Myst Facts and Speculation
This page is arguably the most important. Unlike the rest of the site,
it is not for newbies. It is for those who wish to get the most out of
Myst - by pointing out things you may not know, and drawing information
from all the Myst sources - the games (including the rarely-read
journals), the novels, the websites, and some of the special chats with
the designers.
Thus this section is handed down a CLASS RED SPOILER
WARNING!
I take every liberty here to discuss anything necessary, including full
spoilers to all of the Myst and Uru games and books.
In case you're wondering, yes this is the part where we start to get
like the nerds on The Simpsons who can speak fluent Klingon. (Well,
no I can't speak D'ni personally but I believe there are those who can.)
The point is, yes, I will be discussing minute details which won't concern
any but the truest of Myst fans. (Or "The Called" as
we like to be known.)
There has been a lot of discussion recently on the forums, with many
new players arriving to play Myst IV, in which players are asking
things or making assumptions without having all the information. This
page is for them!
I have made every attempt to back up all of the "facts" with
sources from the games, novels or websites, providing links if possible.
Firstly, I'd like to thank the D'ni
Desk Reference, for providing a lot of journal transcripts I refer
to.
All speculation is marked with the "speculation"
background and colours (as seen here) - and is derived either from my
personal musings, or opinions found on the forums.
If you find any official proof for speculation, or anything that
officially disproves anything on this page, please contact
me so I can set it straight.
A note: If possible, I will quote Richard A. Watson, a Cyan employee
known to most as RAWA. His job is the "D'ni Historian." He is
the keeper of the book, and the one who answers all the questions about
the Myst universe in general. Anything he says on D'ni is law,
and no argument shall henceforth be entered into! This
page, courtesy D'ni Desk Reference, provides links to some of RAWA's
most important letters.
Also, I've made numerous references to the Myst novels. In case
you aren't aware, three novels were published: Myst: The Book of Atrus
(1995), Myst: The Book of Ti'ana (1996) and Myst: The Book of
D'ni (1997). They are brilliant reading in their own right. (I've
heard good reports from people who read the books without playing the
games!) But they also provide much-needed information about the universe.
They are often abbreviated to BOA, BOT and BOD.
Table of Contents
Who Made The Games?
The Art of Writing
D'ni Numerals
D'ni Writing
Earth, D'ni, The Cleft and Tomahna
How do you pronounce "D'ni"?
Who Made The Games?
Its surprising how often people have misconceptions about who made the
games. There are now 6 Myst games, all created and published by
various different companies, so its easy to get lost. Here are the answers.
Myst, Riven, realMyst and the Uru saga were
developed by Cyan Worlds. (the creators and owners of the Myst
franchise)
Myst III: Exile was developed by Presto Studios.
Myst IV: Revelation was developed in-house by Ubisoft Montreal
Studios, by a group known as "Team Revelation." Adding to the
confusion is the Cyan logo which appears at the start. However this is
merely a token. Cyan did not make this game.
Myst, Riven and Myst Masterpiece were published
by Brøderbund (the latter two under the name "Red Orb", a division
of Brøderbund)
realMyst was published by Mattel Interactive. (Apparently it was
purchased by Ubisoft shortly after, so they may have had a hand in the
publishing).
Myst III: Exile, Uru and Myst IV: Revelation were
published by Ubisoft.
The current situation is this: Cyan Worlds still owns the rights to the
Myst franchise, and are developing the next game. Ubisoft presently
holds publishing rights to all Myst games, past and present. For
example, Ubisoft have now republished the original three games in "10th
Anniversary" packaging, using their own logos in the game intros.
Source: Game packaging and credits
The Art of Writing

The basic premise behind Myst is that the ancient race of the
D'ni were able to create Linking Books to ... any place they could describe
in words. They would Write in a special book, with special ink, a description
of the place, or "Age", and after done Writing it, were able
to "link" to that Age - to actually transport themselves to
that place, through the book.
