Ahnonay

Ahnonay

Name in D'ni	anonA
Author	Kadish
Connections	Ahnonay Cathedral Bahro cave

Ahnonay, a large Age of waterfalls and rock pinnacles, belonged to Guildmaster Kadish before the Fall of D'ni. In the Age of Ahnonay there is a massive mechanism holding four spheres shaped like an enormous 4-car Ferris wheel. Each sphere contained a different environment.

Purpose

Ahnonay was built to substantiate Kadish's claim of being The Grower—a person prophesied by The Watcher—who was supposedly able to travel through time and link at will. Kadish would bring in visitors to the first sphere, then show them the second and third spheres in sequence by linking back and forth from the Ahnonay Cathedral, supposedly traveling through time.

Spheres

First sphere (the past)

The first sphere (which is how Ahnonay is most often depicted) is made up of rocks, grass, and cherry trees under a pinkish overcast sky. The water has a very strong current, possibly operated by a wave pool device in the Age that always leads to the lagoon. There is a small stone tower containing tiny lights inside as well as a secret door from which Kadish could spy on visitors control the current. While it appears that from the island you can see several other islands with buildings, these islands are in fact mesh canvas facades. Small, triangular, triple-legged crab-like creatures called quabs also inhabit this sphere, though it is unknown whether they were placed there by Kadish, or if they found their way in after the Fall.

Second sphere (the present)

The second sphere represents the same "Age", but deteriorated, with clouds and mist replacing the water, the pink clouds turned gray and the rocks eroded. The clouds envelop the entire sphere and blue lightning storms flash in the distance. The tower appears derelict, with neither controls nor a door inside. The fake islands have seemingly crumbled. Strange crystalline forms called ning trees dot the landscape. These trees register on pressure plates linked to the large clock device in the center of the lagoon.

Third sphere (the future)

The third sphere represents the same "Age" in the future, a pile of rubble hanging in space. A gray-ish disc around the periphery of the sphere creates the illusion that Ahnonay has disintegrated into a ring of material. The clock-like radar device is destroyed, the island itself has broken into asteroids with some scrubby grass, and the tower has eroded into nothing more than a craggy meteor topped with a stump.

Fourth sphere (incomplete)

The fourth sphere, which was still under construction at the time of the Fall, contains a massive statue of Kadish at the center, and the framework for another ring-shaped island around it, plus a small metal skeleton for the square tower, which explorers can reach. Nothing is known about what this sphere was planned to look like, and the sphere machine skips it when rotating sphere 3 out of position.

Exterior

Hidden in the wall of each sphere is a maintenance station. The first sphere's station is accessible once the water current has been deactivated, while the others can only be reached via Shell cloth. Each station has the sphere's number in D'ni numerals painted on the wall inside a gear design that mimics the shape of the sphere mechanism. The stations appear to be in a state of considerable disrepair, and only the fourth sphere's station has a working door leading to the rest of the machine.

From the center of the sphere machine, a vogondola provides transportation around the Age's natural ring waterfall to an office workstation and sleeping bunk. The office features a view back to the sphere machine, and a gantry extends out from the far side of the room, across from the main entrance. As explorers activate Shell cloths, a linking portal in the shape of The Path of the Shell gradually forms at the end of this gantry. When the portal is complete, it provides access to a Bahro cave.

Gallery

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  First sphere

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  Second sphere

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  Third sphere

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  Fourth sphere

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  Outside the sphere machine