THE PEOPLE OF D'NI
-----------------------
Roughly ten thousand years ago, the people who have become known as the D'ni 
were known by another name and lived on another world. This group of people 
left their original home world because it would soon become uninhabitable. They 
wanted a chance to begin again.

They possessed a technology, known as The Art, which allowed them to travel 
to distant branches of what they called "the Great Tree of Possibilities" by 
carefully describing the place where they wanted to go in a special Book.

When this rather small group escaped from the destruction of their home world, 
the description of the place that they wanted to go brought them to a cavern 
deep below the surface of the Earth. 

THE CAVERN
--------------
For thousands of years, the D'ni thrived in this underground cavern. Their 
Linking technology allowed them to travel to other places, which they called 
Ages. In addition to limitless exploration, the D'ni could also import resources 
that the cavern itself did not supply. With a few exceptions, the D'ni lived 
peacefully in this cavern for over nine thousand years. However, over two hundred 
years ago their civilization suffered a catastrophic event when a group of 
renegades unleashed a virulent plague. The plague spread throughout the cavern 
and into as many Ages as the renegades could find, nearly wiping out the D'ni 
race. This event is known as the Fall of D'ni. In recent years, we at the DRC 
have been working to begin the restoration of D'ni. Much progress has been made 
in making the Cavern habitable again, but it is unlikely that the cavern will 
ever be completely restored to the condition it was in prior to the Fall.

THE LAKE
-----------
The lake is the major light source in the D'ni cavern. The lake contains a 
special bioluminescent algae that provides this light. When the cavern was first 
re-discovered, the algae was dormant, giving almost no light at all. We have 
been attempting to revitalize the algae so it will provide more light. We have 
been successful in raising the light level slightly, but we're still working 
on it. Historical accounts tell us that the algae before the Fall dimmed and 
brightened on a regular, thirty-hour cycle. Currently, the level of light given 
by the algae is constant. We believe that once the algae is back to full health 
that this cycle will return. However, there is no way to be certain of that at 
this time.

D'NI HOLIDAYS
-----------------
The following list of holidays are major holidays celebrated by the D'ni civilization.
They are listed with their D'ni dates (vI-lee and yahr) as well as the Gregorian
Calendar equivalent (month and day). 

  · D'ni New Year - Leefo 1, April 21 
  
  · First Feast of the Maker - Lenovoo 10, March 27 (Pre-earth celebration) 
  
  · The Common Library Opened - Leefo 12, May 5 
  
  · Second Feast of the Maker - Leebro 20, June 21 (Pre-earth celebration) 
  
  · The Day of Dancing - Leetar 21, September 3 
  
  · First Arrival of the Great King - Leevot 12, September 28 
  
  · Third Feast of the Maker - Leevofo 18, November 11 (Pre-earth celebration) 
  
  · Coronation of King Kerath - Leevofo 27, November 23 
 
  

D'NI TIMEKEEPING
---------------------
The D'ni timekeeping system is very different than the system used on Earth's
surface. Below is an explanation of some of the major differences and terms.

  · The D'ni's largest amount of time is an "hahr". The "hahr" is 
    roughly equivalent to one Earth year.
 
  · The D'ni "hahr" is divided into 10 equal segments called "vai-lee-tee". 
    One "vai-lee" is roughly equivalent to one Earth month. 
	
  · A "vai-lee" is further divided into 29 "yahr-tee". One "yahr" is equal 
    to about 30 hours and 14 minutes of surface time. (1.26 Earth days) 
    There are 290 "yahr-tee" in one "hahr." 
	
  · "Yahr-tee" are further divided into 5 equal segments called "gahr-tah-vo-tee". 
    One "gahr-tah-vo" is equal to about 6 hours and 3 minutes of surface time. 
	
  · "Gahr-tah-vo-tee" can be further divided into 25 equal segments called 
    "tah-vo-tee". One "tah-vo" is equal to about 14.5 minutes of surface time. 
	
  · "Tah-vo-tee" are further divided into 25 equal segments called "gor-ahn-tee". 
    One "gor-ahn" is equal to about 36 seconds of surface time. 
	
  · "Gor-ahn-tee" are further divided into 25 equal segments called "pro-rahn-tee". 
    One "pro-rahn" is equal to about 1.5 seconds of surface time. 

D’NI NUMERAL BASICS
-------------------------
These charts provide the English equivalents for the D’ni digits from 0 - 24. 
After 24, the numbers continue like our own numbering system - placing digits 
to the left to represent higher powers of 25.

THE SKILL
-----------
The D'ni often referred to what can best be translated as "the Skill" in their 
writings. This Skill seems to simply be the knowledge of how to write the Books 
as described in the other Art of Linking topics. The entire D’ni guild hierarchy 
was originally established to teach and pass down the knowledge necessary 
for writing the links to other Ages. The greatest focus in the instruction of the 
Skill centered around avoiding written contradictions in the description of the 
Ages (see Descriptive Book below.) 

