Day 1. I've arrived knee-deep in water. I suppose the sea level must have risen since the Linking Book was written. Also, the weather is not as advertised. The linking panel has it sunny and clear. This is what I'm looking at:
That's actually the last picture I took before linking back--as you can see, it was starting to chuck it down. It was also quite dark under the trees. Fortunately, I had done the sensible thing and Brought A Torch:
You'll notice some very familiar-looking plants as we go on. I didn't see any animal or bird life--presumably they all had more sense than I did and stayed home. Something must do the pollinating, though.
I'd guess that this was someone's private Age, either home or home-from-home. Which makes the someone fairly well off, if I understand D'ni society correctly. I'm hoping there will be something in the castle to tell us who he or she was. Well, put it this way. If there isn't, I shall whimper. A lot.
I'd been circling clockwise around the castle, going up the slope and closer in. You can see the edge of the footings in that last shot.
Interesting striations in the stone there. Interesting climb up as well, especially as that was when the rain set in hard. I stayed just long enough to get the shot at the top of the page, and then linked out. No sign of a door at this level, so there must be a concealed way in.
But that castle...it's so unmistakably Surface architecture, and European at that, that I can hardly believe a D'ni built it. I suppose it could just be convergent design...and yet...
Well. We shall see. More to follow...