This intriguing device, upon further thought, is really the ultimate
tool for game creators - an excuse to come up with anything they
can imagine. Because anything the game creators could imagine, could
be Written and could exist in an Age. It is also a wonderful gameplay
device - since most of the Myst games are structured around the
player linking to all sorts of different Ages. The fact that they are
books also gives the game an overall intellectual feel.
Needless to say, the Art of Writing worlds out of words is non-trivial,
and countless discussions, both on the forums and with the game designers
(not to mention between the various in-game and in-novel characters) have
arisen. Nobody is 100% clear on the in-depth mechanics of the Art (save
maybe RAWA!). But this discussion is an attempt at the most complete explanations
possible.
Stepping back through history, it seems, like many things, that Cyan
themselves were not always clear on the details. We were first introduced
to Linking Books in the manual of Myst:
You have just stumbled upon a most intriguing book, a book
titled Myst. You have no idea where it came from, who wrote it, or how
old it it. Reading through its pages provides you with only a superbly
crafted description of an island world. But it's just a book, isn't it?
As you reach the end of the book, you lay your hand on
a page. Suddenly your own world dissolves into blackness, replaced with
the island world the pages described. Now you're here, wherever here is,
with no option but to explore...
Later, we learned that the books were all written in an ancient language
of the D'ni. Yet this description seems to imply that the book is written
in English (since you are supposed to be "you" - a human, not
a D'ni). It is also made quite clear in all other sources that the "linking
panel" is on the front or second page, not the last page. This second
change was corrected in realMyst. I present the new second paragraph
from the realMyst manual:
As you open the book, you are startled by a picture of
an island. The picture seems a little too real; in fact, the picture seems
to be moving. In disbelief, you place your hand on the picture. Suddenly...your
own world dissolves into blackness, replaced with the island world the
pages described. Now you're here, wherever here is, with no option but
to explore...
Also interesting to note is that the Myst manual never mentioned
the linking panel or flyby. These are a separate topic of their own, discussed
elsewhere on this page.
Firstly, on the issue of the "player" being Human or D'ni,
RAWA gave on July 19, 2001, a definitive answer (responding to "I
thought everyone was D'ni"):
I don't know what to say to that one. The journals in
Myst and Riven seem pretty clear on this to me. Admittedly that's easy
for me to see from this side of things. But the Book of Atrus, imo, is
_really_ clear that the D'ni are out of the story during the time of Myst
and Riven.
The following things are made quite clear by all sources:
- The language used to describe all known books is D'ni - a special
form of D'ni which is more structured and descriptive than usual everyday
D'ni. However there has been some speculation (by characters) as to
whether another language such as English could be used to Write with.
- It is, however, clear that (contrary to the old beliefs) one does
not have to be D'ni blood to Write. Clearly, Anna, Catherine, and the
rest of the impure-blooded family (Gehn, Atrus, Yeesha) were able to
Write.
- The books must be made from special paper. In D'ni times, an entire
guild (The Guild of Book-makers) was devoted to producing the special
paper and making it into books.
- The books must be written using a special ink. Again, another guild
(The Guild of Ink-makers) was devoted to this sacred task.
- Each Age was written only once in a huge book known as the "Descriptive
Book". These books are rarely seen in the games (the only one which
is definitely a Descriptive Book is the Riven book, seen in K'veer at
the end of Myst and start of Riven.) This book contained
all the phrases to make up the Age.
- Numerous smaller "Linking Books" could then be created,
which linked "through" the Descriptive Book. These are the
books we use in the games. Linking Books contained only key phrases,
used to bind the book to the original Descriptive Book. Unlike the Desc.
Books, Linking Books must be written in the Age and location
to which they are intended to link. If the Descriptive Book was destroyed,
all Linking Books to that Age would cease to function.
- All Ages are unique. If you wrote a new Descriptive Book that was
exactly the same as another one, it would link to a slightly different
(yet familiar) Age. The key difference would be if person A linked through
one book, and person B linked through the other, they could not meet
in the Age.
