Lio

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 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 instructors. He is sometimes addressed by the nickname “Thistlehead.”

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.
• Stoic conditioning: Erasmas recalls that after asking him to throw punches as part of training, Lio later wound the clock with two black eyes, using the exercise to practice composure and focus under pain.
• Often seen with a stocky build and, in one encounter, wearing an antique bolt‑and‑chord outfit; peers address him as “Thistlehead.”

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.
• Later developments: During a night of coordinated observation and defense, he meets Erasmas outdoors and walks with him. Lio says he has been assigned to a new Laboratorium handling very old technical documents; comparing notes with others, he infers these are original plans for the Everything Killers from just before the Terrible Events. He invites Erasmas to a Lucub—a network of small cells—where some servitors debate opening an independent line to the visitors using guidestar lasers on large telescopes. Lio says some Ita are aware and that the aim is to talk specifically to the Antarct faction rather than to all visitors at once. He presents the effort as at odds with assumptions embedded in the Reconstitution, while noting that others argue the Reconstitution never contemplated aliens or multiple cosmi. Within these discussions he describes his own role as standing back, looking tough, and listening for reckless proposals (for example, talk of “taking the power back” or inviting outside intervention), then reporting concerns to his cell. He adds that Ringing Vale avout consider the Everything Killers dishonorable.
• Ongoing perception: Erasmas later remarks that Lio is busy and has been working out with Ringing Vale avout; he also notes that Lio has been trying to draw him into Lucub, which he privately worries could be viewed as subversive by Saecular authorities.

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.
• Ala: Lio reports that Ala is working on the military side of current preparations and that she initiated the Lucub network exploring independent contact with the Antarcts.
• 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. He is actively training under Ringing Vale supervision and serving as a messal servitor to a visiting Warden Fendant. By his own account, he has been reassigned to a Laboratorium working with very old technical material and is quietly engaged in Lucub discussions about independent outreach to the visitors.

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.
• "Thistlehead" is a nickname used for him in at least one exchange.
• Lio’s statements about documents, the visitors’ factions, and the proposed laser link are presented as his and his peers’ inferences during Lucub and not as official declarations.