Okay, where to get started. The room itself is actually pretty simple and, at first glance, doesn't seem to have much to it. Well, for your average explorer. There is actually much more here than meets the eye. Much more, at least as far as history. It's practically dripping off the walls. Fortunately, I dig that stuff. (Lucky for you, I'm also better than your average explorer.)
Might be getting ahead of myself. Structure. Circular room with a number of doorways leading off in each direction. Large staircase, might need some support work, leads to an upper level. Okay, this just doesn't work without knowing some of the history and story behind this place. I gotta start there.
I've done some translation and talked with Watson, this is great stuff.
Alright, the tree off the balcony. (I did do a little walking around.) I can't see it well - dark - but it's an old tree -- don't know exactly when it was created, although certain style and material elements suggest as far back as the early 2000's, long before a guy called The Watcher came around. And it's the Watcher that this place was created for, renovated for, and dedicated to from the time it was built in the late 4000's, until the Fall of D'ni.
The Watcher lived during the mid 4000's and spent most of that life on hidden, secluded Ages. He wrote a book called Words - a prophetical book. Nostradamus type guy. Strange. Though it doesn't seem his prophecies caught on real well at first, through a variety of events - you can ask somebody else if you want to know them all - the guy became more and more popular, then faded, then popular again. You know the deal. There was always a core group of followers, but the overall population wavered, I would imagine depending on how accurate they viewed his visions. Over the course of time a whole lot of copies of his books were printed. We've found plenty of them.
As I mentioned, the tree (which I still don't know how to actually get to) was built long before the Watcher. No one at the DRC seems to know exactly what it was for - best guesses are that the tree was built early on as a representation of the D'ni that had come here: the new tree. They definitely had a thing for trees.
So, the Watcher comes along and writes some prophecies. They end up becoming pretty popular, and they do deal quite a bit with the tree (as much of D'ni prophecy does) and an unknown guy builds this building with the tree as its "focus". Seems like the building was an upper class lounge or sitting room, pub... something along those lines The intellectuals come and discuss the philosophies and politics of the day, although there was some homage being paid to the Watcher and his thoughts and ideas.
This "sanctuary" or whatever you want to call it, stayed successful even while ownership changed -- it seems it changed as frequently as the philosophies and religious views of the people. It wasn't until Kadish came along, yes our good friend Kadish, that the thing really took off. Unfortunately, right before the Fall. I've just realized I haven't moved in the past few minutes. I'm standing in a building giving an analysis of it without moving. Gotta love history.
So back to it. Nice little coves in this place. Wouldn't be bad at all with a cigar and--Okay, Kadish and the Fall.
Kadish was the last guy to own it and it seems he did some renovations. This is where the history and current day setup get interesting.
The Watcher spoke quite a bit, in Words, about someone known as the Grower. The Grower is prophesied to do a number of things, and it seems there were numerous interpretations of the Grower: some saw this person as little more than a great Lord or King, while others saw this person as a superhuman miracle worker, god-like...conquering time, space, and dimension and everything else. The views on The Grower were as varied as you can imagine.
What's important is that Kadish viewed himself as the Grower; as the one the Watcher had prophesied about. As a result, he modified the pub to honor, not only the prophet, but himself as well. He seemed to be intent on fulfilling as many of the prophecies as he could. So he built this puzzling "path of the shell" to the tree, brought the Er'Cana Book here (Kadish was the engineer behind its construction), brought the Ahnonay Book here and claimed that it allowed him to travel through time, back to the D'ni home world as it was, as it is, and as it would be (Kadish claimed he wrote the Book). All of these things to fulfill the prophecies. Even the times of D'ni were significant because the Watcher claimed to see visions of the past, present, and future. As a result, he wrote what he saw, never knowing if it would occur in the future, had already occurred in the past, or was occurring as he wrote.
People flocked to the place. Not only was it the only way to travel through time, but Kadish himself was the only one who could solve the spiral path of the shell and access the tree. In fact, he would demonstrate his ability to anyone who wanted to come and watch. Nightly challenges were held to see if anyone else could access the room. It seems no one ever did, further confirmation of Kadish as the Grower.
