The Civic Society

The Aurei Civic Society — properly, the Society of the Rings — is the great citizen institution of the island: a fellowship of every standing, devoted to the good keeping of the rings, the conduct of public works, the holding of lectures and debates, and the study of the Sayings of Master Ouen.

It is older than any living memory and admits any citizen of good report, from the wright and the ferry-pole to the masters of the guilds and the Hundred of the Concord; within its hall, rank is left at the door, and a marble-cutter may answer a Heliarch across the floor. It is governed by a Speaker and a rotating board of stewards, and works through a great many committees — for the bridges, the festivals, the calendar, the relief of the unfortunate, the welcome of guests, and the thousand small matters by which an island is well run.

It meets in its domed hall on the second ring, keeps the island's records and observances, and holds its open lectures beneath the oculus on market-days — among the chief pleasures of the city, and the surest place for a visitor to take the temper of the rings. Guests are welcome at the public sittings and at the long library, on the introduction of a member.