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I like what you're doing, this lp is good stuff. But man... I just am still really pretty sure that 15 and 16 are actually in fact not the same number. 
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Dec 20, 2016 06:04
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Bruceski posted:It's been ages since I read the Book of Atrus, but I think Riven was the natives' name for the place. That's some really bad dramatic irony on their part.
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Dec 20, 2016 07:48
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The Protagonist posted:I like what you're doing, this lp is good stuff. But man... I just am still really pretty sure that 15 and 16 are actually in fact not the same number. Whoops, thanks for catching that. Fixed.
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Dec 23, 2016 13:22
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Appendix: D'ni Language We're back to school for this one.  Remember the letters on the walls? They're from the D'ni language, a fleshed out and translatable language with quite a bit of complication behind it. I mean there's seriously arcane grammar rules, translatable words in a separate alphabet, the works.  The alphabet itself is a 25 symbol (natch) phonetic alphabet, which certainly doesn't help our hero on Riven, but the language has been translated and picked over by plenty of fans. For our sakes, we're going to look at some of the examples of D'ni language lying around Riven and what they mean.  First, the Gateroom, with three prayers on the walls.  quote:The Ink  quote:The Books  quote:Our Master  The Great Golden Dome also has some D'ni around the edges of it. It says; quote:The end of this world is near  There's also a bit of D'ni around the small building on Map Island, the one with the metal pin maps. quote:Our lord Gehn has instructed us to learn all.  And coming back to the school, we have the following on the blackboard. quote:The Rules of Gehn M.c.P fucked around with this message at 00:38 on Dec 31, 2016 |
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Dec 23, 2016 14:38
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Quite a cult of personality Gehn has cultivated.
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Dec 23, 2016 23:17
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oh yes oh god yes form the head FORM THE HEAD unghhhh...
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Gehn has the most amazing books. Just the best books and ink. He's gonna use them to build a wall to keep the wharks out. That, or drain the lake.
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Dec 23, 2016 23:54
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Nidoking posted:Gehn has the most amazing books. Just the best books and ink. He's gonna use them to build a wall to keep the wharks out. That, or drain the lake. Atrus is a loser! What has he done? He can't even keep Riven from falling apart! How can you expect to trust him to keep writing stable ages? I have the best ages, the most amazing ages. We're gonna Make D'ni Great Again.
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Dec 25, 2016 08:12
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Entry 16 Soundtrack – The Red Cave  This grid… it has dark lines, and the shapes they’re in, I think I’ve seen them before.  I think they’re the five different islands. This dome is connected to a smaller dome on each of them. This might be a grid representation of Riven. After all, Catherine said it all used to be one island, right? The pieces would fit together before they broke apart.  There was a place to look at a map, the water and metal pin contraptions on the Map Island. The other side of the Age, sure, but it gave me time to think.   First through the Gate Room, rotating the room around once more to take the other path… - These buildings are meant to power the books. That’s their purpose, and this grid is supposed to represent that.   Next through the insides of the Great Golden Dome and over the massive footbridge to Bookmaker’s Island… - So what do the marbles represent, along with their placement on grid? Perhaps the locations of something important.    Through Gehn’s workshop, hitting the Tram button on the way, and to the Tram stop… - For Gehn, the important thing would be his books, each of which is housed in a smaller dome.    Take the tram (Which had become increasingly pedestrian) to the Map Island and follow the path. The water still shimmered in the sunlight from when I last played with it. - So that’s what the marbles represented, the domes for each island. I had to place the right marble in the place where each dome is on the map.  Thankfully, Gehn’s own lackeys had their map of the island. Cartography isn’t my strong suit.  The map had been left on Temple Island, and it took just a moment to find the Dome, nestled on its own pillar of rock. A large grid of 5x5, with each square subdivided into 5x5. A 25x25 grid altogether.    It was a quick job to find the other domes and their locations.  The dome on Bookmaking Island was underground, of course. But the crater on top of it was still shown on the map.  With a little mental numbering I had something I could put in the big grid. Now to deal with the colors. --- Of course I had a better idea about the colors of the domes. And fortunately it was on the same island.   I just had to turn the tram around and take a short elevator ride.  The giant survey room had given the information. It had been made to monitor the village and the pipe connections underwater, but it was also information on the color symbols  It just took a little playing around to remind myself of them.  Unfortunately, the last light had been broken, but it should do as a place to start.  The domes themselves had a symbol to open each one. So I just need to figure out the symbols and the colors. Fortunately I recorded the symbols. Going back to check each one would be even more time consuming. --- This worked out less well than I thought.  The Dome on Map Island had a broken viewfinder, so I don’t know its symbol. I don’t think there’s any earthly way of getting to the island with the giant tree stump, so I don’t know that symbol either. And the color light for the Bookmaking Island’s symbol is broken, so I don’t know that color. 3 unknowns, with a spare color makes for far too many permutations. Looking at the colors I do have, process of elimination might not be out of the question though. The grid had 6 colored marbles after all, and the only one missing is… purple.  I think I can work with this. ---  It felt like my last trip around Riven as I headed back to the Great Golden Dome. I’d seen so much of this Age in my time here. Most of it had been so barren, but the few people I saw were scared. They had reason to be, so much of this Age was falling apart at the seams.  But I had one last obstacle between me and Gehn. The trap book weighed on me, lying in my pack with my pens and journal. It would be used soon.  