#k'veer

This somehow miraculously more complete than any other example map... Please know I am the one who created it.

I cannot remember if I provided the group I was with a copy of the layered file that could be used to remove my signature... But I know it certainly isn’t coming up in any google searches about the cavern that I can tell yet. [Not that I am assuming anyone involves would try to steal my work...] It’s based on the in-game information visible from the great zero, and earlier/later releases of what the cavern map is supposed to look like which may have had different proportions. The current most popular map is missing information about some land masses, and I am actually quite certain some of the map points are not generally put where they should be... most notably the silo and K’veer.

When I left the group I kind of jumped pretty quickly into making my own game, and I can’t remember how much I shared or what versions of images I posted... Notably I think the image of K’veer I posted was -pot-edits I was told to make but didn’t think made sense... I’ll try to post the original.

Well, this is more what I had designed before being asked to add windows to the outside of the island, anyway. [apparently I did not have a good full saved copy of that with some other later changes.]

I still love the idea of bringing the cavern back to life, but I’m probably 100 times more excited to be bringing you my own puzzle game with complete creative freedom [not to mention all the executive decision making]. The more this project I am working on wears on, the more glad I am that I got a sense early on of how much my work would actually amount to in groups like that and jumped ship. I wish them the best of luck, but I’m not sure we’ll ever see eye to eye and I’m still mad about some people’s seeming willingness to waste my time by not bothering to explain their real goals or give me straight and non-conflicting answers.

To be fair “still angry” describes my feelings about most things.  When my game is done and published though, I’d still be interested in working with Cyan, or any other massively organized fan group wanting to create content and update the servers. If I make enough money with the later online version of my game... I might even host an Uru server for free, with permission [no more relying on donations]. For those of you who don’t know. Myst recently celebrated it’s 25 year anniversary and you can currently buy awesome loot to support Cyan if you want, including fully updated digital and physical copies of the game and your very own Myst book with real working LCD screen and other goodies. Go check it out.

I did post about their anniversary before, but I think I was so cryptic about it no one knew what it was about... lol.

7 April 2013

In continuing to investigate the Yeesha tattoo and timeline mystery, I am noticing the related differences in K’veer across time. The K’veer we can visit in Cavern today no longer contains the Keep and has a D’ni KI pedestal and Nexus Linking Book. The former prison contains Atrus’s old desk, a lamp and some empty bookshelves, with the Myst Linking Book on a central pedestal. The doorway between the two areas is accessible, with the door appearing to have been removed completely.

K'veer "cathedral" today:

K'veer prison area today:

Atrus's desk today:

Prison doorway today:

During the time of Watson’s quest, K’veer contained the Keep and had no D’ni KI pedestal or Nexus Linking Book. The former prison area contained Atrus’s old desk, a lamp, some empty bookshelves, with the locked Myst linking book on the desk. The doorway between the two areas was accessible, with the door having a handle and being in good working order.

This would imply that Watson visited K’veer some time during its past, before the last days of D’ni, when the KI system was installed for public use. Yet Atrus was trapped in the prison area well after the fall… Would this mean that the KI pedestal there was installed by the DRC rather than by the D’ni?

K'veer "cathedral" during Watson's quest:

K'veer prison area during Watson's quest:

Atrus's desk during Watson's quest:

Prison doorway during Watson's quest:

There is an earlier version of the prison area, which I could see only fleetingly just as I completed The Path of the Shell. As Yeesha congratulated me on my success in finding K’veer, she linked me out again so rapidly, I could walk about only briefly. In this version, Atrus’s desk has only a lamp and there are two unidentified red fabric objects on the bookshelves. The doorway appears to have been blocked by a rockfall, which collapsed both of the doorway pillars and felled the doorway’s firemarble lamp. A hanging firemarble lamp over one of the other doorways has gone out. There is no alternate means to gain access to the lower area, making it impossible to learn if the Keep or the KI pedestal and Nexus Linking book are there. 

Atrus's desk during Path of the Shell:

Prison doorway during Path of the Shell:

Atrus's bookshelf objects during Path of the Shell:

Prison firemarble lamp during Path of the Shell:

After Yeesha finishes showing me the glowing arch in the Cavern, she links me back to yet a different version of the Kveer prison area. Here, Atrus’s desk has a lamp, a letter from Yeesha to Atrus, a Relto page and one of Atrus’s old shirts, while the bookshelf still contains the two red objects. The rubble at the doorway has been mostly cleared away, including the fallen pillars; all that remains of the fallen lamp is its flickering firemarble. The door itself is either broken or locked so once again, it is impossible to access the lower level and see whether the Keep or the KI pedestal and Nexus Linking books are present.

Atrus's desk after Path of the Shell:

Prison doorway after Path of the Shell:

Atrus's bookshelf objects after Path of the Shell:

Prison firemarble lamp after Path of the Shell:

Judging from the state of the connecting door, the rubble marks the earliest version of the prison area with the broken door marking the next earliest. Watson’s quest would be some time after, with the present day version obviously being the most recent. The changes between these versions make linear sense, with one exception—the short red column, which collapsed by the connecting door. It is present at the earliest version but missing in the next yet reappears in the later two. I have been puzzling over what this might mean. I can think of no logical reason for someone to have removed it only to place it back again in its former collapsed position.

● ● ●

There are some records to be found from even earlier times, before Yeesha was born. The Stranger visited Atrus in K’veer twice that we know of, the first time to rescue him and the second time to assist him in rescuing Katran from Riven. Though the image records for the second visit are scant, it appears that at that time, the bookshelves contained the red fabric objects, though in the images of the bookshelf we have, the bookshelf objects are quite blurry and dimly lit. 

