recursal/Fanatic-Fandom huggingface dataset:
Kel Hren

> "*Twenty-two minutes, east passage, second tunnel to the right, flank the generators, compliments to the Nirai, no musical endeavors, sir.*"
> ― Kel Hren
>
>

Lieutenant **Kel Hren** was a Kel soldier who served during the Siege of the Fortress of Scattered Needles. She appears in Ninefox Gambit.

## Personality

Hren is cheerful and phlegmatic, fulfilling her duty but prone to finding music in whatever sounds, makeshift instruments, or bored potential choirmates might be handy. Music constantly plays in her head and she frequently composes while waiting for something to happen. With perfect pitch and an eidetic memory for sound, she is talented with communications equipment. She lets her soldiers surreptitiously play games during resupplying, considering that better than more damaging alternative pursuits.

## History

Hren once heard Captain Kel Zethka, while drunk, describing her as "a vegetable who happens to have perfect pitch and eidetic memory for noise." She found Zrethka's low opinion of her very funny, but did not express that to him.

Hren was part of Zethka's Platoon Two in the ground invasion of the Fortress of Scattered Needles. They were nearly finished refilling their air tanks from a theater's emergency supply when Zethka ordered them to move up an eastern passage and take the second right in twenty-two minutes in order to hit the corrosion generators, since the Nirai had figured out how to tunnel past the invariant ice strands. Though Hren regretted the waste of not putting on an impromptu performance in the theater, she ordered her soldiers to pack up, ignoring the game of Fuck the Calendar they had been surreptitiously playing.

On the way, Hren reviewed the upcoming route and procedure with her soldiers, answering an engineering question by Kel Chion despite her sergeant's disapproval, but then telling Chion to go help Kel Huo with her pack to quiet him down.

In the passage, her company collided with that of Captain Kel Miyaud, who eventually gave way to ease the confusion of too many Kel clogging the passage.

Upon reaching the reinforced breach, Hren continued forward, following orders despite hearing shouts and doubting the work the Nirai had done. Between one step and the next, she experienced the "bizarre prickly speckling of the air" which had been associated with the corrosion gradient. This time, however, it was an amputation gun. Hren fell to the ground with arms, legs, and nose gone, her internal music quiet for once, mortally wounded despite the efforts of her suit's injections and skinspray. Losing consciousness, she regretted only that she would not be able to whistle tauntingly at the heretics who were surely nearby.
Day of Shallow Knives

The **Day of Shallow Knives** was a high calendar remembrance day observed in the hexarchate. It is described in Revenant Gun.

## Observance

On a planet or other habitat, the day is observed through the ritual torture of a heretic by a Vidona. The victim's mouth is sutured closed, preventing screams while the Vidona tortures them to death by slicing them up with a knife. The display involves a large amount of blood and is broadcast on video for those unable to attend in person.

## History

Kel Brezan remembered his first Day of Shallow Knives vividly, along with the childhood sensory memories of a patterned wallpaper he disliked, a mosquito that had escaped the ecoscrubbers, a toy voidmoth missing a wingtip, and one of his fathers stopping work on a commissioned painting to watch the remembrance. He had been fascinated by the Vidona's deftness wtih her knife and had quickly learned that not all remembrances prevent their victims from screaming.

After the broadcast of the revised calendar, the Day of Shallow Knives was not observed in the Compact. Two days after its high calendar date during the Compact's first year, Brezan discussed the remembrance with Kel Miuzan, arguing with her about the high calender's torture of heretics.
Flarecat

The **Flarecat** was a pre-heptarchate space ship belonging to con artists Rhehan and Liyeusse. It appears in the short story The Chameleon's Gloves.

## Description

*Flarecat* is a disreputable-looking ship. It has pilot and copilot stations with webbing straps for safety, passenger seats, handholds for maneuvering through the ship while in flight, and a number of nasty tricks installed to be used against intruders. Medical kits are available in case of injury. Interconnected systems include stardrive, stealth, scan, shields, and life support.

The ship is highly maneuverable. Though the stardrive engine is not designed for sprints, Liyeusse's modifications make swift escapes possible at the cost of complete reliability. The engines tend to cough and sputter at increased power draw. Liyeusse loved the stealth systems despite their tendency to blow out the engines at inconvenient times.

## History

While escaping from the authorities, Liyeusse did something unmentionable to the ship's stardrives which wiped out the duo's savings with the repair costs. An attempt to recoup through a museum theft too close to civilized spaceways led to Rhehan's capture by a Kel judge-errant; *Flarecat* was docked on a Kel carrier with Liyeusse bound in a passenger seat while Rhehan was being convinced to steal a superbomb back from rogue general Kel Kavarion.

With Sergeant Kel Anaz aboard to supervise, *Flarecat* followed Kavarion to the Fortress of Wheels and used its stealth capabilities to mate with her command ship unobserved, allowing a space-suited Rhehan to enter via a perilous connection of webbing. Meanwhile, Anaz knocked Liyeusse out and attempted to ambush Rhehan when they returned, but was left wounded in the hold while Rhehan returned to *Flarecat*. Revived by Rhehan, Liyeusse did preflight checks and communicated with Kavarion, who put the ship on her fleet's friend-or-foe identification system so it would be protected during Kavarion's conflict with another recently arrived Kel fleet.

