Erasmas

Erasmas is a Decenarian avout (mathic adherent) from the Concent (walled mathic community) of Saunt Edhar traveling extramuros (outside the walls) with a small company to seek Fraa Orolo. Guided by Fraa Jad and evidence preserved from Orolo’s cell, he identifies Orithena on Ecba as the target and ultimately reaches its gates; there he is admitted after recognizing it as a Lineage (pre-Cartesian order) cloister rather than a standard math (monastic order). Following the destruction at Orithena, he is transported by the Sæcular Power (worldly authorities) to Tredegarh to support the Convox (gathering) and is re‑inducted into mathic life there.

Appearance and Traits

Observant, reflective, and pragmatic, he often takes on planning and coordination while acknowledging limits in hands‑on mechanics. He learns quickly (including basic driving) and shows self‑awareness about how avout appear in Sæcular (outside world) spaces. He is frequently addressed as “Raz,” especially by Cord, and balances respect for Discipline (rules of mathic life) with situational flexibility. Recently he shows unease when conversations edge toward lore about Incanters, Thousanders’ secrets, or polycosmic praxis, recalling warnings received just before Orolo’s death.

Roles and Actions

• Refueling‑station analysis: Over food in a northern truck stop, reviews phototypes taken from Orolo’s cell; with a companion’s terminal, matches them to a live feed of a walled excavation on Ecba and notes features that tie it to Orithena. Treats this as a key to Orolo’s intentions.
• Northbound decision: Accepts the inference that Orolo is likely headed over the pole and pivots the search accordingly toward a sledge port at extreme latitude.
• Outfitting and logistics: Helps acquire suitsacks, winter tires, and deep‑cold coolants/lubricants; repacks loads and learns to drive during low‑traffic stretches. Mails a brief letter despite addressing hurdles.
• New ally and city errands: Spends a day riding with Yulassetar Crade (a guide and cousin of a companion) to source gear cheaply; adopts practical advice for cold‑weather travel and vehicle maintenance.
• Sledge‑port staging: Reaches the high‑latitude port, secures space for both vehicles on a flatbed, and stocks a rented housing module on the locomotive before the train departs across the ice.
• Launch speely review: With Sammann, examines a short, low‑quality clip of eight white‑suited people boarding a coach before a large rocket launch; recognizes a tall rearmost walker by gait as Jesry.
• Orithena gate and admission: At the gates of Orithena, exchanges words first in Fluccish (extramuros vernacular) and then in Orth (formal mathic language) with gatekeepers, including Suur Dymma and, later, Fraa Landasher. When challenged about the Vow (pledge not to leave) and references to the Discipline (rules of mathic life), the Anathem (ban) and Convox (gathering) are cited as constraints that make a return by Orolo and an unrelated Evocation incompatible with a normal math. Erasmas infers it is a Lineage cloister and is admitted.
• Reunion with Orolo: Embraces Orolo at the cloister entrance, addressing him as “Pa.” Receives a bolt (avout robe) and chord (belt) to replace outside‑world clothes and spends time walking and talking with him in the orchards and meadows above the enclosure.
• Dialogue with Orolo: Discusses Sconic (self‑observation school) themes and Evenedrician datonomy (study of givens), using concrete examples of how minds integrate perceptions, run counterfactuals, and prefer interpretations consistent with action‑like principles.
• Convox mission and message: After being Evoked (formally summoned) to a Convox (gathering) at Convox at Tredegarh, travels under the guidance of Fraa Jad to Bly’s Butte and then north. Later tells Orolo that Jad’s instruction—“go north until you understand”—implies bringing Orolo back to the Convox or at least informing it of Orolo’s line of inquiry.
• Reports on the visitors: Relays outside observations that the visitors’ ship displays a geometric proof (Adrakhonic Theorem) and markings including letters and four planets—details Orolo had not seen at the time.
• Tour of the dig: Guided by Suur Spry, descends into the excavation during the cool hours to see exposed pavements and foundations, then experiments with the tiles on the Decagon while playing The Teglon (tiling puzzle). Withdraws as heat rises and later takes advantage of a volcanic sluice‑bath to recover.
