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…

The D’ni guarded their secrets well, despite them being gone and us having free reign of the cavern itself it has still proven difficult to find the information I have been seeking. It is only a matter of time before the supplies of Korteenea and ink run out, as I have mentioned numerous times. If we are to rebuild D’ni, if we are to Write new Ages we are going to need a supply of both. It has taken me years of researching of searching through any snippets of information I could find. Thankfully with the DRC releasing their backlog of Age projects to us my research took a huge leap forward. Finally after all this time, after the last few months of test after test I have succeeded in manufacturing my own supply of ink. But not only that but one of the Ages from the DRC archives has allowed me to take a good look at the formation of blank Books and I am convinced that I will be able to duplicate the process.

I have more tests to run with the Korteenea but it shouldn’t be much longer now. Now the question is, what do I do with this information?

I have been pondering the problem of Linking Book security in Fahets for some time. Originally I had left the Books out in the open but when I discovered that the Age held a native population I felt it prudent to secure the Books somehow.

At first I had debated a mechanism akin to the descriptions of Riven, the Fifth Age. A dome to protect the Books, as I drew up some ideas the more complicated the security system became. Instead of just a dome perhaps something that rises out of the ground? With some assistance we even managed to build one in the initial area of Fahets and as beautiful as it is I realized it is needlessly complicated.

Certainly I approve of the idea of something being hidden from view to distract from unwanted attention but it doesn’t need to be as vast as what we built in Fahets. This concept is further confounded by the mechanism to unlock said Book, we don’t want something that the natives can stumble upon by messing with it.
Then it came to me, why not tie the mechanism into the KI? KI’s are frankly hard to come across if you’re not in the cavern with access to Gahreesen so they would serve as a good locking mechanism.
Sophie and I spent several days pondering ideas and concepts and finally came up with what I call the KIstone, a nice play on words I think. Set within the Age the KIstone can look relatively unassuming but with the customary KI slot we are familiar with so that myself or others who visit the Age can place their hands in it and unlock the Book.

This weekend we plan on heading to Fahets to change the “Tokorlesa” (Sealed Book Place for lack of a better name) and construct the new mechanism and KIstone. If it goes well I shall implement the same on other Ages.