Darsaidal

High in the North Apers Mountains on the border of Nadrass and Athor is a vast, cloud-shrouded fortress belonging to the Timekeepers, a Darsian monastic order specializing in healing and the unravelling of the universes' greatest mysteries.

Purpose / Function

The Fortress of Knowledge, or Darsaidal, is actually one of the few remaining intact buildings from the Tentarren Era which still serves its original purpose--the pursuit, collection and preservation of knowledge in all of its forms. Built to withhold all but the worst cataclysms, Darsaidal is accessible by an arduous pilgrimage through the highest peaks of the Heavensrim Icefields, and the thin atmosphere requires acclimatization at several stops along the way, lest the traveler become altitude-sick. People who go there to join the Order or study typically study the intricacies of the past, or are at the forefront of current medical knowledge.

Alterations

An earthquake in the year 567 collapsed part of the mountain the building was located on and so extensions in the Middle Years style became necessary to structurally support the monastery. These extensions take the shape of towers, arches and buttresses. The towers became an easier way to access the monastery, although most who do the pilgrimage still prefer the steps of healing.

Architecture

The style is in the astrumite-based Ancient Tentarren style, with some fragments being over thousand years old. After the earthquake of 567 where half of the cliff below the monastery collapsed down a few stories, stonework in the style of the Middle Years were added onto the building.

Tourism

Darsaidal has also historically served as shelter for people fleeing their homeland, as well as a site of education for Andellion's future monarchs. In recent history, prince Andrion Falloren of Fyron was sent there to study by his parents, a year before the Flaming Year, the year in which the Order of Vaëlddra staged a coup to turn Fyron into a theocracy.

Alternative Names

The Fortress on the Roof of the World, The Fortress of Knowledge

Type

Monastery

Parent Location

Andellion

Owning Organization

Order of Timekeepers