Jhereg
Encyclopedia
Jhereg has three meanings, all of which are linked to the fiction of Steven Brust
:
Jhereg
is the name of the first novel in the Vlad Taltos series, which was published in 1983. Steven Brust's JHEREG is a graphic novel
adaptation published by Marvel Comics
in 1987, and The Book of Jhereg is a slightly-amended omnibus collection of the first three books in the series — Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla — published in 1999.
A jhereg is an animal in the series' fictional world of Dragaera
.
The House of the Jhereg is the Dragaeran Noble House to which Vlad Taltos belongs. Members of House Jhereg are referred to as Jhereg, not jhereg. The animal's name is not capitalized.
s, they are described as serpentlike, and have two legs, like wyvern
s. They mate for life, with the larger females playing the dominant role. Jhereg were originally simple animals, but the manipulations of the Jenoine have given them intelligence comparable to humans. Despite their intelligence, they continue to live as scavengers and predators in the wild. Dragaerans hold them no higher than common animals. Vlad's jhereg familiar, Loiosh, has learned to appreciate the subtleties of human behavior and society through his telepathic link to Vlad.
Another breed of jhereg, separate from their smaller "swampy" brethren, are the "cliff jhereg", which measure eight meters in length. The first time this breed of jhereg is seen in the series is at Deathsgate falls, where Vladimir is amazed and Loiosh is terribly frightened. This may indicate that cliff jhereg are held in a higher respect and standard than their smaller relatives.
Because the House's origins do not lie in a common bloodline, Jhereg do not share any distinctive physical features, as members of other Houses do. They are also not related to the animal after which their House was named, as other houses are believed to be. The House took the name Jhereg originally as a joke. In spite of its low status, Jhereg is still a noble House. Because it will sell membership to anyone, even Easterners, Jhereg offers an easy path for peasants and outcasts to become nobles.
. The Organization is run by the Council, who control a number of bosses and under-bosses that divide up Adrilankha and the rest of the Empire between them. The Organization has its hands in many illegal activities, including prostitution
, narcotic
s, loan shark
ing, and gambling
. Assassination
is a common method of dealing with problems and moving up in the hierarchy; a member killing his boss and taking the dead man's place is considered acceptable, provided the new boss proves capable of maintaining and managing the position he has usurped. Meetings between rival Jhereg bosses are usually tense affairs conducted in restaurants. Bosses take bodyguards with them to these meetings and will sometimes plant additional men as patrons or staff members at the restaurant beforehand.
In order to keep the authorities looking the other way, the Organization polices itself and maintains a strict code of conduct, always honoring a contract, delivering on their "protection
", and never assassinating someone in their home. Bosses pay to have their employees "revivified
" if possible, and will provide a bonus to the families of minions who die on the job. Jhereg use a system of euphemisms when discussing illegal activities, referring to assassinations as "work" and themselves as "my friend" to avoid incrimination.
An additional wing of the Jhereg is called the Left Hand of the Jhereg (and unofficially, "The Bitch Patrol"). They are a group of primarily female sorcerers who sell their magical services. While they are outside the jurisdiction of the Council, members of the Organization make frequent use of their services, usually to block teleportation
or to prevent other sorcerers from revivifying their enemies.
Steven Brust
Steven Karl Zoltán Brust is an American fantasy and science fiction author of Hungarian descent. He was a member of the writers' group The Scribblies, which included Emma Bull, Pamela Dean, Will Shetterly, Nate Bucklin, Kara Dalkey, and Patricia Wrede; he also belongs to the Pre-Joycean...
:
Jhereg
Jhereg (novel)
Jhereg is a fantasy novel by Steven Brust in his Vlad Taltos series, originally published in 1983 by Ace Books. Ace later republished it in 1999 as part of the three-book omnibus, The Book of Jhereg. Marvel Comics adapted the story into a graphic novel titled Steven Brust's JHEREG in 1987.The novel...
is the name of the first novel in the Vlad Taltos series, which was published in 1983. Steven Brust's JHEREG is a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
adaptation published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
in 1987, and The Book of Jhereg is a slightly-amended omnibus collection of the first three books in the series — Jhereg, Yendi, and Teckla — published in 1999.
A jhereg is an animal in the series' fictional world of Dragaera
Dragaera
Dragaera is the fictional world in which a series of novels by Steven Brust is set. The word "Dragaera" can refer to the planet, the Dragaeran Empire, or its former capital, Dragaera City.-Species:...
