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.
• Reference point for sky‑monitoring: avout explicitly speak of phenomena being observable from the starhenge—such as changes in the sun or auroral responses—reinforcing its role as the place to watch for such events.
• 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; avout contemporaries described being “locked out,” and actions by Fraa Spelikon and Warden Regulant Trestanas were noted in connection with the closure. At that time the upper works remained off‑limits, though the carillon below could still be reached via a ladder from the Fendant court. After a subsequent Sæcular notice delivered to the hierarchs, orders were issued to close every starhenge, with Inquisitors sent to ensure compliance; even after later widespread ringing of Voco, access at Saunt Edhar remained closed during this period.
• 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. Avout also improvised a darkened camera obscura in the belfry to project the sun onto a screen; short‑lived blue sparks crossing the solar disk were plotted by pinpricks to trace their course.
• Ita custodianship: Ita regularly clean optical surfaces, handle photomnemonic media, and manage access. On midday visits they have been seen retrieving sealed, dust‑jacketed tablet packages from other rooftop instruments, and—under bright conditions—using very dark protective goggles while monitoring the sun from the parapet.

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

Physically intact atop the Praesidium and integrated with the Mynster’s timekeeping and observational complex. Following the Sæcular order to close starhenges across the concents, access at Saunt Edhar and elsewhere was sealed by hierarch directive with Inquisitors ensuring compliance. Even after later events that made the orbital object widely discussed and Voco was rung, the roof was not reopened during this period; avout continued to rely on improvised ground‑based observations and instruments positioned at lower levels.