Help Exploring

[Horatio252]

So I was exploring where I shouldn't have been and found a linking book. With the DRC no longer officially in charge of the restoration I hope I won't get in trouble for crossing the barriers. Still, I don't want to say too much about where I found it. Anyway, the Book is average in size with a green cover and the image of a flower, I think, embossed on it. I was so excited when I found it that I placed my hand on the linking panel despite the absence of either a DRC stamp or the mark of the Guild of Maintainers.

The link-in spot is in the middle of a meadow surrounded on three sides by trees. The fourth side extends to a cliff about 200 meters away. The meadow itself was about 400 meters across and roughly circular. I am not very good with plants, but the flowers in the meadow seemed typical in shape, with several blue ones and yellow ones spread through out the meadow. I did not go into the forest, but there did not seem to be much undergrowth so it should be easy. I have no idea what kind of animal life might live in the woods so I went up towards the cliff. I expected a railing or platform on the cliff with it being so close to the link-in point but I found no man-made objects or structures. That makes me even more curious what this Age was for? Looking out from the cliff I saw several other mountains, but no sign of civilization. Of course, there could be some just out of sight. A pair of binoculars might be helpful if anyone could bring some.

I had to link out at that point because I had a meeting with someone. The reason I am posting this here is because I think I am going to need help exploring. My KI has it logged, but won't save any KI shots, still I can probably just send KI invites to anyone who wants to help me. So anyone interested in some exploration?

http://forums.drcsite.org/viewtopic.php?t=2824

[Ian Atrus]

I'd like to visit the place, if you don't mind; I'd really love to take a look at that forest.
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Ian A. Pertwee in Cavern - KI# 374362
Ahnotahm - a Cavern blog
Il quartiere - Traduzioni, forum e dizionario

[Horatio252]

Ian, I have sent you the KI invite. It should register in your KI as "Sehv Riltagamin" which I have translated as "Age unknown." Not surprising with an Age that was never approved by the Maintainers. Anyway, let me know what you find.
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Guild of Archivists

MOULa KI: 00214606

[Jemiri]

How is it that this Age's book is included in the Nexus system?
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#00831617

[Ian Atrus]

I managed to pay a quick visit to the place, but I'll try to get back in the next days with proper equipment to stay overnight. My KI camera didn't work either, which makes me believe it is either due to something in the environment or an intentional hack of some kind.

I walked for about half an hour in the forest, keeping the cliff on my left, though I lost track of it pretty quickly among the trees. I didn't find any markers of a proper path but, as you said, there is little undergrowth so one can easily walk in every direction.
The ground is littered with dried needle leaves. The trees themselves are tall, about 10 to 50 meters high, with some occasional lower shrubs. The plants have a mix of needle and scale leaves; some have small cones, or 'berries' coloured red or deep blue. Now I'm no botanist but it seems to me this is some kind of conifer forest, possibly by some distant relatives of the juniper and the pine.

I heard some birds in the distance (or at least, they seemed to be birds calling) but didn't see any wildlife.

[Prof H]

I really simply could not believe it... A Guild of Archivers member was inviting people to enter an Age without a Maintainer's Mark or even evidence a Maintainer's Mark had been there. Now don't get me wrong, part of my purpose here in the City is to hunt down illicit Books to determine their usefulness whether they should be utilized or destroyed. But I would never threaten the lives of Explorers by sending them in without any planning or organization.

I sent a private KI message to Horatio asking him to meet me in the link in clearing. Hopefully we can discuss getting this expedition more organized. I touched the panel and entered the Age.
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Thelonius "Prof" Higginsbottom
MOULa KI: 01632887

[Pavitra]

Thanks for the invite, Horatio, and I'm sorry I took so long to show up after you gave me the link. I was in my Gahreesen instance trying to get the Maintainer's suit down from its stand, but no luck.

Anyway, I finally linked in early this morning. I didn't go exploring as such, but I did spend some time studying the flowers in the meadow. There are, as you said, two varieties: a blue flower with five petals, and a yellow flower with petals varying between seven and nine. The blue flowers seem to be slightly taller, averaging 3-4 cm, while the yellow flowers are about 2-3 cm tall.

The interesting thing, though, is that the distribution of the two varieties across the meadow seems to be partially nonrandom. The flowers seem to come in roughly circular "patches", 1.4 to 3.7 m across. Each patch contains only one variety of flower, and no two patches are separated by less than the diameter of the larger of the two patches.

The patches are easy to miss at first, because the flowers are relatively sparse within them. No patch had more than fourteen flowers, and I saw three patches with only two flowers each. (Most of the actual surface area of the meadow is covered with a sort of two-leafed clover, and there's also a singular patch of some sort of prairie-style tall grass near the cliff.)

It's possible that this phenomenon is the result of natural ecological forces -- symbiosis? insect colonies? -- but I think we should also consider the possibility that the flowers were deliberately planted.

