Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki - User contributions [en]

The Luggage

2026-05-24T09:02:52Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40822 by Vandal (talk)

{{Character Data
|title= The Luggage
|photo= Luggage.jpg|© [[Discworld Emporium]]
|name= The Luggage
|age=
|race=

|occupation= Carrying stuff around, Protecting its owner.
|appearance= A large brass bound wooden chest with hundreds of little pink legs. Is sometimes shown to have Sycamore white teeth and a long mahogany red tongue.

|residence= Wherever its current owner lives

|death=
|parents=
|relatives= Owned by [[Rincewind]].
|children= Several smaller trunks.
|marital status=

|books= All books in the [[:Category:Rincewind Series|Rincewind Series]].
|cameos= {{UA}}
}}
'''The Luggage''' is a trunk with legs. It is made of [[sapient pearwood]], and is immensely faithful. Its first owner was a tourist called [[Twoflower]], who at the end of ''[[Book:The Light Fantastic|The Light Fantastic]]'', gave the Luggage over to [[Rincewind]] as a parting gift. It appears to hold many dimensions, and has often swallowed people that have tried to hurt its owner. It always has a pair of fresh underwear ready smelling slightly of lavender. It has also been used as a mode of transportation by [[Cohen the Barbarian]] in ''The Light Fantastic'', and it will even cross dimensions to be with its owner, as it does in {{E}}.

There is some inconsistency in the books regarding the origins of The Luggage. In {{TLF}} it is established that it came from a [[Wandering Shop]], meaning it could've originated from any place (or past time) on the Disc or even possibly from another world. In {{IT}} however, we learn that many other (albeit smaller) Luggages live on the [[Counterweight Continent]], allowing it to start a family there.

In order to eat the enemies of its owner, the Luggage will usually lure them with a trap, such as raising its lid invitingly to reveal piles of gleaming gold. The last sight many unlucky men see at the mercy of the Luggage are large, tombstone-like teeth and a huge red tongue. However, if left behind somewhere and forced to catch up with its owner, the Luggage often just tears through a place leaving a wake of destruction and completely swallowing everything in its path. A person can survive inside the Luggage, however, as mentioned above.

The Luggage is often seen as a malevolent entity and has made a definite impression on the faculty of [[Unseen University]]. [[Twoflower]] originally bought the Luggage in [[Wandering_Shop|one of ''those'' shops]], but, while in the [[Agatean Empire]] the Luggage met others of its kind and has now mated and reproduced in {{IT}}. Its unceasing loyalty to its master can also be seen as a good trait, and it has often helped its owners out of many different situations- usually by stomping, jumping up and down on, or swallowing whatever is threatening its master.

The Luggage was briefly worshipped by the [[Tezuman Empire]] as a god in ''Eric'' when the Luggage crushes their [[Quezovercoatl|former god]] on the top of a pyramid. They rationally decided that if something can crush their god that easily, it would probably be wise to start worshipping it instead. However, when the Luggage never returned, despite all the worshipping they did, the Tezumans killed their priests and switched to enlightened atheism instead.

The Luggage even once swallowed the [[Octavo]] (at the end of {{TLF}}), but we later learn (in {{S}}) that it "sulked for three days" and later spat it out.

It makes a brief appearance in {{UA}} as a prospective member of the [[Unseen University]] football team, though it is ultimately disqualified from joining.

[[Cohen the Barbarian]] once attacked the Luggage in {{TLF}} because he was "scared of it." However, this is not quite is surprising when one considers the psychology of the individual: Cohen's normal state of mind is to attack anything that moves. Something that scares him would be a prime target, as attacking it would eventually end up with either he, it, or both of them being dead, removing the source of fear regardless of the outcome. More importantly, seeing piles of gold is undoubtedly a lure for Cohen.

== Annotations ==

Pratchett has stated on several occasions that the Luggage was created from the time he watched a woman's suitcase wobbling across the tiles of an airport. He has also stated however that the airport story and several others were fabricated for the benefit of interviewers and quite frankly he can't remember the precise origin of the Luggage. He had earlier used a similar idea when designing [[Dungeons and Dragons|role-playing games ]] for friends, a walking trunk which could carry all the players' possessions and would follow any instructions given to it but ''only'' the instructions given to it (rather like a golem), which inevitably led it to absentmindedly walking off the edge of a cliff as soon as the quest party got distracted. (Source: [[The Pratchett Portfolio: A Compendium of Discworld Characters]]).

Technically, the Luggage acts as a classic {{wp|Bag_of_holding|Bag of Holding}} but with the added bonus that items of laundry stuffed in will also come out cleaned, pressed and smelling faintly of lavender.

[[Category:Discworld characters|Luggage, The]]
[[Category:Serial characters|Luggage, The]]
[[Category:Supporting characters|Luggage, The]]
[[Category:Devices|Luggage.The]]
[[de:Truhe]]

Stephen Briggs

2026-05-24T09:02:31Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40826 by Vandal (talk)

{{Character Data
|title=Stephen Briggs
|photo=Stephen Briggs.jpg|240px|
|name=Stephen Briggs, aka cmotdibbler
|age=b. 1951 CE
|race=[[Human]]
|occupation= Renaissance Man
|appearance= Rather like the [[Patrician]]
|residence= Oxford, England
|death=
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status= married
|books=
|cameos=
}}
Dramatist, thespian, lexicographer, encyclopedist, illustrator, cartographer and huckster to the Discworld community, the busy Mr. Briggs dramatises Discworld books for the stage and performs in the resulting plays, specialising in the role of the [[Havelock Vetinari|Patrician]]. He has provided the voices of Discworld (and [[Nomes|Nome]]) characters in more than twenty recordings. He has compiled reference books and plotted the various [[:Category:Maps|''Mapps'']] of Discworld, and once operated a Web store, [[Discworld.com|cmotdibbler.com]], selling a range of Discworld items. (However, cmotdibbler has not been available for some time. Lord Vetinari informs us by omniscope that he is "experiencing problems with technology".1)

In his spare time, he maintained his regular job in the civil service for many years (confirming our suspicions about the civil service) but he now describes himself as a former civil servant. He was born in Oxford and lives there still.

(1)''Or he may have sold the wrong sausage to the wrong customer...''

“My involvement in Discworld came about almost by accident. I was (still am) a keen member of an amateur drama club and I had adapted Monty Python's ''Life of Brian'' and ''Holy Grail'', and Tom Sharpe's ''Porterhouse Blue'' and ''Blott on the Landscape'' for the stage. While looking for a new project, someone suggested that I might like to try the works of Terry Pratchett - and my life passed into another leg of the trousers of time!”

