Fraa Orolo

First Appearance and Context

Orolo is shown leading structured conversations in the New Library as Apert approaches, opening with pointed questions drawn from leaves of an old questionnaire. During the opening of the gates, a fid recalls Orolo's yarn about a math that "floated freely in time," a teaching device tied to his idea of slight time slippage between loosely linked causal domains.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• An Avout in a Decenarian Math, he is a cosmographer and theorician who organizes and conducts structured interviews with artisans from Extramuros admitted shortly before Apert. He asks Fraa Erasmas to serve as his amanuensis during these exchanges.
• Sets and reviews cosmography problems for fids—for example using a photo‑mnemonic image of Saunt Tancred's Nebula—and spends days in small chalk halls working through equations and diagrams. He is seen with a sheaf of calculations heading toward the Mynster.
• Coordinates with mathic authorities on security ahead of Apert, consulting with the Warden Fendant and advising that valued materials be moved into the labyrinths. He anticipates heightened precautions and predicts roughhousing on Tenth Night rather than a Sack.

Relationships

• Mentor to Fraa Erasmas, whom he invites to act as amanuensis in the library; their exchanges extend into lessons and kitchen conversation. He also engages artisans such as Quin in interviews and tutors fids through lively dialog.

Descriptions/Characteristics

Methodical, probing, and precise in speech, Orolo favors firsthand observation rendered into words over mechanical capture. Living under the Cartasian Discipline, he reminds visitors that permitted media are limited to chalk, ink, and stone. He uses dry humor (once quipping about "attention surplus disorder"), insists on careful terminology (preferring "changes in the maths" over loaded alternatives), and employs ideas such as "Causal Domain Shear"—and a wandering ten‑thousand‑year math—as teaching devices rather than literal history.

Current Status/Location

Active in the New Library within a Decenarian community, mindful of Discipline rules and coordinating visitor access as Apert arrives. After consulting with security leadership, he expects increased precautions during Apert and encourages moving critical items to the labyrinths; he does not expect a Sack.