Yesterday Noemi and Clint climbed a ridge and took KI-shots from the surrounding areas.
I watched them from the valley for more than an hour – it was fascinating, how they used every ledge to their advantage.
When they finally had come down, they showed me the KI-shots. They showed an extensive mountain region. To the west, great plains can be seen, far in the distance. All other directions only show mountains, all to the horizon.
It seems, the region of Afelahn we link to is quite isolated – it would be very difficult and time consuming to climb down to the western plains.
I wonder, if I should start naming landmarks – basically, I´m the discoverer of whole new worlds, continents, seas, lakes… so I guess, it´s my right to name them *smile*
By the way, our work on the cave are finished. The next logical step would be excavating deeper into the rock, cutting rooms out of it. But at the moment, everyone is busy, and I´ve not yet thought of a good explanation for the Yagi to borrow me one or two Toosha.
Our diving team made its first trip to Ahnoto. They kindly anchored a colorful buoy at the link in spot, so any visitor can find it easily.
Their first dive lasted for an hour, and they shot a lot of pictures of the lake bed and of some fish. They didn´t encounter the huge creature I had seen before – grateful for that, I don´t want anyone munched on in one of my ages…
They brought back some samples of soil and water, to be analyzed in Asheten mansion.
I didn´t go to Ahnoto since my last visit – I have no real concept for now how to proceed with it. One of the first steps will be to anchor a boat in there, but I came to the conclusion, that it has to be more stable than an inflatable one. If a storm would occur, an inflatable boat could easily be destroyed by the wind or the heavy waves, or at least blown away, even despite being anchored. But I have to think that one over for a while, I´m pretty unsure yet.
I’m not sure I agree with the policy of keeping the Yagi unaware of the Art — after all, ahrotahntee have shown a remarkable proficiency in the Art in the past, notably Atrus, Catherine, Yeesha, and the entire contemporary Guild of Writers including yourself.
Nevertheless, if you want to keep them unaware, it should be a sufficient (and true) explanation to say that you want the toosha to help you carry heavy tools and stone from one place to another.
We´ve discussed this matter a lot. There are some members of the expedition, who oppose the policy, and others who support it – there are good arguments for both sides. Of course you´re right, there were – and are – a lot of profound writers around the Non-D’ni, humans, Rivenese, Averonese… Our concern is not about the art itself, but rather the cultural implications the revelation of all this could have on a rural culture like the Yagi. They have no science whatsoever, they technically are like we were in the early iron age. They are quite superstitious, even haven´t developed a writing system yet.
So, what would happen to their culture, if we reveal who we are, and where we come from? Would all this destroy them?
On the other hand, keeping secrets from them, even lying to them isn´t feeling right. They have been very kind and trusting, and what, if they ever find out we weren´t telling them the whole truth? It´s a difficult matter…