The Cerebus Concordance, version 1.2
by Alexx Kay
Any one who isn't *real* interested in Cerebus, *please* hit "n" now, or maybe even "k". This sucker is *huge*.
Welcome to version 1.2 of the Cerebus Concordance. This document is intended to index the people, places, items and groups in the Cerebus stories. Although it should be of interest in various regards, this is not* a timeline, a checklist of publications, an annotation, or a dangler list. Those are my other* big Cerebus projects :)
Comments and correction are welcomed, of course. I expect to be keeping this up-to-date for my own pleasure, but not posting updates very often (there just isn't enough room on my account). If anyone wants to take responsibility for distributing the latest posted version, go for it. Permission is hereby granted to freely distribute this, as long as you don't charge for it. Just about every person, place and thing mentioned here is Copyright 1992 Dave Sim.
Most entries are followed by references to the issue and page where I got the dating information from. Unless otherwise noted, all issue numbers refer to Cerebus. Lengthier explanations are included where I felt them necessary.
This is a *draft* release. It (hopefully) completely covers issues 1-25 and 151-163. In several places I have inserted issue references as "xxx", which is shorthand for "I haven't gotten around to annotating that issue yet, and I'll fill it in later."
The Cerebus Concordance 1.2
AARDVARKIAN AGE
See MAPS.
AARDVARKS
Aardvarks are also called "earth-pigs" colloquially.
The PIGTS had an aardvark god-king a thousand years ago (5,
p.16).
ABBESS OF GOOD ABBEY
Appears in issue 40.
Cameos/mentions in issue 41.
She controls all of GOOD ABBEY's 15 electoral votes. As expected from a female political figure in Estarcion, she is a Cirinist, although one presumes she shows a public facade of orthodox Tarimism.
AGERDEN, Duke of
Appears in issue 19.
An old friend of Cerebus', formerly a shady operator, now a (mostly) legitimate Duke.
AKSHUN CROSSING
Located in PALNU, between Palnu city and FLUROC.
ALANNE
Mentioned in issue 13.
A milk-maid whose pregnancy was blamed on NECROSS HAHAHA THE MAD and
was forced to marry GUMS, the village idiot.
ALBATROSS
Appears in issues xxx.
Mentioned in issues 29-30, 39, 41.
First mentioned in issue 29, p. 12 as "...a DAM statchoo of a DAM
DUCK!" The Albatross plot in High Society bears a great deal of
similarity to The Maltese Falcon (see ASTORIA).
ALCHOHOL SANCTION, THE
Mentioned in issues 164-166.
A law under the CIRINIST regime that controls the distribution of alchohol. See issue 165, p.14 for a full description (included below under NEW MATRIARCHY, THE).
ALEXANDRA
Appears in issues 154-155.
A young woman living in Lower Iest.
ALFRED
See SUENTEUS PO THE SECOND
AMSTANAT
A country located to the southeast of the lands of KHAIDOGE THE
UNGOVERNABLE and LISHYAN. Capital is SAN-FONIL.
It is ruled by a god-king, for whom the BLACK BLOSSOM LOTUS was
created. Went through some religious wars circa 1361. (10, pgs.5,7).
ANDRENA, GREAT
Mentioned in issue 160.
Ruler of the CIRINISTS of the Upper City in IEST during the time of SUENTEUS PO III.
APOCALYPSE BEAST
A magical creation of great power. They are controlled by the a phrase of the form "All who know ____ shall burn at the touch of the beast...", where the blank may be filled in with any word the creator chooses. Examples include SUMP THING and WOMAN-THING.
ARNOLD THE ISSHURIAN
ARTEMIS STRONG
A personality of the COCKROACH. It is not known whether or not Artemis is his real name.
"ARTIST"
Appears in issues 25, 37.
An unnamed artist who owns a castle not far from IEST.
He possesses a number of unusual artifacts, including his castle (a relic of the Black Tower Period), SUMP-THING, and the ALBATROSS. (The castle is allegedly just rented (37, p.18).)
He may very well be the "good" magician who stands in opposition to CLAREMONT (see MAGIC).
He may also be an ILLUSIONIST. He is skilled at symbolist painting (25, pgs.8-9) and at the use of subliminal messages (37, p.18).
ASHEM SOGGOT RA
A god/demon? Possibly the name of the sorcerer from "The Flame
Jewel" (1, p.18).
ASHTOTH
A god some sort. Frequently used as an oath: "Ashtoth take me!"
(3, p.7), "Ashtoth preserve me" (5, p.6), "Ashtoth's visage!" (5,
p.11), "By Ashtoth!" (13, p.18).
ASTORIA
Appears in issues 31-35, 37-42, xxx, 155, 159, 161, 163-165, 167-169, 171-172.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 36, 157-158, 160, 162, 166, 170.
Born in LOWER FELDA (163, p.2).
Originally conceived of as a "Mary Astor character" (HS
notebooks, p.2). Clearly she is based on the Brigid O'Shaughnessy
character Astor played in the 1941 version of "The Maltese Falcon".
She is Lord JULIUS' third ex-wife (42, letters). This led to her station as Duchess of PARMOC.
She is a brilliant political manipulator, and extremely good at hiding her own feelings, sympathies, and motivations. For example, despite being the founder of the KEVILLIST movement, it is not commonly known whether she is, in fact, a KEVILLIST, or remains a CIRINIST.
"... I believe in state-owned prostitution, pharmaceutically-
assisted miscarriages, ownership of men, guaranteed minimum incomes
for women over the age of fifteen and the inalienable right to self-
determination within those parameters... "
Author of KEVILLIST ORIGINS and, presumably, many other tracts.
AVERS
A satellite city of PALNU, in the CI'NUFINN district.
BACCHUS
A cameo of Eddie Campbell's Bacchus character appear in issue
152, p.15.
"BARTENDER"
Appears in xxx, 165-167.
BASKIN
Appears in issues 15, 38-39, 151, 162, 169.
Cameos/mentions in issues 26.
LORD JULIUS's stenographer and assistant. Holds the title Minister for Executive Planning "in honor of his paying two hundred pieces a month".
BAY OF SUNSHEE
The sea immediately around PALNU (18, map).
BEDUIN
Capital city of LOWER FELDA (45, p.10).
BEHN RHIADOR
Southwest district of PALNU, containing the city of STEHLIS (18, map).
BETH
An artists model. Appears in issues 153-154.
BLACK BLOSSOM LOTUS
Appears in issues 10, 11 and 152.
A powerful magic talisman created by the wizard HERCES for the
god-king of AMSTANAT. It is lost on or about 1361, and doesn't
reappear until 1411 (issue 10), but is soon lost again (11, p.xxx)
Reappears in issue 152, undergoing a strange transformation.
BLACK SUN CULT
Appears in issues 6 and 7.
Cameo in Issue 16.
A mysterious cult of death worshippers from the HSIFAN KHANATE.
They are "centuries" old. The "Black Sun" may be synonymous with
Death. They have a sacred symbol of a circle with two lines
descending from it, similar to a mirrored "Q". They are popularly
known to possess a great deal of treasure, and to be utterly
ruthless.
Their leader is referred to as "the Dark Majesty".
They had at least one major temple in the mountains to the north
of the Hsifan Khanate. In the center of this temple is a huge pit,
inhabited by a giant spider-like creature, apparently identified by
the priesthood with their god. It consumes souls, and is apparently
destroyed (along with the temple) while trying to consume CEREBUS'.
One of their ancient gods ("The Nameless Ones") has a close
resemblance to CEREBUS.
There is allegedly a "Festival of the Black Sun in early winter
(7, p.4).
There is a drink popularly known as a "Black Sun Cocktail"
consisting of dark ale, apricot brandy and BOREALAN whiskey (7, p.4).
BLACK TOWER
BLAKELY, HARMON
Appears in issues 39, 41.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 33, 37, 42, 156-157, 166.
A high-ranking member of Iest's legislature, and a devout Tarimite. He was raised in a monastery in the Kota mountains.
BLAKELY PROVINCE
An Electoral district of Iest, with 12 votes. West of the CHESMI RIVER, south of GARRISON, north of GRACE DISTRICT and THE DOCKS AND AREA, and east of NEW SEPRA.
BLOOD WARS
A series of conflicts going on in and around Boreala around 1411
(2, p.1).
BLOSSOM
Appears in issues 162-163.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 165, 170.
An IESTan prostitute of Oriental appearance. I don't believe we have seen anyone else in the series to date who appeared Oriental. The COCKROACH falls in love with her.
BOOBAH
Appears in issue 169.
Later shows up as a stenographer working for Lord JULIUS.
BOOK OF STOTH
A book quoted in issue 7 that contains some small information on
the temple of the BLACK SUN.
B'ORN
A town in IEST, part of THE DOCKS AND AREA, with 2 electoral votes.
BOREALA
A country to the north of the SEPRAN EMPIRE.
Involved in the BLOOD WARS around 1411 (2, p.1).
Major cities include TEMZA, GURANN, TANSUBAL, and BRANPUR(?).
The government gets much of its income from gold mines, which are
running dry in 1411 (3, p.1; 9, p.1).
BRANPUR
A city in BOREALA, about a day and a half walking distance from
TANSUBAL. On the Aardvarkian Age map, it is mistakenly listed as
"Brahpur".
BRUGEL ARMS TAVERN
A tavern in TOGITH. "HORTNE" had an apartment in the cellar.
BRYAN
Appears in issues 152-153. First Iestan to recognize CEREBUS as
the former Pope, and to cheer him on against the Cirinists.
Presumably dies in 153.
BUZ
A narcotic compound invented by K'COR. It is one hundred percent
addictive, and contains all the food value needed by an adult for one
day. Exact formula is only known by K'COR and SEDRA.
CALENDAR
"Shrove Tuesday" (4, p.19).
The High Holy Days observed by the Eastern Church of Tarim (possibly the Western as well) last "from midwinter to Concordance Eve... No priest is allowed to eat salted nuts... comment on the weather... or *leave* his place of meditation" (17, p.11). From various internal evidence, the High Holy Days must be at least 20 days long.
Concordance Eve is the "festival of spring's arrival" (21, p.2). Possibly the spring Equinox?
CAMERON, DR.
Appears in issue 168-169.
CAPTAIN COCKROACH
A personality of the COCKROACH.
CARRON
Appears in issue 26.
A member of the firm of Carron, McKiel and Benny.
CEREBUS
Appears in issues 1-42,...151-171.
It is unknown where Cerebus was born and spent his early life, but it was almost certainly a northern "barbarian" country. He moved to Imesh when he was 9, but he has seen his parents since then (39, Letters).
He often refers to himself in the third person, a barbaric
northern custom.
CEREBUS appears to have no soul (2, p.19; 7, p.20), though what
the implications of this are in his world is unclear. Conversely, he
may have a soul, of a nature that trying to consume it results in
the consumer's destruction.
CEREBUS has a great fondness for apricot brandy. He is first
seen drinking it in issue 4.
Though small, CEREBUS is deceptively strong. He is capable of
breaking sturdy chains (4, p.18). He has developed quite a lot of
muscle in his oversized snout and tail, and is capable of using them
as fighting limbs. (2, p.7; 6, p.7; 8, p.3; 14, p.19, etc.). He has very good night vision (30, p.2).
CEREBUS' fur smells truly awful when wet.
CEREBUS seems to disdain the use of armor (except for an
occasional helmet) probably relying on his speed, skill, and small
size to protect him (9, p.4). He is one of the very few right-handed
swordsmen in ESTARCION, which may also help to explain his success (pointed out in 37, Letters).
CEREBUS' theology is well indicated in issue 5 with his thoughts
"Tarim, Ashtoth, these were gods... They brought war, pain, they killed
without reason or apology" (p.19). CEREBUS is himself bloodthirsty
towards his enemies, and vindictive when he can get away with it.
CEREBUS is an expert con man, and skilled at quickly making up mostly-plausible "facts" to support his schemes. This, combined with his great personal charisma, makes him an impressive political figure.
CEREBUS is often plagued by curiosity, and will frequently enter situations that he *knows* will get him into trouble because of it.
On the letters page of issue 26, Sim discusses CEREBUS' "complete
lack of expertise" in warfare, and his gradual realization of this
fact. "He is learning to not trust his instincts when it comes to
picking an army to fight with. His instincts in that area are not
particularly good."