• Life inside the cloister and hospitality for companions: Eats in the Refectory (dining hall) where the FAE (local lead) Fraa Landasher toasts his arrival. With Landasher’s consent, arranges for Cord, Yulassetar Crade, Ganelial Crade, and Sammann to lodge as guests in a separate house where outside‑world devices such as jeejahs (handheld devices) are permitted; he escorts them, explains basic mathic etiquette, and leads a tour of the dig.
• Probe landing and evacuation: Witnesses the descent of a Geometers’ probe (visitors from orbit) into Orithena’s pit and follows Orolo to the plaza. Helps with reflective heat‑shields, measures the craft’s dimensions for Sammann’s record via jeejah (handheld device), and, at Orolo’s direction, organizes Orithenans to stretch the recovered parachute into a canopy to delay helicopters. When soldiers from the Sæcular Power (worldly authorities) enter the compound, Erasmas is collared and herded toward evacuation. He boards an aerocraft as a volcanic avalanche engulfs Orithena; from the air he sees Orolo fall with the destruction.
• Post‑Orithena processing and transit: At a military beachhead later dubbed “New Orithena,” he assists a Tredegarh contingent in preparing the “givens” (evidence samples and remains) for shipment to the Convox (gathering), then departs for Tredegarh.
• Quarantine and orientation at Tredegarh: Confined in a sealed housing module pending infection concerns, he receives visits from Arsibalt and Jesry. Jesry relays that laser analysis suggests “newmatter” (engineered nuclei), which in turn implies low cross‑infection risk; Erasmas expects release. Suur Maroa, a Centenarian Fifth Sconic (Sconic sect), interviews him about odors associated with recovered materials; he recalls a distinct unfamiliar smell, which she treats as a useful observation.
• Inbrase and induction: Released to attend Inbrase (induction aut), he joins other Peregrins (traveling avout) for the formal end of Peregrination (traveling period). Asked to contribute a piece, he sings a solo computational chant derived from Orithenan practice; the performance draws noticeable attention from some Thousanders (long‑cycle avout) and prompts discussion among hierarchs. He exits enrolled among the Convox.
• Messal customs: Briefed by Lio on Tredegarh’s messal (small hosted dinner) practice, in which servitors (junior attendants) serve under a doyn (senior host/mentor). He anticipates serving as a servitor and preparing for discussions at messals.
• Plenary witness at Tredegarh: In the Unarian nave at Tredegarh, appears as an eyewitness at a Plenary conducted by Fraa Lodoghir, who serves as his loctor (interlocutor). Erasmas insists on his title and membership as an Edharian Fraa, accepts that he chose his peregrination to Orithena and its consequences, and gives a structured account of the Visitation as he saw it. He explains that his dialog with Orolo concerned consciousness and the Geometers, and he resists assigning blame without evidence when Lodoghir advances the notion that Orolo signaled the visitors using an analemma. The session closes abruptly as discussion rises in the hall.
• Messal assignment and Sæcular contact: After the Plenary, Lodoghir claims Erasmas as his servitor within messal customs and declares himself doyn, directing them to take sustenance at a more remote messal. A Sæcular official, Emman Beldo, speaks with Erasmas about priorities and indicates he will attend a subsequent messal hosted by “Madame Secretary,” Ignetha Foral.
• Plurality of Worlds messal service: Serves as a servitor behind Lodoghir at a messal hosted at Avrachon’s Dowment, coordinating with Arsibalt, Suur Tris, and Suur Karvall in the kitchen. Uses the rope‑and‑bell signaling system, fields Lodoghir’s complaint about the soup, and chalks Emman Beldo’s name on an unlabeled pull. During the dinner, at Fraa Paphlagon’s prompting, gives a brief observation from Orithena about the probe’s parachute—judging it “nothing special,” not like engineered newmatter—and later gives Emman a plain‑language sketch of Hemn space and worldtracks as they are discussed at table. Plans to accompany Emman during Lucub to find a productive venue for evening work.
• Inquisition attention: Notes an earlier encounter that day with Inquisitor Varax—interpreted, with Arsibalt’s help, as indicating oversight of possible Book‑chapter discipline and as a tacit warning to Lodoghir against overreach.
