Windawill: The Grayglass Domes
Transit
To get to the Grayglass Domes, one must first reach the Saltwater Plains. There are multiple ways of doing this, but the most reliable and comfortable way for most tourists is to reach either the town of Mémré or the city of Damasi.
Tours to the Grayglass Domes operate out of Damasi on a weekly basis, run by courteous and knowledgeable guides with years of experience. The Brushwik Tour Group is my preferred company, but I am also quite experienced as a tourist and don’t require much in the way of amenities or structure. Newcomers to the Grayglass Domes could instead opt for Anwyn Tours, a reasonably priced company that provides well curated tours that cover each of the Domes in full. Anwyn Tours is a good choice if you don’t want to miss anything.
If you don’t have much money, you can charter a flow-stone bus to the Alep Dome for the fairly cheap price of 4 dales, and wander the Domes yourself. This is a relatively safe option if you take reasonable precautions.
Mémré’s Dust Train travels through the Saltwater Plains on a regular schedule. Tickets to the Grayglass Domes are only 2 dales apiece, though getting to Mémré may be pricier than Damasi. Mémré is home to the Guild of Saltwater Rangers, the local caretakers of the Saltwater Plains, and Guides can be hired for a nominal fee. If you can find a ranger you get along with, this is probably the best way to experience the Domes, as the rangers know countless details you might find interesting.
The Place
The Grayglass Domes, also sometimes called the Cities of Clearmetal, are composed of the four domes — Alep, Barna, Guraph, and Denethon.1 While they are classified as ruins by the Windawill Conclave of the Past, the Grayglass Domes are not made of crumbling stone or overgrown streets. In spite of their age, the domes are immaculate, both inside and out. The buildings are polished clean and the roads well kept.
Historians and sages still debate the domes’ purpose. While the buildings obviously suggest a town or city, many of them have no clear doors, windows, or other entries. This has lead some sages to suggest the Grayglass Domes were intended as a kind of massive art installation or even a book. This theory is supported by the shear volume of walls and plinths that are covered with ancient symbology, some of which is obviously language. Detractors of this theory do little more than point to the absurdity of building four large city-blocks instead of binding sheets of paper.
In spite of generations of work, the language remains untranslated, both due to it uniqueness and the lack of any comparable translations. Without some form of Rosetta Stone, there is little chance this ancient text will ever be translated.
This hasn’t stopped tourists and scholars of all kinds from providing their own theories. Some believe it is an account of this lost civilization, carved into the buildings as a living record of its history. Whether this was done on an ad hoc basis or planned out beforehand is unclear, and a large number of possibilities have been suggested: from each building having its own separate chronicle, to the history being written along multiple “plot-lines” reaching from the center of each dome outwards like spokes of a wheel.
Another common theory is that the writing is some kind of religious code, similar to the Code of Hammurabi or the Bible. This theory is predicated on the regular inclusion of repeated images and iconography across the different domes, the most recognizable of which appear to be gatherings of people in a town-hall-like setting. The fact that there is only one of these images per building suggests as single law or “moral” per instance.
Historically, the Grayglass Domes have no clear origin. While many ancient texts from multiple cultures mention their discovery, there is no reliable record of their creation. The earliest record of the Domes resides in the Poem of Fire, a historical poem passed down through Windawill culture. In the Poem of Fire, a band of explorers travel to a land of soft grass and bare skies that cradles four towns of a fat and noble folk. There is little clue as to which folk these “fat and noble” people might have been, but the Domes are now visited by people from all over the world.
There is one notable exception to this: for some as-yet unexplained reason, certain people are prevented from entering the Grayglass Domes. There is no physical barrier, but any intent or desire to enter the Domes simply vanishes. Whether this is some psychic, magical, or incredibly advanced technological barrier is as yet undetermined.
