Beneath

Work on Sul has been progressing nicely. A walkway has been extended off the coast leading to the tokorlesa which means no more Linking in and landing in the ocean which is definitely appreciated.
The water here has some very strange but familiar properties, a by product I think, of me trying to Write in properties that would help my studies into the D’ni lake water. I didn’t notice the water at first until I discovered a small pool and a cave underneath it. I sank one of our cameras down into the water only for it to fall through on the other side. The good news is that due to this mishap I have discovered a series of tunnels ad caves under the island. It took me a while to trace them back to surface level and then dig out the rock to connect them to the surface. One of the caves is pretty large and will make an excellent workshop although I think I might have to set up some stable doors to protect it in case there is issues with the lava cave further up the tunnels.

I have decided to use some old D’ni mining technology to hollow out one of the boulders near the pond as I felt it would be a great place to house my research into the Bahro. Whilst it was not my goal when Writing this Age there is a lot about it that reminds me of the Bahro and the areas they’ve touched. I have found myself embracing their architecture styles and mimicking them within Sul. I find it helps when I am conducting my research into their culture.

Tomorrow I plan on looking into utilizing the open fissures in the Age to provide a power source. Once everything is set up perhaps I’ll have some time to study the bones that litter the Age. The island seems to sit inside the ribs of some colossal creature that I have taken to calling the Leviathan. I would love to learn more about this creature and perhaps find one that is still alive.

Sul I have named it, my fourth Age. Named after Sulis a Roman Goddess of the baths in Bath England. It seemed an appropriate name for the Age given the motive behind it. Furthermore Sul is the first Age I have Written with a Korteenea and ink I have created myself.
The Age will serve as place to conduct my studies on the D’ni lake water, I have some ideas I would like to explore in regards to helping the algae recuperate.

My initial tests with the fabrication of new Korteenea had met with negative results. I could not figure out what was causing the problem at first until I realized I had got one of the processes in the wrong order. Having corrected my mistake the following tests yielded positive results, the Books were good to go.
The logical next step would be to Write another Age, with all the materials needed for manufacturing ink and Korteenea within it and indeed I have been toying with several Age ideas that didn’t make the cut as it were whilst I was Writing Sul…perhaps one of those will make for a good fifth Age.

I am getting ahead of myself, there is still a lot of work to be done on Sul first…

After my meeting with Jilen and sampling some of his home-made wine I had been entertaining the idea of experimenting with something similar, perhaps using the Norapods from Fahets.

With Rob’s help I was able to acquire some equipment to add to Sul so that I could start my experiments, Sul has the best source of heat needed for the process so it seemed logical that I should set up the gear there.

Took us a day or so to get the equipment set up and the heat right. But we eventually got the Norapods processing. Given my fondness for harder alcohol like whiskey and brandy, I figured I’d try with a Norapod Brandy, fruit brandies are not unheard of after all.
The first attempt was a disaster, I’m still not exactly sure what happened, but the result was a mess and tasted highly unpleasant.
It took us a few more tries, experimenting as we went to get a formula that worked right.

Last night, we celebrated the success by testing the first bottle of 40% Norapod brandy that doesn’t taste like something served up in the depths of hell. The bitter after taste of the Norapod seems to be a little more pronounced in the brandy, I think I may have to look into finding a way to scale that back if possible, but it’s not a bad taste, I if mixing it would help.
I was fully prepared that the Norapods wouldn’t be suitable for the process, little surprised they worked.

Once some extra fine tuning is complete I think I shall process some bottles for aging and see how those taste in the future. I need to send a bottle off to Blake to try to see if he wants some for the pub he’s restoring.

Spent a lot of time up on the surface lately, previous to my departure I had a crazy few weeks that left me feeling burnt out and disillusioned with what we were doing.

I have spent time enjoying the weather, spending time with my family. All the while trying to push past how I feel, trying to find that spark again that drives me, it has been, difficult. Even more so when those I talk to for support feel the same way themselves, it’s easy to be drawn in and settle in that rut.

The other day I was stood out on the porch of our house on the phone to my parents in England, it was raining heavily and I felt the urge to return to Fahets. I had left on the eve of heading out into the Age further and exploring new areas for people to one day walk along, I had left my studies on the Age abandoned and I thought is this a healthy mentality to have, countless Ages to explore and are we to throw them aside when we grow bored of them?

So today I decided to head back down into the cavern, my previous notions about venturing out of the shadows to meet people had reversed, I now find comfort in the dark recesses of the cavern.
I decided to take a walk through one of the hoods, gaze out over the stretch of orange lake try and find that feeling I had when I first came down here, a feeling that has eluded me for years and continues to do so.
But I wasn’t as alone as I thought, as I walked towards the fountain area I spied a solitary Bahro staring at me, watching.
I walked up to him/her and it didn’t flee, just stood there chittering slightly, as I walked around him/her he/she moved around to face me. We stood there for several minutes in each others company, with I not saying a word (despite my desires to be able to actually communicate with them) before the Bahro vanished from view and I returned to Sul to turn in for the night.

I have completed the changes finally, I would have been finished yesterday had I not taken time out to work on that small side project, but it was worth it.

We’ve been going over the Book making sure all is in order, from what I can tell it should be right.

We will soon be getting ready to return to see if things have worked out as I hope.