The Great Shaft (part 2)
The first thing to notice on your return to Direbo is that all the glyphs on the pedestal are now illuminated—touching one of the glyphs will link you directly to the appropriate pedestal in Tahgira, should you wish to return for any reason.
Exit the sphere and go to the linking book in the middle of the island. If you haven’t already opened the gates on the bridges, do so now! Otherwise, touch the Gateway Image of the book in order to return to the first rest area of the Great Shaft.
Once there, leave the room and head along the corridor, past the entrance—which is now on your left, and towards the large opening on your right. Just before you reach it, you will see some glyphs engraved on the wall. The upper glyphs are from the D’ni alphabet, while the lower glyphs are D’ni numerals. These were used extensively in Riven: The Sequel To Myst and Myst IV: Revelation.
Read from left to right, the letters are ‘pb’ and ‘tehb’ (or ‘teb’ according to the New Transliteration Standard), while the numerals are ‘20’ and ‘15’. These letters also occur on the overview map of the way to D’ni, available online on the D’ni Map. They seem to mark the entrance to the Great Shaft, although their precise meaning is still unclear.
There is a room at the end of this first elevator. A small room with a D’ni Rest Age book for the D’ni who would have traveled this path. The book will link you to Direbo. I will come to you there.
Walk past the engraving and enter the large room on the right. Esher will appear and tell you that he had failed on the same quest you are now taking (as did Yeesha), and that your way ahead lies through large door to the left of the entrance (seen as entering the room) (read more). Try the lever next to the door, turning it to the right, and the door will open.
The other door is locked; but before leaving the room, you should examine the alcove, in which another of Yeesha’s journals (read more) is to be found. The image on the cover depicts Catherine’s home-world of Riven being destroyed by it’s internal instability; and the journal describes the events surrounding the game of the same name.
Leave the alcove and go through the door which Esher indicated. When you reach the end of the short corridor you will find yourself at the top of a wide shaft heading deep into the earth. Walk to the right and Esher will appear once more. This time he tells you that this shaft allowed Yeesha’s great-grandmother, Ti’ana, to find his civilisation, and thus bring about the Fall of D’ni. He also says that he will meet you in Direbo—this is not strictly true, since he has already done so on your first visit, and he will not meet you there again (read more).
You should now take the elevator down to the next level of the Great Shaft—the footpath down is is too hazardous to allow passage. Continue walking along the outer rim until you reach the raised platform with a lever. Pull the lever towards you to summon the elevator.
When the elevator arrives, board it and pull the overhead handle. When you arrive at the next level of the shaft, walk clockwise around the shaft until you reach another rest area on your left. It looks almost identical to the one on the level above, except less cluttered, perhaps, and there is no imaging device. However, the next of Yeesha’s journals (read more) is lying on the bed in small alcove opposite the entrance.
The image on the front depicts the Fall of D’ni which Esher referred to a short while before, while the text introduces the concept of ‘the Grower’: the prophesied person who will begin to revive the civilisation of D’ni. Yeesha believes that she is this person, and that burden is compounded by her failure with the Tablet. There is nothing else in the room, and so you should proceed to the linking book and link to Direbo.
Once there, you should open the gates on the bridges; the bridge to your left (as you link in, with the sphere behind you) leads to the first island and the pedestal which links you to Tahgira.
As you approach the sphere, you will be able to see what looks like planetary systems on its walls; this is the Age of Todelmer. Enter the sphere now, and link there by touching the illuminated glyph on the pedestal.
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