glossary

here, you will find a list of terms, characters, places and concepts from the dry universe.  if you’d like to see anything added, feel free to leave a comment on this page or on the dry: the serial facebook page.  most of what is in the glossary is simply a summary of what is already in the episodes of dry; however, this page may occasionally provide additional information, context or history not provided in the story itself.

NOTE: the glossary will be updated (ideally) as the episodes are posted.  thus, the definition of an entry may change as more information is revealed.  as a consequence, a reader may want to avoid the glossary until they are caught up with the story, so that “spoiler” information is not revealed here.

the glossary is currently updated through 111: riot! part two, “dreams”

A.

acceleration track – in ribbon driving, the acceleration track is the course and speeds the pilot sets out so that her ship can enter the ribbon drive at precisely the right time and speed to ensure maximum accuracy and safety of the transit through the wormhole.

aerie – an airborne transportation system present in the most modernized cities in the galaxy.

Ash Delmof – dayside miner, and leader of another cell of rebels on dayside.

atmospheric – a person unaccustomed to and / or inexperienced with space travel.

Aurorism – a controversial religious system which makes two primary claims.  the first is that contemporary technology is to not only be avoided but destroyed.  the second is that their deity, as yet unnamed, is to be worshiped by all citizens of the galaxy.  behind these beliefs is a claim that humanity’s world of origin holds a  supremely important position in the understanding of humanity’s past, present, and future.  they believe this world is called “earth,” and they draw their name from a fragmented document, the origins of which are claimed to be of this “earth.”  this document references a deity named “Aurora,” who was an irreligious god of the dawn.  though followers of Aurorism to not believe in Aurora as a literal god, they assume Aurora’s name to indicate their desire to oversee a new “dawn of humanity,” lead by their deity.

B.

Bywel – a “night” club on dayside owned by Cillian.

C.

Caulmen – homecity of Issac Devers and Leah Nevert on Dulvern.  a modernized but not excessively technological city.

c-ray – an energy weapon used, in large form, on ships and, in small form, by soldiers.

C’moy Tocts (character) – a dayside miner and close friend of Cillian.  a member of the rebellion.

Cillian [ surname unknown ] (character) – a dayside miner; a rescuer of Issac.  owner of Bywel and a musician.

cogneseé - a nearly-extinct mystical order of men trained to have extraordinary powers of logic, reasoning and insight.

credits – the contemporary monetary system.  credits can be transferred via computer in a non-physical sense or distributed through credit-chips in a physical sense.  although the value and legitimacy of credits is often disputed in the far reaches of the galaxy, the Interstellar Business Organization (IBO), aka “the giants,” generally regulate and ensure the value of all credit voutures throughout the local systems.

CPD – Caulmen Police Department

D.

dayside – the face of Klin that constantly faces its sun.  because Klin is tidally locked to its sun, one half of the world is in a constant state of day.  while the sun’s direct intensity and angle varies with the seasons, the sun never sets on dayside, and, as such, much of dayside is a scorched wasteland.  there is no standing water on dayside, and the closer one gets to the day-apex — the point which is closest to the sun, on average, all year round — the temperature rises far above that which can be tolerated by a human being.   dayside technically ends at the wall, though conditions are arid for a few hundred miles into the Ring.

Dremmes Yent (character) – partner of Pil Craff at DSB-13A(see Pil’s entry for further details).

dry – a light substance that, after subjection to processing and combination with chilled water, creates a powerful force that, when harnessed correctly by a ribbon drive, can open and sustain a wormhole for transit by a space ship.   dry is found in small quantities throughout the galaxy, and, outside of its primary source on Klin, is most often discovered in the cores of comets.  however, these deposits are negligible compared to the massive quantities of dry buried under Klin’s surface.  because of this almost complete concentration of the galaxy’s most valuable substance, control of Klin and the control of its dry production creates the most absolute wealth and power in the galaxy.

Dulvern – a modernized planet, home to Issac and Leah.

Dulvern Satellite Bunker 13A – commonly called DSB-13A, this station is a key part of Dulvern’s satellite system.  the location of the bunker is supposed to be a secret, and it is operated by the best students Dulvern’s satellite operations academy can provide.

E.

Efnemian Brule (character) – Caulmen PD’s liaison to Caulmen’s mayor, Brill Taulfen.  Brule is generally disliked by member of the CPD, and has a hostile relationship with Elmen Nevert.  a pompous character who thinks highly of himself due to his status.

