Kestryll strolls into the Palace
Rotunda carrying a large box and closely followed by
Benny, Barry and Kieth. Kest sets the box down and
directs Benny and Barry to place the oak desk their
carrying to a nice spot along the wall. Kieth sets the
chair behind the desk and the three of them walk
out.
Kest picks up his box again and sets it on
the desk. He pulls out several pads of paper and puts
them in a drawer. He sets a wooden cup with 'Pencils'
carved on it at one corner and fills it with pens and
pencils. Next he pulls out a desk blotter and coaster
and arranges them neatly. Finally comes a name plaque
bearing the name, 'FrontMullet', and a note reminding
him that if he needs anything to just drop by either the
pub or Grizz's shop.
Kestryll smiles to himself,
picks up his box and heads back to the
pub.
RW awoke with a start, covered in sweat,
and fought down the sense of terror and dread that had
flooded his dreams. He thought back to the day he had
discovered a book, seemingly carelessly discarded, now
almost ten years ago.
Never in his wildest dreams
could he have imagined the series of events when he
opened that book and ran his right hand carelessly
across the page...feeling himself strangely
lifted...walls vanishing....to be deposited on a wharf
in a place that later he would learn was MYST.
He recalled finding the pages scattered about
and messages left by an individual he would learn later
was Atrus, and of dark and sinister happenings. Learn of
a family in crisis.
MYST was a beautful place,
an Age, as he would later learn they were called. Just
one of many that he would travel to over almost a
decade. Yes, beautiful, but empty also. No inhabitants,
haunted by violence. And he new at some time he must
return their, to find the RIME age.
Later he had
returned, somehow called by Atrus and sent to RIVEN.
Catherine, imprisoned by Atrus's father Gehn, a world on
the verge of destruction, the remnants of what had once
been a proud and productive people, in
crisis.
After that crisis was narrowly avoided,
he thought there would be peace. Atrus was writing a new
age, a place of rebirth for the D'NI, and Atrus had
invited him for a visit, Releeshan, the promise of a new
beginning, a beginning almose EXILE'd, destroyed by
revenge, before it even began. Here, mistakes of the
past revealed themselves with almost deadly results.
And now, now after so many years, an
inexplicable urging to come to a deserted location, a
rip in the earth, in the New Mexico desert. Close
encounters, but not of the third kind. No, encouters of
a kind of infinitily more dimension.
There was
the imager in the cleft, Yeesha, now grown, and so sad.
Stories of greed, abuse, power, oppression. The struggle
between those who have nothing, and those who have to
much. A pattern as old as human civilization itself,
perhaps older.
"Are their lessons to be learned
here? Is that why so many explorers have come?"
Questions, always the questions. For ten
thousand years the tapestry had been weaved, beautiful,
intricate, and now, abandoned, destroyed.
RW
wondered if the surface would be able to avoid the fate
of the D'NI. "Can we learn enough in time?"
"Was
there some link between the cavern and the location of
this Elkai's work in the Grand Canyon? And what of these
stories coming out of Canada of new revelations? Where
was Zandi, what was beyond those seemingly impregnable
barriers that the DRC had put up? Was there more to the
GZ then it serving just a central co-oridinate anchor
and relay? There are the decaying hulks of ships in the
cavern. How were they used? what purposes did they
serve? Why did the fire-fly like creatures go into any
cave with you, but not the bahro caves?"
"The
answers have to be there, in the cavern, in the ever
expanding ages."
Time to shower, dress, a bite
to eat, then...continue the search for
answers.
Somewhere in
the Grand Canyon lay a girl in a purple down sleeping
bag. Her eyelids betrayed REM sleep.
Squirrel
and Gnome walked single file up the stairs in silence
and over to the classroom door. Squirrel hopped as high
as he could and slapped his tiny paw against the glowing
blue crystal. Thwap, wooosh, gerchink. He entered
and climbed up into his leather chair and placed his
elbows on the desk. Gnome, whose stumpy legs could
barely bend, remained standing on the other side of the
desk.
"Gnome? ... Gnome?" said squirrel. "Drat! I
can't see you from here." Squirrel inched up onto the
desk and walked over to the opposite edge. Now, peering
down at the little cone-head, his expression grew
somber. "The institute needs you. I need you. It's a
very important task. Very important."
"Yes?" came
the apprehensive reply.
"I need you to tend the
light garden. Can you do that?"
"Well, yes. Of
course. I suppose."
"Is that a yes?"
Gnome
straigtened his back, thrust his chin upward and said
with a nod, "Yes. Yes I can."
Squirrel jumped
from the desk with a swashbuckling flair, beckoning
Gnome to follow. Down to the garden went the pair and
stood at the rail.
