The Journal of Myst
By Scott C. Yazell
Based on the P.C. Myst Game Saga
by Rand & Robyn Miller
Prologue
"I realized the moment I fell into the fissure that the book would not be destroyed as I
had planed. It continued falling into that starry expanse, of which I had only a fleeting glimpse. I
have tried to speculate where it might have landed, but I must admit that such conjecture is futile.
Still, questions about whose hands might one day hold my Myst book are unsettling to me. I know
my apprehensions might never be allayed, and so I close, realizing that perhaps the ending has
not yet been written." Atrus.
It was after 2 A.M. in the morning I got off work and went home. I was tired. I
worked the night shift at the warehouse as an order picker. I came back home in my pickup truck
and as I approached the front door of my house I found the book, lying there on the sidewalk. I
picked it up and looked at the cover entitled MYST. Someone, perhaps one of my neighbors, may
have drop this book and forgot about it so I thought I keep it for safe sake in case some one comes
by and ask about it. I went inside and set the book on the coffee table. I wanted to read it but the
only thing in my mind was sleep. It was 2:40 A.M. and I was very tired so I went to bed, being glad
that tomorrow was my day off.
It was late in the morning when I woke up so I took a shower, put on my clothes,
ate breakfast, and went into the living room to read the Myst book. It read like a Journal and it
describes about a small island called Myst. At first I thought this book was an explorer's diary
because it tells about what things are on Myst Island and the nature of it. As I came to the last
page there was a picture of the Island, but it was a moving picture. It was like a T.V. camera
was flying around taking, video footage of the Island itself and as it got closer and closer the
picture stopped and rested on a dock, next to a sunken boat. I put my hand on the picture to
see if it was real and then I felt a strong tingling run up my arm and spread though out my body.
I became so dizzy that I fell into blackness.
Part 1: Arrival
When I came to I was looking up at white clouds in blue sky. I moved my head to
the right and saw a hill with pine trees and when I moved my head to the left I saw the sunken boat.
I slowly sat up and realized I was on Myst Island. At first I didn't know what to think. I was still
feeling fuzzy from blacking out so I rested a little and I thought about my what happened. The
book must be some kind of gate to this island but where, on Earth, is this place? Then again
am I still on Earth? Am I exactly in the book itself ?
Fully rested, I made my next course of action: I have no other option but to explore
Myst. I stood up and looked around at first to see the sunken boat which looked like a small ship
that was probably used for fishing. I saw the Pine forest and heard the singing of birds in the air. It
seems there is a log cabin in the cluster of trees. I saw the hill and on top of it were two buildings,
one round and the other rectangular, both of either greek or roman design. I saw the Island's peak
and on top of it looked like a metal cylinder. On the ledge of the peak were two big cogs or gears. I
hoped who or whatever lives on Myst would be friendly and help me get home. I climbed up the hill
by some stone stairs cut into where the peak meets the hill. There were some stairs leading up to
the gears but I wanted to see the two buildings. I was almost to the top when I saw a piece of paper
on the ground. I picked it up and found it was a note that read:
Catherine. I've left for you a message of utmost importance in our fore-chamber
beside the dock. Enter the number of Marker Switches on this island into the imager to retrieve the
message.
Yours, Atrus
At least I found out who lives here but are they still here? What's a fore-chamber,
and what is a marker switch?
Part 2: Exploring
I went back to the dock to find the fore-chamber and I found a grooved outline of an
entry where the hill bottom meets the dock. When I examined it to figure out how it opens the
entry slid open revealing a passageway, leading to a opened room. In the center was what looked
like a cauldron of water with a lighted button on the rim. When I pushed the button the water
dissolved and vanished and inside the cauldron looked like some kind of machine. As I turned to
leave I found a metal plaque with a parchment page on it which read:
SETTINGS - DIMENSIONAL IMAGER
topographical extrusion test ... 40
water - turbulent pool ... 67
marker - switch diagram ... 47
A small green button glowed above the parchment's left side. When I pressed it,
the plaque slid up, revealing a hidden control panel with arrow controls for entering a two digit
number. Already entered was the number for the pool: 67 so I entered number 40 for the extrusion
test and pressed the red button to activate it. I went back to the imager, turned it on, and a 3-D
image of the island rose and spun on the imager's surface. I went back to the control panel and
entered 47 for the marker switch. I turned the imager on again and a 3-D image of a wooden podium
on a marble base, with a large handled switch at the top. Come to think of it, I've seen this thing
before at the dock but I couldn't figure out what it was for.
I went back up and found the 1'st marker switch at the end of the dock. I flip it up,
expecting something to happen like the boat rising out of the water but nothing. I saw the 2'nd
marker switch at the top with the big gears so I went up there to flip it up, thinking it would turn on
the gears but still nothing. I examined the gears and they were pretty big. I just wondered what
they were for. I looked up to see the cylinder on top of the peak and noticed a slit in it. Maybe it
was an observatory. I went back down to the greek buildings and found the 3'rd marker, flipped it up
and still nothing happened. I went up to the round building and the wooden door had some sort of
ornate gilded doorplate. I opened the door and went inside. In the center of the round room is what
looked like a dentist's chair but it was made of fine crafted hue red leather. Attached to the chair
was some kind of overhead console with control settings for date and time and a small screen on
it's left side. I was about to leave when I noticed a blue button on the right side of the door frame.
When I pressed it the lights went out replaced by the image of stars on the ceiling. This place is
a planetarium. I went back to the chair, sat down in it, and pulled the console over my face. There
was a constellation of stars in the view screen and I figured out that if you set the controls to any
date and time the constellation would change in the view screen. I entered my birthday, pressed
the flashing button, and the view screen panned across the star field to another constellation. I
figured out this was a star charting device, probably used for making maps for the boat. I could play
with this thing for hours but I still had some exploring to do.
I left the planetarium and went inside the second greek building. The room was
shaped like an octagon and burnished wood made with finely exotic craftsmanship. At the back of
the room was a bookshelf full of burned books. Flanking the bookshelf were two pictures, one of a
stairway, the other of the doorway. Flanking the doorway was a fireplace and a picture map of the
whole island. I notice the highlighted parts of the map are the places I've been; Dock, Gears,
Planetarium, and I found out the marker switches are connected to this map after I experimented
with the one at the planetarium. Before leaving I found two more books on display both the left and
right side this library. One red and the other blue. When I opened them I discovered that they were
like the Myst Book that brought me here except the pictures in both the books were snowy like T.V.
static. Next to the two books were two red and blue pages. They must have been ripped from the
books for some reason, otherwise the red and blue book would be working.
Leaving the library, I turned to the right and saw what looked like rocket ship from an
old science fiction movie. Before I went to the rocket I investigated the brick tower that supported a
long cable running from the forest to the rocket. I climbed the ladder which lead up to a breaker
switch at the top. I pulled it down but their was just a click, which means their was no power so I
climbed back down and went to the rocket ship. The ship was resting on the end of a platform. Their
was a door on it's side but no way to open it simply because their was no power so I left for the
forest after I flipped up the 4'th marker switch.