== Pratchett-related Works ==
=== Books ===
* {{DC}}, with [[Terry Pratchett]]
* {{NDC}}, with Terry Pratchett
* {{TR}}, with Terry Pratchett
* [[Book:Guards! Guards! A Discworld Graphic Novel|''Guards! Guards! A Discworld Graphic Novel'']], with Terry Pratchett and Graham Higgins
* [[Book:Nanny Ogg's Cookbook|''Nanny Ogg's Cookbook'']], with Terry Pratchett, [[Tina Hannan]] and [[Paul Kidby]]

=== [[Theatre Adaptations|Stage Adaptations]] ===
Many of Briggs’ scripts have been published; the publisher is given in brackets where this is the case. Amateur performance rights are handled through [[Colin Smythe]] for plays published by Corgi and Oxford University Press, and through the publishers for other plays. See the [http://colinsmythe.co.uk/terry-pratchett/visual/dramatic-adaptations/ dramatic adaptations page] on Colin’s website for details.
* {{M}} (Corgi/Transworld)
* {{WS}} (Corgi/Transworld)
* {{G!G!}} (Corgi/Transworld)
* {{MAA}} (Corgi/Transworld)
* {{M!!!}} (Samuel French)
* {{CJ}} (Samuel French)
* {{IT}} (Methuen Plays)
* {{J}} (Methuen Plays)
* {{TFE}} (Methuen Plays)
* {{NW}} (Methuen Plays)
* {{GP}} (Methuen Plays)
* {{TT}} (Methuen Plays)
* {{MR}} (Methuen Plays)
* {{TAM}} (Oxford University Press)
* {{JATD}} (Oxford University Press)
* {{DO}} (Oxford Playscripts)
* {{FOC}} (Oberon Modern Plays)
* {{MM}} (Samuel French)
* {{UA}} (Oberon Modern Plays)
* ''[[Book:The Rince Cycle|The Rince Cycle]]'' (Oberon Modern Plays)
* {{LL}} (Methuen Plays)
* {{H}} (Methuen Plays)
* ''[[The Shakespeare Codex]]''....Methuen Plays
* ''[[Murder in Ankh-Morpork]]''
* ''[[A Trip on the Stage]]''

=== Maps ===
* [[The Streets of Ankh-Morpork|''The Streets of Ankh-Morpork'']]
* [[The Discworld Mapp|''The Discworld Mapp'']]
* [[A Tourist Guide to Lancre|''A Tourist Guide to Lancre'']]
* [[Death's Domain|''Death's Domain'']]

=== [[Audiobooks]] ===
All published by Isis Books in the UK, and some by Harper Audio in the US.
* {{TLH}}
* {{E}}
* {{TFE}}
* {{TFE}}
* {{TT}}
* {{MR}}
* {{NW}}
* {{GP}}
* {{T!}}
* {{MM}}
* {{TAM}}
* {{WFM}}
* {{HFOS}}
* {{W}}
* {{T}}
* {{D}}
* {{WI}}

=== Diaries and other books ===
* ''[[Book:Discworld's Unseen University Diary 1998|Discworld's Unseen University Diary 1998]]''
* ''[[Book:Discworld's Ankh-Morpork City Watch Diary 1999|Discworld's Ankh-Morpork City Watch Diary 1999]]''
* ''[[Book:Discworld's Assassins' Guild Diary 2000|Discworld's Assassins' Guild Diary 2000]]''
* ''[[Book:Discworld Fools' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2001|Discworld Fools' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2001]]''
* ''[[Book:Discworld Thieves' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2002|Discworld Thieves' Guild Yearbook and Diary 2002]]''
* ''[[Book:Discworld (Reformed) Vampyres' Diary 2003|Discworld (Reformed) Vampyres' Diary 2003]]''
* ''[[Book:The Ankh-Morpork Post Office Handbook & Diary 2007|The Ankh-Morpork Post Office Handbook & Diary 2007]]''
* ''[[Book:Lu-Tze's Yearbook of Enlightenment 2008|Lu-Tze's Yearbook of Enlightenment 2008]]''
* ''[[Book:Terry Pratchett: HisWorld A Brief Guide to Discworld|Terry Pratchett: HisWorld A Brief Guide to Discworld]]''

==External Links==
* [http://www.stephenbriggs.com/ Stephen Briggs's Website]
* [http://www.studiotheatreclub.com/ Studio Theatre Club]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Stephen}}

[[Category:People]]
[[Category:Order of the Honeybee]]
[[de:Stephen Briggs]]

Mavolio Bent

2026-05-24T09:02:20Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40823 by Vandal (talk)

{{Character Data
|title= Mr. Bent
|photo=Blank.jpg|
|name= Mavolio Bent, birthname Charlie Benito
|age= 47 at the time of ''[[Making Money]]''
|race= suspected [[Vampires|vampire]], but probably just [[human]]. The real truth may be something more terrible and unspeakably spine-chilling than a mere vampire, though.

|occupation= Chief Cashier at the [[Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork]], and [[Fools' Guild|clown]]
|appearance= A fussy little man in impeccable black jacket and pinstripe trousers, and over-large impeccably shiny shoes. (Later wears a red clown nose.)
|residence= He lodges at Mrs [[Evadne Cake]]'s on [[Elm Street]].
|death=
|parents= Mother deceased, Father presumed deceased.
|relatives= unknown
|children= presumed none
|marital status= About to be married to Miss [[Drapes]], who isn't likely to let go in a hurry.
|books= {{MM}}
|cameos=
}}
'''Mr Mavolio Bent''' is the Chief Cashier at the [[Royal Bank of Ankh-Morpork]]. He is a fussy little man in impeccable black jacket and pinstripe trousers. He has a peculiar way of walking that involves lifting his feet high and gently setting them down again, like a slow-motion goosestep. He also has no sense of humour – this is apparently due to [[Nichtlachen-Keinwortz Syndrome]], but as if in compensation, is very good with numbers. He has the air about him of one who stands very quietly in a cupboard when not in use.

He is a ferociously good mathematician. He can run his eyes down an enormous list of numbers and add them together instantly. As such he has risen to a position of enormous power in the Bank. He sits on a mechanical platform in the centre of the office which he calls his {{wp|Panopticon|"panopticon"}} so can treadle around to watch any of the junior clerks under his power as they beaver away. He is held in awe by all who work for him, such as [[Robert Spittle]]. And he inspires ''absolute devotion'' from his Senior Clerk, [[Drapes|Miss Drapes]].

Mavolio Bent was born Charlie Benito. His father was a renowned clown, his mother loved clowns – or at least loved ''a'' clown for a night. His mother brought him up to be normal, but he still ended up as a clown. He failed at the job (or rather, was too good at it in that he actually made others ''laugh''), and while on the run he bumped into a group of [[Travelling Accountants|travelling accountants]]. There he discovered his talent for numbers, started his career as a banker, until the events of {{MM}} led to the discovery of his hidden talents. His catch phrase, or at least the password to his magic locks and what he utters before attempted pie-ing of public authority, is "Here we are again!". This, of course, is an homage to the Victorian-era Payne Brothers.

