Starhenge

Starhenge is a mechanical and architectural assembly set on the roof of the Præsidium, the central tower of the Mynster. It consists of megaliths, domes, pent houses, and turrets integrated with the same internal works that run the four great dials. The starhenge both drives, and is driven by, those clock‑works.

First Appearance and Context

The starhenge is described in the context of the Mynster’s clock and upper works. From within the chancel, looking up past the Præsidium’s pillars, it can be seen crowning the tower and tied into the mechanisms that govern the dials and rooftop apparatus. During a sunrise gathering, a beam of sunlight was seen to wash down an interior well from a quartz prism mounted at the starhenge’s summit.

Structure and Features

• Location: Perched atop the Præsidium’s roof, above the belfries and buttresses that bind the central tower to its outlying towers.
• Composition: An arrangement of megaliths, domes, pent houses, and turrets.
• Telescopes: The starhenge supports telescopes whose polar axes are driven by the clock as add‑on loads.
• Mechanism: Coupled bidirectionally to the internal works that operate the great dials.
• Quartz prism and light well: At sunrise, sunlight passes through a quartz prism at the starhenge’s top and washes down a well into the Mynster; observers noted a brief color shift (emerald at first, then a warm flesh‑like hue).

Relationships and Functions

• Integrated with the Mynster’s broader timekeeping and cosmographical apparatus; specific sub‑functions beyond this integration have not yet been detailed in the text.
• Add‑on loads: The clock expends most of its energy on auxiliary mechanisms such as bells, gates, orreries, and the polar axes of the starhenge’s telescopes.
• Sunrise illumination: The prism’s down‑well beam coincides with the clock’s daily operations at sunrise.
• Maintenance: The underlying chains, sprockets, and gear‑trains that route power through the system are cleaned and inspected by the Ita.
• Setting: Situated within the rooftop complex that also includes the outward watch from the Warden Fendant’s aerie and the inward‑facing vantage tied to the Warden Regulant, overlooking the surrounding Concent.

Current Status

Active and in place atop the Præsidium, functioning as part of the Mynster’s overall clock system as observed from within the concent.