Posts Tagged ‘B.P.’

High expectations

Posted by - Monday, November 22nd, 2010

As I wrote on my last entry, I had the honorable task of introducing the “newbies” to the expedition. B.P. had talked of a dozen people – in fact, there were more than twenty who came to Zandis property, up there in New Mexico. We let them sign a NDA (just to be on the safer side) and then introduced them. Alex was with me, which was greatly relieving for me. I´m not comfortable with speaking to a large group all by myself.

There were some interesting people there – scientists, students, explorers, interns…
We gave them a tour through some major parts of D’ni – Ae’Gura, Great Tree Pub, some hoods… and then led them to Risoahl (which is quite tidied up now.)

It was entertaining to watch how they reacted to all that stuff… I can very well remember how it was for me, linking for the first time, standing there, watching in awe about all those wonders…

B.P. took over after that, and explained to them, what kind of help we need, what tasks there are to do, and so on.

So, after this, our staff has increased greatly – and the work on the new ages and areas we found can finally begin!

The other day, in our spare time, Tom Woods, Shane Kennett and myself visited an old maintainer facility in one of the outlying districts. It was in good shape, and there was plenty of interesting equipment there. The most interesting parts were the maintainer suits. Not only the newest ones, like in Gahreesen, but also some older models – some looking like a kind of insect, and some – the oldest ones – huge and bulky, and extremly tough looking. I guess, these would be suitable even for the harshest ages.

Shane said, he thought about using this maintainer outpost for the same purpose it was used back then, by the D’ni – as a starting point for expeditions to new ages. With all the new areas, we could make good use of all that equipment.

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Forecast: stormy, with heavy rains

Posted by - Friday, November 19th, 2010

So, what we feared to happen, happened to happen. (Sorry for the pun.)

In Ahnoto, a huge storm flushed away not only our boat, but also the buoy at the linking spot. Both anchor ropes were riven – we didn´t watch the storm, but it must have been enormous.

I talked to Shane Kennett and B.P., and they agree, that at the moment no one should visit Ahnoto – we have no means of forecasting the weather in Ahnoto by now, and it would be too dangerous to link into the middle of a lake while a hurricane (or something like that) is raging there.

In Afelahn, we carved two more rooms into the rock. A medium sized one, which will become Lab I, and a small one, which will become the “entry room”, where the link in spot will be.

I already started to write a linking book to that place, so that visitors will be able to come to Afelahn in a convenient way.

Shane told me, they had found more D’ni engineering equipment in one of Ri’tehrafs ages, including machines, that generate furniture out of stone.
It works like a printer – you enter the plans of what you want to design, and the machines does it for you. It is able to cast, but also to cut stone into the desired mold.

That will make many things so much easier! I think, I will get to do some interior decoration :)

In Resehren, some of Ri’tehrafs journals have been translated. It seems, that he was neither mad nor scientist – he did some chemical research on ages given to him by other guilds, but more of an engineering , than of a scientific kind. So he didn´t steal any of the linking books either – I´m sorry to have suspected you, Ri’tehraf! :)

B.P. told me, he managed to hire another dozen guys for all the work in the new ages and areas we have found – they will arrive this weekend. He asked me to introduce them to the expedition, tell them a little about D’ni, the expedition and so on. Gosh, why me? I´m not fond of giving speeches in public! (I hope I won´t stutter too much.)

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Work, work, work…

Posted by - Tuesday, November 16th, 2010

The last days we were really busy. First, we carved out two more rooms in Afelahn – everything is going as planned, and I´m happy to see the advancements. These rooms will be a storage room, and lab II, (lab I has yet to be done) when my “home base” will be ready.

With the help of my toosha, Tubby, we brought a heavy metal door to the age. Tom Woods, Shane Kennett and a bunch of guys with muscles managed to build it into the opening between the “garage” and the cave, so that the inner area is now secured against at least the strongest wind.

Shane told me, he would insulate the rooms when they are ready and that he had found a sprayer with some kind of D’ni material (stone?) that had been used by them for that purpose.

In Ahnoto, we have anchored a boat – a bigger, wooden one, not an inflatable – at the link in spot. It will stay there for the moment, so that we can bring material there, when we have time for that.

