A/N: Sorry about the long delay since the last update. I'll try to be quicker with the next ones.
4. Haven
Scene
1
The
STRANGER appears back in the linking chamber on Tomahna.
Through a gap in the rock wall she spots a figure walking around on
the other side of the lake, by YEESHA's bedroom. He
immediately opens a linking book and links, leaving the book to fall
onto the dock below.
STRANGER (startled): Hey, wasn't that Achenar? What's he up to?
NECKLACE: Ah, don't worry about it. You'll find out later.
STRANGER: But shouldn't we –
NECKLACE: Look, you won't be able to do anything until you've got the code from Haven, so you might as well just go there first.
STRANGER: (Sighs) OK, I guess you know best.
She puts her hand on the linking panel of the blue book and links to Haven, ACHENAR's prison age.
Scene
2
The
STRANGER materializes in a linking chamber which is similar to
the one on Spire, and in a similar state of disrepair. The first
thing she hears is the sound of waves breaking in the distance, and –
curiously, as the age is supposedly uninhabited – generic 'tribal'
sounding music. In front of her is some kind of mechanical 'horn',
presumably used by ATRUS to summon ACHENAR
NECKLACE: Ting! How'd you like to hear what Achenar's mental state is like these days?
ACHENAR's gruff voice is heard.
ACHENAR (voiceover): I have a few friends – they accept me. But it's not like before, definitely – not like before. Friends come and go, 'specially when you're moving around a lot, but here… been here a long time, loooong time. Kinda makes you crazy, y'know? Wacko. Really… out there. Cuckoo! You bring any apples?
He finishes speaking. There is a long pause.
STRANGER (finally): And he's the good brother, right?
NECKLACE: Well, I really shouldn't be giving it away… but yeah, he is.
STRANGER: Oh, dear. I think we may be in trouble here.
She spots YEESHA's bag lying in a corner. The NECKLACE shows another vision of YEESHA running away from her anonymous assailant.
STRANGER: Well, going to Spire first sure took all the mystery out of that.
She turns round and leaves the chamber, bits of wall crumbling behind her as she goes. Outside, she finds herself in a small, rocky cove, clouds of sand swirling around her in the wind. In the distance, against a background of dark storm-clouds, a huge, battered-looking shipwreck rises majestically out of the sea.
STRANGER (open-mouthed): Wow… amazing! (She chokes on some sand.) Cool… (cough) sand…effects…
She spots a small red crab crawling over a rock nearby, but as she draws closer, it runs away. She lifts up a stone to reveal the remains of one of SIRRUS's crystal YEESHA statuettes.
NECKLACE: Ting! Ooh, this is a good one.
A vision of SIRRUS and ACHENAR appears in the NECKLACE. They are circling one another in a fighting stance. Suddenly ACHENAR grabs his brother's hands and they begin to struggle…
STRANGER: Yeah, just one question: when exactly was that supposed to take place? You're not seriously telling me Sirrus managed to defeat Achenar and get away with Yeesha?
NECKLACE: (Sighs) Listen, darling, I'm just here to show you the memories. It's your job to piece the story together.
STRANGER: Ah, whatever. It's not really important anyway. Let's go and take a look at that ship…
She leaves the bay through a stone staircase carved into the cliff face.
Scene
3
Further
around the cliff face, the stranger climbs down a rope-ladder and
makes her way along the narrow pathway of rock and sand which leads
to the ship. Suddenly she stops short and gasps in amazement. Off to
the side, standing in the shallow water, is a carved wooden totem
pole; by its side is the skeleton of an enormous fish.
STRANGER: My God, what is that?
She runs over and stares at the fish, trying not to look at its huge, sharp teeth, then turns to the totem pole in order to examine it more closely. In its 'mouth' is a small black-and-white symbol.
NECKLACE: I'd take a picture of that if I were you.
The STRANGER does so and then continues down the path to the ship. As she gets closer she sees that it is a little way out to sea, and can only be reached by means of a rickety wooden bridge high above her; one section of the bridge is missing.
STRANGER: So how do I get up there? (Examines the wooden tower in front of her.) Looks like some kind of elevator.
She wanders off to the side and finds a crate which can be loaded with cannonballs to create a counterweight to the elevator. On the elevator floor she finds a box into which more cannonballs can be loaded, so that they can be taken up the tower. The challenge, apparently, is to find a balance between the weight of the elevator and that of the counterweight.
STRANGER: Wow, a puzzle which actually makes sense!
After a while she manages to find a combination of weights which works. She winds up the counterweight and pulls a lever to activate the elevator, taking her up to the bridge; then she uses the remaining weights to raise the missing section of bridge, and walks across to the wreck. What she see makes her eyes grow wide as saucers: behind the rotting planks of wood is an enormous treasure chest, spilling over with glittering gold coins.
