Apert

This page covers Apert in general. For the present cycle's ten-day observance, see Decennial Apert.

First Appearance and Context

Apert is referenced during preparations inside the maths, where work is accelerated to finish beforehand and senior avout review conditions beyond the walls. In the lead-up to a new year, the Unarian and Decenarian communities were described as sharing the opening. A sunrise rite—with coded bell changes and light refracted down into the hall—culminated as auxiliary weights descended and the Year and Decade mechanisms began to open. Immediately afterward, avout followed the charged waterworks toward the river to witness the gates moving.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Serves as a fixed deadline shaping planning, maintenance, and outreach; different cohorts observe it on different cycles.
• Briefly permits regulated passage between intramuros and extramuros; many Collections and most graduations are scheduled during this period.
• In the decennial instance, the Year Gate and the Decade Gate open in concert as part of the rite.
• The Unarian and Decenarian communities coordinate activities around it, including intake and progression between their maths.

Relationships

• Outward watch and precautions are coordinated by the Warden Fendant, who monitors outside attention and advises on security posture.
• Interactions at the gates touch on external authorities summarized as the Saecular Power.
• Longer-cycle cohorts such as the Centenarians prepare for rarer openings tied to their own gate.
• Within the concent, Apert is observed by both the Unarian Math and the Decenarian Math, each with its associated interval.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Timed gate openings: At sunrise, bell changes and a music-led rite synchronize with the great clock; auxiliary weights descend and the mechanisms actuate. The community often responds audibly as the motion slows to rest.
• Hydraulics and drives: Outside the walls, waterworks that are dry except at Apert are opened by the clock, sending flow by aqueduct to a cistern in a round tower; its overflow turns a water wheel that drives a straight shaft across a stone bridge into the far bastion, where gears on the hinge pins swing the gates.
• Social customs and contact: Avout greet one another with "Bon Apert." Visitors often gather outside—families, groups of children from suvins, people filming or sending feeds, and occasional proselytizers handing out leaflets. Avout are counseled to accept such handouts politely and avoid debate. In some cases, suurs assist distressed visitors, including would‑be abandonments of infants, in keeping with established procedures around Apert.

Current Status/Location

Decennial Apert has begun: after the sunrise rite, the Year and Decade gates opened in concert, and limited passage between the math and extramuros is underway.