Labyrinths

The Labyrinths are the maze-like approaches and controlled interfaces within a concent, forming boundaries between different maths and mediating rare, regulated contact. Rather than open corridors, they function as checkpoints where exchanges happen through grilles and gates, preserving separation between precincts.

• Sections include the Upper Labyrinth and the Lower Labyrinth, each used for tightly delimited interactions (spoken questioning across a grate in the former; written requests passed through a grille in the latter).
• The Labyrinths are treated as milestones in an avout’s progression toward senior precincts; a Thousander remarks that an avout would have “passed through the Labyrinths” before joining him on the crag‑top Millenarian Math.

Exact layouts are not publicly described; accounts emphasize dark, indirect approaches culminating at grates or grilles. The Labyrinths remain in use as permanent features of the concent’s architecture, supporting controlled communication while maintaining long‑standing boundaries between communities.