The Cousins

Overview

“The Cousins” is the working label avout use for the beings associated with a large icosahedral craft observed in proximity to Arbre. The name arose among travelers after close inspection of images first obtained through observing work linked to Fraa Orolo. Details visible on the hull—glyphs that resemble familiar alphabets and a diagram laid out as a geometry proof—led observers to interpret the craft as signaling kinship and intelligibility to mathic minds, hence “Cousins.”

Purpose and Structure

• Craft form: The object presents as a twenty‑faced (icosahedral) frame with rounded vertices and straight edge members that behave like a distributed shock‑absorption system. Avout accounts describe one face with a rigid circular inset interpreted as a pusher plate; the triangular faces appear to be a rugged, composite “gravel‑like” shell.
• Scale: From instrument settings cited in discussion, avout estimate an overall diameter on the order of three miles. Some suggest an internal rotating habitat could provide pseudogravity, but this remains conjectural.
• External inscriptions: One strut bears an inscription in unfamiliar glyphs that look related to local scripts; another face carries a mosaic‑like construction interpreted as a proof of a classical right‑triangle theorem. Observers take these as deliberate, non‑linguistic signals intended to be legible to mathematicians.
• Other features (unconfirmed): Regularly spaced surface elements have been discussed as possible antenna arrays; some travelers caution that concealed equipment might include weapons systems. These readings are speculative.

Practices

• Communication by mathematics: By placing a geometric proof on the exterior, the Cousins appear to bypass language and address viewers through shared reasoning. Travelers noted that such a proof is faster to recognize and verify than any attempt to decode an unknown script.
• Directed illumination: Reports describe a narrow red beam from the craft briefly illuminating prominent concents, including Rambalf and Tredegarh. The purpose of this action is not yet established.

Known Members and Associations

• Identified individuals: None; all references so far are to the ship and its markings.
• Associations with the mathic world: Images connected to Fraa Orolo catalyzed community discussion; a Thousander traveling company including Fraa Jad has examined processed images in transit.
• Intermediaries and authorities: The Saecular Power is reported to have tracked the object and quietly sought observational assistance; an Ita courier relayed information that led to telescopic imaging. Accounts emphasize that these communications avoided hierarch channels.

Recent Activity

• Observation and analysis: Processed images reveal the hull features described above; avout continue to debate the craft’s capabilities and intentions, preserving clear distinctions between observation and conjecture.
• Public signals: Red‑beam illumination of notable maths has been publicly witnessed. Travelers differ on whether to read this as benign signaling, targeting, or something else; no intent can yet be assigned.

Status

Present in the near‑Arbre environment with sustained visibility and ongoing analysis by avout and outside authorities. No direct contact, language, or individual identities have been established; the designation “Cousins” remains a provisional, avout‑coined term.