Halls of Orithena

First Appearance and Context

The Halls of Orithena are recalled during the winding rite at Provener inside the Mynster, as the avout trace their liturgy back to the ancient ceremony once held beneath the Halls’ dome. The Halls are associated with Orithena as a primordial center of learning whose practices echo into current observances.

Structure and Features

The Halls are described as marble columns rising from the black volcanic rock of Ecba, supporting a vast dome pierced by an oculus. An analemma was marked on the floor beneath. Just before midday, the leader would stand on the analemma awaiting the shaft of sunlight from the oculus to pass over at noon, the moment celebrated by the singing of the Hylaean hymn.

Relationships and Functions

In very ancient times, theors gathered here to sing the Hylaean Anathem. Leadership is attributed first to Adrakhones and later to Diax or one of his fids. After the destruction of Orithena, surviving theors undertook the Peregrination and the old aut fell out of use. Much later, elements of that rite were adapted for worship across the maths in the Old Mathic Age and, after the Reconstitution, were revived in a new, clock‑centered form within the Mynster. The modern rite at Provener preserves the memory of the Halls’ midday ceremony even as it centers on winding the great clock.

An in-world dictionary entry identifies Kefedokhles as a fid from the Halls of Orithena who survived an eruption of Ecba and later became one of the Forty Lesser Peregrins, providing a named historical association.

Current Status

The Halls are presented as long destroyed and known only through tradition and liturgy. No surviving structures are shown in the present narrative; their legacy persists in practices observed within the Mynster.