Kadish bragged that the Watcher clearly spoke of how to solve the room in his prophecies and that anyone could find the solution there. Easy to say when you did build the thing...maybe I don't get something. Either way good luck reading through all of those and figuring out anything, let alone the solution to some kind of weird D'ni puzzle.
So, it seems that Kadish ran the sanctuary up to the end. Obviously, at some point we know he died. We've all seen the remains of the poor guy. An odd end for a guy that seemed to have so much - had a Book right there but didn't use it. But that's another story.
Okay, history out of the way and I guess I should finish with this spiral path room. I'm not a big puzzle guy, but the room seems very confusing. A switch closes the door and turns on the light and some mechanism releases the ball back to its starting point. There are numbers scratched into the walls of the maze as well. Enough of that. I can see myself going crazy in a place like this. Ah, the D'ni.
Oddly there is no physical access to/from the city that surrounds the building. We know the building is up in J'taeri - a nice district - but there is definitely no way to get in from the outside and visa versa. Not sure if Kadish sealed it up or if it always was, but I would bet the second idea. Makes it handy to limit access - if you don't have a Book you're not getting here. (And that would explain why the Books here were never destroyed or taken.)
That's it for now. I'll probably get back here again after checking Er'Cana and Ahnonay.
On the six hundred and twenty fifth month of my life I was gazing upon the star of Ces in the sky of the age of Windring. And at the time of my birth the star began to brighten until it became brighter than the rings themselves. And with a sudden brilliance it turned the night into day. And I beheld the fire of the Maker. And he spoke to me. And the fire of the Maker left me, and I saw only blackness, because my eyes were blinded. But his words remained...
"You will wait for a time. And you will watch for a time more. And you will receive the signs -- signs of things that have been, and signs of things that will be. And great wisdom will be passed through you so that those who come after you will know that I am the Maker."
"You will watch for the signs of the builders. For the builders will make great things of D'ni. And D'ni will grow and prosper. But this prosperity is a curse. So the sign of the builders is a curse."
"You will watch for the signs of the breakers. For the breakers will make nothing of D'ni. And D'ni will die. But this death is a blessing. So the sign of the breakers is a blessing."
"You will watch for the signs of the grower. For the grower will see the dead tree, and the grower will see the new sprigs, and the grower will prune. The grower will grow the new D'ni. So the sign of the grower is a blessing."
And so for one day I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And so for four more days I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And so for twenty more days I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And so for one hundred more days I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And so for six hundred more days I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And I cried out to the Maker, "How long will you make me watch and wait, for I am weary?"
And the Maker replied, "You will watch and wait until the signs come, for you are the watcher."
And so for one more month I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And so for four more months I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And so for twenty more months I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And so for one hundred more months I watched and waited for the signs. But there were none.
And so for six hundred more months I watched and waited for the signs.
And many years had passed, and I was weary, but still I watched.
And at the time of my birth on that final day, as I waited near the cavern of Rolep, a wind blew through the cavern, and my sight was restored. And the first thing I looked upon was the stairs of Rolep. And I climbed to the top and looked out at the great tree of D'ni, and wept. And the Maker spoke these words...
"Behold you have watched for me, and now I will bless you. Today I have given you your sight, and tomorrow you will prosper. I will give you wisdom, but I will keep you from pride. The wisdom I give, you will not understand, it is for those to come. Be humble and write the wisdom that I will show you."
And so on the first day the Maker gave me five lines of wisdom. And I wrote the first five lines in five sections - one in each section.
And so on the second day the Maker gave me five more lines of wisdom. And these lines became the second lines in each of the five sections.
For one hundred and twenty five days the Maker gave me five lines of wisdom on each day. And they were added to the sections.
And then I rested.
And this is how these words of the Maker were given to me. But I know not whether they are signs of things that have been, or signs of things that will be. And these lines I have written so that those who come after me will know the wisdom of the Maker.
