Chapter Summary

A brief, spoiler‑free recap of the latest started chapter, for readers who have already read it.

Fraa Orolo continues his interview with Artisan Quin, using an ancient questionnaire to probe rapid changes outside the walls and to check for Causal Domain Shear. Their talk surfaces the Warden of Heaven’s claims of mathic authority, the shift from Logotype to Kinagrams, and how justice is enforced extramuros. With Apert imminent, Fraa Orolo enforces Discipline when Quin nears forbidden details about recording gear.

A dictionary entry frames the evolving meaning of Mystagogue; Orolo later wonders if the Warden of Heaven is a Throwback‑turned‑Mystagogue or merely a “Bottle Shaker.”
Orolo justifies the old questionnaire as a practical test for unexpected change and possible time slippage between loosely coupled causal domains (his CDS check).
Quin explains how Kinagrams supplanted Logotype through convenience and commerce, prompting Orolo’s pointed “bulshytt” remark in the older Orth sense.
Extramuros justice is sketched: Magistrate Doctors in sealed purple boxes, widespread speelycaptors, and spine clamps that display offenses; heresy would fall to the Warden of Heaven.
Quin says Flec’s high‑spec speelycaptor was barred from making a speely of Provener; Orolo cuts him off to avoid breaches of Discipline involving the Ita.
With Apert at hand, Orolo notes Unarian and Decenarian gates will open soon and speaks of the Hundreders’ gate opening a decade later.
Fraa Erasmas records the exchange, adds context about extramuros terms, and infers why Flec sought a speely tied to the Warden of Heaven’s image.

Wiki Pages

Orth

Orth is a language used within the mathic world, contrasted with extramuros speech such as Fluccish. The Dictionary distinguishes multiple historical forms—including Proto Orth, Old Orth, Middle Orth (sometimes divided into Early and Late), Praxic Orth, and New Orth—and sometimes contrasts earlier versus later Orth within entries.

The Dictionary

An in-world reference work that compiles definitions and tracks shifts in meaning across forms of Orth. It is cited as an authority in a 4th edition dated A.R. 3000.

Avout

Members of the mathic community who reside within a math under the Cartasian Discipline. Avout live a cloistered life distinct from the extramuros world, and different communities observe Apert on varying cycles, including century-long intervals for some.

A.R.

A.R. is a calendar-era notation used to count years since the Reconstitution, appearing in citations and institutional records (for example, on the Fourth Edition of The Dictionary as “A.R. 3000”). In-text phrasing such as “anno … of the Reconstitution” indicates its reference point, though the exact spelled-out expansion of the initials has not been given.

Mynster

The central multi‑towered building of a math, centered on the Præsidium where the great clock’s dials are mounted. Its upper works support the starhenge and house the Warden Fendant’s aerie and sentry walkways that overlook the surrounding concent.

Fraa Orolo

An avout of the Decenarian math who conducts probing interviews with extramuros artisans and mentors Fraa Erasmas. He favors firsthand observation rendered into words, uses an ancient questionnaire to test for change, and openly explores ideas such as "Causal Domain Shear" while observing Discipline.

Fraa Erasmas

An avout of a Decenarian math who serves as amanuensis to Fraa Orolo during an interview with an extramuros artisan. Collected into the math ten years prior, he is familiar with extramuros speech and duties within the math, such as tending the great clock at Provener.

Ita

A practical organization within the mathic community, often referred to collectively as "the Ita". At the concent, they occupy quarters adjoining the Mynster, maintain the great clock’s mechanisms, coordinate visitor placement, and communicate restrictions on recording devices.

Chronicle

An official written record kept within a math for entries required by the Discipline; in plural (“the Chronicles”) the term also denotes the concent’s collected historical records consulted by avout during liturgy and study.

Extramuros

An Orth term denoting the world outside a math’s walls. Its nuance shifts across eras, ranging from the literal “outside the walls” to broader senses of the non‑mathic world and nearby settlements beyond a math.

