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Dasharen « Rabenschwinges Cavern blog

Posts Tagged ‘Dasharen’

Pest control

The Risoahl rodents have changed from a nuisance to a real plague. There are dozens of them living behind the walls of Afelahn (can only imagine how they managed to get there), nibbling and chewing on data and energy cables.

We´ve decided to take countermeasures – using mouse traps didn´t work, so we used rat poison, but they seem to be to smart to take the baits we used.

So we did it the hard way – cornering and catching them with nets and brailers (? right word?).

Managed to catch two dozens of them, but judging from the chirping sounds all over the place, there are much more.

I guess, I will spend the next weeks like this…

In the meantime, the council decided to close Dasharen for everyone. The age is deemed too dangerous to stay there for longer than a few minutes. This means, our research of the age has come to a sudden hold.

In Nifehrehn, we are making progress again, albeit slowly. The sabotage had destroyed much of the equipment. Shane and Tom Woods managed to replace and substitute some of it with similar devices from other ages, but some of them can´t be replaced.

Apologies

Sorry for not posting for so long – a lot going on in the last month, work on the surface, work in the caverns …

The rodents in Afelahn have spawned quickly – at first, there were one or two – now, I estimate their number about a dozen – and they are EVERYWHERE. Had to bring my empty books to Asheten mansion – they nibbled on them and destroyed three.  I´ve instructed the expedition personnel to be careful when visiting Afelahn, so the “plague” doesn´t spread to other ages. We´ve set up mouse traps, but to no avail as of yet … it seems, they are too cautious (or too smart?) to get caught.

We´ve started work on various new ages – most of them are in a very early state of being surveyed, but maybe I can provide some information over the next days and weeks.

Dasharen has proven to be one of the most unstable ages we have access to. Earth quakes have happened a lot over the last weeks, and one time our team was barely able to leave the age without being hurt.

The council will decide tomorrow, if Dasharen will be deemed “unsafe” or not. B.P. is for it, while others are strongly against it… they say, there is so much to learn in this age, that the risks are worth it… I´m not so sure. Is anything worth risking anyones life?

Twenty days

Twenty days since my last post.

I´ve been busy with a lot of things, and finally found time again to keep you updated.

One of the worst things that happened was the theft of one of our Dasharen linking books. It happened two weeks ago, when B.P. brought some linking books to a conference. When he packed together after it had ended, he found the book missing.

So, someone who has access to our conferences must have taken it – unfortunately, nearly all of the expedition members took part in this particular presentation.

Further investigations pending.

About Dasharen: Tom Woods and Shane Kennett have devised a theory about the “big blast” that happened some months ago, when our powermarble experiment exploded rather spectacularly. They suspect the strange electromagnetic fields to be responsible for the energy fluctuation that caused the explosion. So, we  have to be careful with bringing energy devices to this age in the future…

Ah, by the way: I´ve brought some unexpected guests to Afelahn without even noticing.

We were watching animal life in Risoahl, our giant bamboo age, and somehow they must have gotten into one of the bags I had my equipment in.

When I had returned to Afelahn, I heard some chirping sounds – at first, I thought the source of the noise to be outside of the base. But when I moved, I could make out it actually was inside… an unsettling feeling, you know, especially because the creatures in Afelahn I´ve met yet are not very pretty or pleasant. (e.g. the lobsterpede).

Only after I found bite marks on a sandwich I had left on my desk in my office, I knew it had to be some kind of rodent.

Now, I´ve searched through the whole base, but didn´t find anything, albeit hearing these noises from time to time. A least it seems to be smaller than a rat, according to the bite marks… maybe some kind of mouse? Where could it be hiding?

More “features” of Dasharen

Well, after some days of intensive research on Dasharen, the seemingly supernatural happenings there appear to be quite natural.

The strange lack of data the seismographs did record – or, in fact, DIDN’T record – puzzled us all. But when Tom Woods, Shane Kennett and Carla Mastrelli used some of their equipment – don´t ask me, they explained it to me, but I didn´t understand more than “electromagnetic” and “field” and stuff – they found out, that there indeed are unusual electromagnetic energy flux thingymabobs (I`m sorry for the gibberish), which means, that Dasharens magnetic field is unstable and fluctuating in a strange manner.

That´s what caused the errors in our seismographs – overloaded their circuits, and so they stopped working.

I´ve heard that it was comparable to an electromagnetic pulse…

That makes Dasharen an age with:

  • earthquakes
  • electromagnetic – things
  • dust storms
  • arid desertlike environment

No wonder, the community of D’ni in this age didn´t stay there.

The status of Nifehrehn is devastating. The frost has destroyed much of the equipment, and most of the data about the age is lost. Fortunately, we had copied most of it and stored it in our computers.
Whoever did this vile act of sabotage, he or she managed to undo work of months.
It is really upsetting and unsettling to know there is someone out there wanting to harm us, or at least our work…

On the green smoke in Afelahn: When I searched the complex, I found a small D’ni device behind some crates in storage  I. I think it was this thing, that emitted the smoke somehow – I´ve given it to Shanes team. Hopefully they can determine what purpose it has.