• Edharian chapter‑house cosmography and observation watch: Later joins Fraa Jesry in an Edharian chalk hall reviewing pointing tables and timing for ground telescopes to observe the visitors’ icosahedral craft (the Hedron). After a Sæcular aide privately discloses a plan to fly a silent reconnaissance “bird” onto an intercept course, Erasmas goes outside with companions to watch. At the expected moment they see a brief flash where the craft should be; the onlookers describe it as the ship firing a directed‑energy weapon—specifically an X‑ray laser—at the approaching satellite. The expectation is that the ship will rotate to bring its pusher plate between itself and the bogey, letting telescopes study newly exposed structure.
• Walk with Lio and clandestine talk: On a late walk with Lio, hears that Lio was moved to a new laboratorium tasked with scraping and studying very old praxic documents dated just before the Terrible Events; those involved suspect they are original plans for the Everything Killers (doomsday‑class devices). Lio invites Erasmas into a network of Lucubs debating whether—and how—to contact the Antarcts independently using big‑telescope guidestar lasers; some participants believe the dead probe messenger’s blood matches that group, while projectiles in the body correspond to Pangee‑type matter. Lio adds that Ala initiated this clandestine Lucub network. Erasmas expresses shock and caution about the risks and legality of such moves.
• Convox reorganization and ship‑modeling contribution: With Lucubs suspended and all but Laboratorium and Messal paused, joins a six‑theor team analyzing the visitors’ craft’s large‑scale dynamics. From its rapid attitude changes he infers counter‑rotating momentum‑wheel assemblies on three axes, and notes a brief “sloshing” consistent with a large standing‑water mass within the spun section. Emman is tasked with bringing the modeling system online; Jesry studies directed‑energy subsystems; Arsibalt uses spectroscopy to correlate subassemblies to the four PAQD cosmi; Barb examines an external strut lattice.
• Open‑air assembly and Antiswarm kits: At an outdoor breakfast on the plaza before the Mynster, receives a pre‑packed rucksack and an inert badge as part of Antiswarm preparations. In conversation, Ala frames the Antiswarm as risk mitigation and likens it to a second Rebirth; she explains that badges will activate with rallying directions if dispersal is ordered. She further notes that some cell leaders have been dialoging in depth about independent contact strategies and states that Lodoghir is among that group.
• Messal developments and laboratory of consciousness: During a later messal, at Fraa Paphlagon’s urging, recounts his two dialogs with Orolo about consciousness and counterfactual worlds, prompting discussion of how minds might span nearby cosmi. Receives encouragement from Suur Karvall and continues serving as a messal servitor during long debates among doyns.
• Security action at Avrachon’s Dowment: Helps plan and execute an informationally shielded setting (a grounded mesh “Bucker’s Basket”) to sever remote monitoring, then confronts the disguised Matarrhite doyns. In the protected room, Zh’vaern discards his bolt and identifies himself as a visitor from Laterre. Erasmas and allies (including Arsibalt, Tris, Barb, Karvall, Lio, and Sammann) reveal concealed transmitters and press for plain answers about motives and inter‑cosmic politics.
• Evacuation and Cell 317: When demolition charges open gaps in Tredegarh’s walls as part of an ordered dispersal, follows his badge’s route with his rucksack, moves extramuros to assigned transport, and boards a coach designated for Cell 317. The cell includes Valers and trusted companions; Lio emerges as the cell leader. They transfer under escort to a military aerocraft for redeployment. Before departure, Erasmas asks Sammann to relay a message to Ala acknowledging the logic of her decision.
• Arrival at Elkhazg and go‑to‑ground: After a long polar transit, arrives with Cell 317 at an ancient caravansery known as Elkhazg. Greeted by Magnath Foral (the Heritor), he notes Elkhazg’s history as a center for tiling and plane geometry and the presence of a Decagon courtyard. With wireless links jammed in transit, hears Lio’s order to “go to ground,” and begins work once a land‑line connection is available.
• Teglon at Elkhazg: Observes Fraa Jad spending the night on the Decagon and finds, in the morning, that he has tiled the entire figure with a fresh solution. Lifting a tile at the edge, Erasmas verifies multiple prior layers—confirming a different solution from the one beneath—and wonders aloud if activity at the Decagon might be noticed from above.
• Prepositioned equipment and inventory: Helps unpack and inventory pallets of gear staged around a vine‑roofed courtyard; exchanges his bolts and chord for lightweight coveralls during ground training and familiarization.