- Although anything you are wearing or carrying comes with you when
you link, the linking book through which you linked never does. It always
remains behind, so that others can follow. (Note: Yeesha seems to have
broken this rule with Relto, but the explanation for this is that she
is extremely powerful.)
- No book can link to an Age from within that Age. Thats a rule. (Although
we've never seen any actual tests done. Conversely, we've certainly
never been able to do it, until Uru.) This explains why Gehn
had to have all his Riven books in another Age, and not on Riven itself.
(Note: Again, Yeesha managed to break this rule with Relto (and several
other links in the game). Once again, the excuse is she is extremely
powerful.)
- You can make subtle changes to an Age by crossing out or adding phrases
to the original Descriptive Book. This actually modifies the Age itself.
However, too drastic changes would cause the "target Age"
to be changed. The link to the original would be lost forever, and the
new Age would take its place.
There is, however, a great deal of uncertainty governing the Art. Many
of player's questions have been answered over the years by RAWA.
It seems that Linking stems from some variation of
Quantum Mechanics. Obviously Linking and QM that Physicists use have some
very major differences. Basic details are there.
"The branches of the Great Tree grow without end,
yet the Maker knows them all"
- D'ni Guild site
Atrus always talked about the "Great Tree of Possibilities"
- a huge system of events, in which every possibility is accounted for.
One can imagine the stems of the Great Tree - if two Ages have any similarities,
then they are joined at that point on the Tree. Any differences they have
are where the branching begins. One can see that all Ages appear somewhere
on the Great Tree. As discussed above, minor changes to an Age actually
change it, while major changes "shift the link" back down a
branch of the Tree and up a new one, to a slightly different Age.
Quantum Theorists use something similar to this - when talking about
"Probabilities" of "events" occuring (where an "event"
is something like a photon being shot through one slit or another).
From this, one can visualise a "Great Tree of Possibilities"
where every Photon's decision creates two distinct branches of the Tree.
In the bullet points above, it is stated that if two Descriptive books
are identical, they still link to different Ages. This is because when
a book is Written, the Writer does not account for every tree, rock
and bird. It is theoretically possible to create an Age with a single
word. However, this would not be very predictable, and would probably
be unstable. The more you Write, the more control you have over the
Age. Anything you leave out is "filled in" by the Great Tree
itself (randomly). Therefore, if you write two identical Books, the
reason they will link to different Ages is because the random "stuff"
that is "filled in" will be different - and it is impossible
to manually fill in everything. But why are Ages the same every time
we link then? Shouldn't it give us a new random Age every time?
Quantum Theory gives us something called the "Observer Effect"
- that an "event" is in all possible states until directly
observed. Once observed, it breaks down into a single state (the Quantum
problem is resolved). For more information on this, search for the "Schröedinger's
Cat" hypothetical experiment. Basically, a Quantum event could
be in several possible states (several things could have happened).
The theory is that all things have happened until it is directly
observed. The process of detecting this state collapses the probability
wave so that only one state actually happened.
This relates to the Art and the Great Tree of Possibilities. We know
from The Book of Atrus, that when a book is first Written, the
linking panel is blank and swirly. The book itself does not link to
an Age. Quantum Theory suggests that it links to all Ages matching
that description at the same time. But by the very act of linking for
the first time, this probability wave collapses into a single Age (where
the Great Tree does its "random Age selection"). And from
that point on, the Descriptive Book links to that specific Age.
RAWA's own explanation (dated Nov 14, 1997):
In the 'infinity' of the 'Tree of Possibilites' there are
countless worlds to match any description you can write. There is a chaotic
element in how the Book selects which of those many worlds it will link
to, which even the D'ni never were able to compensate for
Relating to the "changes to the book" speculation, he wrote
(May 31, 2002):
Changes to the Descriptive Book. I'm not sure how to state
more clearly how it works without going off on a few dozen tangents. It's
possible to make changes that will force the Book to link to another Age
entirely. It's possible to make changes that further define the Age without
linking to a different Age, etc. Very tricky stuff.