The forest path started at the front of the library and flanking the path were eight
pillars, four on each side. In the center of the path was a bird bath with a sunken model of the big
boat inside it. On each of the base of the pillars was a small mark of a different objects:
LEFT RIGHT
bird eye
cross serpent
leaf insect
arrow anchor
Whenever I wave my hand over any of the marks they make a faint humming
sound and lights up red. When I touch a mark the light changes green. Touch it again and goes
back to red. I flipped the 5"th marker switch before walking the path. I noticed the power line was
strung along another brick tower and ended at a squat looking brick building. Next to the entrance
was the 6'th marker switch so I flipped it. I wondered how many marker switches were left. I entered
the building and went down a flight of steps witch lead to a door with another glowing button. I
pushed it an the door hissed opened and I entered a control room. The console had a pair of gauges
and two rows of five buttons. The room's window overlooks a cavernous power plant with rower of
huge generators stretching off into the darkness. I pressed a couple of the buttons to try out the
power plant and two generators buzzed to life. Both the gauges displayed how much power was
generating. I turn off the generators and as I turned to leave I found a chart tacked to the door's right
side:
POWER POWER TO GENERATOR
SPACESHIP SWITCHES
1 6
2 7
3 8
4 9
5 10
I left the power station and found the cabin on the other side of the path. Their was
a light coming from behind the door. I just hope it's either Atrus or Catherine and they'll help me find
a way home. I prepared myself for what to say, approached the door, and knocked, but no answer. I
opened the door but there was no one or nothing inside but a gas furnace, a picture of a tree, and
a safe. I turned the red gearwheel, clockwise and a low hiss began and grew louder. I turned the
wheel counterclockwise to turn the gas off. As I exited the cabin I remembered to flip up the 7'th
marker switch and go to the end of the pathway, leading to an off shore clock tower. The face of
the clock read 12:00 and there was a door underneath it. Next to the door was the 8'th marker
switch and it was unreachable. The clock tower's base was another big gear. On the shore was a
control box with two wheels and a red button. It thought it was for setting the time because when I
turned the wheels the hands on the clock moved. I set the time, that was on my watch, and
pressed the red button but nothing happened. With most of the Island explored and 7 out of 8
marker switches flipped I headed back to the fore chamber by taking a shortcut through the woods.
I came across what looked like a shrine of a red wood tree, like the picture in the cabin.
Behind the cabin was a tombstone with the name Ti'ana on it. I entered the fore
chamber, entered 08 on the control panel, activated the imager, and a face of a man appeared in it.
I assumed this was a recording of Atrus because it had another message for Catherine:
"Catherine my love. I have to leave quickly. Something terrible has happened! It's
hard for me to believe, moose of my books have been destroyed. Catherine, It's one of our sons! I
suspect Achenar but I shouldn't jump to conclusions. I'll find him and Sirrus as well. I should have
known better to have left my library unchecked for so long! Anyway I removed the undamaged books
and placed them in the places of protection You shouldn't have to use the books until I return. If you
forgotten the access keys, remember the tower of rotation. Destroy this message after you view it, just
to be safe."
After the imager turned itself off I realized I was still far beyond a way to get home.
Part 3: The Library
I was sitting at the Dock, waiting and pondering on what else to do. I recalled on
what Atrus said about destroyed books, his sons, places of protection, and tower of rotation. Four
more clues. I remembered the burned book in the library so I started out there. I examined all of the
books in the shelf and came across five that were still intact. A six book was partly burned but still
readable and it had patterns on each page like a puzzle book. The other five were journals they read
about Atrus's adventures in worlds called ages.
The 1'st one was about an age called Channel Wood and it was about a forest rising
out in the middle of and ocean. The forest was inhabited by a race of ape people who lived in a
tree village and meet and befriend Atrus at his first visit. Later, he brings his sons Sirrus and
Achenar to meet the ape people and befriend them. At the last pages were sketches of a tree hut, a
windmill wing, and a map of the village.
The 2'nd one was called Stoneship Age and it was about Atrus meeting and
befriending 3 boys named Emmit, Branch, and Will who lived and played on a rock island in the
middle of an ocean. After a long visit Atrus returns to Myst Island and makes a change in the
Stoneship age by writing a boat in the book. When he returns he discovers the book has fused with
the rock itself. I still had trouble figuring out but I began to understand that like the Myst book, an
age is a book that links to other worlds or realities in space or time. The Journal also tells of Atrus
and the boys building a lighthouse to attrached other visitors. In the middle of the journal was a
sketch for the Stoneship Island and on the last few pages were pictures of constellations and things
of what they looked like: bird, cross, leaf, arrow, eye, serpent, insect, anchor. These are the same
descriptions of the pillars' marks.
The 3'rd Journal was about the Selenitic Age. Nobody inhabited this age but
Atrus's adventures were unique as the others. A volcanic crack opened in the earth and the a storm
of meteorites pulverized the landscape. I found out how he gets back from these ages as Atrus
mentions that he must remember to bring a Myst linking book with him in case the one he left
behind was destroyed. If only there was a linking book to home. Parts of the Journal seem to have
faded where Atrus writes about building things on Selenitic but there were some sketches of what
he made; valves, a radio dish, and the spaceship. There was also the sketches of Selenitic Island
and a keyboard with a numbered sequence of five notes.
The 4'th Journal was more like an adventure story. It was about the Mechanical
Age where a fantastic city was destroyed and sunk by an invading fleet of pirate ships. Atrus meets
the survivors of the attack and he and his sons help them by building a fortress on the ruins of the
city. The pirates are defeated when they return to finish off the survivors and Atrus and his sons
return home to Myst. The journal had a map of the fortress, surrounded by three small islands with
a round track of pillars between them.
The 5'th and last journal was about an age called Rime. It was a vast landscape
of ice, snow, and blizzards. Much like Artica or Antarctica. Atrus and his sons do some research
and construct a few buildings in the age. The Rime journal also reads about some of Atrus's
past and some history of an ancient civilization called Dn'i. There were sketches of the dimensional
imager and it's controls. The control was set at 40 and opened, revealing an inner control panel.
I learned so much after reading the Journals and I still knew so little. The last
books to look at were the red and blue linking books. I opened the blue book, put the blue paper
inside, and turned to the link page and there was a man in the T.V. static. He looked up at me,
surprised as he spoke:
"Sirrus?"...fade and static "Who are you?"...fade and static "Please, I
ask"...fade and static "Bring me the blue pages"...fade and static "forever and ever"...fade and
static "I must have the blue pages"... Muffled, fade and static"
As I close the book and put it back on it's display I wondered if that was one of
Atrus's sons. I went to the red linking book, put the red page in it, opened to the link page and there
was another man in there:
"Who are you?... Bring me the red page!... I can't see you, I can... I need the red
page... I beg you to bring me the red page... I am Sirrus... to be rescued, you must...
I knew then that Atrus's two sons were in these books but what were they doing
there was another question. I read everything in the library so I looked ant the map to see the
highlighted places I've been. I noticed that the peak on the map was flashing red. That's where the
metal cylinder was located. The red light looked as if it could be turned. When I held it a line of light
appeared across the map. When I turned the Light clockwise the line moved with it and there was a
low rumbling and grinding sound coming from outside. On the bottom of the map was the words
"Tower Rotation" flashing." The peak's metal cylinder was the Tower of Rotation. I was hoping to find
more clues up there but how do I gain access to it? I looked to the two of the paintings and when I
touch the one of the tunnel the painting swirled and reformed back. The book case's three
shelves backed into and slid down to form steps to the tunnel. When I saw the library's entryway
was blocked by stone slab I went to the painting of the entry, touched it and it swirled around like
the last one. The slab slid up, opening the entry and the book case was back in place. It must have
been for security reasons because I couldn't leave the library with the access to the tower.
Part Four: Tower of Rotation,
Places of Protection.
I reopened the tunnel and the wood work was just the same as in the library. At the
end was a cave in the base of the peak and in the center was what looked like and elevator. I got in
the elevator and pressed the button marked library. The lights went out and the elevator started
rising up to the top. When the elevator stopped the button's mark read tower. I entered what looked
like the inside of an observatory. There were two tracked ladders across from each other. One
marked with a key and the other marked with a book. Then I knew that this tower was where the
keys were hidden.
I climbed up the Key marked ladder but all I found was a wide widow blocked by a stone
slab. I climbed the book marked ladder and I found a slit blocked by another stone slab. I went back
to the library to consult the island map. As the lighted line passed over the high lighted spaceship it
turned red, and as the line over the went all around the map, it turned red at these locations:
spaceship, gears, boat, red wood tree.
