Social Institutions G - I

Businesses, artificial structures, social or political organizations or events, named historical events, etc.

Gray: Castle-like buildings on Panjandrum. So called because they are built of gray rock. (The Pirates of Panjandrum)

Great Amphitheater: An amphitheater in Tec'Loren on Syringo where The Turquoise Band performed. (The Butler Did It)

Great Dying, The: The time when much of the Taupoian population was killed by what was believed (incorrectly) to be an "alien virus."
(Rogue Planet)

Great Game, The: The competition between various intelligence agencies. (Blood Stone) Originally was used to describe the competition between the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia, mostly during the 19th century. The term was introduced to the public in Rudyard Kipling's novel (and the movie), "Kim."

Great Run: A period when fish are migrating on Syringo and fishing is especially good. (Teasing the Geese)

Great Sparowatt: I have no idea who or what this is. It may be some deity of the crew of Shuttle 54. (Alien Abduction)

Great Strife, The Time of: The period in Waxonian history after the development of the warp drive which was characterized by a lot of internal conflict. Many Waxonians left to form colonies on other planets. Much of the conflict resulted from disagreements about the line of royal succession. The Time of Great Strife led to the Waxonian Dark Ages.

Great Writer's Astronautics Academy, The: The most well regarded flight training academy in the Stellar Economic Community. (A Christmas to Remember)

Grimace: A legendary Waxonian monster. It had 6 heads and fled when Ramunus cut off one of its heads. (Grimace)

Guardians of the Sanctuary of Ramunus (Patience): A group of crows with Berkyl as Captain of the Guard.

Guardians of the Sanctuary of Ramunus (Svajone): Six young skinks--Casey, Kenney, Marteen, Rob, Sparkie, and Spud--who guarded the Sanctuary containing the Robe of Ramunus on Svajone. (Down the Rushy Glen)

Haiku, Rolling: A Haiku is a form of poetry with three lines of specified syllable length. Normally the pattern is Line 1 = 5 syllables, Line 2 = 7 syllables, Line 3 = 5 syllables. The Rolling Haiku is a form created by Aryla Fitvet. (The Elzbieta Bud) It consists of four stanzas of three lines and a fifth of five lines. The syllable pattern, referring to the lines in a normal Haiku as 1,2,3, is: 1,2,3; 2,3,1; 3,1,2; 1,2,3; 2,2,2,2,2. The Ramunus Haikus are Rolling Haikus.

Hiss, The: A hissing heard by colonists of the planet Patience. The colonists assumed that The Hiss was a disease. Humans found it very annoying, Waxonians much less so. However, since no causative agent was ever found, the SEC classified the planet "Uninhabitable" and quarantined it. (The Hiss) The Hiss was not a disease, but the telepathic "carrier wave" of the crows introduced by the Warren Ark. The Kindred discovered the truth of the matter and manipulated the SEC to quarantine the planet in order to help protect the Sword of Ramunus which they had hidden on Patience.

Horological Society: One of the organizations on Fohia tasked with selecting Fohens whose hearing is superior enough to be able to detect the last grain of sand falling from a porcelain horologe, for training these individuals to construct (assuming the community has the natural resources required) and use these horologes, and for announcing the time to their community.

Members of a horological society fall into five classes:
     Novice: those who joined the society less than a year ago
     Initiate: those who have been with the society for over a year but are          not yet skilled enough to be a Docent
     Docent: a Member who is skilled enough to be a teacher
     Master: those who had been selected to spend a year in the Tower where
         their duty was to announce the time to the community by striking a
         gong. After that year, they supervised the Docents and participated
         in the governance of the society.
     Horologist Superior: the leader chosen by the Masters

Docents and Masters make up the pool most likely to leave their local society and the community to initiate or participate in societies of other communities.

Hot Air Dirigible Club: A group of hot air dirigible pilots, technicians, and fans who put on performances and give rides at festivals or other occasions on Crunk. (Pushing the Envelope)

Hotel Pantheon: Three-Star hotel in Panjandrum City. Where Baroo and Pepaa stayed. (The Duck and Doughnut)

Hotel Viktorija (Victoria): Hotel in Belgeum. Three-story white stucco building located four blocks north of the building housing the spaceport's flight reservations counter. (Superb Owl Sunday)

Hypercube: An electronics company which is a competitor of Claudius Electronics (A Conversation with Gina Verucchio)

In-Swatch/Out-Swatch: What we would call an in box or an out box for digital communications. "Swatch" refers to the notion that most of the communications are relatively small amounts of information (like small pieces of cloth) - such as emails or social media notes. Larger documents are generally found in storage areas capable of better security (bolts). (A Conversation with Gina Verucchio)

Inn of the Blue Moon: RyLee's Inn in The Crossroads. (The Ring)

Intelligence Academy: A well respected school in Papeete, Tahiti, Earth where students are trained in the skills need for secret agents. (Blood Stone) In "Blood Stone," Marcus says "Academy rules--cadets may not have a horse, a moustache, or a vocophone..." I remembered hearing something similar about some US military academy. So I googled "a West Point cadet cannot own a horse" to find 4 newspaper references after a search on "cannot own a horse" turned up one. All showed images of newspaper pages but only one, in the San Antonio Light, was large enough to show a Walter Winchell column, On Broadway, which contained the quote. The Google links indicated that one E. W. Wallnau, manager of the Cadet Lounge at the Hotel Picadilly, had written in to say something like "a West Pointer cannot own a horse or a pet, a wife, or a moustache." The four newspapers found were:
      San Antonio Light, Wed. Apr 27, 1938, pg 7
      Reading Times, Apr 17, 1938, pg 6
      Brownsville Herald, Apr 29, 1938, pg 4
      Nevada State Journal, May 2, 1938, pg 4

Investigating Attorney: An attorney who, in addition to practicing law, uses his/her legal skills to gather legal evidence for a client. (Appril Showers)

Isher's: A chain of stores that buy and sell harware and weapons on the planet Panjandrum. (Plastidroid, Slush)

The name pays homage to A.E. van Vogt and his novel, "The Weapon Shops of Isher" and the three short stories that were used to form the novel.

Page updated: 16 April 2024
Page created: 19 January 2012