Where and when exactly are the Ages? Atrus spent
years looking at the stars to try and find an answer. It seems that Ages
may be in the same "universe" as each other, just potentially
billions of miles away. Furthermore, they could be at any time. This raised
the question that it may be possible to write a link to an Age that is
the same Age, only at a different time. (Of couse this is near-impossible
due to explanations above). RAWA wrote (on July 11, 2001):
There isn't anything that says linking to the same Age
at a different time is impossible in the "it _cannot_ happen" sense of
the word, but it is so extremely unlikely that it for all intents and
purposes it is considered impossible in the "it _does not_ happen" sense
of the word.
It's the same reason that it is "impossible" to write two
Descriptive Books (not Linking Books) to the same Age (even ignoring whether
it's the same time or earlier time, etc.), even if you write the exact
same words in both Books.
On the discussion above about Yeesha's Relto book breaking two rules
(You can't take a book with you and you can't link to an Age you're in.)
- This was written in-character by "Dr. Watson" who is technically
not RAWA (December 11, 2002):
Unbelievable I spoke with one of the Uru explorers yesterday.
I personally watched him use the mysterious Book. The Book did not remain
behind. It indeed went with him. Frankly, I had really expected this to
be some kind of hoax.
We have never found a D'ni Book that can do this. It obviously
would have been useful enough that one would think that the D'ni would
have figured out how to do it long ago if it were possible, but none of
their Books can do this.
And that's not the only D'ni rule that this Book breaks.
You are not going to believe this one, Vic. Wait. I'm getting ahead of
myself.
Anyway, the explorer came back shortly after, and offered
to let me see the Age it links to. I was hesitant, since we know so little
about this Book, but I agreed.
The Book links to a small island, only it's not surrounded
by water, it's surrounded by clouds. There is only one small building
and a few small trees.
My host had another surprise for me. As I watched, he used
his Book again and re-appeared at the link-in spot on the other side of
the island. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. He
was able to link within an Age. No D'ni Books can do that either.
And now, the Age-Old question: Are we creating Ages by Writing
them, or merely linking to them?
This question goes down to the epic struggle between father and son.
Clearly, Gehn believed he was a God, who had created Riven and the other
Ages. He believed he had created all the people, and given them life,
and memories. Atrus believed that the Ages existed beforehand, and Gehn
had simply linked to them.
However, the more you read on the subject, the more it becomes clear
that Atrus was right. RAWA himself wrote (Sept 17, 1997):
The D'ni histories indicate that the D'ni did not believe
that they were creating the Ages they linked to. They seemed to understand
that the Ages already existed, and that they were merely creating the
_links_to these Ages. This is Atrus' view as well.
Gehn, on the other hand, wants to control the Ages he has
made, and uses the power of the Books to intimidate the inhabitants of
those worlds. He believes he has the power to create, and therefore the
right to do what he wishes with the Ages (and the inhabitants).
The argument has no clear answer. One important thing
to consider is, do we want to think that we were "created"
by a D'ni writer, or just linked to? Because we know that the D'ni did
not always live on Earth. Ri'neref, the Writer of D'ni, lived on the original
homeland of Garternay. He wrote Earth himself, linking his people to the
underground cavern. If Gehn's theory is correct, then we, too, are "creations"
of the Art. Kinda humbling, isn't it?
I'm going to close with a huge slab written by RAWA on Sept 17, 1997,
relating to everything I've discussed. It does cover Quantum theory and
the Art. But remember that RAWA's letters, and this conversation, have
only scratched the surface of the intricacies of the Art.
