Teledahn

Teledahn

Name in D'ni	teleDan
Author	Mararon
Written	8990 DE
Link-in points	Hut Sharper's office Damaged pier Mushroom stump
Connections	Ae'gura (Earth) Baron city office Spy room Bahro cave Nexus

Teledahn is an Age of rocky islands and enormous mushrooms. The mushroom spores were used by the D'ni to make bread.

Etymology

The name Teledahn (teleDan) is a blend of three D'ni words:

• to – to – n. 'place' or 'location'
• elemar – elemahr – n. 'spore'
• naDanex – nahdahnets – adj. 'mushroomy'

Together the t of to, the ele of elemahr, and the dahn of nadahnets are combined to form teledahn.

Appearance

The accessible region of Teledahn is a swampy bowl, formed from a ring of steep rocky islands and mushrooms. It appears to be in a near-polar area of the planet, based on the circular path of the sun around the sky. The link-in point is a small hut built inside the base of a massive hollowed-out mushroom. An elevator connects to two upper levels: a "factory" floor, where mushroom spores were collected for shipment back to D'ni, and a small office. A locking grate in the hut's floor leads down into a water reservoir, which can be drained using the control panel in the factory room. There is a hole in the drain pipe that connects to a cave, where Teledahn's last owners conducted an illegal slave trading operation.

A metal walkway leads out of the main mushroom and into the bowl of the harvesting area. The machinery here is powered by a solar collector, which follows the sun as the planet rotates. Two gangways extend out from this collector; one leads to a collection station, where spores were loaded into buckets for transport up to the factory floor; the other leads around the "back side" of the Age, eventually connecting with the slave-trading cave to form a continuous loop. Along this path is another hollowed-out mushroom which acts as a warehouse. There is also a journey door nearby, in a tunnel where the Age's Great Zero marker is located.

D'ni history

Teledahn was a gift for the Lord of the Guild of Caterers, Hinahsh, on his 250th birthday, in 8990 DE. When Hinahsh died in 9000 DE, control of it passed to the guild, and subsequently, Guild Captain Ventus. Ventus began the industrialization that is currently seen on the Age. After some amount of time, a man named Manesmo bought the Age, and kept it in good shape, though he also began running an illegal slave-trading operation in the Age's underground tunnels, away from the prying eyes of the Guild of Maintainers. Slaves were transported to Rebek, where they would be forced to play games for attending crowds, much like ancient Rome. Major inspections into this slave trade were being performed just prior to the fall of D'ni.

DRC History

Douglas Sharper (often referred to by his last name) was a third-party contractor who was assigned to restore Teledahn by the DRC. Much like Hinahsh, it's suspected, he became quite endeared with its quirky environment and rich history. Despite taking numerous leaves of absence, mostly during Christmas time, this is where the bulk of Sharper's DRC work occurred – though towards the end he had moved on to work on the Great Tree Pub in Ae'gura. Sharper kept his knowledge of the slave aspect of this Age hidden from his superiors, like Dr. Richard A. Watson (and others). By befriending Nick White, one of the DRC's translators, he learned as much as possible about Teledahn (and then Rebek) without the consent of the DRC. Sharper also discovered a massive amphibious creature that swam in the waters outside the harvesting area. He named this animal "Shroomie" because it liked to feed on the giant mushroom-trees. While he did hunt one of them for sport, he reportedly later regretted the action, and has not done so since. As he had finished much of the restoration process needed on Teledahn by 2002, he was recalled to work on Ae'Gura, and only took brief visits to Teledahn after that.

When Phil Henderson returned to the cavern in late 2003, Sharper recruited him to help foment resentment of the DRC's strict control over the cavern. They used a secret room to spy on the DRC's meetings in Ae'gura, and kept the linking book to this room hidden in an alcove near the slave caves on Teledahn. Explorers left behind by the DRC after their withdrawal from the cavern in 2004 were able to find this alcove thanks to notes left in Sharper's journals. When the cavern was re-opened to the public in 2007, explorers kept a watchful eye on the alcove in Teledahn, which had been emptied at some point in the past. On September 10th, 2007, the Spy Room link returned, though this time in the form of a bahro stone, and its destination altered to a different spy room. Despite its existence being common knowledge, it has not been removed since that time.

Journey proverb

A notebook provided by Yeesha includes a proverb for each Age in the Journey. Teledahn's is:

"The truth of a man is found in the darkness, beneath the surface. Some light might reveal only what some men want to be seen." - Regeltavok Oorpah; Book 9, Entry 221, Item 24

Gallery

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  The "company logo" seen on the gate, the buckets and the control panel in the tower control room.

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  The map of the region (with corrected proportions). The visitable area is the green area left of the red one.