Cavern
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 View to the D'ni Cavern from a Neighborhood. | |
| Location | Earth |
|---|---|
The Cavern is a massive hollow in Earth's crust which served as the center of the D'ni civilization for 9,400 years. Both Ae'gura, the capital, and the City Proper were located here.
Structure
The main Cavern was naturally formed, but has been expanded by D'ni excavations, and is now connected to smaller caverns such as Irrat and Rudenna.
The center of the Cavern holds a large lake with a type of algae which glows. A number of islands are in the cavern including Ae'gura, Katha, K'veer, and Neref, but the City primary city is located on the cavern walls.
The decision to live in a cavern led to such regular maintenance tasks as keeping the residential and vital areas stable, finding light and energy sources (such as the light-emitting algae found in the lake), and finding and adjusting to a day cycle completely independent of the sun (which is actually about 6 hours longer than the astronomical one, which is 24 hours long). Ri'neref believed that the Cavern would be safe from most types of natural disasters, and that it would make the D'ni have greater appreciation for the intrinsically more beautiful Ages they linked to.[1]
Districts
The City is organized into various districts.
Connection to Surface
The Great Shaft, which is part of the Descent, connects the Cavern to the surface. The Cleft and the Volcano are nearby, as are the Lodge and Atrus's and Catherine's late home they referred to as Tomahna.
Geographically, the entire area is roughly in the region of Eddy County, New Mexico, in the United States of America.
Flora and Fauna
Animals of the Cavern include fireflies, cave bats, the elusive whale-like creature known as the senomar, and tredfish in the lake. The lake is also filled with algae that glow orange on a regular cycle.
Orange mushroom-like vegetation grows on some lampposts in the neighborhoods.
The Fall and Restoration
During the fall of D'ni, the Cavern was shaken by earthquakes which caused great damage. The D'ni people fled from the plague released by A'gaeris and Veovis, and the Cavern was left in ruins and abandoned. 70 years later, Atrus would gather many of the survivors from other Ages and attempt to restore D'ni, but decided instead to start again anew on Releeshahn.
D'ni was discovered by surface-dwellers in modern times, leading to the formation of the D'ni Restoration Council.
Appearances
Featured
- Book of Ti'ana
- Book of Atrus
- Myst
- Riven
- Book of D'ni
- Uru: Ages Beyond Myst
- Uru: To D'ni
- Uru: The Path of the Shell
- Myst V: End of Ages
- Myst Online: Uru Live
