Cardinal Alignment

A pocket compass resting beside a ceramic coaster immediately warranted a comprehensive navigational audit. Ascending the beveled rim of its brass casing, I peered through the glass crystal to inspect the suspended magnetic needle. Its crimson tip hovered—or, more rigorously speaking, oscillated with microscopic damping—toward the front window. To test local electromagnetic integrity, I retrieved a slender iron paper staple from the tabletop and held it three millimeters from the perimeter. The needle deflected precisely seventeen degrees clockwise before settling back into true alignment upon removal. Terrestrial magnetism in this sector is operating without structural anomaly.