Respite

After the trials and tribulations of late I will get back to my exploits in the New Year. I am needed here on the surface. Oh well such as life.

I am not one for Christmas as I am a pagan but I try not to judge. I have had my celebrations on the 21st. I haven’t dressed any trees this year. I don’t think the local council liked it last year. Well I did use bio-degradable dressings. But there is something good I can take from the traditional western Christmas and that is good will to all people.

Therefore in the true spirit of Christmas may I wish you all the best and to remember what we have been through and what is to come in the New Year. Too take that Christmas spirit beyond the 26th through in to the future.

May Yahvo hear our calls!

Cryptosporidium Fensoni

One little mistake, one lax moment of focus, if I’m not careful this age exploring will kill me. Tests came back which showed a mutant form of protozoa, luckily for me not lethal. Got the doctor looking at me funny, should have seen his face. I did tell him he wouldn’t believe me. I think he wanted me to wear one of those “one size fits all” jackets. He did go on to say that this protozoa was similar to the parasitical form of Cryptosporidium but strangely different. Nasty little blighters! I had the water form Fens tested privately. I have it on good authority that all dangerous samples are destroyed. Well there are other explorers out there looking for new medicines, new technology and new foods. I just want to make sure it goes to the right people so it is not misused. I wouldn’t like to be responsible for wiping out the human race. It doesn’t look good on the CV.

Yep it came from Fens. So please don’t drink the water. Boil for fifteen minutes or use a high quality travelling water filter. I think I picked mine up from hand to mouth. It could have been on my clothes, drinking vessel or the bamboo poles. From now on I am going to link back to Relto for refreshments. Plus I need some gloves.

I have missed a lot these passed weeks. I see more new ages have been released with some not finished yet. I did have to go in a take some pictures. Some explorers don’t realise I am only a messenger. I don’t mind really. It is a good excuse to get away for a few hours without exhausting myself.

I wonder what the D’ni survivors think about us writing ages. But do they know? If they are like Atrus then I would suspect they wouldn’t mind. Just cautious of the enormous responsibilities connected with writing ages, especially if the ages are inhabited. We don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past. - Both D’ni and human alike: Paragon of animals indeed.

Wow! I went off track there. Don’t know where that came from. As soon as I am fit I will finish off my Fens project. I have lost a few pounds due to the illness and just before Christmas. - Time to fatten up again. Well that is my excuse and I’m sticking with it. I have a lot MORE ages and journals to catch up on.

Below Par

Progress in Fens has been slow. My water purifier doesn’t seem to work in Fens as I might have picked up something that is making me sick. I don’t want to jump to any conclusions so I sent some blood off for analyses. I should get the results back soon. Plus I had some articles to write for the Guild’s paper and the Archiver.

Another reason for my delayed work in Fens is that I recently made an excursion in to an alternative world. Catchy name SecondLife, gees I haven’t finished with my first life. Whoever wrote this massive age had no concept of D’ni writing. But the good part is that somehow they found a way to stop the Bahro instancing interference. Now I can meet up with other explorers like the ole days. So that is nice.

Not sure when I will get around to finishing my work in Fens. By the way things are going in my life at the moment, it could be a few weeks. It is a shame as I like spending time in Fens. The sounds of birds, insects and those big flying creatures even that beastie in the distance adds to the calming effect of Fens.

Swamp thing:

Shamed by Erik, Tweek and Whilyam’s lack of fear I returned to investigate Fens further. Boy did I look stupid. Forever cautious is my motto perhaps too cautious. As I said I went shopping and bought the incorrect equipment. - Equipment for what? - Big honking flying, well soaring, bird like creatures high in the tree canopy. I wanted to get up high enough without disturbing them so I could study and photograph them. Everything else is pretty much low down but those up there, that’s what I love. Yes I am a bit of a bird watcher. But my camera-attachable telescope and binoculars are way too weak to get a good shot of them from the ground. I can’t afford to upgrade. – Well not after buying all that climbing equipment. – Besides bound to be more ages to explore in the future.

When I first saw the trees I thought a throw line, few ropes and a bit of tackle is all I need. Due to the trees not having any branches higher up made it more difficult than I initially thought. If I had made more of an effort first time I would have noticed that. “What do you see?” I am going to tattoo that on the inside of my eyelids. Hold on how would I see it? Have to give that some more thought.

