Tellurian Plane).
Fiend	A catch-all phrase for demons aligned with Below, usually including hadals.
Angel	A catch-all phrase for demons aligned with Above, usually including Sophians. This term was once arrogated to refer only to Sophians, and some cultists still reserve the term for them alone.
Fae	Creatures of the First World, natives of the Tellurian Plane.
Tellurian Plane	Also known as the Material Plane; the plane that humanoids are native to.
Deific	Creatures of level 25–30 or higher, who are not deities but for whom the distinction is mostly academic. Creatures such as the Elemental Royalty and the Queens of the Faerie Courts are Deific.
Ascension War	A cataclysmic war which occurs at the end of every eon, or Ascension. The winner becomes holder of a Divine Throne and thus becomes a god.
Spell	Spells are pale mimicries of magic which nonetheless boast the same level of power. Those who use spells are called spellcasters.
Magic	Magic is inherent to those who have it and cannot be learned. It is a function of the nature of the soul which is able to use it. A succubus’ charm is magic, but a spellcaster who learns Charm Person is using a spell. Largely academic, but certain magical artefacts, defensive spells, or blessings only affect one or the other.
Cant	A specific kind of Magic that is exclusive to those of the Second World. As the First World faded, true magic — magic inherent to those who have it based on a function of the soul — quietly and slowly disappeared also. Cants are a sort of remnant of magic that a mortal of the second world is occasionally born with.
True Demon	A term for demigods that take after their divine parent. Most have monstrous or unnatural appearances and they are almost certain to be deific in power.
The Seventy	A collective term referring to the seventy-two true demon children of Mutsuki.