Lio

Overview

Lio is an avout (monastic scholar) peer of Fraa Erasmas. He is strongly committed to Vale-Lore. Earlier accounts place him traveling extramuros (outside the walls) with a Peregrin (sanctioned travel) company under Evocation (formal summons). At Tredegarh during the Convox (extraordinary convocation of avout), he serves as a messal (small formal dinner) servitor and continues training under Ringing Vale (martial math/order) instructors.

Appearance and Traits

• Solid, agile, and comfortable with non-lethal techniques; acts quickly without needless escalation.
• Skeptical and evidence-first in outlook; engages readily in theorical debate while keeping proposals inside practical limits.
• Devotion to Vale-Lore: Erasmas describes Lio as having "worshipped all things Vale" since before Collection, tracking down every work at Saunt Edhar about the Vale or by those who claimed to have trained with Valers (Ringing Vale martial avout). He prizes composure and would, in Erasmas's view, expect stoicism in the presence of Valers.

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 (abstract realm of forms) and the idea sometimes called Complex Protism (a conjecture about perception); 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 (intellectual tradition); 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 (small local vehicle) to join the picnic forming on the village green.
• Aftermath in the Saecular world: In a crowded drummon (fuel station mess) 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.
• Apert memory: Erasmas remembers Lio being "defeated at Apert" when slines (ordinary outsiders) pulled his bolt (avout garment) over his head.
• Grappling guidance recalled: During a later street assault in Old Mahsht, Erasmas reports following Lio's advice for escaping after being mounted, crediting that training with getting free.
• Correspondence: Erasmas entrusts a letter for Lio to a Ringing Vale fraa traveling toward Tredegarh, to be delivered through monastic channels.

At Tredegarh (Convox)

• Quarantine visit: Lio announces himself with the old Edhar post-curfew bird-call and speaks with Erasmas through the reinforced window of his temporary housing.
• Messals and service: He briefs Erasmas on the messal system—messal (small formal dinner), messallan (private dining room), doyn (senior mentor seated at table)—and notes that servitors stand behind their doyns when not serving. Lio is currently paired as servitor to a Warden Fendant (senior administrator) of a small math atop a city skyscraper embroiled in a sectarian conflict; he and his doyn rotate among different messallans, which he describes as unusual.
• Martial training: Lio reports daily sparring with fellow learners while Ringing Vale avout supervise; he bears bruises and says he is only beginning to understand why non-Valers are being taught to fight.
• Security posture: Lio characterizes the assembled Convox as "hostages" while dispersal plans are weighed by leaders; this is presented as his interpretation rather than official policy.

Relationships and Affiliations

• Erasmas: Close companion who states he trusts Lio with his life; they confer at Tredegarh through the quarantine window, and Lio advises Erasmas on messals and expectations.
• Ringing Vale avout (Valers): Longstanding focus of Lio’s study; at Tredegarh they act as instructors overseeing his sparring sessions.
• Doyn: A Warden Fendant (senior administrator) from a small urban math whom Lio serves during messals; they rotate between messallans.
• Fraa Jad and Orolo: Senior figures whose work Lio helped safeguard earlier by collecting and handing over sensitive leaves from Orolo’s cell.

Current Status / Location

• Present at Tredegarh during the Convox (extraordinary convocation of avout). He is actively training under Ringing Vale supervision and serving as a messal servitor to a visiting Warden Fendant. He is described as battered from sparring but in good spirits, and remains in contact with Erasmas.

Notes

• Lio uses a shared Edhar bird-call to signal after curfew—here repurposed to announce a late-night visit.
• His description of messals, messallans, and doyns reflects Tredegarh customs and expectations for peregrins serving at formal dinners.
• Lio’s "hostages" remark conveys how some avout perceive the Convox’s vulnerability; it is recorded as his view.