First I placed the marbles I was sure of. The Village Island Dome, high in the treetops, gated off from the villagers that lived beneath. The Bookmaking Island dome, placed behind trick doors in a cave on Gehn’s private island. The Temple Island dome, standing on a pillar of rock and dwarfed by its enormous brother right next door.  I placed two more marbles in the right locations, though I wasn’t sure of their colors. The Map Island dome, lying in a placid lake ringed by the tusks of dead whales. The Tree Island dome, the last place on Riven I had yet to see, a tombstone for this dying Age.  I backed up down the corridor. A conspicuous switch was planted in the wall here.  Trying the switch lowered the press onto the grid. Each movement accompanied by the sound of metal and steam. They echoed loudly in the corridor.  The switch moved and revealed a button. I pressed it firmly. It clicked, and nothing happened. I gave it a couple tries, but clearly I got the colors wrong.  I flipped the switch to raise the press and tried again.  Perhaps switching the colors of orange and yellow would work? It didn’t.  I think that 2 spaces with 3 mutually exclusive colors works out to 6 different possibilities. It wouldn’t be too much of an issue to simply try all the permutations. I took out the blue marble and swapped it with yellow. No luck.  A quick switch of the colors… And a step back to try the switch again.  With a sudden jolt, the piston slammed upwards, sending a booming sound echoing around the islands. The dome immediately began to hum. I’d done it.  I turned around and rushed to the nearest Dome, the Temple Island dome.   It was the work of a moment to enter the code. 2, 13, 14, 20, 21.  The dome slammed shut around me. I could hear the grinding of machinery as it began to rotate around me.  The linking book for Gehn’s 233rd Age was still there. But when I opened it this time…  The linking panel came to life.   A flyby of an impossible landscape. Mountains stacked on mountains underneath a red sky. The landscape was so alien I wondered if anyone lived there.   Eventually it circled in to rotate on a single building, perched on a mountain. Gehn’s home away from home, no doubt.  I’m writing these words inside this spinning dome before I put my hand on the panel. There’s a chance these are the last words I’ll ever write. Gehn is ruthless, extremely knowledgeable, and has the resources of 2 Ages at his call. But he is also desperate. So much of his ambitions have been stymied by being trapped here, if he even had an inkling of hope that he could return to D’ni, he may seize it. But he’s also, perhaps rightfully, paranoid. Locked doors, hidden passages, secrecy and obfuscation surround everything he does. He won’t trust me, and he might not trust my ‘Linking book’. Hopefully I can talk him into it.
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Dec 31, 2016 00:08
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Entry 17 I’d delayed long enough. I put my hand on the Linking Panel and traveled through. The link was different. Scratchier, somehow. Maybe it was an effect of Gehn’s flawed books.  I arrived in a cage. Well, you can’t blame the man for being cautious.  There were five pedestals around me, each with the block representations of the islands of Riven. Gehn’s civilized transportation, I presume.  They were non-functional, though. Presumably Gehn powered them somehow, but until they were turned on I was stuck here at his convenience.   I took a look around at the desks, the devices, and the windows to the alien landscape outside. At the time, I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, and all of it was rather conspicuously out of reach.  Which left a button on one side of the cage. I was stuck, but this likely was meant to summon Gehn to speak with his visitor. I pressed it. No alarms, just a mild click.  Soundtrack – Gehn Speaks But less than a minute later, I saw Gehn come walking up to the door.  He walked up, clearly uncertain. We stared at each other for a moment, me in a cage, and him in dark goggles. What would his first words be?   “I apologize for the cage.”Well at least he was polite.   He paced over to a table took off his equipment. His goggles, his gloves, and the strange device with a handle he always carried with him. “I'm afraid this situation has often required of me a more primitive code of conduct than I might otherwise have chosen.” “I am Gehn. I assume you've heard of me. Yes. Well, I suspect you have acquired some false information of who I am now.” “Not that my son would have lied to you about me, no, not Atrus, it's just that, well, I'm sure he believes me to still be the depraved father I once was.” “Yes. I even tried to kill him once. God, if I had accomplished that who knows what I would have become. A great father indeed, who tries to murder his own son.”I hadn’t said a word so far. I wasn’t sure what to say. He seemed genuinely remorseful.  “Thankfully, he trapped me on Age Five, a prison of my own creation. No books, no precious inks, no ages to link to; nothing but my own foolish ambitions. That was thirty years ago.” “Thirty years, thirty lifetimes, what does it matter? No sentence could be too harsh for the man I was.” Gehn paused to lean in close to the bars. “But, I have changed.” “To be sure, the deeds of my past can never be completely atoned for, but my mission was an honorable one.” Gehn paused to take a long pull from his pipe. The dying croaks of reduced frogs echoed in the distance.  “I'm sorry, this is all a bit awkward, I... It's been a long time since I've attempted to persuade anyone of my intentions. Most of the people here have already made their minds up about me, one way or another.”I thought to myself, “So have I, I think.”  “I myself do not trust the words of most men, so I don't expect you to believe me. In the end though you may discover that I do have more than mere words to offer.”I remember raising an eyebrow. Was I being bribed?  “Atrus's choice of punishment has been hard on the people of Riven. Many have suffered because of it. The island has been steadily decaying for years, but according to my most recent measurements, it appears that the Fifth Age has entered its final days.” “Unless the villagers can be relocated soon, the island will collapse entirely and everyone will perish.”No… he was explaining that he may be the only chance the Rivenese people have of surviving.  “It has taken me a long time to do it, but it appears that finally I'll be able to make some substantial amends to my past transgressions, especially in...” “Well.” “I'm afraid I've had some trouble with Catherine, and the Moiety. In any society, there will always be a small percentage of the population with rebellious tendencies. Before Catherine appeared, the Moiety, as they call themselves, had been relatively harmless.” “I mean, the natives here are a fairly violent people by nature, but I'd almost come to accept their presence. It seemed inevitable under the circumstances.”I frowned, but I’d never really had a chance to interact with the Rivenese people. Besides the dart in the neck, I mean.  “Upon Catherine's return, however, their violence intensified considerably. It seems she's become some sort of religious savior to them. And as far as I can tell, she's come to believe this herself, so I've had no alternative.” “I had to separate her from her people.”I tried not to betray the fact that she was still in contact with the Moiety. Fortunately Gehn continued.  “I must admit though that my concerns were not entirely for her safety alone. The actions of Catherine and the Moiety have put my own life at risk, on numerous occasions; consequently the lives of all the people here.” “Therefore I must ask you to refrain from any attempt to free her.” “Although I'm sure Atrus desires it. Indeed, he must desire it with all his heart. But he is completely unaware of her recent state.”Something about those words seemed deeply personal. I found myself wondering about Atrus’ mother.  Gehn, in his thought and meandering conversation, wandered to another part of the room. “Which brings me to the point of all this. The Linking Book you brought with you; you’re very fortunate to have recovered it.” He reached forward, hand outstretched. “If I may?”It wasn’t forceful. And this was, after all, the endpoint of the plan, but I wasn’t sure what would happen next. Would this work?  I gave him the book. “Thank you.” He spent some time looking through the book. He flipped through the pages. He scanned the lines. Everything depended on Atrus’ ability to hide its nature.  For just a moment, Gehn’s hand hovered over the linking panel.  But something, his caution and paranoia probably, stopped him. He approached me in the cage.  “Perhaps it would be best if you went through first.” I froze. What would happen if I placed my hand on the panel? Would my face fill up the panel like Sirrus and Achenar’s? The ruse would be obvious and I would be trapped. Would Gehn even follow after me? What if he did, would we both be trapped forever? What was even in there, could we even survive in a book for long?  Gehn clearly saw my hesitation, but I think he misinterpreted it. “You may need some time to decide. That is reasonable.”He took the book and walked away. I breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately felt guilty about it.  “Until then, as a token of my good intentions, I will allow you free access to my Linking Books, crude though they may be, and to the rest of the Fifth Age.”He pressed a button on the spherical machine, and the lights around the books hummed to life.  He was clearly disappointed as he began to gather his equipment, even a bit curt. “Please understand, there is nothing I want more than a chance to resolve matters between Atrus and myself; especially in light of what has become of Catherine. But unless you are willing to demonstrate to me that your intentions are honorable, I cannot risk it.” “The sanctuary I've been writing for the islanders is nearly complete. After all these years, it would be a shame if I were unable to finish it.” He made for the door, but stopped and addressed one last thing to me. “The work I am doing is quite demanding. Please don't signal me unless you've decided to use the book. The switch will reset itself once you link from here.” And then he walked out the door into his 233rd Age.  Leaving me behind in his foyer, trying to process everything I’d heard. Thirty years spent, all to recreate the Art. What if it was all to give the Rivenese a place to live? I don’t know everything about what transpired, but Atrus condemned the people here too. Maybe there could be a reconciliation.  I wasn’t sure, but there was someone I could talk to. A linking book to the tree stump island was here for me.   The linking panel didn’t show much but the spinning dome I would arrive at. I placed my hand on the panel and linked through.  After another scratchy link, I was standing inside a dome again.  I hit the button, and the mechanism opened up and let me out.  Behind me was the tree stump. It seemed larger in person. It must have been awe inspiring while it was whole. A building perched on top of the stump. Catherine’s prison?  I looked around to see where I was, but there was nothing but the horizon and the ocean. Somehow this island had been propelled miles away from the rest of Riven.  I followed the walkway around, to where an entrance had been carved into the dead wood.   Inside was an elevator with a small device at the end. The three buttons at the bottom sounded three noises, *tink*, *rattle*, and *ding*. The handle on top didn’t do anything. A combination lock based on noises, I think.  I stepped back and noticed a larger handle above. I pulled it with a little trepidation.  The elevator rose smoothly to another room. A room I recognized. This was the mysterious room I saw in the viewer.  Soundtrack – Catherine’s Theme This was Catherine’s prison. She walked through the balcony door, speaking something in Rivenese, but stopped dead when she saw me.   “You made it! But how’d you get past Gehn?” “He must really believe I’ve gone mad.” Her eyes darted to something above my head. The viewer, no doubt. She was picking her words carefully. “I know what he's doing. He's watching you. He's waiting for you to make a mistake. He's hoping you'll lead him back to D'ni! You can't let Gehn...”I wasn’t sure. Was he watching? Had he darted back to his observation room when he saw I left? Was a lackey assigned to keep an eye on Catherine’s movements?  “Atrus sent you to save me. But if Gehn gets back to D'ni, he'll kill him.” She leaned in close and began to whisper. A foil for the cameras, but I wasn’t sure they even picked up sound. “I think I know how to signal Atrus, but it's going to take both of us. You'll have to trap Gehn before you can get the combination. Be careful.” She backed off, suddenly cold. She’s good at the Art but I suddenly doubted her acting. “Go then. If you won't help me then I have nothing more to say.” She stormed off, making a show for our audience. Maybe it would be convincing.  But with nothing else to say, I pulled the handle and descended.  I was feeling more lost than ever now. Gehn had been… much different in person than I’d expected. Though I wasn’t sure what I’d expected in the first place. He hadn’t threatened me, though I was stuck in a cage. Perhaps he could be reasonable with Atrus? I hadn’t noticed any weapons on him. Other than whatever he was carrying at his side, that long handled device he took with him while exploring. He said Catherine had become drunk on the worship of the natives. It was possible, Catherine said she had been on the receiving end of it. She seemed fine when I met her. Scattered, perhaps, but not overtly mad. I wish I had a way to tell. For all the time I’ve spent here, I don’t know these people. I don’t know if Gehn is truly repentant. I don’t know if Catherine is right. And I don’t know how I can save Riven or its people. Damnit Atrus, I wish we could have swapped places. M.c.P fucked around with this message at 13:18 on Jan 24, 2017 |
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Jan 8, 2017 20:34
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Gehn is clearly a manipulative sociopath, a sad trait with Dn'i people.