Atrus in K'veer during Riven:

The image records are more extensive from the earlier visit, which make it clear that at that time, the red objects were on the bookshelves, the pillars were in a collapsed state, the firemarble lamp was broken and on the floor, and there was no other damage in the prison area. That is, the floor, wall, doorway and stairway cracks had not yet occurred; and the other firemarble lamp had not yet burned out.

Atrus in K'veer during RealMyst:

Fallen firemarble lamp during RealMyst:

Level of wall damage during RealMyst:

Hanging firemarble lamps during RealMyst:

So what can be inferred here?

Regarding the prison area:

The red fabric objects on the bookshelves seem to be associated with Atrus. We see other signs of his presence in the prison area through the end of Yeesha’s Path of the Shell journey.

There is a progression of damage to the room. The pillars collapsed at the doorway to the cathedral area are the earliest damage, which remains a constant across time although the rockfall is gradually removed. Sometime between the events of Riven and Yeesha’s Path of the Shell journey, additional damage occurred, causing significant damage to the walls, ceiling, some steps and a doorway.

Atrus seems to have used this area regularly as an office, for the lit lamp remains there throughout and the desktop items change over time. Although Atrus was able to leave the prison once the Stranger first arrived there, he continued working on the Riven Descriptive book there after that.

One of the hanging firemarble lamps went out, possibly from damage by the same event that caused the severe cracking in the prison area. This lamp seems to have been repaired after the Path of the Shell events using the parts from the downed lamp at the doorway with the collapsed pillars.

The seven doorways there evolve over time. They begin as stone niches during the times of the Stranger. During the times of Yeesha’s Path of the Shell, they have been transformed into intricate metal doors, though none of them work; they are either broken or locked at that time. During the time of Watson’s quest, the door to the cathedral area has been repaired and is usable, enabling access to the Keep for the first time. Currently, all the rest of the doors are still broken or locked, but the usable doorway has been completely cleared out, the door itself now being removed and so leaving a stone passageway. This is the most puzzling aspect of the prison area. Who changed the doors? Why? How?

Regarding the cathedral area and Keep:

March 2013

In revisiting the Cleft and documenting the water sources there, I ran into a recording from Watson’s journey to the Keep in K’veer. I was able to transcribe Yeesha’s initial speech to him there, which offers some interesting food for thought about the deeper story of Atrus and his family.

So friend, the tablet has responded to you… of course. If you’re seeking my father, his time is past. He won’t be requiring your assistance. The book to his cursed island lays locked, gathering dust in his prison. That book, along with his pain and his burden, have been passed to me. And now you will know it too.

All three, the book, pain and burden, have been carried successively by Atrus, Yeesha and now Watson.

You will listen carefully; this is not to be taken lightly. The tablet has responded to you. It will be your burden. Choose wisely in the end, for there will be no second chance. Many have taken this tablet, and they tried not to let go.

The tablet is the burden. Each tablet bearer can make a single choice once. There is a long history of tablet ownership and each owner has tried to keep it unsuccessfully.

It is the power of the writing; it seduces all who try to hold it. I have held it, tasted its sweetness; but I can hold it no longer.

The raw power of the tablet has been the cause of all these successive failures by the owners. Yet attempting to grasp and hold the tablet results in losing the tablet. Failing and then losing the tablet is the pain.

They have served too long. Always serving. Ever watching. And now, perhaps, you will see how to release them.

The Bahro. Yeesha and Atrus have tried and failed to release the Bahro, perhaps because the tablet itself overpowered them.

First, collect what’s been scattered, and then the tablet will be released. Then you will hold it. You will find in each Age along the journey that there will be help. And there will be hindrance. You will start this journey where I started, where my father Atrus started, where my great-grandmother Ti’ana started. You will end this journey here, when the tablet is released. When you return, the tablet will be yours.

Starting at the Cleft, ending back at K’veer. No mention of Gehn in the genealogy.

When the tablet is yours, do not give it to me. What you still don’t understand, you have failed to hear or don’t need to know. Begin.

There is a hidden history being revealed here, about how Atrus was once a tablet-keeper. We know nothing about this part of Atrus’s history. We don’t know when this happened or where he found the tablet. We don’t know how he lost the tablet, exactly how he failed. All we know for certain is that he failed just as Yeesha has.

We can surmise that the tablet responded to him just as it did to Watson in K’veer. We know that Atrus first entered K’veer as a lad in the company of his father Gehn… 

If the keep and tablet were in K’veer at that time, it would deepen our understanding of Gehn and his madness. And if Atrus had the tablet when he was raising his sons on Myst Island, it would also deepen our understanding of his sons’ corruption. Perhaps their conspiracy to trap Atrus was an attempt to get their hands on the tablet for themselves.

It could well be that the tablet is somewhat akin to the One Ring of Middle Earth, wielding great power while seducing and enslaving the owner.

Since we see nothing of the Bahro in the days of The Stranger, I suppose it’s possible that at that time, Atrus had already lost ownership of the tablet. Esher’s behavior makes it clear that he is quite familiar with the tablet’s nature and power, so I suppose it’s possible that he as well was once an owner. Perhaps even the successor to Atrus for a while. Or perhaps not…

For all we know, Esher was working in the background during Gehn’s time in the Cavern; or perhaps during Calam’s time there. All we really know for certain is that Esher lived on Noloben and was quite familiar with the D’ni cavern. And that the DRC found him on Noloben and maintained contact with him for a brief time after that. So perhaps he fled to Noloben when D’ni fell…

In the bigger picture of D’ni history, it seems that the tablet has been around for a very long time. It clearly is of D’ni design, so I surmise that the D’ni forged it somehow; but how they managed to enslave the Bahro with it remains an interesting puzzle.

The Rosetta Tablet which once enslaved the Bahro: