RECAP: The Restoration So Far...

[vidkid7]

I've noticed that a lot of people in the cavern recently are not familiar with the history of how we've gotten to where we are. In March, I started a blog chronicling events that had to do with the restoration... I'm choosing to repost five certain entries here, so that they can be called to the attention of those who want to learn more about the DRC, their history, and the road that has brought us here.

Disclaimer: This is all written from my personal point of view on events... if there are any mistakes or things that you feel are wrong... feel free to point them out.

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Recap - Part 1 (History of the Restoration)

My purpose for posting right now is a huge recap, for readers and for myself. It's been about four years since the reality of D'ni was made public, and a lot has happened since then. You could even say things were put into motion a year before that even. Or even longer. I'm not a D'ni historian, I can't tell you about all the great kings, or who wrote the ages we visit, or even what year the fall of D'ni occured. But I can tell you about the restoration, and almost everything leading up to this point. I guess I'll start at the very top...

A *very* brief history of the modern re-discovery of D'ni

In 1987, John Loftin and Elias Zandi discovered D'ni in Eddy County, New Mexico.

By 1990, Dr. Richard Watson joined John and Elias on a trip to D'ni.... then in 1991 they made another trek down. This time, John did not return.

By the end of 1991, Dr. Watson was helping the Miller brothers of "Cyan" on the surface start creating a game that would tell of D'ni history and technology. This game was released in late 1993 as "Myst" and would serve to reveal D'ni to the public, without having a mass of people all rushing to see it.

1992, Elias continued funding an exploration and restoration of D'ni. Since that period, the cavern has never been completely uninhabited.

After the completion of Myst in 1993, but before the release, Rand, Robyn, and Ryan Miller all visited D'ni for the first time.

In 1995, Elias brought his son Jeff down to the cavern for the first time. After many heated debated between them about the physical and spiritual aspects of restoring D'ni, the two parted ways. Only a year later, Elias died of a heart attack, and left his fortune to the the D'ni Restoration Foundtation, an organization he had put together before his passing. He left no money to Jeff, but left him the land around the entrance to the cavern on the surface.

In January 1997, Dr. Watson formed the D'ni Restoration Council along with Dr. Marie Sutherland, Dr. Ikuro Kodama, and Victor Laxman. Their fifth and final member Michael Engberg joined in 1999.

By 2002, the DRC started allowing authorized explorers to come to D'ni, along with the restoration engineers who had been working in D'ni for so many years. Late 2003 marked the first time that the general public was allowed access to the cavern.

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Recap - Part 2 (The Uru Begins)

This is where things start getting fun, and probably what most of you want to hear about anyway. A great deal of the information regarding Jeff Zandi was gathered from Zardoz's "Zandi Facts" website. (http://www.liquid-light.net/zandi/stone/zprime/)

The year 2002 is the first time the DRC really went public, posting their website (www.drcsite.org) to the general population. People began posting there, amazed and ecstatic at the discovery of the reality of D'ni. The DRC began posting there, using it as a hub to communicate with eachother, the restoration engineers, the authorized explorers, and of course all of us biting our nails up on the surface.

In April 2002, we all met Zandi for the first time. Well.... no that's not exactly right, but we'll come to that bridge soon. He posted a very simple message... "The gathered are known by their faces of stone." Equally as interesting was his user information, which had various unusual references, numbers, and dates. He posted the same message again just a few days later, but with different user information. Both of these threads were quickly deleted and swept under the rug.

In May 2002, Zandi started communicating with the explorers on the surface via the DRC forums. Not by posting nicely, or replying to threads... but by hijacking posts made by DRC member Victor Laxman, adding "The gathered are known by their faces of stone" and changing VICTOR's user information.

I could go on to write about everything that occured, but the Zandi Facts site that I've already cited has already done an excellent job of it. Here are the basic points....

1. Zandi had been at Mysterium 2001 in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
(Mysterium is a yearly conference for fans of all things Myst, D'ni, and Cyan.)

