Ask A Queston, Then Let The Story Answer

[Inanna]

The first question I asked myself when I played URU in the solo version was upon entering the Cleft. I wanted to know what lay beyond the fence. My current project, La Casa, is the answer to that question. Other questions I have asked myself may someday become stories and I share a few with you freely. If any of these inspire you, let me know. I will be pleased to have helped.

Gahreesen: We have seen the cells, but who was held in them and for what crimes? Could a prisoner escape into the woods and if so, where would he go and what help would he find?

Minkata: Is there an oasis in the desert somewhere and who lives there? Perhaps it is a place with a wonderful market smelling of spices and filled with rare exotic merchandise from many ages.

Jalak: Are there other structures in the bamboo below? Were the sports played in the Jalak arena just for amusement or was there a ritual component? Consider ancient human civilizations where games were often part of funerals.

Every age that has been released by Cyan has the potential to create more stories and therefore, more ages. These can be done without cutting into Cyan's own storyline or incorporating Cyan's characters. We respect Cyan's works and want to augment them. I think if we do our jobs well, everyone wins.

[greendragoon]

I can give you some info. Don't know if this will spoil what you were going for.

The Cleft: Well, the cleft is on Earth, in New Mexico. So if you talking about the outer fence you would eventually hit the town of Carlsbad. Nice little town. Fun caves. In addition, you would find what is left of Tomahna, where Atrus, Catherine lived and Yeesha grew up. You would also find The Lodge, the place that Anna, Atrus's grandmother, live with her father before finding her way to D'ni. If your talking about the inner fence, you would find the caldera with an opening leading down towards the great shaft and eventually D'ni.

Gahreesen: The D'ni didn't think so, but they had pride issues. The probably wouldn't have told anyone if someone did. The woods tho are supposedly crawling with a rather nasty predator. Entering is generally not advised. But I won't say it couldn't happen. Just take Douglas Sharper with you.

Minkata: Funny you should mention it, there was a group that was exploring that very concept. Here Warning though, the thing is 64 pages long, and involves underground tunnels and several connecting ages. It's actually an interesting read if you have the time and there are lots of pictures.

Jalek: I could never figure out this age. I was never sure if that was water down there or if we were really high up.

I hope that helps.

[Lontahv]

Uh, if you read that journal in Gahreesen--doesn't look good if anyone manages to swim across the water and get into the forest, to put it bluntly; you get eaten.

~Lontahv

[BAD]

Guys........

I believe her questions were rhetorical.........

[Inanna]

Yep, those questions were rhetorical -- the sort of thing I use to find a story within the story.

For the Friends of the Fissure the story we are creating is about private property 15 miles from the Cleft, which is where our characters live. The house -- a former Spanish monastic mission -- is now a bed and breakfast, catering to the URU explorers. You may have landed at the Gallup or the Albuquerque airports. Good thing that the folks at La Casa ran a shuttle bus from the airports to the Cleft for you. Those who came from overseas were a bit jet-lagged and needed a place to rest up before going to the Cleft. Hence the purpose of a local B&B. Those who rented a car and drove the distance needed someone to return the car to Hertz -- another service offered by our staff. Even if you drove your own car, you parked it somewhere nearby. If you leave a car parked for weeks the battery and tires go flat. We have a local Navajo fellow who fixes your car for you before you drive away.

I realize that none of this is as magical as finding Yeesha's message in the imager or getting the machines going in Teledahn, but we are starting with the basics and then moving to the mysterious.

[greendragoon]

Not at all. It helps to serve a connection between the Cavern and the rest of Earth. A connection that Yeesha is ill-equipped to provide. I think that Jeff Zandi and his Airstream were there to serve this to an extent, but not much of an extent. What I really like is that it goes to explain how the explorers were getting to and from the cavern. IC it's usually vaguely referred to as "going up to the surface," but they never specify how that is achieved. I suppose your relto book will get you to the cavern once you have it, but last time I looked, none of those linking books on my shelf link me back to my house.

I'm curious now. What form do you think this will take? I look forward hearing more.

P.S. If it's 15 miles south of the cleft, it's only an hour and a half from El Paso, TX.

[Inanna]

Thanks for the directional note. I have been wondering exactly where in New Mexico the Cleft is. Since I just wrote an emotional entry about taking a dying woman to the hospital, now I can add where the nearest hospital is.

The story is advancing a little every week and sometimes every day. We have a front gate now with a link directly to the library bookshelf and another to a guest room with the option to try one of our vision dreams. We have online templates so that our writers can put their ideas into the proper HTML format and I will soon be adding a wardrobe closet so that our members can play dress up with their avatars. It is so nice to get my avvie into a pretty dress -- finally. (Maybe the guys won't understand, but I am sure the gals do )

The idea behind La Casa -- and this is the secret writers' stuff -- when Elias Zandi was buying up the surrounding property he tried to buy La Casa, but KoHama wouldn't sell. In his efforts to win her over he showed her around the Cavern. They became close friends (we can argue about how close) and when he died she was devastated. She formed a group (Friends of the Fissure) to protect La Casa from sale or sub-division, gave her best friends legal and fiscal responsibility for the place, then left. At this point we are not saying where, but eventually when our skills are equal to the task I am hoping we can take you to Refuge.

Refuge is a D'ni age whose linking book Zandi found in the Cavern and gave to KoHama. They used it as their private "get-away" -- so it has shelter and food supplies already in place. When KoHama left La Casa she went to Refuge. We know "you can't take it with you" so the book has remained hidden in La Casa for the decade she was gone. There is a return book in Refuge and we are still working on what Refuge will be about, but expect it to be the vacation eder with beaches and mountains, sculptures, etc.

Lots to see in time to come. Keep checking back.