"Do you see it?" said squirrel
as he pointed to one particular stepping
stone.
"Oooooh," said Gnome knowingly. His eyes
began to twinkle as if salted with faery dust. "I
understand."
"Good. Now get to work," said
squirrel and he turned to go. As he scampered up the
stairs back to the classroom he pondered, "What an
intriguing face on that fellow. I wonder how old he
is?"
Speedy looked at Dr. Warrell, pondering
the answer to that quesiton, when Grizz walked in the
door with a mop to give to the new girl,
Ronnie. "Seriously, Dr. Warrell, I think you would
have a better chance of getting those items from
Stellaflora, if he's ever around. He pops up every now
and then, but he should be around soon to give us our
new communication equipment." Speedy
said. "Stellaflora? The other scientist in the white
coat?" Dr. Warrell asked. "YES! Exactly. You get an A
for that!" Speedy said as she chuckled. "What? I'm
being graded?!!?!" Dr. Warrell asked in a panicy
voice. "No no no... I was joking but I am glad you
remembered who Stellaflora is. We might be needing him
later on in these adventures, depending on what
difficulties we have or what we have found," Speedy
explained. "Speaking of adventures, are you ready to
go?" Grassie said as he got his new backpack and
thermos. "Yep. I have my backpack on with stuff in
it. Are you ready, Dr. Warrell?" asked
Speedy. "Umm... I guess I am," Dr. Warrell
said. "Great! Let's get back to the fountain and find
out where to go from there!" Grassie said as he left the
store. Speedy and Dr. Warrell followed in
pursuit.
Studying gives you knowledge.
Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. I am learning how to
be corrupt.
FM sat down at his new desk in the
Rotunda (which is NOT Sharpers...shush you all)which had
been provided to him by Kest despite him calling him
old..and looked at the journals which now had him
surrounded on all sides...
"Now...any volunteers
for which one I summarize first?"
EDIT: Because no matter how hard you try, you
are guaranteed to guess someone's gender wrong over the
internet...
[This message was edited by
frontmullet on Tue April 06 2004 at 09:12
PM.]
Kestryll strides in and places a note
on FM's blotter. Then he strides out
again.
Dude! I'm a dude! Yes, I'm older
than you and my brain may be frazzled but life is good
here...Er something. Lost my train of
thought. Coffee, or whatever else, is ready when you
are.
P.s. Everything starts at the beginning and
flows from there.
Elkae, of the previously latent
psychic abilities, was not having just any dream. Her
dream was real.
Gnome understood his mission
well. He was proud that Squirrel did not have to explain
a thing. With a splash and a splish and a
plop Gnome settled in. Just as he had seen that
other strange man do earlier, he did the
same.
Suddenly, and apparently in mid-leap,
a Bahro links in above the fountain carrying a beach
ball. It lands a foot from the fountain and tumbles,
dropping the ball and sending it flying across the
bridge.
A moment later several more link in and
tumble at the foot of the fountain followed closely by
Kestryll. They all jump up and charge after the ball
laughing and shouting at each other.
They chase
each other kicking the ball all over the nexus and
passed the classroom, down into the garden. They all
spread out and kick the ball bouncing it off of the
light posts and each other until it finally gets knocked
up the stairs.
At the top, one of the Bahro grabs
it and suddenly links out. The others all touch the
brooches on their vests and follow the ball. Kestryll
pauses just before linking himself and thinks, When
did Eddie have a picture of a gnome on him?... He shrugs and links.
Cordelia returns from her Relto after a
very relaxing shower, which was so relaxing that it had
sent her to sleep.
She rubbed the sleep out of
her eyes and had a good look around.
First of all
she noticed that Thietris had commissioned Mr Gnome to
look after the light garden.
"Now that's a good
idea" she thought - at least there will always be
someone around to keep an eye on things when we are all
off doing the research projects.
To her dismay
Heek Inc. had reopened and seemed to be trading Obviously TLG had cleared
away the itching powder.
"I'm going to have to
have a word with the Professor about this - I'm quite
sure that he can't be happy about it being located
there. Still maybe that's what he's employing Mr Gnome
for, to keep an eye on the comings and goings of the
strange game-playing public."
She wanders up the
stairs to try and find anyone else who may be awake, but
the cavern is silent and all she can hear are loud
snores coming from behind the various closed
doors.
"Oh well, I guess I'd better go and check
up on the Egg Room and make sure that Kestryll is doing
his job."