The question relates to making changes to an Age without actually shifting
the link (specifically as to how Anna and Catherine were able to change
Riven, writing in daggers and so forth):
This is the most complicated and confusing aspect of The
Art. In order to gain a deeper knowledge of the workings of the Books,
we'll need a working knowledge of quantum mechanics.
!! WARNING 11 - GREAT, BIG, HEAVY, COMPLICATED EXPLANATION
- !! WARNING !!
Many of the interpretations of quantum theory say that
until a state of matter is observed, it exists in many states simultaneously
- it creates a bizarre "probability wave" that contains all of the possible
states of that matter. Therefore, as was proposed in Schrodinger's famous
cat analogy, bizarre things happen on the quantum level that allow things
like Schrodinger's cat to be both alive and dead at the same time, until
one of the states is observed, locking it in a single state, and collapsing
the "probability wave."
What the D'ni seem to have concluded (proved?), is that
those waves don't actually cease to exist altogether, instead each possibility
continues to exist in an alternate quantum reality (read "parallel universe"),
until a state is observed in that quantum reality, and the possibilities
not observed in that quantum reality continue to exist in still another,
and so on ad infinitum. This makes the universe infinitely complex, with
every possible quantum combination since the creation of the universe
existing in a quantum reality somehere (even the "unstable Ages"). The
Books somehow allow observation of (thus the locking of) and travel to
those quantum realities.
So, you can make "unobserved" changes (probabilities that
haven't been locked down by description in the Book, or by physical observation
in the Age itself) without forcing the Book to link to a new quantum reality.
This is why being careful of contradictions is so important.
The problem with contradictions is that the Book attemps to link to a
quantum reality that matches a contradictory description, and the closest
thing it can find is usually fairly unstable.
I could write for days and still not do this subject justice,
but that's the best I can do right now. Hope it helps explain it a bit.
Oh, and I see that hand in the back. "What about the changes to Riven?
You still haven't answered that."
The changes made to Riven near the end of the Book of Atrus
(pg 268 in the hardcover edition), were a collaboration between Anna and
Catherine. Anna's main contribution was probably keeping the Book free
of contradictions. Catherine's intuitive (but D'ni rule-breaking) style
was so bizarre that earlier Atrus had claimed that her Books wouldn't
even work - yet they did.
The daggers which mysteriously appeared around the island,
and the lava filled fissures were made possible by her odd style - which
I cannot explain. And although Catherine and Anna intended for the lava
filled fissures as part of their plan to rescue Atrus while still leaving
Gehn trapped in his Fifth Age, the Star Filled Fissure was not intentional
or anticipated.
To me, it remains the most mysterious object in all the
D'ni histories.
And the Star Fissure will be covered on this page elsewhere.
Source: Myst, realMyst, Uru, Letters
by RAWA
D'ni Numerals
The D'ni's counting system was introduced first in the game Riven
through a clever puzzle. As part of the game, you had to figure out how
the counting system worked. You also needed these numbers in Uru: Ages
Beyond Myst to solve at least one puzzle, but if you hadn't already
figured it out, it was easier to figure out in that game.
Due to the non-straightforward manner in which they are presented, some
confusion arises about the more advanced use of the numerals. First and
foremost, these are not "Rivenese" numerals. They are actually
D'ni. (Note that the original Brady "Official Riven Strategy Guide"
called them "Rivenese" numbers. There is some confusion as to
whether they originally were meant to be "Rivenese". No doubt
now, (in Uru) they are D'ni numbers.)
Another interesting thing to note is that most of
the D'ni characters are derived from the numbers. They have lost their
"boxes" and have become much more cursive and elegant. But upon
closer inspection, they seem to have been derived from the numbers, which
is interesting historically. What is not clear, is why the numbers didn't
evolve over time, and are still written as harsh lines inside very rigid
boxes.