B.P. updated us about the Resehren books at the last meeting. They´ve found 23 of them. Unfortunately, four of them ceased to work, out of unknown reasons – maybe the descriptive books have been destroyed.
The other ones link to different ages and locations – 9 ages and 7 city locations altogether (some of the books link to the same places as others).
At the moment, we don´t have the personnel, nor the time to explore this new places, though we really would love to.
B.P. hinted, that he is actually trying to recruit more people for the expedition.

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Discoveries

Posted by - Monday, November 8th, 2010

The last few days have been very exciting. A small group of explorers from the expedition, led by B.P. himself, visited a new age they had found some weeks ago – a private age named Resehren of a guy named Ri’tehraf – and did some research on the equipment there. It seems, like Ri’tehraf was a member of the guild of chemists and did a lot of strange experiments in his age (I´m imagining some kind of “mad scientist” type of character).

At first, it seemed like that was it – interesting enough – but then they discovered a secret door, leading to a hallway, leading to a room with shelves full of books – linking books! No descriptive books, as it seems, but a big number of linking books. B.P. says, they counted at least 20 books of different ages.
Nobody knows, how Ri’tehraf was able to keep such a big number of books, when even the richest D’ni didn´t – the most likely theory is that he had stolen them.

Anyway – it will be difficult to research such a huge number of ages with a rather limited staff. Most of the expeditions members are already working on the ages we have access to yet, and so the new ones will have to wait for some time (although many of us can´t wait to visit them.)

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Wild life

Posted by - Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

B.P. had promised me information about an age some while ago, but had forgotten to tell me more. So he approached me yesterday afternoon, and asked, if I wanted to see it.
We were joined by Alex and Peter Chang, our microbiologist, and our “scouts”, Clint Spano and Noemi Moots, two survival specialists who get to do the dangerous stuff. Both are skilled mountaineers, they have climbed mountains like the Nanga Parbat and the K2. They also are avid divers, and have taken tours through some of the most hostile environments on earth: the Sahara, the Karakorum, Antarctica and many more.
I can´t help feeling safer with them around.

B.P. told me a little about the age we would visit. It was one of those that had belonged to Asheten before the fall, and one of the most intriguing. The name of the age is Yateesh, and it is some kind of game reserve. They think, that the D’ni went there for hunting trips (of course only selected people from the upper class.)

The place was rather rough and dangerous, and they told me more than once to stay with the group and not venturing around without telling them. The age is full of big carnivores and the terrain is not safe either.

So we linked in there, and a marvelous vista appeared before us. The link in spot is situated on a big plateau, which is mostly isolated from the grassy plains around it because of the steeps seperating them from each other.
The plateau is roughly fifteen miles in diameter. Dense forests and wide, grassy plains alternate on its surface, mixed by bizarre rock formations.
Almost immediately, we saw the first animals. They were a herd of big, elegant herbivores – similar to antelopes, but bigger, leaner, and sinously built. Their movements were almost royal, and they didn´t seem to be bothered by our presence.

Noemi and Clint peered into all directions, while Peter Chang and B.P. took some soil samples.

We stayed there for a while, until dusk fell. Clint urged us to leave, because “at night the big preds come out to play”. I think, it is wise to take such advice.

After we had returned to Asheten mansion, I asked B.P., if they intended to restore Yateesh. He said, they had discussed this, but came to the conclusion, that the age is too dangerous to let everyone in.
Maybe we will be able to provide some kind of secured structure or building in the future, but in the meantime the age will stay closed.
Regardless, I will definitely do some research there.

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Ahnoto preparations

Posted by - Wednesday, October 6th, 2010

I talked to B.P. and Kennett about Ahnoto. They agree with Pavitra (thanks again for the advice), that some kind of boat would be the first step, and after that a floating platform should be installed. Kennett suggested to position a buoy at the link in point, so that if one was carried away by a current, the linking point would be recognizable. He said, he could provide some.

I asked for a sounder, but he was reluctant to give me one – I think, he feared I could loose it in the lake, and he only has four of them.

So I decided to do it the earthling-way, and to fathom the deep with a plumb line.
I linked in, with a plumb line of 40 feet length. It wasn´t easy to use it, though, because of the waves – it was quite windy, and I swallowed a lot of water trying to stay on the surface. But finally I managed to determine the depth of the lake: at this spot, it was approx. 30 feet deep.