I figured out these where the Places of Protection were and the Tower of Rotation
held the keys to them. I set the line back to the spaceship, went back to the tower, climbed the
key ladder, and on the stone slab was a brass plague engraved:
59 volts
The keys must be clues to the Places of Protection. Many clues have been very
useful so far. I climbed the book ladder and I could see the spaceship from the slit. I returned to the
map and adjusted the line to the gears and returned to the tower to see the next clue:
2:40
2,2,1
I went to the book ladder and there were the gears I the view of the slit. I felt that
the more clues I collect the better chances of getting home would be better and after finding the last
two clues in the tower:
7,2,4 TREE
OCTOBER 11, 1984
10:04 AM
JANUARY 17, 1207 BOAT
5:46 AM
NOVEMBER 23, 9791
6:57 PM
I was ready for the Places of Protection.
I decided to start with the space ship and it's clue to it gave me the idea to try the
power station. It wasn't easy trying to get the right volts to the space ship. When the power went up
over 59 the right gauge went down to 00. I had to go out and reset the breackers on both brick towers
to restore power but after some trial and error I got it right with this combination:
GENERATOR
SWITCHES
1 A 6
2 7
3 B 8 C
4 9 D
5 10
I went to the space ship and with it powered up I opened the door and inside, on the
front was the pilot controls with five slider bars a handle and a portal screen. When I slid one of
the bars up it traversed a scale of musical notes like a pipe organ. When I pulled down the handle it
triggered the note sequence set by the sliders' positions. In the back of the spaceship was the pipe
organ and I knew it had something to do with the ship's controls because I remembered the piano
sketch in the Selenitic Age Journal. I went back to the library, copied the sketch, from the journal,
returned to the spaceship, and one note by note at a time I played them on the organ and adjusted
the slider bars to the right sequence. I pulled down the handle and the Selenitic Age book appeared in
the screen. At first I wanted to touch it but there were still three more places of protection to
open up.
Next was the sunken boat and it's clue involved with the planetarium so I went
there, sat in the dentist chair, and pulled down the control panel. One by one I entered the three
dates and times of the clue and one at a time I saw three of the constellations; Leaf, Serpent,
Insect. I went to the bird bath with the eight pillars and when I touched the three proper marks
the model in the bird bath rose up and floated on the water. I heard a rushing of water coming
from the dock and when I investigated I found the big boat resurfaced and floating. I stepped
on board to find the linking book.
The boat was a simple but impressive craft. It must have been for something other than
fishing. The Stoneship age book was easy to find. It was inside the boat's closet resting on a chair.
Two more Places left and the red wood was next. I took a guess that the third clue was for the
safe in the log cabin and I wondered what sort of value was I there. I entered the combination,
opened the safe, and all I found in it was a book of matches. At leased they were useful in lighting
the pilot light in the gas furnace and when I turned the red wheel to increase the gas flow to heat up
the furnace I heard a mechanical chopping noise coming from outside. I went outside and heard the
sound coming from the red wood and I saw it was growing. I saw a booth cut in the tree as it
emerged fro the base and as it rose high up like an elevator the tree stopped growing. I thought the
third linking book would be in the cut away booth so I went to the use the last clue to the big gears.
The first part of the clue was time so I went to the clock tower, set the time to
2:40, pressed the red button, and a some gears came up from the water to form a walkway between
the shore and the clock. I crossed the gear walkway, flipped up the 8'th marker switch, entered the
clock tower and found a gear and lever device with three numbered wheels stacked vertically. There
was a model of the big gear half sunk in the peak's ledge. This had to do something the clue's
second part and with a little patience and concentration with the two levers I was able to set the code
to the device. The model gear popped opened revealing a hidden compartment. As that happened
there was a loud noise coming from the peek. I went there and, just like it's model counterpart, the
big gear was opened and inside it's hidden compartment was the book to the Mechanical Age. That
was all of the Paces of Protection. Next was which age I should visit.
Part Five: Mechanical Age
I decided the last age I found should be the first. I picked up the book opened it
and like the Myst book back home there was a moving picture of the fortress and the surrounding
rocks. I placed my hand on the link page and just like before everything went black. When I came
back to consciousness I was facing another big opened gear. I looked around to find myself
standing on an island covered with a pile of big gears, cogs, and sprockets. I found the bridge that
spanned, over the water, between the island and the fortress. It looked like it can be moved to the
other islands surrounding the fortress. Next to the bridge was a metal walkway with a gear shaped
pedestal next to it. On top of the pedestal was a control panel four symbol marks, four small
buttons, and one big button. When I press one of the small buttons it's mark changes into another
symbol. I counted the number of symbols, until the first one returned. I crossed the bridge, entered
the fortress, and faced two hallways, one to the left and one to the right. I took the left hall and
walked into what looked like a thrown room. There were three models of the spaceship, big boat,
and a different clock tower.
Peeking out the widow was a telescope. I looked into it and all I saw was empty ocean.
Above the spaceship and boat models was a picture of a elegantly dressed dark haired woman. I
might have been Catherine. I found another picture of a mountain in the countryside and below it,
resting on a mantel was three 3'D object, a diamond, cube, and a hexagon. When I touched any
one of them they glow in bright colors. Flanking the thrown was a picture of emperor and a tapestry.
In front of the tapestry was a toy bird sitting on a perch with a crank. I turned it five times and
activated the bird, moving it's head and flapping it's wings. I took a closer look at the thrown and it's
design was kind of godlike. At the thrown's base was a chess game. I left the thrown room through
a back hallway on the other side. I found a small corridor to the right and a big red button at the
head. I walked it and at the end of the corridor was a room with a glass pillar in the center. I
returned to the corridor's head, pressed the red button and there was a three buzz alarm then the
corridor's floor recessed down into a stairway. I followed it down into a room with the pillar's hub
inside and in front of it was a lever with a double ring indicator. Both the rings had broken notches in
them. I pushed the lever up and the hub began to spin very fast. As I eased the lever down the
spinning slowed and I noticed that the outer ring in the indicator was spinning in cordince with the
hub so I slowed it down some more and released the lever as soon as the notches were aligned
together. This must have been the way of opening the pillar so I went back up stairs, closed the
floor, and saw that the pillar was opened into a booth. I went inside and in the booth was three
buttons along the opening; red arrow up, red rectangle middle, and red arrow down. I pushed the up
arrow then a door slid closed and the elevator went up to the second floor. I left the elevator to look
around and found I was in the fortress's command tower. I looked up at the top of the elevator and
saw two levers on top of it. I thought about how to get to them but decided to ponder about it later. I
went back to the back corridor and followed it down to what looked like an armory. There was a shelf
of medieval weapons and a chest with a helmet resting on it. There was also a thrown not as
elegant as the one in the first room. Next to it was some kind of device with two levers. I took a
closer look at it and then it self activated, projecting the words "Fortress Simulator Calibrating" and
then a 3-D hologram of the fortress itself then transformed into a 2-D overview. I tried out the levers
and found out that the left is for lock release and the right rotates the fortress and it's bridge. The
Fortress simulator also has four sounds to tell which direction the bridge is pointed:
North: Clink
South: Clank
West: Chirp
East: Hiss
Between the thrown and the simulator was a recessed panel with a yellow stripe
across it. I touched it and the panel slid open, revealing another room. I went inside and saw it was
very grisly. The was a meat cleaver cut into a bloody butcher's block. A chest with a rotting skull in
it. A shelf with bottles and vials marked as poisons. Among the bottles was a blue page and I
remember Achenar said he needed the blue pages so I took it. There was a large cage with a
switch and when I flipped it up the cage flared with bolts of electricity and shut down. I wondered if
this room was for torturing any captured pirates in revenge for destruction of the city. There was
no such entry in the journal. I went back to the elevator and pressed the middle button by mistake
and the elevator stopped between both floors. In reaction, I pressed the up arrow and the elevator
resumed to the command tower. I press the middle button again and quickly exited the elevator before
last, third beep and the elevator went down and I was able to use the two levers. Like the fortress
simulator, I unlocked the controls and pushed up the right lever to turn the fortress to the east
island. It must have been left unused for a long time because the gears in front of me were
squeaky and rusty and they sometimes jammed up. I left the control tower and entered the thrown
room to look though the telescope. The fortress was in a different position so I thought I might see
something else but as before, a vast ocean. I came out of the fortress and crossed the bridge to the
east island which was a bunch of twisting steps leading to another gear shaped pedestal. On top of it
were the fist two symbol mark codes to the pedestal on the south island. I returned to the control
tower to set the fortress to the north island and returned to the thrown room to look through the
telescope a third time and saw a skeleton hanging from a mast of a sunken pirate ship. I left the
fortress and came upon the north island with less steps leading to another gear pedestal with the
last two symbol marks on it. I returned to the control tower to set the bridge back to the south
island then I went to there to set the four symbols on the control panel. I pressed the big button and
the metal walkway sunk into stairs leading into a secret underground room with the Myst linking
book inside. I opened up the book and linked back to Myst's Library then I put the 2'nd blue page in
the blue book, opened it to see Achenar:
"You've returned you've wouldn't re... The blue pages, I did ask you to... I'm
Achenar, Don't release my brother I beg you... to be complete... always blue pages... Don't listen
to him... Don't listen to my brother... He's a pitiful fool and a liar. Help me, bring me the blue
pages... the red, ones don't bring the red ones... I implore you... I've been wrongfully imprisoned,
my stupid... I will have my retribution. Please bring me the blue pages... the blue pages please..."