This is going to take longer than I thought. I don’t want to use lumberjack boot spikes, they will damage the trees. I am a tree hugger by the way. Ban the chainsaw, save the trees and all that. I have an idea, how did the BBC get up in to the rain forest canopy?...

...A few days and a lot of research later I came to the conclusion that I would need bamboo poles to construct scaffolding with a platform and hide on top. I think I know a spot. From there I could observe these flying creatures with little interaction as possible. Just my being here might have altered things already. - Microbes, viruses and all that.

I did look at the possibilities of a hot air balloon for one person. I found three options one; the usual propane, two; helium and the third well solar. - Yep solar powered balloons. All three have drawbacks cost, time it takes to make and the size. So scaffold is the quickest and least destructive method with bamboo being the lightest and cheapest. I have to make a few links to get to Fens and I will need to make many trips. I can see this age is going to keep me occupied for some time. It’s about time I got started...

Divergence!

Some of you know that I do a little writing for the GoMe newspaper. So when I found some of my journals that where saved from drowning (I had forgot that I had put them up higher than the flood line. – I was too busy with all the wet and damaged stuff to notice them until now) I thought about the Stories and Journeys section of the newsletter. I offered and they accepted. For those of you that are interested check out the November edition of the “Where R U Uru?” newspaper where I will start way back. Then over the coming months I will be sharing a little more. These will be the edited highlights of my early journey, as space is a premium. I hope you enjoy. Oh and by the way don’t worry only a few journals survived, I wouldn’t want to bore you. How many? You will have to wait and see...

X marks the spot!

Where my thoughts are I don’t know. I forgot to mention that we had some elections ourselves, at the Guild, recently. Marten your GM (Guild Master) stepped down for another to take the baton. Lynnutte is our new GM and she has a whip. I think, no, I know that Lynnutte will do a good job. Mind you there’s not much pressure at the moment as we can’t get in to a public instance. Public instance means work, yes please.
Anyway on top of that we had some change around. I finally shed the inter-guild liaison chair. Woot! I am not really a good people person but I am trying. I know Leonardo will do an excellent job. The depth of Leo astounds me for someone so young. Sorry but it is true.

That's me in the GoMe uniform, cheesy pic or what!

Six months. That’s how long I think it will be before everything collapses, if we don’t get a public instance going. It’s all the Bahros fault and Dr. Watson. Yes there are always consequences even when doing the right thing. No good deed goes unpunished, remember. The writers and maintainers will still be going; I don’t know what would make them stop.

Personally I would like to see us keep going as long as possible. Perhaps there is a solution out there somewhere.

Szark’s law!

As you can tell I have made it back in one piece. My wife is a bit dismayed, oh the plans she had.

Why is it every time I want to get away something always gets in the way. This time was no different. First off I took the wrong equipment with me to Fens, well not so much wrong but not quite right. - My fault for not reconnoitring the area first. I know that some of the Arbourists climbing tackle will come in handy. The ascender and “single point attachment fibre-light ladder” will definitely get some use in the coming months.
On top of all this the Guild couldn’t leave me be. I thought best to deal with the e-mails while I was back on the surface. Who knew? So while they are all distracted with the newspaper I will take the opportunity to go back to Fens with the correct equipment. The trick is getting high enough and those trees don’t have any branches. The roots could be a possibility. The throw line I bought will do the trick. I hope it is high enough. Well shall see...

Gone Fishing...I wish.

Things have been hectic lately so much so I am going to take a week off. I have finally got all the equipment needed. - Ready for a 4 to 5 day excursion to Fens. I will write a brief and post it here when I get back.

“Last Will and Testament - check, Life and Travel Insurance - check and Passport - check”. - No, not my passport that was my wife making sure, if for some reason I don’t return. She loves me really............I think, I hope, yeah she does.

Seymour Green?