==Annotation==
"Mavolio Bent" works on three levels:

i) in the Shakespeare play "'''Twelfth Night'''", Malvolio is the humourless, conscientious, Pooterish steward who has a grey and austere, rather pompous, outer manner, the butt of the joke for other characters who possess a more rudimentary sense of humour; but who is shown to have a rich and very human fantasy life on the inside.

ii) A long-running children's animation on British TV is "'''Mr Benn'''."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr_Benn]. The star is a dapper well-dressed bank cashier, impeccably dressed in black jacket and pinstripe trousers, who has a '''''most''''' peculiar stiff-legged way of walking. Again he is a grey, mousy, individual on the surface, but the moment he walks into the [[Wandering Shop|mysterious shop]] that appears from nowhere, and dons a costume, he walks out onto an Adventure...
For those of you who are British and have forgotten, and those of you from elsewhere who never got to see this show as a kid, here's a sample episode:."[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK6jdj9B_7E] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eu9IKu9Z1Yw]

iii) In criminal parlance, a "Bent" clerk is one who has been corrupted, and will tell secret information or assist in stealing from the bank.

Bent's childhood story of running away from the life of a clown with the travelling accountants is a reversal of the [[Roundworld]] cliché of someone stuck in a monotonous job running away to join the circus.

Of course the {{wp|John_Major|greyest, blandest, dullest British Prime Minister of recent years}} was born to a circus family and did leave because he found Conservative politics (both small and large 'c') more to his taste. The idea of his leading a double life as a clown was explored by ''The Comic Strip'', but this is probably a coincidence. Even though prior to entering politics, he trained as a bank manager, and after entering politics and attaining the rank of Chancellor of the Exchequer, he treated the British economy as if it were a delinquent (overdrawn) account on the grand scale. As Prime Minister, his refusal to abandon a flawed economic standard (the ERM, to which the pound, and his own financial reputation, was tied) precipitated a major economic collapse and recession.

[[Category:Making Money|Bent,Malvolio]]
[[Category:Discworld characters|Bent,Malvolio]]
[[Category:Human characters|Bent,Malvolio]]
[[de:Mavolio Beuge]]

Agatean Empire

2026-05-24T09:02:17Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40824 by Vandal (talk)

The political entity that rules over the entire [[Counterweight Continent]], and also once used to have heavy influence on foreign countries as powerful as [[Ankh-Morpork]], until the Agatean government lost interest in all places foreign and, in order to keep citizens happily toiling away within the walls of the Empire, told the citizens that all foreign lands were barren wastelands with howling ghosts.

Gold is common on the Counterweight Continent, and deemed less valuable by Agateans than as regarded by foreigners. Once upon the time, the Agateans were more technologically advanced: [[iconograph]]s, spectacles, dentures, and so on. These devices were soon copied by foreigners when [[Twoflower]] the tourist went out into the world, and speedily evolved in the hands of the [[Wizard's magic|wizards]], artificers, [[Alchemists' Guild|alchemists]] etc. in [[Ankh-Morpork]]. [[CMOT Dibbler|Some Agateans]] think that foreigners are flesh-and-blood humans who might have some money to buy some Agatean products, but tend to think that foreigners have nothing and therefore everything is worth selling: silk (which Ankh-Morpork in fact buys from [[Klatch_(continent)|Klatch]]) or tea which is bought from [[Howondaland]] etc.

The Agateans do not understand how much power can be derived from their gold. The Agatean government had once wielded huge naval fleets, but had ceased contact with the other countries and therefore its influence was diminished. The Agatean Empire, then, is an agricultural country with no exports and no influences on world politics except when a foreign ruler remembers the fear that they once regarded the Empire with. The Empire has turned its forces inward, having a formal and showy civil war between feudal lords every time that an Emperor needs to be selected, and oppressing revolutionaries who talk about the sort of freedom found in the outside world. The Agatean Empire has become one of the sources of the refugee sort of immigrants who arrive in Ankh-Morpork.

When the Discworld chronicles began, the Agatean Empire was ruled by an idealistic and possibly more open-minded boy Emperor (see ''[[Book:The Colour of Magic|The Colour of Magic]]''), who was clever enough to turn a Grand Vizier's murder scheme against himself (see ''[[Book:Mort|Mort]]''). The boy Emperor was likely subsequently, successfully murdered, as the Empire was ruled by a whimsical old man and again oppressive when a [[Silver Horde|certain group]] of [[barbarian heroes]] invaded (see ''[[Book:Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]''). After the barbarian heroes successfully seized the throne, diplomatic relations were re-established, and embassies of, for example, [[Ankh-Morpork]], were settled in the capital city [[Hunghung]]. The barbarian-minded new Emperor subsequently deserted the throne and went on yet another quest (see ''[[Book:The Last Hero|The Last Hero]]''), and the subsequent political arrangements within the Empire are clarified in {{CDA}}. Apparently the Revolution succeeded and there is no longer an Emperor. The country is now The [[People's Beneficent Republic of Agatea]], headed by the Chairman of the People's Committee.

[[Bes Pelargic]] is a seaport in a remote corner of the Agatean Empire. Being from Bes Pelargic is a good excuse for eccentricities.

===Noble Families of the Agatean Empire===
*[[Hongs]]
*[[Sungs]]
*[[Fangs]]
*[[Tangs]]
*[[McSweeneys]]

==Annotations==
Its huge size, the horseman-baiting wall around it, its former political and scientific prominence followed by centuries of introverted stagnation and feuding warlords, followed in turn by the formation of a people's republic - not to mention [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terracotta_Army its flowerpot soldiers] - make it obvious which [[Roundworld]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China country the Agatean Empire is a parody of]. Other small references to East Asian culture make it a vague portmanteau of the region in general, although cameo references to places such as [[Grimchi]] and [[Bhangbhangduc]] have helped to separate it out some.

[[Category:Discworld geography]]
[[de:Achatenes Reich]]

Zombies

2026-05-24T09:01:33Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40817 by Vandal (talk)

[[Image:Zombie.jpg|240px|left|thumb|Drawn by [[User:Knmatt|Matt Smith]]]] Walking corpses, many of whom are still intelligent, usually from the human species. No [[dwarfs|dwarf]], [[gnomes|gnome]], [[pictsies|pictsie]], or [[trolls|troll]] zombies have been reported. Also, no zombies reported to be from ordinary animal species. Many zombies can still see, hear, smell, talk, move, think, plan, and scheme. Some can even eat. Depending on length of time since death, a zombie's flesh may look gray or green, his skin may be flaking off, he may smell rotten or smell of preservatives. When "injured", for example a finger having been cut off, a zombie does not bleed; the wound can be sewn up, but there will be no wound-healing or tissue-regeneration.

The process of death strips away all illusions, so a zombie, if he wishes, can control all his body functions extremely well, and think very clear thoughts. For this reason, a zombie can be a powerful fighter. Their bodily strength is so great that they are supposedly able to walk through walls and rip people apart just like that. Notable zombies in [[Ankh-Morpork]] include [[Mr. Slant]] the head of the [[Guild of Lawyers]], [[Mr Bendy]], the obituarist on [[Ankh-Morpork Times|The Times]], and the [[Ankh-Morpork City Watch|Watchman]] [[Reg Shoe]], also a dead rights activist. The zombie [[Baron Saturday]] makes an appearance in ''[[Book:Witches Abroad|Witches Abroad]]''.

