Zh’vaern

Not to be confused with Jules Verne Durand, who used “Fraa Zh’vaern” as a cover identity.

Zh’vaern is the presented identity of a cloaked Matarrhite doyn attending the Tredegarh Convox. He is seated as a doyn at the Plurality of Worlds messal hosted in Avrachon’s Dowment, accompanied by a servitor named Fraa Orhan. Observers note a heavy accent and—based on voice alone—take him to be male, though no title on the bell board initially indicated sex. The persona was later revealed, in‑situ, to be a disguise adopted by Jules Verne Durand.

Context and Conduct

• Affiliation: Presented and treated in‑situ as one of the Matarrhites, a theistic order known for keeping distance from other avout.
• At table: Keeps distinct dining customs; his servitor tends a separate stew‑like dish while he declines the green salad offered to others.
• Attendant: Presented with a servitor, Fraa Orhan, seen on duty with head fully covered and later addressed directly in a kitchen conversation led by Suur Moyra. Orhan makes a Deolater hand gesture and affirms a claim relating the God of the Matarrhites to beliefs attributed to Pangee; observers infer he is male from his voice while he serves in a servitor role. Later accounts identify Orhan as the minder of the infiltrator, not a Matarrhite servitor.
• Taboo and memory: In a later sitting he frankly raises the Third Sack in the messal; asked how his order fared, he says the Matarrhites evacuated to a southern polar island and lived off plants, birds, and insects, adding that they “remember the Third Sack with every bite.” He characterizes his community as Deolaters distinct from Rhetors and Incanters.
• Arrival and demeanor: Observed moving with Orhan toward Avrachon’s Dowment and entering after offering a brief, formal greeting to nearby avout.
• Identity notes: Initially taken to be Matarrhite by most observers; some avout speculate the cloaked delegates might be something else. Fraa Jad remarks that “it would be impossible to pay too much attention to the cloaked ones,” suggesting special interest. After the reveal of the disguise, the name sometimes appears in quotation marks when recalled by those aware of the ruse.

Roles and Contributions

• Discussion stance: When theorics at the messal turn to the origin of the visitors, he calls proposals of other universes “bizarre—fantastical,” voicing skepticism shared by several at the table.
• Shared briefings: He reports that the four visitor cohorts have been given provisional nicknames—“Antarcts,” “Pangees,” “Diasps,” and “Quators”—based on planet icons seen on their ship and on labeled sample vials.
• Timing note: Remarks that laboratory results about differing kinds of matter were only just made definitive, explaining why this messal was convened quickly afterward.
• Engagement with others: At one point he endorses a sharp rejoinder from Fraa Jad and later urges focusing on the quality of arguments rather than dismissing foundational topics as mere bickering. He also exchanges points with Fraa Lodoghir as the group’s framing shifts between Procian and other perspectives.
• Metatheoric engagement: During an exposition on Protism he asks clarifying questions—“Isomorphism meaning—?”—and presses what Clathrand’s Contention actually “gets,” wondering whether cnoöns are merely perceived as if in the past.
• Provocation at table: He then asks whether the discussion has anything to do with the Third Sack, producing a long silence; later he draws attention to Edhar’s status as an Inviolate while invoking Clathrand’s Edharian provenance, a juxtaposition others treat as sensitive. By naming the Concent of Saunt Edhar he implicitly connects the line of theorics to a math that endured the Sack.
• Questions on “praxis”: Reported by an observer to have been asking unusual questions about a rumored praxis concerning mitigation of radiation damage and aging; this is mentioned during a conversation with Fraa Jad and points to his interest in the practical implications of such claims.

Traits and Presentation

• Manner: Reserved but forthright once engaged; willing to relay practical information from earlier briefings and to cross social taboos when pursuing a line of thought.
• Identity: Typically referenced simply as “Zh’vaern,” though some speakers address him as “Fraa Zh’vaern.” These are forms of address applied to the presented persona; later recollections may put the name in quotation marks.

Current Status

The persona was active during the Tredegarh Convox; after the reveal, it is no longer in use. Subsequent references to “Zh’vaern” generally denote the earlier cover identity in retrospect.