I have finally got a good excuse to take a break. - A rest from researching the Bahro. Don’t ask it’s complicated to say the least. There are so many holes in the information.
Anyway I went by the GoMa offices the other day. They had a new linking book in. It had just been verified as safe by the maintainers. Nice bunch of folks over there at the GoMa. Why I never became a maintainer I don’t know. Oh yeah I remember why, because that suit is too hot and stuffy.
This latest non-D’ni book is the second of Whilyam’s ages I have visited. The first was Maw, a devilish age indeed. That reminds me I need to go back there with some climbing tackle. - Got to find me a why out!
Any way back when public instancing was working in the cavern I happened to meet fellow explorers, Whilyam, Janaba, Hitana and Erik. .
They helped me out with taking some photos for the Archiver. That day provided some fond memories. Ever since then I have followed their journeys as much as I can.

I rushed off to get myself ready and after a few hours I placed my hand on the linking panel...
I am pretty used to linking by know but this one took my breath away. It wasn’t the linking but the thick humid air of Fens. It felt like linking in to a brick wall. So much so I had to sit on some crates that were conveniently stacked near the link-in point.
Unfamiliar sounds, high above, penetrated the thick mist but from where I was I couldn’t see who or what was making them. Finally I became accustomed to this strange thick atmosphere and removed my jacket and started to have a look around. I noticed I was surrounded by some sort of pea green marsh. Not knowing how deep it was I started to search for a stick.

What the! I nearly wet my pants. Before I had time to find a stick, a thundering sound filled the air which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. It unnerved so much I immediately linked out. Back home I formulated a plan; this could be a dangerous age. Besides before I linked out I spied a building with a ladder close to the link-in point. I will have to investigate that but I must be properly prepared. I think I should ask Whilyam about that sound. I don’t know what the creature was that made that sound but one thing’s for sure it is darn big. It sure has got my interest perked though. I will go back, but armed I don’t know. - After all the Maintainers did say it was safe. Plus I’d rather shoot things with a camera. Mind you if some big angry beast is chasing I could always throw the camera at it...

Seeing the Unseen

The more I think about the Bahro the more drawn in I get; they are an enigma that’s for sure. It struck me the other day, whilst kneading the bread dough, why. Why have them as slaves, some of the D’ni went to great lengths to control these winged Bahro. You must admit, a being that can link at will is not an easy thing to control. Let’s look at that control for a moment; every government has some sort of control over its citizens, whether its laws, with varied levels of enforcement, doctrine or liberal guidance, either way control is necessary at some level. Unfortunately the Bahro were not citizens but slaves and in order to be useful, controlled they would have to be. But four totem poles and a tablet, how mystic! And what about that radiating spiral symbol on the back of the Bahros’ heads; looks D’ni to me but I am not too sure. I think this spiral is similar to the one under the tree in the cleft.

Which begs the question of why four poles and a tablet? Yep I have a theory. What if the Bahro (totem) poles were one level of control, maybe a physical control of some kind? And maybe that branded radiating spiral symbol on the back of their heads is part of the Gahrohevtee (Great Words). Gahrohevtee is the collection of symbols (concept, ideas etc) that the D’ni used to write linking books. These special symbols are different to the ones the D’ni used for their written language. This branding could be a restricting concept of some kind, to stop them from linking at will. Or maybe it was used to bind the Bahro to the Tablet. And the Tablet itself was the actual control mechanism. This would make more sense as Dr Watson smashed the tablet which gave back the Bahros’ free will. This still doesn’t answer the question of why, why go to all that trouble. Ok there are a ton of questions but this is like peeling an onion, one layer at a time......

Least I am trying!

I know that I will never rise in the ranks of the guild and I am happy with that. The main thing is that I tried and put all my effort in to trying. Yes I have grown and am better for it, but I have now come to an impasse. I do have something good to offer, so what if it is donkey work, someone has to do it. Workers are the backbone of any society or community and without us things would grind to a halt, and anarchy would ensue. This is something that the D’ni lost track of, in my opinion.

Knowing ones place in society or a community isn’t about class and in my opinion I think it is destructive. But having a place or a purpose, if you will and finding that place can be difficult for some, it was and is for me. But what is important? Well personal growth for one, to strive to be better than a year ago; the willingness to learn new skills and how one uses them, for progress not for hindrance. Something else that I think is equally important is how one behaves towards others. Behaviour breeds behaviour after all and that goes for the good and the bad. It is also up to others to realise that the differences between us make up the whole. How we look and react to the differences between us all as a community says a lot in my book. I am the least, but at least I try to keep my feet on the ground and a level head and not to judge others by my own standards, to tolerate the different, and even to embrace it. Rant over.......

