Decennial Apert

First Appearance and Context

Decennial Apert is observed at sunrise inside the Mynster, where avout gather for a music-led rite synchronized to the great clock. On the first morning of a new decade, coded bell changes announce the opening and a processional specific to the day is sung. As sunlight is refracted down from the starhenge prism, the clock’s main weight drops and the auxiliary cube and octahedron descend into view, and the Year and Decade mechanisms open their gates in concert to general acclaim.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Decennial Apert is the ten-year observance of Apert, centered on the opening of the Decade Gate; because it coincides with the turn of the year, the Year Gate opens alongside it.
• The rite takes place within the Mynster and is attended by the community of avout, with the Decenarian cohort (the Tenners) playing a prominent role as their decennial interval comes due.
• During Apert, regulated passage between intramuros and extramuros is briefly permitted; inside the concent, groups mingle and may mark themselves for clarity when mixed with One-Off members of the Unarian community and with visitors.

Relationships

• Closely linked to the Decenarians and their math, to the time-gated portals (especially the Decade and Year Gates), and to the ceremonial functions of the Mynster within the Concent of Saunt Edhar.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Signaling and music: bell-rung changes cast from the belfry precede the rite; a processional unique to the decennial opening is sung.
• Timed actuation: at sunrise, refracted light enters the hall as the cube and octahedron weights descend on rails to open the Year and Decade gates; the assembly often responds with audible emotion as the weights slow and come to rest just above the chancel floor.
• Attire and markers: avout wear formal wraps; members of the Decenarian cohort may make their spheres glow in a scarlet hue so they can be distinguished in mixed groups.

Current Status/Location

Most recently witnessed within the Concent of Saunt Edhar: at sunrise, the mechanisms operated smoothly and the Year and Decade gates opened together as part of Decennial Apert, initiating the brief period of regulated contact associated with Apert.