I'm so confused...
Cants are kind of a special language in Planescape. This is a dictionary that should help
you decipher the ones you run across in the game.
|
| ADDLE-COVE |
A not-particularly friendly way to call
someone an idiot, as in, "Did you hear what that addle-coved wizard
wanted us to do?" Also a noun: "He's an addle-cove!" |
| ANARCHIST |
Another name for a member of the Revolutionary
League. |
| ANTHILL |
City or town. |
| ASTRAL CONDUIT |
A wormhole through the Astral Plane connecting
the Prime Material Plane and the Outer Planes. |
| ATHAR |
faction in Sigil, also called the Lost.
Its members hold that there are no true powers. The local priests
would like to see them get lost (see "lost", below). |
| BANG AROUND |
To hang around, or spend idle time in.
Between adventures, bashers sometimes "bang around the Cage." |
| BAR THAT |
An almost-polite way to say "shut up,"
or "don't talk about that." It's quick, to the point, and can be used
as a warning: "Bar that, Janos, there's Dustmen over there." |
| BARMY |
Insane. As in, "The winds of Pandemonium'll
drive a body barmy if he stays too long." Barmies are insane folks,
especially those in Sigil, who've been "touched" by the impossible
bigness of the planes. |
| BELIEVERS OF THE SOURCE |
A faction in Sigil, also called the Godsmen.
They believe that everyone's got the potential to be a power. |
| BERK |
A fool, especially one who got himself
into a mess when he should have known better. |
| BIRDCAGE |
A cell, prison, or anything that compares
to it. |
| BLEAK CABAL |
A faction with despondent members and
a view that says life is meaningless. Also known as the Bleakers,
the Cabal, and the Madmen. |
| BLINDS |
The dead-ends of the Mazes, it also means
anything impossible or hopeless, as in, "He'll hit the blinds if he
tries lying to the factol." |
| BLOOD |
An expert, sage, or professional in any
field. A champion gladiator can be a blood, as can a practiced sorcerer.
Calling someone a blood is a mark of high respect. |
| BOB |
The business of cheating someone, whether
it's of their cash, honor, or trust. Good guides in Sigil warn a cutter
when someone's bobbing him. Thieves boast that they "bobbed a leatherhead
on the street." |
| BONE-BOX |
The mouth, named because of its teeth,
fangs, or whatever. "Stop rattling your bone-box," is telling a berk
to lay off the threats or bragging |
| BOX |
A rogue modron that has taken up residence
in Sigil. |
| BRAIN-BOX |
This slang refers to a berk's head, usually
in a crude or uncomplimentary way. "Go soak your brain-box," is a
common idiom, while "He banged his fool brain-box on it" means a berk
finally figured something (obvious) out. |
| BUB |
Booze, wine, or ale - usually cheap and
barely drinkable |
| BUBBER |
A drunk, especially if he, she, or it
has fallen on hard times. Bubbers don't get any sympathy from most
Cagers. |
| BURG |
Any town smaller than Sigil, in size or
in spirit - at least that's how folks from Sigil see it. Other bodies
don't agree. |
| CAGE, THE |
A common nickname for Sigil, used by locals.
It's derived from "birdcage," so it's a pretty harsh judgment on the
place. |
| CAGER |
A native or resident of Sigil. |
| CANNY |
Smart or talented. |
| CASE, THE |
The house or place where a cutter lives.
Has a positive connotation as a nice or decent place. |
| CELESTIAL |
An intelligent being native to the Upper
Planes. Includes aasimon, archons, eladrin, guardinals, and more. |
| CENTER OF THE MULTIVERSE |
A place that doesn't exist; there is no
true "center of the multiverse." No matter where a body stands, he's
at the center of things (at least from his perspective). |
| CHANT, THE |
An expression that means news, local gossip,
the facts, the moods, or anything else about what's happening. "What's
the chant?" is a way of asking for the latest information on a basher's
heard. |
| CHAOSMEN |
A nickname for the Xaositects. |
| CHIV |
A weapon, usually something with a blade. |
| CIPHERS |
A nickname of the Transcendent Order faction,
used because most folks don't know what they're talking about. |
| CLUELESS, THE |
The folks who just don't get it, usually
primes. Use this on a planar and there'll likely be a fight. Also
an adjective, like calling someone a "clueless berk." |
| COLOR POOL |
Portals on the Astral Plane that give
access to the Prime as well as the Outer Planes. |
| CONIES |
Victims of the cony-catchers. |
| CONY-CATCHERS |
Con-men, tricksters, or thieves looking
for someone to peel. |
| CROSS-TRADE |
The business of thieving, or anything
else illegal or shady. "A cross-trading scum" is a thief who's probably
angered the Mercykillers. |
| CUTTER |
A complimentary term that refers to anybody,
male or female. It suggests a certain amount of resourcefulness or
daring, and so it's a lot better than calling someone a berk. |
| DARK |
Anything secret is said to be dark. "Here's
the dark of it," is a way of saying "I've got a secret and I'll share
it with you." |
| DEAD, THE |
Another name for the Dustmen. |
| DEAD-BOOK |
A body in the dead-book is dead. Some
people have others "put in the dead-book." |
| DEADER |
Anyone in the dead-book. |
| DEFIERS |
Another name for the Athar. |
| DOOMGUARD |
A faction in Sigil that believes in entropy
and decay. Also called the Sinkers. |
| DUSTMEN |
One of the factions of Sigil. They believe
everybody's dead. Also called the Dead. |
| FACTION |
One of the 15 philosophical groups that
rule Sigil. |
| FACTIONEER |
A general term for any faction member. |
| FACTOL |
The leader of a faction. |
| FACTOR |
One of the factol's high-up advisers or
a body who's dedicated his life to the faction. Usually in the highest
position of power in a faction, and often considered for the job of
factol if the old one steps down or is otherwise removed. |
| FACTOTUM |
A dedicated member of a faction. |
| FATED, THE |
A faction that holds that if they've got
something, it's because it belongs to them. This doesn't always sit
well with others. Also called the Takers or Heartless. |
| FEEDING THE WYRM |
The act of executing a prisoner. Specifically,
a unique type of execution carried out by the Mercykillers. |
| FIEND |
Primarily refers to baatezu, gehreleths,
hordlings, tanar'ri, and yugoloths, but sometimes includes any intelligent
being native to the Lower Planes (night hags, imps, quasits, and the
like). |
| FRATERNITY OF ORDER |
A faction in Sigil, also called the Guvners.
They believe that knowing physical laws gives a cutter power over
everything. Not the kind of folks to argue logic with. |
| FREE LEAGUE |
A faction whose members live their lives
as they please, with no allegiance to others. Some folks figure that
makes them untrustworthy right there, but they're pretty useful as
mercenaries. Also called the lndeps. |
| GARNISH |
A bribe, as in "Give the irritating petty
official a little garnish and he'll go away." |
| GATE |
Another term for a portal. All gates in
Sigil are generally called portals. This term is also used in a general
sense to describe any sort of passage between one plane and another. |
| GATE-TOWN |
A burg on the Outlands that has a gate
to another Outer Plane. Each plane has one gate-town, and the town
often has the same basic appearance, outlook, and attributes as the
inhabitants, architecture, and terrain of the corresponding plane. |
| GHOST |
A prime who visits the planes via astral
spell. Since it involves little physical risk on the prime's part,
it's often considered cowardly and even distasteful by planars (the
prime hasn't even deigned to come to the planes with his actual body).
The term "cord babies" is also used, though less frequently. |
| GIVE 'EM THE LAUGH |
To escape or slip through the clutches
of someone. Robbing a tanar'ri and not getting caught is giving it
the laugh. |
| GIVE THE ROPE |
What happens to condemned criminals who
don't manage to give the law the laugh. Usually thieves are the only
folks who use this term. |
| GO TO THE MAZES |
A idiomatic curse meaning "go away" and
wishing a terrible fate upon the berk as well. |
| GODSMEN |
Another name for the Believers of the
Source. |
| GRAYBEARD |
A sage or scholar. This term refers to
the stereotypical wizened old man but can apply to any learned intellectual. |
| GREAT RING, GREAT WHEEL |
The Outer Planes, often depicted in maps
and diagrams (which are often misleading) as a ring. This also refers
to their infinite size, another allusion to the endlessness of a ring. |
| GREAT ROAD |
A series of permanent, always-active gates
scattered throughout the Outer Planes. The Great Road connects all
the Outer Planes, although the gates themselves are so spread out
that it's said it would take many lifetimes to walk the entire Great
Road. A few of the gates are linked by paths, but most are not connected
in any way. |
| GULLY |
A potential victim of a peel, a gullible
sod. |
| GUVNERS |
Another name for the Fraternity of Order. |
| HARDHEADS |
Another name for the Harmonium. |
| HARMONIUM |
A faction of the planes, also called the
Hardheads. Its slogan could be, "Do it our way or no way." |
| HEARTLESS, THE |
Another name for the Fated. |
| HIGH-UP |
Powerful. This refers to a spell, position,
or anything else with plenty of power that can theoretically be measured.
Also a person of money and influence. Factols, for example, are high-ups.
