Enthusiasts

Known names: ['Enthusiasts', 'The Enthusiasts', 'Enthusiast'] Summary: A historical label for number-worshippers expelled from the Orithenan tradition by Diax; in current speech it can also mean a zealous admirer or patron, depending on context.

First Appearance and Context

The Enthusiasts are mentioned in the narrative of the Hylaean Way exhibits when describing events at the Halls of Orithena. In that account, Diax confronts fortune-casters and expels the Enthusiasts from the temple precincts.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Described as people who misunderstood how Orithenans used numbers, inventing number-worshipping practices instead of pursuing disciplined inquiry.
• Seen casting fortunes with dice at the temple; Diax seized a rake and drove them out.
• Following this purge, Diax established a clearer identity for disciplined inquiry: he coined the term theorics, and his followers called themselves Theors to contrast with the Enthusiasts.
• The principle associated with this shift is remembered as Diax's Rake, a caution against believing a thing merely because one prefers to believe it.

Terminology and Connotations

• In discussions of intellectual genealogy connected to the Hylaean Theoric World (realm of ideal forms), "Enthusiasts" appears as a pruning label alongside "fanatics," "Deolaters," and "dead-enders," marking branches set aside when tracing a rigorous line of inquiry. This usage frames Enthusiasts as over-zealous or credulous currents contrasted with the main theoric thread. The context is explicitly classificatory and not a chartered order.

Contemporary Usage

• The word also appears in ordinary speech in the simple sense of a passionate admirer. One account describes a wealthy burger (wealthy citizen) who, after the Third Sack (earlier upheaval), became an Enthusiast for all things Orithenan, purchased the island of Ecba (volcanic island), and endowed a foundation with extensive bylaws to manage the site. In this colloquial use, "Enthusiast" does not imply number-worship, only intense interest or support.
• In a high-stakes planning discussion among avout preparing for an approach to the visiting ship, the term was used pejoratively to warn against abandoning disciplined reasoning—"behaving like a bunch of Enthusiasts"—explicitly contrasted with reliance on the Rake.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Presented in historical displays as "number-worshippers," i.e., treating numbers and numerical games (such as fortune-casting with dice) as vehicles for belief or divination rather than tools for clear reasoning.
• No formal offices, hierarchy, or symbols are given; the term functions as a collective label rather than a chartered order.

Relationships

• Opposed by Diax and contrasted with the community of Theors at Orithena.
• In classificatory contexts, grouped with Deolaters (God-worshippers) and other zeal-types that are pruned from strict genealogies of the Hylaean Theoric World.

Current Status/Location

• Shown as a historical cohort within exhibits; no present-day organization is described. As a common noun, however, "enthusiast" may be applied to individuals who show zealous support for a topic or place.

Legacy and Cultural References

• The episode is cited in Vale-Lore (drilled cultural knowledge) as a cautionary example opposing number-worship; the phrase "rake vlor" specifically invokes Diax's expulsion of the Enthusiasts in drills and informal practice.