Fraa Jad

Overview

Fraa Jad is a senior fraa of the Thousanders at the Concent of Saunt Edhar. He keeps a measured, first‑principles approach and discourages conjecture beyond evidence. During current travels he joins a small Peregrin detour toward Bly's Butte before continuing on.

Appearance and Traits

An elderly, poised avout with a dry wit and precise language. He is unflustered by new praxes, quickly engages with mechanisms and texts, and prefers to name uncertainty directly (e.g., calling some ideas “just a hypothesis”). He sustains long, resonant chant tones and can supply a powerful drone in communal singing.

Roles and Actions

• Peregrin travel and aims: Rides with companions bound first for Bly’s Butte to seek Fraa Orolo; he shifts vehicles pragmatically as the convoy reorganizes.
• On the icosahedral visitor: Reviews a photomnemonic image of a vast craft and works through a geometric proof displayed on one facet. He adopts the working label “the Cousins” in discussion—while cautioning against over‑interpreting—and invokes the habit of using “the Rake” to trim speculation about intentions. See: The Cousins.
• Waste cavern at Edhar: States directly that Edhar houses a sealed cavern of nuclear waste in cylinders. He identifies his avocation as thatcher and explains that thatched covers are maintained above the cylinders to prevent corrosive condensation and stalagmite loads over long spans.
• Bazian monastery retreat: Accepts lodging at a mountain retreat run by Bazian Orthodoxy. He converses in shared Orth with elder monks, contributes the low drone to a meal prayer, and chants alone before dawn while seated atop a stone tower overlooking the desert.

Relationships

• Traveling companions: Moves in close company with younger avout who defer to his judgment and with a Hundreder mathematician who shares technical analysis; he is at ease including an Ita technician within the working group.
• With peers’ perceptions: After he remarks that he has not yet replaced thatch laid by his fid “a century ago,” some companions interpret it as deliberate and weighty; the text leaves his age and the remark’s intent ambiguous.

Current Status

Extramuros with a small convoy, having spent a night at a Bazian retreat. He continues toward isolated mountains identified as candidates for Bly’s Butte, intent on locating Orolo before proceeding.