Also from that essay: "No matter how anyone tries to describe Cerebus physically to someone else, they never picture him looking like he does. Would you?"
And more: "Above all, I would ask all of the readers of Cerebus to remember that Cerebus himself is trying to learn to adapt to a world not only _he_ never made -- but one that very few individuals have managed to adapt to gracefully. His simple pursuit of money, physical comfort and frivolous pastimes is becoming something of an albatross in the thriving new capitalism -- it becomes too easy for him to achieve his goals because his sites [sic] are set so low. The reaction at the moment is restlessness and a basic rejection of everything new in his new society. Whether Cerebus molds the environment to suit his needs or whether the society manages to change Cerebus (he hasn't slept in a tree since issue #5) is what I'll be exploring for the next two hundred and seventy-four issues."
He is the number 6 crossbow man in ESTARCION (27, p.9).
CEREBUS studied for three years with Magus Doran in his youth.
CEREBUS has good night vision. (30, p.2).
CEREBUS' greed is one of his strongest traits. "All Cerebus wants is more money than anyone else has." (32, p.9).
Places CEREBUS has been:
"Flame Jewel" city
Boreala
Tansubal
Temza
Branpur
Sepran Empire
Serrea
Red Marches
Demonhorn Mountain
Pigt Tunnels
Hsifan Khanate
Iest
Imesh
Places CEREBUS has not(?) been:
T'Capmin Kingdoms
Wall of Tsi
Smina
CHARISSE
Appears in issue 163.
One of CIRIN's aides.
CHEEN, GENERAL
Mentioned in issue 22.
A member of the military tribunal ruling LOWER FELDA.
CHENEA
A city in ONLIU.
CHESMI RIVER
According to the "Iest's Electoral Districts" map in issue 40, the Chhesmi terminates where it joins the FELD RIVER in IEST.
CI'NUFINN
The western province of PALNU. Contains the cities of AVERS and CIHNU.
CIHNU
A city in the CI'NUFINN province of PALNU.
CIRIN
Appears in 100, 151-152, 154-156, 159-160, 162-166, 168-172.
Cameos/Mentions in 20, 28, 38, 161, 167.
Spiritual and Political head of the Cirinists. She is also an
aardvark, though not a dwarfish one; if anything, she may be suffering
from giantism. Author of THE NEW MATRIARCHY, "Dualism as Fallacy", and presumably other works.
This name is also that of the founder of Cirinism, but they are
different characters, unless this one is *much* older than is obvious (or is a reincarnation of the original). It seems that 'Cirin' is as much a title as a name (168, p.16).
She has a very bad temper when she gets annoyed.
She is very strong, and has an excellent sense of smell (162, p.5).
CIRINISTS
Appear (as a group) in issues 20, xxx, 151-161, 164-167.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 28, 40-41.
From the letters page of issue 26: "The Cirinists are the most
recent incarnation of the original matriarchal society that once
dominated Estarcion. They have a foothold now that they have formed the revolutionary government of Upper Felda, but almost everywhere else on the map, they are either a grudgingly tolerated or rabidly persecuted minority."
Cirin has been staging revolutions and infiltrating populaces
throughout the world. (28, pgs. 6-7) She has purged her own inner
circle three times since the revolution. (28, p.18)
...
It was revealed in issues 150-151 that Cirinists are telepathic
with one another, and that any harm to one of them causes all others
in the vicinity to "swarm" the attacker. According to "VERA'S PRISONER", "All women read minds, with very few exceptions." (164, p.3). From the various ways it is used, it would seem that this ability is affected by distance, and the Cirinists must use either unusually-strong telepaths, or more mundane, mechanical signals to transmit messages over a long distance.
Cirinists (at least Cirinist soldiers) are deadly fighters.
Citizenship in a Cirinist-run government is determined by
childbirth, only mothers are citizens. Infertile women are of very
low status, and abortion and birth control are outlawed.
Cirinists keep extensive files on all political dissidents, and often have stenographers taking reports on any possibly important exchanges. "It is the very essence of our movement that all information is exchanged freely, that it is assessed carefully and its application is measured and just." (170, p.19).
CLAREMONT, PROFESSOR CHARLES X.
Appears in issue 23-25.
Disguised for most of issues 23-24 as "Madame DuFort", of "Madame DuFort's School for Gifted Debutantes".
A parody of both the Marvel Comics character Professor Charles Xavier, and of his principal writer during this period, Chris Claremont (who also wrote the Man-Thing comic book for a time). Professor Xavier was the dean of "Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters", secretly the students were the mutant heroes known as the X-Men.
"I decided to do a tongue-in-cheek treatment of Chris Claremont's X-men series. Having read (and heard) so often at this time that Chris, when faced with developing a new character in the series, would ask, sometimes rhetorically but more often not, "Is there any reason this character can't be a woman?" [...] Marvel was also on a kick at this time about protecting their trademark on major characters by doing female versions of them. They ended up doing two around the same time -- Spider-Woman and She-Hulk. The implication of this move, at least in my mind, was that any publisher doing a female version of a Marvel character that wasn't Spider-Woman or She-Hulk would have free rein to use those characters -- Thingette, The Woman Torch. So taking the bull by the horns, I decided to do Woman-Thing." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, volume six, Introduction to issues 23-25).
CLARICE
Appears in issue 40.
Assistant to the ABBESS OF GOOD ABBEY.
CLARINDA
Appears in issues 151, 153-154, 161.
A CIRINIST, and aide to CIRIN and MRS. THATCHER.
CLOVIS
Presumably a god of some sort. Frequently used as an oath: "By
Clovis' beard!" (1, p.5; 2, pgs.5, 17), "Clovis' beads!" (2, p.14; 3,
p.10; 4, p.15, etc.), "Clovis' blood!" (2, p.16; 3, p.7), "By Clovis'
teeth!" (2, p.18), "Clovis' molars!" (3, p.11), "Clovis' ears!" (3,
p.15), "by Clovis" (3, p.16), "Clovis' teeth and tankard!" (4, p.4),
"Clovis' orbs" (4, p.21), "Clovis' tonsils!" (8, p.9), "Clovis'
instep!" (9, p.5), "by Clovis' rack and irons..." (12, p.5), "Clovis'
burial mound!" (14, p.11), "Clovis' lobotomy scar..." (20, p.16).
CLUELESS
Collectively, a parody of the Endless from the Sandman comic book. See COCKROACH, ELROD, MRS. HENROT-GUTCH, and SLEAZE for individual information.
COCK AND BULL TAVERN
A tavern in BEDUIN. Appears in issue 12.
COCKROACH
Appears in issues 11-12, 21-22, 30-33, 39-42, 154-155, 158-165, 167-172.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 13, 156-157, 166.
His first incarnation is that of The Cockroach, a parody of
Batman, in issues 11-12. He is a multiple personality, a facet of
many of his later "incarnations". By day, he is an (unnamed)
merchant, who used to be a sorcerer, but now destroys magic objects
because they are "bad for business". By night, he is The Cockroach, a
masked avenger, who continually pummels passers-by on the mistaken
assumption that they had something to do with the death of his
parents. He is about 50 years old when Cerebus meets him.
Cerebus often refers to him as "the bug" or "cootie".
In his second appearance (issues 21-22), he has been molded by president WEISSHAUPT into "Captain Cockroach", a Captain America parody. He had been convinced by Weisshaupt to move a lot of marble statues from the basement to the attic. "It's actually not difficult to build a physically superior specimen... The *tough* part is finding someone *gullible* enough to work at it for six months..." (22, p.10). This period also marks his first teaming with ELROD as "Bunky the Albino".
The notebook pages in "High Society" issue 1 have a picture of a
"Corn Roach" character. Never used in the story, he "eventually
became the Moon Roach."
In the letters page of issue 27, Sim say that he is still "making
sure that the drapes don't eat the house plants."
In issue 30, he returns as the "Moon Roach", a parody of Marvel
Comics Moon Knight character. Moon Knight was considered by many to
be a rip-off of Batman, whom the original Cockroach parodied. Moon Knight also had a split personality problem, which is one more reason why the Roach might empathize with him.
Moon Knight subdued criminals by knocking them out with crescent-moon-shaped boomerangs. Moon Roach has adopted this concept to his own unique idiom, and attacks people by dropping large crescent moons made of stone onto them.
Kevitch, the new sub-personality of the Moon Roach, may be named
after Bill Sienkiewicz (pronounced 'sin-kevitch'), Moon Knight's most
famous artist. There may also be an element of "kvetch" a Yiddish(?)
word meaning someone who comments abusively on things.(?)
This sub-personality is co-existent with the Moon Roach, and they often have mental conversations with each other.
He is now under ASTORIA's control, she having seduced him. She
has implanted his new-found interest in economics. She has created a
new personality, Artemis Strong (there is no particular reason to believe that this is his real name). Astoria alleges that he came up with the Moon Roach personality himself, but Michelle later contradicts this.
The Moon Knight had an alternate identity of "Jake Lockley", who worked as a cab driver. This is matched by the Moon Roach's personality of "Blake Jockley", also a taxi driver (39, pgs.8-10).
By issue 42, the Moon Roach had started to splinter, and the Roach assumed several of Superman's characteristics. This never reached the proportions of a seperate identity, but the imagined vulnerability to "frostonite" (analagous to Superman's "kryptonite") was to remain an aspect of his personality for a long time.
...
normalroach
A parody of normalman
...
normalroach reappears in issue 154, in which he seems to be
integrating his personalities into a more coherent (or at least self-
aware) whole. These are led by a new identity, the Punisheroach.
Punisheroach is a parody of the Marvel Comic's character "The
Punisher", a vigilante who goes after drug dealers with large caliber
weapons and extreme prejudice.
The Roach is now exhibiting clear telepathic/mystical powers, and
a much clearer picture of the world than he normally has, though still
far from completely sane. He also has semi-automatic crossbows with exploding quarrels (designed by the Claremont part of his now-"integrated" personality. Actually, they appear to be "fully-automatic", but the Roach probably calls them "Semi-automatic" because it sounds cooler).
Later, after an abortive love affair, he turns into Swoon. Swoon is a parody of the DC Comics character Sandman, AKA Dream of the Endless, a personification of dreams (created by Neil Gaiman). The black cloak, the white on black word balloons with bumpy edges, the black-pit eyes, are all taken directly from Sandman. The fancy lettering of the word Swoon is similar to that of the logo of the Sandman comic book.
The Roach also decides at this point that since he is Dream, Elrod must be Dream's older sister Death, a frequent supporting character in Sandman.
Sandman is well known for having bad luck at love affairs with mortal women, and for being generally over-solemn and having no sense of humor.
This is the first time that the Roach has taken on a personality that was not a "super-hero", which may go some way towards explaining Elrod's uncommon reluctance at going along with it.
CONCORDANCE EVE
A major religious holiday, celebrating the arrival of spring (21,
p.2) Probably also used to mark the new year.
CONNIPTINS
Appear in issues 8-9.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 28.
Various nomadic northern tribes that are gradually encroaching
into the RED MARCHES. They have more advanced medicine than CEREBUS
is familiar with (8, p.11). Their war cry is "Might makes Right!
Might for Right! Might for Might! Right for Might! Fight! Fight!
Fight!"
Once ruled Iest (8, p.12)
Apparently subject to the HSIFAN KHANATE (8, p.19)?
On the letters page of issue 26, Sim says that they never had any
real chance.
COOTIE
CEREBUS' nickname for the COCKROACH.
MRS. COPPS
Appears in issues 155, 158.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 156-157.
An Iestan Cirinist, in charge of heading CIRIN's project to
construct a huge GOLD SPHERE.
CRAWLER
"A creature from the dawn of time, a creature of sorcery" (4,
p.6) which "DEATH" sends to attack CEREBUS.
CROMAGS MAC MILC
A PIGT from issue 5.
DARNIER PRISON
A prison in BEDUIN. The COCKROACH was imprisoned there in issue 12.
DEADALBINO
See ELROD.
"DEATH"
Appears in issues 8, 151, 171-172.
Allegedly a demon who assumed the identity of "Death" 7000 years
ago, but was then devoured by succubi.
In issue 153, page 7, a cameo of Neil Gaiman's version of Death
from Sandman appears in the lower right-hand corner.
