Starhenge

First Appearance and Context

Seen from within the chancel and from the streets outside the walls, the megaliths rising from the perimeter of the Praesidium’s roof help onlookers take their bearings. During a sunrise observance in the Mynster, a quartz prism at the summit sends a beam of light down an interior well. Later accounts describe reaching the roof by interior stairs to view the ring of stones and the instruments set among them.

Roles/Actions and Affiliations

• Mechanically coupled to the clockworks: vertical shafts and chains descend from the roof into the tower, so the starhenge both drives and is driven by the same works that power the great dials and bells.
• Cosmography and observation: the roof supports major telescopes on driven polar axes, as well as a fixed all‑sky lens (see Clesthyra's Eye) used to record fast tracks across the heavens. Time‑integrated images from the Eye show star trails centered on the pole; objects in near‑polar orbits register as near‑straight tracks passing close to the pole star in separated passes across a night, enabling a working census of such “birds.” A prism‑based noon synchronizer adjusts the clock at noon when skies are clear.
• Access and Discipline: access routes spiral up through the tower; a door behind the great clock’s face opens directly onto the roof level. At night, portcullises in the high towers are controlled so that only one math at a time has use of the stair and roof, as directed by a hierarch (the Master of the Keys). During an exceptional period following the close of Apert, these portcullises were held closed even in daylight, temporarily sealing access; the reason was not stated publicly. After that restriction, a hierarch indicated that avout would soon be re‑admitted to resume observations.
• Use by avout: instruments may be reserved for scheduled observing; avout prepare photomnemonic tablets and aim the telescopes in advance when conditions may clear (e.g., the large instrument known as the Telescope of Saunts Mithra & Mylax, “M & M”). Clesthyra’s Eye accepts removable photomnemonic tablets protected by a dust cover at the Pinnacle; the M & M’s control chamber holds tablets in its objective. When the roof was sealed, some observations were carried out from a nearby vineyard at ground level using a handheld speelycaptor trained on the polar sky.

Relationships

• Integrated with the upperworks of the Mynster and the tower machinery of the Praesidium.
• Maintenance and practical support for clock‑coupled mechanisms are associated with the Ita.
• The rooftop setting stands above the aerie used by the Warden Fendant and the inward‑facing windows of the Warden Regulant, which look down over the Concent.

Descriptions/Characteristics

• Location: a broad, nearly flat stone roof reinforced by vault‑work, crowned by a ring of standing stones (megaliths) that mark rising and setting positions of celestial bodies across the year.
• Structures: the central Pinnacle rises to the highest point, wrapped in exterior stairs; nearby stand twin domes for the large telescope known as the Telescope of Saunts Mithra & Mylax, several smaller domes, a windowless laboratory for photomnemonic tablets, and a heated chapel used for work and instruction.
• Instruments: a prominent quartz prism mounted in a marble holder aims south to admit sunlight down to the clock’s synchronizer; a small fixed fisheye device (Clesthyra's Eye) looks straight up to capture the whole sky at once for measuring meteor tracks. A dust cover protects the Eye; its photomnemonic tablet can be inserted and removed when needed. A zenith mirror on a low pedestal stands adjacent to the Eye; both it and the Eye have been observed kept spotless with daily dusting and polishing by Ita.

Current Status/Location

Active atop the Praesidium, functioning as part of the Mynster’s timekeeping and observational complex. Ordinarily access alternates by schedule; recently, access was observed sealed under hierarchs’ direction—a measure regarded within the concent as unusual. During a period when access was restricted for several months, the twin telescopes of Saunts Mithra and Mylax remained aimed toward the northern sky. Following that sealed period, a hierarch communicated intent to reopen the roof for observations, with avout preparing to resume scheduled use when permitted.