Watcher's Pub

Watcher's Pub

Location	J'taeri District, Ae'gura
Link-in point(s)	5 18,270 6 22 7 -48 (First floor)

The Watcher's Pub—also referred to as the Watcher's Sanctuary and the Great Tree Pub—is an isolated building located in the J'taeri District of Ae'gura, in the main D'ni cavern. It served as a sort of invite-only upper-class lounge or parlor throughout its long history, where intellectuals of the day could come and discuss their thoughts on philosophy, politics, and other social or religious matters.

Appearance

The pub is a large circular room, with stairs leading up to a balcony running around the entire perimeter of the second floor. The entire building is colored with blue hues in an Alchemist style, though certain elements reflect older architectural movments as well. The first floor features a number of alcoves, most of which are closed off by tarps. The one open alcove contains two pedestals with Linking Books to Er'cana and Ahnonay, as well as a third pedestal with a DRC research notebook detailing the history of the building. Another opening on the first floor leads to a balcony which overlooks a large tree-shaped sculpture set in a spherical chamber.

On the second floor, there is a small recess leading to a locked door. In the recess are a series of pedestals, each one displaying one of the five books of Words. Behind the locked door is a puzzle room which connects to the tree chamber. While some explorers may have previously been able to gain access to this room, it is currently inaccessible.

D'ni history

Original construction

According to the DRC, the tree sculpture which serves as the pub's focal point dates back to the 2000s DE, long before the rest of the pub was built around it. The symbolism of the sculpture is uncertain, but it may have represented the D'ni themselves, whose name literally means "new tree".

In the late 4000s DE, the rest of the pub was constructed to honor The Watcher, a prophet and seer who had recently published a collection of prophecies called Words. The Pub remained successful through many changes of ownership in the following millennia.

It is unclear whether the pub's current lack of a physical entrance was part of the structure's design from the beginning, or if it was closed off from the general public at a later date.

Ownership by Kadish

Shortly before the fall of D'ni, the pub fell into the hands of Kadish, a former member of the Guild of Writers. Kadish heavily renovated the pub as part of his efforts to convince others that he was the Grower, a figure who featured prominently in The Watcher's prophecies. His largest addition was the installation of a spiral-shaped puzzle chamber between the pub and the tree sculpture, which he called the "path of the shell", again in reference to The Watcher's prophecies. Kadish regularly held contests to see if anyone else could solve the puzzle and complete the path of the shell, but apparently none ever did.

Throughout Kadish's ownership of the pub, he also used it to showcase Ahnonay, which Kadish claimed to have written as a demonstration of his ability to travel through time, another indication from Words that he was the Grower.

DRC restoration

The Pub was originally investigated by DRC Restoration Engineer Michael Simpson in late 2002 and early 2003. It was assigned to Douglas Sharper for restoration on October 30, 2003, but was removed from his control by DRC Chairman Richard Watson on December 22, 2003, apparently as punishment for his role in helping explorers break into the Kahlo Pub.

Naming confusion

The Watcher's Pub is sometimes incorrectly referred to as Rolep due to a mistaken understanding of a passage in The Watcher's Journal.