Sæcular

Saeculars are the general populace outside mathic walls, distinct from Avout (monastic scholars) and dwelling in the Saeculum (outside‑world realm). They are not an order or office within the maths.

First Appearance and Context

At a recent opening of the gates during Apert (gate‑opening rite), a crowd of Saeculars—families, onlookers, and activists—assembled outside the wall to witness the event. Some recorded with handheld devices and cameras, a few arrived with children or offerings (such as a sapling for planting), and one person waved the flag of the Saecular Power. Another handed out pamphlets and attempted proselytizing; a distressed woman tried to leave a newborn with the avout and was gently surrounded and guided by attending avout. The gathering illustrated the variety of motives and expectations Saeculars bring to brief contacts at Apert.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Live extramuros (outside the walls) as part of the worldly realm, separate from the cloistered life of avout.
• Interact with the maths (monastic orders) chiefly during Apert, when limited two‑way traffic is permitted.
• Distinct from—but living under—the Saecular Power, a non‑mathic authority recognized by avout.
• In mathic discourse, "Saecular" can also label worldly, current information; within the walls the Warden Regulant (disciplinary officer) and other hierarchs work to prevent the flow of such information to avout as part of preserving the Discipline.
• Some Saeculars study under mathic teachers, notably at Baritoe where the Procians (philosophical school) are influential; Unarian training (order emphasizing law/policy) there prepares many young Saeculars for careers in law, politics, and commerce.
• In mixed settings, the compound "Sæcular/Mathic" is used to describe hybrid governance or proceedings; one foundation administering an island site is described as having a mixed Sæcular/Mathic board of governors. At large joint proceedings called a Convox (great convocation), Saecular visitors sit in the visitors' nave, and Saecular dignitaries meet in a parallel cabinet; definitions note that such a Convox may be convened at the request of the Saecular Power.

Relationships

• With avout: Contact is formal and constrained. Avout sometimes refer to Saeculars colloquially as "extras," and prepare for encounters by studying common outsider portrayals.
• With the Saecular Power: Saeculars live under its institutions, but the Saecular Power is an authority, not a demographic group. Flags and rhetoric referencing it may appear among crowds at gate openings. In emergencies, Saecular authorities have cordoned areas, run decontamination lines, and processed interviews, phototyping, and biometric scans; avout have cooperated within such Saecular‑run camps.
• With Unarians: Curated summaries of Saecular news are compiled periodically (annually and decennially) and can circulate into mathic libraries, providing a controlled channel through which outside events become known within the walls.
• With maths at field sites: At one island math and dig site, Saecular visitors were lodged in a guest house set apart from the cloister where jeejahs (handheld devices) and other Saecular goods could be kept; when dining with avout they left jeejahs behind.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Appearances and behavior vary widely, from families and curious visitors to protesters and proselytizers.
• Common behaviors observed at Apert include filming or live‑feeding with personal devices, distributing literature, bringing donations or symbolic gifts, and—rarely—attempts to leave infants in mathic care (which are refused and handled by attending avout).
• Usage: In contrast with timeless astronomical observations, Saecular information refers to contemporary events and news of the outside world.
• Usage in cloister description: some avout describe "vestiges of the Sæcular" in a space as worldly artifacts or conveniences; in improvised cloistered settings these traces may be carefully removed, leaving only hand‑made necessaries.
• Adjectival usage: The term is applied to clothing and to outside‑world business. For example, an entrant may exchange Sæcular clothes for cloister garb on crossing the wall, and speakers may distinguish "Sæcular matters" to mean worldly concerns beyond the cloister. Speakers also use the compound "Sæcular/Mathic" to characterize mixed political or administrative undertakings; a Convox (great convocation) was described by a speaker as a "Sæcular/Mathic" affair.
• Around major concents (walled communities), Sæcular estates with lawns and arboretums can adjoin the math; nearby Sæculars may reside in large older houses at the verge of the woods. Goods from the Sæcular world (packaged groceries, industrial supplies) contrast with produce and hand‑made items favored inside maths; some avout set such goods aside when cloistering.

Language and Culture Notes

• The narrator remarks that quasi‑literate Saeculars buy prefabricated letters on heavy card stock with pictures—a stilted written register used for emotional gestures. He notes that this "card‑speak" is not normally spoken aloud, though he encounters a Saecular who does use it in speech.
• In informal speech and in Fluccish, "Vale‑lore" is often shortened to "vlor," a usage that emphasizes its martial‑arts side over academic or bureaucratic aspects.
• Extramuros, "vlor" names an entertainment genre; for those Saeculars who actively train instead of just watching, it is also used for academies that teach it.

Current Status/Location

Saeculars are broadly present beyond the walls across the worldly realm. During ongoing joint proceedings at a great concent, Saeculars are present as observers in visitor pews. In addition to gate crowds, a small group of guests from the outside were invited to stay in such a guest lodge during ongoing work at an island site.