Bone Weaver Glossary

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bannik: A bathhouse spirit said to be capable of foreseeing the future. The very brave—or very foolish—can request the bannik to tell their fortune by standing with their back to the steam bath’s open door. A light stroke of its fingertips brings good tidings, while a clawing foretells something far worse.

plural banniki

banya: A steam bath. In rural villages, these often consist of simple steam rooms constructed on private land. In larger towns and cities, they can also be found at communal bathhouses.

The Black Steppe: A vast and uninhabited grassland separating Kosa from Yezmir, sharing its northern borders with the Kosa mainland and the southwestern tip of the Granary. Its geography is largely flat and treeless, although staired plateaus and basalt columns can be found along its southern and eastern rims, dotted with the collapsed ruins of ancient Strannik settlements. Entire swathes of the steppe are buried beneath molten ebony sand and chunks of porous stone, the relics of a catastrophic event known as the Great Burning (Str: tzer Grohdler Korbrendt). Once the Stranniki’s ancestral homeland, it is now considered to be cursed land spoiled by the Unclean Force.

blight ward: The designated term for former battlefields that are still seeded with unexploded ordnance or toxic chemicals. Blight wards are common across the Edge and along Groznaya’s borders. These areas are dangerous, both due to the man-made contamination of the land, and the presence of the Unclean Force caused by the widespread death and suffering. Strange malformations of natural fauna and flora have been reported in blight wards dating to the Fifth Groznaya-Kosa War. Some speculate the mutations are caused by the leftover canisters of toxic gas Grozniy forces derived from vodyanoy gallbladders.

bogatyr: An individual endowed with magical powers. Troika belief states that a bogatyr’s power comes from the three goddesses of creation—with Tsarina Yelena’s reforms several hundred years ago, this doctrine has been codified into imperial law.

plural bogatyri

drekavac: A harbinger of doom created when an infant dies before its time. It is said that when a drekavac crosses through a person’s shadow, woe is certain to follow.

plural drekavcy

dreynikit: (noun/adjective, Strannitskiy) feminine and gender-neutral term for a worshipper of the Three Sisters. Dreynik is the masculine equivalent.

plural dreynikiten/dreyniker

The Edge: Kosa’s northwestern territory, stretching from the Ice Plains in the north to the Granary in the south. It shares a border with Groznaya, and as a result has been host to the worst of the front-line fighting between Kosa and the neighboring empire.

Fraktsiya: Collective name for the revolutionary factions controlled by Koschei, consisting mainly of civilian workers, conscripted peasants, and imperial soldiers loyal to the Fraktsiya cause. What they lack in magic, they make up for in unit cohesion and resentment at centuries of the bogatyri’s oppression.

The Granary: The Kosa Empire’s southwestern territory and agricultural hub. With its fertile soil and favorable climate, it provides much of the empire’s wheat, kasha, sunflower oil, and cotton.

grevka: The currency of the Kosa Empire. Grevka is used both as a singular unit and a collective plural (e.g., one grevka, twenty grevka).

Groznaya: The Kosa Empire’s northwestern neighbor, sharing borders with the Edge and the unsettled Ice Plains. No conflicts have occurred between Groznaya and Kosa since the devastating war ten years ago. While Groznaya has not yet interfered in the power struggle between the Fraktsiya and the Otzvuk, there has been an increased military presence along the Groznaya-Kosa border in recent weeks.

Holy Tribunal: The ecclesiastical body responsible for overseeing the trials and executions of suspected kolduny and heretics, under the authority of the Ministry of Heritage. Installed by Tsarina Inessa a hundred years ago to replace the previous vigilante system, the Tribunal’s stated goal is to preserve the cultural and religious integrity of the Kosa Empire.

The Ice Plains: The region to Groznaya and Kosa’s far north, a frigid and inhospitable expanse of tundra and glacial seas. Small whaling communities and mining camps can be found near the Groznaya and Kosa borders. Expansionist efforts from both empires have failed in the past, and those who venture into the region’s depths seldom return. It is rumored that the tsarina of witches rules the Ice Plains from her moving castle, and puzzling tracks found in the snow only seem to reinforce that theory.

koldun: A male witch. Koldunia is the female equivalent. Unlike the bogatyri, it is believed that kolduny derive their powers from the Unclean Force, and lurk in all strata of society.

plural kolduny

Kosa: The goddess of harvest, homeland, and fertility, she is one of the Three Sisters of creation and the Kosa Empire’s namesake. Her sigils are the reaping-hook and wheat sheaf.