Speelycaptor

A handheld device used extramuros to capture moving‑picture recordings (often called speelies), also known to some avout as a Farspark chambre. Such devices also appear as public installations outside the walls; their use within the math is restricted and supervised.

Artisan Flec

An extramuros craftsman allowed into the New Library to repair a damaged rafter before Apert. A follower of the Warden of Heaven, he later watched Provener from the Mynster’s north nave but, according to Artisan Quin, did not record a speely due to restrictions on his high‑spec speelycaptor.

Provener

A named hour within the Mynster’s routine, signaled by the great clock’s chimes. At Provener the clock is wound, and visitors may be permitted to observe from the North Nave under supervision.

Artisan Quin

An extramuros artisan who visits the New Library on the eve of Apert and speaks at length with Fraa Orolo about technology, literacy, and justice outside the math. He is a talkative, practical worker and a colleague of Artisan Flec.

The Three Sacks

A collective term for three historical sackings of the concent. They are referenced in discussions of rapid decadal changes since the Reconstitution and as rare times when the great clock was not wound by the avout.

Sæcular Power

A non-mathic authority acknowledged by the avout that tolerates and at times protects the maths; its structure and jurisdiction remain unspecified so far.

Reconstitution

A named historical turning point in the mathic world, after which key rites were revived in a clock-centered form within the Mynster. It also functions as the epoch for the A.R. calendar used by avout and acknowledged extramuros.

bolt

A long strip of cloth worn by avout as part of their everyday habit. It serves multiple purposes—hood, wrap, and modesty covering—and is commonly secured and adjusted with a chord.

South Nave

The south-facing nave of the Mynster, reserved for the Centenarians and directly reachable from their side of the meadow. It serves as their principal gathering space for rites viewed through the chancel screen.

Apert

A periodic observance in the mathic world when gates open and traffic between the math and extramuros is briefly allowed. In the present cycle, both the Unarian and Decenarian communities will mark Apert at the turn of the year, after which the gates remain open for ten days.

Speely

An extramuros term for moving‑picture recordings and broadcasts. Avout refer to it when contrasting their meaning of "screen" with the outside world’s usage.

Centenarian Math

A math within the concent reserved for the Centenarians (also called Hundreders). It lies across a meadow from the Decenarian community and has direct access to the south nave of the Mynster.

Meadow Door

A minor entrance on the meadow side of the Mynster, used as an alternative approach to the Ten-year community’s corner of the building.

Praxic Age

A named historical period referenced in mathic accounts. It is noted as following the Dispersal to the New Periklynes and is associated with a time when the Hylaean Anathem fell out of practice, prior to later revival after subsequent upheavals.

Sphere

A personal, size-adjustable ball used by avout within a math for sitting and balance, often cited alongside the bolt and the chord as part of their minimal kit. It can be shrunk to palm size by tracing counterclockwise circles on its surface.

chord

A simple cord worn by avout around the waist to secure and adjust the bolt; it is also used to tie and carry a rolled bolt when slung over the shoulder. Commonly cited as one of the three personal items along with the bolt and the sphere.

Warden Fendant’s Ledge

A named high ledge within the Mynster associated by name with the Warden Fendant. It is mentioned as reachable by a spiral stair rising in the Tenners’ southwest corner of the Mynster.

Fids

A concept in the mathic world referring to novice learners within a math, typically younger avout-in-training who work under elder guidance. The term appears in classrooms and workrooms, and historical lexicon notes mentors who introduced fids to unsolved problems.

Decenarians

A decennial cohort within the mathic world whose members—called Tenners—live in a Decenarian math. Their gates open during Apert for a brief period, allowing limited exchange with visitors and short ventures outside.

Centenarians

A mathic cohort also called the Hundreders, whose gates open only once each century. Neighbors describe them as maintaining their own math across the meadow and preparing for Apert by questioning others through a grated room in the upper labyrinth.

