The Sunspire

The Sunspire is an ancient tomb built for the Solar Exalted who made up the Circle known as the Incomparable Adjudication Sect, who ruled a set of principalities in the River Lands. The Incomparable Adjudication Sect elected to forego burial in Sijan, establishing the Sunspire tomb at the meeting point between their five principalities. Though they also constructed the Moonspire on the other side of the lake, the Lunar Exalted discovered it upon their return to Creation and looted its contents, destroying the site entirely.

The design itself is interesting — constructed like a manse, the Sunspire was not built on a demesne. Instead, it incorporated a wide variety of control mosaic artifacts that permitted visitors to channel Essence into its functioning to allow the various features of the tomb to function.

The Sunspire itself consists of three basic levels. The topmost, the Widows’ Walk is open to the sky, and is a glass-floored enclosure that looks down on the main floor. It is also enchanted to allow it to gaze into any one of the five Solar tombs by activating the controls to permit it to do so. There is no staircase or other means of accessing this area, however, as it was intended for the Lunar spouses of those interred within, and built under the assumption that those who would visit it can fly.

The main level serves as both antechamber and honored burial for servants of the Circle. Made up primarily of Dragon-Blooded and golden children, those buried here were rotated out on a fairly regular basis. When one of them was to be replaced, their predecessor was immolated through the Zenith Caste power and their ashes placed on the shelves in the Chamber of Legacies in the center of the room.

The Chamber of Legacies also acts as a massive elevator shaft, with the shelves on which urns and other memorials were placed descending deep into the water as the entire floor of the chamber descends. Then, the chamber opens into a five-sided room, with a sealed tomb door marked with an orichalcum seal in the shape of the Solar’s totemic anima. Only those Solars who bear those animas can cause the tomb to unseal, in order to prevent theft. Of course, the only exception to this is the tomb’s guardian, Sondok. The doors themselves are made of pure, solidified Essence — when the seal is touched and melts in the face of the anima, the door itself dissolves entirely.

Each of the tombs is a long hallway with a blue-white marble floor and a ceiling and curved walls made entirely of clear glass that looks out into the depths of the lake.

The Control Mosaics

Throughout the Sunspire, there are a variety of waist-high mosaics crafted of precious stones and trace amounts of the Magical Materials. They depict a very stylized heavenly patterns, with symbols representing the Incarna and a single jade and adamant planquette that adheres completely to the surface of the mosaic while sliding soundlessly along its surface. The stone on the planquette remains a glassy grey color, but by moving it over one of the symbols of the Incarna and investing it with a specific amount of Essence, it changes to a gemlike color that indicates that feature is active. They remain so for as long as the motes are committed, after which they fade in twenty four hours. These features are:

• Golden Sun: 3m. Activating the golden sun activates the Control Pillar in the Chamber of Legacies.
• Silver Moon: 5m. Activating this raises the lights in the Sunspire, channeling light into all the rooms. The light usually remains at a dim tone appropriate for a tomb, but the lighting can be increased to allow study of specific features by a simple act of will on the part of the one who invested the motes.
• Topaz Star: 5m. Investing motes into the topaz star activates the elevator floor in the Chamber of Legacies, allowing it to descend to the Five Tombs below.
• Sapphire Star: 3m. Investing motes into the sapphire star causes a wave of Essence to play over every surface in the tomb, clearing out dust, dirt and other messes that don’t belong.
• Ruby Star: 3m. Investing Essence into the ruby star activates the panoply vaults in the tombs, allowing them to be opened and accessed.
• Emerald Star: 5m. Investing Essence into the emerald star causes the Salinan Mosaics to light up, flashing through the sequences in the symbols and imagery to reveal the Sorceries encoded in them.
• Amethyst Star: 1m. Investing a single mote into the amethyst star causes the sacrificial braziers both around the central floor and in the Chamber of Legacies to ignite, ready to receive sacrifices for the dead.