Several reasons might cause a corpse to continue walking around and talking to people. The most prominent reason is magic. Corpses can be resurrected by application of proper spells and/or potions. Gods are also known for fiddling around with human bodies. At least one case is known, where a person ([[Windle Poons]]) continued to walk around after his death, simply because [[Death]] had not come around to collect his soul (''[[Book:Reaper Man|Reaper Man]]''). In a related fashion, some become zombies merely because their life-timers have not run out at the point of their death.

Revenants - that is, unintelligent walking corpses - have also been reported, in the [[Borogravia|Borogravian]] crypt for their military heroes (''[[Book:Monstrous Regiment|Monstrous Regiment]]''). Only the unfinished war with Zlobenia keeps them "alive"; just enough sentience remains for them to recognise the Grand Duchess [[Annagovia]] manifesting through [[Wazzer Goom]].

==Annotations==

The idea of a grim Gothic castle used as the last resting place of a nation's great generals. Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler intended the Castle of Wewelsburg to be the spiritual heart of the SS organisation. To this end, he devised and had built a crypt to hold the bodies of Waffen-SS generals who died nobly in action. Assorted post-war novels and computer games have dealt with the question of what might happen if, for whatever reason, the dead Generals of Wewelsberg refused to stay dead, and returned as vampires or zombies of varying degrees of sentience...

Stories of [[Roundworld]] {{wp|Zombies|zombies}} originated in the Afro-Caribbean spiritual belief system of {{wp|Haitian_Voodoo|Vodou}}, which told of the people being controlled as labourers by a powerful sorcerer. Zombies became a popular device in modern horror fiction, largely because of the success of George A. Romero's 1968 film ''Night of the Living Dead''. Since then they have grown in popular fiction and culture into the lurching, grey-skinned, hard-to-kill, powerful creatures we find on the Disc.

It may also be noted that the difference between Zombies and Revenants are switched from their [[Roundworld]] equivalents, zombies on [[Roundworld]] are the mindless corpses while Revenants sustain much of their original sentience, being driven by revenge or some other compulsion that they were not able to complete in their first life.

[[Category:Undead characters|Zombies]]
[[de:Zombies]]
[[Category:Discworld humanoid species]]

Cohen the Barbarian

2026-05-24T09:01:30Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40818 by Vandal (talk)

{{Character Data
|title= The Barbarian
|Cohen the Barbarian Illustrated by [[User:puggdogg|Michael Collins]] a.k.a. puggdogg
|photo= Cohen The Barbarian.jpg|
|name= Cohen the Barbarian
|age= 90 something
|race= [[:Category:Human characters|Human]]
|occupation= Barbarian
|appearance= Old, spry, bald, knee-length beard, one eye, crab like
|residence= [[Discworld]]
|death=
|parents=
|relatives=
|children= [[Conina]]
|marital status=
|books= {{TLF}} {{IT}} {{TLH}} {{TB}}
|cameos= {{J}}
Mention in {{MP}} and {{S}}.
}}

Also known as '''''Ghenghiz Cohen''''', '''Cohen the Barbarian''' is the last and greatest of the [[barbarian heroes]]. He is over 90 years old (or 87 in ''The Light Fantastic'', in which he declares "If I wash twenty yearsh younger...I'd be shixty sheven"), which just goes to show how good Cohen is at not dying. Known to be leader of the [[Silver Horde]], a small group of similarly elderly barbarian heroes, many of whom have served with Cohen for numerous years. Like Cohen himself, the Silver Horde is ''very'' good at not dying in a line of work where insane risks and life-and-death gambles are relatively routine (note we say 'and' instead of 'or' - this is intentional, as *someone* tends to die in the instances).

In the book {{TLF}}, he commissioned a dwarf to make a set of special dentures made from the diamond teeth of Old Grandad, an ancient troll. It is speculated that he may be the only person on the Disc who can actually get away with this without drawing excessive retribution from trolls, mostly because he's sort of a force of nature. [[Rincewind]] describes the effect in the following way: "Once they've been around him for a while, people start seeing the world the way he does. All big and simple. And they want to be a part of it." Cohen's charisma is powerful enough for him to have attracted the [[Silver Horde]], despite the notoriously individualistic nature of barbarians.

He is of a wiry build and wears just his loincloth even in the snow.

The best things in life according to him are "hot water, good dentishtry and shoft lavatory paper".

He has at least one known daughter (and is assumed to have many more children, most of whom he does not know). Her name is [[Conina]]. She is the daughter of a temple dancer.

It is generally difficult for others to consider Cohen a friend, given his volatile nature; when questioned by [[Havelock Vetinari]], Rincewind conceded that he could be considered Cohen's friend simply because he and Cohen had met a couple of times and Cohen hadn't killed him.

Cohen married [[Bethan]] who was a sacrificial virgin (at least back then she was) with a tanned perfect body, and a knowledge of chiropody - a perfect complement to Cohen's age-warped back. It is presumed they broke up at some point. According to Rincewind, Conina and Bethan are about the same age.

He wrote (or got somebody to write) the book ''[[Inne Juste 7 Dayes I wille make you a Barbearian Hero!]]''. However, it is suspected that [[CMOT Dibbler]] could have some responsibility for that.

Cohen served a brief stint as Emperor of the Agatean Empire, after the Silver Horde stole the entire Empire. However, he soon grew bored of a life bereft of constant adventure and peril, and when [[Old Vincent]] choked on a cucumber (a decidedly un-heroic way to die), he led the Horde on a final mission - returning fire to the gods in the form of Agatean Thunder Clay.

Cohen, over the course of his long career, has been everywhere and done everything, sometimes twice. After learning of the man's exploits, he views himself as similar to [[Carelinus]], the greatest conquerer in the history of the Disc, only "not as cissy, obviously".

During his final adventure (on the Disc, at least), Cohen joined the very small group of people who have successfully cheated [[Fate]] by rolling a 7 on a 6-sided die. Of course, he did this by cutting it in half while it was up in the air, so that both the side showing 6 and the side showing 1 landed face up, but everyone agreed that it was a fine stroke and certainly a very barbarian-like way of solving the problem.

He, and most of the rest of his horde, was last seen taking his leave of [[Dunmanifestin]], the home of Gods, on stolen Valkyries mounts, after a mission aimed to blow the place to smithereens. Whether or not they were actually dead at the time is left to speculation, but as Cohen said, they didn't think they were dead and they'd never cared what anyone else thought.

Once bought an apple.

==Annotations==

Cohen is clearly based on the mighty {{wp|Conan_the_Barbarian|Conan the Barbarian}}, created by Robert E. Howard as a "virile, axe-wielding, fur-bearing, cranium-smashing barbarian" and being still reimagined today. Cohen is the end-of-life, what-they-might-become story of an elderly hero whose days of trampling the jewelled thrones of the world beneath his sandalled feet etc. etc. are not over yet, even if he needs a support to trample these days.