2. He had also purchased a billboard, which was very near the location of Mysterium 2001, featured a very unusual spiral symbol, and GPS coordinates. By the time the community had worked this all out, the sign had been gone for a while, and there was quite a bit of hoop jumping to find out what was on it.

3. The GPS coordinates had led us to a location in New Mexico where someone found a metal spiral, matching the one that had been on the billboard (and incidentally Zandi's shirt at Mysterium 2001).

4. On the spiral was carved the word "Preafter", which quickly led us to www.preafter.com. The people who had gathered the spiral were asked to send a photograph as proof. Once they had... one of the lines on the website's spiral disappeared.

5. This pattern continued on, puzzle, coordinates, spiral, until four spirals had been found. The final task was to gather all four spirals together. Once this had been done, five of the nine lines that protruded from the spiral online had been removed total, and suddenly it's true form had come clear.

The "preafter" spiral, minus five of it's rays, flipped around to become a handprint. The very handprint that most of us are familiar with as relating to Yeesha and her journey. Zandi's final task became clear... "make the journey". People across the globe began recreating the hand... the "journey"... in public places. People questioned it, and received explanations. Some didn't get it, some didn't believe, and some felt the call. Those who felt the call make up most of the ones who now join us in the cavern... the "Uru Explorers".

Uru explorers were granted access to the cavern by Zandi and presumeably Yeesha. They weren't authorized by the DRC, they were given books that the DRC definitely didn't approve of (Relto books), and were generally "tolerated" more than "accepted" by the DRC.

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Recap - Part 3 (The Fall of the Restoration)

Yeah this took me a bit longer to get around to than I expected. There's been a lot going on in the cavern and on the surface, both personally and for the community as a whole. I'll get to most of that eventually... as it'll now end up in one of the recaps no doubt.

Obviously the restoration was made up of a LOT more people than just the five members of the DRC... even back when they were still part of an organization known as the DRF, there were lots of ResEngs (Restoration Engineers) doing work, getting things done.... anything from repairing equipment in the ages, to being gophers for the DRC and eachother. This is going to focus on two of them in particular, Phil Henderson and Douglas Sharper. As a disclaimer, I did not experience any of these events personally, and am writing this based from memory of other people's accounts. If there are any errors, please contact me so that I may fix them.

Douglas Sharper discovered the first linking books to Teledahn in the late ninetys/early 2000s, and was assigned to it's restoration. We can thank him for the use of all the working (and semi-working) equipment that we have access to in Teledahn today. He was also the first to discover the hidden passages in the back of Teledahn, though kept them a secret from the DRC, as well as being known to hunt the large aquatic creatures of the age that we have come to call "Shroomies".

He claimed the office in Teledahn as his own, as well as an office in Ae'gura that he kept hidden from the DRC and most of the other ResEngs, and seems to have used the Ae'Gura office as a sort of "base of operations". From reading the journal found in his Ae'Gura office, I'm led to believe that over the years he was growing very tired of the DRCs "Safety First" policies towards even the tiniest details. This might help explain part of why he was so eager to push things the way he did.

Another ResEng named Nick White spent a lot of time helping Sharper translate a large variety of D'ni texts relating to Teledahn and other things, as well as helping him slide a lot of things under the DRC's noses. Not nearly as much of a jerk (this is my opinion, I don't claim to represent the explorers as a whole) as Doug, but definitely an ally. After a time he was assigned to a pub in D'ni (which is currently inaccessible to us) that was also known as "The Watcher's Sanctuary". Besides this, he was also vying to take control of a pub in Ae'Gura called the "Kahlo Pub", which is broken down, but currently availible to visitation by us.

For a jump in discussion... most of the explorers these days are familiar with the large metal (or maybe stone?) doors that can be found in the ages that Yeesha has graced with her journey cloths. Towards the end of 2002, Phil Henderson became the first person to open one, in Eder Kemo. It's not known whether it opened itself for him, or if he found the required clothes, or if he just found some other way to open it... the point is, he OPENED it. He went through, and disappeared entirely. He completely fell off the grid, KI and all.