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Jan 8, 2017 22:58
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I love this predicament because it's basically seeing how well you've paid attention to the writing and dialogue of the other characters up to this point.
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Jan 8, 2017 23:04
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Tombot posted:Gehn is clearly a manipulative sociopath, a sad trait with Dn'i people. You take that back! We've gotten quite familiar with a good, what, 7 people of D'ni descent throughout the books & the first few games? Only 4 of those were manipulative sociopaths, that's barely more than half!
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Jan 9, 2017 02:18
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I find the bits of this game where you see other people really off-putting. It just feels like they wanted to make a more interactive game than their technology and budget allowed, and you get this weird compromise that doesn't work (for me) at all, where characters speak to you and ignore the fact that you're just standing there making no attempt to communicate.
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Jan 9, 2017 03:53
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I remember being terrified in Myst as a child because I was just waiting for someone to jump out at me. Riven actually having people in it made that even worse.
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Jan 9, 2017 04:39
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Tiggum posted:I find the bits of this game where you see other people really off-putting. It just feels like they wanted to make a more interactive game than their technology and budget allowed, and you get this weird compromise that doesn't work (for me) at all, where characters speak to you and ignore the fact that you're just standing there making no attempt to communicate. Makes it hell to write around, that's for sure.
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Jan 9, 2017 06:30
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Also do we know how old any of these characters are? 30 years seems like a long-rear end time between the intro to Myst and now. I feel like Atrus and Catherine would have had to have been fairly young when they first escaped Riven.
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Jan 9, 2017 14:47
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I believe that in one of the games there is a picture of Sirrus and Achenar playing on Myst Island as young boys.
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Jan 9, 2017 14:55
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IIRC they were in their early 20s when they escape Riven at the end of the Book of Atrus (and the Myst linking book falls into the starry crevice while Atrus narrates), presumably Sirrus & Achenar were born a few years after that, on Myst, and then the PC arrives on Myst Island when the sons are full-grown men (I'd guess in their 20s or 30s) and thus Atrus/Catherine are in late middle age. I forget if there's any canon for how long the PC wanders around the Ages of Myst between the 1st game and Riven but it's probably not more than a few months or years? Only so many times you can ride that friggin' subway system on Selentic before going mad...
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Jan 9, 2017 21:20
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bitprophet posted:IIRC they were in their early 20s when they escape Riven at the end of the Book of Atrus (and the Myst linking book falls into the starry crevice while Atrus narrates), presumably Sirrus & Achenar were born a few years after that, on Myst, and then the PC arrives on Myst Island when the sons are full-grown men (I'd guess in their 20s or 30s) and thus Atrus/Catherine are in late middle age. I could buy Atrus being 50 but drat Catherine looks good for her age. Maybe it's just the 90s FMV messing with me. If she was able to write Botox into her prison on Riven, why didn't she just write herself a way out too
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Jan 10, 2017 00:42
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They could also both have extended lifespans compared to modern humans. Atrus is part D'ni who explicitly live many times longer than normal earth humans and Catherine is from an alien world with all kinds of weird and hosed up ecosystems.
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Jan 10, 2017 00:48
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Yeah, the D'ni can live to be over 200 years old I believe. I don't think there is any information on Riveneese lifespans but it's possible that they're longer lived than humans. Myst V spoilers:Atrus does indeed live to be around 200 years old, you meet a very old Atrus at the end of the game. His and Catherine's daughter, Yeesha looks pretty good for being around 150 and only being like 1/8th D'ni. EDIT: Come to think of it, you meet a D'ni survivor in Myst V who has to be older than Atrus but he looks a fair bit younger than him. So a full blooded D'ni seems to do better than Atrus' 1/4 Dn'i blood. Veotax fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Jan 10, 2017 |
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Jan 10, 2017 00:54
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Zore posted:They could also both have extended lifespans compared to modern humans. Atrus is part D'ni who explicitly live many times longer than normal earth humans and Catherine is from an alien world with all kinds of weird and hosed up ecosystems. Yeah sure that's fine. I just really wanted to make that Botox joke.
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Jan 10, 2017 01:22
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bitprophet posted:I forget if there's any canon for how long the PC wanders around the Ages of Myst between the 1st game and Riven but it's probably not more than a few months or years? Only so many times you can ride that friggin' subway system on Selentic before going mad... Atrus' journal at the start of the game notes the PC's arrival on 87.7.13, and the next and final entry is on 87.7.16, which gives a ream of thoughts on how exactly we send a signal back through a medium of a magic book. So, at least 3 days, and not much longer since Atrus is a very dutiful journal writer.
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Jan 17, 2017 05:29
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Good catch! Honestly, 3 days doesn't seem long enough to be "trapped" on Myst and its Ages...I'd want at least a week
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Jan 17, 2017 17:46
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All but five of the books in the library are destroyed and there's nothing to do but obtuse puzzles, I'd say three days is plenty of time to go stir-crazy.
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Jan 18, 2017 01:18
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And to be fair, if Atrus goes by D'ni time, Each D'ni day is actually about 30 hours, making the Stranger's visit around 3.75 topside days.