DEIDRE
Appears only in issue 11. A city guard in BEDUIN.
DEGUIN
Appears only in issue 11. A city guard in BEDUIN.
DEHRSION
A southern city state. Part of the SEPRAN EMPIRE? Has had a
CIRINIST-supported rebellion. Located on the SOFIM River.
Under attack by the PIGTS (5, p.13).
They manufacture champagne (10, p.6).
DESHEN, SECOND GENERAL
Appears (sort of) in issue 22.
A member of the military tribunal ruling LOWER FELDA, and a parody of President Richard Nixon.
DESPUESS
Appears in issue 13. A THEYR villager.
DIAMONDBACK
A popular card game, with numerous variations. The word is also
used to describe the deck of cards, which are usually printed with a
diamond pattern on their backs. First mentioned in issue 4.
The rules for Match Diamondback are laid out in issue 27, p.11.
A Diamondback deck contains 1 magician, 2 priestesses, 3 queens, 4
kings, and 5 priests. For games with more than 2 players, multiple
decks are used, but with extra magicians removed so that
only one remains in the deck.
It is interesting to note that female cards are higher ranking than their male equivalents, with the exception of the
magician (to which there *is* no female equivalent).
Dave Sim has occasionally produced and sold Diamondback decks.
"*The* magician is a tricky concept. *A* magician is a little more workable; I could make a very good case that a great deal of corruption has resulted from the Church's ability to advance Jesus as a singular manifestation, instead of as a specific incarnation of an archetype. In the world I see, the patterns form and reform; if you see JFK as the magician, Jackie and Marilyn Monroe would be obvious candidates for priestesses. But let's say JFK is the white magician and Sam Giancana is the black magician. In that case, they shared two priestesses: Marilyn Monroe and Judith Campbell. ... That's a lot of what I'm trying to document in _Cerebus_: sometimes the Magician, sometimes the Emperor, sometimes the Hierophant, sometimes the Fool, sometimes the Hermit. You don't tend to be one card or another. Cerebus may have been the Emperor in _High_Society_, but was neutralized because Astoria was the Priestess and the Hierophant; the same trick she pulled on Lord Julius. Salman Rushdie, was, I think, making the same point in Satanic Verses; the Magician may be dictating, but whoever is transcribing is the Hierophant. Whoever interprets (or more perniciously translates) that Hierophant's transcription becomes the new Hierophant." (169, Letters).
DIRECTORY
A fictitious (and often renamed) document sold by the PALNAN bureaucracy, allegedly to help deal with that bureaucracy. No one has ever actually seen a copy.
D'MITRI
Appears in issue 13. A THEYR villager.
THE DOCKS AND AREA
An electoral district of IEST, with a total of ten votes; 6 for The Docks, 2 for B'ORN, and 1 each for GRACE and DUNHAM. It is located west of the junction of the FELD and CHESMI rivers, with BLAKELY DISTRICT to the north, and GRACE district to the west.
The Docks are frequently pronounced as "DaDocks" in the local accent. A ferry crosses from The Docks to HARBOURSIDE.
DORAN
Cameos/Mentions in issues 9, 28.
The wizard CEREBUS studied with in his youth. (28, p.3) Lived in
IMESH (Introduction to issue 9, _Swords_of_Cerebus_, Volume Three).
Unknown what happened to him when K'COR took over the city. Creator
of the ENERGY GLOBES OF IMESH (9, p.13).
DORANA
Appears in issue 172.
a CIRINIST.
DORIS
Cameos/Mentions in issue 167.
DUFORT, MADAME
See CLAREMONT.
DUNHAM
A town in IEST, part of THE DOCKS AND AREA, with 1 electoral vote. Their leader is Lord Dunham.
DWORKIN, GENERAL
Appears in issue 165, 168-169.
A CIRINIST general.
Andrea Dworkin is a radical feminist in the real world.
EAST CHAPEL
A small town in IEST AND SUBURBS, with only one vote in the legislature.
EASTERN CHURCH OF TARIM
EIGHTH SPHERE
Appears in issues 28, 156-157.
SUENTEUS PO THE FIRST claimed to have meditated for 72 years in
order to attain the Eighth Sphere (28, p.1).
The Eighth Sphere would appear to be a general term for any of a
number of areas on the "borders" of the SEVENTH SPHERE, with
particular curious properties. The Eighth Sphere is malleable, and
its structure can be manipulated by the minds of those within it. In
parts of it, the past and future may be experienced.
E'LASS
A schemer and con artist. Appears in issues 6, 16. Usually works
with a bruiser named TURG.
ELF, REGENCY
Appears in issues 29-32, 39, 41-42, 155-156, 161, 167, 171.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 33, 157, 162.
Cerebus mentions a "wood faerie" in issue 14 (p.16), but the
context makes it difficult to tell if he is referring to a mythical
creature or not.
Her memory extends back at *least* 800 years (29, p.4).
In the letters column to issue 42, in response to the question "What was the Regency Elf before the Regency Hotel came along?" Dave replied "She was one of the Wood Elves in Iest."
She has quite a taste for whiskey, and likes to play Wickets.
The "Fake" Regency Elf is implied to have been an aspect of
SUENTEUS PO THE FIRST (156, pgs.5, 8, 19).
In issue 166 (pgs.14-17), she reveals that she was subconsciously created by Cerebus while he was in the EIGHTH SPHERE (issue 28), influenced by the presence of the *real* Regency Elf, who was confined to the Ambassador Suite.
ELROD OF MELVINBONE
Appears in issues 4, 7, 12, 21-22, 33-34, 38-39, 155, 159-165, 167.
Cameos/mentions in issues 8, 35, 37, 157.
Elrod is a parody of Elric, a swords and sorcery character
created by Michael Moorcock. More specifically, he is a parody of
Elric's appearances in the Conan comic books by Roy Thomas and Barry
Smith (issues 14 and 15), which in turn were visually based on the
covers to paperback Elric novels painted by Jack Gaughan. Dave Sim,
at least as of 1981, has never read an Elric story (other than the
ones that appeared in the Conan comics) (Introduction to issue 4,
_Swords_of_Cerebus_, Volume 1).
His speech patterns are based on those of the Warner Brothers
cartoon character Foghorn Leghorn, which were in turn based on a once-
famous radio character named Senator Claghorn (played by?).
He claims to be a wanderer, and the last ruler of a dying race, a
sorcerer and slayer of his kin, much as Elric does, but there is no
evidence that any of this is more than a figment of his imagination.
His country's name is MELVINBONE, which is a take-off on Elric's
country of Melnibone. Elric also has a black sword, though his isn't
that way from rust.
Elrod is convinced that Cerebus is a small man wearing a "bunny suit". The events of issue 7 solidified this in his head, and once he *gets* an idea into his head, it's very difficult to shake loose.
"He always pops up, seemingly from nowhere, with no explanation
of how he got out of the fix we left him in (Aha! You hadn't noticed
had you) and an entirely new vision of the best direction for his life
to take." (Introduction to issue 4, _Swords_of_Cerebus_, Volume 1).
In issue 22, Elrod is "killed", but remains an animate spirit, able to possess living bodies as "Deadalbino". This is a parody of a late sixties DC comic book character, "Deadman", who was similarly able to possess living people. At the end of the issue Elrod returns to his own body, which returns to life.
"You might be wondering *why* this would happen to Elrod when he got killed, but that goes back to why everyone is watching Cerebus all the time and wondering what he's up to. So that's for me to know and for you to read about.
I should be getting to it around issue 175." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, volume six, Introduction to issues 21-22).
In High Society, he is revealed as quite a popular figure. The
public actually believes his claims about himself even more than he
does. Lord Julius has adopted him as his son, which only adds to his popularity.
...
In issue 155 he reappears in a smaller version of his earlier
"roach" costume, claiming to be a new member of the Legion of Six-
Foot-Telepathic-Cockroaches.
When the Roach becomes Swoon in issue 164, he makes Elrod Snuff at the same time (see COCKROACH for details).
ELWYN SALICE
Appears in issue 29.
A guard at HOBBSGATE PRISON.
ENERGY GLOBES OF IMESH
A series of magical spheres of energy, apparently used as either
guardians, or as a gauntlet to test one's skill. They can send out
beams of energy at opponents, but these may be absorbed by metal.
They are not intelligent. They flare brightly just before striking,
and take several seconds to recharge.
ENIATH
A satellite city of PALNU, in the VESSARIAT district, on the NEMETH RIVER (18, map).
ENOTHAS
A southern city state. Part of the SEPRAN EMPIRE? Has had a
CIRINIST-supported rebellion.
EOGHAN
A country to the northwest of BOREALA. Only appears in the
Aardvarkian Age map.
ESHNOSOPUR
A southern city state. Possibly part of the SEPRAN EMPIRE? Has
had a (short-lived) CIRINIST-supported rebellion.
The toxin PENTAZIN can be found there (14, p.7).
ESHTAHNIN WILDERNESS
Located far to the southeast. A cinnamon exporter (14, p.5).
ESTARCION
The name of the world that CEREBUS is set on. See MAPS.
EXODUS INWARD
Mentioned in issue 42.
See THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE 1413 ELECTION for more info.
EYE IN THE PYRAMID
Appears in issues 14-16, 160-161, 168, 172.
This originally appears to be a conspiracy to topple LORD JULIUS from power. In their first appearances, only male members are shown. In _mothers_&_daughters_, we see only *female* members, and it is clear that ASTORIA is their leader.
"Ostensibly based on an ancient and marginal philosophy" according to Cirin (172, p.12).
CEREBUS uses their name in his "kidnapping" (27, p.7).
The symbol of an eye in a pyramid dates back at least to ancient Egypt, and can be seen on the American dollar bill to this day. It has often been associated with secret societies, most notably the Illuminati. The version that the Eye in the Pyramid uses has the eye in the center of the pyramid, not the apex. "It is an illustration of the power which resides at the so-called lower echelons of hierarchical systems." (172, p.13).
EYE OF TERIM
"The Eye of Terim, gold and shining prize -- no mortal shall
wrest this gem ... from crimson claw of demon Khem" (2, p.14). "Most
precious" of the five SPHERES OF THE GODS (2, p.16). After KHEM's
spell is broken, it appears to be a "tarnished iron sphere", implying
that it may not have been the *actual* Eye of Terim in the first
place.
FELD RIVER
The Feld River runs south from the TCAPMIN KINGDOMS past UNSHIB,
turning west at MORESH, then passing BEDUIN before turning south again
at IEST to make it's way to the coast of ONLIU.
FELDWAR STATES
PALNU(?), IEST, ONLIU, LOWER FELDA,...
See also UNITED FELDWAR STATES
FERAS, TANES
Appears in issue 3. A fellow who lived in BRANPUR until he
besmirched Red SOPHIA's honor and was forced to marry her. He expired
soon after.
FILGATE
Appears in issues 37-38, 41-42.
Cameos/Mentions in issue 166.
A representative of The Docks ("Dadocks") in the IESTan legislature. Something of a gangster type, illiterate. Grew up in the same neighborhood as "Loahd" Rodney.
FINAL ASCENSION
FLAME JEWEL
Said to be flawless and worth a king's ransom (1, p.4). The one
that CEREBUS finds is actually an illusion-enhanced walnut (1, pgs.21-
22).
FLUROC
A city to the north of PALNU.
FROG AND DUCK
A tavern in PALNU (14, p.4).
"BIG" GARN
Mentioned in issue 29, 41.
Presumably an IESTan fence of stolen goods.
GARRISON
An Electoral district of IEST with 7 votes. Bordered by the CHESMI RIVER to the north and east, BLAKELY DISTRICT to the south, and NEW SEPRA to the west.
GARSK
Captain of the guards in IMESH in CEREBUS' youth (9, p.5).
GATSON
Appears in issues 30, 35.
Cameos/mentions in issues 27, 29, 31-33, 36-37, 42.
Prime Minister of IEST for approximately 14 years (42, p.3) before CEREBUS.
GEET-A
Appears in issue 19.
"I decided to do a parody of Frank Thorne's Ghita because while I wouldn't say I was fond of 1994 the magazine, nor a particular advocate of the kind of stories Frank was doing, I was very fond of the way Frank's artwork made such great strides when he switched to black and white from colour comics. I conceived the whole story in a short space of time, my major concern being to produce one good silly self-contained issue before I went off on this complicated political piece of over-lapping and inter-locking factions." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, volume 5, introduction to issue 19).
