Panjandrum

First Appearance and Context

During a Tenth Night dinner at Saunt Edhar in Apert (decennial opening), tradition called for the highest‑ranking Panjandrum present to stand and formally hand newcomers over to the mathic authorities (monastic leadership). In that instance, the role was performed by the city’s mayor. The handover was solemnized by the speaking of oaths and the ringing of a bell, marking the moment when the newcomers passed from Sæcular (outside civic) into mathic jurisdiction (monastic authority).

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Singular label for an individual civic official representing the wider authority commonly referred to as Sæcular Power (civil authority).
• Presides over the legal handover of foundlings and entrants to a math (monastic order), a ceremonial transfer that includes oaths and a bell.
• Customarily “delivers remarks” to the assembled visitors and avout (cloistered scholars) during the occasion, though the substance may be ceremonial rather than substantive.
• The specific office is not fixed by the term; the role is fulfilled by the highest‑ranking official present (e.g., a mayor).
• Collective usage: “the Panjandrums” refers to the set of such officials acting together; in an avout reconstruction of events, they are said to have notified hierarchs (mathic leaders) that an orbiting object was to be treated as a Sæcular matter and directed the closure of every starhenge (observatory circle), with Inquisitors (Sæcular tribunal agents) sent to ensure compliance.
• During the Convox (rare mass convocation of avout) hosted at the Concent of Saunt Tredegarh, observers describe a “cabinet of Panjan-drums” assembled as the Sæcular counterpart to the mathic high council, separated by a screen in the Mynster; this is presented as an inference by the narrator.
• When Sæcular responses are being formulated, Panjandrums receive briefings from technical advisors and are characterized by participants as hardheaded and skeptical of high‑flown abstractions, preferring plain, consequential explanations over theorics.
• Within Convox operations at Tredegarh, participants report that work has been reorganized along Sæcular lines into small, praxic teams focused on narrow tasks, supported by outside equipment and staff; some avout interpret this as Panjandrums setting the frame for the proceedings.
• Soldiers staged open‑air meals on the plaza and, under a hierarch’s direction, issued pre‑packed rucksacks and badges; organizers described this as a deterrence posture that visibly signaled readiness to disperse, and onlookers took it as further evidence of Panjandrums’ leverage over logistics.
• Authorization and oversight of a covert orbital mission: avout participants report that Panjandrums approved an avout‑led cell to mount a stealth approach toward the Daban Urnud, while a separate Sæcular backup team with similar training stood ready. A support‑cell liaison cites practical reasons for the choice, including language compatibility with Jules Verne Durand (Orth rather than Fluccish) and the avout’s broad educability.
• During a suit‑linked communications experiment while approaching the ship, cell members observed that speaking certain terms—such as Everything Killers, “attack,” “neutron,” “mass murder,” “insane,” “dishonor,” “unconscionable,” “refuse,” and “mutiny”—triggered creation of large, priority encrypted recordings at the head of the transmit queue. Participants took this as evidence of Panjandrum monitoring of flagged topics; this is their interpretation rather than a confirmed practice.

Relationships

• Serves as the Sæcular counterpart in rites that transfer responsibility for newcomers to mathic authorities (monastic leadership), clarifying the boundary between Sæcular and mathic jurisdictions. In broader usage, “Panjandrums” is shorthand for the cadre of extramuros (outside the walls) officials of the outside authority.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Used in the singular for an individual dignitary; distinct from the colloquial plural nickname sometimes applied to the authority itself.
• Among avout, the label is sometimes used informally for “people like my doyn,” i.e., senior Sæcular officials; usage is contextual and colloquial.
• The hyphenated slang form “Panjan-drums” (and singular “Panjan-drum”) appears in avout speech and can be used pejoratively.
• Associated with formal civic attire and public speaking during the ceremony.
• The ceremony’s bell and oaths emphasize the legal gravity of the jurisdictional change.
• During the Convox, speakers describe Panjandrums as management‑minded and results‑driven; large collective efforts with no immediately visible outcomes make them uneasy, while clear, practical gains are welcomed.
• An avout narrator remarks that he had taken to assuming communications were being monitored and committee‑reviewed by Panjandrums; this is presented as his perspective, not a confirmed practice.

Current Status/Location

Active in civic–mathic interfaces. In current avout accounts, the Panjandrums are described as asserting Sæcular jurisdiction over observations of an object in orbit and as prompting the temporary closure of starhenges, with enforcement by the Inquisition. Following the landing of a foreign probe inside a concent (walled monastery), one avout warned of an imminent “invasion of the Panjandrums” and anticipated a rapid response by the Sæcular Power (civil authority); this usage underscores a colloquial extension of the term to a broader Sæcular presence.

During preparations for a planned observation intended to compel the visitors’ ship to rotate for ground‑based viewing, accounts describe the Panjandrums sheltering in caves and bunkers as a precaution against possible retaliation. The risk is considered low‑probability, but the measure illustrates their security posture.

At Tredegarh, avout describe the Convox as having been reorganized along Sæcular lines, with soldiers issuing rucksacks and dormant badges to support pre‑assigned cells as part of a visible deterrence strategy to show readiness to disperse. Some participants speculate that such reorganization could dampen underground movements within the Convox; these attributions are recorded as subjective impressions rather than established policy.

During the ongoing effort to reach the Daban Urnud, avout accounts describe Panjandrum oversight through support cells and formal channels, with a military backup team held in reserve.