Atlantean Compass

An Atlantean Compass is a navigational aid that assists with the floating cities of the Atlanteans to move through the oceans.

Design

Despite being identified as a compass, the atlantean compass does not look quite like a regular compass that a sailor would use. It is quite larger for starters. Roughly the size of a small home, the device is kept within the center of a floating city within a secure building.

Composed of various shifting panels and runes, the bottom of the compass is the most notable. Long spires of metal point downwards from the compass into the ocean below the floating city which measures water temperature, detects currents, and acts to stablize any adverse waves that might affect the city as it moves from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere and back again.

The upper level of the compass displays various gauges and controls to adjust the sensitivity of the instrumentation.

The compasses are often built beneath a central tower from which information can be passed quickly to the upper rigging so that sail adjustments can be made and the great rudders of the floating city can maneuver the large structures safely through the waters.

The exact mechanics and creation of the compasses is a tightly held secret by the atlanteans and they have suffered many attempts of espionage to determine the functionality in order to aid naval vessels from other nations. The atlanteans, being a strictly ocean based, nomadic society is understandably adverse to sharing this knowledge. It is also quite vital to their survival upon the ocean and damage do the device is of great concern.