Voco

First Appearance and Context

Voco is described within the mathic world as a named rite used when outside authority seeks mathic expertise. In a witnessed instance at the Concent of Saunt Edhar, distinctive bell changes—different from those used for Eliger—summoned the community to the Mynster. The Primate formally convened the assembly and read a traditional formula before calling a specific avout by name and chapter. The named avout answered in a set litany, and the community sang a hymn of mourning and farewell.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Nature of the rite: Voco is an Aut by which an individual Avout is formally called out from a math to carry out praxic work requested by the Saecular Power.
• Conduct of the aut: Distinctive bell changes summon all avout; there is no prior notice of whose name will be called. The Primate delivers the call, and the named person answers in a brief litany.
• Farewell: Within the community it is treated as a mourning‑and‑farewell moment; a hymn is sung as the Evoked stands before the chancel. Parts may be taken by different cohorts and orders depending on local practice.
• Departure and escort: Departure follows immediately. In one observed instance, representatives of the Inquisition escorted the Evoked from the Mynster; in another, the rite proceeded without Inquisition presence. A documented example with escort is Paphlagon’s Evocation. In a later case with no escort or transport, the Evoked were issued ordinary clothing and a small kit (including a wristwatch and money card), directed not to wear bolt and chord under the open sky, to keep spheres small, and to leave in staggered small groups for an external rendezvous and onward travel.
• Multiple names: While commonly a single person is named, Saunt Edhar has witnessed a six‑name service read from a sealed page; in a later overnight Voco, seventeen names were called in a single service, including a respected Millenarian elder among those Evoked.
• Perceptions and beliefs: Some avout hold that the Ita convey or receive directives related to such actions; this is recorded as community belief or inference rather than confirmed practice.
• Community speculation: At Saunt Edhar, some avout have asserted that a specific Evocation and disciplinary trouble involving Fraa Orolo were connected; within the concent this is discussed as conjecture rather than established fact.

Relationships

• Saecular Power: External authority that can request and receive avout expertise via Voco.
• Primate and hierarchs: The Primate officiates the call; hierarchs coordinate the service.
• Inquisition: Officials may attend and provide escort for the Evoked’s immediate departure.
• Avout and orders: Voco removes a member from their chapter for outside service, and those remaining mark the loss as final.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Terminology: The occurrence is called an “Evocation,” and the person is said to be “Evoked.”
• Rarity and tone: Within living memory it is rare; hymnals may need to be located and parts re‑found when needed. The mood is solemn and final from the community’s point of view.
• Form and setting: Marked by bells, formal words, and a response in litany; conducted in the community’s central hall, the Mynster. In observed services the bells may continue for some minutes as the assembly forms; ringers later join the congregation, and a choir may chant a monophonic piece.
• Bell signatures and distinction: Voco is heralded by a recognizable pattern of bell changes; at Saunt Edhar, avout can distinguish these from the pattern used for Anathem. After the bells, there is a short assembly interval before the Convocation.
• Timing: There is no fixed hour; an Evocation may be rung in the small hours before dawn.
• Scale and variation: On rare occasions, multiple avout may be Evoked in a single service. At Saunt Edhar, six were named in one observed ceremony, and in a later overnight call seventeen were named together; the list in that case included a Millenarian elder.

Current Status/Location

Voco remains an active, standing rite. At Saunt Edhar it has included both single‑name and multi‑name services. In the most expansive observed instance, those Evoked were directed to proceed incognito in small groups to a designated destination (in that case another concent, newly declared a Convox), with local extramuros support coordinating onward travel.