The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge: Chapter 54–Epilogue

by M.T. Anderson, Eugene Yelchin
This comic adventure story, told through both text and illustrations, recounts an elf's disastrous spy mission in a hostile goblin kingdom.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Prologue–Chapter 10, Chapters 11–18, Chapters 19–34, Chapters 35–53, Chapter 54–Epilogue

Here are links to our lists for other words by M.T. Anderson: Feed, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Volume 1), The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing (Volume 2)
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. bounty
    payment or reward for acts such as catching criminals
    In his normal voice, which was quite deep, and in his usual language, which was Goblinish, Regibald du Burgh growled, “You lost us for a while, elf. Good work. But the bounty on your head is high and the vork don’t sleep.”
  2. jeer
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    There were fifteen goblins there—jeering athletes who were clearly used to fighting.
  3. squire
    a young nobleman attendant on a knight
    Regibald du Burgh grabbed a giant mace, knobbed with spikes, from a squire.
  4. blanch
    turn pale, as if in fear
    “Your house has been burned to the ground and they are building a public restroom on the ashes,” Regibald informed him. “You are a man with no home and no skins.”
    Werfel blanched at this news.
  5. envoy
    someone on a mission to represent another's interests
    “When I agreed to take the elfin envoy and scholar Brangwain Spurge into my house, I swore to shield him with my life. You shall not take him, sir; you shall not lay a finger on a hair of his head or his pointed ears, sir—you shall not even raise your weapon against him—without killing me first.”
  6. desperado
    a bold outlaw
    “Regibald du Burgh,” he said, “I challenge you to a duel, you cowardly, lily-livered, stitch-faced desperado. Your boasts are empty and your facial hair is pathetic. So much for the ritual insults. Now, stand still while I kick you between the legs.”
  7. gentility
    elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression
    “You have not seen the beauty, intelligence, and gentility of the elfin nobility.”
  8. flub
    blunder; make a mess of something
    While I realize that Your Majesty continues to be angry at me for flubbing the plan, I don’t really think it's playing fair badminton to have your champion remove more than one finger for each error.
  9. quartermaster
    an officer who provides clothing and subsistence for troops
    Toward lunchtime, Werfel finished his work, and the quartermaster gave him two sticky slices of venison-pickle jelly, one splopped in each hand.
  10. billow
    rise and move, as in waves
    Their banners of silk billowed in the breeze.
  11. brandish
    exhibit aggressively
    Griffins flew back and forth in the sky, cawing, while knights sitting on their backs brandished lances, spears, and bows.
  12. salutation
    an acknowledgment or expression of good will
    He had called out his bright “Greetings and salutations, fellow elves!”
  13. pavilion
    a large and often sumptuous tent
    Page boys ran to and fro between the colorful silk pavilions of the nobles, carrying messages.
  14. spare
    refrain from harming
    Weeds, you were sent as a spy. Now is your chance to show us what you learned. If it is useful, I may spare your life.
  15. leer
    look suggestively or obliquely
    All of his wonderful neighbors—they looked wicked as monsters. They were leering and hungry.
  16. lop
    cut off from a whole
    For some reason, the women in the flower parade had their heads lopped off.
  17. caricature
    a representation of a person exaggerated for comic effect
    Werfel had been doing nothing but trying to make Spurge’s stay as pleasant and informative as possible, opening up his home, his city, and his heart to this emissary, and yet here he was, drawn as a caricature, a goofy, cruel-looking buffoon.
  18. resistant
    disposed to or engaged in defiance of established authority
    Then he thought he should do something heroic and resistant, so he raised his fist in defiance and said, “Death to tyrants.”
  19. stout
    fairly large
    “Ah,” said Clivers. “This fellow looks a little short and stout to be the leader of the Goblin Resistance.”
  20. cohort
    a band of warriors
    “But he’s fierce,” said Spurge. “He has carved up a whole...cohort of...goblin guards...with spinning blades. He’s ruthless….Aren’t you? And a killer....Of bad people.”
  21. chalice
    a bowl-shaped drinking vessel
    “So that’s how it creates energy. Through the...tension between the...magnetic chalice and...the...spin louvers.”
  22. convey
    make known; pass on, of information
    Spurge said, “Thank you for the opportunity to explain, my lord. I was worried my feeble transmissions could not convey the whole complexity of the energy-making process.”
  23. quirk
    twist or curve abruptly
    Clivers quirked his mouth. “Not the part about your head actually being internationally important. Who could have predicted that?”
  24. indignant
    angered at something unjust or wrong
    Spurge drew in a breath, indignant.
  25. misshapen
    so badly formed or distorted as to be ugly
    “Oh, thank you,” he said, and tears of gratitude ran down his cheeks. “Thank you, my ugly, misshapen, toad-like friend.”
  26. pedant
    a person who is preoccupied with rules and learning
    Werfel patted him on the hand and said with affection, “Don’t touch me, you clammy, sweaty pedant.”
  27. ermine
    the expensive white fur of a small mammal
    He was standing with his arms out straight while they draped him with ermine, velvet, samite, brocade, and cloth of gold.
  28. grope
    feel about uncertainly or blindly
    As they groped their way past giant boulders, using their stolen pikes as walking sticks, Werfel cranked his spectacles to maximum magnification and looked back down the slope.
  29. herald
    a person who announces important news
    “Yes. He’s getting on a griffin. There’s his herald carrying his golden umbrella—And there’s...Clivers. Oh, Clivers.”
  30. parasol
    a handheld collapsible source of shade
    “Magister! The king and his party are walking forward, under the ceremonial parasol—”
  31. corona
    one or more circles of light seen around a luminous object
    On the other side of the summit, Ghohg hovered, surrounded by a glowing corona.
  32. proffer
    present for acceptance or rejection
    Spurge said, “Clivers is...He’s proffering a gift. Some kind of a sword. The goblin is bowing. The goblin takes the sword. He has some kind of a box with Ghohg’s gift to the Elf King. He’s opening it...taking out...”
  33. botch
    make a mess of, destroy, or ruin
    Far below the screeching griffins, on a mountaintop, a tiny goblin archivist and an icthyod basked in the sun, and beside them, a scholar elf hovered above the wildflowers, crackling with energy; and he sent through the bright air the newest chapter in the story of the botched and bungled assassination of Brangwain Spurge.
  34. bungle
    make a mess of, destroy, or ruin
    Far below the screeching griffins, on a mountaintop, a tiny goblin archivist and an icthyod basked in the sun, and beside them, a scholar elf hovered above the wildflowers, crackling with energy; and he sent through the bright air the newest chapter in the story of the botched and bungled assassination of Brangwain Spurge.
  35. provisions
    a stock or supply of foods
    Spurge kept scratching at his skin while Werfel went to their baskets of provisions and pulled out an eel-pickle pie and a bottle of gorgonbladder wine.
Created on Wed Oct 17 15:43:28 EDT 2018 (updated Fri Oct 19 10:30:31 EDT 2018)

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