boardways—major walkways within any Civilized Wood, they are characterized by broad avenues paved with wooden boards formed from the living wood of the meta-trees that define the city. While not formally zoned, they tend toward commercial structures with residential buildings clustering on smaller avenues that feed into the boardway itself.
Caudex—originally, a group of Speakers contemporary to Margda who broke from her seemingly arbitrary rules for Speaking. As they discovered powerful uses of nefshons they relocated to a singular island roughly midway between the planet’s two archipelagos and began shaping Barsk culture and society in ways they believed would keep the planet safe from the Alliance as they advanced programs that would set their people free
cribble—a non-citrus fruit that has a peelable rind like an orange.
dark—the second of Barsk’s five seasons, it follows mist and precedes storm. During dark, the cloud cover is at its thickest, some days blotting out any difference between day and night.
flim—a data storage medium that may take its name from either film (which it resembles) or flimsy (which aptly describes it).
flood—the fourth of Barsk’s five seasons. Rainfall is heavy but thunder and lightning are much less common.
handscreen—a small, tablet-like computer.
mindscape—(also “mindspace” and “mental space”) the illusion of place created by a Speaker during a summoning, often drawing most of the sensory details from the Speaker’s unconscious memory.
mist—the first season of the year and also the hottest.
nahlet—a type of nut.
plel—a twenty-third-century term for “apple” that completely replaced the traditional word when English was hardwired into Earth’s raised mammals.
sartha—a decorative plant native to Barsk, popular in gardens as each morning it releases a soothing, sleep-inducing fragrance.
spiralmint—a characteristic aroma of most formulations of koph.
storm—Barsk’s third season, it comes after dark and before flood. Rainfall greatly increases, as much as eight times the downpour of the previous season. Thunder is nearly continuous and lightning is everywhere.
tenday—a common way of grouping the passage of days.
tenyear—a common way of grouping the passage of years.
wind—Barsk’s fifth and final season. Cloud cover and rainfall are at their lightest, making this season the most popular time for travel between islands.