Elmen Nevert (character) – Leah Nevert’s father.  Cualmen’s chief of police.

Eltteas – Leah’s favorite bar.

F.

Furlia Tocts (character) – wife of C’moy Tocts, a supporter of the dayside rebellion and tea maker.

G.

Gamne Padshaw (character)  - mass expert and second-in-command of the Lathan Devers.

Glanthor – a massive carnivorous plant that lives on Klin’s dayside.   though it is not conscious, the plant has evolved a combination of photosynthetic and biosynthetic metabolisms.  the active plant subsists on light energy from the constantly-burning dayside sun, but has developed moving tentacles in order to consume any meaty creatures that pass by.  the added protein from living sources boosts the Glanthor’s growth process, allowing it, over thousands of years, to become a great behemoth of the dayside deserts.

Gorshen – home city of Cillian and Sorensen.

Gorshen plant – the largest dry refining plant on dayside.  it takes its name from the city in which it is found, and is managed primarily by Sorensen and Cillian.  what little money the miners do make is due to the refining process: selling refined dry to StarEx is more profitable than selling raw ore.  because dayside labor is cheaper, StarEx allows the dayside miners to refine the mineral for themselves.

gravshower – a fairly common household appliance on Dulvern, and most populated worlds in the galaxy.  the gravshower cleans its occupant by first creating a zero-gravity environment and then washing and rinsing the occupant with various cleaning solutions.  while considered a luxury by some, gravshowers are considered relaxing and desirable almost universally.

H.

I.

Issac (character) – a Dulvernian youth; recent college graduate and temporary crew member of the Lathan Devers.  fiancé of Leah.

Illtikar  - the highly-devout and well-trained soldiers of the Aurorists.  usage note: “Illtikar” can be used both singularly  as well as plurally (e.g. “there is one Illtikar; there are many Illtikar”).  when referring to the group as a whole, the definite article must be used (e.g. “the Illtikar were feared throughout the galaxy).

J.

Jaymon Pert (character) – the pilot and medic (among other roles) of the Lathan Devers.

K.

Kantor Sefrion (character) – a high-ranking member of the StarEx security forces.   captor of Issac upon his arrival on Klin.  a brutal and ruthless torturer.

L.

Lathan Devers (character) – a skilled trader and smuggler of middle age.  captain of the vessel, the Lathan Devers.

the Lathan Devers (vessel) – a small, heavily modified trading vessel capable of traveling via ribbon drive.  captained by Lathan Devers and crewed by Syry Amnothewlian, Gamne Padshaw, and Jaymon Pert.

Leah  Nevert (character) – a Dulvernian youth.  fiancée of Issac who met Afnen Uvnor at Eltteas.  an admirer of ancient and antiquated things.

M.

magtrain – a magnetically-levitated train, common on Dulvern and many other worlds.

Mayor Brill Taulfen (character) – Caulmen’s mayor.

Mishhail Tawhn (character) – Elmen Nevert’s second-in-command and trusted advisor.  Tawhn worked a beat with Nevert after they graduated from the academy.

Myrnian Selt (character) – Caulmen PD’s officer of media relations.  a young woman who is not intimidated by authority and who is not afraid to stand up to her superiors, including Nevert.

N.

Nortin Gannef (character) – a low-level employee of the CPD.

Nosraut Probel (character) – a literature teacher who was killed at the riots of Rockhewn, as they became known, and who became a martyr for the mobs, though it was they who killed him (by trampling).   note: “Nosraut Probel” is an anagram of “Robert Paulson,” a martyred character from the ancient film, Fight Club.

O.

outworlder – anyone not from the homeplanet of the speaker.

P.

Patriarch, the – the hereditary leader of Klin.  in the early centuries after the settling of Klin, the Patriarch ruled with a gentle but iron fist.  Klin became a model of benevolent dictatorship for hundreds of years.  the citizens followed the law of the original Patriarch unquestioningly, and for generations, a sense of authority mixed with compassion was passed from father to son, and from him to his son, and so forth.  in recent decades, the Patriarchy has weakened in the face of corporate interests.

Pil Craff (character) – a young graduate of Dulvern’s satellite operations academy.  along with his partner, Dremmes Yent, Pil runs Dulvern Satellite Bunker 13A, one of the most important stations for Dulvern’s satellite system.

Q.

