Overview
Orreries are Soltherian essence-harnessing machines invented by Thalvian under Aurion's command. The first celestial orrery draws star power for Aurion's plan to fight the Land of Darkness, and Soltheris later offers the machines to the rest of Xalmyrra.
Design and Function
An orrery is a large machine of wood, mirrors, carved metal frames, rotating wheels, and essence-handling components. The first celestial orrery uses five essence cores in a central slot and emits a white beam as it gathers power. The first model is designed to draw energy from the stars. Later models harness raw essence.
The machine supplies concentrated essence to mages. Power drawn from an orrery can feed starfield barriers, gate activation and stabilization, healing, large earth spells, and lava attacks. Portable later orreries can be moved by cart, dragged across hostile terrain, or placed beside gates.
Orreries become dangerous when pushed past tested limits.
History
Aurion commissions the celestial orrery as Soltheris faces pressure from the spreading darkness. He offers to make the technology available to all of Xalmyrra if Brynor defeats him in a duel. The device draws star power for spells.
At the first demonstration outside Zeydrith, Thalvian activates the orrery with five essence cores. Aurion draws on its power to cast a massive starfield barrier. The machine continues running after its cores are removed. Brynor destroys it, and the runaway machine deepens the political fallout around the cataclysm and Seralyth's death.
Aurion refuses to abandon the technology. He orders Thalvian to build as many orreries as possible, rebuilds the project after the cataclysm, and tries to use a later orrery with Eira near the Soltheris-Teryndal border. That machine is consumed when Eira's eruption annihilates most of both armies and transforms the battlefield with new life.
Soltheris later offers orreries across Xalmyrra as shared tools. The gift gives Soltheris leverage because other nations may owe favors, information, or cooperation in exchange for an orrery.
Uses
- Brynor and Khoradyn drag two orreries on the Land of Darkness expedition and draw on their stored power for a massive lava attack near the temple.
- Aurion, Brynor, Renneth, and Thalvian use orreries to activate and stabilize gates, including the gate beneath the council hall.
- Ilyra stabilizes Lirien's damaged essence using Aurion's orreries.
- Xarion and Maric acknowledge that an orrery has been useful in cleanup after the cataclysm.
- An earlier gate attempt used an orrery alongside Renneth, Thalvian, and Brynor.
Political Tensions
The orrery project intensifies suspicion around Aurion and Soltheris. After the cataclysm, the machines deepen Xarion's suspicion of Aurion. Aldar values Thalvian's engineering for gate research and Xalmyrran defense.
The cataclysm's root cause is the cycle collision after Eira takes Xol'Zahir's shard. Completed orreries operate afterward. The first orrery failure leaves the technology politically charged, especially because Aurion keeps using it to argue that Soltheris can save Xalmyrra from darkness.
Limits and Risks
- The runaway force inside the first model exceeds Brynor's own essence.
- Eira fails to draw useful power from the rebuilt orrery when Aurion expects her to use it.
- Difficult gate activation and stabilization still depend on Thalvian's engineering and powerful mages.