User:OranL/Ages of Uru

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Uru: Ages Beyond Myst is a computer game developed by Cyan Worlds. The original CD-ROM game was published by Ubisoft and the current on-line incarnation is published by Turner Broadcasting System via its subscription-based video game service, GameTap. One of the main concepts addressed in the game is the idea of Ages, or worlds, that the player travels to by linking through specialized books. These Ages are the Myst franchise's equivalent of levels, though the term level implies a hierarchal structure to the worlds which does not exist (for the most part) in Myst games.

What follows are detailed descriptions of the structure, history, and storyline significance of the fictional locations and worlds visited in the game Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, its expansion packs Uru: To D'ni and Uru: The Path of the Shell, and the current on-line version of the game Myst Online: Uru Live.

Uru Prime[edit]

The following Ages were accessible in Uru Prime, also known as the "Path of the Hand" journey:

  • Relto: The player's personal Age, customized with pages found throughout the Ages of Uru.
  • D'ni: Earth as it is in the Myst Universe. It has many locations ranging from an area in a New Mexico desert to the D'ni Cavern miles underground, with sub-locations for each area.
  • The Path of the Hand Journey
    • Gahreesen: A fortress age of the Guild of Maintainers, Gahreesen - also called "Garrison" by the DRC (appropriately, as "Gahreesen" is a amalgam of three D'ni words, which add up to mean "fortress") - is also the location where KIs are dispensed. The accessible area of Gahreesen consists of two rotating fortresses in a jungle river valley.
    • Teledahn: A world of giant mushrooms and murky water, which had been a gift for a Grand Master of the Guild of Caterers prior to the fall of D'ni, after which it was turned over to a Guild Captain who industrialized the age. Douglas Sharper, a member of the DRC, spent a great deal of time here.
    • Kadish Tolesa: The personal age of Kadish, a banished Master in the Guild of Writers known for his immense wealth. His vault, containing all of the treasure he had accumulated, is located in this age - along with the skeleton of Master Kadish himself, who preferred to die surrounded by his treasure rather than return to D'ni.
    • Eder Gira: Sister Age to Eder Kemo, steam vents dot the landscape.
    • Eder Kemo: Sister Age to Eder Gira, resembles a recreation area with gazebos and secluded areas.

Uru Live: Prologue, Uru: To D'ni, & Untìl Uru[edit]

The "Live" part, and the fan-run Live implementation (Untìl Uru), added a few locations to existing Ages, and opened up access to Ae'gura and the Neighbourhoods. Live was cancelled before new Ages were added, but some of this content was made available in the first (free) expansion pack, To D'ni. The new locations in To D'ni are not available in Untìl Uru.

  • Ae'gura
    • Balconies
    • Baron's Office - An officer taken over by Douglas Sharper, which links to the Age of Teledahn.
    • Canyon Mall
    • Concert Hall Foyer
    • Ferry Terminal
    • Great Staircase
    • The Hall of Kings
    • Kadish Gallery - A grand gallery that provides clues to solving the mysteries of Kadish Tolesa. A linking book to Kadish's Age is located in the center of the room.
    • Kahlo Pub
    • Kerath's Arch
    • The Library
    • The Museum
    • Palace Alcove
    • Spy Room - A room used by Douglas Sharper to spy on meetings of the DRC in D'ni.
    • Tokotah Alley
    • Tokotah Courtyard
    • Tokotah Rooftop
  • Bevin - A neighborhood containing a single Book Room.
  • The Cleft - The childhood home of Atrus, located in Eddy County, New Mexico.
  • The Great Shaft - The original shaft drilled by the Guild of Surveyors from D'ni to the Surface. Also known as Descent, there is a single eder tomahn (waystation) here, with a broken link to the Nexus.
  • The Great Zero - The Great Zero was the primary navigation center of D'ni, located at the pinnacle of Ae'gura.
    • Antechamber
    • Courtyard
    • KI Calibration Area
  • Nexus Age: An Age on which the Nexus system is situated. The system allows players quick and efficient access to most locations and Ages.
  • Phil's Relto: Essentially a "Relto at night", Phil Henderson's (a former member of the D'ni Restoration Council (DRC)) variation of Relto features few differences from the standard Relto besides the weather, and the changed bookshelves. Phil's Relto is only accessible from the Spy Room. It has been speculated that Phil's Relto is shrouded in night because of Phil's disappearance. Phil reappeared in MOUL, and said that he had been observing the fight between the Bahro, but left shortly after, after hearing a tremor of some kind.

Uru: The Path of the Shell[edit]

The second expansion pack. This added the Ages which were closest to completion when Live was canceled.

  • Ahnonay: The Age of Ahnonay appears to be made up of numerous small islands within a vast ocean. In the sky above, pinkish clouds float through a somewhat overcast sky. In the middle of the largest island is a small lake, which holds the structure called "The Clocktower", for lack of better description. But there is much more to this little Age.

Different versions of this odd age exist, one in an ocean, one in a sea of mist, and one in space. This creates the illusion that time travel is used. Odd machines allow the manipulation of this age from a stone tower. The ocean's current can be stopped, and further investigation eventually reveals odd machinery that seems to exist outside the Age. The islands are not actually real. It is all an illusion controlled by moving spheres that contain the false ages, exploiting the fact that linking involves sending you to a specific point in space, at least in relation to that world; by moving the false island away from that point in space and replacing it with another, similar and yet modified, the illusion of continuity was formed. A fourth "age" shows the inside of these without the illusions: a cold metal construct. Current speculation was that this fourth sphere was another island that was under construction at the time of the Fall.

The age was designed by Kadish, who also created the age of Kadish Tolesa and the Great Tree Pub. It was intended to deceive other D'ni into believing that Kadish was, as he believed, the Grower foretold in prophesy. One of the prophesied powers of the Grower was the ability to alter the flow of time.

Ahnonay was on Phase 3 of its restoration when the cavern of D'ni was closed to explorers.

  • Er'cana: The Age of Er'cana was one of many written by the D'ni to serve as harvest, or "food" Ages, meant to feed the civilization of the D'ni in the Great Cavern. Its architecture is mainly representative of Industrial usage, with large storage buildings, as well as what appears to be a transportation system for what would have been the huge amounts of food grown on the Age.

See also[edit]

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