Ten-Thousand-Year Math

A legendary or apocryphal mathic order said to operate on a ten-thousand-year cycle. Mentioned in discussion at Saunt Edhar as a claim by avout who supposedly emerged at an Apert, its existence is disputed and often treated as illustrative rather than historical.

Causal Domain Shear

A concept describing possible time slippage between loosely connected causal domains. Introduced as a thought experiment by Fraa Orolo and used as a practical check for unexpected divergences between the math and the world extramuros.

Warden of Heaven

An extramuros movement centered on a figure styled as the Warden of Heaven that claims a connection to the mathic world and distributes casts. It is treated by some outsiders as an authority in matters such as heresy, but avout deny any affiliation.

Kinagrams

A pictographic symbol system used outside the maths, consisting of moving icons that supplanted Logotype in common use. It is used for public labeling and official readouts, and is often contrasted with reading Orth text.

Throwback

A label used by an avout to classify a type of figure; in context, Fraa Orolo warns that a "Throwback" who adopts the stance of a mystagogue may be dangerous.

Magistrate Doctors

An extramuros body of officials noted for visiting communities at the new moon in sealed purple boxes; cited as one of the ways crimes are handled outside the mathic world.

Mystagogue

A term in the mathic lexicon whose meaning has shifted across eras of Orth: originally a theoric mentor focused on unsolved problems, later a member of a restrictive suvin that discouraged open theoric work, and in current usage a pejorative for those seen to resemble the latter.

Incanter

A term invoked within the mathic world as shorthand for individuals reputed to wield extraordinary, almost preternatural abilities. It appears in discussion as a caution against attributing unrealistic power to hypothetical groups.

Powers That Be

A colloquial extramuros label for the governing authorities that maintain order, surveillance, and punishments; roughly corresponding to what avout call the Saecular Power.

Logotype

A term for static pictographic symbols used outside the maths to convey simple instructions or information; contrasted with moving-picture Kinagrams and with reading Orth text.

Eagle-Rez

A high‑resolution imaging feature cited as part of an extramuros speelycaptor. Mentioned alongside “SteadiHand” and “DynaZoom,” it was referenced as a reason a recording device was considered too capable to be permitted inside the Mynster.

Upper Labyrinth

A section of the labyrinth within the concent that separates the Decenarian Math from the Centenarian Math. It is used for controlled exchanges with the Centenarians, including questioning across a grate in preparation for the Centenarian Gate and their rare Apert.

SteadiHand

A named feature associated with extramuros speelycaptors, cited alongside Eagle-Rez and DynaZoom as part of a high-end setup. It is mentioned in connection with concerns about recording inside the Mynster.

Unarian Math

A mathic community associated with the Unarians. It is referenced as participating in Apert alongside the Decenarian community.

Suvin

A restrictive movement within the maths in Late Middle Orth. According to a dictionary account, such a suvin held that no further theoric problems could be solved, discouraged theoric research, and locked libraries; its influence ended with the Rebirth.

DynaZoom

A named capability or component of an extramuros speelycaptor, cited alongside Eagle-Rez and SteadiHand as part of a high-performance imaging setup. Its presence was given as a reason to block recording of Provener inside the Mynster.

Rebirth

A named historical turning point in the mathic world’s timeline. It is cited as the point after which the Mystagogue suvin no longer dominated the maths.

Mobe

A vehicle term used in the world outside the maths. Avout describe hearing mobes driving by beyond a concent’s walls, indicating their commonplace presence extramuros.

Warden Regulant

An authority within the mathic community who enforces the Discipline and assigns penance; the office is also tied to an inward-facing watch from high windows beneath the rooftop aerie, complementing the Warden Fendant’s outward watch.

Præsidium

The central tower of the Mynster that carries the four great clock dials and anchors the upper works, including the starhenge. It houses the main weights and winding mechanisms that drive the community’s great clock.