As I prepared to link out, I saw a huge, dark silhouette beneath me, slowly moving. I freezed and tried not to move (which isn´t easy, when swimming). The thing – whatever it was – disappeared into the dark depths and didn´t come back. I waited for some seconds to be sure it was gone, and then linked out. I have no idea what it was, but it surely scared me silly. I´m not sure, I want to return to Ahnoto with such big creatures swimming around in there…

Finally, we had another meeting (it had been postponed several times, because everyone was really busy).
B.P. told us about the progress they made in one of the other ages they had found, Nifehrehn. It is a very cold, polar age with a small D’ni outpost inmidst an arctic desert.
I´m not very fond of cold places, but what they told me about the D’ni outpost was very interesting. It seems, the D’ni researched these place like our scientists do in Antarctica. And – after the Fall, a small group of survivors had fled to Nifehrehn! The expedition found some records made by them, but no remains – maybe they made it and went on to another age? Or they died out there in the ice wastes, searching for food and water…
I definitely will visit this place!

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Ashetens fate

Posted by - Monday, October 4th, 2010

Today B.P. told us a little about Asheten and his life. He had been a wealthy and influental guild master of the guild of writers.
The expedition has found three ages, that had been in his possession. (One of them beeing Risoahl.)
There is an interesting bit about Asheten: He once had been married to a woman named Naila, who had suddenly gotten ill, and, after some years, had succumbed to the illness. Rumors had gone wild in D’ni about her, some claimed, Asheten had been very jealous about her and accused him of having killed her. There seems to have been an investigation by the maintainers, but they couldn´t find any evidence to proof this accusations.
Asheten had not married again, and died like many other D’ni in the Fall. The expedition had found his remains in what happens to have been his study, and some other remains (maybe his servants) in various other rooms of the mansion.
He had been 298 hahrtee old on the day of the Fall.
Though he had been a writer, no ages written by him are known yet. But if one might speculate – as influential as he was, surely he was a skilled writer.
Coincidentally, Asheten seems to have befriended another fellow guild member with a familiar name – Anesh.
Since they lived both at the same time – the late D’ni era before the fall – and they both were influential guild masters of the same guild, this is only logical.

Another topic: We have succeeded to prepare the cave on Afelahn to the state, where we just could go on with excavating, if, only if we had a bigger excavator in the age.
I think, I should talk to Alex and Noelle. Maybe the Yagi can be convinced to “borrow” us one or two Toosha.
The problem is: We can´t tell them, were we´ll take the Toosha, of course. So, how do we explain this?

And another topic: I think, I´ll keep the watery age I initially was so disappointed with. Yeah, sure, I don´t know what to do with it yet, but it is stable, it is mine, and I wrote it :P
So, with the help of the Linguists (Link: http://linguists.bahro.com), I made up a name for it: Ahnoto, which literally means “water place”. It´s not a very elegant translation, I know, but I like the sound of it, and it fits. So, this is the second age written by me :)
If any of you, who read my blog, have ideas, what could be done with an age consisting of a big lake with no shores in vicinity, tell me, I´d be interested to hear (or read) your opinions!

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Success!

Posted by - Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

It´s done! My very first age has been written!
On Sunday I wrote the last gahrohevtee into my kor´nea – and seconds later, the linking panel changed on the first page. It was a bright view of a rocky surface with some grass and other small plants, my first age!

I had already decided before to use the name of the destroyed description book I had found, Afelahn.

I still couldn´t believe it… the link to another world, which no D´ni nor human ever has visited. I felt like Columbus or Neill Armstrong – I would be the first to venture into this age!
On the same day, I don my maintainer suit – had to check everything twice, no, trice, because my hands where shaking like if I had fever.
I put my hand on the linking panel, and instantly materialized on this rocky surface I had seen through it.
I looked around. It was a small valley, filled with a little pond. Grass and small bushes everywhere.
The suits microphones received birds singing and wind noise. I looked onto my suits scales and devices, and it seemed that the atmosphere was clean of any poisonous gas and breathable.
I decided to take some samples – the usual ones, atmosphere, water, soil, and some plants – and returned to my Relto.
I brought them to Asheten mansion to have them analyzed.

When I went to bed that night, I couldn´t sleep for hours… in my mind I tried to remember every single detail, every rock and every grass halm.

The next day, Monday, I instantly run down to the laboratories to get the results. As I had expected, there wasn´t any sign of poisonous or hazardous matter, neither in the atmosphere, nor in soil or water.

I asked B.P. and Alex to join me when I visited the age for the second time.
We arrived there at night – I couldn´t figure out the day-night cycle of the age yet, will have to stay there for some time before I can determine the day length.
It was pretty cool – around 15 degrees Celsius – and the wind was blowing intensely. There are surprisingly few stars in the night sky, and no moon can be seen. B.P. said, maybe the planet is in a outer part of its home galaxy.

