The Observatory

The Observatory is a tall viewing platform and a windowed structure offering a splendid view of the sky, renowned as a place to study Nyx, the home of the gods. Special crystals shaped by thaumaturges and blessed by the oracles of the gods enhance the view, making it easier for observers to see the workings of the gods among the stars and constellations. Priests, mages, and philosophers interpret what they see in the Observatory as signs and omens from the gods.
The Observatory is overseen by a spindly, grayed human named Janax. Janax takes his duties seriously, and will relentlessly regulate who is allowed to ascent to the top of the Observatory.
The Twelve regulate entry into the Observatory. While permission is routinely granted for citizens, at least one member of The Twelve must vouch for a non-citizen before they may enter.
On the slope of Mount Dindaro, at the end of a road considered almost sacred and away from the lights of the city, but in sight from every point of it, rises majestically the colossal Nyx Observatory. The building is divided into different floors open to the sky in large windows to the outside and colonnaded terraces to its gigantic inner courtyard, presided over by an armillary sphere of pure magic with representations of the constellations and with its center in Meletis itself. The lower halls hold an extensive collection of books centered on the observation of Nyx and the messages read by oracles and scholars, understood as prophecies and universal laws. Different observation lenses, magical and mechanical, decorate the openings to the outside. The interior remains in semi-darkness, softly illuminated by the lights emanating from the stars of the armillary sphere. The movement of scholars and priests is constant, but there are hardly any distant murmurs and the propitiatory silence of the study is respected. Faithful devotees of Keranos whisper their chants amidst incense accompanied by their oracles, while the clergy of Ephara carefully arrange the bundles of knowledge read in the heavens. The highest floor, with a golden pyramidal roof, holds an inner dome that, under the orders of oracles and priests, reflects Nyx itself as if at night. Several large lenses and stone tables allow the highest officials to study the cryptic laws hidden in Nyx, even with the sun overhead. Outside, a huge stoa surrounds the building to the north. Here travelers and petitioners in search of answers refresh themselves and eat at long stone tables while waiting to be attended to by priests and experts. To the east, a building of considerable size serves as quarters for scholars, in dozens of sober cells with a central courtyard covered by a golden dome under which a sculpture of Ephara allows worship of the goddess.

Type

Observatory / Telescope