Helian Sundials

Awldor    Technology      Helian Sundials

There are many ways to tell time. The light of the sun is one of the more reliable ones.

— Gregory Sunbeam, Librarian

Perhaps one of the more common sights in the Radiant City of Sol, and pretty much everywhere else within the Kingdom of Helia, are sundials. From family heirlooms passed down through generations to great works of art. Some sundials are great constructs memorializing important events or important figures in history such as the Great Palace Sundial. The sundial was the preferred method of tracking time as far back as during the Kingdom's early days as it was for other emerging tribes during the The Recovery. The most reliable sundials are enchanted to work with their own light source in concert with the movement of the sun allowing the device, when properly calibrated, to tell the time accurately. The Kingdom is home to several notable constructions of sundials located at the palace and elsewhere in the Radiant City.

The Zahra Sundial

A large sundial makes a distinctive landmark on the south side of The Radiant Palace. It is called the Zahra sundial after its architect. The plate of this sundial is large enough to be considered the palace's southern plaza, and the designs embossed into it's surface are made in the likeness of the twelve Helian Zodiacs. The sundial's elaborately decorative gnomon is a towering obelisk and it features a "living" lantern of a spherical design that provides the necessary light that allows time to be told throughout the night.
Small sundials made in the likeness of the Zahra sundial are often sold in Centrum. This is because the Helians prefer to craft their own or to keep one that was passed down generation after generation.

The Isaura Sundial

Constructed to honor Queen Isaura Solus known for her great defense of Sol in the face of the Great Undead Onslaught of 699AGC. This sundial is located in the Laura Gardens located in the city's western district and forms one of its central features. The plate of this device is a shallow pool with each hour marked by a lantern set atop a fountain. The pool itself is fed by a stream and feeds another stream. It also includes a school of Koi fish.

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Exotic Designs

Not all sundials follow the standard plate and gnomon template. Some designs are truly exotic works of art.
One such design is that of two crescents set perpendicular to each other with the plate set below them.
Another is a set of glass plates that bend light into a readable image on a selected wall.
Others are truly arcane inventions that are only readable to the mage who made them.

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Note(s) from the Archivists:

We have a large sundial in the garden. - Archivist Rena
Is it Helian make? - Archivist Edward
No, it was made in Lunaria. I think it's enchanted because it still tells time during the night when the moon is bright. - Archivist Rena