Saavedro
 | |
| Race | Narayani |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Spouse | Tamra |
| Portrayed by | Brad Dourif |
Saavedro was a native of the Age of Narayan. He was among the first of many victims of Sirrus and Achenar's malevolent behavior, and spent two decades separated from his people after they trapped him on J'nanin.
Biography[edit | edit source]
Tutor[edit | edit source]
Saavedro first met Atrus when he linked to Narayan around 9450 DE, intending for it to be the capstone in a series of "lesson Ages" designed to teach his sons regestoy. He hosted Atrus in his home for several months, and taught him many of his people's customs. Together, they built a new room for the daughter he and his wife Tamra were expecting. Based on his experiences, Atrus appointed Saavedro to be a tutor for Sirrus and Achenar as well, once they completed their other lessons and gained access to Narayan. Saavedro was happy to host Atrus's sons as well, though he found that they were greedy, insolent children who did not respect Narayan's traditions the way their father had. They eventually left, and Saavedro returned to his life with his new family.
Civil war involvement[edit | edit source]
After five years, Sirrus and Achenar returned to Narayan. This return visit occurred just prior to their efforts to "plunder and subjugate"[note 1] the rest of their father's Ages. Upon their return, they claimed to possess the power to "fix" Narayan so that the Narayani people would not have to spend so much of their time tending to the lattice trees—claims which ultimately had no substance, as they had never actually learned regestoy. This claim seduced many of the younger generation, who often strained against the Elders' traditions and dictates. While not yet an elder in his people's society, Saavedro did hope to one day attain that distinction. Yet he was also described as a "free thinker", who may have originally been receptive to Sirrus and Achenar's claims.[note 2] The murals that Saavedro painted in the various lesson Ages indicate that he attempted to serve as a neutral party, apprehensive of the divisions the brothers were engendering in his society, but still hopeful that they would keep their word and help his people.
Over time, the divisions between factions of the Narayani deepened into a civil war that engulfed the entire society. The lattice trees went untended, and began to collapse. Saavedro, desperate to save his family and his people, followed Sirrus and Achenar back to J'nanin after they fled arrest.
Exile[edit | edit source]
On J'nanin, Saavedro pleaded with Atrus's sons to honor their promise and fix Narayan. Instead, they tied Saavedro to one of the light posts used to unlock the Voltaic linking chamber and linked back to Myst, burning their Linking Book in front of him as they left. While Saavedro was able to break free of his restraints before he died of exposure, he was unable to return to Narayan because the Descriptive Book was locked away in its vault inside J'nanin's central tower.
Over the years, Saavedro's loneliness and helplessness drove him mad, and he later found himself unable to recall a great deal of his time on J'nanin. Eventually, he was able to regain access to the Narayan Book, but when he returned, he could only see the remains of a lattice tree through the protective shield which separated the link-in point from the rest of the Age. Saavedro believed his people had all perished, and he once again descended into madness.
Return to Narayan[edit | edit source]
On the last day of 9469 DE, Atrus returned to J'nanin for the first time in almost 20 years. He was wrestling with the task of writing the Age of Releeshahn to serve as a new home for the survivors of the fall of D'ni, and thought that the Age may help jog some helpful memories. He stayed for only a few minutes before returning to Tomahna, but in doing so, he left behind a Linking Book to his new home. Saavedro witnessed the entire event, and soon decided to follow Atrus through the Linking Book, intending to kill him outright. However, when he arrived, he found Atrus's journal documenting his efforts to build a new home for the D'ni. Because he was not well versed in the intricacies of regestoy, Saavedro misinterpreted this project as Atrus actually bringing D'ni back to life again. Over the next year, he devised a plan: steal the Releeshahn Book from Atrus, force him to revisit his old lesson Ages to learn about what Sirrus and Achenar did to Narayan, and hold Releeshahn ransom until he promised to bring the Age back to life.
In 9472 DE, Saavedro linked to Tomahna once more to execute his plan. However, he had not expected Atrus's friend, the Stranger, to be visiting at the time. Panicking, he threw one of the firemarbles illuminating the room into a curtain, setting it ablaze. Trapped behind the fire, Atrus was unable to follow Saavedro as he linked back to J'nanin and then Narayan, and so the Stranger pursued him instead. When he discovered that Atrus was not the one who had come to Narayan for the Releeshahn Book, he was furious, and threatened to kill the Stranger if they attempted to leave. However, the Stranger succeeded in unlocking the outer shield surrounding the link-in platform—something that Saavedro had never been able to accomplish—revealing that the Narayani had not perished in their civil war after all. Saavedro was elated at this revelation, and ultimately agreed to return the Releeshahn Book to the Stranger in exchange for being allowed to return home. It is here that all records cease, providing no information about whether he was able to successfully reunite with his family once he arrived.