• Space preparation and simulators: Under Jesry’s lead, trains on matte‑black space suits and personal upper stages designed to dock directly to the suits. Practices on wraparound simulators that reproduce suit displays and control mapping; coaches others (including Jules Verne Durand) on using rotational and translational controls in orbit, drawing on earlier instruction in orbital elements.
• Strategic conversation with Lio: In a private exchange while links are down, presses Lio for an explanation of “Everything Killers” (microscopic nuclear devices). Lio outlines potential triggers and delivery schemes, and suggests that thousands could be placed in orbit. They conjecture that their cell may act as a diversion while other means are used.
• Urnudan chronology and Third Sack window: Participates as Sammann reconstructs a conversion between Urnudan and Arbran years using captured documents’ timestamps; the group infers that the Urnudans began their inter‑cosmic journey roughly nine centuries earlier, near the era of the Third Sack. Erasmas posits that activity leading up to that era might have sent signals “down the Wick,” noticed by theors aboard the visitors’ ship.
• Mission brief toward the Daban Urnud: Hears Lio announce that the cell’s objective is to reach the Daban Urnud using dispersed, vehicle‑mounted launchers and to consolidate payloads into a thrust platform in orbit before a rendezvous.
• Personal communication: Later asks Sammann to send Ala a private message saying that, if he is granted a fourth life, he wishes to spend it with her; frames it as “closing a cycle” in light of recent losses.
• Orbital launch and rendezvous work: Endures a violent ascent sealed inside a “gazebo” fairing on a suit‑integrated upper stage (“monyafeek”), then separates into low orbit and joins a short‑range reticule with Sammann, Gratho, and others while the cell stages beneath a large metallized balloon for cover. With Suur Esma towing Jules Verne Durand and Fraa Osa assisting, helps the team begin “glomming” (gathering) red (people) and blue (cargo) payloads into a single protected mass as the countdowns to line‑of‑sight exposures to the Daban Urnud tick down.
• Critical recoveries: Breaks off a cargo retrieval to chase a fast‑moving red payload—the tender’s small reactor (“nuke”)—that has drifted on a slightly different orbital plane. Loses the reticule when he ranges too far from the balloon, shelters the payload under a reflective blanket, and conserves oxygen while calculating that his path will cross the cell’s again at the next intersection. Fraa Jesry reaches him on the second try and together they maneuver onto an intercept so that Lio and others can grapple them back into cover. Separately, Arsibalt grapples Fraa Jad after an entanglement melts netting onto his nozzle skirt, hauling both to safety with Lio’s assistance.
• Decoy and Cold Black Mirror deployment: Helps assemble a decoy from lashed‑together upper stages and an inflatable shell packed with spare netting and dummies, timed to make a flamboyant burn and then self‑destruct once the cell has slipped away. In parallel, assists the team assembling a square “Cold Black Mirror”—a reflective, actively chilled screen used to bounce incoming radar and light away—so the cell can move without bright engine plumes.
• Electrodynamic tether and slow spiral: Aids in lashing the spent stages into a compact counterweight, deploying a multi‑mile tether, and applying current through the line so it pushes against Arbre’s magnetic field, yielding continuous low thrust. The counterweight rides “below” while the Mirror stays “above,” letting the cell begin a days‑long, silent spiral toward the Daban Urnud.
• Observations and comms: Watches “rods” strike launch facilities along the equator below while the cell switches to hard‑wired suit‑to‑suit communications and a narrow, delayed Reticulum link. Receives ground guidance at one point from Tulia to thread a route through the glom and equipment, and notes Ala is credited by peers with structuring the mission’s broader plan.
• Orbit routine and private links: Adopts the cell’s practice of hard‑wired private connections for small‑group talks between all‑hands meetings. Notes sleep disruption and blurred boundaries between dream and waking during the long, low‑thrust phase, discussed quietly with Arsibalt.
• All‑hands and message integrity concerns: Calls an all‑hands meeting when ground messages become inconsistent about casualties. As Sammann inspects the link device, the group learns of a crowded outbound queue and the likelihood that some traffic is surveillance audio/video prioritized over ordinary text.
