The Crystal Chronicles

The Crystal Chronicles are stained-glass murals depicted in the windows of High Palace. Of the many windows in High Palace, the Crystal Chronicles occupy the largest twenty, five arranged either side of the central front doors on the front and back of the palace. They illustrate people, deeds or beings that helped shape and sustain the city.

The First Window: Gwathredion and Irennae
These are the two most detailed figures in all the murals. Gwathredion is depicted beared and robed in purple, whilst Irennae gowned in green. They stand atop the hill of High Ostre, and below on the hill is a golden girdle. Between the two of them, running the full lenth down the middle of the panes is an iron bar to depict Ostre's straight shadow, and this itself casts a shadow into the palace chantry beyond to pay homage to the empyrean.

The Second Window: The Gathering in the First
The window shows not a scene, but the crests of the five townships to attend High Ostre in the Gathering in the First. From top to bottom, helm to boot, the emblems display Westing Vale, Marketown, High Ostre, Crianta, and Steaderstone.

The Third Window: The Mari
The window celebrates the first expedition to recover the infamous Mari flower. The glass is frosted to represent the snowpeaked mountain, and the five champions- one of each of the cities to attend the Gathering in the First- are climbing it, each sporting the colours of their banner portrayed in the second window.

The Fourth Window: The Filling of Canals
The four bridges leaping the great intersection of waterways are shown, celebrating the abolishment of wells and the completion of a dynamic water system.

The Fifth Window: The Vande Wars
In the background towards the top of the pane is the High Skryker of north Lamaria, whilst the lower portion shows a field of battle between the faction of the vande, and the faction of the Men, dhaarls and tallmaya.

The Sixth Window: The Pillar of Ostre
Reaching as high as the window itself the Pillar rises through the glass backdrop as not part of the pane, but a plane of tapering granite.

The Seventh Window: The Five King's Road
The scene concentrates on the cobbles, the foreground tiling each individual stone. At the top of the mural, in the distance, High Palace has been included, highlighting the archway under which the road passes.

The Eighth Window: Mendoah Incarnate
The window depicts Gevere, regarded as the greatest athlete ever to gace Rhoman. And so great he was, that the window was titled after the patron god of athletics, Mendoah, as many beleived no mortal man could acheive by nature such prowess on the sporting field. In the window, he is captured holding a javelin in one hand, and a boulder beneath his other arm.

The Ninth Window: The Spitting of the Splittern
Art of the Splittern Mountain Range runs up the pane, whist near the foot of the window a hammer and axe illustrate the endeavour carried out carving a pass through such terrain.

The Tenth Window: Plight of the Foulborn
Two graehls advance upon a man in the pane. One of the graehl's heads has just been severed, the swordsman pictured mid-swing with blood trailing from the blade. The Splittern Mountains can be seen in the distance. The man is thought to be Calissar, then-captain of High Ostre.

The Eleventh Window: The Navigation Slate
Honouring Artevelle, the first cartographer to map the whole of Rhoman. Part of the map is shown on the window with High Ostre in the centre, reaching from Highcliffe to Calling Hill tall, and Marketown to Crianta wide. Melted metal was dripped onto the glass to replicated the caligraphic scrawls of handwritten locations, whilst the glass was engineered to crack where roads be shown.

The Twelth Window: Pioneer West
Clavain captains the Brechlyn- named after his late only-child- on Man's pioneering voyage west into the Voyagelands. The window shows a three-sailed galleon floating into the sunset.

The Thirteenth Window: Signacarda
The window commemorates those who died during the signacarda plague which killed almost half the Rhoman population. The pane depicts the flying parasites swarming the witchdoctor.

The Fourteenth Window: Veluum and Sawyen
The window celebrates the two cultural icons of their day, who would thereafter be seen as arguably the greatest of their crafts ever born to Rhoman. Veluum was a poet, and is shown in the glass composing a verse of the Santevimare, an epic known by schlars across Lamaria, and a work beyond even the capabilities of the greatest of the Gaelin-Alvara. As he writes, he is depicted as carving the verse upon marble using an unquilled feater as a pen. And Sawyen, master amongst artists, is seen to be copying two flowers in a vase in front of him, one blooming and one wilted. On his easle he draws two wolves, one howling and one dead. The two men were great friends, and paragons of metaphor.

The Fifteenth Window: High Treason In Low Chambers
The window depicts Queen Sorendy spotting the dagger concealed in her servan't cloak. It follows the story of her tricking him into bending down to polish the floor, so that his coat falls open.

The Sixteenth Window: The Red Lochen
The Rhoman archers are shown trailing arrows across the Starfell Lochen as warships from Crianta and Valonbreach clash upon the lake. There are three ship flying gold sails, and two flying white. In the distance lies the wreck of a vessel of unknown allegiance.

The Seventeenth Window: The Death of Saint Elorddhin
The window shows the resting body of Saint Elorddhin, the longest-living Man in then-recorded history, and Priest of Ostre, who died aged 138. His life accolades decorate his body in the surrounding portrait, which is yellow and heavenly. These include a parchment denoting the decree he had had passed, a compass denoting his pilgrimages to the Pillar, a coinsack denoting his work in charity, a book denoting his academia and a broken sword denoting his pacifism.

The Eighteenth Window: The Leviathan Cataclysm
A colossal scorpion rears up as if to burst free from the glass, and before it, at the foot of the pane, a being dwarfed by the arachnid holds aloft a scepte of light.

The Nineteenth Window: Whitesteel
Jaymien the forgemaster succeeds in the manufacture of Whitesteel, the window depicting the thin, ivory blades.

The Twentieth Window: Lost World
Shows a valley within the Thanvil Mountains in which the Men of Rhoman took refuge during Lost World.

The Glass Ballads
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The Glass Ballads depict smaller deeds than the Crystal Chronicles, paying homage to people, deeds or events of the past or present. There are several hundred of these scattered throughout the palace, and cover things as diverse as wars to simple acts of charity. The size of window is used to match the size or significance of that it tells of.