The D'ni number system itself is a base-25 counting system. The best
way to think of this is that we have a base-10 counting system; there
are 10 symbols in ours (0-9). In the base-10 system, the "tenth"
number (10) begins the next column with a "1" and sets the first
column back to "0". People often have difficulty understanding
foreign counting systems, but a base-4 system, for example, simply has
4 digits. The base-4 system would go:
0, 1, 2, 3, 10, 11, 12, 13, 20, 21, 22, 23, 30, 31, 32, 33, 100, 101,
102, 103, 110.... etc
The same as our counting system except we skip all numbers past 3.
A base-25 system is the same too, except we add numbers so that
there are 25 symbols. The 25th number therefore resets the counting system.
The D'ni system is a little more involved. So you can remember symbols
more easily, there is a "base-5" system embedded inside the
first 25 symbols. Firstly, the numeral for "zero" is this:

Zero never appeared in any Riven puzzles. (Although I believe
it may have been in the game). It appeared first officially in Uru
- used as both the symbol for the "Great Zero" location, and
also serving as numerous delete buttons within the game. To date it hasn't
been used as part of a puzzle.
The first four numbers, 1, 2, 3 and 4 (which I will call the "1-multiple"
symbols) are as follows:

That's all the symbols you really have to remember. The numbers 5, 10,
15 and 20 are simply the numbers 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively, rotated 90
degrees. I will call these the "5-multiple" symbols. So, for
example, the famous number 5, used as the symbol for Riven, the Fifth
Age, is a D'ni "1" rotated 90 degrees:

All numbers in between are simply the appropriate "5-multiple"
and "1-multiple" symbols (which add together) printed on top
of one another. So the symbol for 6 is 5 + 1 - a 5 and a 1 on top of each
other. 7 is a 5 and a 2. 8 is a 5 and a 3. Etc. Hence, the symbols for
5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 are as follows:

Following the rule, the number "10" is a "2" rotated
90 degrees, and 11, 12, 13 and 14 are 10 with another "1-multiple"
number over the top. Here are 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14:

Of course, the 15 is a 3 rotated, and the 20 is a 4 rotated. Here are
the symbols for 15 through 24:

We now have the 25 symbols (0-24) needed for a base-25 system. So now
the correct way to write "25" is a 1 and a 0:
 
Since one puzzle in Riven used codes from
1 to 25, a special "single-digit" system for 25 was needed.
So although the "correct" form of 25 is 1-0, it is acceptable
to write the following symbol for 25. This is the only number you may
use this symbol for. All other numbers must be written properly.
The "shorthand" number 25:

RAWA wrote on the "shorthand" 25:
For mathematical purposes (25 should be written as two
digits). In these cases, twenty-five is always represented as two digits
("10"). But the D'ni also has a single symbol for 25 used in other instances
(like comparisons, where they judge things on a scale from 1 to 25).
The formula for reading numbers larger than 25 is to take each digit
from the right give it an "exponent" number, which is 25 to
the power of the column number (so the rightmost digit is the "1s"
column (25^0=1), the second from the right is the "25s" column
(25^1=25), the third from the right is the "625s" column (25^2=625),
etc). Then multiply each column's digit by its exponent number and add
them all. Below is a graphical representation:

This number has a 2 in the 625s column, a 3 in the 25s column, and a
9 in the 1s column. Therefore, it equates to (2×625) + (3×25) + (9×1)
= 1334.
A more famous example follows:
 
Keen players will recognise this from the cover of the books which linked
to Gehn's age in Riven. What number is it? It has a 9 in the 25s
column and an 8 in the 1s column. Therefore it is (9×25) + (8×1) = 233.
Hence the reason it is known as "Gehn's 233rd Age".
For reference, here are the numbers from 0-25 (including the shorthand
25):
Source: Riven, Uru, Brady's Official Riven
Strategy Guide
D'ni Writing
The D'ni language is a complete, complex language. Not only does it have
new symbols than we are used to, but it also contains its own words and
grammar rules (making it a fully-defined language). Knowledge of the language
is not necessary to play the game, and it isn't taught in the games (Myst
IV comes close, teaching you the symbols.) However it may be fun to
know it and be able to translate the various D'ni writing you see about
the place.
