Crown Observatory

The Crown Observatory is one of the oldest standing structures in the World. It was constructed by the dragon born survivors of the Cataclysm, before they retreated into the bowels of the Tore, and represents both the first great work of architecture after the Cataclysm, and the last example of the high draconic architectural style.
The observatory proper is the centrepiece of the Dome of Stars, a great orrery at the top of the building. It contains many celestial models as well as six great telescopes. The least of these is a gnomish work, installed by the ash elves of Sept Hidrekazai, small but finely made. The largest was built in the last years of the Great Ophionic Empire and its sole purpose was to eclipse the instrument installed by the early Empire, which it does in size, but not in quality. Two Regime-era instruments provide some of the finest views, but the Eye of Tempus, the last original telescope in the Dome, is unmatched. The sixth, known as the left Eye of Shan, was installed by the Lich King's servants and is never used.
Below the Dome, the Residency houses bathing, cooking and sleeping quarters for the Dome's sages, scholars and custodians. Vast water pipes draw water up the narrow column of the Tower, which also houses the chairs, gears and counterweights which allow the Dome to turn, and the small lift to bring people and stores up and down.
The Tower's unnervingly slender height is supported by a monumental base called the pedestal, which also houses the Observatory's sworn protectors, an order of paladins called the Skyward Spears, and by the awesome span of the buttress, a soaring arch of stone linking the Tower to the Crown. Under the Hidrekazai, the Dome is home to a multiethnic group of scholars, as well as custodians drawn from the Sept. The scholars are divided into five groups, each one working with one of the telescopes to study the heavens. Each group is headed by a principal whose primary role is to allocate telescope time to the sages and scholars in the group (sage is the name given to those who study the sky from a theological perspective, while scholars are more scientific) and to fight for priority in the rotation of the Dome. The Dome's movement is controlled by the Sky Master, a retired sage or scholar who has final say on positional settings.