Liaison

First Appearance and Context

“Liaison” is defined in The Dictionary (4th Edition) with two numbered senses. The first, in Old and later Orth, denotes an intimate relationship among avout—almost always two people, commonly one Fraa and one Suur. The second, labeled as Late Praxic Age usage, is a vague term for contacts or relations between entities.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

Within the maths, a liaison is a structured, rule‑bound relationship subject to the community’s Discipline. The entry explains that types of liaisons are enumerated in successive rulebooks, and that sanctioned forms are solemnized by an Aut in the presence of witnesses. Orders or concents that sanction forms outside those allowed by the Discipline are said to risk action by the Inquisition. Communities may also choose to sanction fewer forms than the maximum; those that sanction none are nominally celibate.

Relationships

• Participant roles: typically involves one Fraa and one Suur of similar age; other arrangements are acknowledged but said to be uncommon.
• Related type (colloquial): Atlanian Liaison, an episodic arrangement mentioned in conversation and named for its decennial rhythm.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Typical number of participants: two.
• Formalization: when permitted, an aut is performed with at least three witnesses, and the participants agree to the rules specific to that liaison type.
• Variation across eras and rulebooks: an earlier “Revised Book of Discipline,” adopted at the time of the Reconstitution, described eight types and sanctioned two; the “Second New Revised Book of Discipline” describes seventeen, sanctions four, and alludes to two others. Communities may deviate only by allowing fewer types, not more.
• Historical notes cited in the entry include a famous liaison between two saunts whose love‑letters were found posthumously, and a later move—shortly before the Rebirth—by some maths to sanction a particular one‑to‑one form.
• Secondary sense: in Late Praxic Age parlance, “liaison” is a loose, commercial‑sounding label for connections between entities rather than a personal relationship.

Current Status/Location

Active in mathic usage as a formal relationship category governed by the Discipline, with specific forms varying by what a given community sanctions. The broader, non‑personal sense is acknowledged as period jargon rather than a practice inside the maths.