Yeesha’s path is comprised of four Ages. I picked the first one at random, and like the Bevins, the Relto, and D’ni Ae’gura before them, I was taken aback by this Age’s beauty.

The sun moves very fast through the sky in Teledahn. Or, rather, if what we understand about space and solar systems is correct, Teledahn spins on its axis very, very fast. The sun streaks through the sky, and you can track it from one horizon to the next, and then night falls. There are metal bridges over the swampy bay between – I kid you not – mushrooms the size of trees. I think that would have a fit. There’s machinery there, too. Great big machines that are driven by the threaded poles that you can see here. Of course, starting the machinery back up is a challenge in and of itself. According to the journals and translations that are available to read, this Age was originally farmed for its mushrooms. The D’ni considered them a delicacy, and a chef was among the keepers of Teledahn. The machinery had been added to make the harvesting of the mushrooms easier, and more efficient.

Here is the office of the DRC Restoration Engineer that was in charge of Teledahn. This is where the mystery of the Age, and its hidden use, starts to come forward. The ResEng was hit pretty hard by the politics in the DRC, and had even had contact with some returning D’ni. He had a thing for football, too. I guess it takes all kinds. Anyway, there are some interesting bits here in his office, but you don’t even get the juicy stuff until you get to his office back in Ae’gura (below). There, you find out about the DRC asking him to construct a weapon in the Age, as well as some hints about a second purpose for Teledahn, in the areas that the DRC hasn’t yet explored.

In the hut where you link in, there is a grate in the floor. Finding this involved looking for something hidden in plain view, and boy, I shook my first at the D’ni when I figured it out. That was nothing compared to what I felt when I ventured down there. There were markings that anthropologists back home might call primitive in those tunnels. My preconceptions agreed with this… they looked like tribal drawings of people. People in chains. A D’ni prison? A prison for those “others” that the D’ni found already inhabiting their Ages? No, this was a prison for the Least, for the Bahro. One of Teledahn’s owners had trafficked in slaves, and it made me sick. Their arrogance had become just like their relatives in Tehranee, and they had fallen from their purpose in moving to D’ni Ae’gura in the first place.

Many of the D’ni accomplishments felt tarnished to me now. I had no way of knowing which or how many were built upon the backs and labor of slaves. They had never been mentioned in any of the books or games about Atrus and his family, and he had blanched at use of human slavery when he discovered Tehranee. Did he even know about the Bahro? Did Gehn know, and not tell him? Or had the knowledge died with Aitrus, Anna’s husband? There was no way to know. I had always thought that the D’ni were just exceptional builders… exceptional stonemasons… exceptional writers. How much credit should go to the Bahro, instead? I had to know more. My urge to explore was still there, but for an entirely different reason. I had to find out if the D’ni civilization was even worth all of the work put into its restoration.

After discovering Yeesha’s message in New Mexico, I was presented with the opportunity to continue on her path right away, or to head into the Neighborhood, or into the City itself. After having read the books, I was seized with the need to explore.

The city was by no means full, but there were enough people running about to make me feel as though I was part of a community. Just as many people stopped to great me with the D’ni word of peace as hurried by on some errand or mission to solve a puzzle left behind by the creators of this ancient place. The entire city lies miles underground, in a cavern that dwarfs the Grand Canyon. Every single building has been carved out of and built into the sides of the living stone, as they say. A dull light comes from algae that live in the great lake (that’s high praise, coming from a Michigander), but is supplemented by lights that the D’Ni Restoration Council has either brought in or got to work again. Stairways wind and climb and fall in seeming randomness, but like the puzzles, a certain pattern, like an artistic logic, shows itself. It doesn’t take long for the city to feel natural.

There are two links into the city that you have access to right off the bat. If you don’t yet have your KI, you can use the linking stone left in your Neighborhood by the Bahro. The stone takes you to the city, but it takes you to a different city. A possibility of the city that is not shared by most. In fact, you will only see your Neighbors in that city. The other link comes from the Nexus, which you need a KI to access. You can get to the Nexus from your Neighborhood, but you can’t access the machine without a KI. The Nexus link brings you to the “actual” city, at the docks. There’s a stairway here, like everywhere else. If you walk a ways up it, turn around, and take a picture with your KI, it’s likely to look like this. When I turned around, and gazed out over the lake that I had read about… the city that Gehn had brought young Atrus to… the city that had been undone by the very concept that the D’ni might not be the only people capable of thinking and morality and… that others could Write.

I should have been prepared for this, after seeing the Cleft, and the water, and the blue flowers. I should have been able to steel myself against the romance of these ruins; the tragedy of D’ni Ae’gura. Hell, I’m the guy who fell in love with Detroit. But, here I was, running into people that felt just as I did. Here I was, unable to resist or satiate the desire to explore this place, and to discover its puzzles and its culture.

Here I am, in front of the Library. The great storehouse of linking books. It’s at one of the furthest points out from the docks… at least, one of the furthest points out that the DRC has cleared as being “safe”. It’s surrounded by a wide courtyard, some of which has broken off and fallen into the lake. There’s a nexus pedestal off to the left, with a DRC tent next to it. Within the Library, all of the books are gone, or are hidden behind the DRC barriers. I’m not happy that they’ve hoarded them, but I wouldn’t want to link my way into an Age that’s nothing but desert or all ocean, or whatever. They aren’t the Guild of Maintainers, but I think that the DRC is doing what they can with what they have.

There are things that we can do to help. We may not be able to clear areas, or “officially” help with translation, exploration, etc. But then there’s the Great Zero. As far as anyone can tell, it uses the KI to deal with multi-dimensional positioning. Like, more than three dimensions. It may be related to the KI’s ability to transmit communication across Ages (which, according to popular theory, would have to pierce space, time, and dimensional barriers). I recently gained access to the Great Zero’s calibration room, but I decided to finish Yeesha’s journey before I started on that. More on that when I get to it.

When looking for the markers to gain access to the calibration room, I came across this abandoned bar. There are broken imagers, like the one on my Relto and in the neighborhoods. There appear to be gaming tables in an adjoining room. As far as I can tell, it was a bar. The D’ni would gather here, I think, for recreation and libation. It made me sad to stand there, surrounded by the broken ghosts of the past. I have to admit that the sadness was overcome by that same urge to explore… there are other rooms beyond this one, blocked off by rubble or doors that refuse to open. I check back every once in a while to see if anything has been opened or cleared since.

I keep getting struck randomly with the need to take photos. This shot was taken in front of the Library. If you are standing where the last Library pic was taken and turn around in place, this would be close to what you see. The roof of the cavern is so far away, it can’t be seen, and I keep catching myself searching for stars in the “sky” above. There are some places in the city that one could just sit, and stare, and think for hours. If, that is, one could quiet that insistent little voice that demands exploration, puzzle solving, and, well… moving.

Now that I’ve completed the first part of Yeesha’s path, I still find myself drawn to explore the city. I went back to it, after finishing, with the intent of finding the linking books that are around the city, and popping into each respective Age to whet my whistle. And guess what – I got distracted by the shiny. At the edge of the Tokatah Alley, another piece had fallen away. As I poked my way out to the edge, something in the periphery caught my eye. I made my way on the dangerous outcropping – if I fell, I’d just link back to my Relto – until I found it. Bahro linking stone. But what I found… it just added more questions. Always more questions, and never more answers. I wonder if that’s why we keep exploring.