While the epithet ''Cohen the Barbarian'' parodies Conan the Barbarian, his proper name ''Ghenghiz Cohen'' is a clear reference to ''Genghis Khan'', a barbarian who became the founder and Emperor of the Mongol Empire in the 11th-12th centuries. Like Cohen, he was also said to have fathered a large number of descendants. His grandson Kublai Khan would conquer China, the primary [[Roundworld]] counterpart of the Agatean Empire.

The "Cohen" part leads to the gag "wholesale slaughter", being a pune on the Roundworld understanding of Jews being rather good salespeople.

"The best things in life according to him are "hot water, good dentishtry and shoft lavatory paper". This is a reference to the Arnold Schwarzenegger {{wp|Conan_the_Barbarian_(1982_film)|movie version}} of Conan, wherein in some forsaken yurt the various gathered chieftains and warriors are swapping their versions of what is best in life. Conan is asked, and replies "to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentations of their women." TP builds this scene up in much the same way, to end on the gags about growing old. The Conan quote is itself based on one (likely apocryphally) attributed to Genghis Khan.

{{wp|David_Bradley_%28English_actor%29|David Bradley}} (the caretaker; Argus Filch; in the ''Harry Potter'' movies and the gangster Stemroach in ''Ideal'') plays Cohen in the Sky One adaptation of {{COM}}.

[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Serial characters]]
[[Category:Leading characters]]
[[de:Dschingis Cohen]]

Aziraphale

2026-05-24T09:01:27Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40819 by Vandal (talk)

An angel of Heaven. There are three things people always assume upon meeting Aziraphale: 1) that he is English, 2) that he is very intelligent, and 3) that he is gayer than a tree full of monkeys high on nitrous oxide. However, heaven is not in England and angels don't have genders unless they try, very, ''very'' hard. But one out of three isn't bad.

Aziraphale was the original owner of the flaming sword, and was meant to use it to guard the eastern entrance to the Garden of Paradise. However, pitying Adam and the pregnant Eve, Aziraphale gave the sword to the humans. It finally ends up in the hands of [[War (Good Omens)|War]], one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Aziraphale has been a 'field agent' for Heaven for thousands of years, and due to being more in touch – and having more in common – with his [[Anthony Crowley|opposite number]] than with his colleagues in Heaven, he has developed a rather flexible Arrangement with Crowley.

He runs a bookshop in London, where he only sells a book when he absolutely must. He is an expert on prophecy books, and possesses a few copies that have inscriptions dedicated to him.

Being an Angel is not to mistake him for a soft touch. A characteristic of Angels is that when irked or given permission to, they can ''smite''. It's in the job description, after all. And just sometimes an Angel will smite a tadge more righteously than the situation, strictly speaking, calls for...

[[Category:Good Omens characters]]

Reacher Gilt

2026-05-24T09:01:23Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40820 by Vandal (talk)

{{Character Data
|title= Reacher Gilt
|photo=Blank.jpg|
|name= Reacher Gilt
|age=
|race= [[Humans|Human]]

|occupation= ex-Director of the [[Grand Trunk]]
|appearance= One eye, eyepatch, and a smile like a tiger

|residence= [[Ankh-Morpork]]

|death= Presumably at the end of {{GP}} at the [[Patrician's Palace]]
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=

|books= {{GP}}
|cameos=
}}

Antagonist of [[Moist von Lipwig]] in {{GP}}, and Chairman of the [[Grand Trunk]]. He dressed in the manner of a retired pirate, and lived as such, with a cockatoo named Alphonse which had been taught to say the phrase "12 and a half percent" (that is, a ''single'' piece of eight). Other than being the Chairman of the Grand Trunk, nobody knew much about him, though two things were certain: he threw the most incredible and extravagant parties(1), and he was rich enough to purchase his own ancestors as well as the services of an [[Igor]]. Some say he owned a gold mine. Others say he was a pirate, though considering the fact that he practically dressed up as one, most may have dismissed it out of hand.

Gilt was actually a con artist of legendary skill; Moist instantly recognized Gilt's inner nature and he would have begged Gilt to teach him the trade had he not been Gilt's primary enemy at the time. He ''told'' people he was going to fleece them and they loved it. This brings friends very quickly, such as Messrs [[Nutmeg]], [[Greenyham]], [[Crispin Horsefry|Horsefry]] and [[Stowley]]. And so with his help they stole the Grand Trunk from the [[Robert Dearheart|Dearhearts]] via a method called the "Double Lever"; purchasing the company with its own money. While head of the [[Grand Trunk]], Gilt had his office in the [[Tump tower|Tump Tower]], though as with everything that is "gilt", that was mainly for show.

Gilt proceeded to squeeze as much money as possible out of the Grand Trunk, raising fees, cutting down on maintenance and development, presumably to a degree that would have worried his supporters. Had the Trunk failed and gone bankrupt, he would have sold off his assets in the company long before that happened and, through another company, re-bought them at rock bottom prices only to proceed to run it into the ground once more.

So for a while, for Gilt and company, life was good, and Greenyham, Horsefry and Stowley happily rode the tail of the tiger until the resurrection of the [[Ankh-Morpork Post Office]] by [[Moist von Lipwig]] through the machinations of [[Lord Vetinari]].

While both were at heart con artists, Gilt differed from Moist by being utterly ruthless and willing to resort to murder. Any obstacle tended to be removed, courtesy of a Mr [[Gryle]], an ''inhumanly'' efficient killer. Soon Greenyham, Nutmeg and Stowley (minus Horsefry, thanks to the aforementioned Mr Gryle) found it difficult to get off the tiger that they were riding. Gilt was a proud person, and the constant piques and humiliations he suffered at the hands of Moist eventually become too much to bear. Infuriated, he failed to anticipate Moist's plan and was caught in a trap.

He is presumably dead: after discovering that he'd been trapped by Moist, he fled. Despite assuming a new identity and changing his appearance he was apprehended, probably by Mr [[Pump]], and brought before the [[Patrician]]. He was offered the job of re-structuring the [[Ankh-Morpork Mint|Royal Mint]], which came with a salary, and some kind of hat. He was also freely given the choice to decline and walk out of the office. He declined, and it is inferred he walked out of a door with a treacherous first step, as the second was several stories below. While he wasn't a believer in [[angels]] he was a firm believer in (his) personal freedom, to the extent that he might well have been aware of the terminal consequences of his choice, but was determined to be the one to make the choice.

(1) At one party a [[trolls|troll]] [[Guild of Ecdysiasts, Nautchers, Cancanieres and Exponents of Exotic Dance|stripper]] was hired, and as a result three people jumped out of the windows (despite the fact that troll strippers actually don ''more'' clothing instead of removing it).

[[Category:Discworld characters|Gilt, Reacher]]
[[Category:Human characters|Gilt, Reacher]]
[[de:Reacher Gilt]]

Pseudopolis Yard

2026-05-24T09:01:08Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40821 by Vandal (talk)

'''Pseudopolis Yard''' is the name of a circular street in the [[Isle of Gods]], a bit of uptown [[Ankh-Morpork]] almost circled by the river [[Ankh (river)|Ankh]], connected to the rest of uptown Ankh-Morpork by two streets, and to downtown Morpork by four bridges.