It's bad form to call one's self this; it's a phrase others bestow. |
| HIPPED |
Stranded. "Hipping the rube" means stranding
someone by sending him through a one - way portal. |
| INDEPS |
The common name for members of the Free
League. |
| INNER PLANES |
The Elemental Planes (Air, Earth, Fire,
Water), Paraelemental Planes (Ice, Magma, Ooze, Smoke), Quasielemental
Planes (Ash, Dust, Lightning, Mineral, Radiance, Salt, Steam, Vacuum),
and Energy Planes (Positive and Negative). They are planes of elements
and energy, as opposed to those of concepts and alignment. |
| JINK |
The goal of the poor: money or coins.
"That's going to take a lot of jink!" means an expensive bit of garnishing. |
| KIP |
Any place a cutter can put his feet up
and sleep for a night, especially cheap flophouses in the Hive or
elsewhere. Also, to "call kip" is to make a place a body's home, at
least for a while. |
| KNIGHT OF THE POST, KNIGHT OF THE CROSS-TRADE
|
A thief, cheat, and a liar - clearly not
a compliment unless, of course, that's what the basher wants to be. |
| LANN |
To tell or inform. See "well-lanned." |
| LEAFLESS TREE |
The gallows, which is where some berks
wind up after they've been scragged. |
| LEATHERHEAD |
A dolt; a dull or thick-witted fellow.
Use it to call someone an idiot. Also an adjective: "a leatherheaded
sod." |
| LOST |
Dead. "He got lost" means he ain't coming
back without a resurrection. |
| LOWER PLANES |
Also called the dark planes, or nether
regions - the Abyss, Acheron, Baator, Carceri, Gehenna, the Gray Waste,
and Pandemonium, the planes of evil alignment. Fiends inhabit these
dismal planes. |
| MADMEN, THE |
Another name for the Bleak Cabal. |
| MAZES, THE |
The nasty little traps the Lady of Pain
creates for would-be dictators. It's also come to mean any particularly
well-deserved punishment, as in, "It's the Mazes for him and I can't
say I'm sorry." |
| MARK |
To make note of something, as in "Spies
guard the portal and mark who comes and goes." To be marked is to
be identified, as in "That berk was marked as a Guvner." |
| MERCYKILLERS |
A faction of Sigil that believes in absolute
justice. Also called the Red Death. |
| MINDER |
A bodyguard. As in, "He's not so tough,
but there's a couple of minders watching over him." |
| MUSIC |
A price a cutter usually doesn't want
to pay, but has to anyway. As in, "Pay the music, or you'll never
find your way out of here." Not a literal amount. |
| NAMER |
Someone who belongs to a faction in name
only, paying lip service to its philosophy but not dedicated to its
principles. |
| NICK |
To attack, cut, or strike someone, often
used in threats. It's also used to indicate inflicting other injury
upon a sod, such as stealing from him, as in "I nicked him good, and
got his chiv." |
| OUT-OF-TOUCH |
Outside of the Outer Planes. A body who's
on the Elemental Plane of Water is 'out-of- touch.' This vernacular
comes from Sigil, which is considered to be the center of the multiverse
by those who adopted this phrase. |
| OUT-OF-TOWN |
Like the phrase above, this one's used
by Cagers to describe a body who's on the Outlands. |
| OUTER PLANES |
The Abyss, Acheron, Arborea, Arcadia,
Baator, the Beastlands, Bytopia, Carceri, Elysium, Gehenna, the Gray
Waste, Limbo, Mechanus, Mount Celestia, the Outlands, Pandemonium,
and Ysgard. The planes of concept rather than element. |
| OUTSIDERS |
Clueless primes who don't yet know how
things work on the planes (and especially in Sigil). |
| PARK YOUR EARS |
To eavesdrop, spy upon, or just simply
listen intently. "He parked his ears in the Hall of Speakers to keep
up with the very latest chant." |
| PATH |
A means of planar travel that requires
actual physical movement. Commonly known paths include the rivers
Styx and Oceanus, Mount Olympus, the World Ash Yggdrasil, and the
lnfinite Staircase of Ysgard. |
| PEEL |
A swindle, con, or trick. It's often used
as a verb. Peeling a tanar'ri is usually a bad idea. |
| PEERY |
Suspicious and on one's guard. What a
basher should be if she thinks she's going to get peeled. |
| PETITIONER |
A mortal who has died and reformed on
the plane of his alignment and/or deity without memory of his former
life. A petitioner's ultimate goal is to become one with the plane
he's occupying, although no one (not even the petitioner) knows the
whole dark of this. |
| PIKE IT |
A useful, all-purpose rude phrase, as
in, "Take a short stick and pike it, bubber." |
| PIKE OFF |
To anger someone, as in, "Once he discovers
he's been peeled, he's going to be really piked off." |
| PLANAR |