• Transmitter disabled: Witnesses Fraa Jad deliberately destroy the transmitter hardware to halt ambiguous leakage; the local syndev continues to function for internal testing and monitoring.
• Trigger‑word experiment: With Fraa Jesry, runs simple tests that reveal topics likely to trigger automatic recordings at the head of the queue. The emerging list includes loaded terms and phrases such as “attack,” “neutron,” “mass murder,” “insane,” “dishonor,” “unconscionable,” “refuse,” “mutiny,” and references to the Everything Killers.
• Allegiance framing and decision method: Helps shift a heated discussion away from conflicting loyalties and toward disciplined decision‑making akin to solving the Teglon—recognizing that exhaustive pre‑planning is impossible while naïve emotion is unreliable.
• Boarding contact: After the cell severs the electrodynamic tether on a precise star alignment and pushes off the Cold Black Mirror, participates in the close approach to the Daban Urnud. Fires a grapnel into the rubble shield's wire mesh, absorbs the landing’s jolts, and helps secure lines as Cell 317 takes a first purchase on the hull.
• Everything Killers question raised: In private and then group conversation, shares what he knows with Jesry about the Everything Killers. Others suggest that swallowed core‑temperature transponders might conceal such devices; Suur Vay notes that outlier readings for Fraa Jad and Jules Verne Durand indicate they did not internalize theirs. Erasmas expresses confidence that Suur Ala would not approve such a stratagem knowingly while acknowledging that elements might have been added without her knowledge.
• Audience with Gan Odru: In a ceremonial sphere near the center of Orb One, serves as amanuensis while Fraa Jad exchanges formal greetings with Gan Odru (a senior Urnudan officer, roughly “Admiral”). Over a symbolic tea, hears Odru outline the distinct roles of “Gan” and “Prag,” the long wanderings of the Daban Urnud, and the waxing and waning of the Fulcrum versus the Pedestal. Records Odru’s account of the Warden of Heaven: brought aboard in a suit, insistent on doffing it in this chamber, then succumbing to a sudden internal failure and dying despite attempts to help; Odru presents this as an embarrassment that others tried to exploit. Hears that a Fulcrum faction sought to return “blood for blood” by delivering samples to Ecba, with a woman named Lise attempting the probe launch and being shot; the telling attributes the selection of Ecba to Jules Verne Durand’s Orth expertise. Confirms, when asked, that a Ringing Vale action slew thirty‑one and enclosed eighty‑seven more; at Jad’s interjection, clarifies that the latter were sequestered for safety rather than taken as hostages. Speaks up that a “large bomb” had been readied to hang over Arbre as a threat. Engages Jad’s framing of the Hylaean Flow and nearby Narratives; asks what signal the third Gan perceived centuries ago and hears of visions that match the Third Sack. When Erasmas asks whether such visions were “sent” or simply “happened,” Jad answers that the answer is not known and closes by stating he is finished there.
• Medical recovery and debrief aboard the Daban Urnud: After being found unconscious in an observatory, Erasmas is stabilized by ship physicians for oxygen–hemoglobin mismatch and cooled to protect his brain, then revived in a medical room with oxygen support. He is attended by an Arbran physician identified as Fraa Sildanic together with a Laterran doctor, with Jules Verne Durand assisting. Suur Ala reaches him soon after he wakes; during their reunion she recounts the Valers’ strike that destroyed key systems in the World Burner and reports the deaths of Fraa Gratho as well as Fraa Osa and Suur Esma after a sealed vertex was breached. She adds that negotiations have been initiated among the Pedestal, the Fulcrum, and the Magisteria.
• Rooftop meal and caution aboard the Daban Urnud: After waking, eats with Lio, Jesry, and Fraa Sildanic on the hospital’s terrace in Orb Ten. Aware that some Laterrans might be listening, he and his companions keep their talk guarded, frame a discrete toast to honor the fallen, and avoid any mention of sensitive breaches.
• Orbstack transit and Core reunion: Moves by cable‑chair and ladder from Orbs Ten and Eleven to Twelve and up into the Core, where he reunites with Cord and Yulassetar Crade. Amid a tourist scrum and watchful escorts, Yul bodies‑off an intrusive speelycaptor, and the group forms up for movement toward Orb Four.
