Skywatch is an ancient observatory perched near the summit of one of the tallest peaks in the Kharvorn Mountains, on the northern edge of the Blueshale range. The peak itself—unnamed on most maps, simply "the great mountain"—rises so high that its summit is perpetually shrouded in cloud, and the air at its heights is too thin for most creatures to breathe.
The Observatory
The ruins of Skywatch cling to a shelf of rock just below the cloud line, positioned to have an unobstructed view of the sky in all directions. The builders—their identity lost to history—constructed the observatory from a pale stone that seems to glow faintly at night, and they carved channels and apertures into the structure that align with celestial bodies at specific times of year.
Whatever instruments once filled Skywatch are long gone, looted or destroyed or simply crumbled to dust. But the structure itself remains, its angles and proportions suggesting a sophisticated understanding of astronomy and mathematics. Scholars who have made the dangerous climb report that the ruins still function in some capacity—that on certain nights, when the moons and stars align, the channels fill with light and the walls seem to hum with dormant power.
The Climb
Reaching Skywatch requires ascending through wyvern territory, navigating unstable scree slopes, and enduring the brutal cold and thin air of extreme altitude. Most expeditions fail before reaching the observatory. Those that succeed must contend with whatever has taken up residence in the ruins—the place is rarely empty, though what occupies it seems to change with the seasons.
Purpose
The original purpose of Skywatch remains debated. Some believe it was purely astronomical—a place to study the movements of the celestial bodies. Others note its position on an air leyline and suggest it may have been built to harness or observe aerial magical phenomena. A third theory holds that Skywatch was a watchtower in the most literal sense—built to monitor something approaching from the sky, something the builders expected and feared.
The last theory gains support from certain inscriptions within the ruins, which speak of "the eye that never closes" and "vigilance against the falling dark." What this darkness might be, and whether it ever came, the inscriptions do not say.