Ten-Thousand-Year Math

The Ten-Thousand-Year Math (sometimes called the Wandering Ten-Thousand-Year Math) is referenced as a story within the mathic world. According to the account recalled by an avout, a gate somewhere once opened and avout emerged claiming to be Ten‑thousanders celebrating Apert. This claim is broadly considered implausible under commonly taught history, which holds that avout in their current form have existed since the Reconstitution—far short of ten millennia.

First mention and context

The idea surfaces during preparations for Apert at the Concent of Saunt Edhar, where it is brought up in conversation as one of the "crazy stories" fids have heard. In that setting, the tale serves as a springboard for discussing whether a math could become so causally isolated from the world extramuros that its flow of time would slip relative to the outside—an idea framed as "Causal Domain Shear."

Nature and status

• Status: unverified and likely apocryphal. The narrative is treated with skepticism by avout who note the mismatch with received timelines since the Reconstitution.
• Character: presented as an order of avout ("Ten‑thousanders") whose Apert would recur on a vastly longer cycle than any recognized math.
• Usage: invoked as a thought experiment about extreme isolation rather than as an accepted historical cohort.

Relationships and comparisons

Within the mathic world’s known structure, Ten‑thousanders are contrasted implicitly with established communities such as the Centenarians and the Tenners, whose cycles are comparatively short and whose maths are recognized and locatable. The Ten‑Thousand‑Year Math, by contrast, has no confirmed site, rites, or records beyond anecdotal mention.

Records

The story is said to have been noticed in the concent’s historical materials (the Chronicles), but its veracity remains uncertain and is used pedagogically to provoke questions about time, separation, and observation.

Current status

No confirmed sightings, locations, or members are known. Within the narrative to date, the Ten‑Thousand‑Year Math functions as a cautionary or illustrative example rather than a documented organization.