*Flarecat* rocketed away from the command ship and through the chaotic battlefield, though the engine disliked the power draw and stealth went down near the battlefield's edge. *Flarecat* continued to flee, pursued by several Kel fighters but escaping their missiles, while Liyeusse configured for boosters that allowed their lead to increase. The ship then launched the weapon in a capsule and boosted in the opposite direction, escaping the weapon's cone of effect when it went off.

No longer pursued, Rhehan and Liyeusse reactivated *Flarecat's* stealth system and prepared to be on the run again as they resumed their life of crime.

## Trivia

* As a pre-heptarchate ship, *Flarecat* existed before the development of mothdrive and uses stardrive instead. It is the only named stardrive vessel in the continuity.
Ching Dze

**Ching Dze** was the chief propagandist for the revived Liozh heresy on the Fortress of Scattered Needles. Ching Dze is mentioned in Ninefox Gambit.

## History

In an analysis sent to Liozh Zai, Vahenz afrir dai Noum reported that Gerenag Abrana saw Ching Dze as a threat and had been opening security holes to allow the Shuos access to Ching Dze's target populations, and advised Zai not to allow the two parties to feud with their hold on the Fortress still precarious.
Kel Miuzan

> "*Oh Brezan, you'll never be formation fuel at this rate.*"
> ― Kel Miuzan in a scrying dream
>
>

Colonel **Kel Miuzan** is a Kel soldier who is a sister of Kel Brezan. She is mentioned in Raven Stratagem and appears in Revenant Gun.

## Appearance and Personality

Miuzan wears her hair in a braid. She is enthusiastically Kel.

## Personal Life

Miuzan grew up on Irissa Station. Her oldest father was a Kel; the second oldest collected guns; and the youngest was a children's book illustrator and had a set of pattern-stones used by his children. Her oldest sister, Rhezny Keryezan, is a sound engineer with two children. She also has a twin sister, Kel Ganazan, and a brother, Kel Brezan, younger by six years.

Determined to be a Kel since childhood, Miuzan practiced calendrical sword forms with discipline and ferocity. She taught Brezan pattern-stones (though she never gave him a handicap), swordplay, gun maintenance, and how to bake honey-ginger cookies, but persisted in treating him as a gawky younger sibling even after both were grown. While she and Ganazan played forts with Brezan, Ganazan always took Miuzan's side in arguments.

## Career

Miuzan's signifier is Ashhawk Vigilant. Last time she and Brezan were home together, their oldest father scolded her for ascribing too much significance to "a stupid personality test done in pictures" and told her to clean the family's enormous gun collection instead.

Miuzan was appointed to General Kel Inesser's staff several years before the Hafn invasion.

## References

1. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 12
2. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 12
3. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 3
4. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 1, 12
5. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 5
Enclave

An **enclave** is term used by servitors in the hexarchate to group themselves politically.

## Overview

While enclaves may have faction affiliations, they operate without human knowledge as independent entities, and have treaties with each other.

## Known Enclaves

### Pyrehawk Enclave

Pyrehawk Enclave is one of the Kel-affiliated servitor enclaves. Its name evokes the Kel ashhawk. Servitor 1491625 is from this enclave, and servitors recognize Ajewen Cheris as the enclave's agent.

### Trans-Enclave

Trans-Enclave is an enclave of servitors residing on Station Ayong Primary. It includes Servitor 271828-18th and many others, including a catform servitor.

### Tefos Enclave

Tefos Enclave was a small, extremely isolated enclave which served Hexarch Nirai Kujen during his rare visits to Tefos Base. It was comprised of three servitors: Rhombus, Sieve, and Hemiola.

## Unnamed Enclaves

* The enclave of servitors directly serving Hexarch Nirai Kujen was extremely secretive and did not communicate with most other servitor enclaves.[cite]

## References

1. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 10
2. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 6
3. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 10
4. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 3
Carrion bomb

A **carrion bomb** is an exotic weapon used in the hexarchate. It appears in Ninefox Gambit and is mentioned in subsequent books.

## Description

Carrion bombs kill living beings by spindling them into pillars of carrion glass.

As an exotic weapon, a carrion bomb would spare an anchor due to the intervening presence of the anchor's revenant, which would take the hit and be shattered into invisible carrion glass. The revenant's destruction would leave the anchor free of them but unshielded from any further exotic attacks.

## History

As directed by Hexarch Nirai Kujen, a carrion bomb fired by the bannermoth *Coiled Stone* was used to destroy the personnel of the null swarm, including the revenant of General Shuos Jedao. Jedao's anchor, Brevet General Kel Cheris, survived the attack, which was so severe that the sharded remains of the victims were blasted into the walls and floor of the moths they occupied.

## Trivia

* The destruction of the null swarm disabled affected servitors and involved a severe physical concussion in addition to the bomb's effect on living organisms. However, this may be related to its effects on the biological components of the swarm's voidmoths.

## References

1. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 20
2. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 22
3. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 20,21
Jaihanar

A **jaihanar** is an ancient Kel term for what non-Kel refer to as a **haptic chameleon**. The term is used in the short story The Chameleon's Gloves.

The exiled thief Rhehan was a jainahar.

