Book

In the Mathic Society, the Book refers to a volume consisting of twelve chapters, some number of which are assigned to be memorized as penance for infractions of the Discipline. The content of the Book is designed to be illogically annoying, and becomes exponentially more complex and difficult to memorize. Each chapter is ten times more difficult than the previous chapter. The more an erring avout must memorize, the longer he or she spends in an austere cell and the greater the damage to his or her ability to learn or to process information in a useful manner. Memorization of a single chapter can take a day or less; Fraa Erasmas's penance of five chapters took several weeks. It should also be noted that not only must the avout memorize the information contained in the Book, but they are examined on the content by the Heirarchs.

Chapter One is nothing more than nursery rhymes salted with words that almost rhyme. It is a punishment for a child and is usually completed in an hour or two.

Chapter Four is five pages of the digits of pi (3.14159...); the number of digits is not revealed.

Penance of Chapter Six or higher can be appealed to the Primate and then to the Inquisition.

Chapter Twelve amounts to a sentence of life at hard labor in solitary confinement; only three avout have finished it in 3690 years, and all of them were profoundly insane.

Erasmas comments that the less said about the book, the better.

After Erasmas meets Fraa Jad, he comments that he had been disciplined with five chapters; Jad replies, "Nine."

Question: does sentance of say, Chapter 3, include having to everything up to and including chapter 3? I could not discern this from Raz's description.

Answer: That's right. The chapters are given in order and they must complete the first to move to the second. And Erasmas was basically given the highest chapter given out, because he could have appealed to the Primate is given the sixth.