#kveer

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: