Tenth Night

First Appearance and Context

Tenth Night is first noted in the lead‑up to Apert as a night when precautions are prudent. It is later shown as a large, communal observance in the meadow of the Concent of Saunt Edhar, held under a broad lighted canopy. The observance originated as a harvest festival that coincides with the end of the calendar year, timed to when the concent’s tangles reach peak variety and flavor. The name reflects its placement at the end of the opening, when the gates will close at dawn.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Closing‑night gathering of Apert combining celebration with watchfulness. Avout and visitors share the open Tenth Night Supper while wardens and stewards keep order.
• Scale and setup: rows of tables are raised beneath a canopy whose struts glow softly after dusk. In one observed instance, attendance included roughly twelve hundred visitors and many avout (hundreds of Decenarians and Unarians).
• Performances and remarks: the evening commonly includes musical pieces and short addresses from chapter representatives. Visitors may recognize familiar carols that derive from mathic liturgical music.
• Formal transfer and induction: by ancient custom, the highest‑ranking local official present stands at the high table to hand newcomers over to mathic jurisdiction, solemnized by oaths and a bell. Groups presented included foundlings, youngsters to be Collected, One‑offs choosing to graduate inward, and arrivals from feeder concents.
• Oversight and coordination: with the wall open, outward and inward responsibilities meet; the Warden Fendant and the Warden Regulant both have interests in how the night proceeds, and visiting officers of the Inquisition may be present among the hierarchs.
• Referenced conversation: on a remembered Tenth Night, Varax spoke privately with an avout near the Starhenge, advising him to “raise your sights”; the exchange was noted with Varax facing north.

Relationships

• Closing observance within Apert, hosted at the Concent of Saunt Edhar and centered on the Tenth Night Supper.
• Intersects with inward and outward offices (Warden Regulant and Warden Fendant) and, at times, the Inquisition’s presence during the opening.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Setting: a broad canopy, built on old newmatter struts that emit diffuse light after dusk, covers the long tables in the meadow. Food highlights the season’s tangle harvest.
• Atmosphere: festive and communal yet orderly, with entertainment, toasts, and the formal legal moment when newcomers pass from Sæcular to mathic care.
• Rhythm: as the night wears on, revelry ebbs and cleanup gathers momentum until the gates close at dawn.

Current Status/Location

Active and observed at Saunt Edhar during the present opening. It functions both as the culminating celebration of the opening and as the moment when new members are formally received into mathic jurisdiction.