• Devices and discretion: Quietly receives two “tracking” pills from Cord and Yul—recognized as tied to the Everything Killers—and pockets them. Near the meeting pool, speaks privately with Emman Beldo using a conversation jammer and urges restraint on any remote activation; he argues that orders based on a mistaken political frame should not be obeyed.
• Opening ceremonies and funeral honors: Serves as pallbearer for Lise during the public aut at the elliptical pool in Orb Four and, with Arsibalt, Jesry, and Lio, leads a chant while the coffins are conveyed. Notes that Jules Verne Durand suspends Orth translation during the song.
• Signing observed: Watches as Gan Odru, Prag Eshwar, the Arbran foreign minister, and a Thousander take seats on a barge and begin signing accords while dignitaries and stewards encircle the pool.
• Exchanges with senior avout and patrons: Speaks privately with Fraa Lodoghir about practical limits on revising outcomes and about closer coöperation between rhetorical and Incantor tendencies; later exchanges a few words with Magnath Foral about the meaning of coequal Arbran representation at the signing.

Description

• Common forms of address: “Fraa Erasmas” in formal settings; “Raz” among close friends and some extramuros allies.
• Dress and condition on arrival at Tredegarh: Plain bolt and chord; visible scars and bruising from recent events.

Relationships

• Fraa Orolo: Mentor and present objective; Erasmas commits to reaching Orithena to find him and reunites there. Their rapport shifts toward peers—Fraa and Fraa—while retaining affection and room for disagreement. Erasmas later witnesses Orolo’s last moments during the destruction at Orithena after the probe’s arrival.
• Fraa Jad: Senior guide whose quiet direction and resources set the northbound pursuit in motion; Erasmas notes Jad is a Thousander (long‑cycle avout) and credits him with the directive to “go north until you understand,” which Erasmas interprets as license to return via Tredegarh with Orolo if possible. More recently, Jad discourages credence in a longevity praxis and directs attention to the cloaked visitors to the Convox. At Elkhazg, Erasmas observes Jad tile the Decagon’s Teglon overnight with a fresh solution. During the covert approach toward Orb One aboard the Daban Urnud, Erasmas accompanies Jad through the observatory and inward.
• Cord: Sib and close traveling companion; they coordinate driving and repairs. She reasons early that a sledge route over the pole is a likely way forward and later coordinates with Yulassetar Crade. On the Daban Urnud she reunites with Erasmas in the Core; during the move toward Orb Four she quietly hands him a “tracking” pill he recognizes as part of the Everything Killers scheme.
• Sammann: Ita (technical order) partner in research and navigation; supplies lookups and route logs and helps analyze imagery that points toward Ecba and Orithena. Later accepts guest lodging within the cloister alongside the others and relays messages when secure channels are available. At Elkhazg he reconstructs a conversion between Urnudan and Arbran years from captured timestamps and forwards Erasmas’s private message to Ala.
• Ganelial Crade and Yulassetar Crade: Extramuros allies; one organizes convoy movement while the other guides provisioning and travel in harsh conditions. Both accept guest accommodations when invited. In the Core, Yulassetar Crade intercepts an intrusive speelycaptor and, together with Cord, entrusts Erasmas with a “tracking” pill linked to the Everything Killers.
• Suur Dymma and Fraa Landasher: Gate interlocutors at Orithena; Dymma questions his status and Landasher, identified as FAE (local lead), welcomes him. Landasher subsequently authorizes guest lodging for Erasmas’s companions.
• Suur Spry: A resident who guides Erasmas through the excavation and serves as his companion during the tour.
• Arsibalt: Friend and fellow Edharian; meets Erasmas at Tredegarh and shares grief for Orolo; they later work side‑by‑side as servitors during a messal at Avrachon’s Dowment and collaborate on security measures and evacuation tasks. He continues to compare notes with Erasmas while the Convox analyzes the visitors’ craft; later they observe and discuss conditions at Elkhazg during training. During the Orb Four ceremonies, he helps carry Lise’s coffin and joins Erasmas in leading a chant.
• Jesry: Long‑time friend who reports technical findings (including the “newmatter” point) and informs Erasmas that he has begun a liaison with Ala after their Voco (formal summoning). Erasmas chooses to wait for Ala’s decision. At Elkhazg Jesry leads suit and stage training and briefs the cell on operating procedures and life‑support. At the Orb Four aut he serves as a pallbearer and singer alongside Erasmas.