GEORGE
See the JUDGE.
GERBIES
Typically used as magician's pets, these creatures feed on violent emotions (19, p.17). The name is probably a reference to Steve Gerber, who created the Marvel Comics character "Man-Thing", who was empathic, and reacted strongly to the emotions of those around him.
GERRIK, SIR
Mentioned in 163.
CIRIN's (adopted?) son.
GHETTY'S POINT
Mentioned in issue 17.
A PALNAN army camp, run at one time by Commander KRULL.
"GOAT"
See "JULIUS GOAT".
GIEPIE
Appears in issue 14.
An importer in PALNU who worked with THE EYE IN THE PYRAMID.
GITAN RIVER
Forms the western and northwestern borders of PALNU, then extends into T'GITA (18, map).
THE GODS' FENCE
A mountain range north of the SEPRAN EMPIRE. Only appears in the
Aardvarkian Age map.
GOLD SPHERE
Gold Spheres appear in issues xxx.
They are talked about in issues xxx.
A sphere of pure gold is said to be one of the elements required
to make the FINAL ASCENSION.
Whether the SPHERES OF THE GODS are "Gold Spheres" is uncertain.
GOOD ABBEY
See GRACE DISTRICT.
GORCE, Lord
Appears in issues 18-19.
Mentioned in issue 22.
Governor of the VESSARIAT district of PALNU.
"Lord Gorce was created ... to establish what would appear to be a major threat to Lord Julius' control of Palnu." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, volume 5, introduction to issue 19).
"A power struggle between Lord Julius and Lord Gorce? Hardly likely. Gorce is a lightweight, suffering from the same myopia as Cerebus. The world of Estarcion is in the middle of a great social upheaval. There is great wealth and the rise of the merchant class is making all these chaps with the big armies something of the past. If Lord Gorce tried to wrest power from Lord Julius, he would be trying to buck the largest inter-related old-boy network on the continent. Lord Julius pays his armies well and his bureaucrats even better. And if Lord Gorce thought that defeating a bunch of uncouth barbarians from the north was going to win him power by acclamation, he was not facing the fact that virtually the whole population of Palnu is either directly or indirectly employed by the government. With Lord Julius' rotating bureaucracy [...] his chances of finding somewhere to drive the thin end of his revolutionary wedge were two-fold; slim and nill [sic]. The result is a paralysis on his part, but not a complete loss of influence. Like most of the rebels in Palnu he will be facing the dilemma of being independent and powerless or acquiescent and influential." (26, Letters).
GORT
Mentioned in issue 20.
An ILLUSIONIST in TOGITH. One of the few people who can reach the SEVENTH SPHERE (20, p.3).
GRACE
A town in IEST, part of THE DOCKS AND AREA, with 1 electoral vote. Not to be confused with GRACE DISTRICT.
GRACE DISTRICT
An Electoral district in IEST, with 15 votes. Not to be confused with the town named GRACE, which is part of THE DOCKS AND AREA. Located to the west of THE DOCKS AND AREA, south of BLAKELY DISTRICT and east of NEW SEPRA. Papal farm lands lie to its south.
The Abbess of GOOD ABBEY is the sole leader, and controls all 15 votes.
GRAND INQUISITOR
See INQUISITION.
GRAUS
A T'GITAN warrior. Appears in issues 18, 19.
GREATER IEST
An Electoral district of IEST, consisting of the UPPER CITY. It had 20 electoral votes, until a 1413 bill reduced that number to 8.
GREELY, NED
Appears in issue 26.
Mentioned in issues 29-30.
A member of the firm Greely, Bleaker and Spleen. Cheats on his wife.
GREER, GENERAL
Appears in issues 156, 165-166, 168-170.
Cameos/mentions in 171.
A CIRINIST General.
Based on a real world feminist, xxx.
GRIMES
Appears in issues 17.
Mentioned in issue 18.
Assistant, biographer (and later jailer) to Commander KRULL.
GRISELDA
Appears in issue 19.
One of HENROT's GERBIES.
GUDRE
Appears in issue 17-18.
Mentioned in issue 19.
A T'GITAN leader, father of STROMM.
GUMS.
Mentioned in issue 13. See entry on ALANNE for details.
GURANN
A city in BOREALA. Apparently a large city where one might
expect to find a freak show (2, p.4) and marketplace (2, p.16).
SOPHIA knows "Gurranian tonsil kissing".
HADDEN, HOLLAND M.
Appears in issues 26, 30.
Cameos/Mentions in issue 31-32.
A member of the firm of Hadden, Hadden and Dipp, purveyors of gold-plated street lamps.
HAMMEL
Mentioned in issue 18.
A FLUROC spice merchant, killed in the T'GITAN assault.
HAMMOND
Appears in issues 155-156, 161, 165.
An IESTAN engineer, working with the CIRINISTS to construct a
GOLD SPHERE.
Probably a member of the construction firm Hammond and Son
Associates (156, p.6).
HARBOURSIDE
A dock town in IEST AND SUBURBS. They have six votes in the legislature. A ferry crosses the FELD RIVER from here to THE DOCKS.
HARKER
Appears in issues 18-19.
Lord GORCE's assistant.
HAYES, MRS.
Appears in issue 165.
A CIRINIST official.
HENROT
Appears in issues 3, 19.
A powerful wizard. Father of Red SOPHIA, creator of GEET-A, ex-
husband of Mrs. HENROT-GUTCH.
HENROT-GUTCH, Mrs.
Appears in issue 163, 169.
Cameos/mentions in issues 19,.
As SULK of the CLUELESS, she was a parody of the Sandman character Despair, another of the Endless. She appears as a dumpy, always naked woman. Her realm is 'on the other side of mirrors' (thus Sulk's appearance through one). Casting her as Mrs. Henrot-Gutch was inspired by a remark Neil Gaiman made to Dave Sim at a convention while he was working on this issue.
HEZZRETH
A king of a CONNIPTIN tribe (8, p.16).
HIGH HOLY DAYS
See CALENDAR.
HILL-HODGES, CAPTAIN
Appears in issue 26.
A member of "Waterfront Special Security", a police force in the DOCKS DISTRICT of IEST.
HIVAT
A city on the NEMETH RIVER, in the VESSSARIAT province of PALNU (18, map).
HOBBSGATE PRISON
A prison in IEST. Cerebus has broken in twice (26, p.8).
HOLLAND M. HADDEN
First appears in issue 26. Leading member of the Hadden, Hadden
and Dipp corporation, which is trying to interest Palnu in gold-plated
streetlamps. Killed by MOON ROACH in issue 30 after signing away the
money his company is owed by the government.
HORSESHOE TAVERN
Appears in issue 160-161, 164.
A tavern in Lower Iest, under the CIRINIST regime.
HORTNE
Alias of HENROT
HSIFAN KHANATE
A powerful nomadic tribe that currently controls much of the RED
MARCHES. North of TOGITH and PALNU, north and west of IEST. IEST considers them to be a military threat (42, pgs.11-14).
Referred to in a derogatory manner as "Hsiffies".
"They're yellow-skinned, their eyes look funny and they're *nomads*" (21, p.12). Basically, a Mongol phenotype.
HSIFFIES
See HSIFAN KHANATE.
IANAG
A small country to the west of PALNU (18, map). Ruled by Prince SHOMBER (19, p.5).
IEST
Pronounced "Ee-est".
IEST - GEOGRAPHY
Iest is located on the FELD River, and is central to the FELDWAR
STATES.
The city of Iest is divided into two sections, lower Iest, and
"upper" or "greater Iest". Greater Iest is located on a flat plain on
the top of a conical mountain. This mountain is the remains of the
BLACK TOWER of anciant times. The upper and lower cities are
connected both by a spiral roadway, and by several long staircases.
One of these staircases is over 1324 steps high. (27, p.1)
The mountain is carved with skulls and demon heads, which are
first seen in issue 31, p.15.
Iest is somewhat decadent. SOPHIA speaks of "selling her old
chain mail bikinis to perverts in Iest..." (10, p.15).
IEST - GOVERNMENT
The Iestan legislature consists of 113 elected representatives (101 after 1413), headed by a Prime Minister. This Prime Minister is elected by the legislature, and must receive a simple majority of the votes. This election is apparently held every four years (42, pgs.7, 14).
In the 1413 election, the votes were allocated, not to single influential politicians, but proportionally by the number of votes each candidate received in a general, republican election.
See THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE 1413 ELECTION for more details.
IEST AND SUBURBS
An Electoral district of IEST with 19 votes. It consists of the area south and west of the FELD RIVER that is not part of GREATER IEST or LOWER IEST. 6 votes each are assigned to OLDHAM, HARBOURSIDE, and NELSON, with the remaining vote going to EAST CHAPEL
ILLUSIONISTS
Mentioned in issues 20, 28, xxx, 159-160.
Founded by SUENTEUS PO THE SECOND, their primary tenet is that
"All Life was an Illusion," (159, p.9).
Judging by his tactics, the wizard in issue 1 is an illusionist.
...
Their meditation techniques allow them to live extremely long
lives. (28, p.2)
They may have high government positions. (28, p.8)
IMESH
A small port city on the SOFIM River (8, p.19). Before being
taken over by K'COR, it featured such sights as the Ram and Peacock
Tavern and the Red Crescent Quarter (9, p.5). Magus Doran lived here
(Introduction to issue 9, _Swords_of_Cerebus_, Volume Three).
Referred to as a "northern" city in the introduction to issue 9
in _Swords_of_Cerebus_, Volume Three, though that is inconsistent with
the above description.
Ruled by Hsifan in CEREBUS' youth (9, p.2).
[Remember to deal with positional problems]
INNEC STARYM
Mentioned in issue 29.
Kidnapped from the REGENCY HOTEL in 1244. (29, p.4)
INQUISITION
Appears in issue 31-32.
Cameos, Mentions in issue 30, 33-34, 37-39, 42.
The letters column in issue 36 says that they are "on the ropes."
See THE TRUE HISTORY OF THE 1413 ELECTION for more info.
IRONCAT, DR.
Appears in issue 163.
Author of "My Mother, My Husband, My pain".
A parody of cat yronwode, Editor-in-Chief of Eclipse Comics.
ISSHURIAN LANDS
Located to the north of the SEPRAN EMPIRE. Presumably the
birthplace of ARNOLD THE ISSHURIAN.
JAKA
Appears in issues 6, 36, 38, 169.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 16, 35, 37, 157, 166-167.
The love of CEREBUS' life.
When first seen, she is a exotic tavern dancer in Iest.
...
In issue 36, she returns CEREBUS' sword which he lost in the
second Cockroach episode when the boat bottom fell through.
JANETTE
Appears in issues 23-24.
A student at MADAME DUFORT's School for Gifted Debutantes.
THE JUDGE
Appears in issues 155-156, 161, 165, 171.
Cameos/Mentions in issue 157-158.
Based on the Judge character from Jules Feiffer's play (and movie) "Little Murders".
After an encounter with his know-it-all-wise-guy evil twin, took to calling himself George.
"JULIUS GOAT"
Mentioned in issue 40-42.
LORD JULIUS' candidate for Prime Minister of IEST during the 1413 election.
JULIUS, LORD
Appears in issues 14-19, 35, 38-39, 151, 160-162, 169.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 26, 28-30, 32, 34, 37, 40-42, 157, 164, 166.
Lord Julius is based on Julius (better know as Groucho) Marx, most especially as he appeared in "Duck Soup", as the ruler of a small European country. He has risen from a Kitchen Staff Supervisor to be Grandlord of PALNU through a combination of thoroughly confusing his opponents, and outright bribery on a mass scale.
"Lord Julius does not permit his employees to speak to each other except through him... He believes that it causes much dissatisfaction in the city..." "How does anything get done?" This is a *bureaucracy*, sir... nothing is supposed to get done." (15, p.5).