Lio

An avout known as Fraa Lio in a Decenarian math. A solidly built peer of Fraa Erasmas, he serves on the clock‑winding team and is noted for earthy pragmatism, sudden bouts of wrestling, and occasional forgetfulness.

Millenarians

A cohort within the mathic world, also referred to as the Thousanders. Their math stands on a crag overlooking the Mynster, and they are associated with deep-voiced parts in the rite at Provener; outside the walls they are better known through rumors than confirmed accounts.

Warden Fendant

An office within a math responsible for the outward watch from the Mynster’s rooftop aerie, whose sentinels patrol the perimeter walkway. It stands in contrast to the inward-facing authority of the Warden Regulant.

Cloister

A roofed gallery encircling a rectangular garden at the heart of a math, serving as a quiet, contemplative space and a thoroughfare connecting key buildings. The term’s meaning in Orth has varied historically; here it refers to the central courtyard and surrounding walkway within the math.

The Eleven

A short, proscribed list of plants within the mathic world, handled with burn-on-sight procedures; occurrences are recorded in the Chronicle. The exact members have not been enumerated in the narrative so far.

Starhenge

A complex assembly of megaliths, domes, pent houses, and turrets mounted atop the Præsidium’s roof within the Mynster, mechanically coupled to the great clock. It supports telescopes whose polar axes are powered as add‑on loads of the same clock‑works.

Suur Trestanas

A suur who serves as the Warden Regulant within a Decenarian math. She is noted for imposing penance on Fraa Lio after he neglected his clock‑winding duty.

Math

A walled scholarly enclave whose members live under a strict Discipline, distinct from the surrounding extramuros world. Maths are central to the "mathic" world and are protected and regulated, with limited use of technology inside their walls.

Concent of Saunt Edhar

A mathic complex centered on the Mynster and home to multiple maths, including the Decenarian community. Visitors from extramuros may enter at controlled times to observe rites from the north nave.

Chancel

The octagonal central space at the heart of the Mynster, enclosed by eight perforated screens and opening toward four great naves. It serves as the primary ceremonial and mechanical locus where avout assemble and wind the clock.

Day Gate

A clock‑driven portal at the Concent of Saunt Edhar that opens daily to admit and route visitors from extramuros into the Mynster’s north nave. Its operation is coupled to the great clock’s works and timed to sunrise and sunset.

Decade Gate

A clock-driven portal within the Mynster that opens on a ten-year cycle. It is actuated by the great clock’s octahedron weight and is associated with the Decenarian community’s periodic opening to the outside world.

Arbre

The inhabited world on which the mathic communities and the extramuros society exist. It is referenced in descriptions of the great clock as having a metallic core like the meteorite weight used to wind the Mynster’s works.

Hylaean Anathem

A liturgical hymn sung by avout during the daily winding rite at Provener inside the Mynster. It addresses Hylaea and exists in many authorized versions; a unison passage is used to help break static friction and set the great clock’s winding in motion.

Saunt

An honorific of veneration in New Orth and the mathic world, applied to great thinkers, almost always posthumously. Historically intertwined with the term "Savant," it appears in stone as SAVANT (or abbreviated St.) and has spawned several orthographic variants.

Millenium Gate

A rarely used, clock-driven portal associated with the Mynster’s great clock. It is actuated by an icosahedron-shaped auxiliary weight on the Præsidium and opens on a millennial cycle alongside other time-governed gates.

Chronochasm

The vast airy space behind the Præsidium’s dials in the Mynster where the great clock’s chains, gears, and escapements converge. It is tended by the Ita and houses upper works critical to keeping the clock running during winding and rare interruptions.

Fraa Jesry

A Tenner-level avout in a Decenarian math, peer of Fraa Erasmas, known for serving on the clock‑winding team in the Mynster and for a past meadow fire incident that left his sphere imperfect.

