Telescope of Saunts Mithra and Mylax

First Appearance and Context

During an Apert climb to the roof of the Præsidium at the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a spiral stair encircles the largest vertical shaft—the drive that rotates the Telescope of Saunts Mithra and Mylax. On the roof‑level Starhenge, the instrument is associated with twin domes that dominate the platform alongside smaller domes, a heated chapel, and a workroom for photomnemonic tablets.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Integrated with the starhenge and the great clock: vertical shafts from the tower couple the telescope’s polar drive to the same works that power the dials and bells.
• Observational use: the starhenge telescopes are described as using newmatter mirrors with guide‑star lasers to sense atmospheric distortion and adjust their surfaces, gathering light and directing it into photomnemonic tablets for later study (e.g., long‑running records of nebulae).
• Access under Discipline: nighttime use of the stair and roof is controlled by portcullises so that only one math at a time may ascend, as set by a hierarch known as the Master of the Keys.

Relationships

• Namesakes: Saunt Mithra and Saunt Mylax.
• Complementary instruments: a fixed all‑sky sensor (“Clesthyra’s Eye”) shares the roof and records meteor tracks across the entire sky; a prism‑based zenith synchronizer adjusts the clock at noon when skies are clear.
• Practical support: the Ita are seen tending rooftop service points and cabling within the starhenge complex and are associated with maintenance of clock‑coupled mechanisms.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Setting and form: housed under twin domes on the starhenge; the telescope’s rotation is driven by a prominent vertical shaft rising through the tower.
• Optics and capture: described in‑world as employing adaptive newmatter mirrors guided by lasers, with images captured on photomnemonic tablets rather than through an eyepiece.

Current Status/Location

Installed and active atop the Præsidium on the Starhenge within the Concent of Saunt Edhar, used for scheduled astronomical observation under the community’s Discipline.