Fraa Tavener

First Appearance and Context

Fraa Tavener—nicknamed "Barb"—is one of the Tenners at the Concent of Saunt Edhar, active in chalk halls and informal study circles. As a Convox forms, he is among the Evoked preparing to depart discreetly, and he steadies when the Peregrin is explained as beginning and ending at a math.

Affiliations and Relationships

• Community: Avout of Saunt Edhar; part of the Tenner cohort and its peer study circles.
• Peers and companions: Travels under the provisional organization led by Fraa Erasmas; in the early convoy he is grouped with an elder Thousander, Fraa Jad, and other allies.
• Messal setting at Tredegarh: Serves as a servitor at a Plurality of Worlds–themed messal hosted at Avrachon's Dowment, typically positioned behind Fraa Jad during service alongside other Edharian servitors.
• Family: Extramuros son of Quin.

Important Actions

• During Convox preparations, becomes unsettled by rapid change but calms when reassured that the Peregrin “begins and ends at a math,” then helps the group proceed in order.
• While viewing a news feed of distant maths lit by a red glow, identifies the three long‑remembered “Inviolates” (Saunt Edhar, Saunt Rambalf, and Saunt Tredegarh), showing quick recall of lore.
• Enforces Discipline in small matters (e.g., objects to casual reading of packaging as a breach), then yields promptly to instruction from a senior fraa.
• Offers practical extramuros knowledge in passing (e.g., where to obtain a free breakfast in a casino), reflecting his background; such details are incidental rather than defining.
• At a messal discussion themed around the Plurality of Worlds, carries courses between kitchen and messallan and—speaking out of turn—remarks that the visitors could have landed their probe in a less primitive way; this draws glares from some doyns, but Fraa Jad acknowledges the point and asks him to wait to be called upon.
• During a later kitchen exchange prompted by Suur Moyra, jokes about “violating causality” when books appear earlier than expected and argues that minds on other worlds must have reached similar insights—“they must have, to build that ship”—capturing his blunt, technically minded style.

Descriptions and Characteristics

• Learning style: Persistent, detail‑first questioner who pushes for clarity; precise and careful with diagrams.
• Demeanor: Rule‑bound and sensitive to disruption; dislikes being crowded and is wary of change but settles when given structure. At times he will point out minor violations of Discipline.
• In discussion: Outspoken and easily exasperated; quick to snort at loose phrasing and eager to quantify, yet he defers when corrected and follows messal etiquette when prompted. His humor sometimes takes the form of precise, mock‑formal objections (e.g., calling out “chronological impossibility”).
• Language: As inferred from a remark describing his “first‑year Orth,” his Orth seems novice‑level; this suggests he was only recently elevated from earlier training.
• Background: Grew up extramuros; occasional comments about life outside the walls align with having spent time there with family.

Current Status/Location

At the Concent of Saunt Tredegarh during the Convox. He is observed serving as a messal servitor at Avrachon's Dowment and remains attached to the same core group around Fraa Erasmas and Fraa Jad.