I wondered what it was about his brother Sirrus. I returned to the Mechanical Age
to find the red page but I thought I was sure I explored the whole fortress. Then I remembered the
secret grisly room in the armory so there must be one in the thrown room. I went there to look
around and found a recessed panel between the thrown and the tapestry. I opened it and entered
what looked like a treasure trove. There were stacked boxes full of gold and silver coins and I found
the 2'nd red page in one of them. Next to the treasure was a rack of wine bottles with a small
scrolled paper in one of the slots. I took and unrolled to read what it said:
Sirrus
Your greed sickens me!
Your desire for wealth
& plunder is never
satisfied. I will instruct
my subjects not to pay
your new tax & you
know they will listen to me.
Regards, Achenar
The letter did give some confirmation about something wrong with Sirrus but what
was Achenar doing with his subjects? I returned to the library and put the red page in the red
book to see Sirrus:
"You've returned... Thank you for bringing me the red page... You must continue
to help me... My name is Sirrus... I beg you to find the remaining red pages, you must release
me... release me from this book which is... I need more red pages, please... don't waste time
looking... my brother is guilty... and I wrongfully imprisoned... Bring the red page to me!"
After that he had a pleading look on his face and then faded. Both of them claimed
to be wrongfully imprisoned in the books. Did Atrus put them in there for burning his age books?
Which one was guilty and which one was innocent? Where is Atrus?
I decided the next age to visit was Stoneship. I went to the boat and entered the
closet. I picked up the book from the chair and linked away.
Part six: Stoneship Age
I reappeared on the stern deck of the boat, merged with the stone island. It was
raining, but not hard and there were thunder claps and lightning in the distance. I looked for some
shelter but the stairwell leading down to the ship's cabin was flooded to the deck. It was the same
with the cave cut in the rock. I saw the lighthouse near the starboard side and I had to walk on
some rickety planks to get there. I entered the lighthouse through a broken window and stood on a
wooden walkway. Like the cave and the cabin, the place was flooded up to the walkway. There was
a ladder leading up to a locked trap door and the key was on a short chain attached to the
walkway. I was puzzled about why a key to a door would be put out of reach from it. Despite the
rain I went outside to do more exploring. I found some steps cut into the rock and leading to the
ship's bow. I found another cave flooded like the first one. I found a wood plank stairway going up
around the island. I climbed up and found a telescope like the one in the mechanical age. I looked
through it to view the surrounding rocks jutting out of the water. I got a closer look at the roof of the
light house at 135 degrees. As I quickly went back to take shelter in the lighthouse I saw some
more gangplanks on the port side of the ship leading to a umbrellaed crow's nest. Underneath the
umbrella was three buttons. I pressed the left button and it lit up. Then I heard the sound of a
motored pump. I realized that this was a pump machine to drain water from the boat, caves, and the
lighthouse so I went back to the boat to inspect it. The stairway to the cabin was clear of water so I
went down to a door with a green lit button. I pressed it and the door slid up and I entered a darken
cabin. It was underwater and I could see the exotic marine life through the windows. It was too dark
to see any thing else in the cabin so I returned to the crow's nest to pump out more water. I
pressed the center button and returned to the boat to find the stern cave dry but to dark to go down.
I went back to press the right button and went back to the lighthouse to find the water gone and a
spiral stairway going down to the base floor where there was a chest with a spigot. The chest was
locked and I thought that the chained key would be the one to unlock it. I gave the spigot a turn and
water spilled out of it. I realized that the chest was weighed down under water and when emptied, it
would float up on the surface. I closed the spigot after the water ran out and return to the pump
station to reflood the lighthouse by pressing the center button and returned to the lighthouse to
find the chest floating in the flood water.
I took the chained key, unlocked the chest, and the only thing I found in it was
another key. I tried it on the trap door and it unlocked so I could enter the lighting room. There was
no lamp in the lighting room but there was a hand crank generator wired to a set of batteries. The
indicator on them read low so I turned the crank on the generator to recharge the batteries until the
indicator read at full power. I returned to the telescope to see the light blinking on the roof. As I was
returning to the lighthouse I notice a light coming from the bow cave and found it was lit up by
lamps from the ceiling. I followed the stairway down to a door just like the shipcabin's. I opened it
and found myself in a gothic bed room. The walls were of carved wood design and there were a
couple of wooden faces like the ape head in the fortress's armory. There was a lamp made out of a
human rib cage hanging from the ceiling. On drawer chest was a device that displayed a
holographic rose when activated but when I moved the control slider to the right the rose morphed
into a skull. I wondered about the mind of whoever sleeps here. I opened the drawers and each of
them had a cart or map inside the bottom one contained half of a torn page. I memorized what it
read in case I find the other half. I looked at the bed, which the sheets on it needed to be changed,
and found the 3,rd blue page so I took it. As I was going back upstairs I noticed a panel with a red
square on it. I touched the panel and it slid opened, revealing a crawlway to an underwater glass
room. It was like an aquarium with airtight windows like the ones in the cabin. on the floor was a
compass with buttons lining it's perimeter. I was tempted to press them but the thought of what
the buttons were for came to my mind. Compasses are used with maps and the telescope had a
compass like dial with was set at 135 in view of the lighthouse's light beacon. That was the clue to
the compass in the glass room so I pressed the button at 135 degrees and the room was lit up by
three submersible lamps just outside glass room. I left the place through another crawlway and I
was about to explore the stern cave when I thought about the batteries in the lighthouse. They were
almost dead when I got back and I had to recharge them again. I went back to the second cave and
followed it down to another bed room and this one looked fit for a king to sleep in. In front of me was
the bed. It looked very comfortable. To my left was a writing desk and a first I had the idea this was
Atrus's room but I also had second thoughts. To my left was another chest of drawers. Flanking the
bed was a couple of spheres on pedestals. When I touched them they projected holographic views
of two planets.