A few weeks later, he made contact with one of the authorized explorers, and confirmed that he was alright, and then disappeared again. It was around a year later that he was heard from again.... he had returned, a very different person than the one who had left so many months ago. He had taken Yeesha's journey, and was now a very strong supporter of her and her plans. It wasn't long before Sharper caught wind of this, and decided to "ally" with Phil.

Together the two of them made proclamations about the mistakes the DRC was making, and how important it was to follow Yeesha and learn the truth from her, not the DRC. I'm not sure that Douglas even knew what "the truth" was, he just seemed to like having some weight to throw around... and explorers rallied behind him. In late 2003 he rallied a huge group of explorers outside of the blocked off entrance to the Kahlo pub and together they destroyed the barricades that kept the pub blocked to the public. All of a sudden, we've got explorers who not only complain about the DRC, but are now violently disobeying them.

For reasons unknown to me, Phil later climbed to the Guild House on Ae'Gura. After a few minutes of speaking with members of the DRC about their views, about Yeesha's views, and about the explorer community as a whole, something broke loose and Phil was lost in a rock slide. I say "killed"... and God rest his soul if it's true... but a body was never found. Only a broken KI. Though it seems that Sharper was seen with Phil's Relto book.

Shortly after losing Phil, Dr. Watson returned to the surface, presumeably to grieve and probably rethink the restoration. Except for a very brief contact with the rest of the DRC, he hasn't been seen since the day he left. Victor Laxman, Dr. Kodama, Dr. Sutherland, and Michael Engberg are continued on in Dr. Watson's abscence... Victor opened up the Great Zero at the tip of Ae'gura and gave the explorers the tools to work together to re-calibrate it. To this day, the Great Zero has yet to be fully recalibrated. Despite their efforts however, the funding dried up... most likely because nobody wanted to be involved with something that would make them look bad in the public eye.

In February 2004, the restoration was officially cancelled, all ResEngs, Authorized Explorers, and even the Uru Explorers were escorted to the surface, and the caverns were locked off. For the first time in over ten years, D'ni was empty again.

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Recap - Part 4 (Until Uru)

The word "Uru" means "gathering" or "city" in several languages, including D'ni. This is why the explorers that were called by Yeesha and gathered by Zandi were referred to as the "Uru Explorers". Even after being removed from the cavern, most of us remained hopeful for a return, if not by the DRC, then perhaps by Yeesha, or maybe even of our own accord. As such, many refer to this period as "Until Uru".... until we can gather again.

There are lots of accounts from explorers who claim to have visited the cavern on solo expeditions, but many of these conflict with each other greatly... because I cannot confirm what is true and what isn't, I will avoid these. I mean no offense to the solo explorers, it's just I want to keep these notes as accurate as I possibly can.

The community still remained as close as ever for the most part... people still gathered together on the surface, and those who's homes on the surface were too distant often chose to remain in touch via e-mail, forums, or many other means. Personally, I retreated back into the shadows... returning to my old habits of quietly watching and waiting, moreso than taking part in events. It was more like watching everything in motion from outside a large picture window, instead of being inside like I should have been. I regret this now.... but that's my own story.

Six months after the restoration ended, Victor Laxman got in touch with the community... he had worked with Cyan Worlds to get explorers back into the cavern. It wouldn't be the same... the DRC wouldn't be there, nothing would be worked on.... but those who wanted to return had the option to. Many people took this offer and returned to the caverns, but it was never a full time thing. People came and went in seperate groups, instead of the large gathering that used to be. The cavern was open, but it wasn't a gathering.... there was no uru.

To make matters even worse, in September 2005 Cyan Worlds closed it's doors and released the final game in their legendary Myst series. Not only had we lost our link to D'ni, but the people who supplied us with D'ni knowledge and stories on the surface was gone too. For the first time since Myst was released, the community felt completely alone.... and then there was a miracle. About a month later, Cyan got funding. They have yet to tell us from where, or why, but they got funding. Several months later, we got our second miracle. Someone was also funding the DRC... possibly the same group? Someone who loved D'ni and the restoration enough to try and pick it up off it's feet?

