Descent
 The path of the Descent as illustrated by Aitrus, highlighted in green. | |
| Location | Earth |
|---|---|
| Restoration progress | |
| Current phase | One |
| Phase 1 began | September 6, 2021 |
The Descent is the name the DRC use for the path connecting Earth's surface to D'ni. Among modern-day explorers in D'ni, "the Descent" is often a term specifically associated with the Great Shaft, but it encompasses much more than that. Its full extent spans from the volcano in Eddy County, New Mexico to the D'ni cavern. It stretches down over three miles, passing through the Great Shaft, a natural cave system, a magma chamber, and the Southern Gate—the outer-most extent of the D'ni empire.
This path was constructed by the D'ni between 9336 and 9337 DE. It was excavated by a small team from the Guild of Surveyors, including Aitrus. They were tasked with digging a tunnel to the surface that could be walked with minimal difficulty—and which could be easily defended from invaders, should humans have proved to be hostile. It was constrained to a maximum incline of roughly 22 degrees, and excavation ran for over a year before impatience within the Guild Council prompted the construction of the Great Shaft to complete the route quickly with a direct, vertical ascent.
There are two entrances to the Descent from the surface. One is from within the caldera of the volcano, while the other—the "Ti'ana/Loftin Entrance"—is elsewhere in the New Mexico desert. Both entrances connect to the top of the Great Shaft, but only the Ti'ana/Loftin Entrance is used and controlled by the DRC. The volcano entrance is on property owned by Jeff Zandi, whose father was one of the co-discoverers of D'ni in the mid-1980s CE. Explorers do not have direct access to either entrance, however. For them, access to D'ni is obtained through Relto, an Age provided by Yeesha as part of the first Journey.
In 2021, it was announced that the Descent would be restored by the current explorer restoration effort.
Descent-specific restoration phases[edit | edit source]
 | This section is written from an OOC point-of-view. Events and elements in the D'ni Universe are regarded as fictional. |
- Preliminary conversion of Myst V's versions of Descent, the most complete available for easy conversion.
- Changes, adjustments, and additions are made to help bring the location more in line with canon as well as add new features, including content from the Intangibles (the best elements from the DIRT demo, the Uru version, and the Myst V one). This phase is also open to suggestions for not-too-intrusive explorer content.
- Wiring: Myst V's Descent has not been wired for multiplayer before; the hope is that the whole thing can be solvable either alone or together.
- Testing, on the Minkata alpha shard. Possibly the most important phase, as most if not all the bugs and inconsistencies need to be catched at this point before inclusion on MOULa. There will likely be an open call for any and all testers who want to go through the entirety of the new Descent; if Cyan sends any request for changes, then those will need to be rechecked once implemented.
- Release on MOULa, opening the path to D'ni to the general public.
