Surprisingly as it might be, I can't take the credit for writing Gairdin Grianmhar, for actually I didn't write it.
I can't think of any reason I would come up with such a hard to pronounce name(To help in pronounciation, it's pronounced a bit like to "Gairden Gryanvar".) And anyway, I wouldn't have the resources to pull off a massive structure like the one it contains.
So, I hear you asking, "Who did write it?"
Truth be told, I don't know for sure, I do know that it was written by one or more Irish writers, probably related to the University of Cork. I found the descriptive book for Gairdin when I was on holiday in Ireland, in the city of Cork. One day I was passing in the back alley of one of their faculties, when I noticed a heavy book, lying on top of a garbage container. It reminded me of a desriptive book, because of the heavy leather cover and the thick pages that have a bit of a plastic feel about them. When I got closer, I discovered that it was indeed a Descriptive Book, and that it looked intact. I immediately took my backpack, and put the Book in my pack (ofcourse I did have to throw out various travelers guides and my snacks for the day).
Well, my curiosity was piqued, as you can imagine, so I looked into that garbage container a bit further, and it looked almost like someone threw out all their writing equipment - there were a couple pots of ink, a number of pens, but also two linking books, which from the look of the linking panel went to the same age as the Descriptive Book, and about four or five small Korteenea, suitable for writing simple linking books.
I did notice something else in that bin, there seemed to be two rolls of paper similar to what is used in Cash registers to print out receipts, but the paper was distinctly linking-book material. It even had tiny linking panels on it - about the size of two postage stamps joined together. A broken label writer was next to it.
Since my backpack was stuffed with the Descriptive book and my travel neccessities, I had to leave all that stuff there for a short while, but went to get a plastic bag at a shopping center as soon as I could. Imagine my relief when it all was still there when I got back! (On my way back there I scolded myself for not hiding the stuff away from the garbage) I safely got everything into my car and retreated to my holiday home in a village about 40 klicks away.
Now I should note that I did actually take my Relto book with me on holiday. I wasn't intending to use it though, since I didn't exactly have a way back to Ireland in Relto. I do have a linking book or two lying around there - one to my home, and a couple of others to places I frequently visit. Still I don't feel comfortable relying on Relto too much. Ever since the Bahro war closed us off from the main Cavern, I can't get rid of the feeling that one day a Bahro Nekisahl will show up in my relto and will either kill me, or leave me stranded there, whichever it thinks is worse. Then again, really dying when falling off a cliff, or being lost at sea is worse, so I still keep it around at all times.
When I finally got to my holiday home, the first thing I did was to take a good look at the Descriptive Book. It did turn out to be undamaged, and even though the Ink did have an unusual color (it had a hint of lavender, instead of the deep space black that the Ink found in the Cavern has) the linking panel shone bright and vivid. It even gave off of a bit of light when I held it in total darkness, which is indicative of an unusually stable link.
The writing in the Book was simple but clear, the Writer clearly did his best to avoid complex grammatical constructions. It even featured a number of "redundancies" - repeated descrpitions of the same features that differ only in emphasis and style. The book of D'ni relates that Atrus was surprised when he encountered similar redundancies in the Descriptive book for Terahnee found in the temple below the Guild Hall, and the Descriptive book of Earth that he found in the Tehranee entrance. (Yes I do believe that it was the real Descriptive book of Earth that he found in Terahnee, and that both Books were left in each other's Age as a sort of Mutually Assured Destruction. I also believe both Books to reside in Releeshahn at the moment.)
Well, I guess I'm boring you with details, sorry for that. Suffice ot to say that be Book looked like it was written to be a super-stable Age, and that it's Writer used every trick in the book to ensure that. (He even explicitly wrote that the age should have a young sun, and used certain programmatic constructs to avoid conflicts, and help direct the Link)
Before I started to examine the book, I did have the sense to prepare a Linking Book back here - a simple one-shot linking book, requiring only to write the simple "Save my current place" characters (which ironically translate to something very similar to that sentence, once you start looking at them ethymologically). I put the linking book with me in case I were to accidentally touch the linking panel in the descriptive book. (Wouldn't want to be cought without a Link back eh?)
Well, before I start talking about the other side of the link, I'll have to mention something about the linking books to Gairdin that I found along with the Descriptive book. As you may or may not know, there are two ways to write a Linking Book: The first is to simply write a symbol in a linking book saying "anchor the link to the place I'm in now". That one is the kind of book I spoke about in the last paragraph.
The second way doesn't require you to actually be in the spot (or even the age) that you want to link to.
It works like this: Each Descriptive book has it's own identifier - ususally the first couple of sentences double as both a unique identifier and a short description of the Age, but you could also use a string of D'ni numerals for it (less intuitive, but more reliable). By referring to that Identifier in a Linking book, you can bind the Linking book to the Descriptive book, making the link follow the one in the Descriptive book. This has two added benefits: Using special terminology you can change relative properties of the link, most notably it's position, also, you can be sure that the Linking Book also shifts it's link if the Descriptive book is altered enough for it's link to shift. (These two ways can be mixed but then you risk corrupting the link - Yeesha probably used a mixed form if these methods for linking to the rainy Cleft)
....TO BE CONTINUED....
Note:
Yes I know that this part of story conveys an unconventional theory about Linking Books and their relation to the Descriptive Books
I know that RAWA "officially" said that Linking Books are always written on the spot and in the age they link to and that they "magically" connect to the Descriptive Book.
Point being: I don't believe RAWA on this one! As far as I know he's never written a Linking Book, let alone a Descriptive Book.
My theory fits with what's in the books, with the games, and known canon, allows for more breathing room, and actually makes sense in regards to linking to ages without a Descriptive Book (namely Garternay) and how Linking Books connect to Descriptive Books.
Summary of my Linking Book theory:
There are two ways to define a link in a linking book:
1) Write the "Store this place and this Age" character, which makes the book link to the Age and place you were when you wrote in the character
2) Each Descriptive Book has a unique identifier - which can be a numeric string or even a short description of the Age, and by referring this Identifier in a Linking Book, you bind it's link to that of the Descriptive Book. By using certain wording, you can further specify the place to link to. With this method, Linking Books follow the link of the Descriptive Book if it's changed, and stop functioning when the Descriptive Book is destroyed.
Note A) Both methods can be combined when you want to bind a Linking Book to a Descriptive Book, but also want the advantage of specifying a specific place just by being there when you write the Linking Book
Note B) Further specification of the Link Target by specific additional writing is possible with both methods, but very very tricky when using the first method (Grandmaster or Yeesha level of skills required for that one)
Note C) A linking book can probably be used to modify certain characteristics of the target area, just like it could be done in a Descriptive Book - this would require Yeesha levels of skill, and is e.g. used on the link to the Rainy Cleft.