Lord Julius has almost eliminated crime in PALNU, largely by having a Board of Justice "renowned for their wisdom, experience... and unblemished record of three thousand two hundred and eighty-one convictions in three thousand two hundred and eighty-one trials..." (16, p.8)
"I wanted to show that Lord Julius (like Elrod) always lands on his feet and that (unlike Elrod) it is as a result of his own sense of political timing and manipulation of the resources at hand, even if that's just his own imagination (as seen by [issue 19] page twelve). It was my way of indicating that he was to be taken seriously by the reader even though his earlier appearances painted him as an incompetent. After all, a leader who is perceived as incompetent is more likely to be under-estimated by potential rivals. The impact of his endless successes, domestically and in other parts of Estarcion can be seen in "High Society". "Nothing succeeds like success" as the saying goes." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, volume 5, introduction to issue 19).
On the letters page of issue 26, Sim describes Julius as being
at the head of the rising merchant class in ESTARCION. Since he pays
his people so well (and controls *all* of them), Lord GORCE's chances
were "slim and nil."
"JULIUS' SOCIAL SECRETARY"
Appears in issues 14-16, but is never actually named. Leader of
the EYE IN THE PYRAMID, until his death in issue 16.
JYLCEW
A satellite city of PALNU.
KATRINA
Appears in issue 23-24.
Cameos/Mentions in issue 167.
A student at MADAME DUFORT's School for Gifted Debutantes.
She is a niece of LORD JULIUS, and probably a sister to JAKA (24, p.8).
K'COR
Appears in issues 9, 38, 155-156, 158-159.
Cameos/mentions in issue 161.
King of Imesh. He conquered the city through the use of
subterfuge, economics and narcotics (BUZ). He considers himself a
demi-god, and has mobilized the city of IMESH against an imagined
invasion from Venus. He is a good swordsman (9, p.19).
...
Later shows up in High Society during Petuniacon.
In _mothers_&_daughters_, he appears in the CHESS game as the
Black King's Pawn.
KEVIL
A T'CAPMIN writer and philosopher whose ideas were a major influence on KEVILLISM.
KEVILLISTS
Appear (as a group) in issues xxx.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 28, 171.
Described by SUENTEUS PO THE FIRST as "A rebellious faction
that's only recently come to light in Upper Felda -- in Cirin's own
government. ... A fanatic's fanatic." (28, p.5).
Probably founded and led by Astoria (62, p.10).
Apparently a favorite faith for medical people (168, p.18).
The Kevillists share the CIRINIST mania for stenographers and record-keeping.
KEVILLIST ORIGINS
A book by ASTORIA. Excerpts follow:
"The penis is an organ without scruple, without humanity, without common sense. Those women who understand this fact and make use of it have at their command all the resources of the modern world. I first had sexual congress at the age of fourteen with a high-placed government official in my native Lower Felda. He had pursued me, despite (or, rather, I suspect because of) my extreme youth for a period of several months. I was drawn very much to the power that he wielded within that government. I was attracted, however, not as a would-be lifemate, potential concubine or wife-to-be. Rather, I was drawn as someone who desired that same power for herself, as a means of instituting societal change for my own betterment and for the betterment of those elements of female society with which I was (and am) sympathetic. I presented my decision to him in the form of a bargain. He would answer all of the questions that I had about achieving, maintaining and using power and in exchange (once I was satisfied with his answers), his unscrupulous organ would be free to do with me as it would. We had a series of five meetings, each of several hours duration. I took meticulous notes, asked for clarification where I lacked understanding of the subject matter and began to get the first sketchy impressions of the parameters and dimensions of the task which lay before me. Once satisfied that I had learned all that this particular individual had to teach me, I then fulfilled my half of the bargain. The act itself took only slightly longer than eight minutes. I cleaned myself thoroughly, dressed and left his apartments. I had retained may of his letters of earnest entreaty and when (as I knew he would) he attempted to renew our relationship, I threatened him with exposure as a pederast. He ceased his unwanted attentions and I began my political career." (163, p.2).
"The great flaw of any matriarchy is that it limits political power to those individuals who are the least concerned with progress and achievement. While any society must see the safety of its children as a priority; it must not, should not and can not be that society's first priority. Advancement in the quality of female lives, advancement in the sciences, in medicine, in exploration, in the arts; the conquest of new territories, the expansion of borders in all areas of endeavour, both physical and mental, is critical to the health of empire. An empire which contents itself to build layers of insulation, both physical and mental, around itself and its citizenry, will soon find itself atrophying and falling swiftly into decay; easy prey for the competitors for whom aggression, whether between individuals, geographic regions or empires, stands as the foremost characteristic of their governing body. Where aggression is the primary characteristic of empire, it soon makes short work of those competitors who are quiescent, complacent and passive. The nation-state which is not prepared to consume its neighbors, will, inevitably, be consumed by those neighbors." (163, p.10).
"Most of the matriarchy's rhetoric centers on the family (or, rather, the Family); they are obsessive regarding children's' needs for caring and nurturing and they hold in the greatest contempt those who hold any viewpoint contrary to this. The bond between mother and child is their most sacred totem and their universal rallying cry. It is, therefore, curious to note that at the upper levels of Cirin's government (and, in fact, at most levels of her bureaucracy) the children of her officials are cared for by nannies and governesses until the age of five when they are unceremoniously shipped off to government-run boarding schools. Cirin's own son, Gerrik told me that he did not spend a full day in his mother's company until he was nearly sixteen; and then it was merely to observe her working day so that he might have a fuller appreciation of the complexities of governing Upper Felda." (163, p.18)
"The matriarchists misinterpret, intentionally I think, the true nature of a woman. They persist in the notion that a woman must adhere to a single male, forming a family unit which they then endeavour to dominate as a superior force. This is nonsensical. The best working model for a woman's life is a beehive; a solitary queen, serviced and catered to by a diverse group of males who exist exclusively to advance her cause. Those with wealth must serve as her personal treasury; those with brawn as her soldier/warriors; those with fertile minds serve as debating adversaries, allowing her to keep sharp her mental skills and to dissect and reinforce her beliefs and theories. The woman who owns the allegiance of the wealthiest, the strongest and the most brilliant of consorts; to her pass the reigns of absolute power. Inevitably she will rise, like heavy cream through thin milk, to the very summit of human existence." (164, p.6)
"One of the few matriarchal programs with which I heartily concur is the Alchohol Sanction. It should be noted that the Sanction was devised only when a general prohibition proved completely unworkable. I do feel, however, that the taverns should be accessible to the general female population, as well. Illicit consumption of alchohol among homemakers, the trading of sexual favours for smuggled alchohol, as well as a proliferation of illegal distillation in Upper Felda's kitchens, is glossed over to an unconscionable degree. Alchoholism is destructive of societal progress wherever it occurs and the sooner the vice can be bred out of every aspect of male and female existence, the sooner true and meaningful progress can be achieved." (165, p.15)
"The Matriarchists are heedless of the fact that the Goddess is a Deity of All Womankind. While She is Mother, She is also Daughter. Though She has her bountiful aspect, She is also Virgin. She is both Seductress and Celibate. The Multiverse itself has issued forth from Her Womb; and yet she is untouched; inviolate. The Matriarchists invite disaster, courting, as they do, a single aspect of Her being. The Goddess is Mystery in All Things. If Cirin persists, single-mindedly, in pursuing a False Ascension, the fate which awaits her is the same fate that has befallen all who have stood before the Gate of Heaven." (166, p.13).
"The Matriarchists are at great pains to eliminate the true histories of female dominated societies. Most particularly they disavow any awareness of the brief period in the history of Iest's Upper City when the singular philosophies of the T'Capmin writer Kevil took hold. To me, this was the only period of enlightenment in the sordid history of Cirinism when a natural division of responsibility and interests was put in place; Mothers in charge of all issues governing the family and child care and Daughters in charge of all issues not concerned with family and child care. The evolution from one group to the other was natural and well-suited to the needs of society as a whole. Upon giving birth, a woman's tasks changed from those extroverted concerns to a mother's more naturally introverted concerns. The fact that the matriarchy, as constituted in Upper Felda, has been forced to become totalitarian and dictatorial is the surest sign that it is completely out of synch with the natural rhythms of human existence." (167, p.12).
"On the subject of dreams, most particularly, the matriarchists reveal themselves to be dictatorial and uncompromising. From a very early age, they train their daughters to regard all of existence as real and tangible; that any transgression awake or asleep is to be regarded as equally suspect and as a punishable offence. Naturally enough, there is no way to control people's dreams, but their vehemence on the subject has caused more than one small child to regard herself as depraved, evil and unworthy through having dreamt herself in a circumstance which does not meet with matriarchal approval. Dreamers, awake and asleep, have been responsible for most, if not all, of the great developments in all areas of human endeavour. Small wonder that, apart from inventing itself, the matriarchy is barren of anything that could (even by the most charitable) be described as an idea; and further that they are always in the forefront of those who seek to oppress, inhibit and eradicate new thought. Until, of course, that new thought proves itself beneficial to their society, whereupon they embrace it whole-heartedly and strike all references to their original opposition from any written record." (168, p.10).
"It is curious to me, in the writings of the Matriarchists, that they allude often to the unseen and unknowable mysteries of female existence; inexplicable and harmonious convergences and coincidences; and yet, at each juncture when they raise the issue, it is dismissed out-of-hand as wicked and false with no explanation of why, exactly, that is the case. Childbirth is the universal panacea. Have a baby and the inexplicable becomes untroublesome and irrelevant. In my efforts to raise and confront these issues, I am faced, often, by malice and indignation; most particularly when I suggest that, far from being a panacea in the area of the inexplicable, childbirth functions as a soporific; deadening natural curiosity and intellectual examination beneath layers of mindless habit, ritual and duty. The effect is not unlike military training, whose sole purpose is to transform the reasoning individual into a mindless drone." (170, p.16).
"The Eye in the Pyramid (unlike the ancient symbol of wisdom) is located in the middle of the pyramid, not at its apex. It applies to all hierarchical systems. As applied to Kevillism, it is an illustration of the power which resides at the so-called lower echelons of hierarchical systems. Anyone with any experience in government or business knows that those supposedly in power have only a cursory awareness of how the system operates, and a nearly complete ignorance of the day-in-day-out exchange of information, book-keeping and paper-work which is its life's blood. Through my writings on the Eye in the Pyramid, I endeavour only to make secretaries, book-keepers, executive assistants and others aware that they, and not their superiors, control the levers of power. That awareness is my sole motivation and the goal I wish to achieve. What they choose to do with that awareness, once they have achieved it, is entirely up to them and of no interest to me whatsoever." (172, p.13).
KEVITCH
A sub-personality of the Moon Roach. See COCKROACH.
KHAIDOGE THE UNGOVERNABLE
A nomad barbarian lord whose lands are east of the FELDWAR STATES
and south of the WALL OF TSI and the TCAPMIN KINGDOMS. Frequently
makes attacks against the TCAPMIN KINGDOMS.
KHAIVEN
A subject of KHAIDOGE THE UNGOVERNABLE.
KHEM
Appears in issues 2, 151.
A demon/succubus CEREBUS encounters in issue 2. Allegedly the
guardian of the EYE OF TERIM, though this may not be true. It feeds
on souls, and uses the captured bodies as sorcerous warriors. When
CEREBUS somehow breaks its spell, the captive souls are freed and
their bodies reduced to skeletons.
It is first referenced as possessing a "crimson claw" (2, p.14)
which may have something to do with the Red Claw terrorists that keep
popping up in the COCKROACH's origins.
At the time of the "Great Change", it realizes the purposelessness
of its existence (now that its spell has been broken by CEREBUS) and
apparently self-destructs (151, p.7).
KLOG
A Northern barbarian CEREBUS kills in issue 2.
KOIN TRIBES
Located to the south of the desert of NESHFALNIN. Only appears
in the Aardvarkian Age map.
KOREM
King of PANROVY. Apparently missing (9, p.15)?
KOSHEM
A PANROVIAN Lord, in the service of King K'COR in issue 9.
KOTA MOUNTAINS
A mountain range to the south of the SEPRAN EMPIRE. Possibly its
southern border.
KRAUFTIG
A T'GITAN warrior. Appears in issue 18.
KRULL, Commander
Appears in issue 17.
Mentioned in issue 18.
A very famous army commander of PALNU.
