Vo'Braa: A starship age

[Overmind]

Age Name: Vo'Braa
Concept: An eccentric man with dreams of the stars wrote an age so he could visit them. Vo'braa is an age which contains an entire solar system whose main feature is the Al'Kelk, a starship. It's sister ship and escort, the Kel'Kesh, can be seen out of the windows. Both ships run on an unknown power source who's inner workings are still a mystery. During one of his visits to the age, the writer disappeared. His fate is still unknown. Over the years, both ships have degraded and their power supplies shut down. Today, the mysteries of the ships are set to be revealed and the fate of their creator known.

That is the short summary (I don't want to reveal too much). The plan is for two ships and a planet and several puzzles at each location. Currently I have a floor plan for one ship and the beginning of the puzzles for said ship. I'm working on getting some concept sketches. I thought I should post here and get some feedback on the idea. Constructive criticism is appreciated, ideas are welcomed.

E: Floor plans are up. These are tentative.
Link: Al'Kelk Floor plans

[Gehn, lord of ages]

Interesting idea! Let's see...

An eccentric man with dreams of the stars wrote an age so he could visit them.

Just to clarify, this is a D'ni man, right (i assume this, but there are other possibilities I know)? And the stars he dreams of - are they Vo'braa's stars in particular (so he's already oddly connected with the Age, and it's not based on things he's already seen), or the stars of some specific Age (either just in general he likes/thinks about stars, or from some specific Age)?

Anyway, if he's written an Age and constructed two mysterious starships (by the way, are we talking Shuttle sized star ships, or Star Destroyer sized star ships, or what?), I'm assuming he's either a genius or powerful.

For the ships themselves, I'd be interested in seeing a lot of stone, tiles, and stuff like that. With linking technology, concerns about weight on takeoff are not that pressing (and the power source might help that too), I would think. If it has artificial gravity, maybe even ponds and sculpted garden areas, almost like an Eder, but suspended in a metal(/special D'ni materials) bubble in space for the less industrial parts of the ships. Or maybe like a cavern, but many of the openings in the thin rock walls just show glassed(/again, special D'ni replacements - actual regular glass would not be advised) over views of space.

[Overmind]

Correct, he is D'ni. The stars a specific to the Age. The ships (or the Al'Kelk at least) hold a crew of 6 people (Captain, First Mate, Comm, Pilot, Engineer, and Doctor). The Al'Kelk is currently about 30 meters long (98 ft). This may change depending on various factors (such as if I've forgotten something or if it seems too cramped).

The man wrote the Age with the ships already there. This is possible if my knowledge of Linking is correct (namely that writing a book links to the most similar Age on the Tree of Possibilities).

My vision is that we see two different environments, a very artificial look on the ships and a more natural look on the planet. Think of Myst IV, Spire and Haven. Spire was very desolate, oppressing place while Haven was full of life. The crew areas of the ship might have some decorations like pictures, plants, windows (stained glass? maybe, maybe not. Space is a pretty amazing sight). But the rest of the ships will be very functional. I may try to put some sort of game in the Rec area, what kind I'm not sure.

Planet wise, there will be a pond (or ocean), a forest, a cave, and some buildings. More then that I can't say since I plan to finish the ships first then work on the planet.

I like the idea of the "bubble". The age has many secrets, maybe I can find a way to incorporate it. Space station anyone?

[Cernunnos]

What if you had a space station attached to the planets surface by a space elevator? Then you could have someone link to the planet, explore a bit, solve some puzzles, and then travel by space elevator up to a station, where they could then board the ships.

I like the idea of the Spire/Haven thing. It's a very vibrant juxtaposition that really makes the age very interesting, and very unique. I really like the idea of the abandoned star ships just floating in orbit around this planet. Would there be any possibility of going to other planets in the system via those ships?