• Lio: Friend training under martial instructors at Tredegarh; briefs Erasmas on messal customs and uses “Raz” as a familiar nickname. Later confides restricted work on pre‑Terrible‑Events weapons plans and recruits Erasmas to a clandestine Lucub network; during the evacuation, serves as leader of their assigned cell. At Elkhazg, outlines the plan to reach the Daban Urnud and, in private, explains the “Everything Killers,” suggesting their cell may act as a diversion. At the Orb Four aut he helps carry Lise’s coffin and sing the chant.
• Tulia: Friend who physically extracts him from isolation so he won’t miss Inbrase; cautions him to be candid and avoid political maneuvering.
• Suur Maroa: Centenarian of the Fifth Sconics who interviews Erasmas about odors linked to Geometer materials; treats his recollection as a useful observational datum.
• Fraa Lodoghir: Senior Procian rhetor who serves as his loctor during a Plenary at Tredegarh; after the session, Lodoghir asserts the doyn–servitor relationship over Erasmas within messal custom. Erasmas later serves him at a high‑profile messal and navigates Lodoghir’s disciplinary posturing with care. Ala later identifies Lodoghir among the cell leaders engaged in deeper dialogs about independent contact. On the Daban Urnud, the two speak quietly near the meeting pool about limits on “revising” outcomes and the need for closer work between rhetorical and Incantor tendencies; Lodoghir remarks that certain settled outcomes cannot be altered without unraveling wider consequences.
• Emman Beldo and Ignetha Foral: A Sæcular aide who coordinates with Erasmas before and during messal activities, and the senior doyn he answers to; Erasmas advises Beldo in plain terms and expects to join him for Lucub. Foral presides over discussions as “Madame Secretary,” probing how mathic debates connect to Sæcular priorities. On the Daban Urnud, Emman Beldo privately consults with Erasmas beside the meeting pool using a conversation jammer; Erasmas urges that any remote activation related to the Everything Killers be treated as a last resort and resisted if premised on a mistaken political frame. Emman later hands over a second jammer for further discreet talks. Ignetha Foral remains focused on official duties during the ceremonies.
• Ala: A young suur of Edhar with whom Erasmas shares close ties; he seeks contact and thinks of her during tense moments. By Lio’s report, Ala is working on contingency planning during the Convox and initiated the Lucub network exploring guidestar‑laser communication with the Antarcts. She later briefs Erasmas on Antiswarm plans and the logic behind dispersal. From Elkhazg, he asks Sammann to convey that, if granted a fourth life, he wishes to spend it with her. They later reunite aboard the Daban Urnud when he awakens from treatment and she reaches him.
• Inquisition (Varax): A senior figure who pointedly remarks on Erasmas’s Book‑chapter standing, which Erasmas and Arsibalt take as a signal that extreme discipline from Lodoghir would be subject to review.
• Zh’vaern (Jules Verne Durand): A doyn who, when remote control is cut within a grounded mesh, reveals himself as a visitor from Laterre. In the ensuing talk he explains competing factions among the PAQD races and warns that some of them fear Arbre’s capabilities; Erasmas helps ensure the exchange occurs off‑network. Later, during training, Erasmas coaches him on orbital control and consoles him upon learning that the woman recovered at Orithena was his wife, Lise. During the Orb Four aut he serves as the Orth translator from the Laterran pavilion until emotion overtakes him during the chant for Lise.
• Suur Vay: The cell’s practical medical lead in orbit; she monitors vital readouts after launch and later notes that atypical core‑temperature readings for Fraa Jad and Jules Verne Durand reflect their refusal or inability to internalize the swallowed transponder pills.
• Magnath Foral: The Heritor of Elkhazg who welcomed Cell 317 during its overland journey and provided context on the site; on the Daban Urnud he and Erasmas exchange a brief reflection on the meaning of coequal Arbran representation at the signing.

Current Status

Ambulatory within the Daban Urnud’s Orbstack and attending opening ceremonies in Orb Four alongside the Arbran delegation. He participates in funeral honors for the fallen, confers discreetly with allies about the Everything Killers, and remains on oxygen support when needed while movement between orbs continues under escort.