STRANGER (practically salivating): How do I get through there? There must be a way through! (She begins to hunt around frantically.)
NECKLACE: There isn't, I'm afraid.
STRANGER (appalled):But… but it's right there in front of me! Why can't I just climb under one of these beams?
NECKLACE: Look, even if you could get through it wouldn't matter – you can't pick any of it up anyway.
STRANGER: What? Not even a few lousy coins that'll allow me to wallow in luxury for the rest of my life?
NECKLACE: Sorry, no. Must be something to do with how the Age was written.
STRANGER: (Lips set) Excuse me for a moment. (She turns and walks over to the side of the ship, looking out to sea.) AAAAAAAAARRRRRRGH!
Several startled and terrified birds fly away from the ship. The STRANGER looks at the NECKLACE again.
STRANGER: Ah, that's better. OK, let's see what this ship does have to offer.
She climbs a ladder into the upper part of the ship and crawls through a hole into a dark room, which ACHENAR appears to have used as a makeshift cabin at some point. Several 'ornaments' made of entire animal skeletons are hung around the room, giving it a somewhat macabre look, and a skull candle-holder stands on a packing crate by the bed. On the bed is ACHENAR's journal.
STRANGER: (Reads from journal) 'No way no way no way It's not… GOT to be here somewhere GOT TO BE! But I've searched & searched &…' Hmm, apparently Achenar goes for the 'stream-of-consciousness' style of writing.
She turns to the last page of the journal. The NECKLACE reads out ACHENAR's last entry.
ACHENAR (voiceover): But I'm alive, sea-spawn. STILL ALIVE! And I will defeat you. As DEATH is my witness, I SHALL DECORATE MY KINGDOM WITH YOUR BONES!
STRANGER: (Closes journal) OK… and this was Achenar's mental state when he first arrived. What the hell is he going to be like after two decades?
NECKLACE: You'd be surprised how stabilising the effect of twenty years with no one but himself and a few monkeys to talk to can be on a sadistic psychopath.
The STRANGER explores the rest of the ship, including a couple more rooms used by ACHENAR for experiments, but finds nothing of particular interest. Disappointed, she finally leaves the ship and crosses back over the bridge.
STRANGER: (Sighs) Well, that was a waste of time and effort.
NECKLACE: But it did look very, very pretty. You have to admit that.
STRANGER: Oh, yes. (Meaningfully) Why, you would almost think it had just been stuck in there as eye candy.
Scene
4
Back
in the mountain pass, the STRANGER comes across a tent in a
small clearing. As she moves towards it, there is a sudden gust of
wind and an animal dashes straight out at her, dragging the tent with
it. Reflexively she grabs onto the tent and is carried up into the
air. For a moment she soars high above a forest of trees with leaves
of glorious red, orange and gold… then gravity takes over, the tent
crashes into the canopy, and everything goes dark. Again.
When she wakes, the STRANGER sees the face of a strange monkey-like creature peering curiously down at her. Suddenly there is a cry in the distance and the creature runs off, squealing. A moment later, a fierce-looking four-legged creature bounds over the STRANGER and tears off after the 'monkey', roaring loudly.
STRANGER: (Gets slowly to her feet, somewhat dazed.) This 'being knocked out' thing is getting a little tedious.
She stumbles aimlessly through the jungle until she comes across a wooden gate, obviously constructed by ACHENAR, with a panel by its side. The STRANGER opens the panel to take a look; underneath is some sort of lock constructed of sliders and small hammers.
ACHENAR (voiceover): Hear this? You hear it? Well just try and get past this gate now, ya thieving karnaks! (Lower voice) They'll never figure out which holes to put the hammers in.
STRANGER: Good grief, another puzzle which almost-sort-of-makes-sense! Must be my lucky day.
After figuring how to open the lock, she goes through the gate… and is disappointed to find herself right on the edge of a lake. In the distance is a bridge, leading over the lake to another part of the jungle.
STRANGER: (Looks hopefully at NECKLACE) You know, I'm a pretty good swimmer. Maybe I could just –
NECKLACE (sternly): No. That would be cheating.
With a reluctant sigh, the STRANGER turns back towards the gate – and spots another totem pole like the one she saw earlier. This one, however, has the head of a different animal and a different symbol painted on it.
STRANGER: Ah… I think I see what's going on. Each symbol is connected to a different animal. (Takes a picture and makes some notes.) Right, this shouldn't take too long…
Scene
5
Several
hours later…
STRANGER (almost crying): Look, I give up. Where the hell is that last totem pole? I've looked everywhere!
