Ailhedenneg
Purpose / Function
The Ailhedenneg complex is the headquarters of the Lavigerien Guild, serving as the primary nerve center of their complex navigational network. While larger examples of the technology held within existed in the past, the facility at Menez-Mikael is the largest remaining accessible and in operation. The control of this facility and knowledge of its sophisticated inner-workings has granted the guild a near-monopoly on influencing trade and exploration in both Bedoaur and Faerie.
From the island facility, the guild coordinates with its satellite observatories, smaller map-rooms and on-ship navigators, using their input and elaborate machines to track and provide navigational expertise across the ever-changing world.
Architecture
The Ailhedenneg is located on the island of Menez-Mikael, a fortified mountain rising up from the tidal flats of the bay bearing its name. While the entire island serves to the benefit of the Guild, the Ailhedenneg itself is the complex built on the flattened peak of the island, reached by a long a winding network of ramps and stairways from the residential and commercial town at its base, through the administrative sectors along the slopes.
Twelve towers, each tied to a direction of Gaoithe Sidhe ring the complex, built into the hillside at different levels. Each of these is capped with an open, covered room housing a spiderweb-like construct of thinly spun crystal, each corresponding with the colour of its respective wind. These resonate to their own and, to a lesser extent, their immediately adjacent neighbors frequencies, sending signals to the central tower housing the Armillary Sphere. Each tower also houses observatories and offices, as well as a cloistered terrace. Some of these are surrounded by buildings, while others are open to the air, overlooking the sea around the island.
At the center of the complex is a tower housing the maproom and Armillary sphere, as well as the rooms and offices of the Archimago. The core of this structure is filled with three separate devices that are used in conjunction with each other to create complex mathematical formula to translate the machine's esoteric data into a usable format.
At the base of the complex is a massive circle of tiny basalt hexagons. When not in use, these remain flat, each interlocking like a puzzle. When active, these columns rise and fall into a three dimensional representation of Alvez, along a general topographical lines. A large ambulatory surrounds this map, which is ringed by a series of large brass rings. The map can be adjusted, the basalt columns re-arranging themselves as the Ailhedenner zoom and pan over the map for closer inspection. While ruined facilities in Tolosa (The Dome) and Ys-Beneath-the-Waves once possessed larger maps capable of seeing all of Letha and the Fortunate Isles, the facility at Menez-Mikael must switch between smaller scopes as they pan around the map.
In a large room to the side is a large, flat machine of parallel brass disks and rings, each with small pegs in a constant rotation. These pegs represent the surface ships and caravans being tracked by the Arvestourien and Lavigerien in satellite observatories and on approved vessels respectively. These disks are in constant motion, with a peg's distance from the center post measuring the relative distance from the facility. These pegs are shunted between the disks at high speeds as new data comes in or adjustments are made based on projected routes. These are compared to the central maproom.
The largest and most complex of the systems sits above the maproom, a 3 dimensional machine of whirling brass and bronze rings and spheres of polished stone, all moving in constant revolutions around a center point. This contraption is used to monitor aerial and phantom vessels and locations. The mechanisms behind this device are known only to the Archimago and select Ailhedenner, but allow real time tracking of these entities, even in Faerie.
History
The peak of Menez-Mikael was obliterated during the Battle of Meneziou Are, the surrounding region left a magically active crater. The seawater rushed over the sandflats, making the low lying area surrounding the facility into a tidal island. The precursors of the Lavigerien Guild, Arkanists in the service of Gradlon Mwar of Kernev secured the magically active site, establishing it as their headquarters during the Empire of Ys and establishing the Ailhedenneg on its flattened summit.
Initially created as a simple keep and observatory, the facility, located at the center of a powerful leyline network, grew, with new facilities added as the technology housed within was rediscovered or invented. To support these facilities, administrative and logisitical buildings, such as dining halls, dormitories and archives were created, following by supporting industries such as blacksmiths and grocers, creating a vibrant community in the lower levels of the hill.
Founding Date
32 SI
Alternative Names
The Armillary, Menez-Mikael, The Rings
Type
Observatory / Telescope
Parent Location
Ruling/Owning Rank
Owning Organization
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