Interlocutor

Interlocutor—often shortened in current usage to "loctor"—is a formal role in mathic exchanges, especially during Plenary assemblies held as part of a Convox at the Concent of Saunt Tredegarh. Instead of a prepared lecture, the loctor conducts an extemporaneous dialog with a guest before the assembled audience.

Role and function

• Opens the session, frames the topic, introduces the counterpart, and signals the beginning and end of the exchange.
• Leads a live dialog, drawing on a sheaf of questions gathered from interested parties and pursuing additional lines of inquiry at their discretion.
• Sets tone and tempo; depending on the occasion and the loctor’s style, the exchange may be collegial, probing, or openly adversarial while remaining a formal Dialog.
• May refer to the counterpart as “my loctor,” and be addressed the same way in return; the term reflects reciprocal roles within a single exchange rather than a fixed title.

Staging and setting at Tredegarh

• Plenary exchanges take place in the Unarian nave before thousands of avout and some Sæculars.
• A temporary stage of newmatter tubes and platform‑slabs is erected with harsh lights on scaffold‑towers; microphones are clipped to the speakers’ bolts.
• A large projection screen shows a magnified live image supplied by a Speelycaptor positioned out in the nave, allowing those in back to follow the exchange.

Appointment

• The interlocutor is appointed for the occasion; it is not a separate order or permanent rank. Senior scholars are often selected to serve as loctor for particular topics.

Distinctions

• The loctor’s public role in a Plenary should not be confused with Tredegarh’s dining customs (e.g., a Servitor standing behind a doyn at messal). The interlocutor is a principal conversant in a public exchange, not a dining attendant.

Status

Active usage is attested during the ongoing Convox at Tredegarh, where loctors moderate high‑visibility Plenary dialogs for both avout and visiting Sæcular listeners.