The language is too detailed to go into here. Please follow this link
to the D'ni Linguistic
Fellowship, a site wholly devoted to the D'ni language. (Thanks to
mszv for the link.)
Earth, D'ni, The Cleft
and Tomahna
I'm going to come right out and say this: Earth, D'ni, The Cleft and
Tomahna are all the same Age. This is a hotly debated topic on the forums,
but the answer can be proved definitively, as I have done below.
Firstly, let me say that the issue is not obvious. Myst fans have had
the various facts relating to these four places slowly revealed over time.
Of course, in Myst, we got to go to a place called "Dunny"
at the end. Its name was changed to "D'ni" before the first
book, to the relief of the Australian fans. ("Dunny" is Australian
slang for "Toilet") At the time, we had no idea of the importance
of "Dunny" in the Myst universe. And we certainly had
no idea it was on Earth.
Myst: The Book of Atrus (BOA) was the first novel, released in
1995, and gave us most of the answers. It first introduced the concept
of "Earth" into the Myst universe - and told us that
Atrus had grown up on Earth, in a desert, in a place called "The
Cleft" with his grandmother.
Here we come to one of the unfortunate episodes in the development of
the Myst story. It seems that David Wingrove, who wrote the books,
was told that the Cleft was in "a desert". Unfortunately, he
pictured a middle-eastern desert, and so the books give us middle-eastern
names like "Tadjinar", "Jaarnindu" and "Amanjira"
(Although there are no direct references to the middle-east). Cyan had
always pictured the Cleft being in New Mexico, USA. Uru definitively
places it in New Mexico, causing a contradiction. However the Uru,
and therefore Cyan positioning is considered correct.
RAWA explained this when asked "Did Cyan originally
want the cleft to be in New Mexico?"
Short answer: Yes, as far as Cyan is concerned,
the Cleft has always been in New Mexico.
Long answer: Our intent was always for it to be in New
Mexico, though we had no intentions of revealing its location at
that time. In our outlines for the novels, the Cleft was near a
non-descript volcano in a non-descript desert. Any "clues" to its
location were added by David Wingrove when he fleshed out our outlines.
The Cleft can be explored in Uru and (despite the problem with
location) is exactly as described in The Book of Atrus. It is essentially
a large fissure-shaped crack in the ground, near a large volcano. In the
BOA, Atrus learned that the volcano masked the secret entrance to D'ni.
He walked to D'ni on foot (without linking - easily proven by the fact
he had never seen a linking book when he arrived in D'ni), proving that
The Cleft (In New Mexico, on Earth) is in the same Age as D'ni. This volcano
was used as the portal between the cavern and the surface-world by Anna
on her way back up to the surface in Myst: The Book of Ti'ana and
also by Atrus and Gehn in the BOA.
Want further proof? This quote is from the DRC's own public
material:
(Ri'neref) didn't write a link to a luxurious planet. He
wrote a link to a large cavern deep underground. He called his Age "D'ni"
(New Start).
We call it Earth.
So what about Tomahna? Tomahna was introduced to us in the closing pages
of Myst: The Book of D'ni in the following quote:
Atrus and I live quietly on Tomahna, with a new daughter,
Yeesha...
(We got information overload during that last page of the BOD... suddenly
we had Releeshahn, Tomahna and Yeesha all at once!)
Tomahna first appeared as a small Age in Myst III: Exile - the
player appeared here to start the adventure and it was quickly attacked
by Saavedro, who started a fire and left us the J'nanin book, which we
were forced to follow. Tomahna was just two rooms in Exile - and
at the start we could look out into an orange barren desert. If that wasn't
enough of a hint, the answer came in Uru: Ages Beyond Myst at the
very end (during Yeesha's speech, at the Cleft):
And another gift is here. A link to the Cleft, here in
Tomahna.