I opened the chest's drawers and found some interesting items: Some gold and
silver coins, tableware and candles, bed sheets and pillow cases, rolls of exotic fabrics, and the 3'rd
red page, which I came back for later. I examined the desk and thought this was where Atrus wrote
his Stoneship Age Journal but I found some disturbing items in it There were a few ink wells
but next to them was a case of vials, needles, a syringe, and some tablets. I returned to the pump
station to pump the cabin stairway dry and when I entered the cabin the place was lit up with
submersible lamps. As I walked down the stairs I could see the marine life a lot better. and at the
bottom floor was nothing but a table. I was wondering I hit a dead end when I touched the table and
the Myst linking book morphed up from the surface. It was like a strange, magical, way to hide a
book but then again these ages themselves were indeed magical. I linked back to the library to see
Achenar again and when I put the 3'rd page in his book this is what he had to say:
"You're back good. bring more blue pages, you promised... Bring more I must have
some more. It' is all I ask of you. It's been long, it's been so long since my brother Sirrus wrongfully
imprisoned me with in this book! Stupid exusesess... pretty speech it's been... greed which
is endless... which is probably obvious to you... done evil and destroyed all but four... do not
bring the red pages to him... do not let him trick you... he tricked our father... hideously
murdered our father! He'll trick you! He'll murder you. Don't touch the red pages... please! I beg
you! Bring the blue pages... Listen to me. Listen! You must obey me... blue pages are my only hope!
You must help me. You must help me!"
Achenar was starting to sound like a nut. I went back to get the 3'rd red page to
hear Sirrus's side of the story and this is what he said:
"You have returned... additional page... free from my prison on this forgotten
island of Myst... I see that you are... I am called Sirrus... all I need are the red pages. I know...
must search, bring... two more... I am released I promise... Don't touch the blue pages... That
is where my... where my wicked brother, Achenar ... He is a man of distorted mind and
senses. He disgust me. Do not release Achenar. thirst for destruction is not... never-ending...
bring the red pages. beg you please release me from this prison. I promise you will be greatly
rewarded. must help me... to help me... "
Achenar accused Sirrus of greed, destruction, murder, and imprisoning him in the
blue book while Sirrus accused Achenar of insanity and destruction. Was their father Atrus really
dead? How will Sirrus reward me; a way home or just a trunk of useless treasures?
Part Seven: Selenitic Age
I went to the spaceship, wondering how I was going to get the linking book out of
screen. I touched it's window and the book turned into a view of a flyby around a fogy island. I
touched the screen's window again and just like every other link, everything went black. When I
came to I was still inside the spaceship. At first I thought something went wrong with the link and I
notice the view screen was off. I tried the music sequence again but nothing worked. I tried the pipe
organ and that didn't work either. I took a look outside and found that it was very fogy. I went out
and the door slid shut behind me. I tried to reopen it but there was no power line attached to the
ship. All I could do was explore the Selenitic Age. I followed a path that lead to a locked door in a
rock wall. Next to it was a set of slider controls, familiar like the one in the spaceship. I tried one of
the sliders and it made this set of noises:
Wind
Air pump
Trainwistle
Electric switch
Strange flute
Static shock
Roaring fire
Clock work
Machine work
Running Water
The door was code keyed with sound, like the space ship was code keyed with
music notes. In order to open the door I had to find the right sounds somewhere in this age. I
continued following the path to some brick steps, branching off to the right, leading to a small oasis
fed by a well of water running down the hillside. Hanging over the well was some kind of microphone
which was attached to a podium with a large button, an antenna dish, and an icon of water. I
pressed the button and the water icon lit up. The sound of the well water was the same as one of
the door noises so I assumed it was one of the keys. Sitting on a platform ,on the podiums left
side, was the 4'th blue page and I took it. I returned to the path and followed it to another brick
stairway branching to the right. I followed it up to the top of a walled fiery chasm. At the end of the
steps was a bridge spanning over the chasm and on the other side was another podium. I looked
down over the side of the bridge and I could see the flames flying up above a stream of lava. I
quickly crossed the bridge and saw that the second podium had a button, an antenna dish, and an
icon of the chasm and a microphone hanging over the chasm. I pressed the second button and the
chasm icon lit up so I found the second key to the door. I left the chasm and returned following the
path and came upon a clock tower. It was almost big as the one on Myst but despite the damage
the clock tower looked exactly like the model I found in the Mechanical Age. Next to it was another
podium with a mike over the clock, a button an antenna dish, and an icon of the clock tower. I press
the button and the icon lit up. I saw that the podiums' antenna dishes were pointed at the center of
the lake beside the path but it was too fogy to see what was out there. I refollowed the path to what
looked like giant crystal towers rising out of the ocean. It was so amazing, like right out of a sci fi
novel I once read. As the wind blew passed the crystals it made that strange flute noise I heard
back at the door. I walked the twisting brick stairways going into the crystal forest and found the
forth antenna dish podium and the 4'th red page. I pressed the button and the Crystal forest icon lit
up. I left the crystal forest and returned following the path that final ended at a well, an antenna
podium, and a wrecked pier. the wind sound was coming up from the well and the podiums mike
was hanging over it so I found the fifth key to the door. I pressed the podiums button and the wind
well icon lit up. A ladder went down in the well so I climbed it down to a dark tunnel. Next to the
ladder was a switch. When I flipped it up the lights went on and a bunch of bats awoke from their
sleep and scurried around in the air. I waited until they settled down and hurried to the other side of
the tunnel which had another ladder and a light switch. I left the switch alone and climbed up the
second ladder and found another Island in the center of the lake. On the lake was a big podium with
five antenna dishes. Two metal doors were shut on the big podium but when I opened them I found
a control panel with a video display, two direction arrow buttons, a 360 degree direction indicator,
and five icon buttons that matched the five I'd seen at button locations through out the island. There
was also a summation icon button at the bottom. when I pushed it, it merely played a sequence of
five sounds, all the same. I found out that in order to open the door in the rock I had to find the right
order of the five sound keys.
I pressed the water icon key and held down the direction arrow button until the
screen was set at 153.4
I pressed the chasm icon key and adjusted the antenna controls to 130.3
I pressed the clock icon key and adjusted the frequency to 055.6
I pressed the crystal forest icon key and tuned the radio to 015.0
I pressed the wind tunnel icon key and changed the channel to 212.2
I then pressed the summation icon button and it played the sounds in this order:
Crystal Forest 1
Water 2
Wind 3
Roaring Fire 4
Clock 5
I memorized the sequence and returned to the door in the rock. I put all five of
the slider bars in the proper place of sound and pressed the button next to them. After the key
sounds opened the door I stepped into a long, elegant, metallic, hallway that lead to a large open
chamber. The place really looked science fictional. In the center of the chamber looked like a
yellow submarine. I walked around it and saw the pilot's station in the front window. Underneath
the sub was a portal going down underground and I remember in the Selenitic Age Journal that
Atrus found a network of caves and tunnels underneath the island. I went up to the door of the
yellow sub, pressed the blue entry button, and went inside to sit in the pilot chair. The control
panel looked simple to use. At the top was a button marked forward, in the middle was to arrow
direction buttons marked left and right, and on the bottom was a button marked backtrack. At the
far right of the control panel I figured out was a compass and at the far left was a speaker with a
small red button.
I pressed the forward button and the submarine was lowered into the portal and
down a shaft and then placed on a rail track. I realized then that I was in a yellow subway as I
tried out the controls the arrow buttons turn the sub left and right, the forward button makes the
sub go forward, the backtrack button makes the sub go backward,. and the button in the speaker
makes the same directional sounds as the Fortress Simulator in the mechanical age. The caves
and tunnels was a twisting maze network but I was able to reach the destination with the help of
the compass and the speaker:
North, West, North, East, East, South, South, West, Southwest, West,
Northwest, Northeast, North, Southeast.
