There was a disturbance in the mana. The venerable Eloxochitli of Sancta Civitas could feel it upon their refined senses. The mana had waxed and waned, not in an natural way. Something had caused the movement. It was too methodical, too predictable. The pattern was easy to discern. Unlike the usual movement of the mana. Which required one to delve far deeper to find its patterns. No, this was a deliberate disruption. A disruption that would require investigation. Their lord had already given them the task. He too had felt it. High the skies, the Qael’Naath had peered upon the world through the magical sense of the Winds and already discerned the cause of the strange phenomena upon his streams. A singular act caused ripples across the mana in no way he had seen before. It warranted further investigation, for it had made him curious. Sancta Civitas was the perfect place to observe it. So the task was given. The ever growing influence of The Library within Sancta Civitas began to move it’s lumbering reaching. The inner circle of the Curators requested a meeting with the city’s bureaucrats. Meanwhile the stockpiled gold was being gathered near The Library. Perhaps most importantly was the beseechment of the Builder-Priests to lend their hand to the construction. They were, after all, Artifex’s chosen. The right words were spoken, permission was granted. Yet this would not be like the main hall where The Vessels resided. Nor would it be like the Vault of Ink, which had already pushed the city’s architectural minds to their limits. The Eloxochitli of the Curators desired something that would do nothing short but inspire awe. Something so ingenious and beautiful that it would cement The Library as magic’s most prominent site. A place worthy of their still mysterious lord. The Builder-Priests, seemed to relish the challenge. Plans were drawn, scrapped, re-drawn, turned upside down, consulted upon, torn to shreds, burned and then pieced together again. It took a year for all parties to become satisfied. In that time vast quantities of rock had been moved from the nearby quarry and were already turning into Sancta Civitas’ distinct white stone. The second the bulbous toads shook the builder-priests’ hands on the design, construction began. Even the younger Itztli, spawned within Sancta Civitas itself, were helping. Even though they were but children still. Stone was raised in a pyramid shape. The inside remained hollow and was supported by great pillars carved with various runes of illumination. Offering a soft glow when mana was channeled through them. The last stone of the pyramid encased the room below. Allowing for only one small hole above. A beam of light fell through into the dark, cavernous hall below. The building wasn’t finished though. Above the pyramid the most daring, audacious and difficult part of the construction began. Large, square blocks were lifted up the pyramid and raised upon eachother. Forming a tall obelisk atop the structure. Below in the cavernous hall, Vespain Curators were constantly flying around the roof. Looking for cracks of weaknesses. There was a consant, faint, silent prayer to Artifex going on as the stones above were raised. They prayed that the whole construction wouldn’t collapse. When the capstone of the obelisk was finally put into place, the whole construction crew held its breath. Waiting for the Vespians below to should in alarm. Nothing came. When enough time passed, people cheered and laughed. A small feast was held, with a promise that tomorrow would be a free day for both Curators and builders. They had earned it, for they had moved the line of what was architecturally possible. The task was not done yet though. For a week later the Eloxochitli and their Itztli breathren hauled the gold they had saved up across nearly two decades from its vault. The inside of the obelisk had been slightly hollow. A channel ran from its tip down to the base of pyramid. Connecting it with the opening in the ceiling of the chamber below. The gold was forged and thinned into plates. Which were attached to the cap of the obelisk. Each plate was intricately carved with runes as per design. Below, in the chamber, a well was constructed in the middle of it. With four curved, golden claws held over the well. The Library had been a loyal and constant customer to the furniture makers of the city and now too did they put in their request for even more tables and bookcases. When the construction was done, a magical energy flowed from The Library’s main hall into the Omen-Spire. Followed by a singular Vessel, which placed itself upon the four claws. Right on cue, the ripples of an omen travelled across the spire’s top. The magic imbued in the gold condensed a single drop from the air. Which fell down along the inside of the obelisk, through the vessel and into the well. The vessel itself began to shift and change. Until it took the shape of a bowl with carvings on its bottom. The first omen’s ripples was recorded! [hider=Summary]The omen causes a disturbance in the mana. The highly attuned Eloxochitli are able to pick up on these magical energies and, with permission of both the city and their lord, commence the construction of another expansion of The Library. However, with the help of Build-Priests of Artifex, they are able to push the construction’s complexity even further. Pushing the very line of what is architecturally possible. The result is the Omen-Spire expansion: it detects omens and will record it’s ripples onto a Vessel that takes the shape of a carved bowl.[/hider] [hider=MP/DP & Prestige] [b]Artifex:[/b] - 1DP >> Upgrade The Library – Marvel of Construction I > II (agreed with [@DracoLunaris]) [b]Qael’Naath Start:[/b] 5MP/5DP - 2DP to give The Library title: Oracleothan I – This blessing allows for the gold-capped spire to detect the ripples upon the mana and confer its information into the drop. When this drop touches a Vessel, the information is transferred to said Vessel and the drop loses any magical significance. (-2DP, 2/5 for Harmony port) [b]Qael’Naath End:[/b] 5MP/3DP [b]Post length: [/b] 5K Characters +3 >> Builder-Priests [/hider]