There you go! It's surprising how many people missed this little hint.
In Myst IV: Revelation theres a bit of another hint - at the start,
Atrus tells you he'll "have to go to the Cleft to pick up some supplies."
While he could be linking there, it is implied that the Cleft is nearby.
And, as MTigerV points, out, there is an amulet "memory" in
Myst IV which proves that Tomahna is near the Cleft (look into
the telescope, at the moon, and click the amulet). Atrus:
A long time ago, when your great-grandmother Anna first
mapped out this desert with her father, she looked up at the sky and used
that star to find her way home.
It's important to note, as part of this proof, that nowhere does it ever
say that Atrus wrote Tomahna. Looking back, you can see how careful they
have been. In the Book of D'ni and in Exile, both of which
talk about the "new Ages" - Releeshahn and Tomahna, they always
say that Atrus "Wrote Releeshahn" but "lives on Tomahna".
Another very subtle hint. And as someone pointed out, in Revelation,
Atrus was Wrote the linking chambers into Haven and Spire, but he had
to build it by hand in Tomahna because he did not have access to the original
descriptive book. (Although there are reasons against this.)
Hence, Earth = D'ni = Tomahna = The Cleft.
Also: I heard that RAWA officially confirmed that
Tomahna was on Earth, about 200 miles from The Cleft, during the testing
for Uru, but I can't find the direct quote. (If anyone can confirm
or deny this please let me know.)
Source: Myst, Myst III: Exile, Uru: Ages
Beyond Myst, Myst IV: Revelation, www.drcsite.org,
Myst: The Book of Atrus, Myst: The Book of Ti'ana, Myst:
The Book of D'ni
How do you pronounce "D'ni"?
This topic is interesting, and the confusion is probably
caused by the fact that originally, D'ni was "Dunny". And of
course, this was pronounced "DUH-nee". We generally assume that
after Myst, Cyan found out that "Dunny" was Australian
slang for "Toilet" and promptly changed the spelling to "D'ni"
- which most people would pronounce "Deh-NEE".
However, to stay consistent, Riven, realMyst and Exile
stuck with the original pronunciation, "DUH-nee". To make things
even more confusing, in Uru Rand Miller (Atrus) stuck with "DUH-nee"
while the other actors (Rengin Altay as Yeesha, and David Ogden Stiers
as Zandi and Watson) changed to "Deh-NEE". In Revelation,
Miller and most other characters say "DUH-nee" while I think
one of the brothers says "Deh-NEE".
It really seems like now you can say it any way you like. Here's what
RAWA had to say on the matter as recently as October 8, 2004 (After the
release of Myst IV):
As far as a native D'ni speaker is concerned you're right.
"Duh-nee" is not how they'd pronounce it.
Actually, the "'" after a consonant means you basically just pronounce
the consonant. Think of it as when I'm trying to help my son sound out
a word when he's reading. "dog" - "duh-ah-guh". It's not a long "uh" sound
- it's just a tiny, little thing - but the sound is there.
It's not slurred "dnee", and it's not accented "DUH-nee", it's just "d-nee".
If anything, the accent would be on the second syllable "d-NEE"
"Dunny", however, is a perfectly acceptable anglicized pronunciation,
just as we generally pronounce "Mexico" as "MEKS-ih-co" rather than "Meh-HEE-co",
or "Israel" as "IZ-ray-el" rather than "YIS-rah-ayl", "Bruh-zil" for "Bra-sil"),
etc., etc.
At least it's closer than "deny", which is how I usually hear it pronounced
if someone sees "D'ni" without having seen it spelled "Dunny". :)
So its good to have this all cleared up. Basically he's saying the Uru
pronunciation, "Deh-NEE" is correct, "DUH-nee" as
Rand Miller likes to say is heavily accented English (possibly explained
by the fact Atrus grew up speaking English), and really any way is correct.
Source: news.patchallel.com
(check the archives)
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