Fraa Orolo

Orolo is an avout (cloistered scholar) and cosmographer of the Decenarian Math (ten-year order) at the Concent of Saunt Edhar (walled monastic complex). He serves as mentor to Fraa Erasmas and is addressed by him as "Pa Orolo," signaling a close, paternal rapport. Orolo resides for a time within Orithena, among a cloister that identifies as a Lineage (pre-Cartasian tradition) rather than a formal math.

Context and first appearance

• Known as a deliberate, exacting teacher who favors firsthand observation and sharp distinctions between givens and conjecture. Earlier accounts place him organizing observing work and praxic followups associated with a high object in the sky, traveling north, and later reuniting with Erasmas at Orithena.
• Within Orithena he participates in ordinary duties and in the night excavation of the buried temple precincts.
• Erasmas later refers to "Orolo’s Anathem" (formal expulsion rite), calling it "the first time he had died," suggesting a prior ritual separation from the mathic world before his physical death at Orithena.

Roles and actions

• During the descent and landing of the Geometers’ (presumed alien envoys) probe into the Orithena pit, Orolo takes quick, practical steps to maximize learning time before the arrival of the Sæcular Power (secular authorities). He calls for the gate to be opened only briefly, dispatches tasks to named helpers, and urges that the community "learn" while it can.
• He instructs Yulassetar Crade and others to retrieve and spread the parachute as a canopy to hinder helicopters, assigns Sammann (an Ita, technical support order) to record with his device, and encourages Cord to examine the probe’s hatch hardware methodically.
• Approaches the craft himself, assesses the exhaust as hydrogen/oxygen, and keeps Landasher focused on buying time rather than arguing procedure.
• When Cord and Yul extract the occupant, he urges immediate aid if there is any chance of life. Later accounts from Cell 317 add that he made physical contact with the Laterran visitor—named Lise by Jules Verne Durand—and "gave himself up for her," as Erasmas recounts while consoling Jules; the phrasing implies a deliberate surrender to protect her.
• He later surveys a container of blood-like vials found in the capsule before soldiers confiscate it. He accepts a tracking collar without resistance and avoids interfering with soldiers as they secure the area.
• Anticipating a second “drop,” he remarks that an orbital period has passed and warns that another object may be incoming. He also speculates about conflict among the Geometers’ factions based on the wounded messenger.
• Later reports at Tredegarh credit the complete recovery of the deceased visitor’s body “thanks to Saunt Orolo,” enabling continued study; this phrasing reflects how the briefings attribute credit to his actions.

Ideas and theoric views

• In dialog with Erasmas, Orolo develops a model of consciousness that uses polycosmic quantum theorics: instead of a brain running a heavy internal model in superposition, he frames it as many nearby, real cosmi linked by interference, with consciousness spanning them and exploiting that crosstalk. He contrasts older fid-level wording (wavefunction collapse) with a polycosmic restatement, always labeling unverified parts as speculation.
• During later discussions at Tredegarh, Erasmas recounts two Ecba dialogs with Orolo on the topic; Fraa Paphlagon restates the view with the image of a searchlight moving across Hemn space, brightly illuminating neighboring cosmi with a penumbra that fades to darkness, while others compare the theme to Saunt Atamant’s introspection treatises.
• By analogy to “Saunt Grod’s Machines,” he compares thinking to a syntactic device that can explore many possibilities at once; he illustrates with the “Lazy Peregrin” route problem (Peregrin: sanctioned travel outside the walls). He repeatedly distinguishes what he has observed from what he infers.
• On large assemblies such as a Convox (large convocation of avout), he cautions that compromises between rational alternatives can yield outcomes that make little sense; this is remembered by peers at Tredegarh.
• Analemma motif: Orolo traces an analemma (sun-tracking curve) on the ground during his final moments at Orithena. Erasmas recalls a phototype of the ancient Analemma displayed in Orolo’s cell at Bly’s Butte, and reports Orolo’s last remark, “They must have deciphered my analemma!”, implying he believed the visitors had interpreted it. The intended meaning is not explained.
• Laser signaling evidence: Reports from Edhar’s M & M state that its guidestar laser had been programmed to sweep an analemma in the sky; a colleague of Sammann is said to have found the programming record. This is cited by some as aligning with an earlier Plenary accusation by Fraa Lodoghir, though interpretations of responsibility and intent differ.

Relationships and affiliations

• Mentor and debating partner to Fraa Erasmas, with their dynamic shifting from Pa/fid to collegial exchange at Orithena.
• Works alongside Cord (extramuros machinist), Yulassetar Crade (wilderness driver and cousin of Ganelial Crade), and Sammann (Ita, technical support order) during the probe landing.
• Interacts with Orithena’s internal leaders; he keeps Fraa Landasher informed while prioritizing knowledge-gathering before Sæcular intervention.
• His students later credit him with instruction in orbital mechanics that proves essential during subsequent low‑orbit training and operations.

Description

• Plain-spoken, precise, and pragmatic; quick to translate abstract points into testable, operational steps. In the field he balances caution (e.g., clearing back from a potential overpressure at the hatch) with boldness (approaching the hot probe once hazards appear manageable).
• Keeps a small south-facing vineyard at Edhar that affords privacy; pupils used it with him for dialogs and occasional mischief.

Current status and fate

• Present at Orithena during the probe landing and initial Sæcular presence. After a second object strikes the nearby volcano, a fast, glowing ash cloud (volcanic surge) overruns the site. Orolo is last seen stepping to the center of the analemma he traces in the soil outside the gates; he is killed moments later as the surge engulfs the concent.

Legacy and recognition

• After the Orithena events were shown to the assembled avout at Tredegarh, many initially referred to him as “Saunt Orolo” (saunt: venerated scholar), though others counsel waiting before adopting the honorific; usage remains unsettled.
• Displaced avout from Orithena held a requiem aut (ceremonial observance) for him and for others who did not survive.
• In Tredegarh discussions, a circulated image referred to as “Saunt Orolo’s Phototype” is cited as showing four planetary emblems painted on the visitors’ ship; speakers note the same emblems on vials recovered from the probe and use them as the basis for informal labels applied to four Geometer groups.
• During messals at the Convox, after a fresh set of high‑resolution ground‑telescope phototypes showed the visitors’ ship directly, a prior conjecture that the ship’s diagram had been forged into Saunt Orolo’s Phototype was publicly withdrawn, reinforcing the image’s authenticity and crediting Orolo’s observation.
• During a later low‑orbit operation, Erasmas explicitly recalls Orolo’s death and credits Orolo’s training for his cohort’s calm, coordinated judgment under stress.
• A passing remark references an emergency blanket issued to Orolo after his Anathem, indicating practical provisioning at the time of his expulsion from the mathic world.

Notes

• Communications context: Sammann’s recording is said to be streaming on the Reticulum (planetary network) until military jamming begins; soldiers’ closed systems delay their awareness of events outside their reticule. The above sequence relies on eyewitness narration; where motives or internal states are implied, they are attributed to speakers’ inferences.
• Terminology: avout (cloistered scholar); math (scholastic order); Concent (walled monastic complex); Ita (technical support order); Sæcular Power (secular authorities); Reticulum (planetary network); Convox (large convocation); Analemma (sun-tracking curve); Anathem (formal expulsion rite); Peregrin (sanctioned travel); Extramuros (outside the walls); Saunt (venerated scholar).