Stormcastle Age

Exploration initiated and co-ordinated by Zander Nyrond

AIM

My aim in this project is to discover and explore a previously unvisited Age, and if possible find new information on the D'ni, their history, their beliefs, and the Art they practised. While I would welcome any information which bears out my heretical views on these matters, I shall not reject any data which supports another hypothesis.

METHOD

I obtained this Linking Book from my Gahreesen on 22nd of January 2008. I succeeded in prying open the door of the cage on the immediate right as one enters the room, for long enough to extract the book with the yellow spine from the second shelf down. I was not able to get any other books, as the door snapped back to its accustomed shape quite sharply.

Having been handicapped in my explorations hitherto by the lack of a reliable source of light, I had provided myself with a sturdy electric torch. The record of my preliminary visits to the Age may be found here.

RESULTS

One of the most significant discoveries so far is that this Book, unlike any other Linking Book so far discovered in the Cavern, possesses a "dynamic" linking panel of the kind described in the Stranger's accounts of the Books created by Atrus and his family. An image may be seen here. The existence of these moving panels has long been in doubt, and I am happy to have found proof to the contrary.

My surveys so far indicate that the Age was the private property of a D'ni named Kehlehn, who lived there alone and without servants. Much of the castle seems never to have been used. One might surmise that Kehlehn aspired to greater status than life in fact afforded him. However, the architecture of the building, and certain other evidence, strongly indicate that he had some contact with a Surface dweller, almost certainly Anna/Ti'ana, and perhaps was hopeful of gaining some advantage thereby, before the matter of Veovis arose. There is a portrait of the man in the great hall, much faded, which I hope to get some help in restoring.

I am somewhat disquieted by the change in the weather patterns since the Book was Written, as can be seen by the difference between the panel and the reality. Cloud cover is now constant, and severe rainstorms are frequent. The sea level also seems to have risen somewhat, since the link-in point is now seventeen inches underwater. If this is a continuing process, the exploration of this Age may be a matter of more urgency than I believed.

UPDATE: Restoration projects are now listed here. Any legitimate offers of help would be gratefully received, as my D'ni is practically non-existent and I am the merest amateur in this area.

IMPORTANT NEWS: I have discovered a cache of Linking Books in the study. As I have my hands full with this place, I intend to offer them to Subterranean Restorations or whomever they nominate for exploration, if they deem it appropriate. Here is the first.

Acknowledgments: Thanks are gratefully tendered to Jahura for help with the linking book image, to Gorobay, Owehn and others on the DRC forums, including members of Subterranean Restorations, for help, encouragement and constructive criticism.