The Rocks
 | |
| Location | Stoneship |
|---|---|
The Rocks are a cluster of sharp rocks jutting up from the ocean floor in the Stoneship Age. They were given their matter-of-fact name by Emmit, the first person to live on them. The largest of these rocks contains two cave passages that spiral downward to bedrooms. These had been used by Emmit and the others who came to live on The Rocks, but they were later claimed by Sirrus and Achenar during their conquest of their father's Ages.
The most notable feature of The Rocks—and the one which gives the Age its name—is the sailing vessel that is split in two and merged with the largest rock. Atrus wrote the vessel into the Age with the intention of using it to go exploring over the horizon, but his lack of experience with regestoy resulted in the ship being "gripped" by the rock instead. An observation platform built on the summit of the largest rock, a nearby lighthouse, and a sump pump control station round out the area's remaining artificial features.
At one point, a number of people lived together on The Rocks. Atrus fails to provide a solid count, but ten years after his original visits to the Age, he recounts in his journal that he saw "many new faces that [he did] not recognize". When Sirrus and Achenar pillaged Stoneship, it is unclear whether the inhabitants fled or met a darker fate, but there was no one left on The Rocks by the time the Stranger visited them, as depicted in Myst.
