Telescope of Saunts Mithra and Mylax

First Appearance and Context

During an Apert climb to the roof of the Praesidium 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 sits beneath 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 dials and bells.
• Observational use: the starhenge telescopes are described as using adaptive 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 (for example, long‑running records of nebulae).
• Retrieval and copy (current account): On direction from Fraa Spelikon, the Ita Sammann retrieved a photomnemonic tablet that Fraa Orolo had placed at the instrument hours before the Warden Regulant closed access to the starhenge; Sammann stated he made a copy before delivering it.
• Access under Discipline: nighttime use of the stair and roof is controlled by portcullises so that only one math at a time may ascend, managed by a hierarch styled the Master of the Keys.
• Colloquial name: it is commonly referred to as “M & M.”

Relationships

• Namesakes: Saunt Mithra and Saunt Mylax.
• 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: employs adaptive newmatter mirrors guided by lasers, with images captured on photomnemonic tablets rather than through an eyepiece.
• Control chamber and objective: a dedicated operating space within the rooftop complex provides access to controls and the objective mount where tablets are seated and retrieved.
• Configuration: frequently described as a twin set (twin telescopes), though treated operationally as a single instrument that can be slewed as one.
• Guide‑star laser signature: when scattered by smoke or dust, the guide‑star beam appears as a fine, grainy red ray; familiarity with this appearance has been cited when observers noted a similar red illumination shining from above on a math, implying a distant source.

Current Status/Location

Installed and active atop the Praesidium on the starhenge within the Concent of Saunt Edhar, used for scheduled astronomical observation under the community’s Discipline. During a period when access to the upper works was locked, it remained aimed toward the northern sky for an extended time, reflecting its last slewed position. The previously placed tablet has been retrieved on instruction as noted above.