Many studies have provided no clear distinction between those who feel this repulsion and those who do not. People who have been forcibly moved inside the Grayglass Domes against their will report feeling incredibly uncomfortable and have tried to leave at the earliest opportunity. No long-term effects have been noted, though visitors are encouraged to avoid fighting their natural inclinations to avoid the Domes. Best estimates are that 13% of the population is repulsed by the Grayglass Domes. If you book your visit to the Domes through a tour group, most have a comprehensive refund policy if you end up being part of this percentage. At the same time, I would strongly suggest planning a secondary itinerary if this is your first time visiting.
Once you are in the Grayglass Domes, be prepared for an architectural delight. When I first visited the domes, I had a local as my guide; when I expressed the sense of awe that I felt walking among the pristine and elegant buildings, she told me that I was far from alone in my feelings. She had had seven tourists faint on her, she said, not due to heat or exhaustion, but pure amazement.
I found it remarkable that these buildings could cause such an effect, being built from nothing more than common stone, but my guide corrected me. While the paths and streets are simple diorite, the buildings were made of an odd conglomerate material that geologists have called a “stone alloy.” Somehow, the stones that compose the buildings in the Grayglass Domes are a mostly homogeneous mix of pockets and veins of igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks. How this composition and structure of rock was created baffles geologists to this day.
On top of this, the composition of “grayglass” is likewise a mystery. Attempts to study the material suggest that it is a glassy silicate, but of a hardness far greater than any substance yet devised.2 Any and all methods to either collect a sample or study its molecular structure have proven unsuccessful.
Whether these odd materials influence the otherworldly atmosphere or not is an open question. Nevertheless, as I walked among these ghostly streets with clean and polished structures rising around me, with the faint prismatic sheen glittering on the domes above me, I could not help but feel like I was transported to someplace both more and less than earthly.
This was an experience marred — I hesitate to use the word — only by the presence of other visitors wandering the same streets and marveling at the same buildings. It somehow pushed this strange and wonderful unearthliness back to the real world. This liminal stillness wasn’t a dream, it wasn’t some manufactured ghost-story; it was real, as solid as you or me.
Some might wonder at the value of walking a waking dream, but I myself return to the Grayglass Domes once a year. Just wandering the streets of this strange half-world, with signs I cannot read, citizens I cannot see, a history I can never understand…it is a kind of meditation achieved through wandering.
A created world sits around me; built for a purpose, filled with echoes of an unknown past, and at once welcoming and inscrutable. There are no answers to be found here, and the more I study the strange and unfamiliar language — for it remains unfamiliar, no matter how many times I return — the more I realize I will never truly be a part of any place I visit. I am a guest in the world as a whole. The act of being a foreigner in a foreign land is in its own way holy, a spiritual practice of separation and reunion.
Accommodations
Outside the two cities of Mémré and Damasi, there is no local accommodation. While the Legend of Fransc Regimald has quite a lot of truth to it, it is not a historical text. The Queen’s offer to shelter Fransc in the Grayglass Domes is apocryphal at best, and the local authorities will not permit anyone to sleep or harbor themselves in the domes.
Instead, the famous Stayawhile Inn at Damasi is your best option. Housing over a hundred rooms, the Stayawhile Inn has comfortable beds and several amenities for a fairly reasonable price, considering the luxury it provides.
Of significant note is the inn’s dining room, available to guests and patrons alike. The Stayawhile Dining Room has no menu, but instead will cook anything you ask for. I have never had an occasion where they claimed they couldn’t cook my request, no matter how exotic I assumed the recipe, much less the ingredients.
If you are planning to stay in Mémré, I have had a lot of luck with Daddy Hoba’s. Hoba himself lives alone with five empty rooms that he regularly rents out, though I have never in my life been turned away because of no vacancy. For whatever reason, whether some supernatural fortune or magical influence, if you want to rent one of Hoba’s rooms, there will be space.
If you prefer a less rustic room, the Clean Sheet Hotel is an excellent place to stay, though it is slightly higher-priced than most hotels. The proprietor, a young lady by the name of Gwemalyn Sele, is more than willing, however, to offer odd jobs and services in place of payment. This is not a method of discount, however; do not ask for a job to reduce your bill. She will not accept, and may take offense. Only mention this option if you truly cannot afford the price and have nowhere else to stay.