## Description

Jaihanar are people who can crack security systems by perfectly imitating others' patterns of movement, fooling the algorithms that identify humans through their walks, facial expressions, or the patterns of their keystrokes. In order to acquire a pattern, jaihanar must observe a minimum of data, such as video footage, on their subject's movements. They also train in a variety of arts, such as painting or music, the better to understand the movements involved in those skills.

The ancient Kel produced few jaihanar, and those who completed Kel academy training were usually recruited to the special forces. Outside the Kel, jaihanar were referred to as "haptic chameleons" in the various languages of pre-heptarchate humanity.
Kel Essier

Brigadier General **Kel Essier** was a Kel officer who commanded Station Muru 5. She appears in the short story Extracurricular Activities.

## Appearance and Personality

Essier was tall and fine-boned, as one who had grown up in low gravity. Dark-skinned with close-shaven hair, she had a "beautiful, calculated, and not a little deadly" smile which Shuos Jedao reflected was much like the rest of her. At her desk, she presented an impeccably Kel appearance, dead center with gilded onyx ashhawk statuettes on either side. She liked plum wine and collected meditation foci made of extremely luxurious materials, antique lacquerware being her latest interest.

## History

Essier was in a marriage, though there were rumors that her junior wife had lovers. She was unusual in commanding a mere secondary base at her rank, as well as having fewer decorations than other officers who had served a comparable time: signs of a political appointee, a general in disgrace, or a good officer with a cache of classified medals. Her office was not completely secure, being poorly situated relative to the target range on the same level and with her desk chair perfectly framed by her office door.

Essier briefed Shuos Jedao on his mission to Du Station in the Gwa Reality, mentioning that the Shuos heptarch had recommended him for the job. Contingent on his performance, Essier promised an overdue promotion and command of her third tactical group, whose former commander had been caught with trophies from heretics. Rather than promote her fourth group commander out of her successful group into the badly shaken third group, Essier was willing to jump Jedao to third and give him its command fangmoth, *Sieve of Glass*.

Explaining that Shuos Meng, commanding the trademoth Moonsweet Blossom, had disappeared near Du Station twenty-six days before, Essier tasked Jedao with retrieving Meng, the crew, and any intelligence available. She also described the Gwa Reality's political situation, advising Jedao was to complete his mission before the region turned hostile to heptarchate interests.

To aid his mission, Essier assigned Jedao a merchant troop. Jedao reflected later that its personnel, which included Churioi Haval and Rhi Teshet, were not her best undercover team.
Boherem Roni

**Boherem Roni** was a Mwennin whose family was mentioned in Raven Stratagem.

## History

Boherem Roni's family, including a son who had gone to school with Moroish Nija and had had an annoying habit of talking incessantly about his collection of inkstones, resided on Bonepyre, most likely in the City of Hollow Processions. They were rounded up and taken away by the Vidona during the hexarchate's attempted extermination of the Mwennin. Nija learned of the family's fate from two adult Mwennin whispering to each other before they were separated in an illicit Shuos evacuation.
Black Squirrels

**Black Squirrels** is a flashfic set in the Machineries of Empire universe. It was published by Yoon Ha Lee on his Dreamwidth account, written for A.B. to the prompt "Shuos pranks." It will appear in Hexarchate Stories (2019).

## Summary

After a night of excesses, Shuos cadet Garach Jedao Shkan is convinced by Vestenya Ruo to fish for squirrels near the carp pond at Shuos Academy, where rumor says that the fish are outfitted with surveillance gear. Using a nut tied to the end of a fishing line, the two lure a black squirrel out of the nearby trees and entice it closer to them while trying to convince another cadet, Meurran, that the adorable squirrels are the real spies, since the carp can't even leave the pond.

Watching the squirrel chase the nut, Jedao sees the security camera behind its eyes flash at him twice. He decides to keep this observation to himself.

## Trivia

* The original title for this story was "Squirrel-Fishing."
* The author prefaces the story with an apology to Stanford University's black squirrel population. Squirrel-fishing as a sport, especially in educational milieu, has been practiced in the United States since as early as 1889.
* In the comments, the author confirms that the squirrel's camera had no need to flash, but it did so to counter-prank Jedao and Ruo, who would not be believed by the other cadets.
* This story takes place during Jedao's first year as a Shuos cadet.

## Links

* Full flashfic on the author's Dreamwidth account.

## References

1. ↑ Author's blog: Squirrel-Fishing
2. ↑ Author's blog: Hexarchate Stories due in June 2019
3. ↑ Author's blog: Squirrel-Fishing
Gheffeu

The **Gheffeu** were a heretical group from what is now the Outspecker Colonies. They are mentioned in Ninefox Gambit.

## Culture

The Gheffeu had distinctive names, a caste structure incompatible with the heptarchate's Doctrine, and holy weeks during which armbands were worn for particular saints.

## History

The Gheffeu lived in an area later renamed the Outspecker Colonies at the time when they were annexed by the heptarchate. They had to be assimilated into the hexarchate's culture since their caste structure was incompatible with Doctrine. At the time, the Andan were fighting the Shuos for influence on Doctrine, and did not handle the assimilation. Instead, Shuos shouters were used for fast compliance, but the calendricals were too unstable for them to be used successfully. Heptarch Shuos Khiaz and Kel Command were still arguing about it when the Gheffeu threw in with the Lanterners.

