Apert

Apert is a significant recurring observance within the mathic world. When Apert arrives, the gates are opened under ancient rules: for ten days, avout are free to go out and visitors from extramuros are welcome to come in.

This page covers Apert in general. For the present cycle's ten-day observance, see Decennial Apert.

First appearance and context

Apert is referenced during preparations inside a Decenarian math, where work is accelerated to be finished beforehand and senior avout review conditions beyond the walls. On the eve of a new year of the Reconstitution, it is stated that both the Unarian Math and the Decenarian community will celebrate Apert together, with the gates opening for the ten-day interval. In discussion among avout, the expectation is voiced that “more precautions” will be in place at Apert due to concerns about disturbances outside the walls. Immediately beforehand, a grandsuur led a structured review of Iconographies and their dangers; permission to go extramuros during Apert was made contingent on demonstrating sufficient understanding, after which the full cohort was approved.

At the turning of the year, the belfry cast coded bell changes to announce the opening, and a music-led rite synchronized to the clock culminated at sunrise as refracted light from the starhenge prism fell into the Mynster. The central weight, together with the cube and octahedron auxiliaries, descended, and the Day, Year, and Decade gates opened.

Role and function

Apert functions as a fixed deadline that shapes planning, maintenance, and outreach. Different cohorts observe it on different cycles. In the present cycle, Unarians and Decenarians share an imminent opening, while the Centenarians prepare for their rarer occurrence governed by the Centenarian Gate.

Public attention surrounding gate openings can intensify in long cycles (for example, around Centenarian or Millenarian intervals) as a Moshianic Iconography swells; this can draw pilgrims and heightened scrutiny, and is monitored as a risk during Apert.

Apert also marks intake and progression within the maths: all Collection and most graduations occur during this period. Cohorts such as the Tenners prepare to receive new members, and one Decenarian community expected to admit about forty entrants to maintain a nominal strength of three hundred. Some entrants come up from the Unarian math, while the balance arrive through Collection from extramuros, including the seeking of abandoned newborns in hospitals and shelters. Exceptionally promising One-off cases may graduate early via the labyrinth connecting the Unarian to the Decenarian math, though this has been reported only rarely (three instances within the period described).

Practices and preparations

• Avout gather and secure materials ahead of time, moving items “we really care about” into the labyrinths before the opening.
• Additional security measures are anticipated, with some concern that there may be “roughhousing” on Tenth Night around the opening.
• Briefings on iconographies and extramuros conduct may be required; access can be conditional on meeting safety standards set by hierarchs.
• Following the opening, a formal aut called Eliger is expected, when Tenners take a vow binding them to an order.
• Rites at the opening include coded bell changes from the belfry and a processional; music is synchronized to the clockwork. At sunrise the avout extinguish their spheres and the appointed weights descend to open the gates.
• During Apert, avout may briefly go extramuros; practical footwear such as tire sandals is commonly worn for city streets, as a tolerated extension of the Discipline.

Relationships and references

Apert’s outward-facing arrangements intersect with offices and authorities that watch beyond the walls. Within the math, this includes the Warden Fendant; in dealings with outsiders, avout refer to the Sæcular Power, sometimes nicknamed “the Panjandrums.”

Current status

Decennial Apert has begun: after the sunrise rite, the Day, Year, and Decade gates opened in concert. The community has moved from preparations to active observance, with limited passage between the math and extramuros underway.