Ala

Overview

Ala is a young suur (female avout—monastic scholar) of the Concent of Saunt Edhar noted for brisk, practical leadership—especially around bell work and crowded moments near the Mynster. She chose the New Circle at Eliger, helped set up a discreet pinhole projection of the sun with close peers, and was later named during Voco (formal summons out of a math). Reports from Tredegarh place her at the Convox (rare mass assembly) now underway.

Appearance and Traits

Forthright, brisk, and decisive. Small and bony, with a round head, large eyes, a delicate sharp nose, and a wide mouth; she keeps her hair cropped short. Her manner shifts easily from command to collaboration when a practical path is clear.

Roles and Actions

• Bell work and mentoring: organizes and rehearses ringers, spends time in the Mynster’s lower works maintaining mechanisms and practicing unfamiliar changes, and passes techniques to younger girls.
• Discreet observation: with Suur Tulia, darkened a maintenance room beneath the carillon to project the sun safely. Together with Fraa Erasmas, marked brief blue‑white "sparks" on the projected disk for later analysis.
• Night‑sky observation (recalled): Erasmas later remarks that he and Ala saw bright flashes overhead, which he interprets as nuclear drive bursts associated with a change in the orbit of the visitors’ craft; this interpretation is his.
• Convox risk mitigation and the Antiswarm: Ala states she was assigned by senior Sæcular officials to plan risk mitigation for the Convox. She pre‑assigns all participants to dispersal cells and meets with cell leaders to walk through contingencies. Each cell is to include some Ita so that, when dispersed, groups remain connected over the Reticulum; this relaxes customary avout/Ita separation and anticipates praxic tasks of immediate Sæcular relevance. Open‑air distribution of rucksacks and activation badges served as a deliberate deterrence signal intended to show the visitors (now labeled "PAQD") that Tredegarh can scatter at a moment’s notice; when triggered, badges will direct avout to their cell rendezvous.
• Cell‑leader Lucubs and outreach debate: follow‑up Lucubs for especially inquisitive cell leaders converged on the view that contact should be made with a faction of the visitors even if barred by Sæcular channels. Proposals under discussion include using observatories’ guidestar lasers for narrow‑beam signals; within the narrative, this laser idea is attributed to Orolo.
• Breakfast exchange: At an open‑air meal amid Convox preparations, Ala tells Erasmas she has been organizing people and that plans predated the Convox’s formation; she notes "PAQD" has replaced "Geometers" in current usage. Parting quickly to continue duties, she says she has made a terrible decision—likened to Orolo’s choice before the gates of Orithena—with the sense of "terrible but right."

Relationships and Affiliations

• Suur Tulia: long‑standing working partner in chores, bell work, and quiet study; Tulia had set out intending to find Ala at Saunt Tredegarh.
• Fraa Erasmas: collaborator on the pinhole observation. The two agreed to declare an Etrevanean liaison (formal relationship rite) that was not entered before later events. Erasmas has sent mail care of Tredegarh addressed to Ala; they speak briefly during the Convox about her current responsibilities.
• Fraa Jesry: Jesry states that after their Voco he and Ala began a liaison; he expects she will decide next steps and remain out of contact until she has done so.
• Lio: confidant who reports on her roles during the Convox and recruits others to discussions; he says she started the Lucub network noted above.
• Panjandrums: senior Sæcular officials with whom she confers during the Convox; her risk‑mitigation assignment comes through them.

Current Status

Evoked during Voco and departed Saunt Edhar. At Tredegarh for the Convox, Ala is actively organizing the planned Antiswarm: pre‑assigning dispersal cells, briefing cell leaders, and overseeing the distribution of rucksacks and inert badges that will direct people to rendezvous points if an order to scatter is issued. She emphasizes keeping cells on the Reticulum via embedded Ita. In conversation she adopts the in‑use label "PAQD" for the visitors and indicates that deterrence—open‑air readiness displays—is part of the strategy. After a brief breakfast meeting she left to continue work, saying she had made a difficult decision; its nature is not disclosed.