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Jan 18, 2017 10:40
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Entry 18 I’ve been sitting on the steps of the prison. The sun is as bright and warm as ever, and on this isolated island the smell of the sea is strong. Not much in the way of waves, but they break on the rocks and splash up on the metal walkways on occasion. I’ve been thinking about Gehn.  He talks so much about making amends, but the things I’ve seen, the execution tower, the silent terror in the village… and Gehn’s omnipresent thrones of power. He might talk about savages, but his actions may be the most savage things on the Age.  And Gehn isn’t Riven’s only hope. Catherine can also write ages, and far better and more stable ones at that. I’ve seen it, she succeeded in scant months where Gehn failed over twenty years. The only question is, has Catherine become enamored with her own power, as Gehn fears and she suggested in her own journal? But… that’s not quite true. She hated the reverence, but found it necessary to use it. It can’t have been that long since she was trapped.  And… Atrus trusts her. I don’t know how well a judge of character he is, considering his own children… but Atrus is, at the very least, upright.   I’ll have to trust them enough to put my hand in a trap for them. Maybe I should leave this journal here… ---  I arrived back in the cage on Gehn’s 233rd Age.  I didn’t wait long, and pressed the bell to summon Gehn.  It didn’t take long for Gehn to respond.  “I’m relieved you’ve returned.”I thought I detected a smile on his face. He did seem happy to see me.  “I thought perhaps you had decided against it.”He quickly doffed his goggles and gloves. The Trap book appeared to be in his bag.  He approached the cage, book in hand. The tension was palpable.  “Here.”He held up the book, linking panel within arm’s reach. “I shall follow you directly.” I didn’t want to waste this chance, and quickly put my hand on the panel. Too quickly, maybe. The familiar feel and sound of a link rang out.  But after that, blackness.  I don’t know how long I was in there. I felt like I was floating, but somewhere so black I couldn’t even see my hands in front of my face. With nothing to accompany but my thoughts… It was little wonder Achenar became so unhinged. I worried that this wouldn’t work, that something about my link would reveal the trap to Gehn. I worried that even if Gehn fell for the trap we would both become trapped. Would we be able to talk? Interact? I remembered Atrus’ sons, the static filled panels and their pleas for me to help them. I worried what Gehn would see. Did Atrus consider this?  I was in the throes of thoughts like this when a panel opened up in front of me. I froze. I imagined my face, static filled and close to the panel. Gehn, at least, didn’t seem disturbed.  Instead, he readied his goggles, and readied his device. With so close a view, I could see the hole on the end, the handles and the triggers. He was getting a gun ready.  He held his hand up. I don’t know what he saw, but there was just a moment’s hesitation.  But then, slowly, he put his hand on the panel. There was a linking sound, a brief feeling of vertigo…  And I was back on the 233rd Age,  Outside the cage.  The trap book was on the ground at my feet. I was still dizzy and disoriented, but I picked it up and opened it.  I saw… a rotating image of D’ni, the very room that Atrus had been trapped. But as I watched, I saw a figure, seated at a desk. It was small, and hard to see, but I think it was Gehn. But I knew he was in there, floating and staring at my face. Shouting, maybe, or staring in anger now that he had been trapped. I closed the book quickly. I felt his stare from behind that panel and it was making me uncomfortable.  Instead I looked around and tried to find my bearings. Gehn’s lab on his private Age. His most protected place.  I wandered over to a window with a conspicuous lever. I took a moment and looked at the bizarre landscape outside. I pulled the lever.  A rattle from behind me turned me around, and I watched the cage lower. That left the door unlocked if I needed to come back.  I circled around to the main door. Maybe I could take a look around at this Age while it was still stable.  The door clicked. It looked like there was a keyhole, but the key was probably on Gehn’s person. No going outside for now, it seems.  I continued around the room this time coming across a strange device.  I poked at it until something move, the top button depressing into the device. Nothing happened at first… but then a tune began to play. Soundtrack – Gehn’s Piece It sounded like a reed instrument. It was surprisingly soulful. I left it on as I looked through the rest of the lab.  The table nearby was covered in Ink making things, bottles, and Gehn’s pipe.  I checked the book, and it was blank. A black linking panel at the front showed this was Gehn’s next Age in progress.  I took a glance at the spherical hissing boiler. Gehn had refined his book powering device down to something smaller. I left it on. I would need a way out, after all, and I didn’t think it would run out of fuel very soon.   The one thing left was a ladder, leading below.  I climbed down into a different room, one that felt much homier than anything else I’d seen yet. I paused, the Trap book weighing my pack down.  Next to the ladder was a tapestry hanging from the wall.  Below that was a basin with a working faucet. I stopped to splash some water on my face. I think I was still a bit in shock.  By the window, there was another imager. I wondered to myself, was Gehn so narcissistic that he would have a recording of himself in his bedroom?  I turned the handle, and it flickered to life. A woman appeared, giggling and talking to someone off screen. Once again, it was in a language I didn’t understand.  After a bit of awkwardness, she turned to face the viewer directly, and spoke something. It was short, soft, and heartfelt.  The whole thing was only about 30 seconds long.  The right-hand wall had a couple portraits.  The first was a picture of a woman, the same on in the imager. There was writing on it… But it was scratchy and faded. I could just make out the name Gehn at the beginning.  The second was an old man with white hair and piercing eyes.  The other half of the room had a bed and a nightstand.  The nightstand itself had some clothes inside, but more interesting was the book on the table. Another journal, but in a far more personal space instead of Gehn’s workshop of bookmaking tools and alchemical apparatus. I opened up the book and began to read. --- Editor’s note: Once again, a typed transcript of the journal can be found Here.    It began with some fairly current events. Catherine’s arrival on Riven, and her subsequent recovery by the Moiety. Gehn’s contempt for the people of Riven, even his own lackeys, is palpable. He called Atrus emotionally crippled. I think it said more about Gehn than Atrus.  Reading this, Gehn’s casual willingness to subject his people to horrific executions, made me more certain than ever Gehn needed to be in the Trap book.   Neither did Gehn ever realize how badly Catherine outclassed him in the art. Or, perhaps he did realize, but justified his unwillingness to teach his students properly as ‘protecting’ them.  Gehn talks casually about the past here. There’s a lot I will have to ask Atrus about when I see him again.  Gehn’s father, and Atrus’ grandfather, features strongly in Gehn’s mind. The portrait on the wall is likely of him.   Gehn’s capture of Catherine was evidently a violent one. Gehn had Atrus pegged on his thought processes though.  … Keta. Atrus’ mother’s name was Keta.   And here Gehn notes my arrival. He was very close to figuring out my purpose here, but misinterpreted Atrus’ goals and abilities. Such as his willingness to send me to an Age without a way back. It worked, but I wish it hadn’t felt so final.  I put down the journal and took a look at a small globe on the nightstand.  Twisting it opened it up, causing it to play a series of sounds. Five of them, of course. Rattle, rattle, tick, ding, ding. I’d heard the sounds before, the device in the elevator at Catherine’s prison. I’d found the way to free her. It was a short journey back up to the ladder and then a Link to the Prison Island dome, where I left my journal. I wrote this entry on Gehn’s chair, looking at the strange mountains outside. For everything he’s done, this place is starkly beautiful. I’m nearly done here. It’s time to signal Atrus. M.c.P fucked around with this message at 17:21 on Feb 9, 2017 |
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Jan 24, 2017 17:22
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Going back to the date discussion, the date for Gehn's final journal entry is a fair bit after the last entry in Atrus' journal (87.7.16 for Atrus and 87.7.30 for Gehn). Apparently at some point Cyan put out enough information about how the D'ni date system works that it can be reliably translated to our date system. According to the timeline page on the Myst wiki (here be spoilers) the Stranger first met Atrus on 11th December 1806 and first arrives in Riven on 2nd January 1807. So yeah, that makes it a little under a month between games.