North Nave

One of the four cardinal naves of the Mynster, aligned with the north façade. It serves as the entry and viewing space for extramuros visitors allowed to observe auts such as Provener.

East Nave

The east-facing nave of the Mynster, officially the building’s formal entrance. It is currently little used and generally stands empty.

West Nave

The western nave of the Mynster, used primarily by the Unarians. It is noted for the finest stained-glass windows and stone-carving among the four cardinal naves.

Theors

A term within the mathic tradition for learned thinkers whose theoretical perspective and practices shaped liturgy and scholarship. Historically described as gathering under the Halls of Orithena and later withdrawing into the maths, the term remains in current use within avout discourse.

Third Sack

The most recent of three historical sackings of the concent. It is cited as a turning point after which standards declined, and its aftermath left the concent largely empty for decades while the great clock sustained itself in hibernation.

Second Sack

One of the three historical sackings affecting the Concent of Saunt Edhar. It is cited as the time when the pipe‑organ that once stood in the Mynster’s east nave was torn out; later, stricter Discipline banned other musical instruments.

Year Gate

A mechanically actuated gate associated with the Mynster’s great clock, opened once per year by the descent of a cube-shaped auxiliary weight on the Præsidium’s pillars.

Ecba

A named geographic formation known for its black volcanic rock. The Cliffs of Ecba supplied stone for the geometric counterweights used in the great clock mounted on the Præsidium within the Mynster; historical accounts also place the Halls of Orithena on Ecba’s black rock.

Allswell Sequence

A named gene sequence described as present in crops grown outside the math’s walls. It is associated with reduced melancholy and greater ease in dismissing such thoughts among those who eat such food.

Halls of Orithena

An ancient ceremonial complex remembered for its marble-columned dome where theors gathered at midday beneath an oculus. Its rite is cited as a precursor to elements of mathic liturgy now practiced within the Mynster.

Kaos

A term in mathic liturgy symbolizing the pre‑systematic state of thought before Cnoüs. During the aut at Provener, the complex, overlapping music of the Anathem depicts Kaos before resolving into a unison that helps set the great clock in motion.

Blithe

A plant-like substance treated within maths as strictly proscribed and handled under burn-on-sight procedures associated with the Eleven. It is also noted in liturgical accounts as something consumed by slines.

Primate

A senior hierarch associated with the Mynster, connected to a private compound at its northwest corner. The Primate presides over ceremonies within the chancel and may delegate officiation to an aide.

Great Orrery

A large clock-driven orrery located just inside the Day Gate of the Mynster. It is one of the add-ons powered by the Pre6sidium9s great clock, alongside lesser orreries and the starhenge telescopes.

Primate’s Compound

A restricted area adjoining the northwest corner of the Mynster, used by the Primate, wardens, and other hierarchs within the concent.

Cliffs of Ecba

A named cliff formation associated with Ecba, cited as the source of black volcanic stone used for major components of the Mynster’s clockwork. The stone is described as being hauled over the North Pole to reach the math.

Dispersal to the New Periklynes

A named historical dispersal referenced in mathic liturgy. It is cited as a turning after the Old Mathic Age and before the Praxic Age, during which older rites fell out of practice, later contrasted with their revival after the Terrible Events and the Reconstitution.

Fraa Arsibalt

An avout in a Decenarian math at the Concent of Saunt Edhar. A peer of Fraa Erasmas, he serves on the four-person team that winds the great clock during Provener in the Mynster.

Fire Vlor

A colloquial subset of Vale-lore concerning the behavior and control of fire, including practices like setting counterfires—invoked by avout as “fighting fire with fire.”

Millenarian Math

A math set on a crag east of the Mynster, home to the Millenarians (the Thousanders). It connects to the Mynster by a covered, hand‑carved stone stair that reaches the southeast corner.

North Pole

A polar location on Arbre mentioned as part of a long overland route used by sledge trains hauling black volcanic stone from the Cliffs of Ecba for the great clock’s components.

