Concent of Saunt Edhar

The Concent of Saunt Edhar is the walled setting of a mathic community built around the towering Mynster and its great clock. It stands at a river bend beneath rocky bluffs and coordinates daily life and public openings under long‑standing rules within the broader Concent system.

First Appearance and Context

The concent is presented as the home ground of Decenarian avout during routine observances and as a focal point at a Decennial Apert. At sunrise of the opening, music and rite in the Mynster synchronize with clockworks: refracted light reaches the chancel and the weights descend to open the Day, Year, and Decade Gates.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Houses multiple maths and offices within its walls: the Decenarian Math (Tenners), the Centenarian Math (Hundreders), the Millenarians on their crag, and the restricted Primate's Compound.
• Regulates contact with extramuros. Visitors—when permitted—enter by the Day Gate and are guided to the north nave of the Mynster to observe rites. The belfry rings coded changes for auts and openings.
• Maintains and couples major mechanisms: the Mynster’s clock, auxiliary loads such as the orrery, and water‑powered works that open distant gates at Apert. The Ita tend under‑floor systems and practical arrangements.

Relationships

• The maths share the Mynster by long‑standing arrangement of naves and corners; the Primate’s Compound connects directly to the chancel’s northwest corner.
• The Ita work in reserved quarters adjoining the Mynster, maintaining mechanisms linked to the clock and coordinating practical matters during public moments.
• Outside the walls, a burgers’ town stands near the Day Gate causeway; during openings, observers gather extramuros and a controlled trickle of visitors is received intramuros.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Site and walls: The concent nestles in the crook of a river below the terminus of a long mountain range. Its fortifications span both banks: most buildings lie inside the river bend, while a strip on the far bank carries walls and bastions.
• Gates: Three bastions on the far bank hold the Unarian, Decenarian, and Centenarian gates. The Millenarian Gate lies up on the mountain and operates differently.
• Waterworks: Upstream of a cataract, a pool and aqueduct feed a high‑placed pond outside the Day Gate. Monumental valves in its floor can route water to systems that, at Apert, power the Year, Decade, and Century Gates. A causeway crosses the pond from the burgers’ square to the Day Gate, flanked by paired fountains.
• Bridge and driveshaft: A stone‑arch bridge spans the river where a round tower on the near bank houses a cistern and water‑wheel. From there, a stout shaft runs across the bridge into a bastion, where gearing couples directly to the gate hinge‑pins.
• Grounds: Meadows, garden tangles, and walls divide neighboring maths; a roofed gallery called the Seven Stairs links Decenarian buildings to the Mynster’s portal.

Current Status/Location

Active and inhabited. At the current Decennial Apert the Day, Year, and Decade Gates have opened under clock and water‑power, with visitors admitted in a managed way through the Day Gate to the north nave. Daily rites continue and internal preparations give way to the ten‑day observance.