Things to Do
Apart from the Grayglass Domes, there are several locations of interest around Mémré and Damasi.
Damasi, for example. is home of the Cloud Arena. In ancient times, the Arena was used as a punishment for criminals and traitors to the Crown. Gladiatorial combat, deadly gantlets, and animal fights were commonplace. Nowadays, the arena has become much less lethal; sport competitions are held regularly, while musical and theatrical performances also sometimes take place.
The arena still holds two kinds of gladiatorial combats; Goph shows, and Rrens. These can be roughly translated into play and sport shows, as the Gophs are largely theatrical recreations or historical performances; one might draw a parallel to modern performative wrestling. Rrens, on the other hand, are legitimate fights with each contestant attempting to defeat the other, though with rules designed to prevent any lasting physical harm. Rren fights are closer to fencing matches or martial arts competitions.
Seeing the Halls of Crystal is generally accepted as a two-day endevor, though particularly efficient tourists may see most of what they want in one. The Halls of Crystal sit at the top of Raggs Plateau, just outside of Damasi. Visible for several miles, the Halls of Crystal are perhaps one of the most beautiful buildings in all of Windawill. Built as a gift for the Countess of Spears, the Halls of Crystal were reclaimed by the populous seven generations ago.
Now, the Halls are kept clean and polished by volunteers and unfortunates who have been convicted of low-level offenses. Service in the Halls is also a regular punishment for those who wish longer but lighter sentences. Do not let this fact discourage you; community service in the Halls of Crystal has become something of a mark of honor by the locals. While volunteering is lauded and appreciated, something of the unchosen nature of the community service has given it a prideful place among the populous, much as a tour of military service might be honored by another.
I myself have found that the balcony of Madam Frogarre’s Oven Café at around twenty mintues past high-noon to be the ideal time and place for viewing the entirety of the Halls of Crystal. I also advise purchasing a “Reddened Rum,” Madam Frogarre’s specialty.
At sunset, you can take a walk along the Stardust Boulevard and watch the sea-wrens fly in from the water to nest, their glittering plumage like fireflies. It is traditional to have a cup of herbal tea or the local petalwine while taking an evening walk. I suggest trying the Rinz-flower petalwine; its gentle sweetness give it a light yet creamy dessert-like flavor, quite suitable for an end-of-the-day treat.
Truph of the Hills claims to be the last surviving Rock-huul in the world. Whether this is true or not, Truph wanders the streets of Damasi every day, offering huulish wisdom and practicing his wood-carving arts on the dead branches and blocks of wood that people bring him. You can purchase suitable blocks at almost any store in the city, and his only price is a joke. Don’t worry about quality, as I have yet to hear a joke that Truph hasn’t found hysterical.
Mémré has its own share of interesting sights to see. The Wall of Oaths, for example, is less than a league from the town boarders. Built in the year 343 as a response to aggressive posturing from the neighboring kingdoms, the Wall of Oaths was designed to be the greatest military deterrent in the world. the Wall of Oaths stretches from the Rolling Hills to the city of Riverloke and measures fifty feet tall at its highest, seven paces at its thickest.
Nowadays, the Wall is more of a tourist spot than an active military installation. Nevertheless, the wards and enchantments that imbue the ashen mortar remain active, and where once a thousand dead soldiers were honored with their bones forming each new layer, now only those generals who are highest honored have their bones interred in the Wall, to serve the realm even in death.
Orswin Plaza is a lovely place to spend an hour or two, especially if you happen to catch a performance by the local resident headsinger, Kirie Mon’slaica.3 Practicing an ancient form of indigenous singing, Kirie performs five times a week in the mornings and evenings at Orswin Plaza for anyone who gathers to listen. This is well worth your time, especially if you bring a bluemoon flower from the gardens at the opposite end of the city. Kirie closes her performance with the Maiden’s Reel, and to watch the bluemoon flowers take part is a magical thing.