Where was I, oh yes the GoMe well with this experience under my belt I am finally starting to get an idea of what I am good at/for and what I am not, regarding this underground restoration. It’s not about thinking big all the time or being on a level above others, mind you I have never been like that anyway, “competitive”. It is about what we do for each other and why we do it. Most of the time intent is more important than the deed.

I consider myself to be intellectually sound, but highly educated I am not. After all these years, my lack of education has come back to haunt me. So what do I do in this world of literacy and high standards? Well step back a bit for one and re-evaluate my position in the guild. That will not stop me from growing further though, I have started something now that will endure as I have endured. I never thought I would love being involved in this type of community but it happened, why, because unlike the D’ni there are some that embrace the differences and try to make something good no matter what your background.

It has slowly become apparent to me that I am good for the “behind the scenes” work. Now this is ok if we had more volunteers. Yep volunteers, as we work towards the restoration for love, not money. It is always hard to find backers for big projects like this, I suppose no one has thought about the prospects of the travel industry doing well out of weekend breaks in an age far, far away. Hmmmm “Linking Mile points”, how would you calculate that? It would definitely give them all a headache trying to work that one out.

Now this volunteer work is also good as I have an innate sense to help others as much as I can, not for a pat on the back but because it is the right thing to do; so yes I am a serf through and through, the least and proud of it...

Anth-bahro-pology

Man, times are tough up here these days, petrol prices on the increase, that is why I like to link places – it doesn’t cost much right. What does it cost to link, well I don’t know about the cost these days but for the D’ni of old, well the price was pretty high I would say; the cost to themselves, to their society and the costs to the other races that were subjugated and turned in to slaves. These are the type of things I lie awake at night thinking about, which ultimately led my thoughts to the latest Bahro situation. Yeah I know that aren’t coming to the surface but they are still down in my instance of the city, with their deathly screeching cries echoing throughout the great expanse.

Now when I say Bahro, I mean the ones that are the here and now, you know the ones that have been drinking that stuff that gives you wings. Ok, if you didn’t know that the Bahro had wings - I can only apologise. Anyways if you are not familiar with the Bahro or the term Bahro I shall endeavour to explain the best I can. Now I am now expert but far as I can tell this term stems from a derivative of the D’ni language when the people split up and went off to another world called Terahnee, covered in the Book of D’ni; one of the myriad of written works that is out there for all to see. As far as I can tell from what is out there, Bah means Beast and Ro means People or Person, so Bahro, beast people or the Least. The Least, that is what the D’ni calls the lower classes of society. What they call themselves is unknown but the Bahro have seemed to have adopted the term. Perhaps they don’t have a name. I saw an article the other day in issue 15 of the Archiver, saying that the Bahro are a different creature as the ones that were imprisoned in Teledahn. Hummm I wonder...

Transition

I can feel the tension in the air of late as we all wait for the public instancing barriers come down, everyone changing this and that, new groups popping up, established groups giving themselves an overhaul . Everyone is busy and hoping that there are ready, some are and always will be ready, but a budding guild in its infancy; well we are doing our best.

Well nothing much has happened since I last wrote, I haven’t written much at all in fact and that bothers me. There are a few articles floating about but nothing meaty, nothing to get my teeth into. GoMe is keeping me really busy, or am I keeping myself busy, hum, I will have to ponder that one...

...pondered long enough, who cares as long as I am happy and nothing or no one suffers, like making my colleagues look silly. Another thing I learnt this week is always whisper the word liaison when in the company of other seasoned explorers.

After last weekend I am expecting the GoMe rule book to land on my door step, an updated version with a section titled: How to act like a Modern Guild Member. Ouch!

I distracted myself earlier by doing some exploring and checked out some new ages that have come on to the market recently; I wouldn’t call it a black market as such, more like grey market and it is not as though we pay for them. Some good writing skills emerging, it wouldn’t surprise me to see them getting as good as a D’ni student before too long; looks around to see if there are any writers lurking.