The Terrible Events

A named period of upheaval referenced by the mathic community. It is cited as preceding the Reconstitution and as the turning point after which the Hylaean Anathem was revived in a new, clock-centered form.

Deolaters

An extramuros religious community noted for worship spaces called “arks.” Used by avout as a familiar reference point when describing the layout of a nave and the behavior of congregants during ceremonies such as weddings and funerals.

Old Mathic Age

A historical period in the mathic world when a liturgy, drawn from older rites, was practiced throughout the maths. It is referenced as preceding the Dispersal to the New Periklynes and the Praxic Age, and as part of the lineage of the Hylaean Anathem.

Orithena

An ancient center of learning remembered for the Halls of Orithena and a great dome ceremony at midday. It was destroyed long ago; its rites later informed mathic liturgy now practiced within the Mynster.

Millennial Orth Convox

A formal convocation associated with the language Orth. The A.R. 3000 session is cited as the moment when the term “saunt” was accepted into standard usage.

Unarians

An order within the mathic world that occupies the west nave of the Mynster. They are described as the best‑endowed of the maths and are numerous enough to fill their nave; members wear green robes and at times lead the singing during Provener.

Chapter House

A named spot along the cloister gallery within a math, used as a passage and gathering space. It has a back exit into a covered alley between chalk halls and workshops, providing a practical route toward the Mynster.

Cnoüs

A revered figure invoked in mathic liturgy, associated with the dawning of Light and the transition from chaos. Named in the hymn as the father of Hylaea and Deät.

Fraa Delrakhones

A fraa who serves as Warden Fendant at the concent of Saunt Edhar, observed seated among the hierarchs during Provener in the Mynster.

Hylaea

A mythic figure invoked in mathic liturgy, described as one of the daughters of Cnoüs and credited with bringing his light. Hylaea is central to the Hylaean Anathem sung during the winding rite at Provener.

Saunt Bly

A revered figure within the mathic tradition associated with developments in finite group theorics. According to liturgical accounts, he was Thrown Back by his Warden Regulant and later killed by slines who had first worshipped him after he persuaded them to stop consuming blithe.

Deät

A mythic figure invoked in mathic liturgy. Along with Hylaea, Deät is named as one of the two daughters of Cnoüs and is represented musically during the hymn sung at Provener.

Peregrination

A historical migration undertaken by surviving theors after the destruction of Orithena. It is cited as a turning point when older rites fell out of practice before the later retreat into the maths.

Seven Stairs

A roofed gallery of seven linked staircases that connects the Tenner math to the stone patio before the portal of the Mynster. Commonly used by avout heading into the building, especially around Provener.

Grandfraa Mentaxenes

An elderly avout at the Concent of Saunt Edhar who routinely opens the Tenners’ screen door in the Mynster before the daily rite of Provener.

New Library

A library building within a Decenarian math, used by avout and occasionally accessed by supervised visitors for necessary repairs. It hosts study and interviews and comes into focus when an extramuros artisan is admitted to address a rotted rafter shortly before Apert.

Clock

A vast timekeeping mechanism at the heart of the Mynster. Its four great dials on the Præsidium are driven by a single set of works, coupled to the starhenge, and display the hour, calendar, lunar phase, and other cosmographical data.

Regulant Gargoyles

A set of inward-facing gargoyle statues mounted along the sentinels’ walkway atop the Mynster’s roof. Paired with outward-facing Fendant gargoyles, they are associated with the Warden Regulant’s inward watch over the concent.

Concent

The concent is the complex of buildings and grounds belonging to a mathic community. It is described as the area spread below the Mynster, much of which can be observed from the Warden Regulant’s windows.

Fendant Gargoyles

Outward-facing gargoyles set on the braces beneath the sentinels’ walkway around the Mynster’s roof, associated with the Warden Fendant’s aerie in a Decenarian math.

