Easternport Vol. 1, First Edition

Glossary of Terms from the Rich Language of Easternport

Easternport language is varied and unique according to what social class you belong to and who you spend your time with. As a Center City Townie, I am probably the most mundane of the cultural groups. But I have been... blessed... to have come into contact with many different cultures and ways of speaking. Here are the terms I have picked up along the way. And these should be very useful to you as you read the stories of the Rea Estate caretakers. They are certainly useful for me when I am trying to decipher Mikkel's drunken ramblings.

-Steven Bucchanan, Easternport Police

Important Terms to Know Concerning the People of Easternport and the Area of the Township

The Underground - A militant group that branched off of the Serpents a generation ago and have since been at war with the Serpents. Many families have been torn in half between The Underground and the Serpents. Members of The Underground are called Underground Patriots or Underground Society Members.

The Serpents - A militant rebel group that formed out of the German Heritage Society three generations ago. They have been fighting for complete control over the city for the past ninety years and are responsible for spurring on and aiding the separatists who demanded that Easternport become a city-state one generation ago. Members of The Serpents are called Serpent Society Members.

Masters Mercenary Corps. - At one point, I believe, this was nothing more than a small gang in the North End of Easternport, but when the gang wars broke out between the Serpents and The Underground, they decided to make war their business and sold themselves as guns for hire, eventually making a semi-solid treaty with The Underground.

The Fault - The line of city blocks in the North End of Easternport that separate the Underground controlled area from Center City which is controlled by the Serpents.

Jaggars - A large militant group (more likely to be called a gang) that controls the South End of Easternport and has made their home at The Docks. They are vicious and ugly and one must be desperate or crazy to mess with them.

The Docks - Not to be confused with the shipping harbor. The home of The Jaggars. It is a rickety, old pile of rotting wood, built several stories high near the mouth of the river. I do not have a Jaggar here to ask about The Docks and the only information that Mikkel will tell me is that it should torch easily.

Society of Banned Sciences (SBS) - An international black market organization that had its start in weapons design and building, but recently started into genetics and biochemistry research. Their motto has been, "Let there be no limits on the exploration of all things." It is this motto, and the inhumane acts that it justifies, that have caused the SBS to be hunted down and rooted out of many nations around the world. Unfortunately, they have deeply planted themselves at the foot of Easternport.

Indigo Children - There is a theory that everyone in the world carries the necessary chemicals in their bodies to become an Indigo Child. What separates Indigo Children from everyone else is the amount of these chemicals. Indigo Children constantly create these psycho-active chemicals in their blood stream, and they do it in such high quantities that it builds up on their nerves and even settles in their muscles. Because of this, they have developed a type of extra sensory awareness that allows them to connect to and manipulate other people's nerves. The SBS was one of the first scientific organizations to observe and document the abilities of Indigo Children (even though they have been recorded in legends for quite some time), and since their initial discovery, it has become one of the SBS's top priorities to explore all possible aspects and uses of Indigo Children and the psycho-active chemicals that make them unique.

Gebrochen Language Terms (spoken by both the Underground and the Serpent society members)

abscheul hauf infiz schwein eut – abominable growth on an infected pig's udder

adelige - aristocrat

anns – pain in the neck

Beton- local liquor

gal-tas- bag of bile

gebbed- cultured, refined

heich- tricky, awkward

jine – whore

käse-verlau ku - cheese-oozing cow

kollectiv -group

kopf- idiot

Misch- Bastard

müll – trash

puse- pimple

qual-gehäu eit-ba – jellyfish-skinned puss-ball

roockt – crazy

schloch - asshole

schwach- imbicile

thaler-- money, cash, wealth

verdam' – damn

versch- scheme, conspiracy

Common Terms (spoken by most everyone else in Easternport)

feck -an incompetent person; a waste

fish – the name for people who work at the port (referred to by those in the center city).

Mud skipper- people who work at the port, but also have business or personal life in the center city.

sludge- pit

Townies- people who live and work in center city and have no connection to the gangs.

wrack- wreckage

Card Language (used by cardsharks like Mikkel and Markus)

bottom dealer - someone who deals cards from the bottom of the deck instead of the top

cold deck - a special deck of cards set up and stored away to use in place of the house deck

collusion - working with a partner to fix a game

juice/daub- marking cards before/during play

holdout - keeping a card out of play

mechanic - someone who specializes in slight-of-hand or other types of cheating methods in cards

rathole/ratholing – sneaking money out of the pot

Code (Written by the Society of Banned Sciences scribes and occasionally spoken by the Society of Banned Sciences scribes; used by both the SBS and the Jaggars; understood by very few.)