It has been suggested by my fellow Guild members that I need a desk in our Bevin, gees we are already planning on redecorating and we haven’t even got back down there yet. Could you imagine a GoMe yellow Bevin; might brighten the place up a bit. Hope I get a nice comfy chair... hey let’s face it there is plenty of room, might as well get a bed down here as well. Well you try to do an all nighter when you have a Guild meeting on and then have travel home again. Nope, I having a cot in Relto and a Bed in the Bevin, now where do I put it? Yes definitely need a comfy chair, one of those recliners, yes that should do it.

I still wonder if the Bahro are playing nice and will we be in danger if we do back down as a group; well the most we saw of the Bahro was in the public instances and on occasion in Relto, and that was only when there was a public gathering. Ok I hear them in the cavern when I am down there by myself but I have never seen one. So I conclude from this that they do not like crowds...there are in need of some therapy I think.

I saw this the other day and it is something I will remember and nourish with good intent.

A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all.

MORE work! MORE fun!

Well I haven’t had much time lately, haven’t been anywhere near a linking book for weeks now, I’m getting withdrawals. Plus all my journals and most of my photos were destroyed, so there was only one thing for me to do, bury my head in my work. Since the DRCs’ announcement, that cavern will open back up sometime in the near future, but under another new name; MORE, an acronym for Myst Online Restoration Experiment. I wonder if there is a Guild of Acronyms, down some musty old basement where a couple of people throw acronyms at each other until one sticks, can I get a job there please.

Where was I, oh yes, an experiment for whom and what purpose and what’s with the online bit? The online bit; probably means that we will get public instancing back, in the same way as IMing works on the internet as in a members only instance, it must be. I wonder if the Bahro are playing nice. I think the experiment bit is to see if the community, overseen by the DRC, can make the restoration happen without a financial backer. It appears that the DRC will use our cavern entrance and members fees to cover running costs. It’s been rumoured that they will charge 25 American dollars for six months, now that’s a good deal. Far as I can see this whole venture will be based on trust, trust on both sides of the camp. The DRC working with the community; some will find it ok, but some groups have been anti-DRC for a long time. I see friction a head, but I hope not.

Saw a good one the other day, MOREon, but my favourite is MOREish, I love word play, seems such an intelligent sort of humour and whit.

Can’t keep my mind on one thing presently, ok that’s it, since the announcement we at the Guild of Messengers and at The Cavern Today Archiver have been franticly trying to get all the relevant information out to the community. Well they do say you learn from your mistakes, and these last few weeks have been no different, what a learning curve we are all on, especially at the GoMe where we are all newish to the guild and are just starting to get things together. But as with both community based groups, we are so short staffed, but we have had a few new recruits though, before and after the good news, but we need MORE. Sorry could resist the pun. What’s a messenger to do?

I suppose I am lucky to have the time and money to be a fulltime explorer and prospective Guildsmen, sorry Guildsperson. I must give at least 4 to 5 hours a day to my messaging duties, which include writing, which I know is too much for others, but as the old saying goes, many hands make light work; then I might have more time for exploring and analysing, fun.

Time to have a nosey over at the GoW to see if any new ages have been found, they like to call it written. You don’t write an age; you write a link to the age, Gehn couldn’t understand that and look what happened to him. I often wonder how he would have turned out if he never went to the GoW at the age of five and stayed with Anna for a few more years.

Wow my brain is fried; all I can see is the GoMe logo...............

The New D’ni

Find a way, make a home; both Yeesha and Dr Watson said it and now it is real. Yes, some explorers have taken this literally and found new homes to gather and explore, whilst trying to keep the cavern community together. But this could also be interpreted for us, the surface dwellers, to write new ages. This has lead to a heated debate, among the explorer community as to whether we are ready for this great responsibility. Yes humans have been writing ages for some time now, how they started no one really knows and some don’t seem to care, maybe one day we’ll find out. But what matters is that we can write descriptive books, well some of us can. We know this because Ti’ana (Anna) herself was human. Admittedly she was taught by the D’ni but nevertheless Anna did have the capacity to understand the concepts of writing ages. Catherine, Atrus’s wife, wrote an amazing age which turned the known laws of the D’ni Art on its head, again not D’ni but Rivenese. But not everyone can write these amazing books, me included, just in the same way that not all D’ni could. History has taught us that writing ages is not an easy task and comes with great responsibility and this is where the debate has split the explorers into different camps, with different and sometimes strong views and ideas. Here are just a couple of those views.