By the time of the massacre at Hellspin Fortress, the Lanterners did not trust their new recruits, and split up groups so that people of the same ethnicity did not serve together. The Hellspin massacre took place during a Gheffeu holy week and Gheffeu recruits would have been wearing white armbands to honor a specific saint. Four hundred years later, Brevet General Kel Cheris discussed one such soldier, a man of the technician caste listed among the dead, with the revenant of Shuos Jedao.
Shinozaki Miyu

Shinozaki Miyu, 2018

**Shinozaki Miyu** is a member of MRD48's Team M.

## Catchphrase

美優のこと、忘れないでね！篠崎美優です。
Miyu no koto, wasurenaide ne! Shinozaki Miyu desu.
*(Don't forget about Miyu! I am Shinozaki Miyu.)*

### 2017

* On September 2, she joined MRD48 after passing 1st generation auditions and promoted to Team M
* On November 28, she was announced to be participating in MRD48's 1st single but would not be participating on the last track Noel no Yoru

### 2018

* On April 28, Shinozaki Miyu was annnounced as the center of MRD48's 2nd single with Minatozaki Chiyo but she would only be participating in the A-side track.
* On July 16, she was announced to be participating in MRD48's 3rd single

## Team History

Team M
Joined MRD48 as a member of Team M on September 2, 2017
## Singles Participation

### **A-Sides**

* Aitakatta
* 10nen Zakura (WCenter with Minatozaki Chiyo)
* Gingham Check

### **B-Sides**

* Pioneer (Aitakatta)
* Shoujotachi yo (Aitakatta)
* Ponytail to Shushu (Gingham Check)

## Trivia

* **Favorite 48G Songs:** Ponytail to Shushu
* **Favorite 46G Songs:** Seifuku no Mannequin
* **Favorite non-48/46 Artists:** ANGERME, SHINee
* **Favorite Country:** Germany
* **Favorite Sport/Activity:** Gymnastics
* **Favorite Foods:** Pasta and Pastries
* **Favorite Season:** Winter
* Dubbing K-pop right now
* Unable to sleep when fed with flu medicine
* Terrible at athletics (like running), in fact, i get tired easily
* Low-key wants to go to any concerts, but ask myself why are all concerts held during weekends and in the evening when I am busy >u<
* Has a Nico figurine on my desk >.>
* Want to start cosplaying officially but I have no guts to do so ><
* Hooked onto anime of tragic genre with a little romance or military genre
Kel Irio

Commander **Kel Irio** was a Kel bannermoth commander who served during the Siege of the Fortress of Scattered Needles. She appears in Ninefox Gambit.

## History

Irio was a junior commander; her bannermoth was *Spectrum Fallacy*.

When Brevet General Kel Cheris first addressed her swarm, Irio was the ninth of the bannermoth commanders appearing in the vidcall. Cheris felt she seemed sympathetic, and General Shuos Jedao reminded Cheris to get used to thinking of her commanders by name instead of numbers.

When Cheris addressed the swarm's servitors later, those on Irio's *Spectrum Fallacy* were represented by a group of five servitors, each one of a different form.

## References

1. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 7
2. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 16
Irissa Station

**Irissa Station** is a space station in the hexarchate and the childhood home of Kel Brezan. It is mentioned in Raven Stratagem.

## Geography

Irissa Station is just outside the Concerto March, almost equidistant from Kel Academy Prime inside the march, Kel Academy Secondary outside it, and a corner of the Stabglass March.

## Description

Irissa Station's interior is not designed to evoke the experience of living on a planet. Its parks are not as big as the gardens on an Andan silkmoth.

The Rhezny family's apartment is on Irissa Station. Kel Brezan was raised there by his three fathers, along with his older sisters Kel Miuzan, Kel Ganazan, and Rhezny Keryezan. Keryezan's favorite reading spot in the apartment is by a lamp with a painting of grasshoppers. The house also contains their second father's collection of restored antique guns.

## References

1. ↑ Hexarchate Map
2. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 14
3. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 12
4. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 22
Kel Meraun

**This page contains spoilers for Revenant Gun.**

> "*Oh, I know perfectly well this whole thing is a ploy.*"
> ― Kel Meraun
>
>

Lieutenant Colonel **Kel Meraun** is a Kel soldier who served in the Deuce of Gears swarm. She appears in Revenant Gun.

## Appearance and Personality

A tall, broad woman and a matter-of-fact soldier, Meraun knows Protector-General Kel Inesser and deeply respects her. Meraun also keeps a book of Kel jokes on the terminal in her office.

## History

Meraun was part of a swarm of Kel beholden to the Protectorate but which was suborned by Hexarch Nirai Kujen in an exploitation of formation instinct.

She was Commander Kel Talaw's executive officer on the shearmoth *Revenant*.

Meraun attended Shuos Jedao's first high table on *Revenant*. When he questioned the food, she calmly dissected a seaweed roll and explained that the servitors had added unfamiliar fillings due to lack of access to regular Kel foodstuffs. She asked if he was waiting for a food-taster, and later reached for another roll and watched with detached interest as Kujen declined Major Kel Dhanneth's offer of a seat and took Jedao out of the room for a conversation.

When Scan identified a cindermoth guarding Isteia's mothyard as *Three Kestrels Three Suns*, Meraun breathed Inesser's name with the longing of a Kel separated from her rightful formation leader. She frowned when Jedao directed a vid call from Inesser to Talaw instead of taking it himself, and advised Jedao that Inesser was not one to waste time on speech when there were "upstarts to be crushed." She winced when Jedao fumbled another communication with Inesser, allowing Inesser to obliquely address the swarm's Kel instead of himself. However, she approached the subsequent battle with callous cheer.

