Well done Elkae!
This is fantastic! As we know, even the current cavern
has not been fully explored and mapped. Possessing the
advanced digging abilities that the D'ni did, the full
reach of the cavern and it's tributaries may reach well
beyond what we currently think.
I will be
watching and waiting with great anticipation for more
updates!
After freshening up on her Relto,
Veronica searched her wardrobe, hoping to find a
forgotten pair of silk slacks and shirt, some cosmetics
perhaps. She tore through every drawer and storage area,
but unfortunately everything had been cleaned out. The
only thing left were several pair of denim pants,
shorts, tennis shoes, sandals, boots and cotton
t-shirts. Sighing in resignation, she changed into clean
clothes then stood in front of her books that sat on the
shelf, trying to decide where to start exploring
first.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm no longer
a danger to
society. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It is a very great pleasure, and honor,
to meet you Coredelia! I have not as yet had the
pleasure of meeting Professor Thietris, as he has been
away during my previous attempts. Perhaps you would be
so kind as to set up an appointment for me. If you would
like, I can stop by the XP1 office after gathering
supplies, or, knowing how busy you probably are, you
could just leave a note on the door informing me when
the appointment will be.
I have a strong interest
in, and am a student of many diciplines, specifically
Electical and Mechanical Engineering, but also have
strong interest in the geology and biology of the
caverns. At this time, I am particularly interested in
the mechanical components of the D'ni civilization. Here
specifically, centering on the GZ, it's full potential,
and the property of the crystals it uses. I know the
Professor to be the formost authority on the GZ having
read many of his published papers.
RW
suddenly stopped stammering on, he was just so delighted
at meeting Coredelia. He was also acutely
aware of the dryness in his mouth and was relieved when
Grizz broke in concerning the fishing trip and his
supply request.
"Thank you Grizz! And I do
promise not to put any ideas into Veronica's head."
And with
that, RW wished Coredelia and Grizz a very fine day,
excused himself, and proceeded to gather
supplies.
The Rain
kachina doll may have vanished, but in its place came
the rain. Elkae then began to understand there was more
to Uru than a mere story, a mere game. The Millers said
that Uru was real and, though she had scoffed at the
notion at first, she was now beginning to believe it.
The glyphs on the rock faces at Eder Kemo had fascinated
her in the beginning, but it wasn't until after the Rain
kachina incident that she began to understand their true
significance. Take, for example, this
glyph.
Behind the Floating Sculpture
Her
initial interpretation of the main portion of the glyph
was that it depicted Yeesha activating her KI. Other
images in the glyph were more difficult to interpret.
Under Yeesha's arm was a Weber grill with something on
it that reminded her of the Loch Ness monster. Was she
cooking Shroomie? Elkae was also puzzled why there would
be a cone on top of Kerath's arch. Who was the figure
falling from the arch? What was the figure
holding?
Now the glyph made more sense.
That was not Yeesha. It was Elkae herself! In her right
hand, she held a fire marble torch. Her left hand was
reaching into her bottomless black bag. The Weber grill
was, in fact, Falling Burro laden with saddle bags. She
had been correct about the cone, but the symbol beneath
it was actually a teepee--both symbols for the gnome.
The figure falling from the teepee represented the
recent incident on the Institution thread; the figure is
holding a broken brolly. The one thing she still didn't
understand was why her outfit was orange and not
purple.
________________ There's no
place like home. Where am I?
Bizzy opens his eyes and finds himself still in the
Professor's office. He tiptoes over to the door to hear
Urudawg's heavy breathing and an occasional tail thump
against the door. Suddenly he gets an idea. He climbs
onto the Professor's desk and grabs the microphone. In
his very best squirrel impression he speaks
...
May I have your attention
please. Anyone in the Institution today should
please return to their posts immediately. Have a nice
day.
Bizzy quietly waddled back to the door
and listened.
Aw, fishing sticks! Guess I'll
have to go back to work.
Almech, after spending the night on the
balcony, attempts the balcony jump. He barely manages to
stand on the stone, but succeeds in getting one foot on
the railing. He attempts to get his other foot up,
trips, and falls head first towards the egg room
roof.
Elkae thinks
back to the day she first met Bizzy. She had finished
Uru and XP1 (and the Mystery of the Bahro Caves) and
gone back to further study the glyphs in Eder Kemo. As
she stood before the Yeesha glyph, making a sketch and
taking notes, she heard a strange sound behind her. She
turned to see a brightly dressed gnome grinning up at
her. Beside him was a pedestal holding some sort of
linking device.
"This is for you. I can't do
this myself. I'm Bizzy." He lifted the device off the
pedestal and held it out toward her. Elkae stood
speechless, resisting the urge to pinch
herself.
"You've been given a special
calling. You must find the Sipapu. It has been buried
for centuries, but now it must be found. You will be
given much help along the way, but the journey is yours
and yours alone. The end of the journey is the returning
and you must leave immediately."
Elkae had
never heard of any Sipapu, let alone "the" Sipapu. She
certainly had no idea what one looked like. Seeing the
confused look on her face, the gnome winced and began to
explain the journey and it's purpose in great detail.
When he finished speaking, he could see she was still a
bit confused. But she decided to accept the journey
request (with a great deal of trepidation). For now, she
had just one question.
"Bizzy, I've never
seen anything like that device. Does it have a
name?"
"Yes," replied Bizzy with a nod. "It's called a
Linkin Log."
________________ There's no
place like home. Where am I?
