Gynarchy

Here on this isolated island, through countless generations of unique social development, a gynarchy has developed. The women run the government, while the men tend to support the households.

Pittance

The criminal partnership went sour as soon as Mallard found out exactly how much they'd been scoring each heist. It turned out that his share of the loot was merely a pittance of the overall score. He deserved more.

Meander

I tell Mariska that we should take our time. Out here in the woods, just her and I walking together, I want to express my feelings for her but I can't just yet. I suggest that we meander through the trails for a while.

Doggerel

He left his writings behind. It's clear that his mind started to skew towards lunacy before he escaped. The pages are full of handwritten doggerel. Ravings of a madman, hardly coherent.

Bedraggle

Tied up and made to watch desecration. Back against the massive tree trunk, arms and body pinned by rope, he watched. He watched as the Holy sacraments were bedraggled by his captor, soiled and muddied.

Viceroy

There was a time in this island nation's history that foreign powers tried to subjugate the natives. This was long before the fierce independent spirit of the people became known globally. Nearly one month after the British installed a viceroy to rule the island, he was found hung in a tree and the boat he came on burned.

Quincunx

Deep in the caverns, Sean John found the formation that logic would dismiss out of existence. Here, so many meters underneath the surface, through passages so narrow a fat man would be stuck, where there was no natural light, where there is no evidence of man ever passing through.

The caverns opened into an enormous chamber, at least 30 feet tall. Positioned on the ground were 5 identical geometric shapes. Massive rocks carved into the holy shape of the island's religion - a cross between a rectangle and a trident. They were arranged with precision in a perfect quincunx - the four corners of the square and one in the middle.

Gibbous

Nighttime on the ocean, and the air was chilly. Sean John floated in small raft, feet dangling off the edge, skimming the water surface. The twinkling night sky was reflected below, one vastness mirroring another. Thousands of bright stars and a gibbous moon, not quite full but nearly.

Od

Steeped in deep mysticism, shrouded in mystery, secluded in hermitage, Shaldridge the Sorcerer is not a man to be joked about. He is a master of all things supernatural, magical, and elemental. It is said that he has developed tools that tap into the od - the very essence of nature.

Lacerate

Sean John stared at the shark's corpse. Mangled, bloodied, and disfigured almost beyond recognition. He cursed Dr. Pantigal. The evil scientist's new weapon lacerated this shark's skin over and over, cutting into the animal dozens of times. It was not a natural death.

Espousal

Ever since the small island nation's espousal of the policies laid out in the Pantigal Doctrine, their economic output has steadily risen each quarter.

Cummerbund

Davis felt stiff and encumbered. It wasn't every day he dressed up fancy. Tuxedo, bowtie, handkerchief... he even had a cummerbund wrapped around his waist. That was a first for him.

Impolotic

Despite the early hour on the alarm clock, Davis made the impolitic decision to stay up late watching movies.

Dither

They chose Sandra as their leader. Not because she was the smartest amongst them, but because she would not dither in the face of danger, would not waver or falter pressure.

Jilt

Barry continued to watch the woman's confessional video, enraptured by the secret recordings.

"It's just fun and games for me. I make the men fall in love with me - surprisingly easy, by the way - and just when they can't stand to go a minute without me, I jilt them."

Helter-skelter

The poison was seeping through Sean John's blood stream. Faltering on his feet, people were starting at him. If he didn't warn Prince Ha'wa'laua about Dr. Pantigal's plan before he went under, the island nation - and every last person living on it - were doomed.

He could feel his thoughts slipping away from him. He grabbed the nearest person walking by him on the street.

"Prince knows soon all die water before next hour! "

It was too late. The poison had hit his brain. Trying to speak, he felt the words slip out of order and end up all helter-skelter as they left his mouth.

Waif

Once revered, the mighty stuffed animal now lies on a mound of dirt. Covered in muck and forgotten, it is now a waif of a shed childhood.

Eyetooth

Jackson has remained the top discus thrower for 3 years straight, but he wasn't always at the top of his game. He had to cut his eyetooth somewhere... And that somewhere was Hallsville, Oklahoma. Jackson looked around at the town of his youth.

Hyperhidrosis

Either Albert was suddenly stricken with a severe case of hyperhidrosis, or his body was betraying his attempts at deceit. The interrogator tossed him to towel to wipe up the sweat.

Bemused

Taylor dragged his feet through the sand, cherishing the feeling of the grains between his toes. It was good to be alive. He wanted to thank Sean John properly, but his savior appeared to be bemused, staring off into the distance, a statue of concentration.