"The Commander Krull character was, on the one hand, my version of Conan the King. He was also patterned on Colonel Flagg from M*A*S*H. ... [He is] the first of my characters to be living his own autobiography. ... I have come to think that most 'heroes' are primarily 'legends in their own minds'. That is to say, while they protest endlessly that they're just doing their jobs and that any grand motivations ascribed to them are strictly the problem of certain individuals who don't know them very well, most of them actually keep careful track of their 'image' on a day-to-day basis, basing their decisions, at least in part, on how it will appear in the 'Legend of Me, Book Seven.' These individuals can usually be picked out in a crowd by the presence of their 'official biographer.' This is a chap who usually doesn't get much attention until the hero is dead, at which time everyone, (somewhat naively) decides that he holds some degree of 'truth' about the deceased.
In the case of the Moon Roach, the official biographer is a disassociated personality, and consequently rather more difficult to control (rather like William Manchester travelling around inside Robert Kennedy's head, privy to too many un-heroic thoughts and impulses). In the case of Krull, the biographer [GRIMES] is really little more than a stenographer. Anyone who thinks that this is a radical rather than a minor caricaturing of the official biographer's role should read a few official biographies and compare them with a few unofficial ones." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, volume 5, Introduction to issue 17.)
LAFORT, EXECUTIVE COMMANDER
Appears (sort of) in issue 22.
A member of the military tribunal ruling LOWER FELDA, and a parody of President Jimmy Carter.
LECHAMP, GENERAL
Mentioned in issue 40.
A respected general in LOWER FELDA.
DUKE LEONARDI
Appears in issue 153.
LEOPOLD
Mentioned in issue 28.
The famous "Gambling Priest".
LIEBSCHAFT
A T'GITAN warrior. Appears in issue 18.
LINDAS
A small country to the southwest of PALNU (18, map).
LISHYAN
Country to the south of KHAIDOGE THE UNGOVERNABLE. Only appears
in the Aardvarkian Age map.
LOWER IEST
An electoral district of IEST, with 5 votes. The Lower city is bordered on the north by the FELD RIVER, and on all other sides by shipping canals leading to it. GREATER IEST lies entirely within Lower IEST, except where it too is bordered by the FELD. It's 5 votes are assigned one each to its five Boroughs; T'agath, Harne, Mann, Kiel, and Mercer.
LOWER FELDA
The country just to the west of IEST. The capital city is BEDUIN. The local language is represented in Cerebus by French.
Government is by a five-man military tribunal, although "president" WEISSHAUPT made an unsuccessful takeover attempt.
There was a KEVILLIST rebellion in Lower Felda in 1408 (22, p.12).
LUZZO
Appears in issue 31.
Ranking Diplomatic Representative of ESHNOSPUR in IEST.
LYRAN THE DEATH-DEALER
Executioner/assassin for the BLACK SUN. Appears in issue 7.
MAGIC
Good (?) Evil (?)
Wizard from "Flame Jewel" ?
"Magiking" Wizard Necross HaHaHa The Mad
"Artist Chap" Claremont
MAGGIE'S
Appears in issues 161-163.
Mentioned in issue 41.
A brothel in IEST, frequented by the COCKROACH, ELROD, and the MCGREW BROTHERS.
MACMUFIN, BRAN
Appears in issues 5, 34-35, 37, 40-41, 161
Cameos/Mentions in issues 42, 156.
Character originated as a parody of Robert E. Howard's celtic
barbarian chieftain character Bran Mak Morn, a king of the Picts.
Leader of the Pigts.
Name was originally spelled "Mak Mufin".
MACMURY, FRET
Appears in issues 5, 156.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 67, 157.
A PIGT. His name is an obvious parody of actor Fred MacMurray.
MAPS
Several maps appear in the course of the series. Two early ones
appear as supplemental material in the back of issues, and later ones
are actually worked into the storyline. The two early ones are rather
rough, and open to interpretation.
"The Aardvarkian Age"
A map of Estarcion which appears in issue 3.
Designed by Michael Loubert (Deni's brother), who created all the
place names as well.
"Palnu"
A map of Palnu appeared in "the aardvarkian age" column of issue 18.
"Iest's Electoral Districts"
Large scale map appears in issue 40, smaller scale subsets appear in that issue and in issue 42.
MCGREW BROTHERS
Appear in issues 27, 29, 39-41, 160-161, 165-168, 170-172.
Cameo in 42.
Dirty Fleagle and his baby brother Dirty Drew first appear in
issue 27. Moderately skilled fighters, but no match for CEREBUS.
Dirty Drew has an unusual amount of animal magnetism, as evidenced by his various romantic encounters (39, p.11; 41, pgs.5, 9, 11).
MEALC
A small island in the SEA OF THE SOUTH. Capital is Mealca.
MEIRGEN
The son of a jeweler who possessed the BLACK BLOSSOM LOTUS for
many years. A native of RESS. Appeared in issue 10.
MELVINBONE
A far-off (quite possibly imaginary) country, of which ELROD is
the king.
MILLS, MRS.
Appears in issue 165.
A CIRINIST official.
MINON, GENERAL
Mentioned in issue 22.
A member of the military tribunal ruling LOWER FELDA.
MISSY
Appears in issues 151-157, xxx, 166-170.
Jaka's doll when she was a child. She is carried around for some time by Cerebus after _Jaka's_Story_.
MIT
A priest of the BLACK SUN. Presumably found a new profession
after the events of issue 7.
MONEY
In 1411, 20 gold pieces are enough for "a few months of
comfortable living" (10, p.8) at Cerebus' wastrel life style in a
major city. "In Tcapmin one could live for three years as a king!"
(10, p.12).
Some TCAPMIN mercenaries are seen gambling with triangular coins.
These may be triangular wedges of larger denomination round coins.
Olniu soldiers were paid by the government a wage of twenty copper bits a month, out of which they were required to "kick-back" a great percentage for food, lodgings and other necessities. As a consequence, the Onliu soldier might have only three bits left for betting after the expenses were paid." (27, p.11).
...
The earliest dated coins were "minted more than fourteen
centuries before" (152, p.14). Quite likely these were the ones first
invented by "Tarim" (91, p.xxx). This further implies that the failed
ascension on that occasion is when the current calendar begins.
MOON ROACH
A personality of the COCKROACH.
MORESH
A city on the FELD River, just south of the WALL OF TSI.
Possibly part of the TCAPMIN KINGDOMS.
NAMA LOTUS
A hallucinogenic flower, used as a weapon by the Illusionist in
issue 1.
NEAFON THE GREAT
Known only for his "saying" (quoted by LORD JULIUS) "If at first
you don't succeed... you better start looking for a new employer..."
(14, p.9).
NECROSS HAHAHA THE MAD
Appears in issues 13, xxx.
An evil wizard, who, upon the death of his physical body, placed
his life force into a sixteen-foot stone statue he had created, named
THRUNK.
From an Introduction in _Swords_of_Cerebus_, Volume 4: "As for
Necross the (ha ha ha) Mad. He was cut from whole cloth; Exidor from
'Mork and Mindy' (did anybody at *all* watch the second and third
seasons?) He was a very bouncy character, which I hadn't realized
until I had a few pages done. Much like the Moon Roach would later,
he led me to develop almost a completely different style in order to
capture the kind of broad gestures and body movements of a real
nutbar."
NEDECA
The southeast district of PALNU (18, map). It appears not to contain any large cities.
NELSON
A town in IEST AND SUBURBS. They have 6 votes in the legislature.
NEMETH RIVER
Flows through the VESSARIAT province of PALNU. The cities of ENIATH and HIVAT are located upon it (18, map).
NERAK
Appears in issue 22.
An Agenda Secretary for the military tribunal which rules LOWER FELDA.
NEW MATRIARCHY, THE
A book by Cirin. Excerpts follow:
"The mother Terim directs, and we, her priestesses obey. We seek the divine inspiration within us and we spread the word our mother. As we learn to face toward the hub of the wheel, it is incumbent upon us all to show the path of reason, of love, and of obedience to those who are unable to perceive the symmetry of mother, child and the true path. It is our goal not only to find our own illumination, but to give illumination to others. For some we need only point the way. Others we must lead. Still others we must push. Above all, we cannot dismiss any soul as extraneous. All originate within the mother and all must be instructed in her ways..." (20, p.1).
"Great tolerance must be exercised when dealing with daughters. It is very difficult for a mother to recall that confused and turbulent time in her life when existence is profoundly unfocused and a girl feels very strongly all the myriad forces which exert themselves upon her; both external forces and, more perniciously, her own tendency to submit herself and her will to that which is transient, attractive, compelling and ill-advised. Childbirth is the Goddess' greatest gift to womankind wherein an ordered mind supplants a disordered one; reality breaks through the thin membrane of interwoven and convoluted illusion which is a girl's consciousness to that point. Suddenly genuine purpose and True Womanhood make of her a contributing member of society, where previously she had been merely a discordant and willful obstruction to all that is ordered and healthy. The birth of a child takes the mother out of her own limited and self-absorbed vanity and shows her, clearly and in a way which will brook no denial, what the Goddess' purpose for her is. The irrational rage of the young girl who is reminded of this fact is proof positive that within her, at the core of her essential being, a True Voice is speaking always to her; reminding her that it is her destiny to bring forth new life; to care for it and to nurture it. When a daughter rails against this nature, the wise mother is silent and leaves it to the True Voice within the daughter to work its sweet magic on its own timetable, as it surely will. Time is always on the side of that True Voice." (163, p.3).
"The principle reason that we allow only mothers to govern and to decide the large issues of government in Upper Felda is that they are the only individuals with a genuine stake in the future of our country. If, as many advocate, we extended the voting franchise to daughters once they have reached an arbitrarily chosen age of majority, we would be submitting the fate of our grand and noble experiment to the caprice and whim of individuals who are seeking to escape their own nature. To give them such an outlet would provide an alternative to the following of their True Voice, the dictates of the Goddess Herself and would result in universal madness of the first water. Why have we forbidden men a role in the affairs of state? Because men seek to escape the fact of their expandability (once they have fertilized the egg which becomes new life) with incautious adventurism. Aware that nothing will remain of them to mark their passing, they inevitably seek to make their mark through destruction of peace and order. The young girl's unreasonable fear of childbirth will find outlets in exactly this kind of destructiveness. To open the flood-gates even fractionally; allowing daughters to wield political power; is to invite swift and chaotic inundation." (163, p.11).
"Those daughters who attempt to achieve political power without first having the benefit of childbirth are not nearly so trouble-some as one might be led to believe. In a majority of cases, their seeking after power and influence is largely a means of attracting male attentions. Once a suitable mate presents himself, they will continue to go through the motions of climbing the ladder of success for a time; but soon, they are married and shortly thereafter they are with child. In those situations where the cart is before the horse; where career comes before childbirth; it is interesting to note that few daughters ever return to that career. In those situations where the career comes after childbirth, career is kept in its proper place as an ancillary interest to the fuller and more important task of child-rearing." (163, p.19).
"A daughter thinks her youth and beauty are timeless. I remember walking through a marketplace with one of my senior advisors and her beautiful daughter (who was then in her mid-teens). A flower-seller extended a single flower to her, with his compliments. This she accepted with only the slightest acknowledgment. My advisor said to her, "You'd better enjoy it while you can. It doesn't last forever, you know." The girl's attentions were drawn elsewhere, to a booth nearby with a display of gaudy trinkets and she ventured no reply. Now in her late twenties, needless to say, the adoring throngs of men who have surrounded her all of her life have dwindled to a handful of low and deceitful characters; charlatans, petty criminals, and brigands to a one. Gone are the industrious, reliable and noteworthy suitors of days past. One of these will undoubtedly father her children someday and she will live out her days in degraded circumstances, going from unsuitable mate to unsuitable mate. Her children, when they are of an age to understand, will pity her, mock her, be disgusted by her.
The Goddess has neither mercy upon, nor patience with the willful, the proud and the self-centered woman." (164, p.7).
"The Alchohol Sanction is called into question frequently by many sincere followers of our creed. It falls into the same category as prostitution in our view. That which cannot be eliminated must be sequestered. The consumption of alchohol, once isolated from the general community, permits those self-destructive and troublesome elements within the male population to hasten their own demise. Since no one is permitted to leave a licensed establishment until entirely sober, each tavern becomes an effective prison to those unable or unwilling to forego inebriation as a state of perpetual existence. If a husband is absent for three consecutive days owing to intoxication, his marriage is automatically dissolved and his possessions seized and distributed for the general benefit of his own and other needy families. He then becomes a tavern "resident", provided with alchohol and a subsistence diet and mean accommodation for the rest of his days. The average life expectancy of one of these individuals is six to eight months. Indisputably, wives find the enforced separation to be a great trial, but in a majority of cases, they will choose their subsequent life-mate with greater care and less emotion, and will find a reliable provider for themselves and their children." (165, p.14).
