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.”
• Command presence: trains to project authority and clarity of voice in the Vale-lore style; in crisis he uses it to cut through confusion and compel action.

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.
• Trust from a Thousander: During travel with Erasmas, he is present when Fraa Jad makes a suggestive remark about his own unusual longevity; Erasmas later recalls this as a confidence shared with the two of them.
• 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.
• Suspension and deterrence: When Lucub meetings are suspended and only Laboratorium and Messal continue, Erasmas worries that the circle Lio had described would be forced further underground. In a separate conversation, Ala remarks that Lio told her Erasmas "spoke," placing Lio in close touch with those cell-leader discussions. Discussing an open-air display of readiness meant to discourage attack, she adds, "Now you're thinking like Lio," associating him with deterrence‑minded planning.
• Information shielding and exposure: As part of a servitor group, helps establish a grounded mesh around a messallan to block wireless traffic, exposes infiltrators, and oversees placing one suspect under separate confinement; a hidden body transmitter is recovered.
• Evacuation leadership: Announces the initiation of controlled demolitions that open egress points, orders the doyns to act without delay, and assists in packaging preserved food for a Laterran guest so it can be carried out during the movement.
• Cell command: Boards the evacuation coach last and is recognized as leader of his assigned cell (which includes Valers and core companions), departing via military transport.

Go to ground and Elkhazg preparations

• Communications and orders: Aboard a military aerocraft after the evacuation, he works a jeejah until the link is cut and notes that the Reticulum has been jammed in transit; he adds that the Ita can still run the Ret on land lines and that connectivity can be restored once stationary. He relays standing orders for all cells to "go to ground" and indicates that prepositioned equipment awaits at their destination for immediate training.
• Orientation toward space: When pressed about the nature of the training, he points to Jesry’s role as trainer and remarks that "that is where the problem is," signaling that the focus is off‑world.
• Everything Killers theory: In a frank exchange he sketches how the so‑called Everything Killers might work—pinhead‑scale reactors left inert until triggered by cues such as timers, sound, respiration, genetics, or radio conditions, designed to lethally irradiate living things within a limited radius. He reasons that the cheapest way to deliver many of them would be from orbit and conjectures that thousands could be lofted, too small to see on most radar. He also offers his view that this cell would likely serve as a diversion while some other means handles their delivery; he cautions that this remains an inference.
• Arrival at the Caravansery of Elkhazg: After overland transport to an ancient complex known for tiling archives, he assumes a visible leadership role during equipment reveal and tasking.
• Suit‑integrated upper stages: He presents the key hardware: lightweight, open‑frame upper stages that attach directly to matte‑black space suits via a triangular lug pattern, allowing each person to reach orbit without a pressurized capsule. He notes a matching “tender” unit that recycles suit scrubbers and re‑fills oxygen and hydrogen from water when power is available.
• Launch posture: Because normal launch sites are presumed threatened and surveilled, he explains the plan to use a family of mobile ballistic missiles with storable propellants. He states that all such missiles will be fired in a tight window; eleven will carry these upper stages with members of the cell, others will loft equipment and consumables, and the remainder will act as decoys and chaff.
• Mission objective as stated: He summarizes the intent to consolidate other payloads into a thrust platform and adjust orbit for a rendezvous with the Daban Urnud. He emphasizes that finer details are compartmented and that their task is to get there.

Ascent and orbital operations

• Pre‑launch brief: Describes the upper‑stage acceleration as “near‑fatal,” adding that a pilot will black out before lasting harm—framing expectations and keeping morale steady.
• Initial assembly under the balloon: Acts as the voice of discipline on the reticule—calms a surge of shouting, keeps traffic orderly, and directs precision tasks such as final star checks by Sammann.
• Rescue coordination: Manages the effort to recover Fraa Jad when he becomes entangled with a cargo payload, warning Fraa Arsibalt not to burn all propellant and maneuvering to assist if needed.
• Grapple and tow‑in: When Erasmas returns with a critical power payload, Lio orders “no action” and, with Fraa Osa, grapples and tows the pair into shelter behind the balloon; he forbids in‑the‑moment congratulations to conserve oxygen and keeps the group focused.
• Resource bring‑up: Works with Arsibalt to bring the tender online and mate it to the reactor so water can be split and suit supplies replenished; then assigns rest cycles and tasks, directing Sammann and Gratho to re‑establish the Reticulum via a narrow link.
• Decoy deployment and departure: Runs checklist calls and timing for inflating an improvised decoy platform and for the departure burn under a stealth structure, issuing terse “check”/status exchanges and coordinating until the group clears the balloon’s cover.
• Ground support: His support cell is described operating from an unmarked drummon at a maintenance depot, providing procedure and routing aid during the hectic first day aloft.
• Stealth transit: After leaving the decoy, Lio continues quiet leadership as the cell transitions to hard‑wired comms and a long, low‑thrust phase aimed at an eventual rendezvous with the Daban Urnud.

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, and they show him formal respect when he assumes cell leadership during the evacuation.
• 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. She later notes that Lio told her Erasmas "spoke," and characterizes deterrence‑by‑visibility as "thinking like Lio."
• Fraa Jad and Orolo: Senior figures whose work Lio helped safeguard earlier by collecting and handing over sensitive leaves from Orolo’s cell. Erasmas also recalls that Jad made a suggestive remark about his own unusual longevity in the presence of both Lio and Erasmas, implying a small circle of trust.
• Jesry: Identified by Lio as the training lead for suit operations and orbital procedures; Lio defers to his expertise when presenting the equipment and daily regimen.
• Sammann: Present during comms re‑establishment and planning; part of the circle Lio briefs and coordinates with during preparations.
• Jules Verne Durand: A Laterran guest whose information Lio seeks out and then relays to the group during planning discussions.
• Fraa Osa and the Valers: Lio operates under Osa’s counsel and with the Valers’ support during the Elkhazg phase, aligning his leadership style with Vale discipline.
• Arsibalt: Works closely with him during orbital assembly—especially on tender/reactor bring‑up—and relies on his careful piloting during a dangerous recovery.

Current Status / Location

• In low orbit with his cell, operating under stealth measures toward a rendezvous with the Daban Urnud. He enforces radio discipline, prioritizes oxygen and propellant management, and continues coordinating tasking during long‑duration, low‑thrust operations.

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, visitors’ factions, weapons concepts, and launch posture are presented as the inferences he shares with peers unless explicitly identified as orders or established facts.