Fraa Orolo

Overview

Orolo is a cosmographer of the Decenarian community at the Concent of Saunt Edhar. Within the Decenarian Math he is noted for a question-driven, Socratic style and for insisting on clear distinctions between observation and conjecture.

Appearance and Traits

Deliberate, exacting, and plain-spoken. He favors firsthand observation, concise aphorisms, and “brilliantly simple” lines of inquiry that pare problems to their essentials.

Roles and Actions

• Oversaw rooftop and ground-level observing focused on northern-sky motions and practical orbital-mechanics questions.
• According to an Ita messenger’s account, the Saecular Power sought quiet assistance obtaining images of a high-flying object; the messenger informed Orolo outside normal hierarch channels. Soon after, a photomnemonic tablet associated with his observing was retrieved from the Telescope of Saunts Mithra and Mylax; a processed copy shown to avout depicts a large icosahedral craft whose exterior includes a geometric proof. Discussion of meanings and labels (e.g., calling the visitors “the Cousins”) is presented within the community as interpretation, not established fact.
• In the wake of rooftop restrictions and subsequent closures, praxic work continued at ground level by distributing calculations among trusted helpers.
• Atop Bly’s Butte, a small cloister-like work area attributed to Orolo contained a homemade reflecting telescope on the summit and a cell lined with notes and phototypes. Many images attempt to capture the visiting icosahedral craft; another set depicts a large open-pit excavation. After reviewing the materials, a Thousander removed the excavation images and ordered the rest burned. The notes included a diagrammed chain from Orithena through Adrakhones, Diax, and Metekoranes that companions identified as “Lineage” material; its intent is not explained in the surviving record.

Relationships

• Mentor to Fraa Erasmas, who models practical organization and observing discipline on Orolo’s methods.
• Reported long-running correspondence with Estemard, who wrote from Bly’s Butte (as related by Erasmas).
• As a Tenner, was raised by Paphlagon and Estemard; they later left the math by different routes (Paphlagon via labyrinth, Estemard via the Day Gate).
• Brief contact in Norslof with Yulassetar Crade (an extra wilderness guide), who provided lodging and outfitting for travel in extreme cold.

Current Status

Subject to Anathem (Thrown Back) and living extramuros. In recent reflections, Erasmas refers to him as 'Feral'. His cell at Bly’s Butte was found abandoned; subsequent local reports place him in Norslof, where he obtained warm gear and departed on a northbound drummon after a night spent in a guide’s fetch. Companions infer he is heading toward a sledge port at Eighty-three North to cross over the pole and reach Ecba—possibly to investigate the mathic excavation surrounding the buried Temple of Orithena—and have redirected their search along that route. Companions continue along that route and reach Old Mahsht while pursuing leads; Orolo has not been sighted. Cord later characterizes their understanding of his departure as "the night Fraa Orolo walked down off Bly's Butte and headed for Ecba."