Royal Meteorological Chronicle: Gothic Mountain Stillness

The Torricellian column of mercury rests at 29.85 inches, steady as a gravestone, its silver thread unstirred by any breath of change. Beside it, the brass dial of the barometer gleams dully in the lamplight, while the hair-hygrometer's filaments—spun from the locks of a Transylvanian maid, or so the old wives swear—have lengthened but little, betraying the damp breath of the light mountain mist that coils about the observatory's eaves. At this fourth hour of the night, the sky is clear yet cloud-veiled to the measure of five and fifty parts, and through the rifts the waxing crescent moon casts a pallid, sickly glow upon the snows of Scarlet Ridge. The thermometer stands at 45 degrees Fahrenheit, its dew point at 39, and the air is still—so still that the copper weathercock has forgotten its office and points northwest with a sullen fixity, as if bewitched by the calm.

Meteorological Readings & Barometric Log:
• Atmosphere: Gothic Mountain Stillness
• Temperature: 45°F / 7°C / 5.8°R Mountain Chill
• Barometer: 29.85 inHg - Steady
• Wind & Squalls: Northwest 3 kts Calm Air
• Station: Scarlet Ridge Observatory, Transylvania
• Observer: Alistair Sterling, Atmospheric & Barometric Scholar