They give us our own library. Our -own- library of linking books, and another that can hold journals.

Let me start over. I have my own Age, called Relto. The story goes that Yeesha, Atrus’ daughter, gave us the linking book to it, and that’s how we come to New Mexico, the Cavern, everything.

As you solve puzzles and learn about the history of the D’ni, your Relto changes to reflect that. Some of these changes come with pages that you find and put in your Relto book, but others come as you follow the path that Yeesha has laid out for you. You can invite others to your Age, as is shown here. This was within the first week that I’d come to the Cavern, and this fellow explorer invited me to her Age, to show me some of the changes that had come with her accomplishments. The pillars signify that she had found all of the palm cloths inside of the four Ages that she left linking books to. The pillars represent the Least, the Bahro. But, you’ve got to walk that path for yourself.

Some things that get added by the Relto pages don’t seem to belong. This imager, for one. This kind of device, this kind of technology, has shown itself throughout the Ages, from Myst to Riven and beyond. This type of imager seems to be fairly standard in the Cavern, but it was not part of my inital Age. As far as I’ve been able to tell, I can upload four to six images from my KI to the imager, which it will then scroll through. I like to upload images of how far I’ve come to my neighborhood’s imager, so that when my neighbors do come online, they can see what I’ve accomplished. Since I finally have a better driver situation worked out (with a third-party set, not endorsed by manufacturer or Microsoft), I was able to be in the cavern and the various Ages for quite some time in the last couple of days.

Once you begin on Yeesha’s journey, your Age begins to change.

You start with one canister, that links to the New Mexico desert. If you’ve played the past games, and especially if you’ve read any of the novels, the spot in New Mexico will wow you. My chest actually tightened when I saw how much care and effort had been put into reproducing the Cleft. After you meet Yeesha, the number of canisters in your Relto changes to four, each with a linking book to an Age. When you finish what you’re supposed to finish, a pillar rises on the canister for that Age, like you see here. I had just finished the first of four, and I was proud enough of it to snap this shot. :)

The pages that can modify your Age are all over the place. In some Ages, they’re obvious, in others they’re put in spots that are purposefully hard to get to, and in others they’re hidden or put into places that you won’t ever find unless you explore more than you puzzle-solve. After a while, you’ll notice that the D’ni are not the only ones that have left behind links. Linking tablets, made and left by the Bahro, are laid carefully throughout the Great City and the Ages. They have a habit of sending you to a dead end. The only way out tends to be the linking book back to your home Age. It can be worth it to stick around for the view… or for the hidden things, like the pages. When I found the one for this dock, my heart skipped a beat. The similarity between my Relto and Myst Island slammed home, and I felt that much more a part of what is going on. If only I could get a ship there, in the clouds, or a linking book back to the Stoneship Age…

I’ve now finished Yeesha’s journey… or, at least, the first one. As she says, the symbol must change… a spiral with the end connected to the center. I’m now on the lookout for that symbol, and I hope to see it soon. I am sad for what was done to the Least, the Bahro, but I am glad for what I’ve been able to do for them. I can now go back to New Mexico and the Cleft. There is rain, which means that there can be growth in the desert.