Any being native to a plane other than
the Prime Material Plane. These are living beings, not petitioners. |
| PLANAR CONDUIT |
A wormhole-like connection that links
two layers of the same plane, or (rarely) two layers of two different
planes. |
| PLANE-TOUCHED |
A planar crossbreed. Any offspring of
a planar native and a human. Tieflings are plane-touched, as are aasimar
and genasi. Alufiends and cambions are also considered plane-touched |
| PLANEWALKER |
A cutter who travels the planes looking
for adventure, jink, or glory - a planet-raveling adventurer. Usually,
to refer to someone as a planewalker carries a tone of some respect,
for such individuals are considered capable, knowledgeable, and experienced |
| PORTAL |
A doorway allowing passage to (and possibly
from) another plane. These are always found in bounded spaces like
archways, and always reQuire a key. Also called gates. |
| POWER |
A being of incredible might, drawing energy
from those who worship it and able to grant spells to priests. Also
called a deity or god. Someone a body shouldn't ever mess with. |
| PRIME |
The Prime Material Plane or someone from
that plane. Also a single prime-material world |
| PROXY |
A mighty servant of a power - usually
a former mortal servant of that power. |
| RED DEATH |
Another name for the Mercy-Killers |
| REVOLUTIONARY LEAGUE |
A faction in Sigil that wants to see all
the other factions destroyed. Also called the Anarchists. |
| RIDE |
An adventure, task, or undertaking. As
in, "What's the ride today, boss?" |
| RUBE |
A naive or clueless person, but not necessarily
a prime. Sometimes this term's used to describe any non-Cager. |
| RULE OF THREES |
One of the fundamental rules of the multiverse:
Things tend to happen in threes. |
| SCAN |
Look, listen, or learn. "Scan this, berk,"
can mean "listen up," "look at this," or "check this out." "Scanning
the chant" is learning the latest news. |
| SCRAGGED |
Arrested or caught. |
| SCREED |
A monotonous tirade, or someone who gives
one. If used to refer to a person, it means someone who speaks at
length without any real knowledge, or simply an argumentative person.
As in "Don't listen to him, he's just a screed." |
| SENSATES |
Nickname for the Society of Sensation. |
| SIGNERS |
A faction nickname for the Sign of One. |
| SIGN OF ONE |
A faction whose members figure that everybody
is the center of his own universe. Also called the Signers. |
| SINKERS |
Another name for the Doomguard. |
| SOCIETY OF SENSATION |
A faction that believes life's got to
be experienced to be understood. Also called the Sensates. |
| SOD |
An unfortunate or poor soul. Use it to
show sympathy for an unlucky cutter or use it sarcastically for those
who get into their own rnesses. |
| SODDING |
A derogatory term used to stress magnitude.
A "sodding idiot" is an amazingly stupid berk. |
| SPARKLE |
Specifically a diamond, but also any gem. |
| SPELLSLINGER |
A wizard. |
| SPIV |
An individual who lives by his wits (rather
than having regular employment). |
| TAKERS |
Another name for the Fated. |
| THOUGHT GUILD |
An unflattering reference to a faction,
used by those who don't believe in factions at all. |
| TOP-SHELF |
Great or best, as in "The really top-shelf
pubs are all in The Lady's Ward." |
| TRANSCENDENT ORDER |
A faction in Sigil. The formal name for
the Ciphers, who believe that the truest responses occur when a body
acts without thinking. |
| TUMBLE TO |
To understand, figure out, or find out
something. A body better tumble to the dark of Sigil before he bangs
around on his own. |
| TURN STAG |
To betray somebody or use treachery. Saying
"He turned stag" is about the worst thing that can be said about a
cutter. |
| TWIG |
To take a liking to, as in, "One particular
deva twigged to the idea of interfering with the Blood War." |
| UNITY OF RINGS |
The theory that everything forms a logical
ring or circular pattern of sorne kind, as illustrated by the Outer
Planes in particular. |
| UPPER PLANES |
Arborea, Arcadia, the Beastlands, Bytopia,
Elysium, Mount Celestia, and Ysgard. The good- aligned planes |
| VORTEX |
A passage between an environmental extreme
on the Prime Material and the corresponding Elemental Plane. |
| WELL-LANNED |
Connected, in-touch, or otherwise blessed
with numerous friends, allies, and informants. |
| WIGWAG |
To chat or talk. |
| XAOSITECTS |
A faction in Sigil. Another name for them
is the Chaosmen, which does a pretty good job of describing their
point of view. |
| YAWN, THE |
The state of being bored: "This place
gives me the yawn." |