Cordelia Personal
Assistant to Professor Thietris Institution of
Advanced Exploration of Myst Worlds
Veronica has been searching block 3
aisle 4 north side for suitable cavern clothing for a
good hour and she cannot understand what could possibly
be suitable on these shelves: Cotton shirts (eww, no
silk?), cargo pants (gasp), denim (surely you jest),
heavy duty work boots (for rugged terrain, the sign
read) "Will not be needing those", canvas shoes (for
everyday cavern wear) "Bah!" Looking down at her lovely
silk blouse that has become completely covered in dust
and grime, she decides that she would wear these other
clothes only to save the rest of her wardrobe from
suffering the same fate. After changing, she looks in
the small mirror to see her makeup has smeared from one
side to the other. *sigh* Recalling what Grizz had said
and grateful to the man for giving her a chance
(although he was sure to regret it later or possibly
even now) she scrubbed her face clean (although oddly
enough it didn't seem to help very
much.)
"RONNIE!"
Veronica jumps. "I really
loathe that name." Walking confidently to the front of
the store, she doesn't see Grizz, but a mop with a note
attached. She reads the note several times before
saying, "Surely you do not expect me to use
this...this...thing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dream
as if you will live forever, live as if you will die
today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thietris Professor Thietris Squirrel, CEO,
President and Managing Director, Institution of Advanced Exploration
of Myst Worlds
posted
Stellaflora has been sent to the
store by Professor T with another order. He is a little
apprehensive after the Professor's previous order for a
"long weight", when he'd stood outside the store for
three hours. Veronica is searching the
shelves.
(Veronica, being the clueless socialite
that she is, has no idea that tartan is really plaid and
she can look until the cows come home, but she will
never find it.)
"Tartan paint...are you
positive that was the color?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dream
as if you will live forever, live as if you will die
today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elkae decided to take a day off from the
Grand Canyon excavation. She hailed a cab and headed to
the A&C Hotel. She couldn't stay long. The meter was
running.
As Veronica and Stellaflora stand in
front of the massive quantity of paint selections,
inspiration strikes Veronica. "OW!"
Stellaflora:
"Is there a problem, miss?"
Veronica: "No, but I
just had a thought. Since Professor Thietris is a
squirrel, I imagine he speaks rather rapidly. So this is
what he meant, I am sure of it." She pulls down the tan
paint can, barely missing Stellaflora's head as she
swings it down and then walks to the other side where
the tar is
located.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dream
as if you will live forever, live as if you will die
today. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thietris Professor Thietris Squirrel, CEO,
President and Managing Director, Institution of Advanced Exploration
of Myst Worlds
posted
Cordelia, it appears that a gnome has
joined the staff and is "working" in the garden. I
passed him just now, "slaving away". And to continue the
ironic theme of this conversation, I'm going to call him
Bizzy.
I'm not quite sure why we need a garden
gnome, but I don't have a good feeling about this - it
could be the thin end of the wedge. It doesn't exactly
help our professional image.
Speedy, Grassie, and Dr. Warrell see
Thietris talking to Cordelia. They approach them with
their gear. "Ok, Thietris, where do you want us to
go?" asked Grassie.
Studying gives you
knowledge. Knowledge is power. Power corrupts. I am
learning how to be corrupt.
Shiloh links in to the Neighborhood and
is quickly followed by two strangers. One is a tall,
salt-and-pepper haired man. The other is a somewhat
shorter, redheaded woman.
"Hi, folks! Just
passing through," Shiloh says. "These are my folks. Be
nice to them if you run across them. Could you guys
please pass the word that the Team Bahro rescue planning
session will be starting in the A&C
soon?"
The trio walk over to Stellaflora's
linking book. Just before she places her hand on the
page, Shiloh looks up. "Hey! What happened to my
crystals? If they've been damaged, heads will
roll."
Grizz comes out of the room he uses as a
sort of office/retreat/Fig Newton store room, and sees
that the spilled coffee is still on the floor. Ronnie's
mop is still pristine. He shakes his head, and begins to
mutter under his breath.
"Try to give a girl a
break...mumble...we'll see about this...mutter...no
sense of order...grump...no responsibility...mmmmpphh."
He goes back into his room and returns with a
bull-horn. Turning it on, he points it out into the
store and yells through it...
"VERONICA
FAIRCHILD! YOU ARE WANTED BY THE COFFEE MAKER, AND I
MEAN YESTERDAY YOUNG LADY!! GET YOUR GUCCIS UP HERE
NOW!!
He goes back and returns with a pail of
warm soapy water, plops the new mop into it, and
waits.
_______________________________ Prop.
D'ni Cavern Supply "If we don't have it, you don't
need it!"
Experimental Program
1
He shrugs and links.
Obviously TLG had cleared
away the itching powder.
Umbrellas supplied for all occasions.
