Beneath

I have been spending a lot of time on Cass lately, working away on getting the Age prepared for the second stage release. Over the last couple of months I have been formatting various documentation to go within the museum as well as receiving several new artefacts for display. The amount of progress being made has been pleasing.

Sitting here at the top of the stairs, watching the clouds drift over my head… I’m going to miss the quietness of the museum when it is opened, but I’m looking forward to people visiting.

Work on the four wings are coming along. The Journey/New D’ni wing is completed, the Fauna wing is looking pretty decent. I’ve had to use one wing for storage of artefacts for the time being, just until work can be carried out on the actual storage area in the back of house. The final wing was going to be for old D’ni, but the upper floor of the center hall kind of covers that so I’m rethinking what we do with that wing. Patrick and I have discussed a few ideas that I think could be interesting.

In addition to the work being carried out on Cass, I have also been preparing an area in Fahets for release in a few months time. Highgarden was a small garden area I discovered during an exploration trip, it seemed like a lovely little place to set up for Third Path Council members to come and relax. With the Third Path being defunct for many years now I thought I should open the area to the explorer community to join.

It’s been difficult these last few years, trying to juggle surface responsibilities (which are increasing) with my work within D’ni. Even more so with the pandemic and my concerns for what that could do to native populations within the Ages. I’m trying to be better and block some time aside for me to do the things I enjoy, the projects I want to do instead bringing surface baggage with me everywhere I go. Thankfully, I finally took on board the restoration and development process Patrick uses and have applied it myself to great effect. It is very similar to the policy we used to use but a bit more streamlined. But it means that the time frames for restoration and development projects are reduced significantly.

It has been a busy day today, Patrick has opened access to Chiso Preniv, a library Age that will serve as host to Ages restored and Written by the explorer community. Within Chiso he has placed Books to the Guild of Messenger Pub and Veelay Tsahvahn a memorial Age.

Shorah to all of you, new faces and familiar!
We stand here today to take part in what many of us regard as a truly momentous occasion. After ten thousand years of history, a catastrophic event that nearly destroyed it, and three halted restoration efforts, D’ni has lain mostly dormant for many years now.

We, as explorers, have held onto the belief that we could, in our own ways, continue to breathe life into the cavern. In that endeavor, I believe we have been very successful over the years.
You’ve made this place your home away from home and have gone forth on the adventure of understanding the D’ni people, how they lived, and, of course, the worlds they visited via the Art.

We have also forged bonds with one another that have remained strong throughout the often joyous and occasionally troubled times. Good or bad, we have faced it together, and because of our strength of character, persistence…and most importantly, those aforementioned bonds…

…after almost two *decades*…

…we are still here!

The D’ni Restoration Council admirably led the modern efforts to bring D’ni back to its former glory, and for that and the assistance they have offered over even these last few years, they have our gratitude. They will always have a seat at the table should they ever choose to return.

But now…finally…

…it’s our turn.

Today, we officially begin a new restoration…*our* restoration…to continue what our predecessors started and to expand our knowledge of the D’ni through their home in the cavern and the incredible Ages contained here.
It is with that in mind that we are here today…to open the door to a new era in D’ni.

A new path…a new chronicle…a new journey.

Chiso Preniv, the Age you’re about to visit, will be the first gateway to a new gathering of Ages and points of interest here in the cavern that have been restored…or in some cases, Written…by us, the explorers of D’ni.

The Books you find there now are just the beginning. I’m hoping, as the months and years pass, fellow explorers will present more of their work to the library, and their contributions will be most welcome there.

This is, and will continue to be, the culmination of years of work by our fellow explorers, all contributing their time, efforts, and talents to making things ready for you all to see.

This is the fruit of their tireless labor. For that, from the bottom of my heart, I thank them. *All* of them.

There are too many names to mention…but each and every one has been an important part of launching this new era. If they would like to make themselves known…I leave that decision to them, as I would respect any choices of anonymity…but if they do speak up, be sure to give them thanks!

They are often the unsung heroes here in the cavern. They put in untold weeks, months, and even years of labor on an entirely volunteer basis to bring us all the amazing things we will see and experience.

Put simply, we would *not* be here today without them.

There is one more group I’d like to turn our thoughts to today: Our friends that are no longer with us. They too are an important part of why we’re all still here today. They are with us now in spirit…and as we go into the future, they will always be with us.

This is as much for them as it is for us. We’ve all come a long way and experienced much. Yet there is still *so* much more out there for us to explore!

Now, more than ever, these words ring true:

“The ending has not yet been written.”

– Patrick Dulebohn – Chiso Preniv opening ceremony

Twenty five years ago a company called Cyan released a game called Myst. A game that was based upon documents written by Catherine, wife of Atrus, which were discovered in the D’ni cavern.

Yeesha looks upon the Age of Myst with disdain, due to the family history that transpired there…and who can blame her? But for many of us Myst was that first step that would lead us to the cavern 10 years later. Without Myst, without the fall of D’ni we would not be where we are today exploring the cavern and its Ages.

Who knows, maybe one day I’ll see Yeesha again and will get the chance to tell her that.

The explorer community have a myriad of things planned, celebrations and the like. It’s nice seeing people coming together to celebrate the inception of the journey we all took.
I have something planned myself to celebrate, something that has taken some time to work out. I was hoping it would be ready for today but alas, there was too much involved to put it together so quickly. From past experiences I know not to rush these things.

I can hope to have it ready before Christmas this year, but we shall see.

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…