The North Casement

Andrej Vranić, an imperial cadastral surveyor, returns to his family home in Velinac after his father Mihailo dies in the Meridian Room, a north-facing chamber Andrej has avoided since childhood. Mihailo's will forbids the sale or vacancy of the house until the spring equinox and requires "continuous northern attendance." Andrej stays only to disprove the condition and settle the estate.

His survey immediately fails. The house's internal and external dimensions disagree. The north corridor is longer when measured in one direction. Polaris appears in the correct astronomical position from the garden but displaced relative to the casement. Andrej's sister Katarina notices stranger human discrepancies: a family photograph contains a blank place; the table is set for someone no one remembers; and old ledgers preserve wages after the employee's name has vanished.

Historical notebooks reveal that Meridian House was built around a survey datum where incompatible maps could all be exact. Each generation has maintained a nocturnal Watch. As Polaris moves, the road changes length, reflected stars appear hours early, and Katarina begins labeling Andrej so she will remember him.

By the winter solstice, Velinac no longer remembers Andrej consistently and Meridian House occupies several temporal states at once. Andrej and Katarina devise a corrected method based on shared observation, external copying, and human relation. To complete the fastening, Andrej must surrender his name.

In 1937, archivist Jelena Marković finds the account inside a cadastral map. Every named person can be verified except Andrej. She leaves the pages beneath a north-facing window overnight.