And yet, I don't see why anyone would have planted them in just this way. The overall effect isn't particularly aesthetic, at least not in the way one would usually expect from a garden. Nor does there seem to be any particular logic to the placement of the patches: they're not aligned on a grid, or sorted by number of flowers, or anything like that. (Actually, the yellow flowers are on average slightly denser on the side of the meadow towards the cliff, but I think that can be attributed to greater exposure to sunlight.)

This Age is certainly interesting. I'd like to go with a buddy if I'm going to explore the woods, though -- KI mail me if anyone's interested.


Edited to add: I see that Horatio gave this Age a provisional name on his blog: "Greenflower". It seems as good a name as any, so I thought it should show up in this thread somewhere. Here it is.
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Sophia Luden -- "Pavitra"
KI #01018378

[Horatio252]

Ian and Patriva, I am glad you had a chance to explore.

Prof H, I am sorry that I missed you in the clearing. Perhaps we can discuss some details here. Yes, I am an Archivist; it gives me an insatiable craving for knowledge. Was I wrong to link there, especially without a Maintainer's Mark of approval? Yes. Am I endangering people? I realize now that I am, so here is a disclaimer: Everyone who accepts a link to "Greenflower" is implicitly acknowledging that no guarantee is made of their safely. You have Relto books, if you are in danger, link out. I really don't want anyone getting hurt because of my foolishness.

We should get organized though. Perhaps we might try taking cardinal directions. Based on the way the sun is moving, I am going to call the direction of the cliff from the link in point west. That means that Ian seems to have started exploring northward, so perhaps we can agree that he should focus his exploration to the north? That leaves Prof H, Patriva and me to decide on northeast, east, southeast and south. If Patriva has more to do on the meadow, then perhaps I'll take east and Prof H can head south. Also, if anyone feels brave, someone could jump off the cliff and link out before they hit the ground. There might be much to learn.

My biggest concern right now is the apparent lack of life in the woods. Ian walked for a half hour and saw none, only the sound of birds. Also, if those weren't bird calls Ian heard, then what? One of our priorities is to figure out if there really are no animals, or at least mammal like animals, in this Age.

The flower patterns, which I totally missed, may be a key to this or they may be part of something else. Could there be something odd in the magnetic field or something odd in the geology of this Age? I don't know.

Thanks for all the help. Be safe.
_________________
Guild of Archivists

MOULa KI: 00214606

[Ian Atrus]

Wildlife on Earth rarely approaches humans, even predators, so the same might apply here - that might actually be a sign that there were humanoids before in the area, such as the D'ni.

Anyway I'll be visiting the age again tomorrow and for a few days, still heading north. If anyone wants to join me send me a PM so I can bring a bigger tent.
_________________
Ian A. Pertwee in Cavern - KI# 374362
Ahnotahm - a Cavern blog
Il quartiere - Traduzioni, forum e dizionario

[Pavitra]

I really have no idea what else I could do with the meadow. I looked at everything I could think of.

However, Horatio's observation about the movement of the sun brings up an important point: I'd like to try to establish how long the day is here. Although I wasn't paying close attention, I think the sun was roughly middle to late afternoon when I was looking at the flowers between about 03:00-04:00 Cavern time earlier today, and when I linked in to check just now the sun was getting pretty low. I guesstimate that sunset proper will be some time in the next few hours, and I'd like to watch and time it precisely for future reference.

This means I'll be by the cliff (for the best view -- no trees blocking the way) until after it gets dark. I therefore volunteer to see if there's anything over the cliff. The cliff face seems to be not quite sheer -- maybe 80 degrees elevation -- so I may be able to slide down a bit before really falling. I promise to keep my Relto book open and ready to link as soon as I start to lose control.

By the way, I was at a thrift shop on the surface today, and I picked up a bundle of those little orange flags they put on lawns to mark where they're going to bury cable. There's about fifty of them here, I'd guess. I'm going to leave the bundle in the meadow; when you go off into the woods, take a handful with you to mark your path. Then if you find anything interesting you'll be able to find your way back to it again later.


Edit: (Posted 18:25 April 2, Cavern time.)

I just got back from Greenflower. The sunset was ... just unlike anything I can think of. The closest I can come to describing it is that it was flaming purple and orange like Eder Gira, but big like Kadish Tolesa. It took fully twenty minutes from the time the sun touched the horizon until it disappeared completely, from 17:16:32 to 17:38:21 Cavern time.

Night fell surprisingly quickly after dusk. By 18:00, it was dark enough that I had to use my flashlight on my way down the cliff. This turned out not to work as well as I'd hoped; holding my Relto book open in one hand and the flashlight in the other left me no real way to control my descent, other than leaning against the wall. I slipped and slid down in a quasi-steering sort of way for maybe ten or twenty seconds before I half-panicked, scrabbled for a handhold, and dropped my flashlight into the abyss. (I'm very glad my Relto book is strapped to my belt.) After that, I was able to slide down for about thirty more seconds before I caught on something and fell away from the wall. I reflexively linked out before I could see what had happened.

