Evoked

Definition

“Evoked” (capitalized) denotes a formal status in the mathic world for someone—most often an Avout—who has been called out from cloistered life to act extramuros. The status is ordinarily conferred through the Voco aut; during broader mobilizations, the term is also used for cohorts traveling under a Convox.

Context and Usage

• Within a Concent, Evocation is treated as a solemn departure distinct from ordinary Apert travel. Speakers inside the walls may treat an Evoked person as effectively gone; only when circumstances change (for example, when a Convox is declared or when one is oneself Evoked) does renewed contact become possible.
• Directives to the Evoked can include explicit destinations. In current accounts, a cohort from the Ringing Vale reported being Evoked and instructed to proceed to Tredegarh, choosing an efficient route through nearby cities.
• Gate practice at Orithena: a gate official states that someone who “has been Evoked, and despatched to Convox at Tredegarh” may not present himself at a different math (walled cloister) elsewhere; the expectation is to proceed as directed.
• In the same exchange, the official contrasted this with those on whom the Anathem (expulsion rite) has been rung down, who are said never to re‑enter a math.
• In ordinary speech, people use participial phrasing ("was Evoked," "got Evoked") and may infer the status of travelers on sight—whether organized cohorts or bolted and chorded avout seen singly in towns—e.g., “They must have been Evoked.”
• Evoked is distinct from being feral, which describes an avout living extramuros without a formal calling.
• During a Convox, Evoked cohorts may be pre-assigned into cells as part of an Antiswarm plan, with designated leaders and typically including some Ita. Instructions and rendezvous points can be issued later over the Reticulum; Evoked are sometimes issued rucksacks and a dormant badge that activates when dispersal is ordered. Public distribution of such kits serves as a visible deterrent by signaling readiness to scatter.

Perception and Culture

• Adjustment to life extramuros after being Evoked can be abrupt. Some avout describe the constant presence of jeejahs and Reticulum traffic as more jarring than the move itself, echoing the culture shock many experience during Apert.
• Rumor and dark humor surround Evocation in tense times; one avout mentions hearing that Evoked persons might simply be taken away and killed. Accounts observed to date instead show Evoked being organized for demanding praxic tasks. The rumor is recorded as an expression of fear, not as fact.
• Speakers use first‑person phrasing (“we were Evoked”) to refer to their own status after the calling, indicating the term’s adoption as a self‑descriptor.
• Evoked cohorts often coordinate with support cells in the Antiswarm over the Reticulum; when necessary, communication may be minimized or hard‑wired to avoid detection during operations.

Related Terms

• Voco: the rite by which a person is formally called out.
• Convox: a named mass assembly and its host concent for Evoked cohorts.
• Avout: members of the mathic community most commonly described as being Evoked.
• Concent: the walled community from which Evoked individuals depart.

Notes

Usage varies in nuance. Some reserve “Evoked” strictly for those named in a Voco, while others apply it broadly, during a Convox, to anyone traveling under its direction. This page preserves in‑world variation and the ambiguity speakers maintain about the term’s scope.