"In the history of Iest, there have been several attempts, some real, some illusory, at an ascension into heaven. In each case, the individual attempting that ascension has been male. In each case, the Tower has risen erratically, and has been structurally unsound. In each case, it has then collapsed on the Lower City, causing massive destruction, nearly unimaginable loss of life and injury. This, then, is the surest sign that exists of the Goddess' intolerance of male-dominated, male-directed society. It will be a mother who ascends, when the time comes. And that time will be soon. The Goddess will reach down to us, even as we reach up to Her. When that glorious connection is made; when that wondrous day arrives; the long-promised Golden Age will dawn and our successes and triumphs in Upper Felda will pale by comparison; mere flint, mere stone, mere spark, beside the miraculous, world-wide Blaze of Glory that is yet-to-be." (166, p.12).
"There have been various aberrant forms of the pure Matriarchy in our long history; experiments where the Daughter rules the Mother. Without exception, these experiments have been disastrous. To limit a Mother's influence to family and child care alone is to ignore the fact that family and child care are irrevocably connected to all aspects of society. A foreign policy which is not founded on the family is misguided adventurism. An economic policy which is not founded on the family is unenlightened avarice. And so on." (167, p.13).
"It is most important to have a thorough-going discussion with your daughters each morning on the subject of their dreams. For it is in dreams that depravity and wickedness find their surest hand-hold. The morning discussion should begin as soon as the child is capable of expressing herself so that she can learn as soon and as completely as possible what constitutes a Good Dream and what constitutes a Bad Dream. Great care should be exercised in making the child aware that dreams are inside their own heads and do not originate elsewhere. Once advised that Bad Dreams represent inner poison which must be dealt with and eliminated by the child herself, she will soon embark on a fit and proper course of self-awareness, self-preservation and self-development. If a daughter is made to confront the demon within, she will have little difficulty in distinguishing the demon without." (168, p.11).
"We must be ever-vigilant against sudden and spontaneous outbreaks of sorcery. It is tempting, when events and people begin to rearrange themselves in distinct lines and configurations, to mistake such arrangements for expressions of the will of the Goddess manifesting itself. The very fact of these occurrences dictates a need for extreme caution and strict adherence to the guide-lines of our ancient and revered texts. We must never forget that the Divine Light of the Goddess's Path is often accompanied by the false light of distraction and divergence. Demons and false teachings line the true path, ready, always, to ensnare the unwary. Birth! Birth above all else. For in childbirth even the most gullible finds the Divine Light of the Goddess to shine most brightly. With the birth of a child, the young mother finds her way in the world and the division between false mysteries and the True Path becomes as sure and as apparent as the difference between night and day. Choose an appropriate mate, choose procreation, choose the path of the True Mother and all else becomes clear." (170, p.15).
"If there was ever a more concrete example of the sheer willful and contrary nature of daughters when they are allowed to roam the corridors of power, unchecked and unfettered, it is the Eye in the Pyramid. Ostensibly based on an ancient and marginal philosophy, it amounts to little more than disobedience and rebelliousness as political theory. Fortunately the adherents of this cult are easily discovered and rooted out; a wise and organized leader has only to seek out those areas of government where information and decision-making are regularly impeded or neutralized and remove the person responsible. It is less a political movement than it is a haven for misguided pranksters." (172, p.12).
NESHFALNIN
A desert to the east of the TCAPMIN KINGDOMS and the PIMINA
MOUNTAINS. Only appears in the Aardvarkian Age map.
N'GAMIN
One of the T'CAPMIN KINGDOMS.
NINTH SPHERE
NO MAN'S SEA
A far northern sea. Only appears in the Aardvarkian Age map.
normalroach
A personality of the COCKROACH.
NORMINA SWARTSKOF
Appears in issues 152-155. Mentioned in issue 156.
Obviously named after Norman Schwarzkopf, hero of the Gulf War.
Apparently highly ranked (the top?) of Cirin's military forces.
Led the conquest of Iest.
Killed by PUNISHEROACH in issue 155.
NORTHBELL
An electoral district of IEST, with 5 votes. It is located just north of the FELD RIVER from IEST, and also borders the CHESMI RIVER on its west. RIVERSHIRE lies to the northwest, OLDCASTLE to the north, and Papal farm lands to the east.
NYMIN BARBARIANS
Located to the south of AMSTANAT. Only appear in the Aardvarkian
Age map.
OATHS, MISCELLANEOUS
"Tauran's blood!" (1, p.19).
"By the five spheres!" (4, p.5), A probable reference to the
SPHERES OF THE GODS.
"Ishtar take us all!" (5, p.3).
"By Gilash's third eye" (9, p.8).
OCEAN SEA
Sea to the west of the SEPRAN EMPIRE. Only appears in the
Aardvarkian Age map.
OESIS RIVER
According to the "Iest's Electoral Districts" map in issue 40, the Oesis terminates where it joins the FELD RIVER in IEST.
OLDCASTLE
An electoral district of IEST, with 10 votes. NORTHBELL lies to its south, RIVERSHIRE to the southwest, TANA AND DISTRICT to the northwest, PARMOOR to the north, and Papal farm lands to the east.
OLDHAM
A dock town in IEST AND SUBURBS. It has 6 votes in the legislature.
ONLIU
Appear (as a group) in issues xxx.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 28.
Located to the east-northeast of PALNU and east of the FELD River.
Native accent is very like the Warner Brother's cartoon character Yosemite Sam.
Contains the cities of CHENEA and SHAWATO (18, map).
Onliu soldiers like to play Match Diamondback (27, p.11).
One of their major native industries appears to be piracy (14,
p.1, xxx).
Their preferred weapon is the war hammer (27, p.4).
OSCAR (1)
Appears in issues xxx,160.
Based on the nineteenth century literary figure, Oscar Wilde.
OSCAR (2)
OSIRIS RIVER
Eastern border of the SEPRAN EMPIRE and the Western Church of
Tarim's influence. Presumably this is the river on the "Aardvarkian Age" map that is just east of PANROVY.
PALNU
The wealthiest city-state in ESTARCION, partially due to having
been missed by the recent years crop failures. Currently ruled by
LORD JULIUS.
The city-state of Palnu is divided into six districts: Old Palnu, the area immediately around the city of Palnu; PARMOC to the northwest, containing the city of FLUROC; VESSARIAT to the northeast, containing the cities of HIVAT and ENIATH; CI'NUFINN to the west, containing the cities of AVERS and CIHNU; BEHN RHIADOR to the southwest, containing the city of STEHLIS; and NEDECA to the southeast. Palnu is bordered on the east and south by the BAY OF SUNSHEE, and on the west and northwest by the GITAN RIVER. Palnu and STEHLIS are located on the SEN BIR RIVER, while ENIATH and HIVAT are on the NEMETH RIVER.
From issue 14: "The aristocracy had all but vanished in Palnu!
Bound as they were to their enormous estates, they were no competition
for the thriving merchant class whose assets now generated undreamt of
income. There were five dominant merchant "houses" within the city
walls. These houses employed "clients," each citizen of voting age
being a client, their living expenses paid by the house "lord" in
exchange for their vote! The lord, by paying for these votes, assured
himself a place on the "Grand Council of Palnu." The lord who owned
the most clients, and, hence, votes was made 'grandlord' of the city
and its surrounding territory! At the moment, this was Lord Julius!
The wrinkle that Julius had added to this idea was the selling of
titles for additional revenue! The lords of the nouveau-riche
merchant houses, having, some time before, run out of things to buy,
now filled Julius' coffers in exchange for the title of their choice!
These they handed out like party favours to concubines, family
bodyguards, accountants, nieces, nephews and, of course, themselves."
(14, p.4).
Palnan architecture is very ornate, and easily climbable (14,
p.14).
"...the first lords of Palnu untapped mysteries of the ancient world! There were rumours of strange unholy experiments... alchemy and other forbidden disciplines... For a time, the Church of Tarim struck Palnu from their maps, and allowed no priest to venture within a half-mile of it. And then... about a century ago... an earthquake swallowed up the city; a gift from the infinite mercies of the living Tarim... Thousands died, virtually in the blinking of an eye! Fully ninety percent of the city disappeared beneath the surface. Even today, many of the old streets lie intact beneath the city... It is these passage-ways which are called... the Pits! Though most regard them as an amusing bit of folklore, populated by mythical beasts, dreamed up to frighten children. They are unaware that much evil manifested in the old city yet lives in those dark caverns." (15, p.7). Charts of much, if not all of the Pits are available. THE EYE IN THE PYRAMID initially operated out of the Pits.
PANROVY
A southern city state. Their king (KOREM) appears to be missing
(9, p.15). They seem to have a proud ruling class, if not
particularly bright.
Panrovians have a stylized dueling form with sword and dagger (3,
p.5).
Panrovian monks are not known for their sanity (5, p.13).
PARMOC
The northwestern district of PALNU, containing the city of FLUROC.
PARMOOR
An electoral district of IEST, with 4 votes. OLDCASTLE lies to its south, TANA and district to the west, and Papal farm lands to the east.
PARTHA QUA NON
A PIGT from issue 5.
PENTAZIN
A swift, flavorless toxin native to ESHNOSPUR (14, p.7).
PERCE
Appears in issues 19-20.
Cameos/mentions in issue 21, 28.
"... As I was to decide with Astoria later on, I decided to draw Perce as a real-real person (for reference, I class Cerebus as fantasy-fantasy, Elrod as fantasy-real, Lord Julius as real-fantasy, Filgate as real-fantasy, The Moon Roach as fantasy-real. Get the idea?)
So I decided Perce had to be real-real, about nineteen or twenty years old and that she would have the distinction of being a Cirinist pretending to be a Kevillist pretending to be a Cirinist. That's Togith for you.
So I decided to be like the REAL cartoonists (Hal Foster springs readily to mind) and draw a real person as Perce. I decided on Deni's sister, Karen for a number of reasons. We had pictures of her, she was the right age, (she was the person who suggested "Aardvark Press" leading to the decision to do an aardvark mascot) and (ho, ho, ho) she would be easy to draw. I never made that mistake again. If I draw real people in the strip now, I always make them caricatures. It's not that the results were all that bad, but it took an awful lot of effort to make the pictures barely adequate.
But the discipline required in learning how to draw a real person in cartoon form meant that I had a lot of time to contemplate the Kevillists and the Cirinists (since Togith is a major center for both groups). The more I worked on getting the pictures right, the more complicated the Cirinists and the Kevillists got and the more complicated the story line I was working on got.
...
Anyway, I started building the cornerstones for all this intrigue in this issue with Perce (she's not really a prostitute, but I won't go into that now)." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, Volume 5, Introduction to issue 19.)
PERNANN
A region of TOGITH? (18, map).
PIEUREU
Appears in issue 13. A native of THEYR.
PIGTS
Appear (as a group) in issues 151, 155-156, 158-159, 161-162, 164-165.
Cameos/Mentions in issues 28, 32, 34, 157.
To some extent these are a parody of the Picts, as written by
Robert E. Howard.
A race of warriors that live in underground catacombs in the RED
MARCHES. We are a private people and find the privacy comforting" (5,
p.9).
They are fond of drinking fermented goat's blood (5, p.12).
They speak a dialect of CONNIPTIN (5, p.12), and may be an
offshoot of them, or vice-versa.
"We exist only to *topple* the empire" Among those they claim to
have toppled are the Redeemer Dynasty, the Eastern Monoliths and the
BLACK TOWER EMPIRE (5, p.12). Only the last has been heard of
elsewhere, but the other two sound as if they might well be similar.
When CEREBUS meets them, they are trying to topple the DEHRSION
monarchy, but hope to get to the BOREALANS within the decade. These
plans may well have been put on hold due to CEREBUS' presence.
Their leader is BRAN MAK MUFIN, and he commands an elite group of
fifty warriors (5, p.13). They are very good, though, and a force to
be reckoned with.