## References

1. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 28
2. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 13
3. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 28
4. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 9
5. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 13
6. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter
Gerenag Abrana

**Gerenag Abrana** was a factory holder associated with the Liozh revival on the Fortress of Scattered Needles. She is mentioned in Ninefox Gambit.

## History

Abrana was an upper-level ally of the heretics, and was the only one who had spent significant time off the Fortress. Her supporters and factory holdings, concentrated in the Fortress's Radiant Ward, were vital to the heretics' activities.

Vahenz afrir dai Noum considered her smart but ambitious. In various reports to Liozh Zai, Vahenz judged Abrana's cooperativeness suspicious and advised she be handled carefully; believed her agents had been lurking around Vahenz's office; warned Zai that Abrana was undermining their chief propagandist, Ching Dze, by opening security holes for the Shuos to hit Ching Dze's target populations; and reported the discovery of time-delayed logic spikes in Abrana's systems, proof that the Fortress's finances had been tampered with. Abrana was the only one to pay attention to Vahenz's explanation of Hafn transmissions to the heretics.

After the Day of Drummers' Splendor, Vahenz reported that she had found Abrana spending too much time with some people in Finance. She warned that Zai might have to "backstab Abrana before she makes an attempt on you," and criticized Abrana's foresight in not using agents to hide her involvement.

After the depopulation of the Radiant Ward, Brevet General Kel Cheris judged that Abrana would definitely take notice of the destruction of much of her power base. When Captain-analysts Nirai Damiod and Shuos Ko discovered Abrana's tap on Zai's direct line, Cheris ordered an encrypted message inserted in the line where the tap would receive it, purporting to be a negotiation between Zai and General Shuos Jedao. A spate of grid sabotage also targeted Zai's lieutenants, including Abrana, but not Zai herself, in a bid to make Abrana's cryptologists suspicious.

Upon decrypting the dummy message and realizing that Abrana's tap existed, Vahenz deduced that the message would indeed sow discord despite the impossibility of the principled Zai actually collaborating with Jedao. Hoping Abrana's cryptologists were slower than her own intelligence and specialized code, Vahenz set her own office to self-destruct, visited the heretics' command center, and killed Zai to prevent her knowledge from reaching the Kel now that the Fortress was falling.

## References

1. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 16
2. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 19
3. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 11
4. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 11
5. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 15
6. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 16
7. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 17
8. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 19
9. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 20
Compression gun

A **compression gun** is a weapon used in the hexarchate. It appears in the short story *Calendrical Rot*.

## Description

A compression gun reduces the victim's lifespan to milliseconds, compressing the corpse into a paradoxical fossilized stratum of years both lived and unlived.

Divination by compression gun is illegal in the hexarchate, not because it requires murder but because it doesn't work: all possible counterfactuals involving continued life of the victim are rendered impossible at the moment of their death.

## History

A compression gun was used to assassinate a judge of the high court in the Gray Marches, preventing her from passing sentence on the city-station of Nran and destroying a fleeting counterfactual future in which she might have ascended to hexarch.

Due to a calendrical discrepancy between Nran and the nearby Khaio system, calendrical rot set in and every clock and calendrical engine in the Gray Marches broke at the moment of the judge's death.

## Trivia

* If used against an immortal, a compression gun produces "just a fizzle."

## References

1. ↑ Calendrical Rot
2. ↑ Open Thread: Hexarchate Stories
Hexarchate Stories

**This page may include plot or ending spoilers for unreleased material. Read at your own risk!**

**Hexarchate Stories** is a book of short stories set in the Machineries of Empire universe. It was published in June, 2019.

## Description

The book consists of 20 short stories and one novella. Two short stories and the novella are new, and five were first published elsewhere. The remaining thirteen short stories, some of which underwent changes for inclusion in the collection, first appeared as flashfiction on the author's blogs.

The collection also includes a series timeline and author's notes for each story, "including wacky cat and Texas anecdotes."

## Table of Contents

* Hexarchate (And Heptarchate) Timeline
* The Chameleon's Gloves (*Cosmic Powers*, 2017)
* How the Andan Court
* Seven Views of the Liozh Entrance Exam
* Omens
* Honesty
* Bunny
* Black Squirrels (originally "Squirrel-Fishing")
* Silence (new)
* Extracurricular Activities (Tor.com)
* Gloves (new)
* Hunting Trip
* The Battle of Candle Arc (Clarkesworld)
* Calendrical Rot
* Birthdays
* The Robot's Math Lessons
* Sword-Shopping
* Persimmons (originally "Persimmon Quest")
* Irriz the Assassin-Cat
* Vacation (originally "Delicious Critters")
* Gamer's End (*Press Start to Play*, 2015)
* Glass Cannon (new; novella sequel to Revenant Gun)

## References

1. ↑ Author's blog: Hexarchate Stories due out June 2019
Deuce of Gears swarm

The **Deuce of Gears swarm** was a Kel warmoth swarm commanded by Shuos Jedao nine years after the calendrical spike. It appears in Revenant Gun.