Nine streets radiate out from the Yard. Proceeding Turnwise (clockwise) from Lower Broad Way, these are described as:-

*Lower [[Broad Way]] leads back to the [[Patrician's Palace]] and onwards, via the [[Brass Bridge]]. [[Brewer Street]] radiates off halfway along and, via [[Contract Bridge (landmark)|Contract Bridge]], leads to [[Cheapside]] on the other side of the river.
*[[Holofernes Street]] crosses back to the University quarter and the main Guildhouses on the [[Street of Alchemists]] and [[Peach Pie Street]] via the [[New Bridge]].
*[[Lag Lane]] is a service road to the [[Tanty]] prison that does not cross the river.
* Polestaff Lane runs on the other side of the Tanty and leads onto Don't Look Back Street, which leads onto [[Body Street]] and terminates at the riverside [[Chain Walk]].
*[[Salis Street]] leads, via one of the swingbridges over [[The Cut|the Cut]], to the Ankh side and the crossroads with [[Prouts]] and [[Park Lane]].
* The next street is [[Quilldaisy Stairs]], which goes directly to [[Pon's Bridge]] towards the Shades. On the far side of Pons it is named as [[Sheer Street]].
*[[Squeezebelly Alley]] does not cross the river. which ends at the riverbank at [[By-Your-Leave Walk]] and does not cross the river.
*[[The Butts|Butt's Treat]] also does not cross the river, but it leads to the archery practice fields.

It can therefore be seen from the Mappe that the major arterial roadway through the city of Ankh-Morpork runs [[Hubwards Gate]] - Upper Broadway-Patrician's Palace - Brass Bridge-Lower Broad Way - Pseudopolis Yard - Salis Street - the Cut - [[Park Lane]] - [[Edgeway Road]] - [[Rimwards Gate]]. This road can be traced as one completely straight unbroken road right through the City from Gate to Gate.

The [[Opera House]] stands at the dead centre of Pseudopolis Yard, which, in some theories, makes it the absolute dead centre of the City. On the other side of the street, the [[Ankh-Morpork City Watch]]'s headquarters can be found. Given its links to policing, possibly a reference to {{wp|Scotland_Yard|Scotland Yard}}

According to [[Book:The Compleat Ankh-Morpork|The Compleat Ankh-Morpork]], Pseudopolis Yard also offers a choice of two public houses - 'The Singing Hippos' on the corner of Lower [[Broadway]], opposite the Watch House, and 'The Stab in the Back' on the corner of [[Salis Street]].

[[Category:Streets of Ankh-Morpork]]
[[de:Pseudopolisplatz]]

Om

2026-05-24T09:00:53Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40825 by Vandal (talk)

{{Character Data
|title= Om
|photo=Blank.jpg|
|name= Om
|age=
|race= [[Gods|God]]
|occupation= Deity
|appearance= Changed at will; in [[Book:Small Gods|Small Gods]] mostly as a tortoise, but in power also as the more traditional human, swan and bull forms.
|residence= Wherever he wants, now.
|death=
|parents=
|relatives=
|children=
|marital status=
|books= [[Book:Small Gods|Small Gods]], {{SOD4}}
|cameos=
}}
One of the more powerful [[gods]] on the [[Discworld (world)|Discworld]]. (On and off)

==Personality==
As far as gods go, Om is fairly lazy. In the events of ''[[Book:Small Gods|Small Gods]]'', despite having a huge empire of worshippers, he only has one true believer, [[Brutha]].
He started (as all Discworld gods) as a faint pinch of ego, and as he accumulated belief he became more powerful and vengeful. After conquering and smiting his opposition's flock of believers he became the most powerful god in the area.
Eventually the rituals and priesthood became the true focus of belief, leaving the god dying within the shell of a religion. (This is compared to a type of fish, which accumulates a bigger and bigger shell, then dies) In these times he tried to come to earth as a white bull or a swan (like Zeus, etc. in Roundworld mythologies) but he only had the belief of two people in the world (Brutha and his Grandmother) so he appeared on earth as a tortoise with amnesia.

Om, through an amazing coincidence, managed to land in a soft spot right next to his one surviving believer, Brutha, after being dropped from the sky by an eagle who hoped to eat the shattered tortoise. This was after several years of being a tortoise.

When manifesting at the height of his powers, he speaks in commandments. Due to the time he spent as a tortoise, one of them involves commanding his worshipers to pick up tortoises and carry them wherever they bloody well please. Unless, and this is important, you are an eagle.

==Worshippers==
Om's worshippers have founded a church-state, [[Omnia]]. The Omnians' fervent but often mistaken beliefs have long been causes of war on the continent of [[Klatch (continent)|Klatch]]. Om, like many other gods, likes to manifest to some human and claim to be ''one of the more powerful gods''. Yet, the Omnians tend to subsequently proclaim that human as a prophet, and say that Om has said that he is ''the only god''. For centuries, Omnians insist that Om chooses a prophet every two hundred years, while in fact Om just manifests and speaks casually whenever he likes. He cannot recall ever dictating any of the books that the prophets passed on to the Omnian church. Some of the prophets Om cannot recall ever meeting. The burning bush incident he recalls mostly as an exercise in "Hey, look what I can do!". He manifests himself as a white bull, or as a tortoise (though not intentionally) (See ''[[Book:Small Gods|Small Gods]]'').

Ever since the time of Brutha, Omnians have been encouraged to question more of Om's teaching, leading to frequent schisms (as mentioned in {{CJ}}). These schisms lead to some fairly unusually named sects ("Reunited Free Chelonianists", who later schismed into a "Hubwards Convocation" and a "Rimwards Convocation" - see Annotations). Before Brutha, it would have been heresy to declare that there were such directions, as the world was quite clearly round, and orbiting the sun, rather than (as it in fact is) a disc borne on the backs of four elephants standing on the shell of a turtle.

==Notable Sects, Schisms and Sub-Divisions==

* The [[Church of the Latter-Day Omnians]] has since surfaced in [[Ankh-Morpork]], and makes a nuisance of itself in the debate on who has title to the Roundworld Project, Church or Science.
* ''ReUnited Free Chelonianists'' (Hubwards Convocation)
* ''ReUnited Free Chelonianists'' (Rimwards Convocation)
* ''Very, Very, Very Plain Omnianism'' is practiced by a schismatic group who are described in {{CDA}} as "religious extremists" who fled persecution in the old Omnia and in fact fled as far away as they could, to the [[Great Outdoors]], where they live a nomadic and extremely plain existence in the [[Slaked Plains]], farming the rich bounty of the salt flats and practicing an ultra-strict rule version of the religion. The description suggests they have a lot in common with religious groupings in Roundworld's USA who fled Europe, or in the case of the Mormons the East Coast, to escape religious intolerance of a sort that didn't like their sort of religious intolerance.