They worship an idol of an aardvark, who looks very much like
CEREBUS. Their name seems to derive from "sons of the pig", referring
to the common name for aardvarks of "earth-pig".
At their height, the Pigts had great cities and an impressive
system of roads (28, p.13)
They allegedly caused the Mystic Cataclysm that ended the Black
Tower empire. (28, p.14) I presume that this must have involved their
original aardvark "god", in events similar to those of Church & State.
They march in units twelve men deep and twelve men abreast (159,
p.16).
Their women only appear beginning in issue 164, in which they begin to assert dominance over the men.
PIMINA MOUNTAINS
Eastern boundary of the lands of KHAIDOGE THE UNGOVERNABLE.
PITS, THE
See PALNU.
PLAINS DWELLERS
Apparently, inhabitants of the RED MARCHES who burn skunks
ceremonially. (5, p.6).
POSEY, ARCHBISHOP
Appears in issues xxx,160.
An Archbishop of the EASTERN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF TARIM.
PRESTON, SERGEANT
A personality of the COCKROACH.
PUNISHEROACH
A personality of the COCKROACH.
RACHINNE
A location of some sort (probably near the border between IEST and LOWER FELDA) where a select group of alchemists (once including CLAREMONT) work.
RAM'S LORDS TAVERN
A dive in LOWER IEST (DOCKS DISTRICT). First appears in issue 26.
RASHAZAR, PRINCE
Mentioned in issue 24.
Prince of ESHNOSPUR, at least until the rebellion (24, p.3).
RED CLAW CULT
Mentioned in issues 11-12.
Probably followers of KHEM, who is said to have a "crimson claw"
(2, p.14).
The COCKROACH believes that Red Claw cultists killed his parents.
RED MARCHES
Located between the SEPRAN EMPIRE to the west, the TCAPMIN
KINGDOMnd form economic policy for the mother church. These representatives were appointed by the local churches and then elected by the local people to serve either as conservative or libertine economists in Iest. It was strictly a matter of evolution which led to Prime Minister Gatson's corrupt regime; the borrowing of millions of crowns; the inter-connected house of cards that was Iest's international trade balances; all discreetly hidden from papal authority and overview by several tons of obfuscating paperwork. It was his sense of something being horribly amiss and his inability to discover just what it was which led His Holiness to institute an Inquisition into corruption in the legislature. And it was the appointed Grand Inquisitor who, after a series of meetings with the Prime Minister, decided that the source of the problem was demons inhabiting many members of the business community. Undoubtedly, he had been offered and had accepted a bribe to leave the Prime Minister alone and had accepted an obvious solution by instituting a reign of terror. It is generally overlooked that all of the wealthy merchants and traders who were broken on the rack were "stripped of their worldly goods" (to quote the edict). These worldly goods were then split three ways-- one share for the Prime Minister, one for the Grand Inquisitor and one for the papal vaults where it could be used as solid evidence that the Inquisition was having a positive effect on Iest's economy. This continued until the Grand Inquisitor demanded and received (from a very relieved pontiff) the title of Earth-Born Messenger, which technically placed him above the pontiff in the religious (though not the political) infrastructure of the church. The position, however was a dangerous one to hold, because it figured in no less than fifty sacred texts. The Grand Inquisitor became the focus of an immense charismatic cult within the church. If he sneezed, it meant this; If he spilled a glass of water, it meant that. When he was assassinated, it was this cult which persuaded His Holiness that the Apocalypse was at hand and which convinced him to initiate the "Exodus Inward" predicted several hundred years before which required the church to "seal its doors against the horror" and to sever all connection with the outside world. All of the tripe written about irresistable political forces at work and Lord Julius' master plan is so much romantic hogwash. When the church sealed itself up in the sacred cathedral, Iest became a body without a head and naturally turned to the coming election as the only means of restoring some manner of governing authority..." (42, p.1).
"The implications were clear once the battle-lines had been drawn between Astoria's Theocrats and Lord Julius' Devotionalists that the primary issue was foreign ownership of the city-state of Iest. Those who felt that Iest's fate was already inextricably bound to that of Palnu (and, consequently, to that of its charismatic leader) were quite prepared to elect a goat to the office of Prime Minister, with the understanding that the next step (annexation, military invasion, etc.) would be up to Lord Julius. It is a sign of the near-complete collapse of the Iestan economy that so many people embraced this solution. Those who advocated Iestan sovereignty allied themselves with Astoria and Cerebus, the only two individuals known to have left Lord Julius' inner circle. It must be added that there was a significant percentage of the Iestan population who felt Astoria and Lord julius were still allied and that their divorce was a trick to eliminate suspicion of this fact." (42, p.4).
"I feel compelled to reiterate that the election of 1413 was a giant step forward for Estarcion despite the best efforts of the ruling classes to downplay its significance. For the first time an election included all elements of society -- soldiers, merchants, labourers, farmers. There was double-voting, spoiled ballots, corruption of all kinds -- but the process itself must be viewed as far purer than the oligarchy, the theocratic appointment, the military dictatorship. Whether such a chance juxtaposition of elements will ever occur again is doubtful. I can't help but feel that our society is the poorer for it. (Editor's note - The reader should bear in mind that Suenteus Po is an Anarchist. Consequently, where he attempts to interpret, rather than document events, his views should be discounted utterly)." (42, p.13).
"As for the so-called "one-sheets," one would be hard-pressed to find a less suitable appendage to the body politic. If, as was devoutly wished in the previous chapter, we are someday to witness full-blown Republicanism in Iest, surely the first casualty of the people's will would be these brazen testimonials to the colossal vanity of the ruling classes! Shamelessly slanted, impervious to truth and catering only to those aspects of human nature which might best be described as "base..." ...devoid of even elementary grammar and syntax, reliant on the present perfect tense (evidently to create some shoddy illusion of immediacy) the "one-sheets" gained some small admiration for providing the masses with their own literature (though one hesitates to dignify it with such a label). One can, at least, feel certain that these melodramatic papers would not last long in a freely-governed, freely-elected society! Surely the representatives of the people's will would tear away the masks concealing the producers of such ill-minded, self-serving claptrap... ...and that the people, when they realized the special interests of the producers, would demand instead publication of "truth" as determined by a majority of their own freely-elected representatives... ...only then would Republicanism reach its ultimate goal of government. For the masses, by the masses, and of the masses." (42, pgs.19-20).
TURAN GENN
a mercenary captain who CEREBUS served under in the RED MARCHES
(5, p.1).
TURG
Also called "Turg the unduly tall". Appears in issues 6, 16. Large,
not too bright muscleman, working for the con artist E'LASS.
TURL
A captain of the CONNIPTIN armies in issue 8.
UNSHIB
A city in the TCAPMIN KINGDOMS.
UPPER FELDA
Currently controlled by a CIRINIST government, after a
revolution.
VERA
Appears in issues 163-164.
A CIRINIST prison guard/stenographer. In charge of the woman known only as "VERA'S PRISONER".
"VERA'S PRISONER"
Appears in issues 163-164.
Apparently, used to be an influential CIRINIST (164, p.16) until her imprisonment in 1410 (164, p.4).
She is very concerned about exactness of language, and whether or not phrases are complimentary.
VESSARIAT
The northeastern district of the city-state of PALNU.
WALL OF TSI
A famous sight on the FELD RIVER, north of MORESH, south of
UNSHIB. Southern boundary of the TCAPMIN KINGDOMS.
WEISSHAUPT, PRESIDENT ADAM
Appears in issues 21, 22.
Cameos, Mentions in issue 31.
Weisshaupt is partially based on the historical figure Adam Weisshaupt, founder of the Bavarian Illuminati, and partially on the portrayal of the historical figure in the _Illuminatus!_ trilogy (in which, among other things, it is alleged that Adam Weisshaupt replaced George Washington and served as the first President of the United States). The wig he wears is in the eighteenth-century style.
"Weisshaupt was a millionaire nut. He is not unlike the current crop of 19th century conservatives who figure that you can run a country like a corporation. Once his face was known and there was no hope for Elrod to assist in getting his activities sanctioned, he was only going one place; military jail and then the gallows. The Military Government of Lower Felda doesn't tolerate any movement from the private sector into their domain; governing." (26, Letters).
"As for Weisshaupt himself, I had decided with these two issues [21-22] to do a parody of Captain America, patriotism, xenophobia, revolution, literacy, "publish or perish", Bucky Barnes (Captain America's sidekick), Deadman, the "can-do" presidency (a la FDR and JFK), the aristocracy and mass appeal. Central to this story-line would be the most aristocratic, unorthodox, indefatigable obnoxiously self-confident and creatively schizophrenic individual in all of the Feldwar Valley.
As long as we're on the topic of my relentless quest to piss all of you, extremely, off, more than one fan has criticized the fact that Weisshaupt escapes his fate at the end of issue 22 and reappears some thirty issues hence with his plan for the United Feldwar States intact and nearing fruition (something of a mixed metaphor, but you get the idea). I even asserted something to that effect in Aardvark Comment when someone asked if Weisshaupt would be coming back and I replied that he would undoubtedly end up on the gallows for crimes against Lower Felda's military tribunal.
It was one of those times when I tried to move the storyline in a direction it wouldn't follow. Why? Because Weisshaupt is too smooth, too self-assured, too aware, ... too Weisshaupt, to just accept a verdict and start writing his will.
He sold out.
You have to read between the lines to pick up on that, but then Weisshaupt is hardly the type to reappear and announce "Guess what? I abandoned all of my previous convictions and now I'm cooperating with the authorities because I've discovered it's an easier way to get what I want".
Notice how in this storyline he isn't talking about the peasants and the livestock? No disparaging of the common people. Quite the contrary. He's using the people against the established order. He's fighting a guerrilla war with established banking institutions, adopting a common, grass-roots perception of current events and offering it as an alternative to the present government. Then he got caught.
If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
His success in the more recent issues [circa _Church_&_State_, volume I] stems from aligning himself with the vanishing aristocracy, the new merchant class (not so new by this point) and, basically, anyone with enough money and influence to help him move things along. And guess which previous allies he had to desert to achieve this goal? No. No hints.
...
The point I wanted to get across was that the Captain America-style character steeped in patriotism, thinking with his muscles and xenophobic as a son-of-a-bitch ... plays right into the hands of a ruthless schemer and opportunist like Weisshaupt. The presidential use of xenophobia as a means of unifying widely-differing factions behind a single leader was central to the story line." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, volume six, Introduction to issues 21-22).
...
On the letters page of issue 26, Sim implies that he was executed
after the events in issue 22.
WENDA, MOTHER
Appears in issue 20.
Cameos/mentions in issues 21, 28.
A CIRINIST operating in TOGITH. She must not be very high in the CIRINIST ranks as she has never met CIRIN (she thinks Cerebus is a "unique creature" (20, p.1)).
WESTERN CHURCH OF TARIM
WOMAN-THING
Appears in issues 24-25.
An APOCALYPSE BEAST created by CLAREMONT.
"I decided to mix in a parody of two muck monsters that had been published simultaneously and, by all reports, coincidentally, by Marvel and DC. Marvel had a series called Man-Thing about a large shambling green monster who burned people to death if they showed any fear. Sort of a double-bind considering that there is only one natural reaction to seeing a ten foot green monster coming towards you. DC published Swamp thing, a wonderful mixture of Frankenstein and The Creature from The Black Lagoon. Marvel was also on a kick at this time about protecting their trademark on major characters by doing female versions of them. They ended up doing two around the same time -- Spider-Woman and She-Hulk. The implication of this move, at least in my mind, was that any publisher doing a female version of a Marvel character that wasn't Spider-Woman or She-Hulk would have free rein to use those characters -- Thingette, The Woman Torch. So taking the bull by the horns, I decided to do Woman-Thing." (_Swords_of_Cerebus_, volume six, Introduction to issues 23-25).
WYNDMEL DIAMOND, THE
Appears in issue 16.
Mentioned in issue 28.
A large (and extremely valuable diamond. Stolen by E'LAAS in issue 16.
WYNDMEL-SMYTH, LADY ARISTONNIA and LORD LUCIUS
Appear in issue 16.
Mentioned in issue 156.
ZAWIL
A small country to the northwest of PALNU (18, map).