Fraa Erasmas

First Appearance and Context

Fraa Erasmas is an avout in the Decenarian community at the Concent of Saunt Edhar. Around Apert, he is seen assisting Fraa Orolo in supervised conversations and observing the opening rites and daily routine.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Serves as assistant to Fraa Orolo in study and interviews, and works on the clock-winding team during Provener.
• During the present opening, he is confined to a penance cell under the Warden Regulant’s authority and sentenced to chapters of the Book; he spends days copying and memorizing text, recording a private journal, and watching activity in the Mynster courts.
• From his cell he decodes bell changes for Eliger and later hears the aut of Voco, after which visiting Inquisitors depart with an Evoked Centenarian.
• While the community is gathered for Voco, he briefly leaves his cell to ascend to the rooftop Starhenge and quietly inserts a photomnemonic tablet into Clesthyra’s Eye to record the sky. He returns undetected and later completes examination on his assigned chapter, ending the penance.
• After release he is welcomed in the Refectory, receives a celebratory toast from a New Circle leader, and—after discussions with peers and a local FAE—agrees to join the Edharian Chapter.
• Joins a dialog led by Orolo on “worry” and plausibility; he connects the idea to Hemn space and action principles, showing comfort bridging practical examples and theoric framing among peers (Jesry, Arsibalt, Tulia, Lio, Ala).
• Is interviewed in Saunt Zenla’s by hierarchs (Fraa Spelikon with a recorder). Using his seized journal and an earlier transcript, they question him about a speelycaptor’s capabilities; he clarifies, as an educated inference, that zoom, low-light detection, and stabilization together could reveal details through bright screens that a naked eye could not.
• Before a bell-announced aut, he hides near the Regulant court and later ascends toward the starhenge. During the aut of Anathem that expels Orolo, Erasmas retrieves the photomnemonic tablet he had placed in Clesthyra’s Eye, discovers that a second tablet in the M & M is already gone, briefly witnesses Orolo depart extramuros, and conceals his tablet for later viewing.
• In the aftermath, he and close peers compare recollections of Orolo’s recent work and debate hypotheses about an object under observation; they begin a quiet plan to bring the tablet down and examine it safely. Erasmas states he will accept responsibility if discovered and asserts his trust in Orolo’s judgment.
• Separately, he agrees to help Lio stage a living “re-enactment” in the meadow, using invasive plants to model the Battle of Trantae over the coming season; he prepares a grid frame to document changes from a fixed vantage.
• Establishes a hidden workspace with Arsibalt in a damp sub‑cellar beneath Shuf’s Dowment. Using a hollowed book prepared with help from Tulia and Lio, he moves and conceals the photomnemonic tablet there and relies on a simple window‑signal with Arsibalt to approach when the building is empty.
• While reviewing the recording, he sees an Ita—Sammann—clean instruments on the Pinnacle and recover the tablet’s discarded dust jacket, indicating possible awareness of the device; Erasmas trims the recording to remove images identifying himself.
• Begins systematic night‑by‑night analysis by integrating long exposures around the pole star, identifying several polar‑orbiting “birds” and, with Jesry, defining a plan to compile a census so that anomalies can be noticed.
• Redoubles the clandestine analysis and completes measures across seventeen clear nights, configuring time exposures and protractor‑measured angles to draft a robust census; he keeps the work discreet while balancing ordinary duties, equinox preparations, and increased traffic at the Dowment.
• At Lio’s urging, participates in controlled hand‑to‑hand practice meant to preserve calm under pressure; the exercise is kept out of sight along the riverbank and folded back into regular meadow work.
• On a clear spring day, confers with Jesry and Tulia on hypotheses linking solar behavior, auroral responses, and broader theorics; he agrees to let Jesry join a viewing session in the sub‑cellar.
• Brings Jesry to the hidden workspace; their joint session proves difficult, but they use the tablet to view the sun’s disk, noting sunspots and seeing no obvious flares. Neither considers the results conclusive, and they suspend judgment pending further study.
• When movement upstairs prevents a safe exit and Suur Ala’s presence is suspected, he and Jesry wrap the tablet and bury it about four feet deep in the remotest part of the cellar to protect it from discovery.
• Attempting to leave, they are intercepted by Suur Ala; Jesry departs while Erasmas remains to speak with her. Ala indicates she has told no one, leaving their clandestine work precarious but, for the moment, undisclosed.
• Later, in a maintenance room beneath the carillon with Suur Ala and Tulia, he uses a pinhole aperture to project the sun. Together with Ala he marks a sequence of brief blue‑white “sparks” appearing near and across the projected solar disk, inferring a maneuvering object from the changing track; he keeps the pinholed chart and shares the finding with Lio for follow‑up.
• He and Ala agree to declare an Etrevanean liaison. Before it can be entered, a later ringing of Voco names six avout, including Fraa Jesry and Suur Ala, who depart while Erasmas remains intramuros.

Relationships

• Mentor: Fraa Orolo (instruction, observation, and cosmography).
• Close peers: Fraa Jesry, Lio, Arsibalt, Tulia, and Ala (study, winding, and coordination). Jesry later departs under Voco; Tulia assists with the pinhole setup; Lio pursues relevant texts.
• Suur Ala: Partnered with Erasmas on the pinhole observation of the sun; they agreed to publish an Etrevanean liaison, but she was Evoked and departed before any aut could be entered in the Chronicle.
• Hierarchs and officials: interviewed by Fraa Spelikon (with a recorder named Rotha); previously overseen by Suur Trestanas during the opening. He later harbors resentment toward the Regulant staff in connection with Orolo’s expulsion.
• Family: Cord, his sib from outside the walls, an artisan who visits during the opening.

Descriptions/Characteristics

Known to peers by the nickname “Raz,” and formerly called “Vit” in his birth family. Conscientious, observant, and discreet; capable of practical improvisation when sensitive topics arise. Under pressure he acts decisively to shield sensitive materials, even at personal risk.

Current Status/Location

Active among the Tenners. Following the camera obscura observation in the belfry, he holds the rolled chart of pinpricks marking the blue “sparks.” In a subsequent service of Voco, six names are called; Fraa Jesry and Suur Ala depart while Erasmas remains within the concent. He has informed Lio, who investigates a Praxic Age reference text relevant to the observation.