For the swarm hijacked and used to thwart the Hafn invasion, see Swanknot swarm.

## Overview

The swarm was commanded by Shuos Jedao, aided by his personal assistant, Major Kel Dhanneth, and under the direction of Hexarch Nirai Kujen. It was comprised of 108 bannermoths with crews of 450 each, their accompanying boxmoth transports, and two infantry regiments. The command moth, *Revenant*, was the first and only shearmoth ever built.

## Tactical Groups

### Tactical One

Commander Kel Talaw of the *Revenant* led Tactical One. Their executive officer was Lieutenant Commander Kel Meraun. Infantry was handled by senior infantry colonel Kel Muyyed. Tactical One's second warmoth was under Commander Kel Chwen.

### Tactical Two

Led by Commander Kel Nihara Keru of the bannermoth *Dissevered Hand*.

## Moth Kel

Moth Kel included Kel Luon, head of Logistics, and Kel Ahanar, head of Strategy

## Infantry Kel

Two Kel infantry regiments traveled with the swarm. Kel Opaira was in one of the regiments.

## Seconded Personnel

Seconded personnel included Nirai Wennon and Colonel-medic Nirai Ifra.

## References

1. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 9
2. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 13
3. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 9
4. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 28
5. ↑ Revenant Gun, Chapter 29
Kel Merez

Corporal **Kel Merez** is a Kel soldier who served on the cindermoth *Hierarchy of Feasts*. He appears in Raven Stratagem.

## Description

High General Kel Brezan had heard a sergeant swear that it was impossible to get Merez drunk without the use of additives.

## History

After infiltrating the *Hierarchy of Feasts*, Brezan and Agent Andan Tseya met Merez walking past a dueling hall with Kel Osara, both looking bleary and ready to sleep. When Brezan addressed them, Merez was slow to salute, staring at Brezan's high general insignia while trying to figure out what was happening. Both Kel confirmed that General Shuos Jedao and General Kel Khiruev were alive, but hesitated when Brezan asked if Khiruev was well; Merez repeated that she was alive. On request, Merez gave Brezan directions to Jedao's quarters. Brezan then ordered both of them to barracks with instructions not to speak to anyone until he countermanded the order, and they marched off to obey.
Gwa-an

The **Gwa-an** are a people who live in the Gwa Reality outside the heptarchate. They appear in the short story Extracurricular Activities.

## Culture

Gwa-an notions of ritual purity are tied to sensory experiences and represented in Gwa-an art by elongated, contorted humanoid figures. Personal space is valued, even in transportation, and eye contact is discouraged. Perfumes, music, fountain labyrinths, and bright lighting enhance public areas. Womens' clothing is comfortable and multilayered, with bright colors and patterns; men wear robes as well. Even criminals are processed and housed in beautiful surroundings. Security is headed by priests.

Cuisine is eaten with knives and two-tined forks. Meats are sliced thinly in excessive gravies. Wines, flatbreads, and succulent fruits also feature in Gwa-an meals.

### Language

The Gwa-an have a tonal language, Tlen Gwa, in which the high language is called "mongrel language". Tlen Gwa's writing system is "wonderfully tidy," having symbols representing syllables and vowels which change depending on small curlicue diacritics.

The heptarchate had a Tlen Gwa course which was taken by operatives entering the Gwa Reality. It was inaccurate, having been hacked by Shuos Meng.

Hexarch Shuos Mikodez keeps interpreters on hand for every language spoken by Shuos Jedao, including Tlen-Gwa.

### Hairstyles

While the Gwa-an accept a variety of cuts for all genders, hairstyle carries a variety of meanings in the Gwa Reality and mistakes can be regarded as offensive. Priests especially have extremely elaborate hairdos. Golden hairpins in the elongated, contorted humanoid shapes symbolizing Gwa-an ritual purity notions are venerated and treated with care.

### Dueling

Eschewing traditional weapons, the Gwa-an duel with nonlethal designer pathogens, biological agents deployed from spray bottles. The pathogens' developers claim a very good safety record, but it is not known how fast they can culture new pathogens. No formal verbal announcement is needed to begin a duel; a party who has perceived an insult merely mists the other party with their spray bottle and walks away. Gwa-an duels can go on for years.

## Technology

Gwa-an operating systems are drastically different from the heptarchate's, making cyberattacks impossible.

Special Ops, carrying out missions in disguise as pirates, have transmitter implants in their necks which must be removed and crushed before it is safe to speak around them.

Both dueling and medical therapeutic technology involve genetically engineered microbes.

## References

1. ↑ Extracurricular Activities
2. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 9
3. ↑ Extracurricular Activities
Kel Huan

> "*We'll take care of you, sir. Just hang tight.*"
> ― Kel Huan
>
>

Commander **Kel Huan** is a Kel bannermoth commander. He appears in Ninefox Gambit.

## History

Huan commands the bannermoth *Coiled Stone*. After the Siege of the Fortress of Scattered Needles, he was part of a relief swarm of four bannermoths and twelve boxmoths which met the null swarm near the Fortress. Hailing Brevet General Kel Cheris, Huan introduced himself and then claimed he needed to go scold his seconded Nirai over a "ridiculous emergency in Engineering" and signed off. General Shuos Jedao deduced, from Huan's pulse and tone, that he was lying and intended to destroy Cheris's swarm.

