Ita

First Appearance and Context

An in‑world dictionary entry presents “Ita” as an acronym (sometimes written “ITA”) whose debated expansion varies by era, and identifies the group—by later usage—as a proscribed artisanal caste tolerated in concents built around great clocks. Within the present concent, common lore ties the Ita to the under‑floor systems beneath the Mynster that drive auxiliary mechanisms such as the Great Orrery and apply subtle corrections to the rate of the main clock.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Maintenance and operation: The Ita clean, inspect, and tend the gear‑trains, shafts, escapements, and other works that run up toward the tower and into the pillars of the Praesidium, keeping the great clock and its couplings in service.
• Syntactic devices: In later usage, their remit is the operation and maintenance of subsystems that employ syntactic devices—tolerated in those places where such mechanisms are integral to a great clock.
• Practical coordination: At the Concent, the Ita handle on‑the‑ground arrangements during public moments (such as where permitted visitors may go) and communicate device restrictions consistent with the Cartasian Discipline.

Relationships

• Segregation and boundaries: The Ita are described as maintaining strict segregation from the Avout. Avout themselves observe limits on sharing Ita‑related details, citing Discipline when such information would go beyond what visitors are allowed to know.
• Adjacency and access: The Ita’s work connects directly to the clockworks and the portal at the Mynster’s edge, enabling access to the spaces where the mechanisms are housed.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Quarters and portal: A reserved corner at the northeastern side of the Mynster opens by a dedicated portal into their covered quarter—described as a “covered slum” between that side of the building and the cliff that forms the outer wall. A tunnel there is said to connect into the subterranean workings of the clock.
• Name and etymology: The term appears as an acronym in older sources (ITA), and scholars dispute the final letter’s expansion; regardless, later usage stabilizes on the role described above.
• Historical usage: Up to the Second Sack, “Ita” could denote a faculty devoted to the praxis of syntactic devices; later usage marks them as a proscribed artisanal caste, segregated but tolerated where great clocks depend on their craft.

Current Status/Location

Active and segregated within the concent. From quarters adjoining the Mynster, the Ita tend the clockworks (including auxiliary systems such as the orrery), manage practical visitor placement, and enforce limits on devices in keeping with the Discipline.