On February 15, 2006 the DRC officially returned to the cavern, and opened it to all interested explorers. Once again, an uru was beginning.

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Recap - Part 5 (D'ni D'mala)

The word "D'mala" means return in the D'ni language, and is often used to refer to events that occur after the return of the DRC in February. This is going to be the final "recap" and I hope to cover all of the events that have occured since D'mala, and point out some interesting points and unsolved mysteries.

The DRC are not being fully funded just yet... they've been granted some money, giving them a chance to prove to their benefactors that the restoration is worth the effort, and potentially profitable. For them to consider the restoration at all after all this time however, there has to be someone involved who is knowledgeable and cautiously optimistic involved.

One of the men responsible for the restoration's reprieve is named "Blake Lewin", who is also traceable back to the GameTap subscription service on the surface. A love of video games, could mean a love of Cyan's game, could mean a love of the history behind them. Or it could be another Blake entirely. Of course, he can't be the only one pulling the strings, but he's the one most willing to personally come down and see how things are going so far. Here's hoping he likes what he sees.

About two weeks after D'mala began, Marie Sutherland of the DRC joined us in one of the neighborhood community rooms for an announcement. The DRC have called for five liaisons to serve as communicators between the explorers and the DRC, to get ideas and information across in both directions. Almost a month has passed, and nominations for the liaison positions have closed with twenty-eight people vying for the position, and I feel like almost any five of them would make an excellent liaison team. Incidentally... I'm in that list of twenty-eight.

Over this past month, many people were nominated or nominated themselves, and many have dropped out altogether. There's been groups who don't want liaisons at all, groups that want more liaisons than five, and groups that think all the other groups are out of their minds. It's also a point of interest that explorers pitched the idea of liaisons over two years ago, but it was shot down by the DRC. My how times have changed. But we all stand fast and stand together, even amongst the disagreements... it's still a tightly knit community we have here.

Michael Engberg's daughter, Willow, has joined us explorers in the cavern too under the name Wheely. It's been mentioned a few times that her father and Dr. Kodama seem to be examining the age of Kahlo for safety. It's also been made clear that the DRC all carrying Relto books of their own now... I asked Marie about this personally, and her response was that the DRC now had a "Use with caution" sort of stance about them. I'm feeling confident that they all ended up taking the journey during the absence.

Nick White has been supposedly sighted in the cavern... when asked about his old friend Sharper, he said that we probably shouldn't expect to see him around anymore. Though this brings me to the reason I said that I started this thing just in time back on the first day. The day I created this blog, I linked down to the cavern to test the KI posting system, and discovered that someone by the name of Douglas Sharper had passed through one of the DRC neighborhoods. It's unknown whether this is THE Doug Sharper or not, however.

Just a few days ago, the DRC got the scope and buckets in Teledahn working properly for the first time, as well as the first set of locks for Kadish Tolesa. The museum is also open for the first time, which has allowed us to finish the missions required to recalibrate the Great Zero for the first time. I can only hope that once enough of us have finished these missions, the GZ will indeed be up and working properly.

For a couple of more points of interest, the numbers hidden in Doug's Ae'gura office have yet to have any meaning to anyone as far as I know. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, try taking a closeup KI photo of the middle painting in the office. "3 1 4" indeed. Also, our old friend Jeff Zandi seems to have moved to somewhere in Texas. He still comes around from time to time to help new explorers into the cavern... but for the most part it seems that he's left his airstream trailer abandoned near the cleft. You'll be missed Jeff.

I guess that's finally it... I can't think of anything important that I haven't covered in one of the recaps. So I guess for now, it's done. Either way, I think this recap will serve both of it's purposes well. One was to be a reflection for myself, and the second is to give new explorers something to get them caught up on exactly how and why most of us are here... because not everyone has been around through all of these joys and tribulations.

To D'ni!
_________________
-vid (KI: 00201880)
The Age Linker's Guide
It is up to you to create your own adventures today!

[Nissa]

Thanks for posting that vidkid7.
Hopefully the next 2 months will go by quickly and you will have lots more to add!