R.

ribbon drive – the sole method of interstellar travel.  ribbon drives combust large amounts of dry to generate a massive burst of energy capable of opening a hole in the very fabric of space-time.  over thousands of years, the methods involved in interstellar travel have become more and more refined, so that now, with enough time with accurate enough calculations, transit through the wormholes (usually referred to as simply “the holes”) is almost entirely safe.  however, haphazard ribbon driving can be fatal: the gravitational and magnetic fields of, for example, planets, stars, nebulae, and many other celestial objects, can alter the course of the wormhole, depositing an unfortunate ship in the wrong part of the galaxy or, worse, in the center of a star or planet.

Rinca – friend of Leah.

Ring, the – the strip of Klin that is comfortably habitable, set between the harsh heat of dayside and the deadening ice of nightside.  the Ring is guarded from day- and nightside by the wall, and is the only part of Klin that holds liquid water.  large portions of the Ring consist of freshwater lakes, and the comfortable living conditions attract the most powerful business moguls in the galaxy.  StarEx works almost exclusivley within the Ring.  though there is not day or night in the Ring, because of Klin’s tidally-locked orientation to its sun, citizens in east-west extremes of the Ring experience a constant dawn-twilight sun position, which provides comfortable temperatures and favorable growing conditions for crops and livestock.

Rockhewn Planetarium, the – a museum of astronomy and ancient history in Caulmen.  this planetarium was the site of the Aurorist hostage situation in which Leah was taken captive by Afnen Uvnor.

S.

Sancon – a subsidiary corporation of StarEx, primarily charged with the holding and managing of private storage units.  because of it’s small size and relatively negligible importance, though Sancon and its managers have gradually leaned towards the side of the dayside rebels.

SatSchoolers – graduates of Dulvern’s prestigious Satellite Operations Academy.

seeker – a torpedo-like weapon that, when fired from a ship, tracks the energy signature of an enemy vessel and attempts to pierce its hull and damage or destroy internal systems.  seekers are less affected by energy shields than are c-rays or other comparable energy weapons.

[given name unknown ] Sentuel, General (character) – the highest ranking official in the StarEx security force.

skytinsle – a local Caulmen brew, served at Eltteas, as well as other pubs in Caulmen.

Sorensen [ surname unknown ] (character) – a dayside miner; a rescuer of Issac.

StarEx – the most powerful corporation on Klin, and perhaps in the galaxy.  StarEx controls almost exclusively the dry exports from Klin by controlling its mining and regulating its refining.

strator – see telestrator

sunset – a popular dark liquor on Klin’s dayside.

Syry Amnothewlian (character) – the communications officer aboard the Lathan Devers.

T.

Tarshall Yandrake (character) – a Ring ally of Cillian and Sorensen.

telestrator (or strator) – a box that receives transmitted signals and translates them into moving pictures.  common features on telestrators are the reports, which keep anyone in their range up to date on current events, sporting events, and the dramas, which are designed for casual entertainment.  each telestrator has a specific identity address, and they may be used for communication if set up to do so.

Torgaminus – the leader of the last rebellion movement on Klin.  betrayed by his wife to Sentuel, an event that boosted Sentuel’s career to where it is today.

tram – a spherical transportation system that moves across a trackthrough gyroscopic methods.  while this system has many applications throughout the galaxy, Klin’s dayside miners have employed the tram to surreptitiously move between dayside and the Ring.

U.

Ulmnen Street Greenhouse – an all-vegetarian restaurant located in downtown Cualmen.

updown – an airborne vehicle used on Klin, as well as many other industrialized planets in the galaxy.  updowns fly horizontally through the air via normal jet propulsion, but their thin, flexible wings can propel the craft directly upwards from a landed position in a “flapping” motion; the vehicle can also land this way, requiring no runway.

V.

visiscript – a thumbnail-sized device that attaches to the back of the users neck and displays text from a selected book into the user’s vision.

W.

Wainright (character) – a religious prophet referenced by the cleric.

wall, the – to dayside miners, the fortified structure that circumscribes the planet of Klin between the Ring and dayside.  the wall is perforated by gates through which the miners deliver dry to StarEx merchants.  the wall is heavily guarded and is designed primarily to prevent dayside miners from entering the Ring.  there exists an equivalent wall on the Ring’s nightside, which serves a similar purpose.

X.

Y.

Yrshnma – an industrialized planet that exerts power over several planets in nearby systems.  the Yrshnma pyramid is one of the greatest engineering feats in the history of the galaxy, and houses the administrative center of five outlying worlds.

Z.