Moments later, Commander Kel Paizan's cindermoth broke formation to avoid an attack. Anomalies in *Coiled Stone's* engine harmonics were detected, and Cheris was warned that it was a bomb. Cheris ordered all units to open fire on *Coiled Stone*, but the bannermoth's carrion bomb went off and destroyed most of her swarm.

## Trivia

* The bomb detected by Scan involved "something wrong with the *Coiled Stone's* engine harmonics" rather than a missile fired by the bannermoth, making it likely that Huan had been sent on a suicide mission.
* While formation instinct should have constrained Huan from firing on Jedao and Cheris, orders from Kel Command would have superseded his loyalty to their rank.
Crescendo March

The **Crescendo March** is a march of space in the hexarchate. It is mentioned in Raven Stratagem.

## Geography

The Crescendo March overlaps both the Severed March and the Stabglass March, and occupies an area between the Fortress of Spinshot Coins in the one and the Citadel of Eyes in the other. It is adjacent to the Entangled March and lies on the Hafn border.

The Knifer and Crescendo systems, as well as Minner Station, are in the Crescendo March.

## History

The homeworld of Shuos Jedao used to be part of the Crescendo March. Lost to a border conflict 300 years before the Hafn invaded, the planet now lies outside the hexarchate in Hafn space.

During the Hafn invasion, the invading swarm destroyed planets in the Knifer system and Crescendo 2 and 3.

Shuos Zehun and Shuos Mikodez studied a counterfactual scenario exercise in which key Shuos officials in the Crescendo March declared for Shuos Jedao and seceded from the hexarchate.

## References

1. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 18
2. ↑ Hexarchate Map
3. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 5; Hexarchate Map
4. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 5
5. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 18
Ajewen Derow

**Ajewen Derow**, a Mwennin by marriage, was the father of Ajewen Cheris. He appears in the short stories Birthdays and Cheris and the Sea, and is mentioned in Ninefox Gambit, Raven Stratagem, and Revenant Gun.

## History

Derow married Ajewen Dzera, thereby becoming a Mwennin by marriage, and learned Mwennin traditions. Derow and Dzera were partners for twenty-nine years. The two lived in the Mwennin ghetto in the City of Ravens Feasting and had a daughter, Cheris, whom they named after the high calendar day of her birth since the traditional calendar-saint name she should have had relied on a heretical calendar. When Cheris was old enough, Derow and Dzera took her on trips to the seaside, which they had visited together before.

When the little family moved to a house outside the Mwennin ghetto, they had to regretfully stop celebrating Mwennin birthdays and be more careful about showing their culture.

When she was grown, Cheris, pale but resolute, presented her parents with the *fait accompli* of her acceptance to Kel Academy. However, she continued to write to her parents in Mwen-dal.

After Cheris left for Kel Academy, Dzera and Derow habitually sent her care packages, usually containing local food, sometimes sand dollars with carefully inoffensive designs painted on them. After her promotion to captain, they sent her an enormous stasis box of prawns, despite the expense.

When the Mwennin were rounded up for extermination by the Vidona, Dzera and Derow were arrested in the middle of the night and immediately separated. Due to their relationship to Cheris, they were guarded too heavily for Shuos agents to extract them.

Video of Derow's death, and Dzera's, was later seen by Cheris.

## References

1. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 16
2. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 16
3. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 20
4. ↑ Cheris and the Sea
5. ↑ Birthdays
6. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 16
7. ↑ Cheris and the Sea
8. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 16
9. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 27
Communal cup

The **communal cup** is an item used as part of the traditional Kel ceremony of high table. It is first described in Ninefox Gambit and mentioned elsewhere in the continuity.

## Description

The communal cup is an ornate cup provided for the highest ranking officer at high table. It is filled with cold, sweet water. To begin the meal, the ranking officer takes one sip from the cup and passes it to the next highest ranking officer, who repeats the action. The cup is refilled as necessary and returned to its place after every soldier present has taken a sip.

After taking their sip and passing the cup onward, each soldier is free to imbibe from their own cup, arrange food on their plate, and begin their meal.

If the ranking officer is late for high table, the next officer in line may take the first sip and pass the cup instead. The cup is then refilled to wait for the ranking officer, and the meal is briefly paused on their arrival until they take their due sip.

## History

During the lifetime of Shuos Jedao, every commander brought their own communal cup with them to high table, filling it from a pitcher upon arrival, taking the first sip, and passing it onward. This custom was later changed, and present-day ranking officers find the communal cup waiting for them when they arrive.

## Known communal cups

* Shuos Jedao's cup: a flimsy cup of cheap tin, taken from an enemy soldier and lost during an ambush on campaign. Jedao later brought a plain metal cup to high table after suborning the Swanknot swarm, hooking it to his belt as he left after the meal.
* Heron Company: red laquerware engraved with maple leaves.
* Deuce of Gears cup: a large, heavy object engraved with the Deuce of Gears.[cite]

## Trivia

* Squadron Four's sergeant in Heron Company liked to drink two sips from his own cup after the passing of the communal cup.
* Whenever smaller numbers of Kel officers eat together outside of high table, the highest ranking officer present is the first to sip from their own cup.

