The Great Shaft (part 1)

The first thing you will see in the Cleft is Esher, who will approach you, offer his assistance, and also warn you not to give the Tablet to Yeesha. One thing worth noticing about Esher is the glyph on his left shoulder—you will come across it again later. He will instruct you to look for the hole in the ground, and tell you that he will find you there (read more).

Before looking for the hole, however, it is worth taking a look at the area in which you are currently in. Players of Riven: The Sequel To Myst will immediately recognise the oversized Moiety dagger: the official Myst V guide suggests that this is actually one of the daggers from Riven, displaced after the Age was destroyed. The engravings on the stones which surround the area are also worth examining: apparently drawn by the Bahro, they depict significant events in their history, some of which will be familiar to players of the previous Myst games, others from Atrus’s opening speech.

Behind one of the largest stones you will find the hole mentioned by Esher and a rope ladder. You should climb down into the cavern below.

This cavern is also occupied by a couple of Bahro, who, needless to say, flee at your approach. On the other side of the cavern is a constructed corridor leading left and right.

To the right is a chest with another camera and D’ni journal, if you missed them in K’veer, and propped up against the chest is the prologue to Yeesha’s journals, all of which you should collect on your way through the Great Shaft. There are 12, including the Prologue (read more).

Not far ahead, next to a small lamp, is the first real journal (read more). The sharp-eyed will also notice the same drawings on the covers of the journals as were engraved on on the stones in the Cleft area above: this one depicts the arrival of Atrus and Catherine on Myst Island, before the events of Myst, and this is also described in the text. On the last page of the journal is a sketch of the island.

Once you have listened to Yeesha’s reading of the journal, proceed along the corridor and enter the room on the left (Rest Area A), where you will startle yet another Bahro. On the bench immediately in front of you there is the second of Yeesha’s journals (read more), the cover depicting Atrus and Catherine settling on Myst Island with their sons Sirrus and Achenar, while the text continues the story of Myst.

On the final page of this journal you will find a glyph which can be written on one of the Slates. Precisely what the function of this glyph is, I am not sure, but the word preceding it in the text is “Friendship”. It seems to cause the Bahro to bow, and possibly symbolises respect.

Lying in the alcove behind the bench you will find a a sheet of paper. It isn’t possible to read the words on the page, but the diagrams describe the elevator mechanism for travelling to the next level of the Great Shaft. It has a D’ni Restoration Council stamp in the lower left corner.

By the entrance to the room you will find an imaging device not dissimilar to those used by Saavedro in Myst III: Exile. Press the blue button to start playing the message (read more).

The message clearly displays a side of Yeesha which we haven’t seen before, and is much darker than her journals to date.

The final remaining object of interest in the room is a linking book which will take us to the first island of Direbo. You should now click on the moving panel—the Gateway Image—to be taken the Age; we will continue exploring the Great Shaft later.

(Note: it is also possible explore the entirety of the Great Shaft now. There are four levels, each with its own linking book to a different island of Direbo, which in turn leads to one of the main Ages of the quest. It is not necessary to visit any other Ages in order to progress through the Great Shaft. However, the first major Age, Tahgira—which is accessed through the linking book before you now—has an introductory character, whilst the Laki’ahn—accessed from the deepest level of the Great Shaft—is best left to last.)

Footnote

For an overview of the way to D’ni, of which the Great Shaft is the first part, you might like to examine the D’ni Map. It is reproduced for convenience below, but the website linked to contains a great deal of information about the map, such as translations of all the inscriptions. Well worth a visit.

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Esher's Speech (I):

You have seen Yeesha. She was, I’m sure, not very hospitable. You are confused, no doubt. My name is Esher. It is my pleasure to meet you.

She has given you the Quest. Yes… the Quest. The Quest to carry the four. The Quest to release the tabled. The Quest that is proving to be more difficult than she anticipated. Many have taken the Quest… and the Tablet still has no master.

I will tell you what she will not. I will help you when she will not. But she and I agree on this point: DO NOT give her the Tablet.

She has lied to you already… uttered words that bite her heart as they leave her lips… for she wants that Tablet… more than anything! She desires what she can no longer feel… but once tasted. You must not… whatever happens… give it to her.

Ah… she is the desert bird that longs to fly. She has dreams of taking flight in her ambiguous world filled with vague clouds and shadowed air. Careful… she is a clever one.

I’m sorry. I’m overwhelming you. Look for the hole in the ground. That’s where your journey begins. I will find you…

[back]

Yeesha's Journals - Prologue:

These pages are my journey, my story, my path. They are not meant to cover up, but to reveal. Sometimes in story, sometimes in clear, sometimes in vague, sometimes long, sometimes brief. But the release of these words is a soothing elixir to my burdened soul. The words must flow from me, or I will die.

And in the end, these words are crumbs that spill along my path. And whoever eats these crumbs will know more of me.

[back]

Yeesha’s Journals (1):

I am finding where I am, by understanding where I was.

And everything I was is linked to the island of Myst—the refuge.

And I must know where they were as well. My heritage, my people, my family.

My father, the prisoner of the hidden and the revealed. Raised by Ti’ana who hid the truth. Then raised by Gehn, who revealed the truth. But Ti’ana hid for love, and Gehn revealed for power.

Mother too, nothing more than a slave to what she knew and what she felt. Taught by Gehn to write what she knew. Then taught by Ti’ana to write what she felt. But Gehn’s teachings imprisoned her, and Ti’ana’s teachings freed her.

And in the end, through the hidden and the revealed, through the known and the felt, through the gods and the devils—they came together. Together they came: Father floating and Mother caring. Father knowing and Mother feeling.

And my great-grandmother Ti’ana watched, and my grandfather Gehn fell.

And so began our path of pain.

Ti’ana was called the destroyer, but she brought them together—and lived with them on Myst island.

Father could not keep Myst simple—new structures and new Ages he brought. Mother could not keep Myst solitary—two new sons she brought—my brothers—Sirrus and Achenar. And they grew up strong, and lustful, like their grandfather Gehn—unable to control the power of Books—the power of writing Ages.

And as a result all became prisoners. Prisoners in their refuge.

I will never return to that place.

[back]

Yeesha’s Journals (2):

Pride is a thief. Pride stole the soul of the D’ni people. Pride stole my own brothers. The temptation was too great. It is not the power, but the desire for power that destroys. That desire is in my blood. The blood of my ancestors—the blood of my flesh. I fight it, but I am pulled, even now.

My father tried to hide what he valued, his Books and Ages, while my brothers tried to hide what they valued, riches and power. Father was trusting or naive and Ages and people were destroyed.

And so my family was imprisoned. My brothers in Ages written by Father; Father in a D’ni prison he had escaped from in childhood; and Mother in the world she loved and feared most—Riven—her home—her refuge.

Perhaps it’s why I now fear my home—my refuge.

And then by the Maker, or by the roll, a stranger found the Book. The Book had been intended to be destroyed by fire, but by the Maker, or by the roll, it was taken far away. The Book was preserved until it was time. Surely it was the Maker who preserved the Book that would bring help.

Now it was time. A stranger found the Book, came to the island and freed Father. A lesson was learned, and a friendship was forged.

Friendship. The Least are my friends. I must use the Least wisely. I must listen to them. And respect them. They are powerful, they are willing, and they are afraid.

[back]

Yeesha’s Message (A):

Arrrgh! How could this be?! On their backs this fallen empire was built. What hypocrisy! Such abuse of power! I think they even deluded themselves into believing their own lies. It pains me to the point of ill! It makes me pleased that they are dead!

What I hate is in me.

[back]

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