The Orrery

In Qerodil the planar device known as the orrery is most commonly used as a medium of contact to anywhere outside the prime material realm. Scholars have assembled vast clockwork models to track not astronomical design, but the position of Qerodil in relation to elemental and ethereal boundaries. Unlike the predictable behavior of planetary revolution, eras of research have yet to determine the seemingly chaotic movement of many of these realms. This, in turn, makes dedicated careers of many of the followers in greater churches where these orreries are sanctioned, since it takes several hours of collective collaboration to maintain each planar position every day.
Documents on the orreries tend to specialize on the behaviors of a single plane and its functions relative to Qerodil. Texts have been known to be so dense that counselors have assigned their students academic reports on just one type of planar behavior as a form of punishment (such as truancy, or breaking curfew). These documents and practices provide insight on religious rituals, and they provide a correlation to the weave that scholars have come to rely on. Funeral dates, for example, tend to be held off until the boundary between Qerodil and Nedzeden, the city of dreams, ebbs for what is considered an easier passage into the afterlife.
Aside from describing the planar regions themselves and their trajectories, other texts about the orreries mention entities beyond the prime material realm and how they interact with it. Wraiths, djinni, devils, and the children's stories about them and many other kinds of creatures all have some placement in their respective locales within the greater balance of Qerodil. Although passage between them is tumultuous and rare, scholars are eager to learn ways to harness the potential of these realms.

Type

Report, Scientific