THE ART
----------
The D’ni also referred repeatedly to what can best be translated as "the Art". 
Similar to our understanding of skill and art, the D’ni "Art" was used to refer to 
a writer’s mastery of the Skill. It was also commonly used to describe the 
general ability of the D’ni to write these Books. 

Great writers (only a few of whom have thus far been discovered) were said 
to have had mastered the Art. Early D’ni manuscripts seem to imply that the 
Art was reserved only for the D’ni bloodline, although lively D’ni debates have 
been documented regarding the subject.

BOOK
-------
Books relating to "the Art" are highly regarded in D’ni culture. The Books 
themselves are special creations and the process for their construction is mostly 
unknown at this time. It is known that there were D’ni guilds for both creating 
the Books (the actual page material, and the binding process) and for creating the 
Ink used to write the Books. 

DESCRIPTIVE BOOK
----------------------
When the D’ni created the original link to an Age, it was done through the 
writing of a Descriptive Book. This Book was written with all of the descriptions 
of the Age to which it would link. The Descriptive Book is the primary Book 
defining a particular Age. The Descriptive Book is a requirement to create the 
founding link to any Age. 

The manuscripts state that the D’ni believed that when the writer of an Age 
describes the Age, the Age is not actually created, but a link is established to 
a preexisting Age that most closely represents what has been written. The 
D’ni believed that all Ages were actually created by the Maker, and that the 
D’ni were imbued with a gift from the Maker to create links to the Ages.

As far as D’ni manuscripts are concerned, Descriptive Books are always written 
in the D’ni language, and always have been. It is not at all clear whether or not 
other languages could be used. There is some question as to whether there is 
enough room in a single Book for other languages to describe worlds that the 
complex D’ni characters handle routinely.

Written contradictions in the Descriptive Books were a cause for great concern 
for the D’ni. From a young age, Guild students were taught to concern 
themselves with the details of what is described in a particular Descriptive 
Book, so as to avoid contradicting those details later on in the Book. Such 
contradictions could cause severe instabilities in an Age. D’ni culture is fraught 
with stories of contradictions discovered only after the preliminary scouts from 
the Maintainers Guild never returned. Such stories were used to impact young 
writers.

There are a few ancient manuscripts that document making changes to 
Descriptive Books and their associated Ages once the Ages had been visited. 
The procedure required meticulous attention to detail and was attempted by 
only the highest levels of writers. The problem seemed to lie in the 
synchronization of what was written in the Descriptive Book and what was 
actually observed on the Age itself. If changes were written into the Book that 
contradicted previously observed features of the Age, it was possible that the 
Descriptive Book would divert its link to an Age that more closely resembled 
the changes described. It would appear that the link to the "pre-diverted" Age 
would be lost, and it would be impossible to reestablish the original link.

At some point in their history, the D’ni seem to have banned the practice of 
altering Ages once they had been approved by the Guild of Maintainers. More 
recent manuscripts show that they were very opposed to the risks inherent in 
attempting to alter an Age 

There have been some restrictions discovered regarding writing bizarre Ages, 
Ages that would defy the laws of nature as the D’ni knew them. It seems this 
is to discourage Books that might create links to unstable Ages.

Restrictions have also been discovered concerning man-made objects written 
into an Age. It appears that some kind of initial experimentation by the D’ni 
was unsuccessful and unpredictable, and the restriction was established.

LINKING BOOK
-----------------
A Linking Book is simply written as a reference to a Descriptive Book. Although 
linking to an Age is possible through a Descriptive Book, it is often more 
convenient to write a Linking Book that refers to the Descriptive Book. The 
original Descriptive Book can then be protected, to be used for reference or 
changes at a later date. Multiple Linking Books can be written that all refer 
to, and perform the same as a single Descriptive Book. In D’ni culture the Linking 
Books were often much smaller than full Descriptive Books, which presumably 
allowed for greater portability and which preserved paper. 

Linking Books are not used to create links to new Ages (see Descriptive Book). 
Linking Books are written rather easily and quickly using a common combination 
of paragraphs and descriptions which may refer to the original Descriptive Book. 
Linking Books link only to the place where the Linking Book was written in a 
particular Age. Thus, there is a chance that a Linking Book could be rendered 
useless if the Descriptive Book with which it was associated was changed in 
a way that significantly changed the place to where the Linking Book linked.

If a Descriptive Book is destroyed, all Linking Books associated with that Age 
are rendered useless. 

Linking Books cannot be used to link directly from one point in an Age to another 
point in the same Age. D’ni manuscripts seem to imply that the act of linking 
actually requires some kind of dimensional transfer.

CATHERINE’S JOURNALS
---------------------------
The vast majority of information about the D’ni that has previously been 
released to the public by Cyan, Inc. was adapted from translations of a 
collection of journals written by Catherine, the wife of Atrus. These journals 
focus on the story of Atrus’ life, and were the basis for Cyan’s best selling 
adventure games Myst and Riven. Additional information from her journals 
was used as the basis for three novels also released by Cyan: "Myst: The 
Book of Atrus", "Myst: The Book of Ti’ana", and "Myst: The Book of D’ni". 