[Calam]

You seem to have left out the part about solidly consistent funding achieved, or about the DRC permitting selected Uru explorers back into certain recently-restored areas...

Did you stop your entry at the founding of D'mala?
_________________
Quick, Geordi! The reactor is going critical!
[URL=http://img705.imageshack.us/i/lavar.gif/][/URL]

[ireenquench]

Excellent, vid, thanks for the hard work!

Before Phil's accident, there also was a time when he had been "in holding", being questioned by the DRC.
_________________
Research. Discuss. Consider options. Act.

[vidkid7]

Actually, I did write entries about the newer events as they were occuring... but didn't list them as "Recaps" as much. I'll probably get the more pertinent ones posted as soon as I can.
_________________
-vid (KI: 00201880)
The Age Linker's Guide
It is up to you to create your own adventures today!

[Cycreim]

Re Nick: He didn't say that he didn't expect to see Sharper return, just not anytime in the near future. I don't think we've seen the last of him.

[vidkid7]

Thanks for the sticky... I'll try and get this more up to date, soon.
_________________
-vid (KI: 00201880)
The Age Linker's Guide
It is up to you to create your own adventures today!

[Toria]

Thanks so much for posting this Vid. Awesome, just awesome in a word. :thumbsup: icon needed

[vidkid7]

I'm behind on this, if anyone wants to help me flesh out this highly condensed update, it'd be VERY welcome.

Condensed Update:

In April 2006, the explorer community successfully elected five DRC Liaisons.

In May 2006, funding was secured for the restoration, and the DRC started making preparations to open the cavern to the public once again.

In October 2006, the term of the DRC Liaisons reached it's end, and re-election resulted in the return of the first five elected for a second term.

December 19, 2006, a meeting was called by the DRC to talk about the upcoming reopening of the cavern. As the meeting progressed, a bahro was reportedly heard throughout the cavern and ages, screaming louder than most explorers have ever heard one before. Immediately after, everyone in the cavern and ages were forcibly linked to their Relto.

After this, all currently issued and registered KIs ceased to function, and explorers that carried Relto books found any pages that they had been gifted by Yeesha were gone.

December 20, 2006, the cavern was reopened to the public.
_________________
-vid (KI: 00201880)
The Age Linker's Guide
It is up to you to create your own adventures today!

[Ithil Ken]

Wow, there were some things in there I didn't know, thanks for posting! This should definitely help get new explorers acquainted with what's been going on.
_________________
Yes I'm blue.. yes I have a tail... what of it?

[Calam]

How often are you updating this, Vid? Do you need any help? I'd be willing to help if you want.
_________________
Quick, Geordi! The reactor is going critical!
[URL=http://img705.imageshack.us/i/lavar.gif/][/URL]

[vidkid7]

Calam, I could use all the help I can get. The recap was originally posted as part of the "Age Linker's Guide" (*points to sig*), but lately I've had a lot of trouble keeping it updated to reflect the goings on in the cavern.
_________________
-vid (KI: 00201880)
The Age Linker's Guide
It is up to you to create your own adventures today!

[Calam]

Sure, I can write up an update if you'd like. How far you want to go? From where you left off up to present?
_________________
Quick, Geordi! The reactor is going critical!
[URL=http://img705.imageshack.us/i/lavar.gif/][/URL]

[Crrash]

oh an update would be awesome. i know something happened but i have no clue what.
I just cant go to the Cavern since some time ago when there ceased to be flights from here to new mexico... also i seem to have misplaced my relto (yeesha wont be happy)
so uhm im rooting for you guys! make a good archive of what happens!

[vidkid7]

Overhaul of the recap is coming soon. All previous data will be checked for accuracy and rewritten.

1. History of the Restoration

2. The Uru Begins

3. Fall of the Restoration

4. Until Uru

5. D'mala

6. Rebuilding

7. Filling the Museum

8. Scars

9. A New Light

Could use better titles for six and seven. Any ideas?
_________________
-vid (KI: 00201880)
The Age Linker's Guide
It is up to you to create your own adventures today!