Avout

First Appearance and Context

Avout are those who live within a Math under the Cartasian Discipline, distinct from the world Extramuros. The term is used by insiders and outsiders to mark that boundary. During Apert, gates open on a regulated cycle and brief, supervised contact is permitted.

Concept and Description

Avout life is ordered around communal study, liturgy, and work within cloistered grounds. Everyday kit centers on a long strip of cloth called a bolt, managed with a waist cord ("chord"), and a portable sphere used as a seat; dress and devices are constrained by the Discipline. Speech customs include traditional honorifics for members (e.g., fraa and suur), and learners known as fids are guided by elder avout. Many avout also describe themselves as observing the Sconic Discipline, a thinking‑habit that treats some questions (such as non‑spatiotemporal divinities) as outside the bounds of productive inquiry.

Use in Current Discourse

References distinguish between ordinary intramuros life and exceptional cases in which avout go abroad. Under Voco, the Sæcular Power may call avout out for praxic work; when many are called together to assemble elsewhere (sometimes termed a Convox), they often travel in groups so they can preserve the spirit—if not always the letter—of the Discipline while extramuros. Practical measures reported include pairing more extramuros‑fluent Tenners with Hundreders for language and logistics, arranging travel with outside drivers, and accepting short‑term lodging when offered. In conversations with outsiders, avout often clarify that observing the Sconic Discipline is not the same as denying God; it frames what they consider discussable, not what individuals necessarily believe.

Related Concepts and Affiliations

• Boundary and cycles: Controlled contact at Apert; beyond that, seclusion is the norm under the Discipline.
• Orders and cohorts: Communities distinguish cohorts (e.g., Tenners/Decenarians, Hundreders/Centenarians, Thousanders) whose cycles and fluency with the outside vary.
• Practical counterparts: The Ita tend tolerated mechanisms within the bounds set by the Discipline; avout and Ita interact under rules that limit devices and recording.
• Sæcular interface: Requests from outside authorities are formalized through Voco; in mass calls, assembly may be organized at a named Convox.
• Interfaith contact: While traveling, avout may encounter or accept hospitality from clergy of Bazian Orthodoxy; such meetings are generally courteous and highlight differences shaped by the Sconic Discipline.

Current Status

Avout continue to live intramuros under the revived rules observed since the Reconstitution. In the present situation, many have been Evoked in groups and are traveling by ordinary means toward an officially designated Convox, while those remaining maintain ordinary observances inside the walls. Pairings across cohorts and travel with outsiders are reported as pragmatic steps to preserve the Discipline’s spirit during the journey.