Decade Gate

The Decade Gate is one of the time‑regulated portals of the great clock housed in the Mynster. It is tied to the ten‑year cycle of the clock and opens as part of the math’s long‑interval observances.

First Appearance and Context

Within the central complex of the Præsidium, the great clock is wound during the daily rite, and its mechanisms and weights are described in detail. Among these is an octahedron‑shaped weight mounted on rails along one of the Præsidium’s pillars; it rises a little whenever the clock is wound and, on its cycle, descends to open the Decade Gate. In conversation inside the concent, avout also speak of “walking out of the Decenarian Gate,” indicating the gate’s role in a ten‑year opening.

Structure and Features

• Actuation: The Decade Gate is mechanically actuated by the octahedron weight of the clock. As the clock is wound, the octahedron climbs toward its upper stop; over the course of ten years it descends to provide the power needed to open the gate.
• Materials and mounting: The octahedron is carved from black volcanic stone and rides on metal rails fixed to a Præsidium pillar, integrated with the broader system of chains, sprockets, gear‑trains, and escapements.
• Family of gates: It is one of several interval gates governed by distinct weights (e.g., the cube for the Year Gate, with other long‑cycle gates for century and millennium). The Decade Gate is the ten‑year member of this system.

Relationships and Functions

• Community usage: The Decade Gate is linked in practice to the decadal opening observed by the avout of the Decenarian Math, who refer to leaving via the “Decenarian Gate.”
• Maintenance: The clockworks that drive the gate are inspected and cleaned by the Ita, who tend to the machinery in the spaces behind and beneath the dials.
• Setting: As with the other time gates, the Decade Gate is part of the Mynster’s clock‑centered architecture, with its mechanisms anchored in the Præsidium.

Current Status

As recently observed from within the Mynster, the octahedron weight stood near the top of its track, indicating that the Decade Gate’s ten‑year opening is imminent.