## References

1. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 2
2. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1
3. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 2
4. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 6
5. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 2
6. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 6
7. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 6
8. ↑ Raven Stratagem, Chapter 2
9. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 2
10. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 1
11. ↑ Ninefox Gambit, Chapter 6
Kel Daristu

Lieutenant General **Kel Daristu** is a Kel soldier who was mentioned in Ninefox Gambit.

## History

At the time of the Siege of the Fortress of Scattered Needles, Daristu was patrolling the Ivenua border. Vahenz afrir dai Noum mentioned him as the second worst general that Kel Command might send to retake the Fortress, considering him young enough to be open-minded when assessing the political situation. However, based on the most recent reports, she judged Kel Command unlikely to recall him from the border.
House Reed

House Reed of Greywater Watch is a noble house in the Kingdom of the North. Their seat is Greywater Watch.

## History

### Recent History

House Reed have been bannermen to House Stark since King Rickard Stark defeated the last of the Marsh Kings. Since then, House Reed has defended the North from invaders, most recently the Andals, attempting to cross The Neck.
Coiled Stone

**Coiled Stone** was a Kel bannermoth in the hexarchate. It appears in Ninefox Gambit.

## History

*Coiled Stone*, under Commander Kel Huan, was sent to the Fortress of Scattered Needles along with three other bannermoths and twelve boxmoths. The carrion bomb that destroyed the null swarm was fired by *Coiled Stone*.
Elon Borgg

> "*You think flyin' a fighter is tough? Hell, I've flown a freighter held together with astro-glue, grease, and hope through an Imperial blockade. That was tough.*"
> ― Elon Borgg speaking to Vid Paratool
>
>

## **Overview**

**Elon Borgg** was a middle-aged Corellian pilot during the earliest days of the Galactic Civil War and assigned to the newly formed Arrow Squadron. He joined the Rebellion in O BBY, but was shot down and killed at the Battle of Scarif. His call sign was Arrow Four.

## **Biography**

### **Prior to the War**

Borgg was raised on a farm on the mostly industrial world of Corellia. His parents never had much of an interest in pilots or flying, but as a youth Borgg developed an intense interest in flight while listening to Holonet races. As soon as he was able, he enlisted in flight classes without his parent's permission, lying about his age to the authorities.

Although never a particularly skilled pilot, Borgg was capable enough and assigned to transport duty hauling scrap metal from Corellia to Coruscant. While most would consider this assignment boring, Borgg was thrilled to leave Corellia and boring past behind.

Over the years, he grew weary with the heavy handedness and downright cruelty of the Empire, even if he never faced prejudice directly. When Corellian pilots began defecting to join the new Rebel Alliance, Borgg saw his opportunity to make a difference.

### **The Rebel Alliance**

Although initially assigned to cargo duty within the Rebel Fleet, Borgg proved himself capable at defending himself and his cargo, using trickery and guts to run a number of Imperial blockades. Eventually asked to transition over to the Starfighter Corp, he was initially reluctant. Having spent his entire adult life flying freighters, transitioning to a small, lighting fast fighter would be very different. However, realizing the Rebellion's dire need for pilots, he agreed to the transfer and was assigned to Arrow Squadron.

### **The Battle of Scarif**

Borgg and his new squadron mates were rushed into battle in an attempt to defend the Rebel Fleet at the Battle of Scarif. Having only a few dozen hours of training in a fighter under his belt, Borgg nonetheless earned a quick kill against an Imperial TIE Fighter. As Arrow Squadron and Green Squadron moved into the engage an Imperial Star Destroyer, Borgg's X-wing took heavy damage from the Star Destroyer's turrets. As he banked away from the massive ship in an attempt to allow his astromech droid some time to repair his systems, he was shot down and killed by a TIE Fighter. Tolamael Benere witnessed Borgg's death and broke off his own attack on the Star Destroyer, seeking out and destroying the TIE that killed Borrg.

### **Death and** **Legacy**

While Elon Borgg was not the most talented of pilots, he was a brave and dedicated soldier who believed in the good of the Rebel cause. He also became the first member of Arrow Squadron to be killed in combat.
Hragoshik Verrisen

**Hragoshik Verrisen** is the second daughter of Shuos Zehun. She appears in the flashfic Irriz the Assassin-Cat.

## History

As a child, Verrisen was not inclined to align her sleep schedule with her parent's. In the present day, she is one of the mothers of Zehun's grandchild Piri, the youngest of the little ones in the Hragoshik household, who shares her tendency to resist bedtime. Verrisen has a long braid and is nicknamed "Rissa" by Zehun.

After planning to put Piri to sleep herself in order to spend a little more time with the child instead of having a servitor see to her, Verrisen was distressed at Piri's recalcitrance. She attempted to buy Piri's obedience with another bedtime story, shadow-pictures on the wall, and bits of chicken in her morning porridge, but Piri refused to settle down. Verrisen was relieved when Zehun offered to take over for her, and, patting Piri's head, retreated to the living room to discuss an upcoming dinner party with one of her wives.
Kel Myoga

Lieutenant General **Kel Myoga** is a Kel general mentioned in Raven Stratagem.

## History

Lieutenant General Myoga's inspections, customary for Kel generals on command moths with high officers aboard, were recalled by General Kel Khiruev, who had joined Myoga on such walks as a brigadier general. Though Myoga excelled at training large swarms, her soft, droning voice tended to trail off at the end of sentences, resisting even augments' attempts to decipher it, so that her officers could only follow her lines of speech when composited.