NECKLACE: Have you tried Achenar's hunting post?
STRANGER: You mean that tree-house thing in the jungle? I couldn't get to it for some reason.
NECKLACE: You need to move the grass aside.
STRANGER: MOVE THE GRASS A- oh, sod it. I hate this place. I hate you, Atrus… (She stomps off through the jungle, growling to herself.)
Once finally inside the hunting post, the STRANGER spots the missing totem up ahead. Unfortunately, several of the monkey-things are climbing over it, obscuring the symbol.
STRANGER: Stupid things! How can I get them to go away?
NECKLACE: Try their warning call.
STRANGER: Hmm. (She tries the handles in front of her, and finds that each one produces a sound of a different pitch. After a few tries, she produces a sound which approximates to the monkeys' warning call; they scurry off into the trees.)
STRANGER: Right! (Turns round) Oh, and here's a cloth showing the correct order for the symbols. OK, back to the lake…
Scene
6
By
the side of the lake, near the bridge, there is a small hut
containing yet another strange device. The STRANGER sets the
correct combination of symbols, worked out from the totem polls, and
the bridge lowers so that she can cross. About half-way across is a
small hut standing on a platform in the water, which she enters;
inside are more of ACHENAR's things and yet another journal.
STRANGER: (Sighs) Well, at least that's one thing you can be sure of when visiting Atrus: you'll never be short of reading matter. (She flicks through the journal, and a passage catches her eye.)
NECKLACE: Ting! Character development alert! Character development alert!
ACHENAR (voiceover): Huh… those mangrees are kinda cute. (Heavy sigh) You know, I'm starting to feel a bit guilty about all that slaughtering and burning and pillaging we did in those other worlds…
STRANGER: Awww. Just goes to show that no one is immune to the redemptive power of cute little cuddly animals. (Rolls eyes.)
She searches around the hut. Hidden in various dark corners are pictures of the mangrees painted by ACHENAR, with yet more symbols underneath them.
STRANGER: OK, I have absolutely no idea what these could possibly be useful for, but since I can see them in close-up I guess they must be important somehow. (She takes some pictures before leaving the hut.)
On the other side of the bridge is a path leading deeper into the jungle. As the STRANGER rounds a corner, a camoudile –the creature she saw chasing the mangrees earlier – runs up and snarls at her, blocking her path.
STRANGER (nervously): Surely it wouldn't eat humans… would it?
NECKLACE: Well, let me put it like this: I doubt it eats necklaces either, but I'd prefer not to risk it.
They take another path, leading to a very tall tree. A rope ladder hangs down from a wooden hut in its upper branches. The STRANGER climbs it; in the tree-house she finds another manatee picture and a sound-producing device like the one in ACHENAR's hunting post.
As she looks down at the clearing below, she sees the camoudile charge at a group of mangrees. They scatter and run up the trees to what are obviously man-made 'nests'. The nests hold one mangree each and are connected by ropes strung between the trees.
STRANGER: Can I get them to move between the nests? (Suddenly clicks) Oh, that's what the pictures are for.
After some experimentation she discovers how to get the mangrees to move by calling their 'names'. The camoudile runs from tree to tree, following them.
STRANGER (hopefully): Maybe if I keep doing this long enough, he'll just get tired and go away?
There is a short silence.
NECKLACE: You know, I don't think that's going to happen.
STRANGER: (Shakes head sadly) No, I don't either.
Much puzzling later, she finally works out how to deal with the camoudile by getting a mangree to throw an apple at it and knock it out. With some relief, she climbs down the tree to continue her journey.
STRANGER: What gets me is, how the hell did Achenar train them to do that?
Further on in the jungle she finds yet another tree-house. This one contains some shirts with a note from Catherine: 'Wear this with much love, my son – C. PS: Hope you haven't killed anyone lately.' To the side, a bridge made of leaves and twine leads off to a strange bamboo 'chair' on an overhead rail.
STRANGER: Ah. Yet another fantastic ride that'll get me back exactly where I started, I assume.
She sits in the chair and runs her fingers across the coiled wooden handle in front of her. To her amazement, it suddenly spins round and transforms into a huge red snake.
STRANGER: Eeeeeeek! (She hits out at the snake's head, and it uncoils and flies away.)
STRANGER (gasping): What. The. Hell. Was. That?
NECKLACE: Something that doesn't belong in a Myst game, I think. (Smirks) You're off to Serenia next, so you'd better get used to it…
STRANGER (gloomily): Oh, wonderful. (She pulls the handle and slumps back in her chair, exhausted, as it moves off.)