==Annotations==
"Omni-" is a prefix meaning "all", famously used in connection with the [[Roundworld]] Judeo-Christian God, as in "omniscient/omnicognisant" (all-knowing), "omnipotent" (all-powerful) and "omnipresent" (present everywhere at any time). Although the prefix is "Omni", "Om" is the part of the words more immediately visible as common, and thus: The Great God Om.

The most likely precedent for using the word 'Om', however, comes from the syllable chanted ''ad infinitum'' by certain followers of vaguely Buddhist-Hindu traditions - generally with crossed legs and arms extended with thumbs and forefingers touching. The origin of ''this'' is in the word '''Aum''', the syllable with which we are told Brahma brought the world into being in the Hindu tradition, and which itself is made up of four parts, representing the four stages of consciousness: awake, asleep, dreaming and the opening of the third eye of wisdom through meditation. In fact, these four stages precisely summarise the downfall and rise to new heights which Om personally experiences throughout the course of events related in {{SG}}. From a state of normal awareness (everyday consciousness) Om, unaware of how much belief in him has drained away, attempts to manifest but turns into his tortoise form by mistake - like a [[Witches magic|witch]] who has Borrowed another form for too long, his awareness of having been a great God is lost to the tortoise form, just as the ego disintegrates for anyone when they fall asleep. He enters the dream-state, (''mana''), and to all intents and purposes, ''becomes'' a tortoise. We are told he wanders as a humble tortoise for three years, losing an eye (shades of the god Odin) in an unspecified incident. Then an encounter with a passing eagle is the [[million-to-one chance]] that puts him near enough to his one last remaining True Believer ([[Brutha]]) for him to awake again and remember who he is (or was. Or will be again). Finally, the power of the Third Eye awakens at the climax of the book, and he resumes his Godhood.

The religion of Om also has much in common with the Judeo-Christian religions, in terms of smiting, manifestations, monotheism, churches, sermons, inquisitions, commandments and the dry, dusty, desert country it calls home. "Catholic" originally meant "universal" or "'''Om'''nipresent".

The schisms of the Church mimic a Roundworld joke about a strict Scottish Presbyterian congregation (or a Southern Baptist church in the USA, according to taste and nationality) which progressively splits and schisms over the tiniest articles of faith, until there is a Western Congregation sitting on the left-hand side of the aisle, and an Eastern Congregation, using the right-hand pews of the same church... (see "Discussion")

==Possible earlier appearance?==
The following passage appears in ''[[Book:Pyramids|Pyramids]]''.

''He found Ptraci sitting on the grass under a poplar tree, feeding the tortoise. He gave it a suspicious look, in case it was a god trying it on. It did not look like a god. If it was a god, it was putting on an incredibly good act.''

This might be a sly appearance of Om in his amnesiac tortoise days. Of course, it could just be co-incidence (or some nice foreshadowing).

[[Category:Discworld characters]]
[[Category:Leading characters]]
[[Category:Supernatural entities]]
[[de:Om]]

Ephebe

2026-05-24T08:58:31Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40828 by Vandal (talk)

{{Nation Data
|title= Ephebe
|picture=Blank.jpg|
|established=
|motto=

|neighbours= [[Omnia]](turnwise), [[Djelibeybi]](widdershins), [[Ur]](rimwards).

|features= clement offshore islands such as [[Papylos]], the [[Pyrinankles]].

|capital= Ephebe

|population=small
|size=small
|government= Democracy (vote limited to all those who are not a slave, mad, female, poor or foreign) Ruled by The Tyrant
|notablecitizens= [[Didactylos]], [[Urn]], [[Abraxas|"Charcoal" Abraxas]] & [[Lavaeolus]]

|imports=
|exports= Ideas, wine, figs & dates; decorative stone; the occasional Gorgon. The [[Elgin Marbles]].
|anthem=
|books= {{P}}, {{SG}}, {{CDA}}

|cameos= {{UA}}

}}

A country in the continent of [[Klatch (continent)|Klatch]] and on the coast of the [[Circle Sea]]. Ephebe is home to thousands of toga-wearing, wine-drinking, food-fighting [[Philosophers|philosophers]]. "Philosophy" includes logics, theology, social-economics, mathematics, and "natural philosophy" (physics, etc). Ephebe is powerful in politics, military, and knowledge base. Ephebe once boasted the second-largest [[Library of Ephebe‎|Library]] on the Disc, but this was burnt down by the [[Omnia]]ns and hundreds of irreplaceable scrolls were presumed lost. (The fact many of them turned up later in the [[Library]] of [[Unseen University]] has not, oddly enough, aroused much comment).

In Ephebe, citizens can own ''slaves'' but have to pay them well, feed them well, and allow days-off. A slave who has worked long enough and earned enough money might choose to lose the slave status and become his own man. Otherwise he might remain a slave because the work benefits are so good and guarantee a minimum lifestyle which the free owner of slaves might not be able to afford, as so much of his income has to go on ensuring a minimum standard for his slaves. For the most part, the slaves in Ephebe are paid domestic staff or other kinds of employees. The ruler of Ephebe is a ''Tyrant'' elected by the citizens. The one privilege of citizens not enjoyed by slaves is the right to vote in the election for the next Tyrant.

[[Tsort]] is Ephebe's traditional enemy, because thousands of years ago, Tsort stole the queen [[Elenor of Tsort|Elenor]] from Ephebe. It should be noted that even famous saga-narrators in Ephebe are not capable of getting the fact straight, whether Elenor was stolen from Ephebe by Tsort or from Tsort by Ephebe. It was just one cause of a long, exhausting, jolly-good-fun war (see {{E}}). Ephebe is also neighbour to [[Djelibeybi]] and [[Omnia]].

Major appearances of the location or the country as a military entity in {{E}}, {{P}}, and {{SG}}. Often mentioned as the country where a philosopher might have been pondering a question while in his bath, suddenly realizing the answer, and then running out on the street shouting "Eureka!", which [[Ankh-Morpork|Ankh-Morporkians]] interpret as "Give me a towel!" (see {{MP}}).

Ephebe uses bronze coinage called Derechmi and Obols.

[[Gorgon]]s are apparently a viable non-human species here: one has emigrated to [[Ankh-Morpork]] and become a Watchwoman. In {{CDA}}, tourism has become a saleable commodity, with Ephebian Islands and the associated lifestyle being marketed as a plus point. (As is the guaranteed philosopher-free nature of the island of [[Papylos]].)

==Annotations==

The resemblance to classical Athens here on [[Roundworld]] is too obvious to require much comment. The word ''Ephebe'' is the English form of the Greek ''Ephebos'', an adolescent boy. In Athens such boys were normally taken under the wing of an older man in a purely Platonic relationship - well ideally anyway. In Sparta, for instance, the mentoring relationship was formally expected to take a more personal and intimate direction, which was believed to foster a strong bond in battle. The Thebans even built an army regiment out of ''many'' such man-boy pairings. The word is still there in modern psychology (and these days, criminology) to denote a certain practice - {{wp|Ephebophilia|ephebophilia}}. A euphemism for one who lives openly as gay is that they have ''a Greek island lifestyle''. No doubt habitués of the [[Blue Cat Club]] are referred to as ''enjoying Ephebian island holidays'', nudge-nudge.