When I got back to Relto, the whole front of my shirt and jeans were smeared with some sort of bluish-gray clay where I'd been sliding against the cliff wall. I guess I was too preoccupied with staying in control to notice how dirty I was getting. The clay has a slightly bitter smell and crumbles easily.

I'd like to go back when it's light out again so I can get a better look with my hand free to better control my descent; I'm interested in seeing if the clay is a major part of the composition of the ground, or just a superficial layer smeared across the outside face of the cliff rock.

I also know now that there's no ground to splat on anywhere particularly near the top, so I don't have to keep my Relto book already out; I'll have enough reflex time for an ordinary panic-link when I fall.

I still only have one precisely-measured data point for the astronomy here, so I can still only estimate the length of the day, but based on sunset this evening and seeing the sun at late afternoon earlier, I think the day should be about 110 hours long. (Unless, of course, the day is ridiculously fast -- anyone who linked in in the last fourteen hours, did you notice the sun in any position other than the low to low-ish western (cliffward) sky? But I'd be surprised if this were the case, given how long sunset took.)

This, then, would put the next dawn at ... sometime Sunday, I think. I'll do a better calculation later; right now I desperately need a shower.

I can't wait to hear what the other Explorers find.
_________________
Sophia Luden -- "Pavitra"
KI #01018378

[Prof H]

I feel I'm always on the run... So much going on at once. I hoped that I hadn't been too hard on Horatio I know he was just doing his best. I can at times be a bit overbearing. I KI'd Ian a message letting him know that I would like to join him... hopefully a trip out into the wilderness will give me a chance to do some actual exploring...
_________________
Thelonius "Prof" Higginsbottom
MOULa KI: 01632887

[Ian Atrus]

I'm in the Age, Prof, just set up camp for the "night" and hour ago and I'm writing down a report. I sprayed trees along the road with red paint to mark a sort of path (don't worry, it won't hurt the trees) so you can catch up with me if you want; I took it very easy along the road so it shouldn't be more than a few hours walk.

By the way, there is some sort of creeper I didn't notice the other day and - wow, it's just amazing. It grows on the trees, coiling around the trunk and getting thicker on the higher branches, and it GLOWS. The color is not uniform even in the same plant, there are greens and blues and yellows, and it also sheds some kind of wooly seed that glows bright white for a while before going out.
This basically means that the whole forest turns into a softly lit canopy, which makes it very easy to walk at night even without a flashlight, as long as you stay in the forest.

The creepers will start to fade and 'turn off' a few hours before sunrise. Also, edits do not show up in the thread notifications, so can we just make new posts, please?
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Ian A. Pertwee in Cavern - KI# 374362
Ahnotahm - a Cavern blog
Il quartiere - Traduzioni, forum e dizionario

[Pavitra]

I'm a little busy, but I linked in briefly to confirm that, yes, it's still night. Also, that better calculation I mentioned yesterday.

Assuming that the sun was somewhere between 30 and 50 degrees above the horizon around 03:00-04:00 April 2 Cavern time... we get actually quite a range. Sunset was around 17:30 (no point using precision we don't yet have), so (17:30 - 04:00) 13.5 to (17:30 - 03:00) 14.5 hours would be 1/7.2 to 1/12 of the day. This puts the length of the day at anywhere from (13.5*7.2) 97 to (14.5*12) 174 hours. Dawn would then be (97/2) 48.5 to (174/2) 87 hours after dusk, so should occur somewhere between (2 days and 30 minutes) 18:00 April 4 and (3 days and 15 hours) 08:30 April 6 Cavern time.

That's too wide a window to sit and wait for it. I think a better strategy would be to take a sighting of the sun's angle some time after sunup, though of course if anyone happens to actually be in the Age when the sun comes up, please be sure to look at the time on your KI and make a note of it.

Oh, and I see someone's taken the orange flags like I suggested. Where did you plant them?

(Edit: did my math wrong. Fixed.)
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Sophia Luden -- "Pavitra"
KI #01018378

[Ian Atrus]

Pavitra, I'm in GF right now (though I'm about to go to bed... it's midnight, my local surface time). Barring incidents I should leave the place sometime during Monday, so I might catch the sun coming up. I'm not really sure how to calculate the angle though...
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Ian A. Pertwee in Cavern - KI# 374362
Ahnotahm - a Cavern blog
Il quartiere - Traduzioni, forum e dizionario

[Pavitra]

If you have a ruler and something you know (or can find) the height of, then you can measure the length of its shadow. That will tell you the angle of the sun. (If you can't or don't want to do the trig yourself, just post the raw numbers and I'll run the calculations.) Don't forget to write down the time.
_________________
Sophia Luden -- "Pavitra"
KI #01018378