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Jan 24, 2017 17:45
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Get owned, sucker. I don't remember this basement room but it has the combination for Catherine's cell so I guess I was down there before? Also, do you intend to show off any of the bad endings? There are some hilariously dickish moves you can pull considering that you're carrying the bad guy around in your pocket, and can release him at anytime.
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Jan 24, 2017 18:26
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C-Euro posted:Also, do you intend to show off edit: stuff? Of course, I'll be doing a series of extras after the main game is finished.
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Jan 24, 2017 18:28
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Lore – Anna, Gehn, and the fall of the D’ni The following is a synopsis of the Book of Ti’ana. Anna was a young girl who lived with her family, a pair of pioneers, in the wilds of New Mexico. They lived on the margins, but her father was an inquisitive man, greatly interested in the vast cavern complexes in that part of the state. Regretfully, Anna’s parents both passed away to accident and illness. Anna, left by herself and contemptuous of the other people who derided her family, took to exploring the caves as far as she could go. What she discovered was astonishing. Traces of human habitation led to a massive open shaft leading deep into the earth. And at the end of the shaft… were the D’ni. The D’ni took her into custody and interrogated her about the people living on the surface. Her answers only reinforced their decision to avoid contact with the surface, but the girl herself still needed to be dealt with. Anna surprised them by speaking a little D’ni that she managed to pick up in the time she was imprisoned, and the Council decided to leave her in the custody of the Master of the Surveyor’s Guild. He had a son, named Aitrus, who was studying in his footsteps. Anna and Aitrus became fast friends, and soon fell in love. But things weren’t perfect for the young couple. Atrus’ friend, Veovis of the Guild of Writers, was a strong voice against working with any outsiders. That Aitrus had a surface girl in his home was a source of significant tension between the two friends. But when Veovis discovered Aitrus had taught Anna some of the Art, it truly set him off. The resultant conflict ended with Aitrus’ personal Age confiscated by the Guild of Maintainers, but with Veovis himself discredited among his fellows. Aitrus began to make political inroads of his own, the goal being a revival of a highway to the surface, the remains of which make the Great Shaft. Aitrus and Anna were married, producing a son they named Gehn. He was a sickly child whom the Guild of Healers did not think would survive, but survive he did, and he quickly demonstrated a precocious nature that got him accepted into the Guild of Book Makers. But Veovis was not finished. His frustration with the council and Aitrus led him to make inroads with various D’ni exiled from the Guild of Writers for misusing the Art or other crimes. Their leader was a spiteful man named A’gaeris, who had been expelled from the guild in disgrace for stealing books. A’gaeris betrayed Veovis, framing him for selling books which lead to his imprisonment in a Prison Age. This was a calculated plan to force Veovis to join their ranks, and A’gaeris freed Veovis later, recruiting him into a campaign of terror that rocked D’ni and its Ages. Veovis was eventually caught once more, thanks in large part to Anna. The Council was ready to execute Veovis for his crimes, but in a surprising intervention Anna argued in his defense. She argued instead for a permanent exile, placing him in a Prison Age and destroying the book. She cited the framing that led to his first imprisonment, and how his honest desire to aid D’ni had been twisted by the exiles. Her argument convinced the Council, and Veovis was imprisoned with no possibility of return. Or so they believed. A’gaeris had managed to create a second book, and in doing so rescued Veovis again. He pressed Veovis’ into making a plague for their most devastating attack yet. During Gehn’s graduation ceremony from the Guild of Book Makers, a vile cloud began to descend over the city. It killed everything it touched with terrifying efficiency, causing chaos as the D’ni fled wherever they could. Veovis and A’gaeris went the extra mile, linking infected bodies onto Ages to leave no survivors. Aitrus sensed the involvement of his old friend, so he donned his Surveyor gear and dove into the dying city. He discovered a dying Veovis, who had finally rebelled against A’gaeris for his part in destroying the D’ni. His final act was providing a trap book to Aitrus, a linking book slightly altered to lead not to a peaceful farming Age, but a Death Age certain to kill anyone who entered. Aitrus managed to trick A’gaeris into entering the Death Age… but Aitrus had to go in himself. Both were killed by vicious monsters. Meanwhile, Anna and Gehn had Aitrus’ extensive maps of the caves around D’ni. They fled through twisting caves, until they finally found themselves on the surface, not far from where Anna had originally entered the caves years ago. They did their best to make a life for themselves, but Gehn never forgave Anna for her role in allowing Veovis to live. He ran away from home when he was 14. Gehn ended up contacting a local tribe called the Amad. He fell in love with a woman named Keta, and was happy enough to live among the Amad. But when Keta became pregnant, she also became deathly ill. Gehn returned to Anna, but she couldn’t save Keta either. She died in childbirth, and Gehn left before giving his child a name. Anna raised the child, who she named Atrus after his grandfather. And the rest, as they say, has already been written.
