Deolater

First Appearance and Context

Within the Cloister iconography of a math, "Deolater" appears among named general types, listed alongside figures such as the Physiologer, the Burger, and the Sline. Separately, during Apert at an open gate, the narrator identifies a shouting outsider using a sound-amplifying device as "some sort of a Deolater" who wanted avout to join his ark; the account later refers to him as "the Deolater."

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

  • Iconography: functions as a named archetype within Cloister art and architectural decoration.
  • Extramuros usage: applied by an observer to a proselytizer outside the gates during Apert, apparently recruiting for an ark. This usage aligns with knowledge of the community called Deolaters, though the text does not equate the iconographic figure with that group.
  • Casual usage in dialog: during an opening, the term is invoked about a woman later noted with a contingent of Warden of Heaven people, suggesting the label can be used for adherents of that movement.

Relationships

  • Singular and plural: The plural community Deolaters is referenced elsewhere as an extramuros religious group with arks; the narrative does not state whether an individual "Deolater" is formally a member of that community in each instance.
  • Avout interface: The term is used by an avout observer when describing interactions with people Extramuros at the gates during Apert.

Descriptions/Characteristics

  • No depiction or doctrine is given for the iconographic figure.
  • In the observed encounter, the presumed Deolater used a voice-amplifying device and had an assistant distributing printed leaves; he became angry when suurs intervened around a desolate woman.

Current Status/Location

  • Present as a named type in Cloister iconography.
  • Also used as a label for at least one outsider encountered at the gates during Apert. Further definition remains unspecified in the text.
Summary:

An iconographic general type within the mathic world; the term is also used during openings to label religious proselytizers from outside the walls (for example, adherents of the Warden of Heaven), though the text keeps any connection to the iconographic figure ambiguous.

Known as:
The Deolater