After all that zig zaging around the maze I final came to end track. I exited the
subway and entered another metallic hallway, leading to another chamber that contained the Myst
linking book, resting on a artistic metal pillar. I opened the book and returned to Myst's library and
then I put the 4'th blue page in Achenar's book and he told me:
"Ahh my friend... bringing the blue pages. I see... Convinced that Sirrus is
guilty! Pray do not release him. He will destroy me just as he... innocent bystander. I've been
wrongfully tricked into imprisonment! Often you have observed his unbridled lust for riches!
four remaining worlds... his plot was almost perfect... final blow to father he tricked him into
believing that I was the murderer. I didn't murder father... bring me the remaining... please...
liar! when a liar... must not be free... the remaining blue pages of the last age of Myst. I must
be free. you must free me... I can't bear in here for eternity..."
After the begging and whimpering he faded out. Achenar gave more accusations of
Sirrus being greedy and killing his father Atrus. I did see some evidence of Sirrus's having wealth
and royalty but I did know that Achenar was running on only three wheels.
I went back to the Selenitc Age to get the 4'th red page, returned to the library,
and Sirrus told me:
"With each page I can see more clearly. Soon... will be free from this horrible
prison, this book. You must visit the one remaining age if you have not... hundred that you...
that my brother Achenar is demented. He is guilty... took advantage of the freedom our father had
given us... Achenar began to... I ask you again... do not retrieve the blue pages... He will destroy
both myself and you just as he destroyed the other ages... never will escape... you must simply
bring the red pages... the story that I... Your wisdom ... you will see that I am innocent and he
is guilty... this forgotten island of long ago... I will owe you my life and you will be greatly
rewarded"
It's true that Achenar was crazy and there seem to be some evidence of his
madness but Sirrus was starting to act a little too polite. He may be rich but what does he want to
offer me?
Part eight: Channelwood Age
The next and last age to visit was Channelwood and I still assumed it was in
the cutaway elevator in the redwood. I went back to the log cabin to turn the gas off with the red
wheel and I heard the mechanical noise of the redwood tree coming down with the elevator. I
went outside and saw the elevator almost to floor level but the linking book wasn't in there. With
quick action I run into the cutaway and I was going down underground until the elevator stopped. I
was in a room of underground tree trunks and in the center was a stump with the Channelwood
linking book on it.
I opened the book to link to the age and found myself standing on a wooden
walkway suspended above water. I looked around and saw that there was a network of wooden
walkways all over the forest 'water'. The walkways were aligned with interconnected pipes.
I remembered two maps that described the tree village and the forest walkways
so I explored around a bit and came upon a wrecked pier. I remember in the Channelwood journal
that Atrus was introduced to the last survivor of a catastrophe that caused the land to sink into the
sea leaving the forest to stand in the water. He was old beyond reckoning and soon he died. The
ape people of the tree village gave him a fiery funeral on a pier so this must have been the one
they burned his body on. I continued to explore, hoping to run in and meet some of the tree
dwellers, until I reached the edge of the forest and found a rocky island with a windmill on top of it.
It seem that all the pipes and walkways lead up to this place. I followed a cutout path, that had a
hose running along it, and I went in through the entrance of the mill hut and found a large vat of
water. There was an exit in the back and behind the island was two pipes going down into the
ocean. The windmill must have been used to pump water into the vat as a reservoir and then piped
to the village but for what purpose?
I found a spigot where the hose was attached to the vat and I turned it to let the
water flow in the hose. Then I followed the sound of the water until I reached the first pipe joint. It
was switching device with a yellow dotted Y and a metal switch. I turned it to the right and the
water flowed in the left pipe, I turned it to the right and the water flowed in the left pipe. I followed
the right walkway that lead to a wooden door that was locked from the inside and next to it was
some kind of generator with the pipe attached to it. I went back to the first pipe joint to redirect
the water flow and returned to the generator and found it was running. I tried the door again and it
still wouldn't budge. I went back to the first valve joint, switched the water flow back to the left pipe,
and followed the walkway with the water sound to another valved joint. Looking to the left there was
a walkway leading to the edge of the woods and to the right I saw a large wooden box at the end
of the right walkway and next to it was another generator. I redirected the water through three valve
joints until I reached the box and the generator was running. Looking up I saw the box was hanging
from a rope going up into an overhead wooden platform in the tree village. This was an elevator. I
went inside, closed the door, pushed down the switch and the elevator went up to the platform. As
soon as the elevator stopped at the platform I stepped out to see the tree village and what a site it
was.
All the huts were connected to bridges made of rope and wood. No one to meet
me though. The place seem deserted as the Mechanical and Stoneship ages. I started to explore
the village and according to my some of the things I found such as hanging wicker baskets,
wooden tables, and clay jars there used to be a primitive but unique culture. I also found some
evidence there was some kind of fighting for in the larger huts there were some wood carved spears
and large wooden shields all over the floors. I came upon a second elevator another locked door. I
realized that I was exactly over the same spot where the first locked door was so there was a spiral
stairway between them.
After completely exploring the village and remembering the map in the Channelwood
journal I backtracked to the elevator platform to open the door to the spiral stairway:
Platform, bridge, 1'st round hut, right bridge, 1'st large hut, right bridge, 2'nd large
hut, right bridge, 3'rd round hut, left bridge, 4'th round hut.
I found a switch and outside I could see the door to the spiral stairway and the
2'nd floor elevator. I pushed the switch down and I saw the door opening up. I returned to the
stairway and went down to open the door, then I redirected the water flow to the 2,nd floor elevator's
generator. I went back up the stairway, entered the elevator, pushed down the switch, and went up
to the second floor of the village. There wasn't much to explore up here. It was just three huts and
one long wooden catwalk. I went up to the middle hut and found a metal gate that could be shut,
cutting access to the hut nearby. I went inside the hut and I saw a ghostly image of face of
Achenar over a chest. It opened its eyes and said:
"Goue geegyell. Doon Diy. Wahh Doo aha ha ha yo ho ho iyaaaaaah!"
After that the image faded away and I took a closer look at the chest. I touched
the top of it and it folded down open and then the spiked side came up quickly like a trap jaw. The
hut was just as menacing as the altar. The walls were covered in colorful but evil looking symbols
and a couple of wood carved ape faces covered with war paint hanged on the walls. On the left side
was a row of candles with tall stands and in the back was a hall way leading to the back door so I
quickly left through there and went to the near hut. I went inside and found that the place was a bed
room. There was a table with leather straps and pulling pinchers and a frame work of a wooden bed.
Next to the bed was some kind of device with a round screen and four buttons. I pushed the first
button and The same image I saw in the cult hut appeared in the view screen and spoke the strange
strange words. I remember in the Channelwood Journal that Sirrus and Achenar were learning the
language of the ape people that used to live in the tree village. The device must have been a
holograph recorder and player and hooked up to that deadly altar. I tried the other three buttons to
see what other images were recorded.
The second image was Achenar's mouth and it said:
"Sazeechoo baanatou kow. bass ooh bas choe noe bowwa. Sas enaamm..."
The third image was Achenar's face and it said:
"Baak waatow ceese watee. Wotseedus nocka chuu nouuw."
The forth image showed the image of Achenar's brother Sirrus and he said:
"I hoped I pushed the right button my dear brother. What a very interesting
device you have here. I'm not erasing anything important am I? Ha ha ha ha. Remember, he is
preparing. Take only one page my dear brother."
I found the 5'th blue page lying next to the holo recorder/player on the floor so I
pick it up and returned to the cult hut to see Sirrus's image over the altar.
Before I started to look for the 4'th Myst linking book I decide to see the hut on the
far side of the long catwalk. Inside it looked cozy and at first I thought this was Atrus's hut but there
were to chairs that were smashed as if there was a fight or if someone was angrily drunk because
there were also a couple of empty wine bottles on the floor. There was a writing desk at the right
window which gave me the first thought this was Atrus's place. Inside the desk drawer was some
ink pots and the 5'th red page which I came back for later. I next examined the bed and it had two
drawers one contained a wicked looking knife and the other had half of a page. I remembered the
other page half in the Stoneship Age and combining the two halves this is what it read:
"The vault is located in very plain view on the
Island of Myst, and access can be achieved
very easily if these simple instructions are
followed. First, locate each of the Marker
Switches on the island. Turn every one of
these switches to the "on" position. Then go
to the dock and, as a final step, turn the
Marker Switch there to the "off" position."