Yesterday I finally had time to finish the measurements for the new rooms. I´ve plans for Afelahn – GREAT plans. It will be expanded greatly. One of the new parts will be the residental area I´ve talked about – some private rooms for myself, and when it is determined how many people will join me in Afelahn, I’ll add more facilities for them.

Then there will be an atrium, with stairs and light and a fountain – or an artpiece, I´ve not yet decided that.

And some more labs will be necessary.
Well, a lot of work for the next weeks.

Power room

Finally, after many delays, we have finished excavating the power room.

It is the highest room at the moment, reaching up to the surface of Afelahn, to lead any kinetic energy of a possible explosion outwards.

Tom Woods, Shane Kennett and Carla Mastrelli led a team that installed the power marble in its encasement. The inner part is covered by nara, the hardest  artificial stone the D’ni have invented. On the outside a massive concrete layer has been added for additional safety.

The room will have a heavy blast door, as planned.

Now, all that’s left to power the base, are the wirings and control computers.

It´s amazing, what they were able to accomplish – a neat mixture of surface and D’ni technology. I do hope, it doesn’t blow up, though.

I have some more KI-shots for you. The first two are of lamp designs I used in the garage:

They are rather huge, as you can see.

Then, I added some artwork to make the base a little bit more friendly – it’s not a Picasso, but for a first try on canvas it´s not that bad imho:

There was another, big earthquake in Dasharen. Nobody of the expedition was there, but the seismographs recorded it.
Maybe the quakes are the reason, Dasharen was deserted and left alone – maybe the D’ni who lived there had enough of the constant danger and went to live in a more – convenient age.

Ah, and I forgot: two nights ago, someone again tried to break into one of the sheds at Asheten mansion. But this time, the lock – one of the secure ones we installed after the last incident – didn’t give way. So they – whoever they were – gave up and left.

Unfortunately, the video data isn’t good, you can only see dark silhouettes. But now we know, they are humans, not Bahro. They wore boots and trousers of surface design, so they aren’t D’ni either (unless D’ni trying to fool us by dressing like us… unlikely, yes, but possible.)

The question is – are they other explorers? Members of our own expedition? Looters?

I suggested to let guards patrol the area – without weapons of course, the only guns we have are the hunting rifles Noemi and Clint brought, and we don´t want to start a war down here.
But whoever they are, they won’t be successful again.

Unsettling incident

Yesterday, someone broke into one of the sheds adjacent to Asheten mansion and took equipment and supplies from it. Nothing too important, but still …

The council met immediately after the theft was detected. Teams searched the near vicinity of the mansion, but no clues were found.

This is really disturbing – until now, we hadn’t had any problems with other groups or individuals in D’ni. The list of suspects is long – from surviving D’ni over begrudging explorers to evil Bahro, everyone could have done it. Even our own expedition members could be involved.

For now, the council decided to improve security – cameras  around the mansion, and safer locks will be installed.

I’m thinking of increasing security in Afelahn as well.. at least take the linking book to a safer place. If the culprits are Bahro, of course everything we can do is in vain.

Nevertheless, there are positive news as well.

I’ve brought some samples from other ages to Afelahn, to finally start to work in my new home base, though it still isn’t complete yet.

I’d like to show you some of those samples on KI-shots:

The first image shows a “Star fruit” from Yagee Mohts. It is quite big – approximately the size of a medium pumpkin – and tastes sweet and sour. This one has been primed (right english word?) to last without rotting.

On the second shot you can see a crystal from Eder Kamonee. Do you remember our first, disastrous expedition to that age? If not, I recommend reading the old posts on this blog.

To give you a summary: The crystals of Eder Kamonee are very fragile and sensitive to vibrations – as we found out the hard way, when someone accidently hit one of them, and – well, you could say, hell broke loose on us. Luckily, most of us were only injured lightly, and the age as since been closed for anyone.

Some weeks ago, a small group of expedition members went there in medium maintainer suits, though, and took some samples. After sealing one of the crystals with some kind of artificial wax (forgot, how they called it), Tom Woods gave me this sample for my studies in Afelahn. The wax keeps the crystal from imploding or hurting anyone.

On the third picture you can see a vase we found in one of D’nis lower districts, in a devastated pottery shop. It was one of the only undamaged pieces – not interesting scientifically, but a nice example of D’ni craftsmanship. So I took it to Afelahn and put it into my lab.

Oh, by the way – I nearly forgot to mention the earthquake in Dasharen.

I wasn’t there when it struck, but Alex was. She told us, that it scared them quite a lot, and that one of the hallways broke down, fortunately without injuring anyone. It wasn’t a major quake, but still did some damage.

Keira Bracetty and her team will try to secure the structure in case of more quakes.

B.P. suggested bringing one or two seismographs to the age so we can record the frequency and intensity of future quakes. Might help us to understand the geological status of Dasharen better.