Aut

A term in Orth with two historical senses: originally an act taken by an individual, and later a formal rite performed by an assembly of avout on behalf of a math or concent.

Second New Revised Book of Discipline

An authoritative rulebook cited within the math to govern permitted practices. It is specifically used to determine which plants may be cultivated, including a list known as the "One Hundred and Sixty-four."

Vale-lore

An old body of books and lore referred to by avout, often shortened to "vlor." It serves as a source of classical terms and examples that avout use to frame discussions and observations.

Deolater

A named “general type” referenced in mathic iconography. It is listed among archetypal figures depicted around a Cloister; its specific meaning is not yet explained in the text.

Burger

An archetypal "general type" referenced in mathic iconography. It is noted among carved figures seen along a cloister walkway inside a math.

Old Library

An original library building within a math that opens directly onto the Cloister. It is noted for an ancient, glass‑smooth stone floor described as far older than the floor of the New Library.

basic modesty knot

A simple knot used by avout to secure the bolt of their garment for modesty. It is observed in use when Lio wraps the selvage end of his bolt around his waist and between his thighs.

Saunt Taunga

A revered figure cited within the mathic tradition, known for "Saunt Taunga’s Question" about whether a sufficiently large field of cellular automata can think.

Physiologer

A general-type figure referenced in mathic iconography, mentioned among the carved motifs surrounding a Cloister garden within a math. Its precise definition has not been given in-text so far.

One Hundred and Sixty-four

A sanctioned list of plant species permitted for cultivation under the Second New Revised Book of Discipline, used to govern what may be grown in a Decenarian math’s gardens.

Slashberry

A cane-forming plant observed in a math’s Cloister garden. It is not among the One Hundred and Sixty-four plants permitted for cultivation under the Second New Revised Book of Discipline, but also not among the Eleven that must be destroyed on sight.

Fraa

A form of address and title used within maths for male avout. It precedes a person’s name (e.g., “Fraa Lio”), with the plural "fraas" used for groups.

Scriptorium

A dedicated workroom within the math used for copying books and manuscripts. Entered through a stone arch, it is notable for a pervasive ink smell and connects by a smaller doorway to the Old Library on the Cloister.

Suur

An honorific used within the mathic world for female avout. It is placed before a personal name (e.g., “Suur Trestanas”) and used collectively as “suurs.”

Saunt Taunga’s Question

A named philosophical problem attributed to Saunt Taunga, asking whether a sufficiently large field of cellular automata can think. It is invoked by Fraa Erasmas during a discussion about ant coordination.

Thelenes

A historical figure cited in The Dictionary as having been confined in a "cloister" before being executed. The citation is used to illustrate an older meaning of the word "cloister."

Refectory

A named building within a math that opens onto the Cloister’s walkway around the central garden. It is listed alongside the Old Library and chalk halls as one of the structures accessible from the Cloister.

Sline

An archetypal “general type” referenced in mathic iconography. It is noted among carved figures seen along a cloister walkway inside a math; its specific meaning has not yet been explained in the text.

Decenarian math

A walled mathic community whose avout observe strict Discipline and maintain controlled contact with the outside world (extramuros). It houses the New Library and a towering clock central to daily timekeeping.

mathic world

The sphere of life and institutions inside the walls of the maths, contrasted with the non‑mathic world outside (extramuros). It encompasses the avout communities, their rules, and their ways of speaking and working.

Speely-device

An extramuros moving-picture device referred to by avout as a "speely-device." Used to view or capture "speely" content; such devices are not kept within the math under the Cartasian Discipline.

Farspark

An extramuros media system and content format referenced by the avout. It is distinguished from “speely” recordings by extramuros artisans and is associated with older hardware such as a Farspark resonator.

Cartasian Discipline

A set of rules governing life and practice within a mathic community, emphasizing austerity in media and technology. Under this discipline, avout rely on chalk, ink, and stone and avoid the use of mechanical recording devices, with visitor access and devices tightly controlled.