Lorites

Lorites are a mathic order—founded by Saunt Lora—whose members focus on tracing ideas to their earliest attestations and challenging claims of novelty. They are frequently described as annoying but useful: when someone proposes a supposedly new idea, Lorites converge to show earlier precedents, and more often than not they are right. This habit makes them valuable for preventing wasted effort and demands excellent scholarship from their members.

First Appearance and Context

The order is discussed by avout at the Concent of Saunt Edhar during an Apert‑time conversation explaining different orders and popular misconceptions. The mention frames the Lorites’ role within the broader mathic community.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Order within the mathic world devoted to historical‑philosophical scholarship.
• Assists other avout by identifying antecedents and related lines of thought, helping to avoid “reinventing the wheel.”
• Challenges claims of novelty by locating earlier sources and analogues for ideas.
• Associated with Saunt Lora’s Proposition (sometimes treated by orthodox paleo‑Lorites as the “Last Idea”) that truly new ideas are vanishingly rare.
• In later Edharian chalk‑hall work while analyzing the theorics of an orbiting visitor, some avout reported deriving proofs they believed were genuinely new on Arbre; within that discussion this was taken as counter to the Lorite stance on novelty.
• During a Plurality of Worlds messal at Avrachon’s Dowment, a Lorite participant (Grandsuur Moyra) offered pointed cautions about loose terminology and helped keep discussion anchored in well‑defined usage.

Relationships

• Reputation among other avout: “everyone loves to hate” Lorites, yet they are respected for their accuracy and diligence.
• Connected to the legacy of Saunt Lora through the Proposition that defines their stance toward originality.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Emphasis on meticulous citation, comparison, and precedent‑hunting.
• In discussion, Lorites often supply clarifying historical analogies and lines of argument recalled from past writers.
• Observed style and discipline include a shaved head and intricate knot‑work in dress—understood as daily acts of respect for predecessors and reminders of the labor required to sift new ideas from old. This contributes to a certain grandeur that can overawe younger avout.
• Typical Lorite caution about terminology: in one messal, a senior Lorite warned that the lay term “feedback” covers many distinct phenomena and urged precision.
• Practical vocabulary: a senior Lorite identified a grounded wire‑mesh enclosure that blocks wireless signals as a “Saunt Bucker’s Basket” (see Saunt Bucker).

Current Status/Location

Active within the maths and present at the Convox hosted at Saunt Tredegarh, where their reputation remains current: Procians and others invoke them as a check on speculative claims about the Geometers. At messals, Lorites have been seen facilitating understanding of complex theorics (e.g., Hemn space) by anchoring discussion in established scholarship.