Things were looking out of hand then. I left the hut and returned to the forest floor
to find the Myst linking book. I went to the first valve joint and redirected it to the left pipe and I did
the same thing at the second valve joint. The fifth valve joint directed the water flow to where I
appeared so I switched it to the right pipe. I followed it to a third generator that had a lever on it.
The walkway was divided by a gap and I was cut off. With the water powering the generator I
pushed down the lever and metal bridge came up from the water. I felt the Myst book was close
by and with the pipes ending at the third generator I crossed the bridge and followed the walkway,
passed a fork in it, and found another pipeline coming from the other direction. I followed the new
pipeline to another ground elevator with a forth generator but it was unpowered. I back tracked to
the fork and followed the other walkway to another gap. On my side of it was a pipe section with a
crank. I knew then what to do. I carefully redirected the water flow to the other side of the second gap
and then I returned to the crank side and saw the water spilling out of the pipe. I turned the crank
and the pipe section telescopically stretched out and connected to the flowing pipe with a splash.
I returned to the second ground elevator and looked up to see a hut cut away from the rest. I rode
the elevator up, found the linking book inside, .and returned to the Myst Library. I put the 5'th blue
page in Achenar's book and he told me:
"Hello, I'm Achenar. I'm glad that you returned to help me escape from my wrongful
imprisonment. It was Sirrus who did this to me, Sirrus my wicked brother. Do not listen to him, I
warn you, I warn you again he's a liar. Do not be persuaded by his evil lies! Do not release him! He
killed my father... he will kill you. It began when my broth Sirrus began to lust for riches. He stole
from the ages of Myst, He horded riches for himself. My father, father slept away his watchfulness
and my sick brother secretly pronounced himself king. King of the ages of Myst he said. He began
to look upon me in disgust, his lowly brother! I hated him! Then Sirrus began to destroy the ages
of Myst. He burned their forest, he tore down his structures, flooded their lands, and murdered
their inhabitants. Then he destroyed all but four of the ages. Of course I had to warn father. I finaly
found him, there was Sirrus also talking cleverly with a laying tongue of a serpent! He convinced
father that it was I who destroyed the ages. He convinced father that it was I who was greedy for
wealth and plunder. As Sirrus dealt the final blow he trick father into believing that I was the
murderer. But Sirrus did not deal a fast a blow as he planned. As father died a slow death he at
last doubted my brother's clever lies and so, in joined, father imprisoned us both. I'm sure from
which of us the blow will come. I swear to what I say is true! Release me. You must release me, my
brother is a deceitful liar and deserves punishment. I only wish vengeance for my dear father. He a
murderer, believe me. You must only recover one additional page to release me from this prison. It's
easy to find. Go to the bookshelf ,that's in this library, on the far right side of the middle shelf there's
a burned book that is different from the other burned books. This book is filled with patterns. Find
pattern 158, mimic it's design on the panel in the fireplace. Doing this will bring you to the last
blue page. Remember don't take the red page, only the blue page. Return, quickly, to me and do not
touch the green book. It is a clever trap to imprison those who have not been warned. Do not be
tempted or you'll will rot and die, imprisoned as I am. I tell you I you follow my instructions it will
well be worth your while I promise you that. Go. Go."
It seems that every time I see Achenar he tells the same but different story about
his brother Sirrus. I started to doubt him when I found his cult hut and Holoviewer in Channelwood.
I went back to get the 5'th red page to see Sirrus and his side of the story was:
"You finaly returned. I owe you a debt of gratitude for you have nearly released me.
My name is Sirrus. I trust that from your explorations you've become convinced that my wicked
brother Achenar is guilty and I am innocent. It is I who is wrongfully imprisoned here, imprisoned
by my father. I don't know who you are or how you came to this island but I assumed you must
know at least something of the books. It was father who was a master of the books he wrote
hundreds of them all describing and linking to the fantastic places and age which he had
discovered. The room of which you now stand was our father's library. It was here in this room, on
this island named Myst, that he housed most of his books but such a waste. By now you have surely
discovered that Achenar as burned and mutilated most of his books. Why? Our father was watchful
of our explorations we grew up under his strict supervision but when we came of age he gave us
unbridled access to the Myst books he began to leave our adventures more and more unchecked.
Unsupervised as we were my brother began to become disturbed. He began to take more from the
Myst ages than he had lived. Soon he gained a twisted pleasure from the conquest and destruction
of the other ages. It was horrific. His thirst for destruction, alas, even I discovered his insanity too
late. He had completely destroyed all of the Myst ages but four. I wasted no time in warning my
father I thought he would recognize Achenar's guilt but in a fit of rage he imprisoned both my
brother and myself within the pages of these books designed to hold us until he can judge which
of us was guilty. To discover the truth my father embark on one final journey however he has never
returned. I can only assume that he has perished along the way leaving me, an innocent victim,
trapped forever. But now you are here to release me. Listen carefully. You must find one more page
and I will be forever free. There is a book, on the shelf in this library, which is mostly burned but
has a few pages still indicted. It is the last book on the middle shelf. Find it. This book is filled with
a variety of patterns. Find pattern158 and recreate it on the door of the fire place. This will bring you
to the last red page. Bring that page to me and I will finaly be released and able to reward you of
course. Ignore the blue page. That page finishes my brother's book. It chills me to even think of
what would happen if you were to release him. There is another warning. Where the red and blue
pages reside also resides a green book. If you touch the green book you also will be imprisoned
forever. Our father gave us this same warning long ago. I suggest you follow his advice. Go now,
soon will meet face to face."
I didn't know who to trust. Achenar was insane and Sirrus was too honest.
According to my explorations of the ages Sirrus did dictate the rule over the ages and overtaxed all
their riches. Achenar must have made cult religions on the ages and did hideous things to the
people. But who was really guilty of burning the books of Myst?
Part nine: Dn'i
Before following the two brothers' instructions I went to the 1'st marker switch on
the dock. According to the two page pieces that was the vault. I flipped it off and the marker switch
opened and there was a white page inside of it. I hoped it was part of a linking book to get me home
so I left to take it later. I returned to the library to ask Sirrus and Achenar about the white page but
Achenar said:
"You're wasting my time and yours! Go to the last book on the middle shelf, put
pattern158 into the fire place. There is no need to waste time. Just get the blue page! Leave
everything else there."
Achenar was getting very impatient. As for Sirrus he told me:
"You do not yet have the final page? You must have not understood my directions.
Find pattern 158 in the last book on the middle shelf. Enter it into the fireplace and bring the red
page to me. Hurry and don't touch the blue page or the green book."
Sirrus was calm but edgar to be free. I took the pattern book from the shelf and
turned to p'158 and noted the pattern design. Then I crawled into the fireplace and inside was a
red button near the maw of the brick chamber. I pushed it and a door slid down closing the
fireplace. It had two bars and a framed metal panel. I touched it and a square budded out on the
panel. I mimicked the 158 pattern design on it, pushed the button, the lights went out, and the
fireplace rotated half a turn. the door slid up revealing the 6'th red and blue pages and the green
book. At first I didn't know what to do. Sirrus and Achenar were so untrustworthy. Both their
stories seem true and also false. Then it came to only one answer: Trust no one.