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Feb 1, 2017 09:34
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whoops. I uploaded all the previous pictures as png instead of jpg. Update delayed as I fix that for the previous update and, ah, the next one.
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Feb 9, 2017 17:01
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Entry 19 I checked over Gehn’s home one last time before leaving.  Not that I was confident I missed something, it only felt appropriate.  When I’m finished here, there will be little reason to ever return. This metal building, with its machines, its journal, and its memories will remain until whatever forces govern this Age grind it to dust. I better get a good long look before I leave.  But having seen enough, I took the linking book to the Prison Island.   A gentle breeze had started up as I made my way to the giant tree stump and the elevator inside. The globe in Gehn’s bedroom had a sequence of five sounds, and I pressed the corresponding markers here.  Pulling the switch with the correct combination rotated the cage with a rattle,   Followed by the elevator automatically rising to the prison. But this time, the cage was open.  Soundtrack – Catherine’s Freedom Catherine heard the elevator and walked in. She stopped for a moment, her facing going through a cycle of emotions in front of me.  But she didn’t have time to rejoice. She stepped into the elevator and went straight to business. It was cramped in the small elevator, we were practically touching.  “We have to move quickly. Gehn's people may already know what's happening. Once we're back with the Moiety, we'll have time to regroup.” She paused, mind racing. She looked at me and asked, almost timidly. “Can I see the book?” I let her have it. She quickly opened it to the linking panel and stared at it intently. But she saw the same figure, innocently seated. “You did it.” “We’re all free! You captured Gehn!” She tucked the trap book under her arm and her expression set again. More business, and rightfully so. I briefly lamented that I’d yet to see the sensitive side she demonstrated in her journal. “But there's still his followers. I'm not sure what they'll do once they realize he's gone. I'll have to get the villagers to safety as soon as possible.” “You go back to the Temple Island and reopen the fissure. I know it's risky, but it's the only way to signal Atrus. I'll try to make it back there as soon as I can, but don't wait for me.”I nodded. We’d have to act quickly before a serious civil war started up.  We reached the bottom, and she briefly paused to snap the wires on the cage device. “Don't forget: the portal combination's in my journal. Good luck.” She immediately stepped past me and rushed to the Linking Book Dome.  I checked behind me to see what she’d done to the device. Broken. Well, it prevented anyone else from getting stuck in there.  I stepped out on the walkway after her. The dome was closed and spinning, Catherine just linked before me.   It took just a moment to open the dome and follow her.  When I got to the 233rd Age I realized the cage had been lifted. Timed, perhaps? Maybe the number of recent links triggered some sort of trap. Either way, Gehn’s personal rooms were now closed off permanently.   I didn’t dwell on it long. I had to return to Temple Island.  I stepped out of the chamber into the bright lit islands of Riven, the Great Golden Dome looming above me.  The path from here wasn’t exactly straightforward, but it was natural at this point after all the time I’ve spent exploring these islands.  I moved quickly, but I was preoccupied. So many things depended on Catherine at this point.  The villagers would likely be moved to Tay, where the Moiety could help them acclimate to their new world. The ladder I left down would be a highway of confused and frightened villagers leading to the secret entrance behind the prison cell.  I paused as I was about to move from the Great Golden Dome to the Gateroom. The bridge was up. I mean, of course it was up, I left it like that so I could power up the linking books in the first place.  The lever lowered the bridge. I wouldn’t need to return here.  I wondered if Gehn’s Lackeys would try to exert control. Gehn would be gone, but they couldn’t give up power so easily. Would they leave? Would they have to be overpowered?  Would they be left behind on this dying world, abandoned and alone as the ground crumbles beneath their feet?  But I was nearly back to the very placed I linked to at the beginning of this adventure. The twisting tram lines seemed so haphazard now, a desperate fix for a world tearing itself to pieces.  I walked past the trap Gehn left for linking visitors and the mysterious dagger embedded into the earth.  And faced the Star Fissure observer. The steam power hissed and rattled inside.  I bent over and entered the code from Catherine’s journal. The inky blackness beneath intimidated me. I shuddered, I still had no idea what this was, or what would happen to the world. Only that it would be catastrophic… and that catastrophe would be enough of a change to signal Atrus that I was ready.  Whatever confrontation faced Catherine and the Moiety urged me onwards. I set the telescope to lower and pressed the button.  One press. The creaking groan this thing let out for every movement seemed indicative of Gehn’s work. Utilitarian and brutal, but astonishing in its ability when created from so little.  Two presses. I wondered how lush this place was when it was whole, or how the Great tree looked before it became a stump. I hoped Catherine could tell me, someday. What little I’d seen hinted at a much livelier world long past.  Three presses. The world was doomed, and it would take all the Rivenese had just to save the people The animals, the wildlife, even those damned man eating Tusk Whales would die. If only… If only Gehn was a better writer, or if Atrus got to work sooner, or if his damned megalomaniacal dream hadn’t pushed away the very people who could help him the most, we wouldn’t lose this world.  Four presses. I stopped. The fifth one would be the last, I knew that Gehn’s fixation would make it that way. I imagined Catherine leading the last villager to link through to Tay, and then she picks up the linking book from its chamber and rushes back to Temple Island. I thought of Atrus still writing in the Riven Book, still waiting for some kind of response.  I looked in the viewer. Gehn and Atrus wrote that, somehow, this expanse was filled with breathable air. I stepped back and pressed the button a fifth time. There was a groan, but the machine didn’t move. I paused. I admit I panicked a bit there. Had it broken? Would I need to hammer on the glass with a rock? I looked through Catherine’s Journal, wondering if there was something I missed.  On the page with the code on it, I noticed she’d drawn a diagram of the device. There was a ‘stop’ in the left strut, apparently.  I stopped over and looked for myself. Sure enough, there was a lever blocking the viewer from going any lower.  