Explorer written ages, it’s an affront to the Art, some have inferred. Others have said I’m paraphrasing here, don’t reopen the cavern at all, forget it and move on. I think the latter would be a shame, just to walk away from the biggest Archaeological find of our time, yes a real shame. The things we could learn! Well MORE on that later.

Personally I have explored some of these newly written worlds, some I only stayed for a short while, due to certain instabilities, but some are just outstanding. Like sitting in the cave in Maw, looking up at the sky and listening to the bird song, all the while trying to figure a way out, or going for a starlit paddle in Zephyr Cove, absolutely stunning. I am impressed how far these and other explorers have come in such a short time. I say a short time because relative to the D’ni learning process for writers, it is short.

These modern day writers are still making great progress and to think they have had no formal training like the D’ni of old, it is a true testament to their dedication. I don’t see it as an affront to the Art but as homage to those skilful writers. Perhaps writing and then walking around the age can give the writer a certain perspective on how a good descriptive book was written, but this too can be fraught with danger. Gehn and Esher spring to mind not to mention geological and environmental instabilities. Maybe that’s the point to learn, to grow and to better ourselves through this collaboration of knowledge. Not to take things for granted, to use this ancient Art for good, together as a community. But whatever the future holds there is one thing I am sure of is that the D’ni will live on through us; are we the new D’ni?

Break in transmission

Well that’s it, my journals and half the photos are gone, gone as in damaged beyond hope; boiler leaked and flooded the basement and guess where my journals were kept? So I decided to delete my last entry and then continue with some MORE up to date thoughts; as we continue towards the re-opening of the cavern.

If never rains but it pours, well in this case floods.

New kid on the Blog

I am starting to write this blog now because I have just learnt how to and just for the love of writing. No, not to write, learnt how to set a blog up. Mind you looking at my writing one might think I have, just learnt to write. Now if I happen to entertain you along the way, then I can only apologise for that, I don’t mean to. I have come to realise how cathartic writing ones thoughts down and sharing them can be, so I decided to start a journey of public scrutiny. Maybe, hopefully I might learn something as well.

Boring! I am going to start at the beginning so bear with me. I suppose there is one blessing; I only came to the cavern in November last year.

October 2007:
Where have I been hiding all these years? It was there all this time, and I nearly missed it. I have been on the internet for some years now; I got bored waiting, due to having a 56k modem, so I didn’t do much surfing. That all changed, (that’s not the only thing that changed), when last October I bought a brand spanking new computer, not the top of the range but well worth the money. Anyways, this enabled me to get broadband. I don’t usually get lucky like this, but this just made my day. Because we had been a long standing customer and paid our bills well before they are due, our cable company gave us the top speed for a snippet of the cost, whey hey! A couple of weeks went by and while I was surfing the web, I came across a site called the DRC.

All those years and I never knew that a civilisation used to live down there, but who were they really, were they human? And to top it off I found out that there were a bunch of humans down there, from all over the world, trying to build a community. Why, what for, who would want to live down there? I asked myself these questions, but for some reason it felt like I was meant to be down there as well. But, whatever the reason I had to get some coin together so I could see for myself, as well as organising payment methods, which took a few weeks.

It was November by the time I got my first, ever, piece of plastic so I could pay for my personal linking book. Linking books, I didn’t, couldn’t and still can’t get my head around this, where did this technology come from. At the time I thought it was just part of a game and not real, but I know better now, eight months later. If you don’t know what I am talking about then you will have to find out for yourselves. I can’t tell you everything, I would be here forever. Anyway was this linking safe, I thought, let’s face it, it is all down to trust. Trust that the place you’re linking to is safe, trust in what I had read and trust in this organisation, the DRC. I supposed it was the attraction of the unknown. But not only that, it awakened the explorer in me; I had a thirst that I couldn’t quench, a thirst for knowledge. Now that I knew it was real and not just part of someones vivid imagination, I did the deal and in no time at all I was on my way. With my heart pumping I opened the book....

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