We stayed there for a while, enjoying the night. Finally, I decided to put off my helmet. I know, it´s not best idea, but the tests hadn´t shown anything harmful.
The air was fresh, cool and clean.
I think, I´m in love with my own age :)

B.P. said, the rock seems hard and durable. It could be possible to carve some rooms into it… maybe some kind of home base for me, finally!
I will talk to Kennett and Tom Woods about that, one of our engineers. They have done some tremendous work on Asheten mansion and the Kurat neighborhood, maybe they can help me out with some equipment and manpower.

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Progress

Posted by - Saturday, September 11th, 2010

I´ll finish my first age this weekend, it´s nearly done. I feel so excited!
What will it look like? Will it be flawed? Will it be suitable for a home base?
It´s hard for me to keep concentrated on writing with all that thoughts running through my head…

Yesterday I had a chat with B.P. He told me they had found some documentation on the crystal age we had escaped narrowly… he said, it was a garden age!
It´s name was Eder Kamonee. Can´t believe the maintainers allowed such a dangerous place to be a garden age… what were they thinking? Though, I like the name, sounds nice.
B.P. said he thinks, there must have been some kind of shelter in the age once… otherwise the D´ni wouldn´t have been able to visit the “garden age” safely.
Maybe there is another linking book to this shelter?
At the moment, it will keep closed for any visitors, even of the expedition itself. They clearly won´t risk anyones life.

Work in Risoahl has stopped for now – felling the bamboo is to time consuming right now. B.P. said, it will be restored later. They´d rather do some work on another age they found last year… B.P. said, I would be told more about it at the next meeting.

My wounds from that visit to Eder Kamonee are slowly healing, but they still hurt.
On the positive side: We heard news from Claire, the intern that got hurt most in the incident. She is alright, the cut will heal without any long-term sequela.
Alex collected some money to buy her flowers and “get well soon” cards. And then, she told me, she and Noelle would make a visit in Yagee Mohts next week, and invited me again to join them. Great!

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Crystalline menace

Posted by - Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

After a few days of relaxing, B.P. assigned me to another task, this time to an expedition into a new age they found in J’taeri last weekend. They don´t know its name yet, unfortunately, but Alex is leading a group right now whos objective is to find additional documentary on the age.

We linked in this morning. It was an astounding view, the whole age is covered in crystals of various sizes, from small, thumbnail size, to giants of 20 meters.
Our crew started to survey the age. One of the first things we noticed was, that the crystals vibrated when we made noises. The louder the noise, the more vibrations. Kennett told us to stay as silent as possible, fearing that the vibrations could cause a “crystal slide”. We moved slowly and didn´t talk much. It was a strange, eerie atmosphere – no other noise could be heard, and we didn´t see any signs of life.
The crystals had a blueish hue mostly, though some of the smaller ones were more green.
Kennett asked me to take some small samples (but carefully) and put them into a knapsack he had brought with him.

I was concentrated on my work, so I didn´t see, what happened next – but the others told me later: Someone must have stumbled and fell against one of the bigger, fragile crystals, which gave way and fell against another – and so on. A terrible, loud noise filled the air, as more and more crystals – well, I think you can say, they imploded, and sent their sharp shards into all directions. Everyone of us was cut by those shards, we were bleeding, I couldn´t see much because blood ran into my eyes. Someone took my hand and put it on a linking book they had brought into the age.

Somehow we all made it out of the age, but all of us are hurt in some way. Fortunately, most wounds are only skin deep and light, but Claire, one of our interns, got a gaping wound on her left shoulder, and was taken to hospital.
Our M.D. and his two nurses tended to us others. Now I´m sitting in my room, my cuts are slowly healing – B.P. said, we won´t go back there, until we find a way to better shield ourselves. Maybe one of the older maintainer suits would provide enough shelter?

Until then, the age is deemed “unsafe” and “volatile”.
I thought I had had enough of tumbling things, but it seems like this is a recurring theme in my career as an explorer…

Something more pleasant: My first age is making progress. I think, when I can upkeep my pace, it will be finished at the end of the week. Finished writing, of course. I really hope, that the age will be sufficient to build me a “home base” of some kind… well, we know, that writing isn´t a exact thing. Who knows, what the age will be like.

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