Veronica stood on the banks in Kadish,
staring at the sun and full moon (or planet she cannot
decide which) filled with awe. She had only visited
there once...before "THE DAY". "THE DAY" being the one
where her father had taken away her Relto book and even
worse, her credit cards. She never did understand why he
took the Relto book. She had a momentary insight that
the purpose had been for her to learn to be a part of a
community, as Grizz had said,"People around here are
pretty much gonna give back to you what they get from
you." She felt uncomfortable with the memory, but
she knew in her heart that it was
true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm no longer a
danger to
society. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elkae
squinted at the image on the Linkin Log and assumed the
destination was Eder Gira. She was painfully familiar
with Eder Gira, having spent a great deal of time there
playing with fireflies. She wondered what she possibly
could have missed -- she'd even found the Pauline Stone
there which apparently eluded everyone else. Returning
to Eder Gira would not a problem, or much of an
adventure for that matter. Without hesitation, she
reached out and pressed her hand against the
cloth.
"I'm still here. Is that thing
broken?"
"No, it's very much functional. And
that's not Eder Gira. There's already a linking book
here in Kemo leading back to Gira. There would be no
need for a Linkin Log as well. Look closely. Don't you
recognize the rock formations? You were there as a
child."
Elkae bent down, peered at the image
more intently and realized she'd been mistaken. That was
definitely not Eder Gira.
"I see some trees
in the image. And the sky is too blue for Eder Gira. OH!
Is that the other side of the waterfalls?" she exclaimed
with delight.
"In a way it is, Elkae. But this
place is far, far from the strange yardangs of Gira. By
touching the cloth you have added a page to your
personal book."
Elkae reached down and thumbed
through the pages of her Relto book. When she saw
nothing had been added, she turned back to the gnome and
asked, "What book are you talking
about?"
"Never you mind. You'll find out soon
enough. Right now, you need to travel to this place on
your own. I'm not allowed to give you explicit
directions, but I can tell you that very soon you will
follow another calling. Now, go back to your Relto and
wait. And take this." Bizzy reached into his fanny
pack, pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to
Elkae. "Here. Take this. It's the best I could draw
from the image on the cloth, but it should be good
enough to help you find your way."
She took the drawing (and a good long look at
the squat little fellow with a cone on his head) then
linked back to Relto. The following day, Zandi
called.
________________ There's no
place like home. Where am I?
Veronica was staring intently across a
wide chasm on the banks of Kadish and she could just
make out something white that was fluttering a bit
whenever the wind picked up. She was so curious as to
what that was and yet the space across the chasm seemed
enormous to her. Should she risk it? Checking to be sure
her Relto book was secure at her hip, she walked to the
point that was closest to the other side. Focusing on
the outcropping of rock, she thought if she hit it just
right she could make it. Backing up...looking
again...backing up some more...trying to judge just how
fast she would need to run and how far she would need to
jump. Unfortunately, she forgot to check behind her as
well and she fell backwards, right over the edge of the
cliff. "I really hate when that
happensssssss."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm
no longer a danger to
society. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grizz, busy straightening things up in
the store, paused for a moment to think about Veronica.
He hoped she wouldn't forget her Relto book when she
left her Relto. That might make a bit of a problem for
her. But then he thought that, nah, she may be a bit
awkward at times, and a little bit scatty, but when it
came to survival, she had her priorities right. She'd be
all right. He
hoped...
_______________________________ Prop.
D'ni Internal Supply Co. "If we don't have it, you
don't need it!"
Appearing almost instantly back at her
Relto, Veronica walked straight over to the bookshelf
and retrieved the purple book again and touched the
journey cloth page. If nothing else, she was one
stubborn girl and she was going to make that jump come
hell or high water.
Veronica appeared at the
journey cloth just outside the pyramid building. She was
sure it had a name, but she did not know it. During her
first trip through Uru she had cared nothing about
reading journals or notes, or listening to speeches for
that matter. Being patient and willing to learn was not
one of her strongest attributes which would become
readily apparent as she attempted the jump once
more.
FIRST, she checks to be sure her Relto book
is secure on her hip. "Ok...start here, back up 10
paces...run...jump. Easy...I can do this!" She always
found a brief pep talk added confidence. Starting at the
point closest to the chasm, she backed up 10 paces, all
the while she watched behind her so she wouldn't go over
the edge again. Unfortunately, she forgot to check in
front of her, so when she began running to make the jump
she was way off course, much too far from the
outcropping and over the side she went. "Drat! How
annoyingggg!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'm no
longer a danger to
society. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thietris Professor Thietris Squirrel, CEO,
President and Managing Director, Institution of Advanced Exploration
of Myst Worlds
posted
Professor T links back to the
Institution in a good mood. Humming to himself, he
emerges from the linking room, heads towards his office,
and presses the glowing blue light on the door. The door
slides open. Thietris pauses. He takes a couple of steps
backwards. The door closes. He stares at the door. His
whiskers begin to twitch. It is another Basil Fawlty
moment. If he could discover the Mr O'Reilly was who was
responsible for this, he knew the very gnome that could
be utilized.
He was distracted by a groaning
sound coming from the roof of the room next
door.
Experimental Program
1
He was also acutely
aware of the dryness in his mouth and was relieved when
Grizz broke in concerning the fishing trip and his
supply request.
Bizzy opens his eyes and finds himself still in the
Professor's office. He tiptoes over to the door to hear
Urudawg's heavy breathing and an occasional tail thump
against the door. Suddenly he gets an idea. He climbs
onto the Professor's desk and grabs the microphone. In
his very best squirrel impression he speaks
...
"Ok...start here, back up 10
paces...run...jump. Easy...I can do this!" She always
found a brief pep talk added confidence. Starting at the
point closest to the chasm, she backed up 10 paces, all
the while she watched behind her so she wouldn't go over
the edge again. Unfortunately, she forgot to check in
front of her, so when she began running to make the jump
she was way off course, much too far from the
outcropping and over the side she went. "Drat! How
annoyingggg!"
