Deolaters

First Appearance and Context

Deolaters are introduced as an extramuros religious community whose worship spaces are called “arks.” Within the mathic world, they are invoked as a familiar point of comparison when explaining the nave of the Mynster and the behavior of congregants during rites such as weddings and funerals. In reflection on beauty, an avout remarks that a person identified as a Deolater would call a striking ray of light “holy” and take it as proof of a god, illustrating how the community is perceived from inside the walls.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Religious community beyond the walls of the Extramuros world, associated with arks as their places of worship.
• Serve as a cultural reference in avout explanations of layout and congregational practice within the Mynster.
• The singular term “Deolater” is sometimes used for individual proselytizers who recruit to arks; see the separate entry for context and examples.

Relationships

• Related term: Deolater (singular) is an iconographic/archetypal label and is also applied to specific proselytizers encountered at openings; the text does not explicitly equate that usage with formal membership in this community.
• Functional contrast with the mathic world: Deolaters are cited by avout mainly as an outside comparator for worship spaces and devotional behavior.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Perceived by avout as theistic: the label “holy” and references to “a god” are invoked when Deolaters are used rhetorically to characterize a devotional outlook.
• No doctrine, hierarchy, or internal structure is detailed; information is presented from an outsider’s perspective and remains general.

Current Status/Location

Active outside the walls. Known to avout by reputation and observation; no formal institutional details or sustained contact are described.