''Derechmi and Obols'' are not a million miles away from the old (soon to be resumed?) Greek currency of drachmae.

[[Category:Discworld geography]]
[[de:Ephebe]]

The Shades

2026-05-24T08:57:31Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40829 by Vandal (talk)

The [[Guild of Merchants|Merchant's Guild]] describes the Shades as 'a folklorique network of old alleys and picturesque streets, wherre exitement and romans lurke arounde everry corner and much may be heard the traditional street cries of old time also the laughing visages of the denuizens as they goe about their business private.'

In other words, a commentary drily adds, you have been warned.

Others just call it "colourful".

This is the oldest part of the city of [[Ankh-Morpork]], located on the same side of the river as [[UU|Unseen University]]. It is considered dangerous even by the standards of the rest of the city, and absolutely not a place to be after dark. However, it must be realised that the entire area known as the Shades extends from [[Treacle Mine Road]] to the rimward wall and includes popular and vital parts of the city's commerce such as:
*[[Rosemary Palm|Mrs. Palm]]'s famous house of good repute, the [[Whore Pits]] and the whole "club" district in the angle of [[Treacle Mine Road]] and [[Elm Street]].
*The Mortuary, located where the traffic is.
*[[Mrs. Cake]]'s rooming house for the differently respectable.
*Igneous's Wholesale Pottery and Chalky's Building Supplies.
*The docks: most of the city's sea trade.
*[[Harga's House of Ribs]]: popular diner in the docks area.
*[[Grabpot Thundergust]]'s cosmetic mill and the Streets of Perfume Blenders.
*The late [[Bjorn Hammerhock]]'s workshop.
*The Cattle Market and the whole meat-processing industry.
These locations are obviously not avoided by citizens or visitors. The central portion, roughly from the [[the Troll's Head]] tavern to near [[Cockbill Street]] and centered on [[Shamlegger Street]] seems to be the area where even the Watch once feared to go. In recent years, the augmented Watch, especially [[Trolls|Troll]] officers, have put the fear of god (or Sam Vimes) in the locals. It may now be possible to cross the area unscathed, if one is quick and careful.

Despite all this, it has produced a number of Ankh-Morpork's famous citizens. Perhaps the most notable is [[Samuel Vimes]], now Duke of Ankh and Commander of the [[Ankh-Morpork City Watch]]. Others include [[Lupine Wonse]] and the Duke's formidable butler [[Willikins]], once a ''Rude Boy'' from the hard core, and [[Nobby Nobbs]], who perhaps best sums up the typical qualities of someone raised within the Shades.

[[Category:Streets of Ankh-Morpork|Shades,The]]
[[de:Schatten]]

Borogravia

2026-05-24T08:55:59Z

Deathofrats0808: Undo revision 40827 by Vandal (talk)

{{Nation Data
|title= Borogravia
|picture=Blank.jpg|
|established= n/a
|motto=

|neighbours= [[Überwald]], [[Zlobenia]], [[Mouldavia]]

|features= River Kneck, beet farms

|capital=Prince Marmaduke Piotre Albert-Hans Joseph Bernhardt Wilhelmsberg

|population= limited by wars
|size= medium-large
|government= Monarchy, current ruler: [[Annagovia|"The Dutchess"]] de facto ruler: [[Froc|General Froc]]

|notablecitizens= [[Polly Perks]], [[Jackrum|Sergeant Jackrum]], [[Minstrel|The Minstrel]]

|imports= War
|exports= War

|anthem= [[Borogravian National Anthem]]

|books= {{MR}}
}}
'''Borogravia''' is a small, backward country, engaged in near-constant war with its neighbours, especially recently with [[Zlobenia]]. Formerly part of the Dark Empire, it is located next to [[Uberwald]]. It was first (and last) seen in the book {{MR}}, though it has been mentioned as far back as {{COM}}.

It is (theoretically) ruled by a monarch known as "[[Annagovia|The Duchess]]", who is worshipped almost as a god. The country's main deity is [[Nuggan]], whose propensity for declaring almost everything an "Abomination" has driven the small country to poverty and starvation.

For instance, Nuggan declared [[chocolate]] to be an Abomination. This is despite the fact that Borogravia was, and in some quarters still is, regarded across the Disc as a centre of chocolate-making excellence. This may explain why [[Chocolate|Wienrich and Boettcher]] ended up in Ankh-Morpork - as refugees from Nugganitic persecution, much to Borogravia's detriment and [[Susan Sto Helit]]'s advantage. If fact between the numerous abominations and constant war much of the population are now left with little to eat but [[Horse Bread]].

All this, however, seems set to change, following the events of ''Monstrous Regiment'' and the interference of [[Ankh-Morpork]].

In ''Monstrous Regiment'' we learn that Borogravia has been the aggressor in many wars with the neighbouring countries and the military seems to control the country in The Duchess's name.

Its [[Borogravian National Anthem|National Anthem]] is a particularly aggressive and warlike anthem.

The language spoken is Borogravian, though ''The Colour of Magic'' mentions a language called "High Borogravian", which may indicate a second language. And everyone seems to understand Morporkian just fine, ''c.f.'' the fragment of the ''[[Ankh-Morpork Times|Times]]'' that [[Polly Perks|Polly]] finds.

==Annotations==
The name itself seems to be derived from "Borogove", a nonsense word invented by Lewis Carroll that appeared in the poem ''Jabberwocky'', but it resembles also {{wp|Burgenland|Burgenland}}, the easternmost province of Austria, bordering (among other countries) Slovenia (see [[Zlobenia]]); the particle ''-gravia'' (replacing the ''-land'') resembles the {{wp|Latin|Latinized}} form of German ''Grafschaft'', meaning a territory ruled by a {{wp|Graf|''Graf''}}, i.e. ''Count'' or ''Earl''. The name could also be a reference to ''Borgravia'', an {{wp|Austrian Empire|Austria}} analogue which appeared in the 1972 science-fiction novel'' {{wp|The Iron Dream|The Iron Dream}}''. It might also be a reference to {{wp|Belgravia|Belgravia}}, a district of central London, more or less owned by the Duke of Westminster.

The country appears to have been influenced by a number of nations on [[Roundworld]]. Most obviously, its wars with its neighbours suggest a {{wp|Balkan|Balkans}} or middle-eastern nation. This impression is enforced by the names of some of its neighbours, [[Zlobenia]] (cf. {{wp|Slovenia|Slovenia}}), and [[Mouldavia]] (cf. {{wp|Moldova|Moldova, formerly Moldavia}}). The constant creation of Abominations could mean many things. Afghanistan under the Taliban, Early fundamentalist Iran and perhaps even Cromwellian England in the 1600's. The army resembles the British army of the late 18th/early 19th centuries in its dress (although Swiss mercenaries in French service wore a very similar uniform).

[[Category:Discworld geography]]
[[de:Borograwien]]

Borogravia

2023-03-26T15:40:23Z

Deathofrats0808: