Mechanical Timekeeping

In addition to calendars, clocks have been used with varying success. The first mundane clocks are believed to have been the water clocks of Viray Syldar. From western Terèðor, the secrets of clockmaking moved south into Juduth and Kirydis before appearing in the Dekàlan lands that would become Panæð. By 600 AR, a great water clock was constructed in Panæð that would run until the Dekàli invasion of 114 AR, though some place the date of its failing (the feeding spring dried) as 117 AR, the year Ismir was martyred at Lanàdus. The first mechanical clock is believed to have been constructed in Prais circa 490 HK. The workings of this clock filled a castle donjon and was kept running by shifts of wheel-walking slaves that worked day and night. The clock’s time was displayed on three faces that indicated minute, hour, and day of the month. A later modification to the Prais Clock included an animated turret where moons revolved on metal arms to display phases and eclipses.

Mechanical clocks did not appear in Dekàlas until the following century when the Pryr Roð returned from Kirydis with secrets of the new clock-making. The Kirydian clocks were oddities in the Old Empire since magical clocks had existed for centuries. Construction of the Iron Clock was completed in 554 HK. The large faced timepiece was mounted above the main gate of the Southern Keep at Kre Dulnar. Unlike the slave-driven clock of Prais, the new Oðári clock needed turning only once daily, a duty given to Roðite acolytes. By 625 HK, smaller timepieces were designed and soon became a “required” accessory among the wealthy classes throughout Dekàlas.