.
The House of the Jhereg is the Dragaeran Noble House to which Vlad Taltos belongs. Members of House Jhereg are referred to as Jhereg, not jhereg. The animal's name is not capitalized.
The Animal
Jhereg are small (40 cm) flying reptiles with leathery wings, sinuous necks, sharp claws, and a venomous bite. While cover art for the Vlad books depicts jhereg as lizardlike quadrupedQuadruped
Quadrupedalism is a form of land animal locomotion using four limbs or legs. An animal or machine that usually moves in a quadrupedal manner is known as a quadruped, meaning "four feet"...
s, they are described as serpentlike, and have two legs, like wyvern
Wyvern
A wyvern or wivern is a legendary winged reptilian creature with a dragon's head, two legs , and a barbed tail. The wyvern is found in heraldry. There exists a purely sea-dwelling variant, termed the Sea-Wyvern which has a fish tail in place of a barbed dragon's tail...
s. They mate for life, with the larger females playing the dominant role. Jhereg were originally simple animals, but the manipulations of the Jenoine have given them intelligence comparable to humans. Despite their intelligence, they continue to live as scavengers and predators in the wild. Dragaerans hold them no higher than common animals. Vlad's jhereg familiar, Loiosh, has learned to appreciate the subtleties of human behavior and society through his telepathic link to Vlad.
Another breed of jhereg, separate from their smaller "swampy" brethren, are the "cliff jhereg", which measure eight meters in length. The first time this breed of jhereg is seen in the series is at Deathsgate falls, where Vladimir is amazed and Loiosh is terribly frightened. This may indicate that cliff jhereg are held in a higher respect and standard than their smaller relatives.
Overview
Unlike the other Great Houses, Jhereg was not a tribe or bloodline before the days of the Empire. It was created after the founding of the Empire by Dolivar, a traitor to House Dragon and the brother of the Empire's co-founder, Kieron. Dolivar gathered other outcasts and founded the House of the Jhereg. Kieron allowed the Jhereg to survive in exchange for the spying and scouting services they provided his army.Because the House's origins do not lie in a common bloodline, Jhereg do not share any distinctive physical features, as members of other Houses do. They are also not related to the animal after which their House was named, as other houses are believed to be. The House took the name Jhereg originally as a joke. In spite of its low status, Jhereg is still a noble House. Because it will sell membership to anyone, even Easterners, Jhereg offers an easy path for peasants and outcasts to become nobles.
The Organization
Jhereg are best known for the "business end" of their House, called the Organization, which is a criminal empire similar to the MafiaMafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
. The Organization is run by the Council, who control a number of bosses and under-bosses that divide up Adrilankha and the rest of the Empire between them. The Organization has its hands in many illegal activities, including prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, narcotic
Narcotic
The term narcotic originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with any sleep-inducing properties. In the United States of America it has since become associated with opioids, commonly morphine and heroin and their derivatives, such as hydrocodone. The term is, today, imprecisely...
s, loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
ing, and gambling
Gambling
Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
. Assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
is a common method of dealing with problems and moving up in the hierarchy; a member killing his boss and taking the dead man's place is considered acceptable, provided the new boss proves capable of maintaining and managing the position he has usurped. Meetings between rival Jhereg bosses are usually tense affairs conducted in restaurants. Bosses take bodyguards with them to these meetings and will sometimes plant additional men as patrons or staff members at the restaurant beforehand.
In order to keep the authorities looking the other way, the Organization polices itself and maintains a strict code of conduct, always honoring a contract, delivering on their "protection
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
", and never assassinating someone in their home. Bosses pay to have their employees "revivified
Resurrection
Resurrection refers to the literal coming back to life of the biologically dead. It is used both with respect to particular individuals or the belief in a General Resurrection of the dead at the end of the world. The General Resurrection is featured prominently in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim...
" if possible, and will provide a bonus to the families of minions who die on the job. Jhereg use a system of euphemisms when discussing illegal activities, referring to assassinations as "work" and themselves as "my friend" to avoid incrimination.
An additional wing of the Jhereg is called the Left Hand of the Jhereg (and unofficially, "The Bitch Patrol"). They are a group of primarily female sorcerers who sell their magical services. While they are outside the jurisdiction of the Council, members of the Organization make frequent use of their services, usually to block teleportation
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
or to prevent other sorcerers from revivifying their enemies.