Koskiy: The official language spoken in Kosa and its territories. As per imperial law, it is the mandatory language used in state schools, military institutions, and government transactions and proceedings.

mavka: A female forest spirit. In addition to stealing garments left out to dry, mavki are notorious for tickling men to death—usually to grotesque effect.

plural mavki

Otzvuk: The coalition of factions loyal to the tsarist regime and determined to restore Tsar Mikhail to power. Composed of the deposed nobility, the remnants of the military police and the imperial army, and the civilians they’ve conscripted to their cause. Although not all members of the Otzvuk are bogatyri, bogatyri play a central leadership role in its armies.

prahvekht: (affirmative, Strannitskiy) True, absolutely.

rusalka: A female river spirit. Although they are seldom found in lakes and ponds, it isn’t uncommon to come across them in saltwater bays and estuaries.

plural rusalki

rushnyk: an embroidered tapestry, commonly used to adorn the Troika home and altar, as well as in marriage and burial rites.

plural rushnyky

schväst: (noun, Strannitskiy) Tail.

plural schvästen

Seredina: The goddess of fate, technology, and weaving, and one of the Three Sisters of creation. Her sigils are the distaff and spindle.

sovnya: A polearm with a long, curved blade. One of the sigils of the goddess Voyna.

spoil: (verb) To be cursed or corrupted by the Unclean Force.

Sudrekht: (noun, Strannitskiy) Colloquial term for the Holy Tribunal.

Strannik: One of Kosa’s largest minority groups. Within the imperial mainland and its territories, the Strannik population ranges from 0.2% (the Kosa interior) to 7.0% (the Edge). Prior to the rise of bogatyri, the Stranniki were known as Strazhniki, or guards, due to the pacts of fealty they pledged to the now-eradicated noble houses in exchange for rights to settle. Despite being forbidden from carrying firearms and bladed weapons, the Stranniki’s legacy as combat servants has continued under the Morev Dynasty in the form of forcible conscriptions to Kosa’s front-line infantry—often starting in their early teens, of boys and girls alike.

plural (Kos) Stranniki, (Str) Stranniker/Strannikiten

Svet: Kosa’s political ally to the west. What the kingdom of Svet lacks in military might, it makes up for in a powerful economy and friendly diplomatic relations with foreign powers. In the months preceding Tsar Mikhail’s dethronement, discussions were underway of a marriage between the Tsar and Princess Agathe.

Troika: Ecclesiastical term for the Three Sisters, the goddesses of creation. Also refers to the worshippers of the Three and the faith in general (e.g., a Troika temple, Troika worshippers).

tsurästvo: (noun, Strannitskiy) A riot or attack.

plural tsurästvim

tza slovanakh: (exclamatory phrase, Strannitskiy) The stench.

Unclean Force: A dark energy capable of spoiling crops and bringing death and sickness. Said to be the force that powers witches’ magic, as well as that which resurrects the dead as monsters.

upyr: A wandering revenant that preys upon the dead and living alike, often spotted scavenging through potter’s fields and waste pits. Typically, an upyr’s flesh mummifies with age. However, specimens have also been found with wet rot or the pickling characteristic of bog burials.

plural upyri

vasyem: (noun, Strannitskiy) Water.

vodyanoy: A male water spirit. Can typically be found in marshes and swampland. Characterized by their two sets of teeth and froglike eyes.

plural vodyanye

Voserka: The three-faced goddess worshipped by the Stranniki, often depicted with a blacksmith’s hammer. It is said that she smithed the first humans at the hearth of creation, and that the Unclean Force rose from the cinders left over. Some believe the Three Sisters and the goddess Voserka to be manifestations of the same divine being, though heresy accusations have been raised over less.

Voyna: The goddess of war and retribution, and one of the Three Sisters of creation. Considered the patron of bogatyri, it isn’t unusual for soldiers to wear travel-icons of her into battle. Her sigils are the sovnya and balance scales.

Yezmir: A large and powerful kingdom separated from the Kosa Empire by the Black Steppe, it is at the vanguard of the continent’s technological revolution. It is an open secret that the import of Yezmirskiy tanks and dirigibles was as much responsible for Kosa’s victory over Groznaya as the belated deployment of the empire’s bogatyr regiments. So far, Yezmir has remained a neutral observer in Kosa’s civil war, intervening only to assist in humanitarian efforts and arrange evacuations of Yezmirskiy diplomats.