Most of us know that the information about the "rules" for linking are pretty vague.
I was working on one of my ages and ran into a problem....I had recalled reading somewhere that linking within the same age is one of the no-nos.
This is one of the reasons why the Nexus exists.
But then there are the Bahro, and yeesha, who can link wherever they want even within the same age. Well, that means it's possible, isn't it? The D'ni just never found out how.
So this got me thinking about the Rules of linking. Shouldn't we as Age builders know these Rules? But there is so little information on it, and what there is is vague, hard to find and full of theories rather than facts.
Is time travel through linking possible?
Or does the linking book capture a snapshot of that place and hold it there forever? For example, the D'ni ages...they were written who knows how long ago before the DRC and explorers began linking to them. Are those ages the same now as they were in D'ni times? Did they age and change as all things do (or should) ?
What about the fundementals of an age itself? When a Writer writes a descriptive book is he or she actually creating the Age, or does whatever magic that is the Writing art find a reality or universe that matches your description, and joins the two together? This was Atrus' theory, wasn't it? The shipwreck age (cant remember its name right now) where a native man swam to the island even though there were no natives described in the descriptive book.
For the most part we writers can get by on following the vague rules....but eventually if we're going to make really diverse Ages, we'll run into some issues.
There are several differing sources of information. What the D'ni knew, and what Atrus discovered, What Yeesha can do, and what the Bahro have been doing.
This Thread had explorers debating the known facts and present theories, but when it gets right down to it, we are *still* very vague on the rules.
And while we're on the subject....where did we, the Guild of Writers, find or make our special paper and ink? Not just any old paper and ink will make linking books, so we have to have found some or found a way to make it. Or did we just find a ware-house of unused descriptive books lying around?
And why is the sky blue?
And how do they get those little ships in those bottles, damnit! (Well at least I know the reasons for those last two )
~Kia