When I was exploring the city, I wasn’t exploring it randomly. I was collecting beacons.

In my neighborhood, I had come across the link to the Great Zero antechamber, here. Inside was a DRC notebook that gave a short (and really unhelpful) explination for what the Great Zero machine is, and how to get it working again. The first step was to use the KI machine pictured here to modify your KI. Once that was done, beacons would then be visible to you when you were near them. They would even make a soft beeping sound. You had to collect fifteen of these throughout the D’ni cavern, and then return here to load that data into the Great Zero. Once that was done, your KI allowed you access to the main chamber of the Great Zero machine. You can see the blue crystal vaguely through the window.

Here, you can see the machine in all of its operational glory. When I got in here, though, the machine was still and silent. I received the information that there were fifteen more beacons to find, and once those were found, you would be let into the next part of the chamber, which channeled the beam (when the machine is working) from outside, into the generator. The machine had to be calibrated before it would function properly, and these beacon searches were part of that calibration. I got the next fifteen, and let myself into the last chamber (pictured below), but did not embark on the last series of calibration beacon searches. I had begun in Teledahn, and was finally ready to embark upon Yeesha’s Path.

When I returned, I had received news through my KI that the Great Zero machine had finally been calibrated, and was now operational. This confused me. When turned around from the spot pictured here, you can see what appears to be a thermometer-like measure of how many people have completed the calibration runs. Both and I figured that the machine would not be calibrated and activated until this was full. Oddly enough, it remains at its low level, despite the machine’s activation. This means that either the DRC has somehow bypassed the proper operation of the machine (odd for an organization hell-bent on safety) or the measurement lights measure something else entirely. OR, we were right about what they measured, and something else will happen once it has been filled. Perhaps it will open the two doors that are still sealed.

In either case, I am now working on finishing the runs. You get a starting point, if you can interpret the picture next to the run button, but I’ve yet to figure out the logic of where to go from there. So, I’m wandering the cavern and the Ages, looking for white, silent beacons that you no longer need to be close to to see.

Now, with less bandwidth suckage! The images look beautiful, even in the lossy .jpg format, so the posts should load faster. Also, a new userpic, though I have to admit, I really do look like Uncle Fester in that picture.

Kadish Tolesa
One of the most serene places in D’ni Ae’gura is the Kadish Gallery. It is filled with beautiful stained glass art, like you see here and below. It’s got this haunting song playing from the moment you enter, and as you stare at the craftsmanship that went into making the art, you cannot help but be in awe at its skill and complexity. I found this place while I was still exploring the city, before I started on Yeesha’s Path. It has a linking book into Master Kadish’s Age, which I explored only halfheartedly. I was still enraptured by the city, and not yet ready to wander through and between Ages. I was, however, surprised to see a book show up on my Relto shelf, with a black viewing panel. I’d returned several times to the Kadish Gallery to soak in its serenity and beauty. When I later began to follow the first Path, I guessed that the gallery would become important.

The D’ni always leave solutions to their puzzles. Even when things break down, they build in ways to get around and through and to solve the intricate puzzles that they’ve created. I can only imagine that they found some joy hiding rewards for those with the tenacity and focus to think like the D’ni thought. Or, for that matter, as the individual D’ni thought. Just like Atrus, Guildmaster Kadish doesn’t include, or exclude, anything that’s not important. Even his serene gallery, filled with beauty as it is, has purpose. It is no coincidence that the linking book to his Age lies there, or that his Age is part of the Path. The solutions to all of the puzzles in his Age lie inside the artwork of his gallery. I’m not certain if it’s an American trait, or a Michigan one, but I notice that we tend to separate beauty and function, art and pragmatism. The D’ni integrate them, over and over, in their city and in the Ages to which they link.

Why had Yeesha sent me to this Age? Why was this one on her Path? The puzzles are extremely challenging, even with the solutions that are provided within the artwork. Decoding them and applying them takes contemplation, sketching or recording, and taxing one’s brainmeats to their limit. Well, for me, anyway. But there were no signs here of mistreatment of the Bahro, like there were in the other three. There were no prisons, no sign of Bahro enslavement, and no results of D’ni pride gone wrong here. That’s what the Path was becoming; a showcase of D’ni ego resulting in their undoing. But what had Guildmaster Kadish done that fit the bill? I didn’t discover the answer to my own question until I reached the end of the convoluted journey through the Age: Guildmaster Kadish’ vault.

The vault was suspended in the center of an enormous cavern by a masterfully engineered system of supports. There was only one path up to the door; any other way was empty space. Inside the vault, I found answers and questions. I discovered what had happened to the Guildmaster when the plague had struck down the D’ni. I discovered that he hoarded treasure beyond counting, rather than sharing it with all. Even in the end, when the D’ni were being forced to give back their very lives for all that they had taken from the Bahro, from the Ages that they had linked to, and from each other, Guildmaster Kadish sought solace in his gathered treasure. If Yeesha had intended to show how the great become pathetic, how the brightest and strongest fall the farthest, she had succeeded. Her methods, however, left quite the bitter taste in my mouth.

Er’cana
Why am I chasing after the Path of the Shell, if Yeesha’s methods (and yes, her arrogance as well) rubbed me the wrong way? Why, when she thinks that she is the Grower, just like Guildmaster Kadish did? Yeesha’s message is true, and is not a mistake that the D’ni are alone in making. Entitlement brought on by pride or ego is a plague among our own society. She has learned new ways of writing, she has broken all of the D’ni writing rules, and done it successfully. She has learned from the Bahro. I would learn these things. The Tehranee book was not written in D’ni, according to the novel. That means that the D’ni language is not the only one that can be used to write links to Ages. The Bahro link without books full of descriptions. They create links on stone tablets, and can link with will alone. She understands the intricacies of a world, a universe, a multiverse, in ways that I can only dream of. Retracing her steps feels right.

I’ve completed the first step of three on the next Path. Each of the stones on the bottom carries the hand print that came with the first four Ages. The next stone up carries a spiral. It comes from a cooperative puzzle-solving excursion into one of the garden Ages. I got it early on, exploring with others, before I had even visited Teledahn. Now, I wonder. The topmost stone bears the symbol of the shell, and represents Er’cana. Other explorers have wondered in their blogs about whether it’s right to take those stones before Yeesha guides us there. She handed us the symbol of the shell after we took what we were given, and then returned it. The end must now connect to the beginning. The DRC has released the garden Ages for us to explore and enjoy, but what damage does taking these stones do? From what I’ve gathered, Yeesha and the DRC have been at odds since the explorers began to arrive. What are we taking from the Bahro when we take the spiral stones from the garden Ages?

For that matter, what lesson are we learning on the Path of the Shell? Er’cana provides us a way to bring the algae in the great lake back to its former health, and through that, brightness. The hope is that its cycle of night and day will return, and the cavern will be properly lit. Are we now to focus on the good that we can do? Now that we have acknowledged the horrific pitfalls of undeserved pride, are we to attempt to be positive? Are we to attempt to make D’ni our home? When I had found and touched all of the shell tapestries, the hologram completed. I walked through it, because, you know, it’s a hologram. How can you NOT walk through a hologram? Anyway, it linked me to a place much like where the pillars were on the first Path, and where the stones for the garden Ages are. There was a shell symbol carved into the wall, and I pressed it, which sent the stone to my Relto. But, there was no speech, and no guidance from Yeesha. Where are the other linking books to the two other Ages in this Path? What now?

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 and Eder Gira
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?

Er’cana
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.