Lio

Overview

Lio is an avout peer of Fraa Erasmas, traveling extramuros with a Peregrin company under Evocation. On the approach to Bly's Butte he balances security‑minded pragmatism with dry humor and steady loyalty to companions. Earlier accounts associate him with the New Circle and note strong proficiency in Vale‑Lore.

Appearance and Traits

Solid and agile, Lio is comfortable applying practical skills and non‑lethal techniques, acting quickly without needless escalation. He shows a skeptical, evidence‑first habit of mind, engages readily in theorical debate, and handles extramuros tools—such as sidearms—with measured caution. He is notably alert to threats and countermeasures in unfamiliar settings, and he is pragmatic about capability limits, pushing back when proposals exceed what the group can realistically build with current praxis.

Roles and Actions

• Summit hike and reconnaissance: Ascends the road and a shortcut toward the top of Bly's Butte with Erasmas and Fraa Criscan, scouting structures and later finding signs of an avout‑style cell apparently used by Orolo.
• Theorics on the climb: Contributes to an animated exchange about the usual two‑box diagram for the Hylaean Theoric World and the idea sometimes called Complex Protism; frames the arrow as a flow of information into the causal domain.
• Background on Estemard: Shares findings that Estemard worked intricate tiles, pursued a classical tiling problem known as the Teglon, and drew rumor‑laden attention tied to a so‑called Lineage; Lio treats the topic cautiously.
• Brief confrontation at the cell: When a man bursts in, Lio takes him down quickly and secures his sidearm; after the situation settles he removes the magazine and returns weapon and ammunition separately.
• Securing notes: Assists Fraa Jad in gathering working leaves and phototypes from Orolo’s cell so they can be burned.
• Descent: At Jad’s instruction he rides down last with Erasmas in a local driver’s fetch to join the picnic forming on the village green.
• Aftermath in the Saecular world: In a crowded drummon‑refueling mess hall outside Norslof, Erasmas remarks missing Lio’s knack for assessing risks and thinking through countermeasures.
• Capability check: In a recalled planning exchange, Lio cautions that certain disabling field arrays are beyond the company’s current praxis, tempering speculative proposals with practical limits.

Relationships

• Erasmas: Close companion who states he trusts Lio with his life; they operate fluidly during the ascent and aftermath. Later, Erasmas says he misses Lio’s security‑minded judgment in tense settings and regrets not passing him a letter at the Samble picnic that might have moved through mathic channels to Ala. During a later overland ordeal, he imagines Lio’s dry‑humored quip in his head, consistent with Lio’s manner in earlier scenes.
• Fraa Criscan: Conversation partner in theorics; the climb fosters an exchange on diagrams, causal domains, and related traditions.
• Fraa Jad: Elder whose directives Lio follows; he helps by collecting and handing over sensitive leaves.
• Estemard: Subject of Lio’s prior digging; Lio neutralizes him during a brief encounter and returns the sidearm without further incident.
• Orolo: Focus of the search; Lio helps safeguard Orolo’s working materials under Jad’s direction.

Current Status

After the village picnic at the foot of Bly’s Butte, Erasmas departs north with others; Lio is not part of that northbound group. He appears to remain with the Peregrin company; he is not present during the later push toward the far‑north sledge trains. While traveling toward the icebound coast, Erasmas reflects that Lio and Arsibalt likely reached Tredegarh quickly; he infers that their shorter time outside the concent would leave them less affected by the ubiquitous “Allswell” effect. This is framed as Erasmas’s inference rather than a confirmed report.