Voco

First Appearance and Context

Within the mathic world, Voco is the named rite used when outside authority seeks mathic expertise. In witnessed practice at Saunt Edhar, distinctive bell changes gathered the community in the Mynster; an officiant formally convened the assembly and read a traditional formula before calling a specific avout (cloistered scholar‑monks) by name and chapter. The named avout answered in a set litany, the community sang a hymn of mourning and farewell, and departure followed immediately.

Concept and Description

Voco is an Aut (formal rite) by which the Sæcular Power (civil authority) calls a named avout out of a math (monastic college) for praxic work. It is rare and solemn, and within the walls it is treated as final from the community’s point of view. Commonly a single person is named, though on rare occasions many names may be read in one service. The call is delivered in formal words; the Evoked (formally called out) responds in brief liturgy and departs at once. Attendance by the Inquisition (disciplinary authority) is situational—some services have included Inquisitors and escort, others have not.

Use in Current Discourse

• Speakers at Tredegarh describe a recent large Voco that later changed into a Convox (large convocation of avout). As one explanation puts it, those summoned in Voco “died” to their prior status and began new lives; when it became a Convox, they “undied,” prompting some social readjustment.
• Voco was contrasted with arrangements in which many are called together: in Voco, the Evoked goes forth alone and does not return; by contrast, under a Convox, avout can travel and work as a group while preserving elements of the Discipline within their Peregrin (sanctioned travel status) cohort. Another summary offered was: Peregrin begins and ends at a math. These statements reflect speakers’ understanding in the moment and are recorded here as interpretations rather than universal rules.
• One account notes that after a Thousander (thousand‑year order member)’s Voco, the avout of his community sang with unusual intensity—underscoring how the rite is experienced as a mournful, final departure.
• The plural “Vocos” is used to describe rounds of multiple Evocations across different maths. According to one report, after the Geometers arrived in orbit, a quiet round of Vocos redirected specialist avout toward restarting an archived program.

Related Concepts and Affiliations

• Aut: the class of formal rites that includes Voco.
• Sæcular Power: the outside authority that issues calls via Voco.
• Avout: members named by the rite to go out for praxic work.
• Inquisition: oversight body that may attend or escort, depending on circumstance.
• Peregrin: status and practice of avout traveling in the worldly realm while striving to keep the Discipline’s spirit.

Current Status

Voco remains an active, standing rite. Reports now include both single‑name and multi‑name services. In the present situation, a large calling preceded the Convox hosted at Tredegarh; those first named in Voco were then folded into the Convox, described by participants as “undying” back into organized mathic life. Where many leave together, they endeavor to preserve elements of the Discipline by moving in groups and pairing experience across cohorts.

Setting and Venues

• The rite is conducted within a math’s worship space (e.g., the Mynster), and accounts describe the chancel as the focal point during a large, multi‑name service.
• Some speakers use “at Voco” as a place‑reference for the ceremony’s site; one account recalls being issued a backpack “at Voco” prior to departing extramuros (outside the walls) after a mass calling.
• Distribution at the site can include donated items from local arks; a cohort reported receiving matching red shirts “at Voco” before departure, noting they had been donated by a local ark.

Recent Mentions

• A large, multi‑name instance is referred to as the Six-Fold Voco, colloquially “the big Voco”; narrators describe walking out of the chancel afterward and departing under instructions with issued gear.
• Avout from a martial math described being issued red shirts “at Voco” and then setting out immediately; the shirts were said to have been donated by a local ark.