Glossary of Dune Terminology - S

S

• Salusan bull – Fierce and very aggressive creature with compound eyes and multiple horns, used in bullfighting on Caladan and originating from Salusa Secundus.
• Sandworm – Giant sand-dwelling creatures native to Arrakis. Called Shai-Hulud by the Fremen and worshipped as deities.
• Sapho – "High-energy liquid extracted from barrier roots of Ecaz. Commonly used by Mentats who claim it amplifies mental powers. Users develop deep ruby stains on mouth and lips."
• Sardaukar – Ferocious "soldier-fanatics" of the Padishah Emperor, later disbanded by Leto II.
• Sareer – Last desert of Arrakis in the time of Leto Atreides II, location of his Citadel; guarded by D-wolves.
• Sayyadina – Among the Fremen, the Sayyadina ("Friend of God" in Chakobsa) is a priestess who has not yet passed within to become a Reverend Mother. When a Sayyadina undergoes the spice agony, another is then consecrated into the Sayyadina to continue the line of succession.
• Scattering, The – Event after the reign of Leto II in which trillions of people left the settled worlds of the Old Empire, striking off into unknown space.
• Selamlik – "Imperial audience chamber."
• Semuta – "Second narcotic derivative (by crystal extraction) from the burned residue of elacca wood . The effect (described as timeless, sustained ecstasy) is elicited by certain atonal vibrations referred to as semuta music."
• Shai-Hulud – Fremen name for the sandworms of Arrakis.
• Shere – Significant presence of this substance in the body will block the use of an Ixian Probe, but not a T-Probe from recovering memories.
• Shigawire – "Metallic extrusion of a ground vine (Narvi narviium) grown only on Salusa Secundus and III Delta Kaising. It is noted for extreme tensile strength" and is used as a recording medium as well as a garrote weapon.
• Sietch – Cave warren inhabited by a Fremen tribal community; in the Fremen language, "Place of assembly in time of danger."
• Sietch orgy (or sietch tau orgy) – Fremen ritual of unrestrained sexual indulgence which takes place after a Reverend Mother shares the changed Water of Life with her community.
• Siridar – A planetary governor.
• Slig – Livestock animal, hybrid of a large slug and a pig, considered a delicacy.
• Solido – "Three-dimensional image from a solido projector using 360-degree reference signals imprinted on a shigawire reel."
• Soostone – Valuable iridescent gem produced on Buzzell by the abraded carapaces of monoped sea creatures called Cholisters, much in the manner of pearls.
• Spacing Guild – Powerful organization with a monopoly on space travel and transport due to their Navigators.
• Spice agony – Fremen version of the ritual used by the Bene Gesserit to create Reverend Mothers, using the Water of Life instead of melange.
• Steersman – Title given to Guild Navigators.
• Stillsuit – "Body-enclosing garment" of Fremen design which performs the "functions of heat dissipation and filtering bodily wastes," as well as retaining and reclaiming moisture.
• Stilltent – "Small, scalable enclosure of micro-sandwich fabric designed to reclaim as potable water the ambient moisture discharged within it by the breath of its occupants."
• Stone burner – Atomic weapon, the explosion and radiation of which can be precisely adjusted depending on the desired effect. A stone burner with sufficient fuel can burn through the crust of a planet to the mantle or core, potentially causing a release of energy destroying the surface of the planet on which the weapon is deployed. Stone burners emit "J-Rays," a form of radiation that has an affinity for destroying the eyes of anyone surviving the initial radiation blast.
• Suk School – Prominent medical school whose doctors are the universe's most competent and trusted; those who have received the "Suk Imperial Conditioning" bear a diamond tattoo on their foreheads, wear their hair in a special silver ring, and are incapable of inflicting harm. However, the fallibility of Suk training is proven in Dune (1965) when Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and his twisted Mentat Piter De Vries manage to subvert this conditioning and coerce Suk Dr. Wellington Yueh into helping him in his attempt to destroy House Atreides.
• Suspensor – Any of a number of 'hovering' devices which utilize the "secondary (low-drain) phase of a Holtzman field generator" to nullify gravity "within certain limits prescribed by relative mass and energy consumption." In Dune, the obese Baron Harkonnen uses suspensors to support his massive weight. Hunter-seekers also use suspensor fields for propulsion, which make them slippery and hard to grasp.