I’ve got so much to share, but I’ve had a hard time finding the words. This may be rebellion against the self-imposed daily writing routine, in which case it would be ridiculous. As it happens, I’ve got an old story to tell, and a new one. So, take your pick, or read both. :) As always, click on the pics to embiggen.
Eder Kemo is a garden Age. According to some of the translated histories, it was created for a king that was particularly full of himself. When it was discovered that the Age was inhabited by the Bahro, the King flipped his lid and had the Age -changed- to remove them. This flies in the face of one of the primary rules, when it comes to the D’ni skill for writing links to Ages. The garden Age of Eder Kemo survives, but is small and contained. It has minute-long thunderstorms that sweep through, giving water to the gardens. It has strange, light-giving fireflies that seem to have no physical form whatsoever. Little light creatures that are very curious, but hate water or quick movement. The Age is, for lack of a better word, absolutely stunning.
At the end of the stone path that winds through the Age, there is a Linking book to Eder Gira. This Age, as seen in the pics, seems to be made of red rock. There are steam vents that spew forth pressure from the lava flows below your feet. There is some water, as well. After a bit of exploring, you can see that the entire Age isn’t this way. Off in the distance are magnificent towers of stone that seem to have holes in them. They reminded me of skyscrapers, honestly. These must be the places of the Bahro, which were expunged from Eder Kemo. I can’t imagine what damage was done to the far off city and its inhabitants when their world, their home, was ripped asunder for the pleasure of a king from another land. I learned all of this from a research notebook in Eder Kemo, and it stuck with me as I built makeshift bridges and lit dark caverns in Eder Gira. I was liking the D’ni less and less as I progressed through Yeesha’s path, and I asked myself if this was purposeful. Was she showing me the very worst of what the D’ni had to offer, while showing me the very best of what they had created?
A new portion of D’ni Ae’gura was opened up last week. It’s the previous home, or study, or gallery… or something, of a prophetic D’Ni called the Watcher. I haven’t really poked around there much. In fact, I was just kind of tooling around in there, found a linking book, and popped into Er’cana. After wandering around a bit, I found the green round tapestry, with the shell-like symbol in the pic on the left. I immediately flipped my lid. When I finished Yeesha’s Path, she said that with a new Path came a new purpose. The end (of the spiral in the hand print) was connected to the beginning. This made a design exactly like the shell image there. And, like the hand prints, this glowed when I pressed it. I was a bit confused, though, because the whole thing glowed, unlike the hand print. When you pressed the hand print tapestries, more would glow as you found more tapestries.
I turned and started scouring the Age for more green shell tapestries. I found a few more, and then found this image, floating above the ground, as if it were created by one of the D’ni imagers. It flickers, just like one. As I found more tapestries, this image becomes more complete. When all the tapestries are touched, my guess is that it will look like the shell pattern on the tapestries. I am guessing that there will be a message of some sort, or perhaps a linking book to another age with these shells. In my Relto, there are still two spots next to the book for Er’cana. There has also been mention of putting pellets made with different recipes (?) into the big lake in D’ni Ae’gura to aid the algae there in healing, and becoming brighter. Knowing the D’ni, there would be some sort of machine or complex that would have been built to make these things.
Found it. I was able to get the train near the first picture running, and have now moved through most of the complex. Someone seems to have been here before me, though. There are torn fences that are cut, not torn, open. All of the power was switched off; it hasn’t run out over time. I’m actually in what seems to be the last room, solving the last challenge. I’m definitely cursing the DRC and their placing of caution pylons that can’t be gotten around or jumped over. Safety, I’m not so sure. Perhaps they just don’t want me to get to what’s over there. It’s just a matter of playing with things, and then I’ll be up and over. I know there’s a logic to it. There’s always a logic behind the Ages and their puzzles. I just have to get into the head space.