Afelahn – KI shots and stuff.

I had promised to show some KI-shots of Afelahn (in August… *cough*), so here you are.
The age still is in the works, it will need some more wiring to be safe enough for everyone to visit it.

First, I´d like to show you a sketch of the lobsterpede I did, when I had the opportunity to watch it again. This time it didn´t see me for a while, so I had time to sketch it.
This creature seems to be some kind of crustacean or insect – it is land-dwelling and breathes air. I estimate its length about 3 feet (roughly 1 meter). It seems to be harmless, albeit ugly, and living near the cave which leads to my home base, under a big rock.

I´m not very good in drawing, so this sketch isn´t 100% accurate. But I think, you can get a nice impression of the creature, and why I´m keeping my distance when I meet it :)

Next, I´ll show you some overview shots of my home base.

First, the link-in or as I call it, “Entry room”.

If you remember the shot I showed on this blog some months ago, you will recognize the changes. I installed a new lamp, with a simpler but more appealing design, added some carpets (to welcome my guests), and some signs and information.

The following shot shows “Lab I”, which also serves as a room for a small exhibit of my research and accomplishments.

This is the “Garage”, at the moment the biggest room of my home base. It has a huge door that leads to the outside of the age (not seen in this pic). As you see, it is also meant to provide space for big specimens to be researched – the tree is a species of pine tree from Yagee Mohts, brought to Afelahn with the help of a couple of Toosha. The lamp in the left corner is a design I did with a little help from Tom Woods. Did I mention that I enjoy designing lamps? :)

This is “Storage I”, a – storage room. You can see the door leading to it in the former picture (to the right of the lamp.) It is currently not used, most of my equipment ist stored in Asheten mansion still, until the age is ready.

This is Lab II, primary used for experiments with bigger plants.

At the moment, there is only one species here – the Dasharan desert plant I´ve mentioned some months ago. I´ve changed the soil since then, because the plant didn´t do well with the former variant. Now it is more desertlike, and the plant seems to enjoy it.

The last KI-shot I´d like to share with you is the huge door I mentioned before, with me standing besides it for size comparison.

It needed a lot of work to install this door, I tell ya…

Hope, you enjoyed the KI-shots – there will be some more incoming in the next days.

Update on Nifehrehn

After two more days of searching the vicinity of the Nifehrehn outpost, we´ve come to the conclusion, that Quaxo hasn´t visited the age yet. We didn´t find anything – no footprints, no cloth, no scientific equipment. So I guess, he is busy at the moment, and not in danger. We will stop our searches for now, until we have more information. Hope, we are right.

The other big news is what we call “The Big Blast of Dasharen”. Well, I´ve reported about the powermarble experiment in Dasharen, and how well it went… seems that I was too optimistic. Two days ago, a major explosion destroyed not only the powermarble, but the encasement as well. The sensors Tom Woods had installed to monitor the marble recorded an extreme energy peak shortly before the explosion, then they too ceased to work (and to exist…)

If this explosion would have happened in Afelahn, I think the base would be rubble by now. The powermarbles are even more dangerous than I´ve feared… how can we make the power room safe enough?

Someone asked: “You wrote about “Unknown age 07″, what about 01 to 06? Any information on them?”
Yeah, there is information on them. I´ll gather it over the next days and give you summaries about what we know.

Nifehrehn search

We did a thorough search in Nifehrehn, to look for any signs of Quaxo. The age did everything it could to kill us… it was extremely cold, with stormy weather and heavy snowfall. We searched in teams, in a radius of about 2 miles around the outpost. Didn´t find anything or anybody. I really hope, he is just on vacation or something… wouldn´t have survived for a long time out there.
It´s scary, how people vanish in this age… first the three D’ni survivors whose journals we had found, now this.

For the first time, we watched one of the huge predators of the age. A mammal with long, white fur, four legs, and a long beak with razor sharp teeth. It didn´t see us, just walked around in some distance, sniffing around on the ground.
I definetly recommend carrying a gun when visiting the age, at least when you plan to leave the outpost.

Meanwhile, Tom Woods and Shane Kennett have built a prototype power device, based on the power marble technology used by the D’ni.
They brought the parts to Dasharens surface, assembled them and activated the device.
We had decided to test it in Dasharen, because there is not much to be damaged, at least on the surface – mostly deserted area.
The power device worked flawlessly for some time – further tests will be necessary, but we are cautiously optimistic.

Dasharen desert plant

While determining the details of Afelahn power supply, I brought some plant samples to the age. One of the most interesting ones is a desert plant growing on Dasharens surface. I planted some into my big plant patch in Lab II, and they seem to be fine.

As you can see on the KI-shot, it has no leafs, so our guess is it doesn´t need any photosynthesis to grow. I called it a “plant”, but it could be a fungus, too, or something else entirely. Future examination will be necessary.

What we know is, that it stores a lot of water (like many desert organisms do) in its bulbous stem (or fruiting body).
If anyone would like to do some research on this plant/fungus/thingymabob, you´re welcome!