Speelycaptor

The speelycaptor is a compact extramuros device used to record moving‑picture content, often called speely. It is presented as a practical tool of the non‑mathic world and contrasts with the avout’s reliance on words and direct observation.

First appearance and context

The device comes to attention during a conversation between Fraa Orolo and an artisan admitted to the New Library to address a repair, where the visitor asks about recording the clock at Provener. The same visitor—Artisan Flec—is later seen in the north nave of the Mynster with his speelycaptor while observing the aut, highlighting how such devices may appear within sight of avout under supervision without being part of mathic practice.

Structure and features

When produced for demonstration, the speelycaptor appears as a small, silver, finger‑sized tube. It is handheld and portable, suitable for aiming at a subject to gather moving images. High‑spec units have been described with capabilities marketed as "Eagle-Rez," "SteadiHand," and "DynaZoom." In later discussion, an artisan explained that a combination of zoom/magnification, low‑light enhancement, and image stabilization could—under the right conditions—capture details across a bright screen into darker naves that the unaided eye could not resolve.

In use, a speelycaptor provides straightforward playback‑style controls—play, pause, fast‑forward—and a live viewfinder. Unlike photomnemonic tablets used by cosmographers, it does not integrate light over extended periods to build a single composite image; it captures in real time. This makes it less suited to accumulating faint signals, but adequate for timing bright, fast‑moving targets.

Usage and oversight

• Extramuros: Beyond the walls, authorities have installed fixed speelycaptors as part of public monitoring; units are bracketed to buildings or lamp posts and can watch plazas and streets. Characters rely on being within view of such devices so allies can locate them, and an Ita companion is described as able to obtain data from municipal speelycaptors. Who else has access to those recordings is not clear to ordinary citizens.

• Within the math: Living under the Cartasian Discipline, avout do not ordinarily use such devices. When a visitor brings one inside the walls, its use is managed and overseen—e.g., being told not to activate it until guided and being directed to the Ita for supervision and placement. According to an artisan colleague, no speely was ultimately made of Provener because the unit in question was judged too capable to be operated near the Mynster: from a seat behind the north screen, its zoom, low‑light sensitivity, and stabilization could have effectively seen across the chancel into other naves.

Improvised observational use

After access to a formal observatory was restricted, a senior fraa obtained a speelycaptor extramuros by barter and set up a simple mount at a small vineyard beyond the walls: a vertical pole free to rotate with a swiveling crosspiece at eye level to hold the device. Using its stabilization, magnification, and low‑light features, he conducted extended sky‑tracking observations from that spot. This use of a speelycaptor for cosmography later figured in inquiries by the Warden Regulant.

Edharian theoricians describe the technique as watching the polar sky and noting the times when satellites streak past; for low orbits, successive passes recur roughly ninety minutes apart. By timing multiple passes, an observer can assemble a rough census of distinct satellites by their periods.

Additional contexts

• Public fixtures: In Old Mahsht, fixed speelycaptors are visibly clamped to lamp posts and bracketed to civic buildings. Staying still “in view” of one is used as a practical way for companions to find each other in crowded conditions.

• Handheld in extreme settings: A leaked recording shot by a crew member with a handheld speelycaptor inside a space capsule shows that such devices are used even in harsh environments. Image quality there was notably limited by contamination on the window (described as outgassing film), but the footage still conveyed timing and context when direct explanations were sparse.

Current status

A speelycaptor was carried by an extramuros artisan during an aut of Provener and is discussed in arrangements surrounding that rite. Separately, one was used extramuros by an avout for sky observations. Public installations are common in some cities and may be tapped by those with the skills and access to do so. Overall, the device remains a visitor’s tool under oversight within the math; there is no indication it is kept or used by the avout as standard equipment.