I set aside their advice about the green book and opened it to find out that it
was a linking book to another age. In the linking page was a picture of a man sitting at a stone
writing desk and writing in a book. He looked up and saw me through the linking picture and said:
"Who the devil are you? Don't come here to Dn'i! Not yet! Oh, I've many questions
for you my dear friend as you no doubt have for me. Where shall I begin? Perhaps my story is in
order. My name is Atrus. I fear you met met sons Sirrus and Achenar in the red and blue books in
my library. My library, it contains my works, my writings. Oh, I wrote many books that linked me to
fantastic places. It's an art I learned from my father many years ago. Oh but the red and blue books,
those were different. Mmmm... I wrote those books to entrap over greedy explorers that might
stumble upon My island of Myst but I had no idea that my own sons would be entrapped. My sons
Sirrus and Achenar we had many journeys together. I gave them free reign to the books. Perhaps it
was not wise. I could see the greed growing in them. I had not told them about the red and blue
books. There imaginations went wild, they dreamed of riches and power. Of course they did not
know the books were traps. They begged me for access to those books, and I of course denied them.
Oh, they devised a plan, an evil plan. I had no idea to what extent their greed had and progressed.
Their own mother, they used their own mother, Oh, my pear Catharine, to lure me here to Dn'i. Of
course I could return to Myst except that they remove a single page from my Myst linking book. I
cannot return without that page. You my friend can bring that page to me. I pray you believe my
story above the lies my sons have told you. If you could find to return that page to me here in Dn'i I
could go to Myst and bring justice to my sons for what they have done. I must return to my writing.
I pray that you believe me. Please hurry bring the page. Bring the page with you."
I knew then that Sirrus and Achenar were both guilty of destruction of their father's
linking books and both must be punished at the hands of their father. I hurried back to the Marker
Switch Vault and got the white page to give to Atrus then I returned to the fireplace and opened the
green book. Atrus looked at me and said:
"Have you found the missing page? Come, come."
I put my hand on the linking page and reemerged in what looked like a round hall
of a medieval castle. I looked around and behind me was a collapsed wall. The hall was completely
made out of stone and the walls were lined with stone pillars. Between the pillars were blocked door
ways and in the center of the hall, on the marble floor was a picture of a man's face. I thought it was
an image of Atrus at a younger age. To my right I saw Atrus and approached him. He Saw I had the
white page and said to me:
"Ah... my friend, you returned and the page, did you bring the page? Ah... give it to me."
I gave Atrus the page and he said I done the right thing. He put the page into his
Myst linking book and said he had a difficult choice to make. Pausing for a little bit he told me his
sons had betrayed him and he knew what he had to do. He said he would be back shortly, put his
hand on the linking page and disappeared in a faze.
While Atrus was gone I was thinking about if there was a way home in Dn'i, what
was Atrus writing in the book, a new age? Just then Atrus reappeared to me and said:
"It is done. Oh.. I have many questions for you my friend but my writing cannot
wait. I fear that my long delay may have had a catastrophic effect upon the world in which my wife
Catherine is now being held hostage. Oh.. and the reward, I'm sorry but all I have to offer you is
the library on the island of Myst, the books that are contained there, feel free to explore at you
leisure and I hope you find your explorations satisfying. You will no longer have my sons to deal
with. Oh.., and one more favor. I'm fighting a foe much grater than my sons could even imagine.
In some point in the future I may find it necessary to request you assistance. Until that point feel free
to enjoy the explorations in my library on Myst thank you again."
And so that was it. I picked up the Myst book and link back to the library. Every
thing was the same except there were charred blast marks were the red and blue books sat on
display.
Part ten: Rime
Near the bookshelf was the Rime journal lying on the floor. I pick it up and looked
through the pages. On the illustrations of the imager and it's control panel were marked, in blue, a
four number code. The back of the dimensional imager was circled in blue. I went to the fore
chamber and set the imager's controls to 40. I turned on the imager and the island image rose up.
I looked around to the back and found another activation button. I pressed it and the control panel
went down revealing the hidden control panel. it was shaped like the platform and the zig zag
walkway where the spaceship was. At the third angle was a knob with a notch. I turned it so the
notch was at the outside of the angle and there was a noise that sounded like a machine outside.
It came from the spaceship walkway so I investigated and in the third angle, next to the brick
tower, was an opening into a zig zag hallway I followed it down to a round room with a control
device hanging from the ceiling. The controls were for numbers, four buttons and a large red button.
I set the numbers to the right code I found in the rime journal, pushed the red button and the device
rose up into the ceiling. I went outside to find what popped up from the ground but nothing. I went
back to the library and found that a pedestal had risen from the floor. Inside of it was the Rime age
linking book. The library was also a place of protection. I pick it up and linked to the Rime age.
Just as it was written in the journal Rime was like Antarctica. The place was cold,
snowing, the wind blowing, and I was wearing summer clothes. Freezing, I looked around and saw
the three giant poles in the lake. Two catwalks each stretched out over the lake. Behind me was a
brick house built in the base of a cliff. On top of the cliff was the watch tower just as it was
illustrated in the Rime journal. Next to the House was a pump machine with burning gas coming
out of its smokestack and there was a pipe going down into the lake. I went inside the house
hopping it would be warm but inside it was cold and iced up. The room contained a Myst linking
book and gas furnace. I tried to turn the furnace on but all it did was spark. The gas was cut off.
There was a doorway but it was frozen shut. I thought about return to Myst but I still wanted to
solve the puzzle to warming up the house.
The furnace's gas was cut off so I went back outside to find a way to turn the gas
on. I found an elbow pipe joint valve attacked to the house. There was an underground pipe line
between the pump and the house. I turned the valve and heard the gas flowing into the furnace. I
went back inside, closed the door, turned on the furnace and flames appeared inside it. I waited
until the ice melted and got very warm. The door was free of ice and I was able to open it and found
a tunnel going into the cliff. There was a layer of mist hovering over the floor as I walked down the
hall until I reached an elevator. Inside there were two up and down buttons and one red square
button. I pressed the up button and rode up to the watch tower. The door slid open and I saw
outside the three poles. In front of me there was a control box with a lever, a lead light, and a side
switch. The light was set on green so I pulled the lever down and the three poles lit up with
thundering lighting. A green aurora appeared over the lightning arcs and then vanished when the
control box shut off. I pushed the side switch down and the light change to blue then I pulled the
lever down again, the lighting arch between the poles and a blue aurora appeared in the sky. I flip
the switch up, the light turned red, I pulled the lever down, and a rainbow aurora appeared then.
Atrus must have been experimenting with the cold atmosphere of Rime.
I pressed the red square button and the elevator, rotated half a turn, and the door
opened to what looked like a work room. On the writing desk was a purple-red journal. I opened it
and read about Atrus and his sons experimenting with the auroras using the electric poles. I also
read about shape changing crystals Atrus discovered in one of his ages. He used them with a
machine that views ages. There were sketches of a lightning pole, four different shaped crystals,
and a crystal plate. I also read about and age called Riven and according to the journal that's was
Catharine's home.
I rode the elevator back down and found a short hallway to a large room. On the
right was a cot and on the left was another work desk. In front of me was the age link viewer. It
was a big, circular screen with five crystal pads in front of it and a button on the side. There was
a box of colored rocks on the desk and a note which read:
"It is real. This work of your hands, the touch of my dreams. I've left my dreams for
you I'm only yours, Catherine"
The letter had pictures of five colored crystals on it and I assumed that was the
key to view this Riven age. I went up to the viewer and each time I touched one of the crystal pads
it grew a different crystal shape. When I pass my hand over the crystal it changes color. I set the
five crystals to the shapes and colors according to the note and I pushed the button to see the age
of Riven. It looked like a jungle island with palm trees and two hill tops with a bridge between them.
I tried to view other ages by adjusting the shapes and colors of the crystal but all I saw was a field
of stars and two nebulas.
Part eleven: Epilogue
I returned to Myst Island. I had no way of getting home. Atrus said that he might
need my help in the future but I was tired and needed rest. I linked back to Channel Wood to write
down this Journal of Myst as a record of my adventures in the ages. I'm in the fancy looking hut
now and the bed looks very comfortable. Maybe I'll see Atrus and talk to him about getting me back
to earth. He said he had many questions of who I am. But for now I'm going to sleep
The End