I lifted it up. Nothing in my way now. I took a deep breath. Atrus needed his signal to come get me and Catherine. Catherine needed a means to escape before Gehn’s lackeys could get their act together and react. And maybe Atrus could finally get me home. I pressed the button one last time.  The machine groaned, pressing the metal viewer on the glass. There was a moment where metal creaked in protest. Something had to give. The glass cracked.  I was nearly torn off my feet by a sudden wind. The air around me was being sucked into the crevasse. The very metal plating began to bend and deform as it fell into the fissure.   The device fell through into the abyss. I clutched the railing as tight as I could, but a change in the light lifted my eyes skyward.  Dark clouds were forming above, blocking the sun. I tried to cry out, but the wind tore the breath from my lungs.  The giant dagger tipped and fell into the fissure before me.  Slowly the windstorm lessened, and I was able to stand normally. In that moment, a figure appeared in the linking trap. I thanked that nameless moiety soldier for breaking the cage when I first arrived. I called out. “Atrus! Over here!”  He rushed over, pausing only briefly to observe the stormclouds.  “There isn’t much time, where’s Catherine? Where’s the book?” I opened my mouth to explain, but it proved unnecessary. Catherine round the corner and shouted out. “Atrus!” The ran towards each other and embraced. Reunited after their son’s betrayal and many long months, uncertain they would see each other again… I let them have their moment.  They didn’t take long before rushing over to me.  “The villagers are safely in the Rebel Age. I thank you.” “As do I. You've accomplished more than I could've hoped for. “You've given me back my life. The path home is now clear for all of us.” Atrus fished out his Myst linking book. Catherine would go through first, carrying the linking book to Tay, and the Trap book with Gehn inside. They shared another moment, briefly.  Before she left, Catherine glanced at me. She seemed hopeful, but I thought I saw something else.  But then she put her hand on the panel, and vanished.  Atrus turned to me, having a few more words to say. “This is where our paths must part. Perhaps we will meet again someday.”I blinked. Wasn’t I taking the book to Myst too?  He stepped towards the fissure, book outstretched. I tried to ask him. “Wait, Atrus, what’s going on?”  He looked towards me and smiled. There was confidence in his eyes, an assurance that everything would turn out alright. “You know where to find me... Good bye, my friend.” He put his hand on the panel, and linked away. His book dropped immediately into the Star Fissure.  “Atrus, what the hell?!” I tried to grab at the book, but it quickly plummeted out of sight into the inky darkness. I watched it fall out of sight, wind still ripping past me into the fissure. “Atrus, what am I supposed to do?!” I cried out into the winds.  I didn’t end up having a choice. The stone beneath me, weakened by the storm, finally crumbled.  Soundtrack - Fissure And I fell into the Star Fissure.  I started screaming and twisted around. Above me I could see the crack leading back to Riven spinning away.  But I breathed regular air, and the expanse was comfortably cool. As I watched Riven fall away, stars began to peek out around the tear, like it was a passing cloud at night.  This was the route the Myst book took, falling until it made its way into my hands. This was Atrus’ plan, for me to fall into the fissure after it, carried by the mysterious expanse to my home.  The stars shine more clearly than I’ve ever seen them, though I don’t recognize any constellations. I’m writing this entry by that starlight, scribbling in freefall and trying not to lose my pens into space. It’s not exactly the best of conditions, but I’ve had time to spare. I think I’m approaching another dark cloud, perhaps a link to Earth. When I finish this journal, I’m throwing it as hard as I can. I’m no physicist, but that should propel me towards the cloud. I’d hate to miss my stop. Wherever this journal goes, and whoever finds this, I hope you can learn something. Maybe something about the value of keeping your eyes open. Or how good intentions can still lead you to hell. Maybe you’ll just find this amusing, that’s okay too. But if, by some miracle, this ever gets back to you, Atrus, let me add one last thing. Next time, can you just explain everything first?  Fin Atrus’ Journal. 7.33 posted:Now I understand...endings and beginnings are within the Fissure...that riven cleft of stars that acts as both a wall and a bridge. And though I am unable to understand how, the very flow of stars that brought my Myst Book into worthy hands I am sure will serve as a safe passage home for my friend. The Age of Riven is closed forever, and the people of Riven are free. And now, I am at rest understanding that in Books, in Ages, in life, the ending can never truly be written...
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Feb 9, 2017 17:59
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Bravo! Now that I've seen the game reach its conclusion, I think I'm glad I didn't end up playing this game back in 1997. There is no way I would've caught all the intricate details the game had to offer. This lp has been a great read. Also, yikes Atrus. I think I figured out why you may not be the greatest parent.
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Feb 9, 2017 18:41
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I flipped through an Art of Riven book waaay back, and the one thing I remember from it is that the leather texture on that bed was made from a close-up photo of one of the devs' palm.
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Feb 9, 2017 21:17
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Good end. 
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Feb 9, 2017 21:24
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Man that is a dick move Atrus. You could have at least given us a heads up here!
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Feb 9, 2017 21:26
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Hahah. Fetch chump! Atrus OUT
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Feb 10, 2017 03:08
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So after being stuck with Atrus for who knows how long, and doing all this grunt work for him on all these Ages...your reward is "Fall into the Fissure that oughta fix it, I guess"? Wow, Atrus, way to be a dick. Thanks for the LP, this was fantastic to see.
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Feb 10, 2017 05:41
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 22:45 |
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Yeah, Atrus is polite and all, but considering all the poo poo he's pulled over the years I would never want to see that guy ever again.
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Feb 10, 2017 06:22
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