It is very likely that Atrus’ story could never have been told if Catherine had 
not provided such detailed accounts. 

HISTORY: PRE EARTH
---------------------------
To tell the history of the D’ni, it is necessary to begin by going back in time 
some 10,000 years in another world. In that time and place, there was a race 
called the Ronay (People of the Root) who lived on a world they called 
Garternay (Root of the Great Tree). Due to a number of factors, including 
the destruction of both Garternay and most of its records from that early 
time, our knowledge of this period of D’ni history is sketchy at best.

What is clearly known is that the people of Garternay knew that their 
homeworld was headed for destruction, and they were fortunate enough to 
have a means of escape... something they called ’The Art.’ Details of how 
they came to possess their knowledge of The Art were unfortunately lost 
amid the destruction of their homeworld, though there are several theories, 
which are out of the scope of this document.

The important thing to know about The Art is that it allowed them to create 
bridges or links to other Ages simply by writing a complex description of the 
Age to which they wished to link. This gave them access to a nearly infinite 
number of worlds with nearly an infinite amount of diversity. Within limits, an 
Age of almost any description that could be written already existed 
somewhere, just waiting to be linked to. It is what the Ronay called the 
’Great Tree of Possibilities.’

So if your home planet is dying, but you have access to just about any world 
you want, it’s pretty easy to come to the conclusion that it’s time to rent some 
moving vans and change neighborhoods. So the people of Garternay (over a 
long period) dispersed to a number of different Ages. The vast majority of the 
people went to a luxurious planet (who wouldn’t?) that they named Terahnee 
(the New Tree), but many smaller groups went off to Ages of their own for a 
variety of reasons.

A great Writer named Ri´neref led one of those smaller groups. Ri´neref was 
discouraged by the abuse, as he saw it, of The Art on Garternay, so this was 
his chance to start a civilization of people who felt as he did. He didn’t write a 
link to a luxurious planet. He wrote a link to a large cavern deep underground. 
He called his Age D’ni (New Start). 

We call it Earth.

HISTORY: WHY A CAVERN?
---------------------------------
"Why did Ri’neref choose to write a link to an underground cavern, when he 
could just as easily have written a link to something more glamorous?" 

This is a very common question from people when they learn the origins of 
the D’ni. The original motives of Ri’neref seem to point toward a few 
different reasons for choosing the cavern. 

First, it seems that he desired that his people live in a simple, even at times, 
difficult place. He argued such circumstances could serve as a constant 
reminder of the fact that they had chosen to separate themselves from the 
beauty of Terahnee. It would be challenging in the cavern. Ri’neref fully 
believed that when life was difficult, people were forced to put their
trust in their Maker, as there was nothing else that could comfort them. He 
strongly desired such a constant reminder in order to prevent the D’ni from 
following the many temptations, he argued, that they would face.

There were also practical reasons for his choice. After what had happened to 
Garternay, Ri’neref believed the cavern would offer a place that was protected 
from many natrual disasters and thus had reduced risk of destroying itself - 
as was happening to Garternay at the time.

Ri’neref seemed to also believe that too much comfort would breed a lack of 
appreciation. Knowing that the D’ni would be able to Write and visit an unlimited 
number of other Ages, he surmised that they would have a much greater 
appreciation for the wonders of those other places, if their home was a lowly 
cavern.

Though the site of D’ni seems a rather unpleasant place for a home, it’s 
extremely clear that, as time passed, most of the people fell in love with 
their cavern. During the later years of D’ni history, when the above reasons 
had little relevance to them anymore, very few of them moved elsewhere. 

EARLY EARTH
----------------
The new civilization in the D’ni cavern was growing nicely. Ri’neref was chosen 
as the first king of their new home. He set up a flexible Guild system very similar 
to the one that had been used on Garternay. 

Things continued running along relatively smoothly for this growing, fledgling 
society until it was determined that the fresh-air surface ventilation caves that 
Ri’neref had written for the underground cavern would soon be inadequate for 
their growing numbers (some theorized that Ri’neref did this intentionally). 

The Guild of Miners did not yet have the advances of more modern D’ni 
tunneling technology, but with a great deal of help from a large number of 
volunteers, wider, larger tunnels (but still small by today’s standards) to the 
surface were created, and great fans installed to circulate the cooler, fresh 
air from caverns closer to the surface.

There are remnants of guild discussions in some of the oldest documents that 
would lead one to believe that a number of D’ni disappeared during this 
expansion of the ventilation system. The discussions revolve around what 
action the guilds would take after finding that some of the people involved in 
the expansion project remained on the surface, unwillling to return to the cavern. 
However, all official historical accounts that have been found deny any contact 
with the surface.